On Tuesday 30 November, we published our third Corporate Plan 2021-24 after it was laid in Parliament.
The Corporate Plan 2021-24 outlines the purpose, vision, strategic objectives and performance measures for Revenue Scotland. Together, these will help us continue our work in raising revenue to support public services across Scotland.
We held a virtual event to launch the Corporate Plan. Our stakeholders were invited to the event, and Tom Arthur, the Minister for Public Finance, Planning and Community Wealth, was the keynote speaker.
Tom Arthur, the Minister for Public Finance, Planning and Community Wealth said:
“As Scotland’s Public Finance Minister - and also drawing on my time on the Scottish Parliament's Finance and Constitution Committee - I’m in no doubt about how much Revenue Scotland has achieved since 2015. There is, of course, the more than £4 billion pounds in tax revenue that Revenue Scotland has collected over that time from Land and Buildings Transaction Tax and Scottish Landfill Tax. That money has been used to fund vital public services in Scotland, and support our overall ambitions for the nation. But underpinning that headline success has been the way in which Revenue Scotland has successfully responded to challenges, learned from experience, embraced change and grown as an organisation along the way.
Elaine Lorimer, Revenue Scotland CEO offered reflections over the last 12 months. Elaine said:
“The last 12 months has shown that we are capable of delivering a service for Scotland despite the challenges which Covid gave us. I believe the success of this period has been down to using three key principles to guide us: staff health and wellbeing; performance of our statutory functions; and maintaining excellent customer service. The first of these is of the utmost importance to us as an organisation, as staff were provided with the tools and support they needed to work from home, and they have been active participants in shaping our new model for returning to the office. To fulfil our statutory duties, we moved quickly to ensure tax returns and payments could still be made and processed, that our support desk could continue to function and it is a testament to our staff that our operational performance was maintained throughout. Overall, the last 12 months has demonstrated the capability Revenue Scotland now has and as we look ahead to our new corporate plan period, stands us in good stead for delivering the ambitions we set out there. I look forward to further developing and realising our potential as the national revenue authority for Scotland.”
Aidan O'Carroll, Chair of Revenue Scotland launched the Corporate Plan and offered his thoughts on the organisation’s priorities. Aidan said:
“I would like to thank the Revenue Scotland staff for their fantastic performance over the last year. A real commitment to public service. I’m delighted to launch our new corporate plan and the four pillars of focus for us over the next few years:
- Excelling in Delivery - Here our focus is on ensuring that we maintain a technology first approach, investing in new systems and the latest technology, as well as ensuring we are able to continue to get quality data analytics to make smarter decisions and connections.
- Investing in our People - We have a great team of people, around 80 in number, who along with our partners, most notably SEPA, are our most important asset. Our staff have managed to adapt to the most trying of circumstances, continuing to collect taxes despite the challenges the Covid-19 pandemic has brought about. Our People Strategy sets out the investments we will make in our people and their technological capabilities, to enable us to develop as an organisation. We maintain an acute awareness that we exist as a public service, and we will continue to adapt our ways of working to meet the needs of our staff and taxpayers.
- Reaching out – We are an accessible, collaborative and transparent organisation that is keen to learn from others and to share our experiences and expertise. In particular we are keen to engage users in the design of our services, maximise the opportunities of technology and expand the reach of our engagement to diversify our stakeholder base.
- Looking ahead - We plan and deliver change and new responsibilities flexibly, on time and within budget. We have a digital mind-set, maximising the use of our data and harnessing new technology to improve our working practices and services.”
Watch our Corporate Plan 2021-24 video presentation: