What Works Scotland operated from 2014 to 2020 and is now closed.

Please direct any enquiries to University of Glasgow College of Social Sciences on socsci-comms@glasgow.ac.uk

What Works Scotland

What Works Scotland

Supporting effective public services in Scotland

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      • Stories from the coalface: Exploring what it means to work together in Aberdeenshire
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Blogs

Blog: What Works in Fife?

Tim Kendrick, strategic lead for the Fife What Works Scotland case site area, explains in November 2014 what the collaborative work will focus on in his area.

Social Sciences Communications July 11, 2018 Read more

Blog: Creating an Evidence Bank for Public Service Reform

Karen Seditas and Sarah Morton share details of the What Works Scotland Evidence Bank being developed from January 2015 to support the use of evidence in public service reform.

Social Sciences Communications July 11, 2018 Read more

Blog: Review of The Whitehall Effect

Former Scottish Government minister Jim Mather reviews John Seddon’s book, The Whitehall effect: how Whitehall became the enemy of great public services and what we can do about it.

Social Sciences Communications July 11, 2018 Read more

Blog: Meet the WWS staff, Research Fellows Richard Brunner and Claire Bynner

Mini-biographies of two of the research associates when they started working for What Works Scotland in the case study areas, West Dunbartonshire and Glasgow.

Social Sciences Communications July 11, 2018 Read more

Blog: ‘Fractals’, Community Planning and Placed-based Policy Geography in West Dunbartonshire

What Works Scotland’s Ken Gibb and Claire Bynner reflect on starting work with West Dunbartonshire Council as one of our What Works Scotland case study partners. The blog looks at key challenges and shifting to an integrated preventative agenda.

Social Sciences Communications July 11, 2018 Read more

Blog: What might the Capabilities approach bring to public service reform in Scotland?

Richard Brunner and Nick Watson of What Works Scotland explore the concept of ‘capabilities’ as a framework for public service reform.

Social Sciences Communications July 11, 2018 Read more

Blog: Beyond cynicism and complacency – Participatory budgeting in Scotland

Oliver Escobar outlines how, by February 2015, participatory budgeting is gaining momentum in Scotland and the cross-party support for its aims.

Social Sciences Communications July 11, 2018 Read more

Blog: Giving communities their place

Dr Alison Elliot of the University of Edinburgh presented her thoughts at the launch of What Works Scotland on 26 June 2014, and that it represents the coming of age of the Christie proposals for transforming public services in Scotland

Social Sciences Communications July 11, 2018 Read more

Blog: Why Can’t We Trust the Word ‘Welfare’ in Policy Making?

Dr Hayley Bennett reflects on the complex nature of the relationship between citizens and the welfare state, and how can we make policy reforms and changes to public services to support those in need if decisions and reforms are based on inconsistent use of terms and data?

Social Sciences Communications July 2, 2018 Read more

Blog: Knowing How – Putting Research into Practice

Coryn Barclay, Research Consultant at Fife Council, blogs about how research is the ‘secret weapon in public service reform’.

Social Sciences Communications July 2, 2018 Read more
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About us

What Works Scotland was an initiative to improve the way local areas in Scotland use evidence to make decisions about public service development and reform. It explored how public services could start to work towards the recommendations of the Christie Commission on the Future Delivery of Public Services and the Scottish Government’s priorities for reform. ...

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RSS   Blog

  • What Works Scotland closed but resources still available November 29, 2023
  • Extending the community sector inquiry through a cross-sector learning community? June 5, 2019
  • Community-led activity: time to invest in expansion June 5, 2019
  • Tackling inequalities by supporting 'enterprising' communities June 5, 2019
  • Exploring community anchors, public service reform... and the wider local community sector June 5, 2019

Tags

Aberdeenshire alcohol asset-based community development CAR Christie Commission co-production collaboration Collaborative Action Research community anchors community empowerment Community Empowerment Act community planning Community Planning Partnerships community plannning community sector data democracy education evaluability assessment evaluation evidence evidence bank evidence to action Fife health inequality learning participative decision-making participatory budgeting partnership policy-making poverty prevention public service reform refugees Sarah Morton Scottish Approach Scottish Government service design third sector Thriving Places West Dunbartonshire What Works Scotland workforce young people

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