The WOSGNB winners at the Cosla Excellence Awards 2015

Cosla In this feature weights and measures cooperation award winner The WOSGNB winners at the Cosla Excellence Awards 2015 Measured change Under budgetary pressure, trading standards officers in the west of Scotland came together to protect metrology services. Now, their efforts have been recognised with a major award. June McWhirter explains T The partnership approach adopted by the WOSGNB is an excellent example of how joint working can increase the availability of specialist resources rading standards doesnt often get recognised with awards, especially not for its work in metrology perhaps because it isnt high on peoples lists of priorities or agendas. However, earlier this year, the West of Scotland Group Notied Bodys (WOSGNB) submission Measured change caught the attention of judges at the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (Cosla) Excellence Awards and we went through to the nals, winning a silver award for service innovation and improvement. Every year, the Cosla awards honour Scottish councils and their partners for delivering outstanding services, and celebrates projects that demonstrate the very best in Scottish local government. Cosla acknowledged that this years awards took place within the context of considerable challenge for public services. Its president, Councillor David ONeill who chaired the judging panel for 2015 described the entries as inspiring: These winners sum up what Scottish local government is all about innovative and joined-up services, delivered by hard-working staff. Dumfries and Galloway Council leads WOSGNB, and its trading standards service had designation as a separate notied body before the group was established. However, we recognised the considerable challenges facing our service and our increasing struggle to maintain designation. In particular, budget pressures meant that experienced ofcers were not being replaced; there was less investment in training; we were experiencing skills gaps; and there was difculty in maintaining specialist knowledge, as well as demonstrating competencies. The new standard for notied bodies, introduced in 2012, meant we would have to change our quality management systems to meet the revised criteria. We were also conscious that full implementation of the new directives and standard for weighing and measuring instruments, effective from April 2016, would have a direct impact on verication services. It could also result in a signicant increase in demand for such services. We identied a wealth of relevant skills, knowledge and expertise within the west of Scotland, then approached our regional metrology working group with a plan for joined-up working and a vision to create a centre of excellence in the west of Scotland. The idea for the WOSGNB was born. We entered a service level agreement with 12 authorities in the west of Scotland to form the rst group notied body in the country. David Templeton, from South Lanarkshire Council, was able to contribute specialist metrology advice and is the metrology manager for the body, delivering training for authorised verication ofcers. Gary Urquhart, from North Lanarkshire Council, brought experience as an auditor and is now responsible for auditing within the group. Examples of good practice and procedures were identied, developed and adopted by the group as part of our quality management systems. Our aim was to keep the structure and organisation of the partnership simple and straightforward. The group is managed by representatives from each partner, who are responsible for day-to-day control of the quality systems in their authority. Our shared quality systems ensure consistency in enforcement, improved service delivery and improved competencies. All partners agree that it provides value for money, and feedback from our partners also shows benets outside the areas covered by the notied body, demonstrating the synergy of the group. By March 2014, the partnership had received UK and EU designation as a notied body, in recognition of compliance to standards and evidenced competencies. This includes designation for measuring instruments, for which there are very few other notied bodies in the UK. The group has 46 authorised verication ofcers across the 12 authorities, who are able to share and contribute their technical skills and knowledge. The group received a message of congratulations from Richard Sanders, acting chief executive of the National Measurement & Regulation Ofce, recognising the projects success. The partnership approach adopted by the west of Scotland notied body is an excellent example of how joint working can increase the availability of specialist resources and help to maintain competence for ofcers, while delivering quality services more efciently, he said. There are a number of challenges for local authorities in the eld of weights and measures, including retaining skill levels and knowledge within the profession, the potential for inconsistency in approaches to new legislation and the need to maintain local services against a backdrop of efciency savings. However, WOSGNB has shown how trading standards services can rise to the challenge and design services that deliver positive outcomes for local consumers and businesses through a partnership approach. I believe that the winning of the Cosla silver award and nomination for a gold award is well-deserved recognition for all the hard work shown by the dedicated professionals in the notied body, and a tting reward for the perseverance demonstrated in adopting and implementing this innovative approach to delivering weights and measures service across the west of Scotland. In forming the group notied body, we have created an effective partnership vehicle that has exceeded our expectations. As a team we are continuing to ensure our service is t for changing demands. We feel we have built a more resilient service and, through all of this, have future-proofed our service. A notified body is an organisation that can legally check whether a product meets a European standard or directive. To receive notified status, an organisations practices must be inspected by an accreditation body to ensure they meet the appropriate rules, as decided upon by the EU. It will be granted its status by the appropriate EU member state and can then provide certification, inspection and testing services. NOTIFIE D BODIES Credits Published You might also like June McWhirter is principal trading Thursday 28 May, 2015 Inspect the uninspected April 2015 standards ofcer for Dumfries and Galloway, and technical manager for the West of Scotland Group Notied Body. To share this page, in the toolbar click on