I'm delighted to have been asked to be Guest Editor of this edition of the newsletter.
Since we launched our vision to make a positive difference in 2019, we’ve developed a wide range of programmes to help communities across Scotland, supported by our strategic partners including Business in
the Community (BiTC), Developing the Young Workforce (DYW) and Career Ready.
Under the current Framework, we’ve made a number of new commitments to support our ambitions to help to prepare young people for the world of work; build a skilled workforce for the future; support individuals from disadvantaged groups; help the public sector to build climate resilience; and provide support to help local towns, businesses and charities to prosper.
A number of these initiatives are already underway and I’m looking forward to sharing our progress with you on a regular basis in this quarterly newsletter and in our annual Public Sector Scotland (PSS) social impact report.
Sophia Goring
Head of ESG
Upcoming Customer Satisfaction Survey
During our Public Sector Scotland Water Forum events, which we held last year, the feedback received was that you'd like us to conduct our own customer satisfaction survey so that we can hear first-hand from you on different aspects of our service delivery.
We’ve listened and we're working with an independent company, James Law Research Associates, who specialise in market and social research and insight gathering to
develop and carry out a digital Customer Satisfaction Survey for all of our PSS customers. We're committed to continuing to raise the bar in the services we provide you and the results of this survey will help us to understand the areas of service which we can improve on and any areas where we need to do more.
You'll receive an invite to take part in the survey directly from James Law and Associates during August and we'll be in touch nearer the time with a reminder. We hope you take the opportunity to let us know what you think.
Great news! Your bill now tells you more
As part of a programme of enhancements we're delivering, we recently got in touch to let you know about some changes we've made to your bills, as well as upcoming improvements to our online portal, My Business Stream.
New enhancements
Your bills
We’ve added your Rateable Value (RV)for RV based charges including drainage charges and unmetered charges. Your RV is the rateable value of your premises and you can find out more about how this is calculated on the mygov.scotwebsite.
If you’re a metered customer, we’ve also added your year-to-date (YTD)consumption figures which means that your bill will now show the amount of water you’ve used in the year from 1 April to date.
Upcoming enhancements
My Business Stream
The ability to upload meter readings in bulk
The ability to track the progress of your open queries
Integrating our Power BI reporting tool into the platform so you’ll be able to access and download a range of useful reportsfor your sites
Providing notifications for planned and unplanned water worksin your area, and
Access to live chat.
We'll be back in touch with an update on the enhancements listed above, as they become available but if you have any questions or require support in the meantime, please get in touch with your Account Manager directly.
Our recent webinars
To provide you with more information on the Framework, enhancements to your bills and to our online portal, My Business Stream (MyBS), and other important topics, we've been conducting a series of webinars over the last three months. So far, we've held five webinars for our PSS customers including:
a welcome to the new Framework,
billing and file structures,
MyBS - upcoming enhancements,
MyBS - A closer look at upcoming enhancements, and
value added services, water efficiency solutions and new connections.
If you were unable to attend any of our webinars, you can view recordings of each webinar at business-stream.co.uk/public-sector-scotland/recourses or click the button below. We'll be in touch with an invite to our next webinar in due course.
Our next group of Career Ready students are starting their four-week work placement with us on Monday, 24 June. This year we have eight students joining us, which is our largest cohort to date – and we’ve planned an exciting programme for them, which includes skills sessions, project work, 121 CV and personal statement support, opportunities to meet colleagues from across the business and support to deliver their final presentation at the end of their placement.
"I cannot stress enough about how great the people and company culture are in this business. Everyone is so accommodating and that has really made me feel safe and valued. As for tasks, they have been very different and the way we spilt them for each one was unique. This has been such a great learning experience and such an amazing way of gaining new skills. I’m really thankful for all the support and amazing energy. I truly enjoyed this internship so much!" -Eszter Kulcsar, Career Ready student (completed work placement at Business Stream in July 2023).
Primary School Education Programme
Since the launch of our Making a Positive Difference (MAPD) vision in 2019, we’ve been delivering water-saving workshops at local primary schools as part of our Primary School Education Programme.
Earlier this month, some of our colleagues volunteered to spend the day at Murrayburn Primary School in Edinburgh where the children carried out an enterprise workshop to explore the world of work and learned all about the ways they can save water at home and in school.
Our annual Sustainability Report
Since we launched our vision to Make a Positive Difference (MAPD) in 2019, we’ve introduced over 35 new initiatives to support our ambitions and our latest Sustainability Report showcases the key activities we've delivered over the past year to support our vision of making a positive difference to our customers, our people, the environment, and local communities.
Water Efficiency Fund Applications open until Wednesday, 17 July
Following positive uptake of our annual PSS Water Efficiency Fund and after receiving feedback from our public sector customers requesting an increase in the funding available, we’re delighted to let you know that this year, we’re doubling the Fund to £100,000.
We recently got in touch to let you know that the Water Efficiency Fund for 2024/25 is now open to applications. To submit an application for your water efficiency project, please
complete the Water Efficiency Fund application form attached to the email we sent you, or download it using the button below, and return it to solutions@business-stream.co.uk.Please submit your application(s) by Wednesday, 17 July 2024. Applications will be assessed by the Fund Allocation Panel. You can submit more than one application for your organisation. Full details of the application process, criteria and how projects will be selected can be found within the Water Efficiency Fund application form.
