The 'go to' organisation for Local Government improvement in Scotland

It is by design a self-assessment and not a test with an objective score. The sole purpose of the assessment is to help members reflect on changes they want to make to better carry out their roles and responsibilities.

The assessment uses six key roles, which are broken down into responsibilities and then indicators of effective practice, to aid learning and reflection. The assessment also prompts members to reflect on whether they need to develop key interpersonal skills to support them to carry out a role or responsibility differently.

The following documents outline the roles, responsibilities and indicators of effective practice which form the basis of the assessment, as well as the list of key interpersonal skills.

• Roles, responsibilities and indicators of effective practice
• Key interpersonal skills

For officers interested in finding out how the Political Skills Assessment could be used to support the council with its member development arrangements, please contact David Barr.

If you are an elected member and are interested in accessing the Political Skills Assessment, please speak to your officers to find out whether your council is using it.