Effective planning and performance management helps us achieve this by identifying, measuring and then managing what matters in order to improve the effectiveness, efficiency and overall performance of our Council.

It must be embedded in everything we do and is seen as a continuous process. It is taking action in response to actual performance to achieve better outcomes for the public than they would otherwise be.  It helps to ensure that we are achieving what we set out to do and demonstrating value for money.  Our Council is committed to providing members of the public with information on its performance to enable them to determine how well our Council is performing against plans and understand the actions our Council will take to address any areas of concern. Use this link to find out how our services are performing. Other examples of service and financial performance information which will help people determine how well their Council is serving them include: Statutory Performance Indicators (SPIs), community plans and external audit reports.

Scrutiny and Performance Handbook

The  Scrutiny and Performance Handbook [552kb] a guide primarily for Elected Members and Officers but also for any witnesses and contributors to our Council's scrutiny activity.  It provides information and guidance on the operating principles and techniques of our Council's Scrutiny and Performance Committee and particularly how the Committee will undertake its Reviews.

Although the Scrutiny and Performance Committee has a specific role in this work, the Handbook will also help embed the scrutiny function into the remits and activity of all our Council's Committees.

Statutory Performance Indicators

Dumfries and Galloway Council's SPIs

It is a requirement of the Local Government Act 1992 that each local authority collects and publishes annual information relating to its performance. The Accounts Commission specifies some of the performance information and gives councils discretion to report additional information relevant to local priorities.

You can access the SPI information using the links below:

•  SPIs Report 2011/2012 [455kb]  Individual Scorecards for SPI 2011/2012
•  SPIs Report 2010/2011 [363kb]  
•  SPIs Report 2009/2010 [530kb] 
•  SPIs Report 2008/2009 [199kb]
•  SPIs Report 2007/2008 [109kb]

The tables in the report show where progress has been made and where further improvements can be made. A wider view of our achievements was published in the  latest edition of the Council's Broadcast magazine [3Mb]. Please use this link to view previous editions. This will highlight where progress is planned and many more aspects of the Council's work identified through public surveys and consultation.

We welcome your comments on the content of the report and presentation of the information.

Working with our Partners

Single Outcome Agreement 2012-2015

This  Dumfries and Galloway Single Outcome Agreement 2012-2015 [337kb] is between the Scottish Government; Dumfries and Galloway Council; and the Dumfries and Galloway Community Planning Partnership - represented by the Community Planning Strategic Partnership. It helps implement the Concordat agreed between the Scottish Government and COSLA, on behalf of local government, as the basis of national-local government relations.

SOLACE

Introduction
The Improvement Service has published a new report - Benchmarking for Improvement - that compares the performance and outcomes of all 32 Scottish local authorities. The purpose is to help councils understand their performance and how other comparable authorities achieve their results.

How has our Council done?
"At Dumfries and Galloway Council, we are absolutely committed to improving services and outcomes for our local communities. However, to do that, we have to understand our own performance and how it compares to others. Our officers will now be working with services to look at the content of this report and understand what it means for them. We will look at any differences in performance and benchmark our activities against the Councils that perform the best so that we can seek ways to improve what we do."

Gavin Stevenson
Chief Executive

Where can I see the report?
Use this link to download a copy of the Benchmarking for Improvement report.

Find out how our services perform