Scottish Ministers and Council Leaders agreed latest generation Single Outcome Agreements (SOAs) in Summer 2013. CPPs developed these SOAs in line with SOA guidance published in December 2012. The new SOAs represent a key component of strengthened community planning as set out in the joint Scottish Government/COSLA Statement of Ambition. In particular, they demonstrate a clearer understanding of local place and priorities than earlier versions, and plans for the delivery of improved outcomes on these priorities. The SOAs also set out how each CPP is aligning its approach with the four pillars of public service reform: prevention; local integration and partnership; performance improvement, and investment in people.
The draft SOAs were considered in a Quality Assurance (QA) process which involved eight QA teams working with four CPPs each. The teams (24 senior leaders from 17 different organisations, including Scottish Government, local government, NHS bodies, Skills Development Scotland, Scottish Enterprise, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Police Scotland, the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service and the Improvement Service) considered draft SOAs against the Guidance and key messages from the recent audits of CPPs led by Audit Scotland. After discussing their findings with the CPP, the QA teams then agreed a Development Plan for further work on the SOA and/or broader improvement activity. It is these Development Plans, alongside the SOAs themselves, that Scottish Ministers and Council Leaders have approved.
The accompanying pages set out SOAs and development plans. In most cases these are the versions as agreed in Summer 2013. In some cases, CPPs have since updated the SOAs (e.g. to add detail to prevention plans or to targets). Readers looking for the most up-to-date versions of SOAs are advised to check CPP or local authority websites.