How Good Is Our Service - January 2024

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Voids performance has dropped in January to 81% from 88% in December and is below our target of 85%.  There has been an increase in the number of properties received in the month and previous months requiring high-cost repairs which has impacted on turnaround times.  Resource levels dropped in the month which has also negatively impacted on performance.  We continue to look at ways of maintaining and enhancing performance going forward.

Property Maintenance have achieved our target of 100% for Gas Servicing in January with 369 properties serviced in the month.  We continue to achieve our target each month and we are confident this will continue throughout the remainder of the year.

Kitchen, Bathroom, Heating and Roofing upgrade programmes are ongoing, and progress continues in carrying out reactive and refurbishment works across the education and non-housing stock, with decoration works ongoing across the school estate.

A revised school lunch menu was implemented at the start of the new term in August and feedback will be requested to shape future menu changes.  Action plans continue to be reviewed and recommendations implemented to improve uptake in lower performing schools.

The uptake of free school meals in Primary schools for the month of January was below target and we continue to focus on schools not achieving the set target.  The target for free school meals was achieved in Secondary schools.

The Service continues to work with suppliers to source alternative food products, ensuring the menu complies with the revised regulations and meets all nutritional standards.

The service was awarded the Food For Life Served Here Bronze Award in December 22 and we continue to work with the Soil Association to achieve the Silver award status.  An annual review was undertaken by the Soil Association and a Bronze Award application was submitted for Early Years settings.  Following the verification process, both applications were successful.  A press release is scheduled in February to promote this achievement.  

The Estates service has robust measures in place to monitor performance with regards gas safety compliance across the Operational Estate.  Officers continue to progress reactive repairs across the Education and Operational Estate, with over 150-200 repairs processed on average every month through Property Maintenance or our external contractors.  All internal and external defibrillators have now been installed across the educational estate as well as within specific operational properties.  18 external defibrillators have also been installed across the corporate estate, with these now registered on the national ‘Circuit’ and accessible to the general public. 

The Quality Assurance team continue to inspect cleaning standards across the educational estate, with over 40 assets inspected and reports produced monthly. 

Estates Management continue to market vacant premises within the non-operational estate.  At present the non-operational estate is over 92% occupied, with vacant suites in Southbank Marina and the Kirkintilloch Learning Centre 2 (following the Council services relocating to Southbank House and Southbank Marina Block 1) due to be marketed in February 2024.

Officers continue to progress disposals with colleagues in Legal Services to ensure that capital receipts are delivered and ongoing liabilities i.e. non-domestic rates, utilities, security etc are reduced.

The Service continues to progress a wide range of capital projects both in pre-construction and construction phases.  On site, construction continues to progress well at Lennoxtown High Park, with the project remaining on-track for completion by April 2024.

Preparations are now underway to complete archaeological, topographical and detailed site investigations during the first half of 2024 to inform the further development of design proposals for the Westerhill Development Road.

The detailed tender exercise for the Twechar Outdoor Pursuits Centre remains on-going and is due to conclude in February 2024 ahead of a Stage 2 Report for the project, seeking approval to enter into a construction delivery agreement and to commence construction is due in March 2024.

Detailed design development is effectively complete at Balmuildy Primary School and the tender exercise is currently progressing, with works due to commence in Summer 2024.  A Stage 2 Report for the project, confirming the final tendered cost and seeking approval to commence the construction phase for the project is due ahead of Summer recess.

Following confirmation of LEIP funding for the Lenzie Academy project, the project team has been re-mobilised and is in the early stage of agreeing a development programme for the project and is in discussions with the Scottish Futures Trust around expectations for project delivery, funding arrangements and considering lessons learned from other LEIP funded projects undertaken elsewhere in the country to date.

A decision on the planning applications for the refurbishment of Milngavie and Bearsden Primary Schools, alongside the Twechar Outdoor Pursuits Centre and Balmuildy Primary School is expected at Planning Board in March 2024.

Development proposals for the next phase of the Council’s Affordable Housing Investment have now reached the end of RIBA Stage 2.  Further information will be presented for Council via the revised Housing Capital Investment Plan due for consideration by Council in February 2024.

Capital investment across the Council’s existing Affordable Housing stock, including kitchen and bathroom replacement, roof replacement, external wall insulation projects and central heating replacement continue to progress across the area, as are a wide range of projects across the operational estate.

The Service continues to develop the next phase of a building decarbonisation strategy for the school estate, operational estate and for the existing affordable housing stock, with a variety of surveys, pilot projects and further feasibility reviews planned throughout the remainder of this and next financial year. 

The Health and Safety team provides a range of occupational safety and health services, including advice on statutory guidance, safe working and training, incident reporting and investigation, including RIDDOR.

In January, general health and safety support for services across the council was rendered to the Fleet team, on their Drivers’ Handbook update and start review of risk assessments for the service, worked with Property Maintenance to develop a Damp and Mould Procedure, recommended specific work equipment for operatives and undertook work in progress onsite Gas Audits for gas engineers. The team also started the review of Waste risk assessments and continue to undertake full review of risk and COSHH assessments for Streetscene and Greenspace.

The team continues to support Education staff in all school queries and incidents with many site visits undertaken for the purposes of providing advice, guidance and investigating incidents.

During this month, the focus for Construction Design and Management compliance has been on reviewing construction phase plans, risk assessments and method statements for refurbishment, repairs and new build projects for teams across the council. Some of these are Major Assets, for Torrance Main Street, Balmuildy PS and Brookwood Villa roof work; Assets team at unit 2 Kilsyth Road; Estates for Hilton Depot, Merkland PS, Craigdhu PS and review of gas pipeline works for St. Ninian’s High School and Hillhead PS; Land & Planning team with Path Improvement works at Westermains Avenue and Kirkintilloch. CDM Inspections have taken place for live projects such as Lennoxtown High Park, Canniesburn Toll Roundabout, Canal St Improvement Project and many other smaller construction work projects.

Health and safety meetings that have taken place in January were focused on 3rd Tier Health and Safety Committee meetings for Waste, Fleet and Facilities Management and our new arrangement with trade union colleagues to review recent incidents. The team has also been liaising with Audit & Risk to discuss health and safety audit standards for specific services.

The team delivered training in January, extinguisher training at Broomhill and Ladder training at Ferndale Children’s Unit and also updated training information for Needlestick procedure and has been developing a new training package for accident and incident investigation with the council’s insurers.

Occupational health ran two clinic days for health surveillance with results reviewed by managers for changes to individual risk assessments and carried out workplace assessments for EDLC, Kirkintilloch Leisure Centre and staff in various educational establishments.

In January the Fire Safety team continued to carry out of fire safety risk assessments as per schedule and reviewed the management system and procedures, such as those to be adopted when fire alerting systems are not functional. The team developed a Fire Safety Briefing report – Common themes in fire risk assessments and continues to visit council operational and non-operational sites providing advice and feedback to duty holders and Assets team on current projects.

• Achieved 100% compliance for Gas Servicing with focus on this continuing going forward.
• Kitchen, Bathroom, Central Heating and Roofing upgrade programmes ongoing with positive feedback being received from tenants across all contracts.
• Continue to monitor and improve void turnaround times with a view to maintaining and exceeding performance target.
• Assess and improve functionality of Total Mobile and the integration with Servitor to enable a more streamlined and efficient service.  Continue to monitor and increase levels of performance in non-emergency reactive repairs.
• Improve communications with customers and stakeholders to ensure the highest level of service delivery.
• Continue to utilise robust reporting mechanisms for enhanced performance and service delivery.
• Continue to carry out the installation of Smoke & Heat alarms for tenants and residents in East Dunbartonshire.
• Progress decoration works across school estate.
• 100% of Operational Assets requiring a Gas Safety check within the year’s anniversary of the previous check are completed.
• Schedule in the upcoming Gas Safety Checks, which are required during February and March with contractors.
• Improve uptake of nutritious school meals.
• Improve communications with customers and stakeholders to ensure the highest level of service delivery.
• Reduce FM overtime.
• Continue to promote reporting of health and safety incidents throughout the council and programme health and safety inspections of council workplaces.

Environmental Health, Trading Standards and Community Safety Teams

The Community Protection Service delivers on a broad statutory remit, with delivery measures centred on protecting public health and safety, well-being and consumer protection. During the course of January 2024, the service continued to engage in the local Co-Production arrangement with Police Scotland. This resulted in a significant amount of joint work and coordinated activity to protect local communities across the East Dunbartonshire area. The service also continued to develop intelligence led approaches for all areas of work in order to target local public health, community safety and consumer protection activity towards the areas of greatest need, risk and priority.

The Environmental Health Team was engaged in the delivery of essential public health services throughout the reporting period in order to protect the community from hazards in the environment and to regulate and facilitate the growth of responsible businesses. The service was in demand for a range of service requests from the public as well as responding to internal partners in Planning for new developments and to Licensing for events and specific business operations.

The Trading Standards Team was engaged in the delivery of essential consumer protection and licensing services to local consumers and businesses to maintain and protect a fair-trading environment in East Dunbartonshire. Activity in January included promotion of the East Dunbartonshire Trusted Trader Scheme.  Largely due to legislative announcements and heightened media awareness of Nicotine Vapour Products, a noted increase in intel gathering and enforcement around these types of products featured in our activities. Licensing Advisors provided support and representation to the Licencing Board.  The Licensing Advisers and Trading Standards Officers in the team also continued to deliver a wide range of reactive work and project activity at a range of business premises across the area.

The Community Safety Team continued to deliver a broad range of front-line work for the benefit of local communities during the course of the reporting period, working closely with a range of colleagues and key partners to successfully deliver appropriate interventions and to make our local communities safer. Officers from the team were engaged in the delivery of services in relation to community engagement/support, antisocial behaviour, youth disorder, neighbour disputes, environmental incivilities, dog control, decriminalised parking enforcement, fly-tipping, mediation, pest control and mobile CCTV. The Community Wardens have also been developing further links within the local communities they serve, getting involved in a number of initiatives and events that have been taking place across the Council area.

The team continue to deliver the resettlement agenda, supporting individuals and families to successful integration and empowerment of displaced individuals, by providing a tailored case management approach.

Using a community learning and development approach, the team continue to connect, engage, and involve communities in decision-making processes, particularly those affected by inequalities, to ensure their voices are heard and needs met.

Assessment of Round 2 of the 2023/24 Community Grants Scheme is taking place and will be considered by the Grants Advisory Committee in February and then ultimately by Community Planning Partnership Board in March.   Interest from communities in the grants is high with support being provided by the team and partners on capacity building and guidance on application completion.   Community groups are encouraged to look beyond local funding as per the Funder Fair of November and Funder Workshops and events which continue to be provided, with another Fair in the planning for May 2024.

Through the targeted work within our Locality areas, the team continue to promote lifelong learning, skills development, and community empowerment.  This includes the delivery of Pockets, Places, and Prosperity programme within our Locality areas.

The team remain steadfast in promoting equality, diversity and inclusion and actively collaborating with local organisations to plan and deliver initiatives targeting discrimination. Particular progress in the Gaelic Language Plan consultation – with good participation rates from gaelic and non gaelic speaking communities. The outcomes of this will be reported to Committee in Spring. Work also progressing for the British Sign Language Plan, working alongside interested communities.

The team have been working diligently to ensure the smooth delivery of the vaccination programmes to our community.  With the experience gained from previous winter programmes, we had developed comprehensive plans to ensure the safe and efficient delivery of the winter vaccination programme. Across January then Merkland Primary School was being used alongside Milngavie Town Hall for vaccination roll out, 1 day per week at each site.   Our focus remains on protecting the health and wellbeing of our communities.

Housing manages 3830 social rented properties; 3772 of these are mainstream accommodation and 58 are used for Homeless Temporary Accommodation.  The service also manages 61 Lead Tenancies which are rented from either private landlords (40) or Housing Associations (21), to assist with accommodating homeless households.

At present, the Housing list for East Dunbartonshire has 2576 applications - made up of the following:

General Waiting list 1857 applicants waiting (28 currently on offer)

(Applicants who have somewhere to stay i.e., they are owner occupiers, a tenant of a private let, stay care of family etc. This queue allows the applicant to choose which area, house type etc they would like to move to).

Transfer waiting list 481 applicants (23 currently on offer)

(Council or Housing Association tenants who are looking to move to another Council or Housing Association property, either for a different size, or, for a different area. This queue allows the tenant to choose which area, house type etc. they would like to move to).

Priority waiting list 231 applicants (25 currently on offer)

(Homeless)

(Applicants who have no accommodation or will have nowhere to stay within the next 2 months. This queue does not allow the applicant to choose area or house type).

Priority waiting list 12 applicants (1 currently on offer)

(Urgent medical)

(Applicants who are unable to remain in their current home due to their medical condition. This queue allows the applicant to choose which area, house type etc. they would like to move to).

Within the last month, 11 properties have been let or re-let; 10 mainstream and 1 buyback

8 were general need properties and 3 were sheltered.

They were let to the following queues:

• 2 were let to applicants on the transfer queue.
• 3 were let to applicants on the general waiting list queue.
• 6 were let to applicants on the priority homeless queue.

Community Protection Service

Environmental Health, Trading Standards and Community Safety Teams

• Delivery of effective services on a flexible basis in order to meet all statutory requirements and duties in relation to public health, community safety, consumer protection and licensing enforcement matters.
• Delivery of local Co-Production activity between Community Protection and Police Scotland, with particular focus on effective tasking processes and the delivery of joint action plans and work to protect the communities of East Dunbartonshire.
• Delivery of Business Improvement Plan activity relating to Community Protection - actions being implemented in accordance with set targets in order to deliver effective services in line with relevant corporate outcomes and with positive performance being reported.
• Delivery of regulatory services that assist with economic recovery and that are designed to support local businesses and communities.
• Delivery of an advisory campaign to a cohort of local businesses by Environmental Health to alert Food Business Operators to guidance on the sale of slush-ice drinks.
• Effective responses to several food complaints and advice requests from local businesses received by the EH Team in January.
• Response to several requests from the Public Health Protection Unit (PHPU) to interview cases for infectious diseases such as E.Coli O157 and salmonella.
• Officers met with a bus operator to discuss noise levels heard in a domestic property from a bus stopped at a terminus in Milngavie. The operator is currently engaging to look at the possibility of reducing the noise made from the buses.
• Continued delivery of targeted patrols within our local communities aimed at tackling an increase in reports of low-level incivilities (particularly dog fouling and littering). 
• Delivery of the Junior Warden Scheme at Craigdhu Primary School has commenced with 38 Primary 6 and 7 pupils currently taking part.  The Scheme promotes good citizenship, with the achievements of the children being recognised through the Dynamic Youth Awards Programme. 
• Delivery of interventions and appropriate outcomes for a number of young persons referred to the Early & Effective Intervention Group which is coordinated and chaired by the Community Safety Team.
• Community Wardens continue to attend local surgeries and community run events.  These events provide residents and members of the public the opportunity to speak directly (in confidence) with members of the Community Safety Team to report concerns, issues that they may be experiencing in their communities. 
• Continued to assist colleagues in Traffic & Transport and Police Scotland with the delivery of the Traffic Free School pilot which commenced in a number of our primary schools in November. 
• Delivery of on-going workplan activity by Trading Standards to maintain local business compliance with legislative requirements relating to tobacco and nicotine vapour products.
• Delivery of a range of project and reactive work by the TS team throughout the reporting period in order to maintain local compliance with consumer protection legislation.
• On-going promotion of the East Dunbartonshire Trusted Trader scheme through relevant channels, with the aim of attracting further local traders to join the scheme.
• Delivery of targeted work by the Licensing Advisers in the TS Team to assess local compliance with licensing conditions.

Community Planning and Partnerships Team

• Managing the corporate equalities agenda with focus on Violence Against Women, the Gaelic Language Plan and British Sign Language Plan to ensure compliance with legislative requirements.
• Continuation of support to community groups and organisations through the planned Funder Ready Workshops and Funder Fair work. Building capacity and ensuring groups are able to take advantage of all funding opportunities available for them.
• The team are actively engaged in collaboration with stakeholders and partners to deliver priorities of our Locality area communities.
• Community Grant Scheme is open Round 2 of 2023/24 with high interest from communities in applying.
• Promotion of the Winter Connections Programme with the assessment panel meeting weekly to assess applications and award as appropriate of up to £1,500.
• Delivery of Pockets, Places and Prosperity programmes in Auchinairn, Hillhead and Harestanes.
• In collaboration with children and young people integrating into our communities, planned an engaging, interactive focus session to ensure the voice of “new scots” children and young people voices are heard.
• Continue to support Empowered to create an interactive and engaging 16 Days of Action campaign to raise awareness of domestic abuse, enabling increased understanding of how to report and where individuals can access support.
• The vaccination venue of Merkland School in Kirkintilloch is operating well. Milngavie Town Hall also continues to be used for vaccination programmes.
• Working with NHS GGC Board, on arrangements to deliver end of the winter vaccination programme which offers COVID booster and Flu to eligible individuals.

Housing Operations – Estates Team

Key Achievement

• 3 new anti-social cases received.
• 2 open anti-social cases resolved.
• 10 nominations sent to Registered Social Landlords to be considered for allocation to their stock.
• Percentage of tenancy sustainment was 88%.
• Percentage of tenancies refused was 28%. This is a decrease from 50% in December.
• Monthly Housing Liaison meeting attended to discuss cases with Social Work, Antisocial Team and Police Scotland.
• Monthly meeting with Police Scotland and Community Safety to discuss more serious anti-social cases.
• Monthly attendance at MARAC meeting with other agencies.
• Involvement in supporting the new IHMS as commitment/resources/time is increasing due to ‘go live’ date getting closer.
• Naloxone Training for Housing Officers, provided by Social Work

Areas of focus

• Joint working with the void and rewire/asbestos teams continues.

• Identify training needs and hold quarterly sessions for reviewing policies and procedures with teams.
• Involvement in ASP (Adult Protection) Inspection.
• Attendance at East Dunbartonshire Safe and Together steering group
• Monthly budget meetings with HRA accountant

Homelessness & Prevention Team

Key Achievements

• The out of hours service has been busier than usual - 24 calls to the Homelessness Out of hours service

Areas of focus

• Delays with temporary accommodation turnovers
  • Restocks taking up to 14 days (prev 1-2 days) due to change in provider
  • Overcoming delays due to interim approval procedures in place (Iproc shut down and new Fusion implementation)
• Homelessness numbers are high – 219 on the homelessness list
  • 202 awaiting offer of settled accommodation and 17 under offer
  • 2 of the 202 awaiting offer has been waiting longer than 3 years (RRTP Breach)
  • Waiting times have increased due to void timescales
  • Increase in Section 5 refusals from Housing Associations
  • Increase in Homelessness offer appeals
• Homelessness numbers continue to increase
  • 27 homeless applications taken all applicants had a local connection to East Dunbartonshire

Communications & Engagement

Key areas of focus in January for the Communications & Engagement Team included promotion of school inspection reports, updates on the Milngavie Clock, the City Deal project and LDP3 consultation, as well as Early Years and Childcare applications for 2024/2025. 

Proactive media relations activity slightly decreased this month as media enquiries increased with 8 media releases issued (13 in December), 2 photocalls (6 in December) and 28 media enquiries (6 in December) received over the month. 

All releases are on the Council website news section and the local coverage achieved equated to an equivalent advertising value of £3,360 (£7,404 in December).  

Social media posts continued to generate good interaction across a range of themes while we continued to grow our followers. The top three posts on Facebook in January were the announcement of a preferred route for Westerhill Development Road and two posts related to Storm Isha; a fallen tree on the A81 and the A891 reopening. Top three X (Twitter) posts also included both Storm Isha posts relating to roads closed due to fallen trees as well as Turnbull High School’s inspection report. The most watched video on YouTube was the Allander Leisure Centre exclusive first access tour and on Facebook it was the festive bin collection changes. 

In January 2024, the Corporate Performance and Research team continued to fulfil required duties in relation to reporting of performance and risk management at a corporate level and provision of service level data and statistical support. The team also continues to ensure the Council has adequate insurance arrangements in place, acting as a point of escalation in regards to any claims made. All business-as-usual work was completed within agreed timescales.

January was a busy month for the Customer Services team following the Christmas period. The team handled over 12,000 calls, with an average time to answer within target of 3 minutes. Many customers requesting the uplift of Christmas trees and green garden bins in line with the special arrangements in place for these in the New Year. The Emergency Response Centre team prepare for the new digital community alarm call handling platform, the team have access to the system test environment and can begin to plan training. The Emergency Response Centre team also continue to support the ongoing programme of installing new digital ready community alarms where required in line with analogue to digital project plans.

In January, the team has continued to provide support for employees and managers on HR policy and guidance notes, with support in attendance on Employee Relations case work. Payroll has processed all payruns within timescales and completed statutory reports and preparation for the SPPA annual pension return.

In addition to delivering training sessions this month, People Development again continued to support the Council’s Moodle e-learning platform including configuration of programs/courses, dynamic rules, system testing, user configuration & reporting. The Job Evaluation team has worked with services to carry out a number of JE interviews and reviews of role profiles throughout the month. 

Communications & Engagement

• Supported Early Years’ recruitment drive including design, social media, and videos. 
• Delivered communications to update residents about the Milngavie Clock repairs including press release, social media and on-site signage. 
• Design of Senior Phase Partnership Prospectus for 2024/25. 
• Promotion of Scottish Youth Parliament elections including how to vote and the candidates taking part. 
• Delivered communications celebrating the inspection reports for both Turnbull High School and Clober Primary School and Early Years Centre with photocalls, press releases and social media.  
• Continued the manual content migration to the new Corporate website with the creation of hundreds of pages and continued to support the design of the new EDLC website. 

Corporate Performance

• Benchmarking exercise on Council budgets and fees and charges completed to assist with 2024/25 budget setting.
• Data support provided for ongoing inspection of Adult Social Work services.
• Continued assistance provided to the change team in relation to the rollout of Fusion.
• Interactive small area stats map completed for publication on Council website.
• Preparation is underway for the Councils annual insurance renewal.
• Revised BIP Guidance drafted for 2024-27 onwards.
• Work progressed with Comms team on Public Performance Reporting video covering the 2022/23 financial year.

Customer Services

• Customer services continue to respond to customer enquiries via all contact channels
• Ongoing testing of the new Customer Relationship Management system and digital community alarm system ahead of deployment later this year
• The ERC provides ongoing support for the programme to install replacement alarms ensuring a seamless transition to the new digital service for community alarm customers
• Training and refresher training continues for the team ensuring all have the required skills and knowledge to provide an excellent standard of service to customers

Human Resources & Organisational Development

• Continued engagement with the Trade Unions on strategic and operation HR initiatives developed statement to support Fair Work First guidance.
• Implementation of the Local Government Workers Pay Award and back pay effective from end of January. In addition, applied the Teachers uplift effective from 1 January 2024.
• The People Development team delivered nine sessions across topics including SMART Working, Health and Safety, Leadership topics & Team Building Event.
• Supporting Oracle FUSION including training design, updates to Moodle & admin preparation for training sessions
• Continued facilitation of regulatory training for services via approved providers.
• Development of e-learning authoring tool to support creation of EDC policy training.
• Research and development of Future Workforce Development Fund (FWDF) for 2024.
• Finalised policy areas of Family Friendly and Flexible Working ahead of submission to P&R.

Physical footfall is performing well despite the ongoing closure of Bearsden Library. Users are being offered longer opening hours at nearby Westerton Library, where visits in person has increased from 718 to 1,201 visits for the period.  This is a 67% increase compared to the same period last year. In the same period last year, Bearsden Library had 3,901 visits.

Digital usage has dropped significantly. During Period 10 the popular online service PressReader (which gives users free access to online newspapers and magazines) underwent a significant upgrade, with users having to re-enrol. PressReader’s enrolment process is challenging, and user usage dropped 70%. The service is using social media to publicise the help available at Libraries to re-enrol.

January saw the opening of two new exhibitions at the Auld Kirk Museum and Lillie Art Gallery and a new series of art classed for both children and adults commenced. Despite this, visits in person fell short of target by 13%.

Digital footfall exceeded target by 28%.  This can be attributed, in part, to the continued popularity of the online collections pages which received 3,499 interactions during period 10; more than double the figure for period 9.

No Direct Debit is taken from existing members in January & July for our 40-week programme, however there were several new members across all sports along with some leavers.  Overall members were up by over 200.

Allander Leisure Centre

The Sports Dome opened on the 8 January for both Football and Tennis.

Facilities have proved to be popular with demand from local clubs and casual customers. Sports Development have increased the football programme from 2 to 3 sessions due to demand.

Allander has 44% of the total Direct Debit Membership: 6551

Usage during January has been high as expected 41,547 attendances in a period that was only 26 days. (excluding Sports Development)

Average daily headcount in period 10 was 1598 (yearly daily average 1266)

Kirkintilloch Leisure Centre

A new trial activity booking of Judo started at the Centre, increasing the range of martial arts club to four, complementing Karate, Tukido and Tae Kwon Do.

Leisuredrome

A few additional Group Fitness classes were added to the programme to meet the January/February wellbeing demand. As a result Group Fitness participation was 3920 compared to 3170 for the same period last year.

The overall footfall excluding Sports Developments increased from 24,364 (2022/2023) to 29,166 (2023/2024) nearly 20%.

Sports Development

Term time courses began again on the 5th January after the festive period with some additional classes in swimming in addition to the long awaited return of the football programme at the new Allander Sports Dome.

A calendar of coffee mornings has been arranged throughout the year for clubs to meet the Club & Volunteer Development Officer across the 3 localities to discuss a range of issues including funding, support and recruitment.

• The Service made very good progress against priorities in the Business Improvement Plan (BIP) 2023-2026. Key achievements included:
• The Education Leadership Team have now completed returns to the National Covid-19 Inquiry. This process will continue until the end of February 2024.
• The Early Years team participated in a Collaborative Improvement process in partnership with Education Scotland and the Association of Directors of Education in Scotland (ADES). See below.
• Two refreshed policy frameworks were presented to the Education Committee:
• Promoting Relationships, Behaviour and Learning in Education
• Managing Un-Notified Absences of children in East Dunbartonshire Educational Establishments (Including Early Years Private, Voluntary, and Independent Funded Providers)

These will now be implemented in schools, supported by the Additional Support Needs (ASN) Leadership Forum and Learning Partnership Groups.

• The Education Leadership Team will begin to consult with all stakeholders to review progress and achievement in the current Business Improvement Plan and Education Service Plan, with a view to updating these for 2024-2027.
• The Education Leadership Team will begin to build the annual Standards and Quality Report for 2023/24.
• The Quality Improvement Team will lead work across Learning Partnership Groups to support schools to complete statutory processes in reporting and improvement planning for next session.

Collaborative Improvement

• The Early Years team participated in a Collaborative Improvement process in partnership with Education Scotland and the Association of Directors of Education in Scotland (ADES) to consider ‘What impact does leadership at all levels in early years settings have on outcomes for children in literacy?
• The process involved presentations, discussion groups and focus visits to Council Early Years centres.
• Key strengths were identified, including the high-quality strategic direction of the service; highly skilled and motivated workforce; the impact of professional learning on staff capacity and confidence; excellent practitioners at all levels; good examples of parental engagement; the role of literacy champions and teachers; and evidence of Language and Communication Friendly practice in settings.
• Areas of focus for future development included greater clarity in roles and responsibilities; enhanced moderation to support a shared understanding of standards; tracking and monitoring to ensure a consistent approach; increased opportunities to collaborate and share practice; time to build capacity, consistency and confidence; further enhance professional learning in literacy; and review transition processes, particularly to support children with additional support needs.
• A future report, agreed by Education Scotland and the Association of Directors of Education Scotland (ADES) will be presented to Education Committee.
• Applications for deferred entry for an additional year of early learning and childcare closed on 31st January. In total, there were 241 applications for deferred entry, which is an increase on last year’s total of 214.
• 70 families are currently being supported through 1 to 1 interventions with 13 new requests for assistance received in January. 11 parents attended drop-in sessions on parenting challenges at the Little Explorers Community days at Auchinairn and Hillhead Community Centre.
• Meadowburn Early Years Centre achieved the Bronze Rights Respecting School Award.

Education Scotland Inspection Report – Oxgang Primary School

• The inspection report for Oxgang Primary School was published. The report identified key strengths in the school, including the strong leadership of the Head Teacher; positive relationships across the whole school community; the staff team and the difference they are making for children; and the extent to which staff understand children’s individual circumstances and wellbeing needs. This report will be shared at the next Education Committee.
• Primary Numeracy Champions continue to make good progress in implementing the refreshed Numeracy Strategy. To support moderation in primary schools (shared understanding of standards), they have developed robust and reliable assessment questions to support the assessment of knowledge and skills in real-life contexts.
• In response to a professional learning request from Head Teachers, one teacher from each primary school attended one full day of training on effective teaching and learning at first level numeracy and maths using Numicon. This approach supports learners to understand the relationship and value of numbers by using physical shapes and tools to represent numbers. The training was highly evaluated, with all staff keen to cascade learning with their colleagues leading to improvements in knowledge and skills. A further training day is scheduled in March to focus on second level maths.
• The Quality Improvement team continue to lead a bespoke moderation programme in Writing, involving over 170 practitioners. All participants have identified key areas of focus for improvement in the coming months, with almost all confirming that the programme has improved their understanding of expected national standards in children’s writing.
• Literacy Champions are working with the Literacy Strategic Group to create progression frameworks and audit tools for all literacy organisers (reading, writing and listening & talking).
• The Literacy Strategic group are finalising the Literacy Intervention Framework for Equity and continuing with their work on refreshing the Literacy Strategy. This will be shared at a future Education Committee. 
• 11 practitioners from primary and secondary submitted their outline case studies for the Improving Our Classrooms Masters accreditation programme, with a view to completing their Case Study of Improvement by June 2024. They are currently participating in trio visits across schools to enhance and support their own professional learning.
• 185 young people from 5 schools continued to work through level 2 of the Bikeability programme. Expert instructors lead young people onto quiet roads to experience real cycling.
• 5 schools supported children and young people who require an alternative learning environment/experience with a bespoke outdoor learning programme.
• The Motivation, Commitment and Resilience (MCR) Pathways Mentoring Programme continues to support vulnerable young people in secondary schools, particularly those who are care experienced.
• Professional Development Group (PDG) meetings for all curricular areas have taken place on Teams with Principal Teachers across all secondary schools. 20 subject areas have been involved. Staff from Douglas Academy and Turnbull High school shared experiences of inspection to support colleagues across schools and share the expectations of HMIe.  A key area of future focus will be moderation of the Broad General Education (BGE) curriculum will take place across schools to ensure there is a consistent and shared understanding of standards for all. To support further improvement across all subject areas staff have agreed a collaborative working day to focus on subject specific approaches and sharing of high-quality resources.
• All schools have been informed of the termination of the Student Placement System (SPS). The Quality Improvement Officer with responsibility for students is working in collaboration with other local authorities to consider impacts and identify solutions for next session.
• New legal requirements to extend and protect children’s rights will come into effect from July 2024, aligned to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) (Incorporation) (Scotland) Act 2024. The UNCRC Act also enables children, young people, and their representatives a new ability to use the courts to enforce their rights.
• Continued implementation of the UNCRC will ensure children and young people’s rights are integral to every aspect of decision making, policy and practice in our schools and centres.

School Achievements and Awards

• Torrance Primary School won the “Most Innovative Solution” award in the National Keep Scotland Beautiful Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) the flow competition. The school also won best teamwork award.
• The Primary Wellbeing Support Service (PWSS), Oxgang Primary and Harestanes Primary achieved Bronze in the Right Respecting School (RRS) award programme.
• St. Ninian’s High School achieved Gold in the RRS award programme and Turnbull High School achieved Silver.
• Young people continue to participate in the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme. 30 expeditions are planned until October 2024, involving 800 young people from East Dunbartonshire schools.

Skills for Life, Learning and Work

• Following technical issues with the Young Scot voting platform, elections for Members of the Scottish Youth Parliament were re-run in January. 3 young people from East Dunbartonshire were elected to serve.
• Since the Multiply “Count Me In” numeracy project started last summer over 120 adults have been taken part in upskilling programmes. This includes family learning, maths for parents and numeracy for adult courses. Feedback from those taking part has been very positive. A future report will be shared with the Education Committee.

School Planning and Improvement

• Workforce Planning for all schools is underway. This is running in conjunction with the analysis of registrations for pupils starting school in the new session (August 2024).
• Workshops continued as part of planning for the new build Lenzie Academy project. The next step will be further stakeholder consultation with the school’s Senior Leadership Team.
• Placing request applications are open from January to mid-March. The next step will be analysis and allocation in line with the Council’s Admissions policy. A future report will be shared with the Education Committee.

The month of January saw the Finance Team progressing work on systems for the Oracle Fusion General Ledger replacement.  Work is continuing on the budget process for 2024/25, alongside monitoring of the current position.

The Council continues to deliver against an ambitious capital programme supported largely by borrowing.  Treasury Management Reporting continues to highlight the increasing revenue costs associated with the current programme with ongoing affordability being challenged within a tight funding settlement.  Future Reports to Council will continue to provide updates on the programme the associated costs and any mitigations required.

Internal Audit has been focussing on progressing the 2023/24 audit plan, with 18 audits for the Council and the HSCP underway.   Work recently completed includes M365 consultancy.  Work nearing completion includes School Transport, Social Work Payments, Interim Care Home Funding and Dampness and Mould.  Consultancy work has been ongoing with regards to the Oracle Fusion Project and a pilot piece of work is underway, seeking to provide assurance over the Council’s payments to providers utilising data analytics techniques.

The team also presented an internal audit update paper to the HSCP’s Performance, Audit and Risk Committee in January 2024.

Work has commenced on the 2024/25 audit plan, with a review of the risk registers and meetings with Executive Officers ongoing.

The Corporate Fraud Team has been focusing on the investigation of referrals received and proactive vetting of applications for services such as Housing, Education, Licensing and Estates to secure the gateways by preventing fraud or error entering the system. 

School registration applications opened in November 2023 and as expected this has resulted in an increase in the number of referrals received and applications requiring vetting.  The team continue to work in conjunction with Shared Services to identify and investigate potentially fraudulent applications, with prioritisation given to referrals relating to establishments nearing capacity.      

Work has continued on the National Fraud Initiative (NFI) data matches, which were released in early 2023, with this work nearing completion.    Further data matches were released in late 2023 by the Cabinet Office, who administer the NFI exercise.  Sifting and the investigation of these matches is ongoing, and it is anticipated that this will be completed around Autumn 2024. 

Meetings have been held with the Department for Work and Pensions with a view to increasing the number of joint investigations undertaken where these cases relate to areas of Council and DWP responsibilities such as Council Tax and Housing Benefit.  

The Corporate Fraud team is also pursing the development of in-house anti-fraud and bribery training materials.  Two other Councils have shared their Counter Fraud training materials, and these will be utilised as a starting point.

The Revenues and Benefits team have continued to progress Council Tax and Benefits services and administration of the Scottish Welfare Fund.  The team continues to develop the new Document Management System to improve the efficiency of the system.  The team continues to encourage customers to apply for online accounts for the new system which enables customers to apply for all Council Tax exemptions, discounts and housing benefits.  The application form for Household Support Payment went live and the team has been processing these as they come in.

The Council Tax Collection Rate at 92.36% is marginally behind expectations (92.69%), although the gap has narrowed slightly this month.  Collection rates continue to be closely monitored with the Council’s Recovery and Enforcement Procedures being applied and individuals being signposted to the exemptions and discounts available as appropriate. 

The Shared Services Team continues to provide support across all Council services.  The Education Team continue processing school registration applications for academic year 2024/25.  The Social Work Team supported the Adult Support & Protection (ASP) Inspection.  The Homecare Team continue to support a new initiative from the Planning & Commissioning Team processing variations in addition to their normal workload.

The ICT Services team continue to support the Council’s information technology systems and services to ensure high availability and performance in line with agreed service levels. The Team resolved almost 1,400 tickets in January and dealt with over 500 telephone calls.  ICT continues to support the migration of services to Microsoft 365 (M365) in partnership with the Business and Digital Change Team.  The ICT Security team continues to monitor the estate and perimeter defences alongside ongoing improvements to ensure that our systems and data are protected.

Housing Operations, Rents continue to prioritise the maximisation of rental income and assist and support tenants who are engaging and may be struggling to meet their rent liability.  Pre-tenancy contact with applicants who have recently accepted an offer remains a successful resource in preparing payment plans and rent affordability before tenancy sign up. The Rents Team commitment to reducing active rent arrears has seen a decrease of £151,721 on same period as last year (week 44).

The Tenant Participation team continues to provide direct ongoing support to active Tenants and Residents Associations.

During January, the Business & Digital Change Team continued to support services across the Council in the delivery of key strategic digital development projects. 

The Team also continues to support our corporate business systems, ensuring incidents are resolved promptly and that all systems remain supported and upgraded in line with an agreed plan.  We also ensure our systems are reliable, resilient, scalable, standardised, value for money and secure.

Finance

• The Oracle Fusion General Ledger system replacement is continuing to be progressed, with Workstream Leads across Finance and Corporate Procurement liaising with the external implementation partners who are supporting the project.  The revised go-live date has been confirmed as February 2024.
• 2024/25 budget preparation is ongoing for General Revenue and for Housing, HRA and General Services Capital.
• The team continues to respond to external audit queries on the Council and Mugdock accounts as the external auditors continue their work. 
• Work has started on two of our major external returns, the Local Financial Returns for the Scottish Government and the Whole of Government Accounts for the UK Government.
• Staff development is a key focus and given a challenging external recruitment market, the service is aiming to upskill existing staff where possible.  The Council has successfully renewed its position as an ACCA accredited employer.
• The Treasury team continues to monitor cash flow closely, ensuring that there is liquidity for all Council activities.  Additional borrowing continues to be taken in line with the Council's capital programme expenditure.

Internal Audit

• The team continues to progress the 2023/24 Internal Audit Plan, with work focussing on a range of Council and HSCP services.
• Advice is continuing to be provided by Internal Audit in line with the Internal Audit Charter to support the enhancement of governance arrangements, risk management and controls.  This has included advice in relation to new systems being implemented on request by management.
• Work has commenced on the 2024/25 internal audit plan.

Corporate Fraud

• Corporate Fraud is investigating allegations received, focusing on suspected fraud or error within Education, Housing and Revenues Services and on the remaining cases resulting from the National Fraud Initiative. 
• The team also continues to undertake vetting on applications, from a number of services, in order to prevent to fraud and any potential reputational damage.

Revenues and Benefits

• In the month of January, the team issued:
  • • 1,900 Council Tax bills, 2,200 reminders, and 1,300 Benefits notifications
    • 200 Non-Domestic Rates bills and 120 reminders.
    • Almost 500 crisis grants and community care grant applications were received.
    • The team received and dealt with almost 1,500 documents for Council Tax queries and reduction and over 850 for benefits.
    • The team dealt with 3,200 telephone enquiries and 80 Household Support applications.

ICT Services

• ICT Services are working closely with the Business and Digital Change Team to implement M365. This includes:
  
  • Completion the migration of all corporate devices to Intune and decommissioning the previous Mobile Device Management solution. 
• The Infrastructure Team completed:
  
  • Completed the network upgrades at 2 Primary Schools and 1 Secondary School
  • Planning for upgrades of critical ICT infrastructure for 2024.

Shared Services

• The Residential Team added over 150 service agreements to CareFirst for clients moving into care homes or for supported living services within their own homes. 
• The Homecare Team added over 360 service agreements to CareFirst for clients receiving a homecare service or a direct payment.  The team are supporting the Planning & Commissioning Team by processing variations from a new initiative.
• The Direct Payment Audit Team - 25 direct payment audits finalised for clients receiving self-direct support (19 standard and 6 finals). 

Housing Rent Arrears

• 7 tenants assisted and successfully awarded payment from Hardship Fund.
• Active Tenant Rent Arrears were £1,179,455 which is a decrease of £151,721 on same period as last year (week 44).
• The Rents Team continue to support the change team with the development of the IHMS (NEC).
• Housing Officers continue to utilise all avenues to maximise rental income and reduce rent arrears, escalating actions against tenants whose rent arrears are increasing, and also providing advice and assistance to tenants who engage and need additional support.
• Appointments with a Housing Officer are available at Kirkintilloch Job Centre every Tuesday morning to assist tenants in receipt of the Universal Credit housing element.
• Tenant Participation Working Group held at Twechar Healthy Living Centre.  This was attended by tenants, tenant representatives, elected members and EDC staff.
• Reducing active tenant rent arrears continues to be a priority for the Housing Service.
• Active Tenant Rent Arrears were £1,179,455.
• Former Tenant Arrears are £751,463 with the team continuing to work on former rent arrears to bring this figure down.

Business & Digital Change

• Our Microsoft SharePoint pilot is progressing well, and files have been successfully migrated from legacy network folders to SharePoint.  The pilot business units are now beginning to take advantage of improved collaboration, productivity and compliance features when working with their files stored in SharePoint document libraries.
• In house development of 7 bespoke software solutions has been completed using the M365 Power platform contributing to the displacement of the legacy Lotus Notes platform.  All solutions are now live including Media Enquires, Committee Management, Marketing Jobs, Council Directory, Fleet Management and Certificate Management.
• Systems upgrade work underway for the Councils Fleet Management System to ensure its continued support and maintainability.
• Work has started to upgrade the Councils Election Management System in preparation for future elections.
• New forms on our Social Work Management system (CareFirst) have been implemented enabling more efficient processing of Adult Services Care assessment guardianship approval replacing legacy word document-based processes.
• Migration of content to our new EDC website is progressing well and the team will begin to migrate content to the Health & Social Care Partership (HSCP) website following completion of the EDC site.  The development of the East Dunbartonshire Leisure & Culture Trust (EDLC) site is almost complete and will be ready to populate with content from February.
• Work has now commenced on our new Waste Modernisation (in cab technology) project. Initial training on the system functionality has begun and the next steps will be to provide the supplier with data held on our current route information.
• Initial engagement has begun with SEEMiS over the implementation plan for the new SEEMiS Early Years system. Initial steps for this will include the data migration of early years estate information onto the new platform.
• Initial engagement with TUs commenced on a new email solution for issuing payslips to all EDC employees. Work will now begin to engage with staff to obtain details to allow testing to begin on the proposed solution.
• Work continues on the development of our new CRM platform.  The build and improvement of current processes is on-going, with many of the processes now in the testing stage with services across the Council.
• Work continues to progress at pace for our Oracle Fusion project.  Throughout January, activities have focused on the preparatory works required to switch off our legacy Finance & Procurement systems.  Communications in relation to training and go live plans were issued to the relevant user groups.
• Historical records have been uploaded to the Cemeteries System and testing is due to take place within the service, before records are migrated to the live environment in February.
• Preparatory work took place for our new Booking system for desks, rooms, pool cars and pool bikes and we are on track to release this to employees in February.
• The requirements capture stage has continued for our Roads Management System (RMMS) work for the Flooding & Environment functions.
• Good progress has been made on the Open Federation Initiative, which will enable Council & NHS employees to use digital platforms to work collaboratively.  Testing is due to take place in February, ahead of roll out.
• Work continues on the Analogue to Digital Telecare Transition – With a test digital alarm unit and access to the new development environment, our Customer Service and TEC teams have begun testing in preparation for on-boarding. Meetings with the supplier are being planned to address any questions and concerns from this phase. Work has also begun on preparing a Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery Plan for the new digital alarm centre.
• Work has been completed on the Enterprise Architecture project. With several proposals for consideration at senior management level, including the establishment of a Digital Governance Board for future projects and an integration service to connect our legacy applications.

Over the last month the IHMS project has completed a further migration of data to the new NEC system, from this, the team has been conducting data checks and cross comparisons between the legacy system and new system for any anomalies. The team continue to prioritise any issues that may arise to ensure a smooth transition to User acceptance Testing. The team have also been on training for report development and have made progress in starting to develop new and existing reports in time for go live (May 2024).

The HSCP and its staff continue to work hard to ensure quality delivery of the Council’s operational delivery of statutory social work services, which are integrated with NHS services under the strategic governance of the Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP) Board. Service quality and outcomes associated with these specific social work services are the main focus of this report with particular reference to three identified performance indicators in accordance with the Council’s strategic approach to business improvement planning.

The wider objective is that improved customer and organisational outcomes can be achieved through successful integrated planning and collaborative delivery of health and social care functions, under single management, with a combined budget, working to a single set of outcomes and operating to a single Strategic Plan. The impact and performance of all of these integrated health and social care services overall are reported on a quarterly and annual basis to the HSCP Board and through agreed representation and reporting arrangements, to the Council.

During January 2024, the HSCP has performed above target on two of its identified performance indicators, with one indicator performing slightly below target. Work is ongoing on implementing the 2023-24 Annual Delivery Plan actions.

Key Achievements:

• Alcohol and Drugs Partnership Strategy 2022-25 updated.
• HSCP Digital Strategy 2023-25 approved.
• Completed HSCP budget consultation.
• Development of a survey for adult day services users.
• Resumption of the East Dunbartonshire Dementia Strategic Partnership.
• Promotional activity in support of:
• Self Directed Support Work Plan 2024-2027 public consultation
• Power of Attorney and Future Care Planning introductory training
• Consultation on Medication Assisted Treatment
• East Dunbartonshire Alcohol & Drug Partnership Conversation Cafe
• Volunteers for the Patient Carers and Service User group membership

Areas of Focus:

HSCP Wide:

• Development of a recruitment strategy for ED HSCP and wider Social Care workforce in East Dunbartonshire.

• Delivery of a range of measures to support staff wellbeing and support options.
• Implementation of actions set out in the HSCP Digital Strategy 2023-25.
• Implementation of the Carers Strategy to respond to the needs of carers, enabling them to continue their caring role and enjoy a life of their own, as equal partners in care.
• Continue to pursue achievement of compliance with target timescales for adult protection cases.
• Review of the HSCP Strategic Plan 2022-25 and annual delivery plan development for 2024/25.

Children and Criminal Justice Services:

• Respond to the Children at Risk of Harm joint inspection outcomes.
• Supporting Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children to begin their recovery and live in safety in nurturing placements in East Dunbartonshire.
• Work to redress the balance of care by reviewing out of authority placements and continuing the Foster Carer recruitment campaign.
• Continue to develop as a Trauma Informed organisation.
• Update and implement new Child Protection Procedures.
• Ongoing implementation of Children’s House Project model, Year 3.
• Continue to develop tier 1 and tier 2 service for Children and young people with mental health challenges.

Adult Services:

• Work to support the joint inspection of our Adult Support and Protection services.
• Development of learning disability day services, including the Allander Resource Centre and community based support options.
• Implementation of the 2023/24 actions of the Social Support for Older People Strategy and associated commissioning delivery plan.
• Refresh of the HSCP Learning Disability Strategy.
• Delivery of Medically Assisted Treatment (MAT) Standards 6-10.
• Delivery of Self Directed Support training to Social Work and Health practitioners.
• Optimising opportunities for people to remain living at home, active and independent in their community, to support the ongoing shift in the balance of care away from residential or nursing care in a care home until it is essential to meet the outcomes of the individual and/or to manage risk. 
• Provision of multi-disciplinary intensive support and assurance for all care homes and other registered care services across adult services in line with refreshed Scottish government guidance and direction.
• Development of a local action plan for 24/25 in response to the new National Strategy on Dementia.

Land Planning & Development have progressed a number of significant work streams during January 2024 in line with the Business Improvement Plan commitments. 

• Engagement as part of the Evidence Gathering process for Local Development Plan 3 concluded on 31 January 2024 (after launching on 27 November 2023).  Drop-in sessions were held in Lennoxtown, Twechar and Milngavie.  In addition, surveys of people’s perceptions of Milngavie Town Centre, and general promotion of the engagement event, were carried out in the town during the day prior to the Drop-in session taking place.  A workshop in Kirkintilloch Town Hall and an online information session were also held. 
• The 2023 Housing Land Audit was published on the Council’s website, including an interactive storymap presenting information on recent housing completions, the effective housing supply and expected future programming for individual sites.
• The team has been coordinating a Council response to the Scottish Government’s consultation on the Wellbeing and Sustainable Development Bill.
• Work is continuing with the City Deal Team on the preparation of the Westerhill Masterplan, in particular regarding biodiversity enhancement and key requirements and developer contributions for the development parcels within the masterplan area.
• Work is continuing on identifying priority projects for inclusion in the Council’s new Greenspace Strategy, which will replace the Green Network Strategy and Open Space Strategy.  Audit work on play facilities is continuing and surveyors are progressing with the assessment of play areas and facilities across East Dunbartonshire.
• A brief for the Kelvin Valley feasibility study has been completed and submitted to the Council’s Procurement Service.  As part of the work officers have established a working group with key agencies and interested bodies to help guide the project.
• The East Dunbartonshire Economic Partnership met on 24 January 2024 to share information between the partners on recent economic development delivery and activity in the area.
• As a result of the Economic Development Policy Officer post in the team being vacant, there has been no recent progress in implementing the Circular Economy Strategy.

• Work on the Climate Action Plan is continuing. A Programme Plan has been prepared and the following sections of the CAP are being drafted: Context; Baseline; the Policy, Strategy & Plan Directory; and a section for each of the themes to allow a Draft CAP to be taken to Council in 2024, prior to public consultation being carried out. 
• Further work on the non-domestic report on the Local Heat & Energy Efficiency Strategy (LHEES) was undertaken to continue to progress the Draft LHEES which will be brought to Council in the first half of 2024 prior to public consultation being carried out. The Council’s new LHEES officer also completed her induction in January 2024. 
• An update report on the Council’s Sustainability and Climate Change Framework (SCCF) and an update report on the Carbon Management Plan were approved by PNCA committee in January 2024. Both reports required extensive engagement with a wide-range of Council services to ensure that sustainability developments and projections were based upon the most up-to-date information. A report on new Allotment Regulations is also being prepares for PNCA committee’s consideration later in 2024 following consultation with key stakeholders that will be undertaken by the Streetscene Team.
• An outline of the Scottish Government’s consultation on proposals for a Heat in Buildings Bill and recommended Council responses was approved by PNCA committee in January 2024. The response, including amendments from PNCA committee, was submitted to Scottish Government.
• Further meetings were held with colleagues to continue the development of a Fleet Decarbonisation Report by the Energy Savings Trust (EST). Feedback was provided on their first draft of the report, and additional data was gathered on the Council’s grey fleet and milage which was shared with the EST to build on the analysis and to help to identify decarbonisation options for the Council.
• Delivery of the Community Carbon Literacy Training Programme has begun.  Delivery dates began in January with additional events taking place throughout February and March. Feedback from the first delivery session has been collected and meetings are being held with Keep Scotland Beautiful to continuously improving the training. The Sustainability Team is also continuing to work with colleagues in the Education Team and Keep Scotland Beautiful to deliver Climate Ready Classrooms a one-day programme on the science behind climate change and how to reduce emissions.
• The team provided feedback and input to the City Deal Team on the preparation of the Outline Business Case for the three East Dunbartonshire Council projects, in particular regarding net zero targets, heat networks and broader sustainability considerations.
• The development of the Council’s Active Travel Strategy is on hold due to the Transport Policy Officer leaving the Council in October 2023 and the post still being vacant.
• A winter Climate Action Plan Newsletter was published in December to outline a range of Council actions on sustainability related activities, including the CAP. Work has begun on the development of a spring edition

• The team has continued to carry out a range of GIS analysis for the council teams.  This has included a variety of map production work, calculating distances to determine travel time distances to key services and creating web apps and data dashboards, which help to understand spatial data more effectively.
• The team have now completed the transition to ESRIs new experience builder platform. This allows apps to have increased functionality and customisation. The team have recreated a number of critical web pages and the links are now with Corporate Comms, to add to the EDC site.
• The team have finalised our analysis for the 20 minute neighbourhood project. This analysis has now been incorporated into new dashboards and story maps, to show how different areas in DC score. We have also worked with Policy to help branch the project out to other services, to get their input and add more datasets that we may have overlooked.
• The team have provided GIS training sessions to a number of sectors across the council, with all user groups finding the sessions useful. This has increased the number of active GIS users and improved the awareness of the software across the council.
• The team have been working with the Roads department to create a number of new Experience Builder apps to help when they are out in the field and need to view information.
• The team have also been working in collaboration with roads to help amend their gazetteer to match ours, to ensure consistency across council departments.
• The team have worked with roads to use the data gathered by consultants in our own EDC apps, to allow for greater access across the roads department to this information.
• The team have completed all road adoption requests during the last month
• The team continues to provide technical support to Community Protection and Development Applications to improve efficiency and ensure we are in line statutory guidance and regulations through IDOX.
• The team have completed a number of address queries this month and have resolved all the issues for the residents.
• The team have developed a number of MS Access reports for teams such as Dev Apps, Community Protection and Environmental Health. This has been very helpful for their statutory reporting and has allowed the services to have more efficient workflows.

• The new IHMS implementation is well underway, with functional testing progressing in all modules. User Acceptance Testing (UAT) training has been delayed due to additional functional testing being required.
• Systems Officers are assisting with the data cleansing of the current Saffron IT system as well as Housing folders, to ensure a smooth transition when migrating to the new system, while also assisting with day-to-day processing of direct debits and the set-up of rent accounts.
• Performance Monitoring Officers are completing monthly performance statistics and continue to update Smartsheet with new dashboards and sheets for Officers to work from.
• Work is continuing on the Digital Telecare switch and the Project Board are ensuring the successful transition of analogue telecare to digital telecare throughout the sheltered complexes.
• The Housing Estates Adviser is working closely with the sheltered wardens and concierge to ensure a robust service is provided to tenants and residents.
• Successfully commissioned a market researcher to complete a Tenant Satisfaction Survey to gather views on the performance of the Housing and Property Maintenance services. This will run from 26th February until end of March 2024. 

• Working with numerous public sector agencies to ensure all support mechanisms to help business and create jobs are fully utilised, including development of new skills & technologies.  Cost of doing business continues to be a concern and resources to help and inform businesses continue to be priority with combined support materials available through the Find Business Support website.  A range of support is provided via the team and the Business Gateway contract to new emerging and existing businesses.
• The Digital Development Grant has been launched and is fully subscribed based on available funding via the Shared Prosperity Fund (SPF). Applications are now being processed. The Green Business Support grant is now underway, again funded by SPF and this will help businesses analyse how they practice and identity green measures and support that can be provided via a grant process.  The team is developing the site enabling and regeneration grant.
• Scottish Government Digital Boost funding is no longer be available. Local Authorities will be expected to provide this support with the exception of Webinars which will be picked up by Business Gateway National. The team are examining ways in which this type of ongoing support can be provide out with the current Digital Development Grant.
• The team are working on the development of a site enablement grant to support inward investment into key Masterplan Zones of Kirkintilloch Gateway and Westerhill
• The team have been coordinating input into the Glasgow City Region Investment Zone, which is currently in development and seeking calls for proposals from sector specific businesses across the region. More generally growth and inward investment enquiries are being support and coordinated the team.

• The team continues with a range of work to ensure the delivery of the Council’s City Deal project, including the preparation of Outline Business Case (in-line with City Deal & HM Greenbook requirements) which are required to unlock the funding from the region.
• Work is ongoing on the Westerhill Masterplan which will be concluded over the coming months, and presented to Council for approval as planning guidance. Work is ongoing on the Westerhill Development Road for which the preferred route option has been selected and presented to Council in December. 
• Work continues on the next stages of the design process for Bishopbriggs Town Centre and Bishopbriggs Park.  A803 feasibility and options work progressing as part of Outline Business Case development.

• The project to improve Regent Gardens in Kirkintilloch Town Centre is on site, and making good progress. Works are expected to complete now in March 2024. The Campsie Memorial Hall project in Lennoxtown has funding has been secured from Regeneration Capital Grant Fund and work continues to develop the project with RIBA 3 design to take place following procurement of design team.
• The programme management of the Shared Prosperity Fund is ongoing to support services and projects across the Council. A range of projects have been identified and are being progressed for implementation up to March 2025.
• The Lennoxtown Main Street Improvement Project is ongoing with work about to commence on the development of technical designs. Progress to the construction phase will be subject to external funding decisions.
• The Milngavie BID was successful in re-ballot. Work is underway to prepare the Operating Agreements for each BID.

• The construction phase of Canniesburn Toll Improvement Project is on site and is expected to complete around spring 2024. Four Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) have been promoted to support aspects of the new design.
• Feasibility and design works are progressing on a range of active travel infrastructure projects included in the Local Transport and Active Travel Strategies, including works to improve Canal Street which is part of the John Muir Way and a key link onto the canal towpath. Traffic Free Schools pilot project went live in November 2023, with positive feedback provided so far.
• Work is progressing on key functions of the team including: working on a range of Traffic Regulation Orders at various stages of the statutory process, liaising with the network operator and maintenance contractors of the public electric vehicle charging network and continuing to assist in resolving access issues.

• During the reporting period the planning side of the team has determined 44 applications and validated 53 applications.
• The Building Standards team have received 64 building warrants and approved 82 applications. 
• The Enforcement Team opened 4 new cases and closed 12 cases.
• The Development Applications team are currently preparing a response to a consultation from the Energy Consents Unit in relation to the proposed battery storage facility at land near Cochno Road.  The Planning Authority are a consultee rather than the decision maker for energy developments of this scale.  However we intend to treat the consultation in a similar manner to a planning application and will be presenting a report with recommendation to the Planning Board in the near future prior to responding to the ECU.
• The Team continues to work closely with the Councils Major Assets team and their appointed consultants to help deliver on locally important projects such as Early Years Centre, refurbishment of Milngavie and Bearsden Primary School, replacement primary school and new early years at Balmuildy Primary School and Outdoor Pursuits Centre at Twechar.
• Both Planning and Building Standards teams continue to offer support and informal advice to customers through our daily duty service Monday to Friday.

• Significant improvement achieved in validation performance
• Completion of early LDP3 Public Engagement stage
• Commencement of Carbon Literacy Training roll out

Overview of Progress

Throughout January, the Democratic Services Teams continued to support the internal governance of the Council, in addition to certain regulatory functions.  Since August and the return of the Council’s governance meetings, the Democratic Services Team has been implementing the Council’s new committee management system, Modern.Gov.  This work continued into January and the conclusion of a second cycle of meetings.  The system is now used for writing committee reports, managing the diary, preparing, and issuing agendas and the publication of committee papers to the Council’s website.  Work is now underway to develop the system for use in the preparation, approval and publication of Technical Notes and Contract Standing Orders waiver forms.  In time, it will also be used to support public engagement and consultation, and a petitions function. 

Whilst there is currently no date, there is likely to be a General Election during 2024.  The Election Act 2022 introduced new measures which will apply for the first time at the next General Election.  These include the introduction of voter ID and changes to postal votes and accessibility issues.  The Team is planning for the election to ensure compliance with these changes and is looking at means of securing voter participation.  A briefing for Members is being organised and an invite will be issued shortly.

In addition, the service continued to support Members and the Strategic Leadership Team.  The Information Management Team continues to provide important support and advice to the MS365 implementation team, in addition to business-as-usual support in relation to freedom of information and data protection.

Key Achievements / Areas of Focus

• Registration & Customer Services completed 81 birth and 208 death registrations in November.  6 marriages were also registered in this period.
• The Team provided administrative and other supports to the Civic Office.
• Continued development of the new committee administration system, which included support for report authors and the production and distribution of committee and board agendas.
• Democratic Services administered, 2 Committee meetings, 1 Planning Board, and 1 HSCP Board meeting.
• Democratic Services successfully concluded the renewal ballot for the Milngavie Business Improvement District (BID).
• Initial preparations for the anticipated General Election in 2024 continued during January.  Voter ID, Voter Authority Certificates and Postal Votes Do’s & Don’ts were among the main topics of planning.
• Information Management received & processed 175 FOI/EIRs and 8 SARs (Subject Access Requests)

Overview of Progress

The indicators chosen for monthly reporting represent transactions where Legal Services involvement is nearer the end of the process.  Each indicator relates to services which are important to individuals and Council Services, but that also have an impact on the local economy.  They also represent areas where performance was not previously as good as it might have been, which resulted in the introduction of the PIs.  Whilst performance is generally consistently high, the continued application of the PIs ensures that this remains the case.  It also ensures that any change in performance is identified and addressed early.

Performance against all indicators for Legal Services for January is 100% except for taxi licence applications where 35 out of 36 applications were granted within the timescales.

Legal Services continues to support services across the Council in the delivery of projects, contracts and otherwise to manage legal risk.  This includes advice and work on confidential matters that cannot be included in a public report.

Key Achievements / Areas of Focus

• During January, the Team processed 6 contract form reviews, 7 contract award letters, 36 taxi licence applications, and 8 grants.  All were granted within the required timescales except for one taxi application which was late due to an administrative error.  Accordingly, it is not proposed to take any steps at this time other than to continue to monitor progress against the set PIs.
• The Team continued to provide support to the City Deal team with advice and support in relation to procurement options including procurement of various drainage, topographical and CCTV surveys for the WDR.  In addition, the Team completed a client-side professional services contract for cost consultancy and supported discussions with landowners/consultants on archaeological surveys
• Property and planning work included two open market purchases for Council housing stock; a s75 agreement was concluded for an 11 unit flatted development at West High Street, Kirkintilloch for financial contributions and affordable housing; a two year lease of units 7 & 10 Springfield Works, Bishopbriggs was agreed.
• Contracts concluded in this period included grant acceptances for EVIF, Scottish Attainment Challenge and the Share Prosperity Fund; contracts were awarded for the purchase of 12 Refuse Collection Vehicles, 14 electric vehicles, an Income Management System Upgrade, VMware serves, the replacement of a roof in a Townscape Protection Area, Milngavie, and the design and build of 3 play areas and the Lennoxtown Main Street Improvement Project; and a funding agreement was concluded for a Ranger post based at Mugdock Park, Mugdock Reservoir and Craigmaddie Reservoir.
• The Litigation Team continued to provide support to Social Work in relation to adults with incapacity and permanence planning and to Education on a variety of matters including ASN Tribunal work in relation to placing request appeals and advice to colleagues in HR. 

Overview of Progress

During January, the Procurement Team continued to support services across the Council in the delivery of various projects, including ongoing support to a number of strategic procurements/projects, particularly in relation to City Deal, ICT, Business & Digital Change, and various Capital projects.  In particular, the Team was heavily involved in data cleansing, Solution Design, Communication planning, Key User training meetings, Data Reconciliation and User Acceptance testing as part of the implementation of a replacement for the Oracle Financial system.  This has placed a significant demand on the resources of the Team as it leads four of the six implementation workstreams.  The Team also continuously works to manage and support the operational activity in terms of the buyers work centre, Iproc catalogue and supplier management and payment processing, and in December was focussed on delivering the increased demand from Services at the end of the calendar year.

Key Achievements / Areas of Focus

• Providing ongoing support to the City Deal team in relation to Contract requirements and alternative procurement route options.
• Supported key Capital, Business & Digital Change projects such as Oracle Fusion upgrade, IHMS, Westerhill Development Road, school estate Professional Fees, Vehicle Purchases, whilst supporting workforce of the future planning and Business as Usual workstreams.
• Participation in extensive meetings and workshops in order to train, test, reconcile data transfer and solution re-design, in preparation for the implementation of the Oracle Fusion upgrade.
• Completed renewals for support and maintenance of business-critical systems to facilitate workforce of the future.
• Ongoing support for the transition/implementation of Fusion to support the technical requirements for Payment integrations, Managed Stores and e-invoicing on Iproc.
• Planning for the 2023-2024 Annual Procurement Strategy to include alignments with Organisational Climate Action Planning, Circular Economy Strategy, Community Wealth Building & the City Region Community Wish List planning.
• Ongoing work on the review of Contract Standing Orders for alignment with Organisational changes, financial management and Procurement governance
• Issued planning mitigations and communications for Oracle shut down in February 2024.

Overview of Progress

During January the Strategic Commissioning Team provided enhanced support to the commissioned market as service demand and winter pressures continued to challenge the sector.  In addition, the team supported the HSCP to progress key strategic priorities and inform the budget setting process in relation to commissioned services. 

Key Achievements / Areas of Focus

• Established the start-up of a new service model in response to the national resettlement programme for unaccompanied asylum seeking children.
• Supported finalisation of the five-year (Adults) Learning Disability Strategy.
• Continued to progress provider uplift requests whilst taking into account/ balancing budget pressures with provider sustainability. 
• Responding daily to acute pressures and support/facilitate early discharge into the home / local community. 
• Successfully planned / transitioned bespoke supported accommodation / living placements.
• Progressed performance management returns for services commissioned via Scotland Excel’s Care and Support framework in line with agreed procedures.
• Aligned and strengthened collaborative commissioning arrangements for respite services.
• Continued to develop and expand the range of service specifications and contracts available ensuring all reflect current legislation and policy requirements.

The Roads and Neighbourhood Service continues to oversee the maintenance function and safe operation of the adopted public carriageway/footway network, adopted open spaces (including trees), cemeteries, domestic, commercial waste & recycling collection, fleet, and transportation within East Dunbartonshire. In addition, the Service also oversees the management and operations of Mugdock Country Park.

This Service area is divided into seven portfolio groupings:

1. Roads Network Operations
2. Roads Technical & Engineering
3. Streetscene Technical Support (including Bereavement and Arboriculture)
4. Streetscene Operations (including grounds maintenance, street cleansing and cemetery operations)
5. Waste Services (including domestic & commercial waste & recycling collections)
6. Fleet Services (including fleet operations, maintenance, and transportation)
7. Mugdock Country Park

Each team has specific areas of responsibility; however, they all operate, and function collectively as required. Within their own areas, each team has several service accountabilities contributing to local outcomes.

The various sections within the portfolio groups continue to progress both revenue operation/maintenance work and internally and externally funded capital projects with colleagues in Procurement and Finance. Several projects are time specific due to the external funding conditions to it is very important to make best use of the time available to bring these projects to fruition for the benefit of local communities.

The team continue to deliver both planned and reactive maintenance to both carriageways, footways, and street lighting assets. The Service is almost at full numbers in terms of resources available with vacancies for operational posts. The service has commenced the winter maintenance period on both carriageways and footways with several actions already instructed due to lower road surface temperatures.

The 2023/24 capital programmes for carriageway, footway resurfacing programme and lighting projects are ongoing with road space booked and work programmed in as per the Roads Resurfacing Programme Technical Note which will be updated in October. The next Roads Resurfacing update is schedule for January 2024. Regrettably, the Streetlighting Team are working at a reduced capacity, so this is likely to affect the projected capital programme. If this is the case any outstanding projects will be carried forward into 2024/25.

The Roads Network Team Leader and Senior Roads Technician are currently finalising the proposed 3 Year Resurfacing Programme following the network wide condition survey. It is intended to share the proposed programme early in 2024.

The Roads Development, Structures, Traffic, Flood Risk and Drainage Teams continue to work on and contribute to multiple projects including Road Coring, Flood Defence Maintenance, Bridge Inspection/Replacement and Signalisation/TRO Projects across various area.

The Team is also coordinating with external contractors to delivery multiple traffic surveys with the information used to determine the next steps for various proposals. This information is used as evidence to either support the need for action or validate the decision not to take forward a proposal if it is not supported by evidence.

The Service is now operating a full capacity following recent staff changes with several newer members of the team familiarising themselves with the Council area and taking forward individual projects including gateway features, replacement bridges, signalised junctions, and other important road safety features.

The three geographical based teams have completed work on their summer grounds maintenance programmes including grass cutting operations, herbicide treatment, care of Gardens service, play area inspections etc. The teams have now switched to their Autumn/Winter maintenance programmes which include autumn leaf collection and shrub pruning etc. The teams are also undertaking street cleansing of all adopted council roads and pavements including litter collection, mechanical sweeping, and servicing of street litter bins.

The team also continue to manage the Councils tree stock. The team is current analysing the results of the first Ash Dieback Surveys which will inform the actions that need to be prioritised to address this important issue. The team manages and performs burials in the eight operational cemeteries.

The team continue to work with community groups regarding Environmental Improvement Projects including path improvement, play area renovations, amenity planting, cemetery, and allotment development.

The team have also completed their summer maintenance work and are moving into the autumn/winter maintenance period. The team have been monitoring the quarry area during the summer months following the installation of the new perimeter fence and it is having a positive effect on unauthorised access which is welcome due to the health and safety issues previously experienced at this location within the country park. The monthly visitor number continue to exceed expectation and the team area focused on enhancing the visitor experience to the country park with various improvements planned to key attractions.

The Waste Team has continued the frontline service operations for the collection of over 400,000 assorted household bins over the month of November, providing residual, recycling, food, garden and special waste collections on behalf of the Authority. The team has also managed the waste and recycling collections from over 400 of our local commercial premises and provides recycling disposal provision at the Mavis Valley Recycling Centre.

The Waste service have continued to work with our Clyde Valley partners through the period on the treatment and disposal contract for all residual household waste.  The Council processed 1864 tonnes of waste through this contract in December, ensuring our waste undergoes treatment for recycling extraction prior to being sent through an Energy from Waste process.

The Fleet team continue to manage the transport operations including the Councils Goods Vehicle Operator Licence and compliance across all services. This includes provision and management of the maintenance workshops, annual testing, statutory inspections, and management of Drivers in line with obligations and conditions laid out in the Councils commitment to the Scottish Traffic Commissioner.

Fleet Management has worked in partnership with services and officers from procurement in order to specify, tender and procure further vehicles and associated items of specialist plant, suitable for service users’ needs and to coincide with contracts terminating through the financial year.

Tenders are currently out for the replacement of specialist vehicles, plant & equipment for Greenspace and Streetscene, Waste Management and other front-line services.

Replacement vehicles continue to filter through from suppliers for Roads and Environment, Property Maintenance and Social Services. The team at Fleet Management continue working to transfer systems and equipment and arrange the de-fleeting and disposal of the outgoing vehicles.

The fleet service continues to support and manage Transport Operations for the provision of Additional Support Needs Transport service for Education and Integrated Health and Social Care, including delivery of school meals on behalf of the authority. This service has provided additional support for other services throughout the period.

Roads Network Operations Teams (including Street Lighting)

Carriageway and Footway surface defects and service level agreements (SLA):

Between 01/01/2024 and 31/01/2024, we have identified 295 defects in East Dunbartonshire Council carriageways and footways. We have completed 172 repairs on time (approx. 63.95 %). However, all high-risk repairs were completed on time.

Below chart compares our last three months performance:

Road’s capital carriageway and footway surfacing projects in January 2024:

Below table indicate the list of footway and carriageway capital resurfacing projects, committed in January 2024.

Winter Maintenance- January 2024:

East Dunbartonshire Council winter maintenance team completed 335 actions between 01/01/2024 and 31/01/2024 and approx. 1359 tonne salt/ grit were used during this time.

Please see below summary report of winter maintenance actions between 01/01/2024 and 31/01/2024.

Carriageways and footways Safety inspection:

Between 01/01/2024 and 31/01/2024, East Dunbartonshire Council has successfully completed scheduled safety inspections

Roads Technical & Engineering Teams

Traffic

• Auchinloch Rd/Crosshill Rd, Lenzie Roundabout. Bollards to be installed.
• Springfield Rd/Menteith Ave, Bishopbriggs. Traffic calming associated with Climate Ready Park. Objections to be heard at Traffic Management Appeals Board.
• Signalisation of Milton of Campsie Cross going to advert of 21 February.
• Station Road at Drymen Road, Bearsden. On hold for time being due to ongoing drainage issues, but work will not be able to start on the ground while Canniesburn Toll is.
• Disabled Persons Parking Places 23-24 waiting for date to advertise
• Ongoing works to repair and upgrade traffic signals. Various locations installing new or replacing street signs as per customer requests.
• Responding to Planning Applications.
• Responding to lining requests and refreshing faded road markings on a priority basis.
• Commenting on various licences e.g. street trader licences, public entertainment licences and occasional licences.
• Dealing with various requests for temporary road closures and Temporary Traffic Management
• The team are providing technical support for City Deal projects, Canniesburn Toll, Lennoxtown Main Street and Cycling Connectivity Corridors. 

Development

• Various locations installing new or replacing street signs as per customer requests.
• Responding to Planning Applications.
• Responding to lining requests and refreshing faded road markings on a priority basis.
• Commenting on various licences e.g. street trader licences, public entertainment licences and occasional licences.
• Dealing with various requests for temporary road closures and Temporary Traffic Management
• Junior Road Safety Officer participation has been re-established.
• The team are providing technical support for City Deal projects, Canniesburn Toll, Lennoxtown Main Street and Cycling Connectivity Corridors.

Flooding and Drainage

• River Glazert Restoration Project, Lennoxtown - Detail design report finalised. CAR licence obtained. Some interim tree felling may commence during the winter Jan – March 24 in preparation of appointment of contractor.  Technical fault in planning application puts the project at risk.
• Kelvin Tributaries River Restoration Project – Draft Statement of Requirements being finalised and will be passed to Procurement for appointment of consultant. Ongoing. NLC Memorandum of agreement awaiting to be signed. – on going.
• Climate Ready Park – Tenders returned and evaluated. Appointed contractor selected and award letter to be issued once Legal Services have reviewed and finalised. Ongoing.
• B822 Campsie Rd – Replacing stone cundie under road with new piped culvert. Complete.
• Lochend Rd, Bearsden – remove 2 x gullies and reinstate due to be complete17/1/24.
• Hawthorn Ave, Lenzie – remove channel drain and install 2 x gullies. Complete
• Ledcameroch Cres, Bearsden – install double gully. Complete.
• Thomson Dr , Bearsden install new manhole on carrier system. Complete.
• CCTV survey carried out at Auchinloch Rd. Complete.
• UPCOMING WORKS
• Chesters Rd – install new surface line and gullies due 26/2 within resurfacing closure
• Balmore Rd – pipe lining works start 19/2
• Thomson Dr further survey work starts 15/2

Structures

• 2023/24 General and Principal inspections programme ongoing.
• Review & response to abnormal load requests.
• Capital programme for 2023/24 in progress.
• The Cottage Merkland leaning boundary wall, Waterside Rd, Kirkintilloch. Works commenced November. Rebuilding of new wall now underway. Works have been delayed slightly due to the weather.
• Bencloich Burn, Lennoxtown. CCTV survey of 4no. culverts complete.
• Moss Maigry culvert, Crow Rd. Snagging works complete.
• Braes O Yetts culvert, Kirkintilloch. Parapet edge protection work complete.
• Red Brae culvert, Kirkintilloch. Edge protection installation complete.
• Bothlin Burn, Lenzie. Vegetation clearance and scour protection works complete.
• The Cottage Merkland, Waterside Rd, Kirkintilloch leaning boundary wall. Works commenced November. Rebuilding of new wall in final stages, completion expected by the end of February followed by footway resurfacing.
• Tower Burn, Torrance. Repairs to footbridge and general tidy up underway. Expected completion by end of February.
• Prescott Footbridge, Milngavie. General tidy up and repairs to the approach ramps commencing late February/March.
• Hilton culvert, Bishopbriggs. Vegetation clearance at both the inlet/outlet and edge protection works commencing late February/March.
• SBC10 East Side, Kirkintilloch. Trees and debris to be cleared from around the piers of the bridge commencing March.
• Burncrooks Footbridge, Milngavie. Timber parapet installation postponed until FY 24/25.
• Campsie Road culvert, Kirkintilloch. Parapet retaining wall rebuild and scour protection works postponed until FY 24/25.
• Bishopbriggs Park. Trash screen scour protection works postponed until FY 24/25.

Greenspace & Streetscene Teams

Streetscene Operations

• Street cleansing and associated tasks such as leaf litter sweeping; removal of fly posting and uplifting of fly tipping, mechanical street sweeping and installing replacement or additional bins. 
• Graffiti removal.
• Ongoing cemetery operations, digging and carrying out interments (31 no.), installing headstone foundations, benches etc
• Winter cyclical works ongoing; leaf fall removal and clearance; pruning of shrub beds and tree works.
• Checking and clearance of culverts
• Play park inspection
• Football pitch lining.
• Replacement of damaged bins.
• Responding to Customer Service Requests and complaints.
• Removal of dead animals and excess waste at recycling centres.
• Arranging winter servicing of machinery

Streetscene Technical Support

• Emergency Tree Works  - dealing with trees affected by Storms Isha and Jocelyn
• Play Areas – orders raised for projects at Keystone, Douglaston Garden North, Torrance Main Street and Waterside – pre starts to be arranged
• Play Areas -  Bishopbriggs Park, Springfield, King George V,  Luggie Park – procurement process now progressing
• Play Areas – Kincaid and Scott Avenue (MOC) – briefs to be prepared
• Cemetery Management Rules – internal review ongoing noting recent wider Scottish Govt consultation
• Headstones/Memorials – currently reviewing procurement options
• Cadder Cemetery – plans and works progressing to improve traffic management and parking around entrance area
• Cadder Cemetery Extension – liaising with procurement re brief
• Tree condition survey of Old Aisle Cemetery complete – review of recommendations
• Ash Dieback Surveys completed within EDC Schools Estate – progressing costs to undertake remedial works as required
• Ash Dieback Survey on Roadside – a small number of trees require urgent works – ownership is a mixture of public and private – contact with private owners now made – costings being obtained re those in EDC ownership. Wider analysis of other trees and works is ongoing
• Climate Ready Park – tender returns being reviewed – award imminent
• Team working with City Deal Team and Consultants in relation to Masterplan of Bishopbriggs Public Park and Bishopbriggs Relief Road
• Rosebank Allotments – Officer working with group to undertake relevant repairs to paths, fencing etc
• Community Growing Facilities – identifying improvement works via Shared Prosperity Fund
• Delivering Food Growing Presentations to colleagues in Planning, Education and Housing
• Allotment Regulations – officer review complete in advance of a wider consultation
• Nature Restoration Fund – number of projects ongoing via this fund (as per earlier Technical Note)
• Input into Additional Capital investment for drainage, active travel/access and footway surfacing.
• Mains Park New Path – path works complete around additional link path – reinstatement works will continue into spring
• Path Works - Pre start meeting for West Balgrochan Marsh, Torrance path upgrade. Elected members, Torrance Community Council informed. Torrance Primary informed
• Clyde Valley Green Network – liaison re EDC Wetland Strategy.
• Improvements to Barloch Muir, Buchannan Street  - new entrance features.
• Waterside Road – new post and fire fence installed
• The team continues to respond to high volume of open space, tree and bereavement enquires, along with planning application consultations and complaints.
• Planning application responses and support to Planning Team ongoing
• Open Space audit work for input into the Grounds Maintenance System ongoing for Milngavie & Bearsden.
• Assisted a number of Community Groups with Litter Picking resources across EDC

Mugdock Country Park – January’s footfall – 72,395

• Events:
  • Stargazing at Mugdock
  • Forest Schools – Woodcraft Wander
  • Forest Schools – Winter Orienteering
• School Groups/Community Groups - Forest Schools Activities
• Checks on boardwalks, fencing, playparks
• Bins, litter picking, skips and indoor cleaning
• Gritting, ploughing, brushing leaves, work to maintenance yard
• Potholes, drainage, trees, roofing issues
• Pathwork, tree and hedge planting
• Habitat piles, bird surveys
• Project development:  bbq sites, Mugdock Castle maze,
• Progress with broadband cabling
• Window displays, stock and sales
• Trails and orienteering
• Room and land hire – cinema parties, corporate events

Waste Services

• The Clyde Valley Residual Waste contract say 1985 tonnes of household general waste throughput in January for recycling pre-sort, and then ongoing production of energy from waste.
• In January we carry out a collection of Christmas trees for composting, alongside this we provide an opportunity for residents to have a one of collection of garden waste on request.  This year we received over 1000 collection requests which the team working to complete week commencing 15th January.
• The Waste Management team have continued working towards compliance with the new legislation around the handling and disposal of Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPS) material found in the bulky waste collection and recycling centre waste stream.  The Mavis Valley site now has provision for a separate stream on site, and bulky collections are now separated at source for ongoing treatment.
• Joint working is taking place across Waste Services, Corporate Communications and Business Change to ensure a smooth transition towards a Garden Waste Charging Policy. 
• The implementation of our new Waste Modernisation software continues with extensive data gathering exercises taking place across the team.  The team operational team went through a thorough 4-day successful training exercise which was positively received.
• Staff continue to progress through CPC the driving competency certification, in which drivers required to go through 35 hours of periodic training every 5 years.
• Quarterly contract meetings took place with all our waste processors including Saica Natur, Biffa, Scottish Water, FRM and the Clyde Valley group, an opportunity to discuss any service matters, contamination levels and ongoing developments.
• The Waste Technical team continue to drive recycling at our flatted developments.  In January the team have improved recycling provisions at Tom Johnston Place through liaison work with Housing teams.
• In January we received 9829 booking requests at the Mavis Valley Recycling Centre.
• We successfully recruited a new Waste Services Officer, a promoted post for one of our team who will be an asset as we progress with various projects planned for the year ahead.
• The team participated in an audit involving Health & Safety compliance of our service Plant and equipment and associated control measures in place.

Fleet Services

• During the period 1/01/24 to 31/1/24 there were 238 vehicles/plant inspected/repaired in line with the servicing schedule and defect procedure.   
• We currently have a variety of vehicles/plant on order to replace an aging fleet in line with the vehicle replacement programme.
• Support Council services in the delivery of ASN Transport including the distribution of essential supplies for vulnerable individuals throughout the period including meals for early year’s facilities and lunch clubs etc.     
• Continued work on the management of Capital programme for the replacement of fleet assets through the financial year.        
• Continued work on the CPC training programme, to ensure all drivers that require CPC training achieve this before the deadline to remain compliant.
• Continued support to front line service operations through the provision of in-house fleet maintenance function including work on horticultural and construction plant equipment. 
• Management of Fleet Operations in compliance with Operator Licencing legislation with a DVSA Operator Compliance Risk Score of Green for both Traffic and Compliance and a 100% first time pass rate for annual tests.    
• Multiple gate checks have been carried out any issues identified have been relayed to the relevant management team.  
• Working closely with people development we have identified funding to allow our mechanics to become qualified HGV drivers, this in turn will allow them to be able to test drive the vehicles they are working on.  
• Currently working with the customer and digital services team to identify a new fleet management system with a view of merging current systems and streamlining current processes.
• Monthly audits have been implemented to ensure O licence and MOT compliance.
• The new process for vehicle hires has seen a significant drop in hire requests, we have also seen a drop in vehicles that were on hire.