Policy & Research
Local Government
People depend on local authority services to meet a wide range of needs in their lives. For example, many people rely on the council for:
- their children’s education;
- the provision of their home;
- their leisure activities;
- their transport needs.
Consumer Focus Scotland aims to promote high standards in local authority services and contributes to the development of best value in public services. Our work on local government includes improving how councils measure customer satisfaction and experience; raising awareness of issues around commercial sponsorship and working with stakeholders to improve the User Focus of how we inspect, audit and regulate local council services.
Latest News
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Response from Scotland’s consumer watchdog to the Budget passed in the Scottish Parliament
9 February 2012
Trisha McAuley, Deputy Director of Consumer Focus Scotland, said: ‘It’s good news that the £68 million digital investment has been agreed as part of the Scottish budget. What we need to see now is action to deliver these commitments as a priority, especially for rural communities. ‘If the Scottish Government hits the high bar it [...]
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Councils urged to offer more services at Post Office counters
11 August 2011
Call for Scottish Government, councils and Post Office to work together to expand services at post office counters – watchdogScotland’s postal services watchdog, Consumer Focus Scotland, says local authorities could use Scotland’s network of over 1400 post offices to deliver more council services. The watchdog is calling on the Scottish Government to create a ‘high-level [...]
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Government services to be moved online – Consumer Focus Scotland response
24 November 2010
Responding to the announcement that online is set to become the default channel for dealing with a number of UK Government services, Sarah O’Neill, Head of Policy at Consumer Focus Scotland, said: ‘This is a real chance to get back to the drawing board on how public services are delivered online. It would be a [...]
more news on: local government
Latest Publications
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Evidence to the Health and Sport Committee on the Social Care (Self-directed Support) (Scotland) Bill
4 May 2012
We have a particular interest in ensuring that older consumers are put at the heart of decisions on Scotland’s public service provision, and as such our evidence is largely based on our recent work with Community Food and Health (Scotland) on food services for older people living at home – Meals and messages: a focus [...]
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Review of Social Work Complaints Procedures – Consultation
15 March 2012
Consumer Focus Scotland welcomes the opportunity to respond to the consultation on the Review of Social Work Complaints. We have long advocated for the development of a simplified and standardised complaints process for public services. Consumer Focus Scotland supported the recommendations of both the Crerar Review and the Fit for Purpose Complaints System Action Group (FCSAG) which [...]
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Consumer Focus Scotland’s response to the Scottish Government’s DirectScot portal prototype consultation
15 March 2012
Consumer Focus Scotland welcomes the opportunity to respond to the Scottish Government’s DirectScot portal prototype consultation. We have long advocated for the development of such a web-based portal for public services information. Online service delivery has the potential to significantly improve the experience of many users of public services. However, moves towards providing more information, [...]
more publications on: local government