The Improvement Service and the Scottish Consumer Council have jointly commissioned research to identify whether Scottish local government would benefit from a standard approach to measure customer satisfaction with their services. The research will also explore what this standard approach across Scottish local government might look like.

On 19th March, the Improvement Service hosted an event to formally launch the Public Service Improvement Framework Phase Two for Scottish public services.

The Improvement Service is delighted to announce that we have recently entered into an agreement with the Improvement and Development Agency (IDeA) for use of the Communities of Practice (CoP) platform which they have developed. This means that we can now offer an improved collaboration platform for people working in Scottish Councils and their partners.

The SOLACE Scotland conference took place at the end of March. The theme for the conference was te relationship between local government and the Scottish Government and how this can be further developed.

Key speakers at the event included John Swinney MSP; Philip Rycroft, Director General Education, Scottish Government; Bill Leighty, Director, GPI, Virginia Commonwealth University; Colin McKerracher, President of APCOS and Chief Constable, Grampian Police Force; and Tom Divers, Chief Executive, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.

Copies of many of the conference presentations are available online at:  https://secure.solace.org.uk/scotland2008/slides.htm