This week I was invited to a meeting led by The Scottish Government focused on “The Government’s Vision for Scotland”. The meeting was held in my home town, Kilmarnock, a part of Ayrshire that is no stranger to the devastating effects of a declining economy.

The First Minister, Alex Salmond, kicked off by reminding us that Scottish Government is not just about Edinburgh, it’s about allowing all Scottish citizens to flourish. He also revealed a rather brilliant new stat that East Ayrshire is number one in the  world for producing school dinners from local produce! Very few members of the audience got the chance to speak to the panel…

“I would like to put this to the First Minister and The Minister of Justice Kenny MacAskill… you have both mentioned the idea of protecting front line police and crime being at its lowest for 32 years. These facts are undoubtedly a great achievement but there is no getting away from the reality that despite these figures, confidence in the police is also very low.

The work we do at MyPolice is all about making the police accountable and accessible through an online feedback tool. My business represents a new breed of Scot who wants to empower the people of Scotland to transform their own public services. I would like to talk to you both about how we can pull our networks together to make that happen.”

…and we did talk, and we are going to make it happen.