Insights from the 2025 Solace Scotland Conference

LGIU was delighted to attend the Solace Scotland Conference 2025. Here are some of our reflections on the discussions and key opportunities identified by delegates.

This year, Solace Scotland Conference delegates had ample time to connect, work and enjoy music from the local schools and bands. Amongst the good conversation was a clear appetite for change with a focus on delivery of services for and with communities.

The call to action at this year’s conference was crystal clear. Des Murray, SOLACE Scotland President and Chief Exec of North Lanarkshire Council, set the tone with his opening remarks, outlining the need for a challenging and solutions-focused conference, and that’s what was delivered.

Overall, there was focus on driving forward transformation in order to make real change in communities. Des landed on the concise point that “we all want to make Scotland thrive, so what we do day in day out should be in service of that.”

The challenge was set from the get-go, and thankfully, the room was filled with leaders across Scotland ready to rise to the occasion. Here are our key takeaways from the conference:

1. “Enough chat already”

Firstly, there was a shared feeling in the room that the time for talking about change is over—it’s time to start doing. We heard from the Scottish Government, COSLA, the Improvement Service, the Police, Fire Services, and the NHS about the transformation they have all undertaken, and the overarching message was the need to align with each other and act.

This requires:

• Political courage and bravery to make a difference and to stop doing some things
• Relationships are a critical success factor for change. Ross McGuffie, NHS Forth Valley CEO, spoke about creating the conditions for bottom-up change where partners can “work beyond policy framework”. Public Sector Reform cannot be siloed.
• Aligning resources – both financially and beyond, be it a relational approach, neutral spaces, or cultural change). As the Scottish Prevention Hub put it, “collaboration is not a soft skill”

Fraser McKinlay, Chief Executive of The Promise Scotland, called for an end to strategies and plans and a focus on delivery.

2. What’s stopping us?

It’s clear that partners in the room know what they need to do and want to do, but this raises the question of ‘what’s stopping us’.

Jonathan Carr-West – LGIU’s Chief Executive – was a panellist on a session exploring Integrated Public Services chaired by Pippa Milne, Chief Executive at Argyll & Bute Council (and next year’s Solace Scotland President) alongside Trevor Holden, Managing Director of South Norfolk Council and Broadland District Council. In his talk, he tackled this question head on:

Scotland has been talking about Christie’s principles for 14 years. We have had IJBs, CPPs, and proposals for a National Care Service, we have become really good at acronyms – but outcomes have not shifted as they should. The challenge for today’s leaders is to break this cycle. Integration is necessary, but never sufficient. Only if we root it in place and public voice, deploy data intelligently, define its true purpose, and pair it with prevention, funding, and leadership, can we avoid repeating the mistakes of the past decade.

You can read his talk here

3. Keep the main thing the main thing

The most impactful contribution was the video produced by North Lanarkshire Council, showcasing the positive impact that services can have on individuals. Real life stories from young people whose lives have been turned around by the support provided by council services – training and jobs, housing and education.

We often fall into the trap of focusing on what is not working and needing to change and forget to promote the successes – making real positive improvement to communities and individuals that rely on core council services.

Members of the LGIU team attended a risk, resilience and reform workshop session led by Zurich Muncipal, which drew on the Future Trends for Scotland report produced by the Scottish Government, which picked up a similar point. We often get stuck in a reactive response cycle instead of a proactive approach informed by long-term trends, risks and working towards outcomes we’d like to see in our communities.

As Malcolm Burr, Comhairle nan Eilean Siar Chief Executive said ‘Keep in mind why you are doing this’.

4. Reform is about transformation. Transformation is not about savings.

Day two of the conference was forward-looking with regard to reform.

The presentations and panel discussion on the Next Steps for Reform session highlighted the interesting thinking going on among Council and NHS Chief Executives about possible public sector reform:

• The Single Authority model being developed by Comhairle nan Eilean Siar
• The thinking around the development of a One Ayrshire model incorporating the three Ayrshire councils
• The innovative ‘bottom-up’ approach to developing new and improved primary health care services from NHS Forth Valley

Malcolm Burr put it eloquently, ‘restructuring is not a problem when it is a means to an end, it becomes a problem when it’s an end in and of itself’.

Transformation and Public Sector Reform cannot be seen as a cost-saving exercise; they have to involve a shift in the way we align resources (including finances, infrastructure, and relationally).

A number of great organisations presented to attendees, including the Scottish Prevention Hub explained the work that the hub is developing to support the much talked about but still under-resourced shift to a prevention approach in all public services.

Anna Fowlie, Chief Executive of Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations set out the problems that the voluntary sector faces in regards to uncertainty about funding and increasing demands made on it and urged colleagues in the room to “shift from a funding lens to an investment lens… be ambitious, close the implementation gap”

5. Optimism and rise to the challenge

The challenge ahead can feel lofty, but as several speakers said throughout the day, to work in local government, you essentially have to be a professional optimist.

The conference closed with Pippa Milne’s (CEO of Argyll and Bute and next year’s Solace president) final address where she warned against adopting a “scarcity mindset when talking about the challenges it might create fear and anxiety and it stops that creativity” and encouraged colleagues to “focus relentlessly and obsessively on those outcomes”.

We need to “own the tricky problems” (Trevor Holden, Managing Director, South Norfolk Council & Broadland District Council) and take steps to overcome these problems.

There were repeated calls for courage, compassionate leadership, and collaboration, with a strong recognition of the impact local government has on people’s everyday lives.

A final encouragement from Malcolm Burr (Comhairle Nan Eilean Siar CEO) to colleagues in the room was to ‘Keep going, keep in mind it’s all about outcomes, it’s all about outcomes, it’s all about communities, it’s all about pooling resources”

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LGIU will continue to advocate for and support local government every step of the way.

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