Further detail

To demonstrate how Best Value is being achieved in SPA Corporate we undertake an annual self-assessment against the seven Best Value themes as described in the Scotland Government’s guidance for Accountable Officers (AO).

Areas where scoring is less developed are singled out for further deep dive work to be completed, utilising the applicable Audit Scotland Best Value Toolkit.

This is the second full iteration of utilising the AO guidance with assessment by holding seven workshops involving a range of stakeholders from across SPA Corporate.

Approach 2023/24

The majority of workshops have been completed and areas for continuous improvement have been identified that will form a Best Value continuous improvement plan. It is recognised that many areas of improvement already have plans as part of the corporate strategy service plan. However, any new standalone actions will be captured on the Best Value improvement plan that will be monitored on the 4Action system.

The self-assessment has also focused on ensuring that we have robust evidence to support our evaluation.

Early indicators from the workshops highlight that there has been a maturity in our assessment approach compared with the previous year. Highlights included:

Demonstrating improvement in compliance for actions delivered that were previously non-compliant or partially compliant.
Recognising that whilst we may be compliant with indicators but we have identified actions that could strengthen our position moving us from a baseline compliance to focus on best practice.
Revising some areas, acknowledging that there is further work to be done to demonstrate compliance.

Previous Self-Assessment 2022/23

The same model of self-assessment was applied last year, identifying;
52% compliance
32% non-compliance
11% partial compliance

5% of indicators not applicable

Assessment last year revealed that Sustainability was an area of weakness where significant improvements could be made.

A number of initiatives were launched to improve this area which will be reflected in the assessment this year. Examples include:
establishing a sustainability working group;
creating a sustainability champion;
an energy efficiency assessment completed;
formalising a travel hierarchy; and
changing catering.

We expect sustainability scoring to have significantly improved significantly this year following these positive steps.

Next Steps

All Best Value workshops will be completed by mid-August. The Best Value continuous improvement plan will be finalised with appropriate action owners identified and timescales agreed.

Deep-dive areas will be identified with work commencing on improving these areas.

An overview of the findings from the assessment will be shared at the November ARAC.