This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Local government improvement service
04/12/2003
The first meeting of the shadow board of the improvement
service for local government was held today.
Afterwards Finance and Public Services Minister Andy
Kerr said that by working in close partnership with local
government through COSLA and SOLACE to put the service in
place, the Executive was provide help to local authorities
and their partners to support continuous improvement in
service delivery.
He added:
"The improved delivery of public services is a priority
for the Executive and local government. This meeting is the
first step forward to making the new service a reality.
"We must focus on the needs of the people who use
frontline services to ensure improved delivery. By working
in close partnership with local authorities we will deliver
this shared priority and help to improve the lives of the
people of Scotland.
"Many of the services provided by local government are
excellent but we must keep improving for all people across
Scotland. That is the aim of the service - working closely
with local authorities to ensure the improved delivery of
frontline services focused on the needs of the people who
use them.
"That is why the development of this new improvement
service is so significant. I am sure it will play a crucial
role in driving up standards in the delivery of public
services. once established.
"It could do this in a number of ways, including:
- Identifying and communicating good practice across
Councils and partners to drive forward service
improvement across Scotland
- Promoting a real culture of learning across local
government and its partners, so we can keep responding
to the changing needs of people across Scotland
- Investing in the skills of Councils for both staff
and elected members; and
- Supporting progress in delivering better public
services against the backdrop of the duty of best value
and the new best value audit, announced last week by
Accounts Commission
"We all want this new service to work in partnership -
in a way that means ultimately, the customer will notice
the changes which it brings about - the improved delivery
of public services."
COSLA President Pat Watters said:
"The development of an improvement service is not about
starting from a zero base. We already have councils
delivering first-class services throughout Scotland and
coming up with innovative solutions to complex
situations.
"The improvement service should be something that
councils feel ownership of and something that councils can
tap into to build on current good practice. It will enable
councils to find out what has worked well and been
successful elsewhere and allow them to make use of this in
their own local situation where they feel it is appropriate
to do so.
"All of Scotland's councils strive to continually
improve the services they deliver to the communities they
are elected to represent and a key component of this is to
have a well informed and highly skilled workforce.
"The improvement service will hopefully go some way
towards once more making local government a genuine first
choice career for graduates and allow us to recruit and
retain high quality staff within local government."
SOLACE Chair Douglas Sinclair said:
"Continuous improvement is now a statutory duty on
Scottish Councils. But that can only be delivered with much
greater investment in Scotland's 280,000 local government
employees, to provide better service for the public. The
creation of the improvement service is a crucial step
forward."
Members of the shadow board are:
- Andy Kerr, Minister for Finance and Public
Services
- Leslie Evans, Head of Public Services Group,
Scottish Executive
- Pat Watters, President of the Convention of
Scottish Local Authorities
- Corrie McChord, Vice President of COSLA
- Douglas Sinclair, President of the Society Of Local
Authority Chief Executives
- Keith Yates, Vice-President of SOLACE