The COSLA Excellence Awards are one of the biggest brands in Scottish local government and our Awards Ceremony is a keynote event in the local government calendar.  The number of applications continues to grow, and we received a record 220 submissions in 2011. 

 More than ever before, the 2012 awards will focus on projects that are tackling the real challenges facing councils and communities across Scotland. 

We understand that the status quo is not an option so whether your project is about doing more with less, enabling early intervention, improving communities’ choice and control over services, or pioneering more effective ways of collaborating, we want to hear about it.

Your application can be about large or small projects, but above all else you will need to show how the work you are doing is ground-breaking, delivering best value, and securing real improvement in your organisation’s capacity to improve outcomes for people in your community- so make sure you tell us how you are contributing to the bigger picture.

We are also particularly keen to celebrate projects that can help other organisations emulate your success in Scotland or beyond.

It’s pivotal that your project is demonstrating innovation- and our assessment process will prioritise this. We understand that new projects will not always be able to show results – so showing us your potential to deliver improvement is just as important.

 Reviewing and Improving…

 We’ve been working hard to ensure that the awards continue to improve each year, and we’re delighted that the number of applications has grown by over 40% over the last 2 years.

 - Focusing on innovation

The 2012 Awards are about celebrating innovative and ground breaking projects being taken forward across Scottish local government.  In particular, we want to emphasise new thinking and showcase the work going on in your organisation to respond to and plan for change. Our winners will showcase that work, and categories and scoring for 2012 has been designed to recognise those characteristics in particular.

- Responding to feedback

In 2010 we undertook a major consultation exercise with member organisations, award assessors, and others involved in the awards process.  We refresh that exercise each year and rebuild the awards around your feedback.  

 - Expert Assessment

Our assessment teams are going from strength to strength, with more assessors from more organisations than ever before.  All of our assessors are recognised experts or professionally qualified in quality improvement tools such as EFQM and Investors in People. 

We’ve fine tuned the assessment criteria to help achieve this, and made some category changes.  For more information, see how to apply