The winners of COSLA’s 2024 Excellence Awards were named on Thursday 19th September at a ceremony at the scenic Crieff Hydro Hotel in Perthshire.
The COSLA Excellence Awards are a key event in the local government calendar, and celebrate the incredible teams, projects, and services that Scottish Local Government delivers for our communities.
West Dunbartonshire Council, Aberdeen City Council, North Lanarkshire Council, Dumfries and Galloway Council, Inverclyde Council, Renfrewshire Council, Glasgow City Council with Glasgow Health and Social Care Partnership and Clackmannanshire Council have all been named winners at the COSLA 2024 Excellence Awards.
The COSLA Excellence Awards is an annual celebration of success and innovation in Scottish Local Government. The winners were celebrated at a special awards ceremony hosted by “Still Game” star Sanjeev Kohli on Thursday 19th September, in the beautiful surrounds of the Crieff Hydro Hotel, Perthshire.
The Awards recognise and celebrate teams and projects that exemplify best practice and innovative, sustainable service delivery over five categories – Service Innovation and Improvement; Achieving Better Outcomes for the Most Vulnerable in Partnership; Tackling Inequalities and Improving Health and Wellbeing; Strengthening Communities and Local Democracy, and Just Transition to a Net Zero Economy.
Scotland’s 32 councils and their key partners were invited to submit their applications over the summer. Applications were then shortlisted by an expert adjudication panel comprising experts across local and national government as well as the public and private sectors.
With more than 200 applications received this year, the judging panel were given the unenviable task of narrowing these down to just 15 finalists and 9 winners across the main categorises as well as 4 special awards – COSLA Chairperson’s Award, SOLACE Best Team Award, The Scottish Government – Delivering Excellence Award, and the Excellent People, Excellent Outcomes Award.
Councillor Shona Morrison, President of COSLA and Chair of the 2024 Excellence Awards, said: “Firstly, I’d like to extend my heartfelt congratulations to our winners!
“It has been an honour to chair the 2024 COSLA Excellence Awards. This is my second year of the Awards as COSLA President, and being part of the process, from judging entries to presenting the awards to the deserving winners remains a highlight of my year.
“The Excellence Awards serve as an important reminder that councils are here for our communities every day, supporting us in all aspects of our lives – from resolving day-to-day issues; to supporting people experiencing some of the most unprecedented and difficult circumstances imaginable.
“They provide education for our children and young people; help our family members and neighbours in need of care, housing and other forms of support; and ensure our communities are safe for all who live there.
“This year’s finalists really demonstrated the range of what councils deliver, and I hope that everyone in the room felt proud to be part of the Local Government family – I know I certainly did.
“It has been wonderful once again to celebrate at the beautiful Crieff Hydro Hotel, and to have this opportunity share and celebrate the inspirational stories of our finalists with our colleagues across the public, private and third sectors.
“This year’s entries and winners highlighted how important it is that we work collaboratively across these sectors to deliver for our communities, so I am very glad we were able to bring colleagues together to celebrate these wonderful joint achievements.
“I would like to take this opportunity to thank our event sponsors and partners for making this year’s Awards possible; and of course, to every single team who put in an application – not only for your hard work in putting together your application, but for your commitment to making Scotland’s communities better, safer places to be every single day.
“Finally, a huge thanks and congratulations to this year’s finalists and winners for being there with us on the night – it has been a pleasure to celebrate your hard work and dedication.”
The 2024 COSLA Excellence Awards winners are –
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Category 1: Service Innovation and Improvement (sponsored by Scottish Water)
West Dunbartonshire Council
Developing and Implementation of a Chatbot to improve the missed bins “experience” for citizens
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Category 2: Achieving Better Outcomes For The Most Vulnerable in Partnership (sponsored by our Conference headline sponsor, CCLA)
Aberdeen City Council
My Way to Employment (MwtE) – Supporting People in the Justice System
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Category 3: Tackling Inequalities and Improving Health and Wellbeing (sponsored by Public Health Scotland)
North Lanarkshire Council
Breastfeeding Friendly North Lanarkshire – Leading the Way in Driving Cultural Change
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Category 4: Strengthening Communities and Local Democracy
Dumfries and Galloway Council
Top CATs!
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Category 5: Just Transition to a Net Zero Economy (sponsored by Amey)
Inverclyde Council
Improving Inverclyde’s Environment Through Peatland Restoration
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Scottish Government – Delivering Excellence Award
Renfrewshire Council
AMIDS District Heating Network
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COSLA Chairperson’s Award
Glasgow City Council/Health and Social Care Partnership
Martha’s Mammies
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Solace Best Team Award
Clackmannanshire Council
Early Help Clackmannanshire
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Excellent People, Excellent Outcomes Award
North Lanarkshire Council
A Warm Scottish Welcome – North Lanarkshire’s Ukrainian Resettlement Project
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Thank you to all who applied, and huge congratulations to all this year’s winners!
Thank you to this years’ awards sponsors: CCLA, Scottish Water, Public Health Scotland, Amey Ltd., the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives (Solace), and Scottish Government.
A special thank you to our headline sponsor for the COSLA Conference, Exhibition and Excellence Awards, CCLA.
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