National Bodies Policy Resources
Single Interface Programme
The
Scottish Government has developed the Single Interface Programme in order to develop a strong working relationship between the voluntary and community
sector with public agencies.
COSLA
COSLA, the Convention of Scottish Local
Authorities, is the representative voice of Scottish local government. It also
acts as the employers' association on behalf of all Scottish councils.
COSLA's main decision making body is the Leaders' Meeting which is held eight times each year. It is attended by the leaders of all member councils. The core work of COSLA is progressed by 7 Executive groups. The COSLA website provides access to the Papers and Minutes for both Executive Groups and Leaders meetings.
The website also provides access to papers from
the COSLA Convention which is the ruling body which has overall control of
COSLA's policy and direction. It consists of representatives from all member
councils and political groups represented within Scottish Local Government. The
Convention meets four times a year in different venues throughout Scotland.
Local Government
Improvement Service
The Improvement Service was set up to support
improvement in the efficiency, quality and accountability of public services in
Scotland.
This website is intended to help elected
members, officers and practitioners to share their views and experiences. It also provides information and resources on issues that concern and affect Scottish
local government and the drive for improvement.
Audit Scotland
Audit Scotland
helps the Auditor General and the Accounts Commission to make sure
organisations that spend public money in Scotland use it properly,
efficiently and effectively.
This is done by carrying out financial and
performance audits - that is, detailed and systematic investigations - of
various aspects of how public bodies work.
Scottish Council for
Voluntary Organisations (SCVO)
The Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations
is the national body representing the voluntary sector. SCVO seeks to advance
the values and shared interests of the voluntary sector.
SCVO is a member of the national Third
Sector Task Group which has come together to work on a number of issues of
particular pertinence to third sector.
The
aim is to have an effective partnership approach to the challenges faced by the third sector, and to generate good practice and guidance both in response to
the new landscape, and more generally.
CHEX
CHEX provides support for community development approaches to health
improvement and challenges health inequalities.
It also facilitates a network of community
health initiatives and works to support them to develop good practice and
to influence health and social policies.
CHEX operates at strategic and operational
levels.
Strategically, it supports community health initiatives in engaging
with policy makers and participates in a range of national working
groups. These include the Community-Led
Supporting and Developing Healthy Communities Task Group and Public
Health Workforce Group.
Operationally,
it supports an infrastructure which links community health initiatives,
voluntary organisations and public sector agencies to apply effective
community development practice to a wide range of health improvement
interventions.
Scottish Community Development
Centre (SCDC)
The Scottish Community Development Centre is the
designated National Development Centre for community development in Scotland.
SCDC, currently host and manage three publicly funded national projects:
- Community Health Exchange (CHEX)
- Visioning Outcomes in Community Engagement (VOiCE)
- Meeting the Shared Challenge
In addition to offering consultancy and training
services to local agencies, local projects and communities SCDC:
- work with communities to support community groups to set their own agendas, strengthen local action and build community capacity;
- work with agencies and partnerships to achieve effective community engagement and community participation, assess community needs and issues, and plan and evaluate practice;
- influence policy by researching issues, disseminating findings and contributing to government working groups and committees