A new director, learning events and more organisations than ever involved meant a busy end to 2008 and start to 2009 for the Public Service Improvement Framework.
Over 22 organisations are now operating PSIF across Scotland, with 60 PSIF practitioners accredited to EFQM Assessor standard. Additionally, 300 colleagues within PSIF organisations have received Awareness Training sessions. There are also 42 planned assessments, of which 23 have been completed.And interest in the self-assessment framework continues to grow, with the team planning to meet with several councils and fire and rescue authorities in the coming weeks.
The latter part of 2008 saw the first PSIF learning events. In November, the first event - Mock PSIF Assessment - was attended by 46 delegates from 20 PSIF organisations. Feedback on the event, which combined presentations and break-out sessions, was positive and second event is planned for late February (date still to be confirmed).
In December, North Lanarkshire Council hosted a PSIF/SOA event attended by 28 delegates. The event featured presentations from Mark McAteer and Andrew McGuire from the Improvement Service's Governance and Performance Management team who explained the latest developments around Single Outcome Agreements and how they link to PSIF. Group sessions to discuss the challenges that SOAs present to PSIF, how the PSIF needs to evolve in response to SOAs, and how PSIF can support the SOA development process followed.
Finally, it has been announced that Sarah Gadsden has taken over the role of PSIF Director from Tom McHugh, who will be undertaking another role in the Shared Services - Customer First programme. Sarah took over in the role on 5 January, though there will be a phased transition period between January and March 2009. Any queries about PSIF should now be directed to Sarah Gadsden on 01506 775558.
