The Improvement Service is working with COSLA, the Scottish Government, the Chartered Institute of Public Finance Accountants and Audit Scotland to further advance the efficiency agenda within Scottish local government.
Our key aims are:
- To develop a framework, in partnership with key stakeholders, for monitoring efficiency gains in Scottish local government;
- To develop toolkits, in partnership with key stakeholders, to support the implementation of efficiency gains within local authorities;
- To link work on efficiency gains to other development areas such as performance management.
A project was undertaken during 2006/7 to develop a set of efficiency measures for use by Scottish local government to assist with monitoring efficiency improvement in future years. The aim of the project was to provide a transparent method to help local authorities in measuring efficiency gains and in accounting and reporting on them in a consistent manner.
The measures were developed by local authorities themselves using a highly collaborative process. This included a three-day event involving 25 councils, wider consultation through an online discussion forum and in-depth discussions with relevant professional associations.
The resulting framework was used by councils to assist in the production of their 2006/2007 Annual Efficiency Statements. The 2006/2007 and 2007/2008 Statements are available on the Efficient Government community of practice.
The IS will continue to review the efficiency measures in light of the development of Single Outcome Agreements to ensure that they are still relevant.
A community of practice for people in Scottish councils and supporting organisations, to work together on delivery of efficiency savings and on providing evidence of these through Annual Efficiency Statements has been established. This can be accessed at http://communities.idea.gov.uk
On 18 March 2008, the IS hosted an Efficient Government Workshop to discuss research conducted by consultancy firm Brodies into the implementation of the Efficient Government Agenda within councils. With a focus on encouraging the sharing of experiences and learning, the event acted as a forum for further debate around all aspects of the Efficient Government Agenda. All materials from this event are available on this site.
Contact Us
For further information on our work related to efficient government, please contact Mark McAteer on 01506 775562.
