Delivering Change: Inside the Scottish Government’s Strategic Transformation

The interview was conducted by Ula Rutkowska (Senior Researcher, Apolitical) and edited by Rui Yi Ang (BSc in Politics and Philosophy, LSE and Communications Intern, Apolitical).

As governments face growing challenges — from climate change and AI to political volatility — the need to deliver meaningful, long-term outcomes is more urgent than ever. In Scotland, this urgency has sparked a renewed focus on strategic vision, organisational reform and building a future-fit public service. In this conversation, Lisa McGuinness, Director of Strategy and Delivery for the Scottish Government, shares how the organisation is evolving: rethinking structures, strengthening collaboration and putting people at the heart of delivery. Her reflections offer insight into leading through change — from managing political transitions to fostering a culture of learning, accountability and purpose across government.

Q: How did you first enter the civil service and what are some of the key experiences that have shaped your career?

**A: **I joined the civil service about 20 years ago, which I've always found really scary to say. It’ll be 21 years soon, and honestly, it doesn't feel that long. I still feel like a newbie in many ways.

I started my career as a tax inspector in Suffolk, England and spent around 15 years at His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC). I held several roles there — starting as a tax inspector, then becoming a customer relationship manager for big business and eventually working in operational delivery in business tax operations. And I found that was what I enjoyed the most: leading large teams in a fast-paced environment where being flexible and agile was valued.

I then transitioned into the Scottish government, joining the directorate focused on protecting Scotland’s marine environment. It was responsible for managing and protecting Scotland’s seas, ensuring compliance among those using these waters to support environmental and fishery protection.

From there, I moved into the core of the Scottish government, working as the principal private secretary to the Permanent Secretary. That role was my first real opportunity to see how the government operates from the centre. I was there through multiple leadership transitions, including a Permanent Secretary and two First Minister changes, which deepened my understanding of governmental dynamics.

**Q: Can you describe your current role and how your past experiences have contributed to your career? **

**A: **Now, I serve as the Director for Strategy and Delivery in the Scottish Government, a role that aligns with the values I learned in HMRC: putting the customer at the heart of everything we do. Our policies are focused on the citizens, ensuring that all our actions are centred around people.

Reflecting on my journey, I realise my experience has been significantly shaped by people—from those I serve to the colleagues and mentors who have supported me from the very beginning. Their encouragement has pushed me to always strive for more, whether it's pursuing my goals and ambitions or providing a safe space to discuss the challenges I’ve faced.

One memorable moment was being at the HMRC when it went from having 52 offices across the UK to just 13. That was a formative experience for me, and through it, I learned a lot about managing significant change, including some of the personal support and processes required for successful implementation. While many other experiences have shaped my career, that moment gives you a snapshot of where I’ve been and what I’ve been focused on.

Over time, I’ve also come to recognise that I have a natural curiosity about how things work. I'm always asking questions, much like a magpie. This curiosity has led me to pursue roles that not only interest and challenge me personally but also allow me to contribute meaningfully.

All of these influences have shaped my core philosophy of adding value, eliminating unnecessary waste and, above all, putting people at the heart of what I do.

**Q: What are your major priorities at the moment? **

**A: **As Director of Strategy and Delivery, I sit at the centre of the Scottish government. And since its inception, the organisation has grown quite organically and has been shaped by devolution.

I think we're now at a point where there is a greater focus on intentional design and investing in central constructs and infrastructure. It’s not command and control, but actually enabling mechanisms at the heart of government that enable other areas to deliver policy changes effectively.

I'm responsible for setting an ambitious vision for Scotland, defining our future direction and understanding what our people want. This task involves establishing a national performance framework that outlines our long-term goals and identifies the risks that could hinder progress, as well as the opportunities we need to seize. These elements inform the government's missions and priorities.

Q: How do you turn that long-term vision into action on the ground?

For the current government, it's essential to focus on how we will achieve those long-term outcomes by establishing a strategic framework for delivery. We work within five-year parliamentary terms, supported by annual programs that outline how we will fulfil our ambitions. And we manage this process through monitoring and reporting to ensure effective delivery.

We also do a lot of work in risk management to mitigate the likelihood of non-delivery or obstacles arising. This includes crisis response, where unforeseen events occur and all controls and mitigations have failed; my teams then coordinate and oversee the government’s response. It really is an end-to-end journey: from vision to execution.

As we approach the election, we face competing priorities. On the one hand, the current ministers are focused on delivering their programme. We have to evaluate and prioritise what needs to be delivered between now and the election. But at the same time, we must prepare for the next five-year term, regardless of which political party is in power. Recognising that the makeup of the parliament will change, we're trying to establish a framework that transcends politics. It’s essential that we can mobilise the system effectively, regardless of who the First Minister is or their specific priorities.

Building the system means enabling it to wrap around us, whether that's creating frameworks or making connections at both national and local levels with our partners. It's very much about enabling and supporting the organisation to deliver, making it a very exciting and interesting time for us!

Q: How is the Scottish government evolving to meet emerging challenges and opportunities? What kinds of organisational changes are necessary to stay ahead?

A: Gosh, big questions, aren’t they? You only have to look at the rapid shifts happening around the world to know that we need to evolve our approaches. Scotland’s political environment is also changing, with new parties and policies coming into the mix.

The appointment of a new permanent secretary to the organisation also brings both challenges and opportunities. Importantly, it gives us space to take a step back and reflect on what has worked well, what continues to work and where we need to make changes.

One challenge we face is that we’ve become quite a vertical organisation, which is reflected in our thinking across the country. There's a real opportunity for us to adopt a different perspective. While we tend to view issues through specific lenses, such as education, justice or net zero, we could benefit from adopting a more horizontal perspective. Whether that’s adopting a sectoral lens or looking through the eyes of children and families or other demographics, the services and policies that young people are looking for and need are very different from the older generations.

Additionally, we are embracing a mission- and priority-based approach, and we need to consider whether the current shape of the organisation supports it. With that priorities approach, it’s about taking a delivery focus: what is the outcome we want to achieve? If our citizens are the ultimate customer, how do we ensure that our policies and decisions are delivering the right impact? At the moment, we rely on input metrics; we assume that spending £2 billion makes a difference without evaluating the actual investment outcomes. But we’re starting to shift as an organisation into an outcomes-based model, aligning our efforts with clear KPIs and targets.

**Q: What values or principles are guiding these longer-term changes? **

**A: **The First Minister emphasises the importance of hope and delivery, and he considers them both to be equally vital. We need to inspire optimism that better times are ahead while recognising the challenges we currently face. It’s essential to align our vision as an organisation with having customers at the heart of what we do. However, the Scottish government cannot achieve this on its own. We need to work across the system, in collaboration and partnership with local governments, the community, the voluntary sector and businesses, to achieve these shared outcomes.

Our ongoing reform aims to build a system that supports these national outcomes. It’s a holistic approach, considering not only what the government can do but also systems domestically, nationally and internationally. For me, it's about remembering the importance of locality and place, recognising that we must leave our ivory tower to create a real impact on the ground.

While it's still early days in this journey, there is a vision and there is ambition. Uniting these two elements and building strong relationships is what I'm really excited to see happen.

Q: What are the Scottish government's key priorities for strengthening the collective capacity and collaboration across the public sector?

A: One key priority is understanding place. Scotland is very diverse — in its population, its geography and its resources. What works in an area of Glasgow may look very different from the needs of a remote Highland community.

It’s crucial to recognise that while we may have an ambition to roll out better employability services across the country, some regions may not be ready for them. We might first need to build the workforce or supply to prepare them for those services. Or, we may find that the workforce is already saturated, and employability services are the last thing they need. It’s recognising that need and the importance of place: that’s a big priority for us.

There’s also a real desire among senior leadership and ministers to build an effective system. While we’re a diverse country, we’re not that large. This presents us with an opportunity in the public service to connect effectively and efficiently, ensuring that we offer the right services in our communities together. There’s no point in having a public, private and volunteer sector that all offer the same resources. Duplicating these efforts is just wasteful. However, if there is a community need for it, we must view public service more holistically and integrate these services to ensure that we’re greater than the sum of our parts.

Reform and intentional design are also high priorities. Many current systems are not a result of intentional design, but rather quick solutions to meet urgent needs. As we head into this next term, we have a significant opportunity to align our reform work across the public sector. We must ask ourselves the difficult questions. For example, does a country the size of Scotland need 32 local authorities and 29 health boards? If those numbers don’t seem right, and a lot of these chief executives are performing similar roles, we should reconsider them.

Ultimately, our priorities are centred around supporting intentional reform, aligned with a clear vision and a set of desired outcomes. Instead of trying to make existing structures work, we should evaluate if there are better ways to organise our services and challenge ourselves and our partners to pursue them.

Q: What are your current leadership priorities within the Scottish government? How are these priorities shaping your approach to public service and future readiness across departments?

**A: **My leadership priorities are focused on embedding change and taking people along with us. While this shift may not seem transformative to some, it is a massive change for others.

Leading by example, taking people with us and making it as easy as possible so that those who are ready to go and run with it feel empowered and ready to do so. For those who may need more time to adjust, how are we supporting them to bring them along on this journey? I believe this involves a strong emphasis on changing our style of leadership. It's not just about saying we're going to get there; it’s also about providing people with the map and resources needed to actually reach our destination. My role, along with colleagues from across the organisation, is to set this framework for success wherever possible.

We need to be mindful of readiness and be more cognisant of what's ahead. While it is important to fight the fires immediately in front of us, how do we prevent them from reigniting or sparking in the first place? How can we adopt a more strategic approach to anticipate and tackle what's coming? We should consider what Scotland will look like in 2040 and identify the actions needed now to prepare for it.

It’s about shifting from response to prevention— mitigating future problems from occurring. My key priorities are to implement frameworks that facilitate this progress while leading my team and colleagues across Scotland in aligning these efforts.

Q: What significance does collaborating with Apolitical hold for you and your leadership in terms of long-term capacity building?

**A: **I see three key areas where Apolitical can make a significant impact.

First, there's the aspect of challenge. Apolitical shares knowledge and learnings from around the world, which encourages us to think critically about our practices. That opportunity — through forums, sessions and events — to promote this sense of challenge is essential.

Second, collaboration is crucial. We need to effectively utilise networks and build communities that encourage a collaborative approach, leveraging political knowledge and ability.

Linked to that is collective understanding and accountability; Apolitical can help us align on the goals we're striving toward, but also drive accountability across the board.

In terms of long-term capacity building, I always find it beneficial during political discussions to encourage looking up and out. It’s very easy to look down and in, but making connections and reflecting on whether we’re ambitious enough is key. We should be asking questions, like: “Have we thought about this? Could we link in with that resource? What do we learn here?”

Encouraging continual learning and maintaining that outward focus is a key point for me and my leadership team. We need to hold ourselves accountable for supporting the rest of the organisation and that broader system, ensuring we maximise our value from all our partners, colleagues and stakeholders.

For me, it’s about challenge, collaboration and collective understanding while maintaining that drive and accountability to continue looking up and out. We're all in it together.