Disclosure Scotland. Business Plan

Transcription

1 Disclosure Scotland Business Plan

2 Contents Foreword by the Chief Executive Introduction Our Statutory Duties Civil Service Code Our Vision, Mission and Values Scottish Government National Outcomes Our Strategic Goals Our Objectives and Outcomes for 2018/19 Customer Activity Our People Our Funding Performance, Continuous Improvement and Measuring Success Governance

3 Foreword by the Chief Executive I am pleased to introduce Disclosure Scotland s Business Plan for The plan outlines our business objectives for the coming year which will support the four strategic goals which we believe will help keep Scotland s people safe and drive genuine change within our organisation, improving the experience of our customers and making Disclosure Scotland a great place to work. Disclosure Scotland has a clear safeguarding and educational role that shapes a safer Scotland to live and work in. Our Protection of Vulnerable Groups (PVG) Scheme helps keep the most vulnerable in our society safe, and our basic disclosure service helps employers make better informed decisions. As an Executive Agency of the Scottish Government, we are committed to supporting Scottish Ministers to achieve their purpose to make Scotland a safer and fairer place to live and work. We continue to develop our services and the way in which we deliver them to contribute to improving the life chances of Scotland s people. We are undergoing a period of significant change within the organisation, which will transform the experience of our customers. We are carrying out a comprehensive review of the PVG Scheme, developing a new digital service and looking at how we deliver our services. This presents us with a unique opportunity to actively engage with our customers and stakeholders, and work collaboratively with other organisations; putting that partnership-working at the heart of our transformation and leading to joint and informed decisions about how we can continue to improve. Lorna Gibbs Chief Executive 3 3

4 Introduction Disclosure Scotland is an Executive Agency of the Scottish Government. We help employers make safer decisions when they are recruiting people by providing customers with accurate and timely criminal history information and barring unsuitable people from working with children and vulnerable adults. Last year we issued over 1.76 million certificates to customers and we maintain a list of over 5000 people barred from working with children or vulnerable people. Our Statutory Duties We provide two strands of service in relation to safeguarding and decision-making in Scotland: Protection Under the Protection of Vulnerable Groups (Scotland) Act 2007, we administer the PVG Scheme. This is a membership scheme for individuals in regulated work with children or vulnerable adults. We: maintain the PVG Scheme membership and issue PVG Scheme disclosure records; and act for Scottish Ministers in determining unsuitability for regulated work with children, adults or both groups and administer the barred lists in relation to regulated work. Disclosure Under Part V of the Police Act 1997, we process customers applications for disclosure certificates which enable safer recruitment decisions to be made by employers. We issue: basic certificates which are available for any purpose and disclose unspent convictions; and standard or enhanced certificates where the law says that this type of disclosure is required. We support Scottish Ministers by advising on the development and refining of policy in relation to both Acts. We deliver our best value responsibility by minimising our requirement for public funding by developing efficient systems and processes. 4

5 Civil Service Code All Disclosure Scotland staff are bound by the Civil Service Code. The Civil Service Code sets out the values and standards of behaviour expected of all civil servants. Our core values are: integrity: we will put the obligations of public service above personal interests; honesty: we will be truthful and open; objectivity: we will base advice and decisions on rigorous analysis of the evidence; and impartiality: we will act solely according to the merits of the case and serve equally well governments of different political persuasions. The Civil Service Code underpins the vision, mission and values statement that we developed to help us achieve our strategic goals for 2018 to

6 Our Vision, Mission and Values Vision Protecting Scotland s people: shaping a safer environment to live and work. Mission Driving safeguarding outcomes by preventing and removing harmful people from working and volunteering with vulnerable groups, and helping employers making better informed decisions. Values Our values are at the heart of our strategy for the future and reflected in all of the work that we do: we are an inclusive organisation, enriched by diversity, where individual needs are supported and where people are treated with respect; we are open and adaptable to new opportunities and encourage creativity to deliver innovative solutions that make a difference; we work collaboratively to achieve the best outcomes for the public; and we are professional in our handling of people and their personal data. 6

7 Scottish Government National Outcomes Our activity supports the Scottish Government s Purpose To focus on creating a more successful country with opportunities for all of Scotland to flourish through increased wellbeing and sustainable and inclusive economic growth. We link to the National Outcomes. In particular our activity contributes to the following: we respect, protect and fulfil human rights and live free from discrimination; we are open, connected and make a positive contribution intentionally; we live in communities that are inclusive, empowered, resilient and safe; we grow up loved, safe and respected so that we can realise our potential; and we value, enjoy and protect our environment. 7

8 Our Strategic Goals All activities are undertaken within the context of our Corporate Plan This sets out how we will transform the way in which we deliver our services, how we will improve the journey for our customers and stakeholders and strengthen our safeguarding role. To achieve this transformation we have four strategic goals. 1 to deliver a fair, rigorous and supporting safeguarding service; 2 to have a fast, accessible and accurate digital service; 3 to provide excellent customer experience; and 4 to make Disclosure Scotland a great place to work. 8

9 Corporate Plan Disclosure Scotland Corporate Plan Business Plan Vision Protecting Scotland s people: shaping a safer environment to live and work. Mission Fair, rigorous and supportive safeguarding service Continued delivery of a public safeguarding service that meets our statutory responsibilities to protect Scotland s people Deliver professional policy advice to Ministers which enables the Scottish Government to fulfil its purpose A service that enables safer recruitment and the removal of unsuitable people from sensitive roles Ministers are able to make better decisions in key policy areas to advance safeguarding and better recruitment Ongoing Ongoing Driving safeguarding outcomes by preventing and removing harmful people from working and volunteering with vulnerable groups, and helping employers make better informed decisions. Excellent customer experience Ensure that all of our plans and processes are based on achieving our Vision and Mission Design and deliver a flexible and efficient technology platform which we keep improving Everything we do helps us achieve our Vision and Mission A service which we continuously improve, which responds to changes in policy and user needs July 2018 September 2018 Values We are an inclusive organisation, enriched by diversity, where individual needs are supported and where people are treated with respect. Fast, accessible and accurate digital service Continue our integrated approach to customer engagement to transform our services based on user needs Support our people through cultural change A service that meets user needs, responds quickly to change and that people want to use Our organisational culture enables and supports our people to behave consistently with our values and deliver accurate outcomes for our customers October 2018 November 2018 We are open and adaptable to new opportunities and encourage creativity to deliver innovative solutions that make a difference. We work collaboratively to achieve the best outcomes for the public. A great place to work Making our values part of the lived experience for all people in Disclosure Scotland Finalise the review of the Protection of Vulnerable Groups (PVG) Scheme which sets the future direction Our people s behaviour supports the delivery of our Vision and Mission A modern and effective Disclosure Service that delivers robust safeguarding outcomes December 2018 December 2018 We are professional in our handling of people and their personal data. 9

10 Customer Activity In we received 292,500 customer applications in relation to the PVG Scheme. We also received 1,465,200 Basic Disclosure applications in respect of our customers in Scotland, England and Wales. From 2018 we will only deal with applications for Scotland. Actual, and expected customer demand for is highlighted in the below table Application type Volume received Actual v Forecast Forecast volume Basic Disclosures 1,465, % 243,100 Standard/Enhanced Disclosures 20, % 18,300 PVG Scheme 292, % 293,000 Total 1,778, % 554,400 In , we expect volumes to be substantially lower than in previous years as English and Welsh Basic work is now handled by the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) (delegation having ended on 31 January 2018). We also anticipate PVG volumes to stabilise over the coming year as the retrospective checking activity declines, although any changes to the regulated workforce as a result of the on-going PVG review may change this. 10

11 Our People Our people are our most valuable asset. We continue to build on their skills and capability in order to deliver a consistently high quality service. Our extensive transformation programme includes a complete review of our organisational and process design, as well as the development of a new technical platform and infrastructure to manage the future demands of our customers. The engaged and flexible Disclosure Scotland staff will be supported to develop their skills as the business transforms. We will focus on building a workforce for a more efficient and effective customer-focussed organisation by encouraging learning, creativity, innovation and new ways of working and actively recognising and developing talent within the Agency; embedding a culture of continuous improvement. We will focus on having the right people in the right place at the right time. This will mean providing them with the opportunity to develop and enhance their skills and recognising talent and rewarding excellence. We will also develop the capability and capacity of our leadership to adapt and respond to change within a complex and dynamic environment. Transforming the organisation will improve roles and change current business processes. Introducing process automation wherever possible, to reduce touch points and handoffs during case management, will give people more ownership of the work and provide more variety making current roles more interesting. Our people will be involved in the design of the new roles. Redesigning operational processes and organisational structures to meet the needs of an efficient public service will give our people greater job satisfaction. 11

12 To date, our workforce has consisted of a mix of permanent, fixed-term, Scottish Government and temporary agency staff. The transfer of English and Welsh basic certificate work to the DBS means that we now comprise mainly of permanent staff, who we will continue to develop to ensure delivery of a professional service. The Full-Time Equivalents (FTE) in post at 31 March 2018 and indicative forecast as at 31 March 2019 are illustrated in the table below Staff Permanent and Fixed-Term (Scottish Government) Temporary (Agency Interim (Contractor) Modern Apprentices and Graduates 3 3 Total

13 Our Funding The overall funding requirement for is as follows: Description and Classification million Staff (including travel and subsistence) Information, communications and technology Administration and supply Accommodation Non-Cash (depreciation and amortisation) Resource Departmental Expenditure Limit (DEL) Capital DEL Total expenditure Financed by... Operational Income Scottish Government Total funding This funding will be used to deliver the activities contained within this Business Plan. We will actively monitor progress throughout the year to minimise the risk of the actual outturn not being in balance with agreed funding. The operations of the Agency are funded by income from our customers and service users and the Scottish Government. Our income is variable, being dependant on the volume of applications submitted to the Agency. The Agency therefore closely monitors actual application volumes against predictions. The balance of funding is received from the Scottish Government as Resource Departmental Expenditure Limit (DEL) Cash, Non-cash and Capital DEL. As part of the financial management process, monthly financial returns are submitted to the Scottish Government to provide on-going updates on funding requirements. The amount of funding provided by the Scottish Government can be amended twice annually via the Autumn and Spring budget revision exercises. 13

14 Performance, Continuous Improvement and Measuring Success We aim to continuously improve what we do and have set ourselves challenging targets for the year ahead and beyond. We measure our performance against achievement of agreed Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), achievement of business plan objectives and our contribution towards Scottish Government s National Outcomes. One of our main performance measures is to produce 90% of disclosures within 14 calendar days for correctly completed applications requiring no further enquiries. In we will continue to improve our workload forecasting and workforce planning capabilities to ensure that we are able to respond quickly to fluctuations in customer requirements. We will continue to work with our customers as we develop our new IT system and review how we do things so that we ensure the best possible outcomes for our stakeholders. Governance Governance is the framework and decision-making processes that underpin desired outcomes, allocate resources, manage performance and ensures that we meet our statutory and legal requirements. It encompasses overarching management practices, policies, guidance and delegations that provide the necessary assurances that the organisation is directed and controlled in the required way. We have effective governance procedures in place and will further build on this during this year. Disclosure Scotland s Agency Framework Document sets out our governance arrangements and describes: the relationship between Disclosure Scotland and the Scottish Ministers the Agency s objectives and performance measures; and the management and resources framework within which the Agency operates. 14

15 Contact information You can contact us by letter, telephone or Disclosure Scotland PO BOX 250 Glasgow G51 1YU Tel: (Monday to Thursday 08:30 to 17:00, Friday 08:30 to 16:30)