Councils from across Scotland have been announced winners of the 2025 COSLA Excellence Awards at its Annual Conference and Exhibition on Thursday 13th November.

The awards were hosted by Scottish singer Michelle McManus in St Andrews.

The COSLA Excellence awards are our annual celebration of the innovation, dedication, and essential work of Scotland’s local government teams and partners in delivering vital services to communities every day.

Winners

Category 1: Leading Innovation

Renfrewshire Council – Millie: Our AI Digital Advisor

Category 2: Improving in Partnership

Moray Council - Phase I Lossiemouth Christmas Tree Project

Category 3: Tackling Inequalities and Improving Health 

South Lanarkshire Council - Family Support Hubs

Category 4: Strengthening Communities and Local Democracy

Dundee City Council and What Matters to You - Family Empowerment

Category 5: Building Towards a Just Transition 

East Ayrshire Council - Net Zero Accelerator

Scottish Government – Delivering Excellence Award

Aberdeenshire Council - Community Crafted: Project Based Learning at Banff Academy

Solace Best Team Award

Dundee City Council - Local Fairness Initiative

The David J. Kennedy Excellent People Award

City of Edinburgh Council - Construction Skills Pathways

COSLA Chairperson’s Award

Clackmannanshire Council – Family Wellbeing Partnership - Placed Based Whole Family Support

Councillor Shona Morrison, COSLA President, said:

"Firstly, I’d like to extend my heartfelt congratulations to our winners!

“The Excellence Awards are not only a fantastic chance for some well-deserved recognition and celebration of the wonderful people who make up our councils. They also remind us that councils are here for our communities every day, supporting us through ever-changing and often extremely challenging circumstances.

“As always, it has been an absolute pleasure to be part of the Excellence Awards this year, and to hear from all 15 nominated teams. For me, the innovation, passion and commitment shown by our local government workforce is nothing short of inspirational. I hope all the nominees and winners are feeling extremely proud of their achievements and the vital work they are doing every day to support their communities.”

As part of the celebrations COSLA hosted a raffle to raise money for cancer charity Maggies in memory of our much loved colleague, David Kennedy, who sadly passed away earlier this year.  Attendees gave generously and we were proud to raise £2126.25 for Maggies.