The Public Performance Report of East Dunbartonshire Council

The Council manages performance through Our Strategic Planning and Performance Framework which seeks to ensure that we have a firm set of strategic priorities and a clear framework for the delivery of these priorities. 

It also ensures everything we do aligns to the Local Outcomes Improvement Plan (LOIP), which is the primary strategic plan for all the Community Planning Partners in East Dunbartonshire. Read the Local Outcomes Improvement Plan (LOIP) on the East Dunbartonshire Performance web page.

Performance Management is about how we plan and manage improvements to our services. In simple terms, performance management enables decision makers, both elected members and officers, to take necessary action based on facts about our performance.

The Council is committed to continuously improving the performance of our services and being open and transparent about how well we are doing. Our aim is to be a sustainable, thriving and achieving organisation, which provides high-quality services for our local people and their communities.

This Public Performance Report for 2023/24 forms part of our Strategic Planning and Performance Framework and provides a summary of how the Council has delivered services across the reporting year and the impact those services have had on the people and businesses of East Dunbartonshire.

Community Planning Partnership and outlines why and how we will work together with our partners to organise and provide services in a way that tackles known inequalities. The LOIP identifies six local outcomes which the Council and our Community Planning partners will seek to deliver with our people and communities.

Our six local priority outcomes are:

• East Dunbartonshire has a sustainable and resilient economy with busy town and village centres, a growing business base, and is an attractive place in which to visit and invest
• Our people are equipped with knowledge and skills for learning, life and work
• Our children and young people are safe, healthy and ready to learn
• East Dunbartonshire is a safe place in which to live, work and visit
• Our people experience good physical and mental health and wellbeing with access to a quality built and natural environment in which to lead healthier and more active lifestyles
• Our older population and more vulnerable citizens are supported to maintain their independence and enjoy a high quality of life, and they, their families and carers benefit from effective care and support services.

In order to achieve our vision, there are several guiding principles and approaches to working which are paramount. They lend themselves to the planning and delivering of activities under all of our local priority outcomes:

• Best Value
• Coproduction and engagement
• Evidenced based planning
• Fair and equitable services
• Planning for place
• Prevention and early intervention
• Sustainability.

Councils are required to report on performance information using the Local Government Benchmarking Framework (LGBF) each year and this is reported and can be viewed on the Explore the data website. The Local Government Benchmarking Framework indicators have been used throughout this report. 

This information enables you to assess and compare how we are performing against other councils across a range of service areas covering: children's services; corporate services; social work services; cultural and leisure services; environmental services; housing services; corporate assets and economic development. 

The most recent publication of the LGBF data, which provides further details of how East Dunbartonshire compares against other Council areas in key benchmarking indicators, can be found on the East Dunbartonshire Performance web page.

East Dunbartonshire has a sustainable resilient economy with busy town and village centres, a growing base, and is an attractive place in which to visit and invest

During 2023/24:

• Milngavie BID – Businesses in Milngavie voted to work collectively for a third time. More than 88% of the votes cast were in favour of the proposals. The goal is to build on the achievements of the last 10 years in the town centre by continuing to provide a dedicated range of initiatives that will directly benefit local businesses and a programme of events to bring people into the precinct. The Milngavie BID’s aims include:
  • An enhanced digital presence for individual local businesses and the community
  • Reducing vacant units and breathing life into vacant units, creating business opportunities in an already vibrant town centre
  • Continuing to create an accessible and safe environment for users and businesses, maximising the asset of the pedestrian shopping precinct
  • Continual promotion of the town centre as a destination for shopping, services and leisure through digital, print, Sky TV, radio and direct marketing.

• Kirkintilloch Canal Festival: The Kirkintilloch Canal Festival took place on Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 August 2023. The festival aimed to encourage people to consider all forms of travel and transport, and to get active. A range of activities took place over the weekend:
  • A range of boat trips took place on the Forth and Clyde Canal
  • Anyone cycling or scooting to the festival on the Sunday was offered a free hot/soft drink from Locavore in Cowgate
  • Free bike checks and fun activities at Marina Cycles (McBride Avenue, Kirkintilloch)
  • A free heritage walk on the evening of Thursday 24 August
  • Free Silent Walking Discos on the Sunday
  • Musical Storytelling with Lesley O’Brien
  • Spirit of Alba: Douglas Laing & Co – Canal Boat Whisky Tasting
  • A free Saturday evening concert and fireworks
  • Sunday Funday – with classic cars, canoeing, archery, live music, street theatre, magic and more. There will also be market stalls offering a range of information, as well as goods for sale.
• Regent Gardens Project: The project to improve Regent Gardens in Kirkintilloch Town Centre was in the construction stage during 2023/24 and reached practical completion at the end of March. This project has seen community informed improvement to this key space in the town centre
• Bishopbriggs Town Centre and Bishopbriggs Park: Work continued on the next stages of the design process for Bishopbriggs Town Centre and Bishopbriggs Park. A803 feasibility and options work progressed as part of an Outline Business Case development. This work included public consultation, ongoing work with various stakeholders and project partners (Glasgow City Council and Strathclyde Partnership for Transport)
• Digital Development Grant: The Digital Development Grant, funded by the Shared Prosperity Fund, was launched during 2023/24. The aim of the fund is to help small and medium enterprises take advantage of latest technologies helping businesses, encouraging investment and supporting employment opportunities locally. It is already fully subscribed, and applications are being processed.

Our people are equipped with knowledge and skills for learning, life and work.

During 2023/24:

• Education Pathways Programme: As part of the Education Pathways Programme Youth Services in partnership with the Wise Group facilitated a Construction Skills Certification Scheme (CSCS) training course. Thirteen young people successfully attended the course, studied, and achieved their elementary Health and Safety Certificate. This group of young people are now working with Youth Services on preparing for their test to gain their CSCS card. The CSCS card enables young people to apply for a job on a construction site
• Modern Apprentices: East Dunbartonshire provided 24 new opportunities across various areas of the Council including Early Years, Roads, Streetscene, Building Standards and in the Health and Social Care Partnership. East Dunbartonshire’s Modern Apprenticeship Programme has been running for almost a decade and apprentices are supported by experienced colleagues to help them learn the ropes and progress through their studies while learning on the job
• Community Learning and Development: The 16+ Data Hub tool enables the Education Service to interrogate Skills Development Scotland’s 16+ Data Hub (positive destinations up to 24 years of age). Through sharing information among key partners, schools are providing tailored support to young people when they leave school to support them to secure positive, sustained destinations. The 16+ Data Hub tool is now being used by Community Learning to target young people who are economically inactive, have an unconfirmed destination or are currently unemployed
• Community Learning and Development Inspection Progress Visit: Inspectors from Education Scotland carried out a Community Learning and Development (CLD) progress visit. The inspection identified key strengths including strong leadership, effective partnership approaches and services which are improving the lives of learners and communities. Areas of focus for improvement include the requirement for planning to have a continued focus on improved measurable outcomes and that leaders ensure that CLD priorities are well understood by staff and partners
• Positive Achievements: The Positive Achievements programme delivered 20 outdoor activity days which were offered to all secondary schools and included orienteering, tubing and a youth driving experience. Feedback from parents/ carers and young people was very positive
• Parental Employment Programme: Ten parents were recruited into temporary paid Council work placements in Early Years, Support for Learning and Catering as part of the Parental Employment Programme. This programme is funded through Scottish Government Tackling Child Poverty funding. The parents will receive accredited training and employability support to support access to future employment
• Count Me: 3.2 FTE Development Officers were appointed to design and deliver the Count Me adult learning programme in Numeracy. Over 120 adults have been taken part in programmes. Feedback from those taking part has been very positive.

Our children and young people are safe, healthy and ready to learn.

During 2023/24:             

• Woodland View School: The brand new school opened in August 2023, accommodating children and young people from ages 2-18 from across East Dunbartonshire. The building is designed to be both practical and stimulating for pupils who have a broad range of additional support needs. The school has plenty of open spaces and a sensory trail leading from the ground floor to the first floor
• Bikeability: East Dunbartonshire has become the latest local authority to achieve 100% delivery of Bikeability Scotland level 2 on road cycle training in Scotland
• Lennoxtown Primary and Early Years Centre: Lennoxtown Primary and Early Years Centre received a positive inspection from Education Scotland. Many positive aspects of school and nursery life were identified including: 
  • Children are happy, curious and resourceful in their early years centre. At the primary stages, children have a strong voice through their leadership roles
  • There are positive, nurturing relationships between children and staff across the school and early years centre
  • The vision and drive of the headteacher and senior leaders to empower staff and practitioners is creating the right conditions to build their confidence. As a result, they are working well together to address barriers to learning and improve outcomes for children.

Education Scotland is a Scottish Government executive agency charged with supporting quality and improvement in Scottish Education. They have an inspection process aimed in evaluating the quality of learning and teaching in Scottish schools and education services. East Dunbartonshire education report can be found on their website.

• Youth Development Workers: Working in partnership with Headteachers and teaching staff, Youth Development Workers focus on a variety of youth services, such as employability programmes and well-being to support young people disengaging with learning and wider achievement. The Council first piloted the appointment of a dedicated Youth Development Worker in Kirkintilloch High School in June 2021. The pilot proved to be a great success and a video demonstrating the positive impact was produced in partnership with Education Scotland, YouthLink Scotland and The West Partnership. As a result of the successful pilot in Kirkintilloch High School, Youth Development workers have now been appointed to all Secondary Schools in East Dunbartonshire
• Attainment: Performance and overall achievement rates among secondary school pupils continued to be high, as shown in the table below. It should be noted that the figures include National 5, Higher and equivalent qualifications.

* The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the use of a different approach to assessment in the summers of 2020, 2021 and 2022. It is important that any interpretation of the above data is within that context.

• Annual Participation Measure: The annual participation measure reports on the activity of the wider 16-19 year old group, including those young people at school. In East Dunbartonshire, of those who were participating in education, training or employment, 85.8% were participating in education, 10.8% in employment and 0.9% were participating in other training and development.

Not Participating means those unemployed seeking employment and others unemployed and not seeking employment.

Skills Development Scotland 2023.

East Dunbartonshire is a safe place in which to live, work and visit.

During 2023/24:

• Trusted Trader Scheme: The Trusted Trader Scheme was officially launched during 2023/24. The scheme aims to increase customer confidence by helping people find reliable traders, promote good practice within local businesses, protect residents from doorstep crime, and help generate business for local companies. The Council’s Trading Standards team is responsible for overseeing the scheme including vetting traders, regularly examining business practices and monitoring reviews and feedback. Find out more about the scheme on the Trusted Trader website
• Affordable Homes: The brand-new affordable housing development on the site of the former Lairdsland Primary School in Kirkintilloch was completed and tenants moved in during 2023. The 38 affordable homes are situated in a mixture of three and four-storey buildings which contain one and two-bedroomed flats and will be used as council housing.  The new development, part of the Kirkintilloch Town Centre Masterplan, includes four wheelchair accessible flats and eight amenity flats on the ground floor for tenants with specific health needs. The remaining flats are general needs housing. Artefacts from the original school have been incorporated into the new building including the school’s date stone, now displayed in the new landscaped courtyard, and original stonework, which has been used to create boundary walls, bin stores and bicycle sheds
• Trading Standards: Joint enforcement work by Trading Standards and Police Scotland on scam and doorstep crime issues continued during 2023/24, focused upon the protection of vulnerable and elderly populations from financial harm. Activity from the team in relation to the problem of scams also included the installation of call-blocking units in the homes of vulnerable residents and use of the “scam van” as part of awareness initiatives across the area
• Environmental Health: The Environmental Health Team was engaged in the delivery of essential public health services throughout 2023/24, in order to protect the community from hazards in the environment and to regulate and facilitate the growth of responsible businesses. Services in relation to food safety, public health in terms of nuisances and communicable diseases, occupational health and safety, noise pollution, air quality and contaminated land have all been delivered by means of planned interventions to local businesses, reactive responses to public health complaints and any required assessments of environmental conditions across the district
• Community Safety: The Community Safety Team continued to deliver a broad range of frontline work for the benefit of our local communities. Officers from the team have been engaged in the delivery of services in relation to antisocial behaviour, youth disorder, neighbour disputes, environmental incivilities, dog control, decriminalised parking enforcement, fly-tipping, mediation, CCTV and pest control. The team continued to experience a high demand for services in relation to community safety issues. Officers have therefore continued to work closely with a range of colleagues and key partners to successfully deliver appropriate interventions and to make our local communities safer, with programmes of enforcement and early intervention, prevention and diversionary activity all being provided. The Community Wardens have also continued to develop links within the local communities they serve, getting involved in a significant number of initiatives and events that have been taking place across the Council area.

Food Standards Scotland audits local authority’s food law enforcement services. These audits focus on the local authority’s capacity and capability for delivering official controls. East Dunbartonshire reports can be found by visiting the Food Standards Scotland website.

Our people experience good physical and mental health and wellbeing with access to a quality built and natural environment in which to lead healthier and more active lifestyle.

During 2023/24:

• Lennoxtown Sports Facility: Work started on the new Lennoxtown Sports Facility. The Council is redeveloping the current High Park site by installing a new all-weather sports pitch and extending the existing changing pavilion to increase capacity. The development will see the existing grass playing fields replaced by a single 3G Astroturf pitch to allow for more frequent use throughout the year as opposed to the current restricted use due to weather conditions. The existing single storey pavilion – which houses two changing rooms, toilet/shower facilities and a bothy used by Council employees – will be extended to create two new changing rooms with toilet/shower facilities as well as an equipment store. The project will also include:
• • Drainage and retention works to alleviate issues with standing surface water
  • Pitch floodlighting
  • Spectator standing areas
  • Additional car parking
  • Cycle parking.
• Mosshead Play Area: Mosshead Play area was revamped and has an array of new equipment, the park design was voted for by the community. The Council carried out an extensive online consultation giving residents the opportunity to choose a new play area design for Mosshead. Work at the play area was carried out to combat the problematic water issues which so badly affected the previous play area.  Bright new attractive safety surfacing has been installed at the play area, which is accessed directly from the existing pathway linking Mosshead Road to Stockiemuir Avenue. A number of new additions including two flat swings, a cradle swing, a basket swing and an inclusive roller coaster swing. In addition to this there is a large triple tower multiplay unit, seesaw, balance beam and rope walk unit, spinning bowl, two "springies", a toddler multiplay unit and a wheelchair inclusive roundabout
• Planning and Building Standards: over 700 planning applications were processed and determined and over 1,200 building warrant applications during 2023/24. 86.4% of all householder planning applications were decided within two months with an average timescale of 7.5 weeks.
• Enforcement: A total of 86 cases were taken up and 101 cases closed. The majority of cases resolved were done so through the use of negotiation and co-operation avoiding the need for any formal action. Cases have ranged in scale from domestic breaches to trees being removed in Conservation Areas and unauthorised commercial activity
• Learn to Swim classes: The East Dunbartonshire Leisure and Culture Trust increased the number of learn to swim classes following the opening of the new Allander, children were placed in appropriate classes following completion of a week-long intensive course during Easter and the waiting list was cleared for the first time since COVID-19 restrictions. Throughout the year the number of places available have been increased through natural progression and additional classes to open and clear the waiting list periodically.

Our older population and more vulnerable citizens are supported to maintain their independence and enjoy a high quality of life, and they, their families and carers benefit from effective care and support services.

During 2023/24:

• Library – Dementia Information Hubs: East Dunbartonshire Libraries have been declared dementia information hubs in a new partnership with Alzheimer Scotland. All eight libraries in the area will have information leaflets offering further sources of information and support and all computers have links to the charity’s Brain Health checker. Staff at the larger libraries have also undertaken training to support them to engage positively with people living with dementia and other memory loss. This new partnership complements, and adds value to, the work East Dunbartonshire Leisure and Culture Trust’s Learning and Access Co-ordinators are already delivering with the Memories Scotland Memory Groups reminiscence project
• Adult Protection Inspection Report: A new inspection report found that organisations in East Dunbartonshire are working effectively to safeguard vulnerable adults in the area. The Joint Inspection of Adult Support and Protection Services in East Dunbartonshire report, published on 12 March 2024 concluded that there were clear strengths in supporting positive experiences and outcomes for adults at risk of harm, which outweighed the areas for improvement. The inspection, which began on 16 October 2023, aimed to independently scrutinise, and provide assurance on how the partnership in East Dunbartonshire works, to ensure the safety and protection of adults at risk of harm. The report highlighted notable strengths including the comprehensive and collaborative nature of Adult Support and Protection inquiries, the quality of completed chronologies, and the competency of investigations. The inspection report outlined three key areas which will form an Action/Improvement Plan for the partnership to implement. The partnership will now develop this plan which needs to be submitted to the Care Inspectorate by 24 April 2024
• Assisted Collection Service: The Waste Technical team carried out a full review of the assisted collection service, a support service offered to our elderly or infirm residents. The team visited 1,292 properties
• Learning Disability Strategy: The Health and Social Care Partnership developed a new Learning Disability Strategy 2024-29. The development and coproduction of the strategy has involved people with lived experience, relevant stakeholders, partners and the general public. The four-stage consultation process generated detailed comments and suggestions which have been incorporated within the new strategy
• Alcohol and Drug Recovery Service: During the first quarter of 2023/24, the Health and Social Care Partnerships Alcohol and Drug Recovery Service exceeded the Scottish Government’s 90% target for waiting times for people referred for help with their drug or alcohol problem. 96% of people referred to the service waited no longer than three weeks for their first treatment, a significant increase on 2022/23 Q4 which was 81%.

Further Health and Social Care Partnership information can be found on the HSCP website.

The Care Inspectorate is a scrutiny body which assess the quality of care in Scotland to ensure it meets high standards. East Dunbartonshire reports can be found by visiting the Care Inspectorate website.

Healthcare Improvement Scotland has the aim of supporting better quality health and social care for everyone in Scotland. East Dunbartonshire reports can be found by visiting the Healthcare Improvement Scotland website.

Over the last decade the Council’s finances have served to reflect a period of change and recovery. Significant events in prior years, such as the impact of COVID-19, financial austerity and demographic change, have shaped the Council to remain sustainable and continue to perform well against a backdrop of reduced funding. Such austerity along increased demand on resources and the costs of delivery has increased year-on-year with the rates of inflation peaking and remaining especially high within those areas of Council activity such as health and social care, capital projects and reactive maintenance.

During 2023/24 the Council agreed a Strategic plan to support communities, businesses and households. This plan was specified to allow time and service continuity to enable recovery from the worst aspects of the cost-of-living crises. The financial package, underwritten by increased reserves in the prior year, deferred the need to passing on the full impact of the cuts that otherwise would have been required within a reduced, real terms, financial settlement. This planned use of reserves was both significant and required but cannot not be sustained.

The impact of the cost-of-living crisis has been challenging for the Council to manage. Planned use of reserves were more substantial than anticipated due to much higher inflationary pressures within Council services. Whilst the cumulative impact has been significant, it has served to galvanise systems, structures, teams, governance arrangements and strategies to the extent that change has been well managed and only now serves as a point where the strategy muse change. At the end of the financial year 2023/24, worldwide events are such that the term ‘unprecedented’ along with considerations around austerity and now financial sustainability are under constant scrutiny. With Reserves applied to a large extent and the costs of increased delivery falling within increasingly challenging political and management decisions and ultimately in Council Tax.

Under the Code of Audit Practice, the audit of Best Value is integrated within the work of the External Audit Team who are required to assess the seven Best Value themes at the Council over the period of the audit appointment. Auditors use a risk-based approach that is proportionate to the Council to ensure we have made proper arrangements for securing Best Value and is complying with its community planning duties. The previous assessment for the financial year 2022/23 was Reported to Council in December 2024 which also included a followed up on previously reported Best Value findings. This concludes on the pace and depth of improvement implemented by the Council with those previous recommendations on LGBF Reporting and Financial Planning now completed.

Auditors also conduct thematic reviews as directed by the Accounts Commission. In 2022/23 this was targeted towards the effectiveness of Council leadership in developing new strategic priorities following the elections in May 2022. This featured as a separate management report to document the findings of this work which can be found on Audit Scotland’s website. In general terms these are summarised as follows:

• Vision and Leadership - The Council has a clear vision for the five-year period covered by its Strategic Planning and Performance Framework. This focuses on working with residents, communities and businesses to deliver the best possible services and target resources to those most in need. Officers and elected members worked effectively to agree the Council’s refreshed priorities shortly after the May 2022 Council elections
• Governance and Accountability - The Council has a clear vision for the five-year period covered by its Strategic Planning and Performance Framework. This focuses on working with residents, communities and businesses to deliver the best possible services and target resources to those most in need. Officers and elected members worked effectively to agree the Council’s refreshed priorities shortly after the May 2022 Council elections
• Effective Use of Resources - Each service has a Business Improvement Plan. These set out the strategic priorities for the service and how they align with the Council’s priorities and the Local Outcomes Improvement Plan. The Council is refreshing its financial, workforce, asset and digital strategies and plans. This is a significant programme of work and successfully implementing the new plans will be challenging
• Working with Communities - The Council’s priorities include actions requiring it to work effectively with citizens and communities. The Council consulted effectively with communities on the locality plans and through the annual budget consultation
• Equality and Fairness - The Council’s priorities and the locality plans focus on reducing inequalities and ensuring the Council distributes its resources fairly and equitably. The Council carries out equality impact assessments as part of its policy development toolkit. This incorporates the Fairer Scotland duty and recognises requirements for the Council to review its processes and raise awareness and training to undertake such assessments. Council papers include a section on equalities implications. This sets out the Council’s commitments to comply with Equality and Human Rights Commission guidance on “Making Fair Financial Decisions” and confirms whether the proposed decisions support that objective.

The strategic plan to support recovery was accelerated in 23/24 and significant projects and developments completed and progressed during the year. Key achievements for the Council include the following:

• External pitches, building and landscaping works were completed at the new £40.9 million Boclair Academy in Bearsden
• The fantastic new Woodland View Additional Supports Needs School welcomed pupils in August 2023 and was officially opened by Provost Renwick in October 2023
• A network of 75 Council owned and operated life-saving defibrillators was installed across the area in Community Hubs, Community Halls, workplaces and schools, completed in 2023
• The second phase of the new Allander Leisure Centre was completed with the construction of the Sports Dome and completion of exterior works, with the facility officially opened in February 2024
• Excellent new facilities were provided at Lennoxtown High Park with the completion of the new Pavillion and Pitches, officially opened in March 2024.

Further information can be found in the Council’s Annual Accounts web page.

Budget Consultation 2023: A budget consultation was developed and implemented during 2023 to inform the budget setting process for 2024/25 in March 2025. The consultation tested public views on the Council priorities in addition to seeking views on Council Tax increases and increases to Council fees and charges.

Audit Scotland is a statutory body providing services to the Accounts Commission and the Auditor General for Scotland (AGS). Working together, the Accounts Commission, the AGS and Audit Scotland ensure that public sector bodies in Scotland are held to account for the proper, efficient and effective use of public funds. Reports for East Dunbartonshire can be found on the Audit Scotland website.

During 2023/24:

• Customer Services: Customer services effectively responded to 142,170 phone calls, within the target average response time of three minutes (actual annual average response time was 2 minutes 51 seconds). This was a decrease in calls of 4,154 or just under 3% less compared to the previous year
• Alarm Care: Supported 4,936 Alarm Care customers to live independently at home in East Dunbartonshire and West Dunbartonshire Council areas (compared to 4,827 in 2022/23), handling a total of 263,914 Alarm Care calls throughout the year
• CCTV Monitoring: Handled 36 CCTV incidents through public realm CCTV monitoring and providing Police Scotland colleagues with 32 footage downloads in support of public safety and criminal investigations
• Local Development Plan 3: The Land Planning Policy Team undertook a six-week consultation on the Development Plan Scheme and Draft Participation Statement for Local Development Plan 3. The engagement was carried out in May and June and included an online survey, 2 in person drop-in sessions, 1 online information session and direct contact with a number of representative groups, key agencies and internal services. Upon conclusion of the consultation period, the team made a number of changes to the Participation Statement taking into account the feedback given by stakeholders on the engagement methods that should be used over the course of preparing LDP3. The finalised version of the Development Plan Scheme and Participation Statement was approved at Council on 28 September 2023.

Complaint Handling

• Complaints – Ombudsman: The Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO) is the final stage for complaints about councils, the National Health Service (NHS), housing associations, colleges and universities, prisons, most water providers and the Scottish Government and its agencies and departments. SPSO statistics for East Dunbartonshire and other Council areas can be found on the SPSO website
• Council Complaint Handling: During 2023/34, the Council received 497 complaints (compared to 409 in the previous year), under the relevant categories as follows:

• Average Response Times: The indicator below shows our average time for responding to complaints. There has been a significant improvement in the response time for Stage 1 complaints compared to the previous year, bringing the average time within the five day timescale as indicated below.

The full Complaints Handling Annual Report for 2023/24 can be found on the Council website.

Evidence based planning is about applying what we know about the circumstances, needs and aspirations of a community, to plan and make decisions about services for them which will have the most benefit. This applies to all sectors of public services. In times where public services must do more with less available to them, it is imperative that we plan our services directly in relation to the evidence about where they are likely to have the greatest impact. Using evidence to influence service decisions moves away from historic models where services were provided in a ‘blanket’ manner, across a whole population with less reflection or evaluation with the people who are using them.

A number of plans, policies, programmes and strategies were approved during 2023/24 that have taken these priorities into consideration.

• Strategic Housing Investment Plan: identifies housing investment and priorities over the five-year period of the SHIP from 2024/25-2029/30.
• Locality Plans: In line with statutory responsibilities under the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015, East Dunbartonshire Community Planning Partners published 4 locality plans detailing the agreed priorities which will improve the outcomes for our most deprived communities evidencing how Community Planning Partnership partners are deploying resources in support of the agreed outcomes, promoting prevention, reduce inequalities and build community capacity. The Community Planning Partnership team support coordination of operational delivery of the Locality Plans.
• Circular Economy Strategy: Provides a development of approach to the circular economy for East Dunbartonshire through work with businesses and internal services. Following the adoption of a Circular Economy Strategy during 2023, the Team began work on implementing the actions in the strategy with various partners and internal services during the year. This was particularly focussed on green skills and developing informational resources for local businesses, schools and residents.
• Active Travel Strategy: The second strategy to set out projects required to continue to deliver enhanced active travel provision and uptake in East Dunbartonshire.

During 2023/24:

• New Scot: The Community Planning Partnership continued to deliver a human case management approach supporting New Scots settle into East Dunbartonshire. New Scots are supported to integrate into our communities from the first day of arrival through delivery of comprehensive, time sensitive and person-centred integration support which includes people, communities and community planning partners at all levels.
  
  This also includes working with partners to support Homes for Ukraine, Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme, Asylum Disperse, Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) Afghan Relocation and Assistance Policy Scheme and Community Sponsorship Schemes. They play a lead role in the development of strategies concerning 1951 UN convention relating to the status of refugees, European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) 1951, the Convention was given direct effect in domestic law through the Scotland Act 1998 and the Human Rights Act 1998.
• Project 101: Is East Dunbartonshire’s youth housing information service. During 2023/24 there were:
  • 74 new referrals for advice/assistance
  • 8 chance to chat sessions held to promote general wellbeing and mental health.
  • 40 new tenant packs issued (household items etc).
  • 41 advice days at Drymen Road (Rapid Access).
  • 75 Cooking sessions delivered.
• Child Poverty Action Group: The Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) delivered sessions on the Cost of the School Day to members of the pupil forum. Young people used fictional case studies to explore what poverty is and how it can create barriers to participation and achievement, along with actions to reduce inequalities and remove financial barriers in school. Sessions were highly evaluated by all participants. A key area of focus will be to continue to improve poverty awareness in all schools.
• Nurture In Primary Schools: 70 children were supported through Core Nurture Groups and an additional 800 children were supported through targeted wellbeing interventions. There were statistically significant improvements in children’s social and emotional functioning. Nurture was extended to Early Years. Practitioners undertook a small ‘test of change’ in their settings to improve their knowledge and application of Nurture principles.   
• The Motivation, Commitment and Resilience (MCR) Pathways Mentoring Programme continued to support targeted young people in almost all secondary schools, particularly those who are care experienced. Over 100 young people have been matched with mentors.

During 2023/24:

• Local Development Plan: Officers and policy planners gathered the views of children and young people about what matters most to them in relation to where they live to create a participation statement for the Local Development Plan (LDP). This forms part of the Council’s Vision in the Local Outcomes Improvement Plan (LOIP). Representatives from the pupil forum will share this work in schools.
• Housing Service: The Housing Service manages 3,833 social rented properties; 3,770 of these are mainstream accommodation and 63 are used for Homeless Temporary Accommodation. The service also manages 60 Lead Tenancies which are rented from either private landlords (39) or Housing Associations (21), to assist with accommodating homeless households.
• Tenant Rent Arrears: Active Tenant Rent Arrears were £774,165, which is a decrease of £211,983 on same period as last year (week 52) and was significantly lower than the target of £990,000.
• Tenant Participation Working Group: meetings held at Twechar Healthy Living Centre in May, June, and August 2023 and January and March 2024. This was attended by tenants, tenant representatives, elected members, and EDC staff, with topics which included rent setting for 2024/25, housing policy and homelessness updates, property maintenance updates, annual return on the Charter and more.

The Scottish Housing regulator is an independent regulator of Registered Social Landlord and Local Authority housing services in Scotland. They protect the interests of tenants, people who are homeless, and others who use social landlord’s services. Reports for East Dunbartonshire can be found on the Scottish Housing Regulator website

During 2023/24:

• Community Care Grants: can help people leaving care to live on their own, or to stay in their own home. These grants can also help families facing exceptional pressures that are in need of essential household items. 

• Crisis Grants: can provide people with a safety net in the event of a disaster such as a fire or flood or in an emergency situation if money is lost or stolen.

• Homelessness: 97% of homelessness decisions were made within the recommended 28 days.

• Hardship Fund: 101 tenants were awarded a payment from Hardship Fund, with payments totalling £99,794.

• Climate Action Plan (incorporating Climate Change Adaptation Strategy): The Plan will set a pathway to achieve net zero emissions at corporate and area-wide level, set the target date by which zero emissions will be achieved along with interim targets, and establish a strategy to adapt and improve resilience to the future impacts of climate change.
• Community Carbon Literacy Training Programme: A total of 32 people having have undergone accredited Community Carbon Literacy Training so far in 2024 in addition to seven people who attended the online introductory session. Planning has commenced for the delivery of the next round of training with 108 more spaces will be being available in the next round. Feedback from the first delivery session has been collected and regular meetings are being held with Keep Scotland Beautiful to continuously improving the training.
• Greenspace Strategy: Work continued on the preparation of a new Greenspace Strategy, which will replace the existing Open Space and Green Network Strategies, with the preparation of a Play Sufficiency Assessment, completion of the brief for a feasibility study for adaptation and habitat creation in the River Kelvin corridor, and preparatory work to update the Open Space Audit.
• Waste Services: are responsible for the collection of over 5,000,000 assorted household bins on an annual basis, providing residual, recycling, food, garden, and special waste collections on behalf of the Authority. The team also manage the waste and recycling collections from over 400 of our local commercial premises.

In 2023/24 the service collected a total of 22,281 tonnes of residual waste from the Kerbside, this was pre-sorted for recycling and them processed as energy from waste as Part of our Clyde Valley Residual Waste contract, this was a reduction of 3.25% from the Previous year.

There was a significant change in waste to landfill through the Clyde Valley Resident contract, a reduction of 72%, meaning that from the general waste collected from the kerbside, 0% is now landfilled.

• 2,838 tonnes of food waste was collected and processed during 2023/24, which was treated locally through an anaerobic digestion process at Scottish Water Horizons