One-stop shop civic centre praised in facility review

THE West Lothian Civic Centre has been praised by a review team brought in to examine the running of the £55 million purpose-built facility since it opened 18 months ago.

The Gateway Review was carried out as part of a national programme scrutinising public projects which cost more than 5m.

The centre was aimed at providing a "one-stop shop" for citizens, combining West Lothian Council headquarters, the Scottish Courts Service administration and Lothian and Borders Police divisional headquarters.

The review team said it had been "impressed . . . by the top-level commitment that pushed the vision for partnership working".

The team found that there had been a "number of benefits" from its creation, "both financial and non-financial".

It found that "no major outstanding issues" currently existed which could threaten the success of the project.