SBC Technical Services nominated for top award
Friday, August 12 2005
Members of Scottish Borders Council's Technical Services Department have been nominated for one of the top prizes at this year's Association of Public Service Excellence (APSE) Awards.
The small team has been nominated for the Award for Partnership Working, after creating the Scottish Borders Council Joint Quarry Partnership with contractors and quarry masters, RMC Russell.
SBC's Head of Roads and Fleet Management, Tom Walker, said, "This nomination recognises SBc Contract's innovative approach to partnering. The arrangements are working well, and a real team has developed to ensure the benefits of the Partnership are achieved."
The Joint Quarry Partnership scheme was created by Mr Walker and DLO Roads Manager Kenny Hastings. It was set up following
the last round of Trunk Road Maintenance bids to remedy the problems facing local quarry companies supplying bituminous materials.
It was found that prices in the Scottish Borders were considerably higher than those in Central Scotland, and that the consistency
of supply had dropped. The Partnership scheme was set up in order to achieve equitable prices, guaranteed supply and a share
of decision making and profit.
The Awards ceremony will take place at the APSE Annual Seminar at the Burrell Collection in Glasgow on 8 September. It is
expected that more than 700 guests from across the UK will attend. Scottish Borders Council's delegates will be joined at
the ceremony by Technical Services' Executive Spokesman, Councillor Gordon Edgar.
Councillor Edgar commented, "I have been pleasantly surprised at how APSE relates to the needs of local government, in particular the frontline services. Reaching the finals of their annual awards is a great achievement for a project that is showing the benefits of both enterprise and partnering. The Council leads in this field, and this is now being recognised by a national body."
The APSE Awards were launched held nine years ago, and have since gone from strength to strength, receiving more than 320 submissions in 2004. The Association for Public Service Excellence promotes innovation and improvement in local government service provision, and the active adoption of new concepts and examples of best practice. Sponsored by organisations such as GMB and UNISON, the APSE Awards recognise individual achievement, as well as encouraging the sharing of information and procedure between local authorities across the UK and Ireland.
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263tsaw Date of issue: 12/08/05 Time of issue: 15:35:58
Editors' Note:
2005 APSE Awards are part of the APSE National Seminar and Exhibition 2005, to be held in Glasgow from 6 - 9 September. As
well as the awards ceremony, APSE will run lectures, meetings and workshops on a variety of topics affecting different sectors
of local government. The Seminar is open to Elected Members, Chief Executives and Heads of Service, as well as Partnership
Organisations, Suppliers and Trade Unionists.
For more information, log on to www.apse.org.uk
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