Best Value: revised statutory guidance 2020

Annexes

Best Value Guidance Refresh – National Steering Group

The steering group comprised officials from the Scottish Government, the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA), the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives (SOLACE), the Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) and the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO). Officials from Audit Scotland also attended meetings in an observational capacity:

David Martin, SOLACE and Chief Executive of Dundee City Local Authority (Chair)

Fiona Mitchell-Knight, Audit Scotland (observer)

Fraser McKinlay, Audit Scotland (observer)

Garrick Smyth, COSLA

James Fowlie, COSLA

Sandra Lorimer, Dundee City Local Authority

Brian Peddie, Scottish Government

John Stevenson, SPSO

Mike Kirby (Unison), STUC

Contributors:

Anne Margaret Black, East Ayrshire Integration Joint Board

Lorraine Gillies, Audit Scotland

Useful Resources

Audit Scotland

Further information on the audit of Best Value can be found on the Audit Scotland website

Audit Scotland issued on behalf of the Strategic Scrutiny Group Principles for community empowerment which aims to raise awareness of community empowerment and promote a shared understanding across scrutiny bodies to support high-quality scrutiny of community empowerment.

Accounts Commission

The “How Councils Work” series of reports produced by the Accounts Commission provides useful information and practical advice on a range of issues that are relevant to Best Value.

‘Following the Public Pound’ guidance is intended to ensure proper accountability for funds or other resources that are transferred by councils to arm’s-length bodies, such as companies, trusts and voluntary bodies funds, and to ensure that the principles of regularity and probity are not circumvented. It has the support of the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities.

Scottish Government

Best Value in Public Services: Guidance for Accountable Officers

Community empowerment: information can be found on the Scottish Government website.

Other resources

The European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) Excellence Model was developed by the EFQM. It is widely used as a framework for continuous improvement activity by private, public and voluntary sector organisations. More information can be found on the Quality Scotland web site.

The National Standards for Community Engagement are good-practice principles designed to improve and guide the process of community engagement.

The Place Standard tool provides a simple framework to structure conversations about place taking into account both the physical elements of a place and its social aspects.

The Public Service Improvement Framework (PSIF), produced by the Improvement Service, is a self-assessment framework that enables organisations to conduct a comprehensive review of their own activities and results.

The Sustainable Development Network provides information and advice on sustainable development in the public sector in Scotland.