The Scottish Climate Intelligence Service (SCIS) is not just about net zero or local climate action: at its core, SCIS is all about public service reform, writes John Rembowski, Project Officer.
“Public services touch on every aspect of our day to day lives and are fundamental to delivering the action we will take to eradicate child poverty, grow the economy, and tackle the climate emergency.” ('Programme for Government 2024-25', ScotGov, 2024, p.32)
From healthcare to education, social care to transport, policing to waste management, the Scottish public sector provides vital services to communities across Scotland.
Accounting for 22% of total employment, the sector and services it provides directly impact the most important issues facing people today: poverty, inequality and the climate and ecological crises.
Given the size of the sector and scale of the challenges it is tackling, it is in everyone’s interests for public services to work as well as they can.
So, why does this matter to the Scottish Climate Intelligence Service (SCIS)?
Because SCIS is not just about net zero or local climate action: at its core, SCIS is all about public service reform.
What does public service reform mean?
Public service reform is about making public services, and the public sector that provides them, work better for the people and communities they serve.
Good thinking in this area ranges from a recognition of the prevalence of outdated modes of thinking in public service delivery to the rise in prominence of ‘mission-led government’ and calls for a public sector that ‘does with’ rather than ‘does to’.
Examples like the Cabinet Office’s Test, Learn and Grow Programme, Clackmannanshire’s Transformation Space and several case studies described by the Improvement Service highlight ways in which both national and local government are responding to this challenge, with a focus on place-based, iterative and preventative action.
Public service reform in Scotland
In Scotland, contemporary public service reform stems from the 2011 Christie Commission, which responded to rising demand for services and limited public spending under austerity.
The Commission proposed four key principles for reform that became known as the ‘4 Ps’ - People, Partnership, Prevention, and Performance, with a fifth element, ‘Place,’ added later.
The diagram below – taken from Scotland’s Public Service Reform Strategy 2025 earlier this year – breaks down the ‘5 Ps’ into their constituent parts.
'Root Cause Analysis: What needs to happen to enable systematic change', Scotland’s Public Service Reform Strategy — Delivering for Scotland, p.11, 2025
SCIS and public service reform
SCIS are fortunate to work with all 32 local authorities across Scotland to build their capacity and capability and reduce area-wide emissions, with all the additional benefits this action brings.
This goes beyond reducing carbon emissions.
Capacity means the ability of local government to act, both in terms of the resources available to drive action, and a local authority’s ability to collaborate across service areas. Capability refers to the flexibility and adaptability of an organisation in the face of complex challenges.
From our workshops and tailored support to unified methodology and shared data platform, SCIS is helping to build local government capacity and capability across each of the five core pillars of public service reform outlined above. Here’s how:
Place: empowering local decision-making
We know that action on climate change is needed. We also know that local authorities have multiple levers to implement action across key sectors, including energy efficiency, transport, buildings and waste management. Through a dedicated capacity-building programme including training, peer-to-peer learning and 1-1 support, SCIS is empowering officers and elected members to make the most effective, efficient decisions for their areas and communities.
Performance: embedding data and driving efficiency
Grounded in the excellent work councils have already done, SCIS is supporting local authorities to move existing climate action plans online, using a digital platform - ClimateView - to design, implement and improve area-wide emissions reduction programmes.
We’ve created a single, consistent set of yearly data showing where local emissions come from. Using this data through a shared online platform means every council is working from the same information. It helps make reporting clearer, avoids duplication, and supports a joined-up, “Once for Scotland” way of working.
Prevention: enabling long-term solutions
Based on their emissions data and interventions they are implementing or have committed to, SCIS’ tempo analysis and target balancing workshops empower officials to better understand the rate and pace of change required to meet their goals.
We’re sharing what we learn with the Scottish Government - showing how ambitious different areas are in their climate plans. By linking local actions to national policies, we’re helping decision-makers see what’s working, spot gaps, and plan for both short-term needs and long-term goals.
SCIS is also committed to promoting preventative spending by highlighting the additional benefits of climate action, including economic, health, and social benefits.
People: making services accessible and integrated
People want climate action, but the ‘perception gap’ means that while we as individuals may want action to happen, we tend to believe that others do not, limiting engagement and action on climate. Showing what climate action is already happening across the country is vital to increase public buy-in and engagement with the transition.
Local authorities are climate leaders, and the SCIS is helping demonstrate this through clear and publicly available dashboards. Aberdeenshire was the first local authority to publish its dashboard, and we expect more to follow soon.
Partnership: breaking down silos and building accountability
Councils already work closely with partners across different sectors to deliver services. Similarly, while SCIS mainly supports local authorities, we know that cutting emissions is a shared responsibility - no single organisation can do it alone. Local emissions also connect to many other challenges, which means tackling them is a big opportunity to make wider positive change.
SCIS aims to empower officials and elected members to work more effectively across the council and with partners when delivering climate action. We are helping to break down silos through our Transition Team workshops, ensuring decisions are made in collaboration with practitioners and experts across sectors to best reflect the complexity of both the challenge and available solutions.
In summary
Scotland’s public sector is already working to create a fairer, healthier and more resilient Scotland: SCIS exists to support and accelerate this work.
Both climate change and public service reform are large, complex problems. While we definitely don’t have all of the answers, we believe that there are ways to positively impact both at the same time.
If you have any questions or comments on anything in this blog post, please get in touch with us on LinkedIn or at info@climateintelligenceservice.scot.