Meet with the Chief Executive of ENCAMS today to discuss joint projects including the creation of a local performance management framework for neighbourhoods. This is a concept we want to develop as a response to the White Paper and the call for a consolidation of performance indicators into 200 national measures and 35 local ones.

Its early days with our idea but it looks like something worth developing.

Spend a really useful 24 hours in Scotland, arrive at Edinburgh Airport at 1pm, where our Scottish Principal Advisor picks me up and we travel up to Dundee together.

Have dinner with Bob Jackson, the Director of Public Works at the City Council and APSEs long standing financial advisor in Scotland. Bob is retiring in a couple of weeks time and he has been a long standing friend and mentor for me. The advice I always gave to colleagues in Scotland, when I moved to work for the Association nationally, was never go into a Scottish Regional Council meeting with a contentious issue unless Bob was on your side. Bob was legendary in ensuring the regions finances were kept under control and the fact that the Association has such healthy resources in place in Scotland has a lot to do with him.

This morning I meet with the Managing Director of Tayside Contracts Iain Waddell to get his views on the current and future challenges his organisation faces. Tayside Contracts provides a range of services to Dundee, Angus and Perth & Kinross Councils and is governed by a joint committee of 18 members from the three authorities. This has been going for 11 years and is a good example of shared services.

Dash back to airport and I am back in the office in Manchester for 2pm.