Scotland has a National Performance Framework (NPF), and you can find out more about it in this key issues briefing from SPICe.
It includes 11 outcomes , and the performance of those outcomes is measured by a total of 81 National Indicators. This blog provides a snapshot of the current performance of the National Indicators, and we plan to update it on the first Monday of the month.
SPICe recently published the blog Review of the National Outcomes 2023 – Back to the future? which looks to provide some background on the NPF, discuss Parliament’s role in scrutinising the National Outcomes and the NPF, and analyse some of the key issues around the NPF that the Scottish Government may look to address.
For example one outcome is all about Children and Young People, and the outcome is that “We grow up loved, safe and respected so that we realise our full potential”. So, how is that outcome measured? The NPF actually has seven different indicators related to this outcome, and one of these is titled “child social and physical development”, and specifically measures the “the percentage of children with a concern at their 27-30 month review (as a % of children reviewed)”. The indicator relates to Health Visitors’ assessment of children’s development and the ‘Number of children eligible for review’ is defined as the number of children who turned 27 months old during the financial year of interest (April to March) and who were active on the Scottish Immunisation & Recall System (SIRS). |
How do we know if things are getting better, worse or staying the same?
To help simplify a complex array of statistical measures and get a sense of the overall direction of the NPF, each one of the 81 National Indicators is assessed as to whether its performance is improving, maintaining or worsening based on the change between the last two data points.
That decision, for each indicator, is based on its own “Criteria for Change”
For example, If we look at the Criteria for Change for the Economic Growth indicator, we can get an idea of how this works. This indicator measures how well the Scottish economy is growing compared to recent history. It compares Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth in the most recent year against the average annual GDP growth across the three previous years. The Criteria for Change for this Indicator are: Performance Improving means: 0.1 percentage points or more higher than the average annual growth rates for the preceding 3 years Performance Maintaining means: within +/- 0.1 percentage points of the average annual growth rates for the preceding 3 years Performance Worsening means: 0.1 percentage points or more lower than the average annual growth rates for the preceding 3 years |
So, are things getting better, worse or staying the same?
Updated at 4 September 2023
This section outlines how each of the 81 Indicators is performing.
The NPF was last refreshed and reviewed in 2018 and indicators are updated as and when new data becomes available. However, it should be noted that, as at 4 September 2023, of the 81 National indicators there is now no data for 19. That leaves us with 62 indicators on which performance has been assessed.
It was not possible to report performance for 19 indicators. This is due to changes in data collection methodology during Covid-19 which is only now becoming apparent in the NPF data. These changes in methodology mean that the current data is not comparable to previous years, thus no performance assessment can be made. We are working with the lead analysts and the Chief Statistician to keep users informed of these reasons on the NPF website and to look ahead to reporting performance again for these indicators as soon as possible. There are also six National Indicators out of 81 that are still in development from 2018.
For surveys like the Scottish Household Survey, the pandemic has had a major impact on how that data has been collected (details available in this report). In summary, as set out here, in March 2020, to help prevent the spread of Covid-19, fieldwork for the Scottish Household Survey was suspended. A revised approach was piloted and adopted for the remainder of the 2020 sample. This involved no interviewer travel, and surveys conducted remotely, either by telephone or by video.
As a result, the government says that it has not been possible to determine the extent to which any differences between 2020 and previous years represent genuine changes in people’s views and experiences, as opposed to being due to changes in how the survey was carried out. This has meant that reporting on these National Indicators has had to change to capture this.
More information can be found on the NPF website.
The big picture
The following chart gives an overview of what is happening with each indicator grouped by its relevant outcomes.

In most cases (30) performance is maintaining, whilst improvement is seen for 18 Indicators, and for 14 Indicators the position is worsening.
Current gaps in data are notable in Education (no performance data for 4 out of 9 Indicators), Human rights (no performance data for 3 out of 4 indicators), Communities (no data for 3 out of 8 indicators) and for International (no performance data for 3 out of 6 Indicators).
A breakdown by all the National Indicators
The following table provides an overview of what is happening with each indicator grouped by the relevant outcomes.
Children and Young People
Indicator | Performance |
Performance Worsening | |
Performance Maintaining | |
Performance Improving | |
Performance Maintaining | |
Performance Worsening | |
Performance Maintaining | |
Performance to be confirmed |
Communities
Indicator | Performance |
Performance Maintaining | |
Performance to be confirmed | |
Performance Maintaining | |
Performance Improving | |
Performance Maintaining | |
Performance to be confirmed | |
Performance to be confirmed | |
Performance Worsening |
Culture
Indicator | Performance |
Performance to be confirmed | |
Performance to be confirmed | |
Performance Maintaining | |
Performance Maintaining |
Economy
Indicator | Performance |
Performance Maintaining | |
Performance Improving | |
Performance Improving | |
Performance Maintaining | |
Performance Maintaining | |
Performance Worsening | |
Performance Improving | |
Performance Maintaining | |
Performance Improving | |
Performance Improving |
Education
Indicator | Performance |
Performance to be confirmed | |
Confidence of children and young people | Indicator in development |
Resilience of children and young people | Indicator in development |
Performance Worsening | |
Engagement in extra-curricular activities | Indicator in development |
Performance Maintaining | |
Performance Improving | |
Performance Improving | |
Performance Improving |
Environment
Indicator | Performance |
Performance to be confirmed | |
Performance Maintaining | |
Performance Worsening | |
Performance Improving | |
Performance Worsening | |
Performance Improving | |
Performance Maintaining | |
Performance Maintaining |
Fair Work & Business
Indicator | Performance |
Performance Worsening | |
Performance Worsening | |
Performance Improving | |
Performance Maintaining | |
Performance Maintaining | |
Performance Maintaining | |
Performance Maintaining | |
Performance Worsening | |
Performance Improving |
Health
Indicator | Performance |
Performance Maintaining | |
Performance Worsening | |
Performance Maintaining | |
Performance Maintaining | |
Performance Improving | |
Performance Improving | |
Performance Worsening | |
Performance Maintaining | |
Performance Worsening |
Human Rights
Indicator | Performance |
Indicator in development | |
Performance to be confirmed | |
Performance to be confirmed | |
Performance Maintaining |
International
Indicator | Performance |
Performance Maintaining | |
Performance Improving | |
Performance Improving | |
Indicator in development | |
Indicator in development | |
Performance to be confirmed |
Poverty
Indicator | Performance |
Performance Maintaining | |
Performance Worsening | |
Performance Maintaining | |
Performance Maintaining | |
Performance Maintaining | |
Performance to be confirmed | |
Performance to be confirmed |
Finally, it is worth noting that the Scottish Government has recently been asking users what they think of the National Performance Framework, and a review of the National Outcomes is currently underway. People and organisations from across Scotland told us whether our National Outcomes continue to reflect the kind of Scotland we want to see in our consultation and call for evidence which closed on 12 June. The Scottish Government are currently analysing that data. For more information visit the NPF website.
There’s an NPF newsletter for those who want to keep up to date.
Andrew Aiton, Data Visualisation Manager