How Good is Our Service - April 2025

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Voids performance has dropped slightly in April to 95% from 97% in March however this is still positive and exceeds our target of 85%.  We continue to monitor this area closely with our priority being to improve performance moving forward.

Property Maintenance have achieved our target of 100% for Gas Servicing in April with 372 properties serviced in the month.  We continue to achieve our target each month and we are confident this will continue throughout 2025/26 

Non-Emergency repairs performance in March has exceeded our target of 12 days with an average turnaround of 11.4 days for the month which is up from 11.8 days in March.  We continue to work towards improving and maintaining performance in this area going forward. 

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 during October 2024 with feedback received which has been used to shape future menu changes.  Action plans continue to be reviewed, and recommendations implemented to improve uptake in lower performing schools. The launch of a new menu is now expected to go live after the summer holidays.

The uptake of Primary school free school meals dropped between March and April to 61%.  This is as a result of school holidays/trips and the residential trip for Primary 7’s, resulting in less pupils being in school. The uptake in Secondary schools was 45%, which is consistent with the same period last year. It has dropped since March 2025 however the 4th, 5th and 6th Years have been off on study leave. The service continues to focus on schools not achieving the set target with action plans implemented to improve the uptake in lower performing schools. The Service continues to work with suppliers to source locally produced produce, with 52% of the school menus now using locally sourced produce.

Staff engagement with Catering and Cleaning staff has taken place over February and March with staff affected by the temporary closure of Milngavie Primary School while refurbishment works are undertaken.  Staff will be relocated to cover additional resource pressures at Torrance PS and St Nicholas’ PS as well as vacancies within the Milngavie area.

The 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 operational estate, although currently focusing on H&S related repairs and ensuring assets remain wind and watertight. Works to Bearsden PS roof above the ICT Suite were completed over the Easter holidays as well as internal decoration to the suite, however additional works are now required to replace an internal overflow pipe following further investigation which have been programmed in for the summer holidays. 

Works are ongoing at Castlehill PS, including brickwork repairs to the end gable as a result of the biomass flue being ripped from the wall during recent storms. Additionally, works to the gym hall floor have been completed following water ingress as a result of the damaged roof sustained during the January storms. Roof repairs at Lenzie Academy are progressing over the Music, Art and Maths bases on the school. Works have been compromised as a result of the tiles required being discontinued however spare tiles have been sourced and works continue to be progressed.  

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 93% occupied, with vacant suites in Southbank Marina being actively marketed by agents, DM Hall. The Homelessness Team have relocated to 5 Dalrymple Court from 101 Townhead, Kirkintilloch which has seen the Council vacate premises which were previously let from a private landlord.
 
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. Works continue to progress at Twechar Outdoor Pursuits Centre, with practical completion scheduled for 2nd May 2025.

Design work continues to progress for the Westerhill Development Road project and the planning submission was made in March 2025.  During the reporting period, the next and final phase of Ground Investigation surveys have been completed. The Stage 1 report for the project will be considered by Council in June 2025.

Works continue to progress at Bearsden Community Hub to remove and replace RAAC from the roof on the extension at the rear of the building. Works are ongoing at Bearsden Primary School, where the windows are being replaced and external stonework repaired. The temporary classrooms were removed from the site at the end of April with final snagging on-going ahead of practical completion.

The pre-construction phase of the Campsie Memorial Hall project has now concluded and financial close achieved in March 2025. Approval to enter into the construction development agreement and begin the refurbishment in practice was provided by Council in February 2025 and works remain due to commence in early May ahead of completion in early 2026.

The revised Housing Capital Investment Plan was approved by Council in March 2025, which instructed officers to continue to progress design development on the pipeline of development sites; and to finalise revised construction tender costs for the Twechar Canalside development site. Planning submissions have been submitted for sites at the former Merkland School and Main Street in Torrance, with the application for the former Auchinairn Primary School to follow shortly. A final report seeking approval to commence the construction phase of the Twechar Canalside development site will be considered by Council in June 2025.

Preparations for the refurbishment of Milngavie Primary School in Summer 2025 continue to progress, including the development of design proposals, tendering strategy for the project and decant arrangements for pupils at Torrance and St Nicholas’ Primary Schools. The development of design proposals for the new Lenzie Academy project at Whitegates Park remain underway, with the proposal of planning application notice due to be submitted in May and the first round of pre-application consultation events scheduled in June 2025.

The delivery of several areas of on-going capital investment across the Council’s existing Affordable Housing stock continue, including several significant measures to improve Housing Quality and Energy Efficiency. During the reporting period a contractor has been appointed to undertake the next phase of energy efficiency measures across Council and mixed tenure stock including the installation of cavity wall insulation to reduce heat loss from homes. Works will commence in early June 2025.

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.  

Works are on-going to repair the render at the entrance to Kirkintilloch Leisure Centre and replace the MUGA sports pitch at Gartconner Primary School. Following a tender exercise, a contractor has been appointed to undertake the refurbishment of Torrance Community Centre. The building closed to the public during the reporting period ahead of works commencing in early May 2025.

• 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
• Percentage of voids returned completed within target remains high and above our target with the objective being to maintain and improve performance in this area going forward
• Improved functionality of Total Mobile and the integration with Servitor enables a more streamlined and efficient servie
• Continue to improve on non-emergency repairs turnaround times moving forward
• 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
• Progress decoration works across the 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 with contractors which are required during May and June
• Improve uptake of nutritious school meals
• Improve communications with customers and stakeholders to ensure the highest level of service delivery
• Reduce FM overtime.

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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 April 2025, the service continued to engage in the local Co-Production arrangement with Police Scotland, with regular community harm and risk meetings being held to provide the focus for joint work and activity to protect local communities across the East Dunbartonshire area. The service also continued to develop intelligence led approaches for all areas of work to target local public health, community safety and consumer protection activity towards the areas of greatest need, risk and priority.

Throughout the reporting period, Environmental Health played a key role in delivering essential public health services, fulfilling a wide range of statutory responsibilities aimed to protect the community from environmental risks, and to support the development of responsible business. The work encompasses both proactive work such as routine inspections for food safety and reactive responses to complaints and service requests. In April the team completed the draft annual Food Safety Service Plan for 2025-26.  The air quality grant funding application was returned from the Scottish Government with resource provided to assist in local air quality management.

The Community Safety Team continued to deliver a broad range of front-line work for the benefit of local communities during 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, neighbour disputes, environmental incivilities, dog control, decriminalised parking enforcement, fly-tipping, pest control and mobile CCTV. New Community Wardens were appointed in April and commenced employment with the authority.  The Wardens roles include the investigation of anti-social behaviour and noise, Decriminalised Parking Enforcement, response to dog fouling complaints and community engagement particularly with schools and younger people.

The Trading Standards and Licensing Enforcement team were 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. Licensing Advisors carried out liquor licensing inspections to local premises. Officers are heavily involved in the processing and advice provision in relation to summer events across the council area in terms of civic licensing and additional liquor licensing to bolster the sector during the summer. This month’s activities included ongoing promotion of the East Dunbartonshire Trusted Trader Scheme visits and promotion of anti-scam materials and saw Trading Standards work in co-production with Police Scotland to engage with home improvement businesses moving across the East Dunbartonshire road network. Licensing Advisors provided business support to applicants and stakeholders and while linking in with other agencies. Licensing Advisers and Trading Standards officers in the team also continued to deliver reactive service request work along with project activity at a range of business premises across the area (including age restricted product sales test purchasing and fair trading and civic / liquor licensing).  Gathering and dissemination of intelligence on subjects involved in sale and supply of age restricted products, high pressure selling and home improvements continued throughout the period and will be used to influence future projects and investigations.

The team remains dedicated to delivering a broad range of community-based initiatives that encourage long-term development and inclusion. These include interactive workshops, family-friendly activities, and collaborative projects designed to deepen local engagement and foster community empowerment. Through these initiatives, individuals and groups are encouraged to take an active role in shaping a resilient and thriving community.

Planning is already underway for a packed 2025/26 calendar of seasonal events and sessions, including spring/summer and autumn/winter programming. This will span multiple initiatives such as PPP, Wellness Kitchens, and Community First workshops, with a focus on areas like Community Grants Capacity Building and Health Issues in the Community (HIIC).

The team continues to champion equality, diversity, and inclusion by working closely with local organisations and community partners. Their collaborative efforts help to build welcoming environments where all individuals feel respected and valued. As part of this commitment, several events are being developed for later this year, including International Women’s Day celebrations and participation in the “16 Days of Action” campaign in partnership with Violence Against Women and Girls initiatives.

Our Resettlement Team continues to provide compassionate, high-quality support across all current resettlement programmes and asylum services. Using a human-centered approach, the team focuses on each individual’s unique needs and experiences, ensuring the resettlement journey is respectful, effective, and empowering. This personalised support not only promotes successful integration but also contributes to building stronger, more connected communities. A growing emphasis is being placed on asylum support, as local authorities across the country are experiencing rising caseloads.

Our team is working diligently to deliver an accessible and efficient community vaccination programme in partnership with Greater Glasgow and Clyde Health Board. These clinics currently offer a year-round service of seasonal vaccinations including shingles and pneumococcal immunisations as well as winter flu and covid vaccines. Services continue to be offered at both Kirkintilloch Town Hall and Milngavie Town Hall to ensure wide community coverage

Housing manages 3,881 social rented properties; 3,786 of these are mainstream accommodation and 85 are used for Homeless Temporary Accommodation. The service also manages 50 Lead Tenancies which are rented from either private landlords (29) or Housing Associations (21), to assist with accommodating homeless households.

At present, the Housing list for East Dunbartonshire has 3,318 applications - made up of the following:

General Waiting list - 2,472 applicants waiting (6 of which are on offer) (Applicants that 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 - 598 applicants (10 of which are 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 - 245 applicants (14 of which are 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 - 3 applicants (0 of which are 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, 17 properties were allocated.  11 were mainstream general needs properties and 6 were new builds (located at Wedgewood Drive estate in Bearsden). 
They were let to the following queues:

• 5 to the priority homeless queue
• 8 to the transfer queue
• 4 to the general waiting list queue.

Community Protection Service

Environmental Health, Trading Standards and Community Safety Teams

• Delivery of effective services on a flexible basis 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 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
• A formal enforcement notice was served on a food business effectively closing the premises due to inadequate cross contamination controls. This was brought to light after routine sampling showed gross contamination of food served
• Further notices were issued to other local businesses for improvements to hygiene following programmed inspections which identified serious contraventions of food safety legislation
• Several infectious disease notifications from Public Health Protection Unit at NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde requesting Environmental Health to contact the patient and carry out an enteric disease interview form
• Environmental Health Officers provided comment on a major planning application for the new City Deal road in Bishopbriggs
• An air quality sensor has been put in place in Milngavie to monitor air pollutants in response to concerns about a biogas plant causing health risks
• Deployment of mobile CCTV in Lennoxtown in relation to fly tipping incidents.  This led to the successful issuing of a fixed penalty notice of £500 to a local fly tipper
• A fly-tipping prosecution report was submitted to the court and the offender found guilty with a fine being issued and costs awarded
• A local person was admonished by the court for failure to comply with a Dog Control Notice
• On-going delivery of programmes of decriminalised parking enforcement activity across the local authority area
• Delivery of investigative work and general casework on all ASB and neighbour dispute matters to support safer local communities within East Dunbartonshire
• Community Wardens have contacted local schools to engage with children and young people with initiatives such as the Junior Warden Scheme
• Delivery of reactive service request work and targeted project work by the Trading Standards Team throughout the reporting period 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 work by the Licensing Advisers in the Team to assess local compliance with licensing conditions and make representations at Licensing Boards
• Provision of tailored advice to businesses requiring Public Entertainment Licences and/or amendments to liquor licences for the summer period
• Combined road policing and business engagement with emphasis on businesses offering home improvement services moving through the authority. Provision of business advice and compliance checks being carried out.

Community Planning Partnerships

• The team have agreed a date for the 2025 Gaelic Harvest festival which will be held on the 31st of August at Mugdock Country Park in line with supporting corporate delivery of the priorities within the Gaelic Language Plan 2024-2029
• The Ukrainian Permission Extension (UPE) Scheme is now open for applications and the Resettlement team are supporting UDPs in EDC to ensure they are aware of the new scheme and signposting to help and support available
• Continuation of targeted community development support through a range of our delivery programmes including Pockets, Places and Prosperity and Community First. These programmes are designed to focus on our priority communities and communities of interest, helping local organisations to be resilient, compliant, and strong. The team are committed to fostering vibrant and thriving communities by ensuring our resources are directed to address poverty and inequalities and planning for events through 2025/26 are well under way
• Planning is now underway for the 2025/26 Community Grant Scheme with the hope that there will be two rounds this financial year, one in the summer and one running through December and January, with funding updates to be announced soon
• In partnership with the front-line workers, the team are collating progress on delivering the priorities within the Locality Plans, including the establishment of locality forums
• The Vaccination Programme in partnership with NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde moves into its spring programme and the team continue to assist to ensure the smooth running of clinics at both Kirkintilloch and Milngavie Town Hall
• In collaboration with services collate progress on the delivery of the Gaelic Language Plan 2024-29 and year two progress report.
• The team are coordinating the returns for our Equalities Mainstream and Outcomes report, and this continues at pace, while also planning a consultation for mid-July to help inform future outcomes.

Housing Operations and Estates Team, and Homelessness and Prevention Team

Housing Estates - Key Achievements

• The Estates team received 9 new Reports of anti-social behaviour during the month of April and 6 open cases were resolved
• There was 1 nomination from the Housing waiting list sent to a Registered Social Landlord operating in East Dunbartonshire to be considered for allocation to their housing stock. Discussions are ongoing with Clyde Valley Housing Association to agree a new Nominations Agreement
• Ongoing regular attendance this month included Housing Liaison meetings where cases of relevance to Social Work, Community Safety and Police Scotland are discussed, MARAC meeting with other agencies, CPC MISE group to discuss Child Protection issues, Safe and Together forums,  2-weekly meetings of the Community Harm and Risk Meeting (CHARM) with Police Scotland, Community Protection, Trading Standards and Licensing and regular meetings with Legal Services regarding dispute over title deeds in the housing estate, NOP’s and other legal matters
• Half day training session at Macgregor House this month focused on Suicide Prevention with an overview and was well attended
• The new on-line CRM system training has been issued for Housing staff using the system and now up and running
• The team is part of new Steering Group to re-establish and implement new procedures for processing and issuing Tenant Recharges
• Agreement in place with property maintenance to install overhead showers with a half bath glass panel in all void properties. This will enhance the quality of our housing stock and bring us in line with customer expectations
• Agreement in place for partial decoration of our void properties, this again will enhance our housing stock and will be a great addition to our relet standard
• East Dunbartonshire Council were successful in providing 12 nominations to the Wheatley group for their new build project. This round of properties were all 1 bedroom flats and the team managed to turn this around at very short notice thus enabling us to house 12 applicants from our waiting list.

Housing Estates - Areas of Focus

• Aim to identify any training needs and hold quarterly sessions for reviewing policies and procedures with officers
• Officers are contributing to an ASP (Adult Protection) Inspection and contributing to the Allocations Policy review currently being undertaken
• Input to devising new procedures for Any Day Lets which has been introduced as part of IHMS implementation
• Attendance at new 2-weekly Community Harm and Risk Meeting (CHARM) with Police Scotland, Community Safety, Trading Standards and Licensing officers continues. Attendance at East Dunbartonshire Safe and Together steering group is ongoing.
• Hold monthly budget meetings with HRA accountant to monitor spend. Monthly meetings with Void Team at Property Maintenance to focus on improving performance. Monthly attendance at new Housing/Social Work liaison meeting to discuss Throughcare cases and Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children
• Monthly void property meetings with Property Maintenance to endeavour to improve performance
• Work to reduce the Voids, - liaising with the property maintenance department to streamline this process
• Currently reviewing our internal processes, identifying areas of review and streamlining our processes to allow us to be more pro-active
  
• Working on a revised void process to streamline our process. This will enable us to bring down our relet times and ensure better more effective communication between both Housing and Property maintenance. 

Homeless Team

• 22 households made a homeless application during April 2025 (same as last April)
• 20 homeless households received an offer of settled accommodation during April 2025
• No applicants awaiting offer of settled accommodation on the homeless list longer than 3 years however waiting times have increased due to low turnover/void timescales. Due to demand for temporary accommodation provision has been increased and the Council has not been able to “flip” as many temporary accommodation properties in comparison to previous years.
• 19 calls were made to the Homelessness out of hours service (compared to 9 previous years). 
• 148 landlord registration applications were received (x20 new x49 renewals and x79 updates).  Income received £5800. Increase compared to last year (109 applications; x10 new x 44 renewals x 55 updates)
• 1 Short term let applications approved (income £548)
• 3 referrals to the Rent Deposit Guarantee Scheme for advice
• New rent structure introduced for new temporary accommodation sign ups. Notifications to be issued prior to uplift for pre 2025/26 tenancies May/June time
• The provision of adequate/suitable accommodation continues to a key challenge/risk to the Council.  Temp as at end of April:
  • 14 voids
  • 14 prevoids – void timescales for settled accommodation is having impact on temporary accommodation turnover.
  • East Dunbartonshire Council continue to be under pressure to meet demand for temporary accommodation and are at risk of using unsuitable accommodation breaching legislation
    • Rapid Access currently full
    • Waiting list for self contained – 10 (was 27 last April)
    • Waiting list for Ravenswood – 4 (was 6)
• No households were placed within unsuitable accommodation however due to the increased demand for temporary accommodation this continues to be a challenge 
• Works within the new Rapid Access project at Industry Street is almost complete. Tender for service delivery to be published asap working on lease document with colleagues in legal services. The introduction of this service will assist the Council to meet its legal duty/obligation with regards provision of adequate/suitable accommodation. 

Key areas of focus in April for the Communications & Engagement team included International Workers’ Memorial Day, promotion of the Modern Apprenticeships available and the launch of the Bishopbriggs cemetery consultation.

Media relations remained consistent this month with seven releases issued (8 in March), eight photocalls, (five in March) and 19 media enquiries dealt with (34 in March). All releases are on the news section and the local coverage achieved equated to an equivalent advertising value of £6,048 (£9,140 in March).

Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn all saw an increase in followers with the most popular posts this month relating to Campsie Memorial Hall refurbishment, updates on the Climate Ready Park and wildfire warnings. Across the Council’s four social media channels the average engagement rate was 3.48% (a good engagement rate is 0.5, anything above 1 is deemed great).

The Council website had 220,000 visits (excluding internal traffic) with the most popular page being Bins and Recycling with 36,887 views. There were 8,000 call-to-action button clicks which contributed towards 9993 online form submissions across the Council and EDLC.
The most watched video on Facebook was our sneak peak of the Bearsden Primary School renovation work while on YouTube it was our Right Bin? Put It In waste video. Three videos were created this month with 44 design jobs completed overall.

In April 2025, 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 as well as continuing to ensure the Council has adequate insurance arrangements in place, providing advice and support in relation to insurance related queries and acting as a point of escalation in regards to any claims. All business as usual work was completed within agreed timescales. 

The team also continues to undertake complaints handling at a corporate level, coordinating responses to formal complaints across all service areas, ensuring they are addressed appropriately, and adequate responses are provided within statutory timescales where possible. 

A busy month for the team throughout April with the Customer Service team continuing to support residents through the changes to their grey bin collection schedule and in preparation for the change to three weekly collections. 

The team adjust to the revised Hub opening hours across the localities, ensuring information on this change is available to all customers through posters, digital channels and direct communication through Agents. The adjusted hours should enable more flexibility in assigning customer service agents to respond to enquiries via phone which remains the channel with greatest customer demand.

The Emergency Response Centre team progress with the development of the digital call handling platform for telecare customers, the focus now on configuration and testing additional modules such as Responder App which will streamline how calls are passed to responders. The team continue to support telecare teams with all activities undertaken in the digital switchover. 

The Human Resources & Organisational Teams lead on workforce centred activities including, policy development, resourcing, workforce and succession plannning, workforce analytics, people development, Job Evaluation, attendance and wellbeing improvement as well as providing strategic and operational employee relations support including case management and partnership working in line with Council policies. The team also delivers payroll services, effectively processing all Council payrolls according to required timescales.

In April the first monthly pay date was achieved on 15th of the month following successful payroll harmonisation. A significant amount of work was carried out to conclude the final payments for previous payrolls ahead of the new monthly payroll, and the entire workforce were paid as planned on the new paydate.

The service continues to progress the implementation of a new Oracle Fusion HR and payroll system to replace the current iTrent system. Significant input is required from across HR&OD teams as the information gathering and design phases for implementation progress, to ensure the new system is built to meet operational needs and deliver efficiencies.

Communications & Engagement

• Co-ordination, writing and design of Taking Part tenant participation newsletter
• Communications informing residents of the changes to hours of the Custome Services service in the Community Hubs, with signage, social media, press release and website updates
• Design work to support and promote events and exhibitions being held at Mugdock Park over the Easter holidays
• Responding to four filming location requests liaising with relevant teams and production companies
• Promotion of key awareness days including World Autism Acceptance Day, VE Day and the lighting of buildings for World Parkinson’s Day.

Corporate Performance

• Amendments to the CRM were finalised allowing for monthly complaints handling reporting at EO portfolio level allowing for a breakdown of complaints by individual team and by common complaint type
• Preparation began for year-end HGIOS reporting and initial analysis was undertaken of annual complaints handling stats showing that despite a marked increase in the number of complaints from the previous reporting year the performance against timescales remained consistent with prior years
• Our annual public performance report was published on the performance page of our website. These performance reporting pages were also singled out as best practice in a recent Audit Scotland publication
• Submission for our annual renewal of insurance was finalised and submitted with a view to final signoff in May 2025
• Continued assistance was provided to the change team in relation to the rollout of Oracle Fusion.

Customer Services

• Customer Service team continue to support residents through changes to Waste uplift schedule with move to three-weekly collections
• Support also provided for annual garden waste permits now collection season has commenced
• Team adjust to revised Hub opening hours in line with Budget savings, encouraging customers to make appointments at Hubs in line with service delivery approach
• The ERC team continue use of and development of the digital call handling platform implemented in late 2024
• Plans continue for replacement public realm CCTV infrastructure and familiarisation of new monitoring suite.

Human Resources & Organisational Development

• Continued engagement with the Trade Unions on strategic and operation HR initiatives, including service reviews, and agreement on update to Family Friendly policy to allow for submission to P&R committee
• Continued support for employees and managers on HR policy based and guidance noted, with support in attendance on ER case work
• With ‘go live’ monthly pay in April, the payroll team ensured successful delivery of migrating the workforce to monthly, actioning the bounce payments where requested to support the transition
• Within Payroll Services, the team have maintained and processed the payover of the various payruns within timescales, with the completion of a series of statutory
• Continued preparatory work to support year end returns
• The HCM Project Board, continues to undertake preparatory work in support of moving to the new HR/Payroll system
• As the HCM project has progressed the service has undertaken a series of Design and Build session in relation to functionality
• The People Development team delivered sessions across a number of topics including SMART Working, Induction, EDC Policy sessions & H&S topics. In total 129 delegates received training across topics in April 2025
• People Development undertook focussed work on First Aid training and updating the Recruitment and Selection training content. 

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Cultural Services

An agreement has been reached with the genealogy provider Ancestry to digitise a selection of our archives collections, making these available to a global market.  Collections made available include; poor relief, burial, and school registers from the 1840s to the 1920s. This new agreement provides free public access to Ancestry online in all public libraries in East Dunbartonshire and will increase digital access.  
Archives & Local Studies received 1,757 visitors and 220 enquiries.

• The Get Creative programme delivered at the Lillie Art Gallery and Auld Kirk Museum returned at full capacity during period 1.  Children explored the current exhibitions and are working on an art installation for this years’ Young Peoples Exhibition. Exhibiting artist Denise Chateau-Loney delivered a half day of botanical painting introducing participants to some of the skills from within her exhibition at Lillie Art Gallery
• 140 children participated in a series of craft sessions delivered by the Children & Families Team, and held across all libraries. 
• Milngavie Library started a new group called MisRead Mums  The group is for mothers of babies and young children
• Bishopbriggs Library commenced a series of Quiz Nights, which were a huge success at Milngavie Library, and a Saturday Board Games session for young people and adults
• A talk by Severine Peyrichou, Antonine Wall Project Development Officer was fully booked. The project is now complete and is going to donate some handling objects, to the library, for use in future events, to help tell the story of the Romans who occupied East Dunbartonshire.

Kirkintilloch Leisure Centre  

Major capital works continued on the exterior of the Centre. Frontage rendering works start date was delayed following EDC cost overrun due to an unforeseen issue relating to the scaffolding requirements. Usage continued to hold up well and Gym income was significant. An NPLQ Pool Lifeguard course was run and group exercise classes continued to show good numbers.

Allander Leisure Centre

• The Allander Leisure Centre in Bearsden has been recognised for setting a “benchmark for modern, inclusive public architecture” at the prestigious Civic Trust Awards
• The Allander project – which was built by East Dunbartonshire Council, with architectural design by Holmes Miller – won a Selwyn Goldsmith Award for Universal Design and was also “Highly Commended” overall
• The exceptionally good weather has affected the number of football and tennis bookings and a general drop off in usage from the previous month. Overall headcount target figures have still been achieved.

Leisuredrome and Huntershill Sports Hub 

• The Leisuredrome hosted the Big Bobble Triathlon in partnershipp with Scottish Triathlon with Glasgow Triathlon Club taking the lead role on Sunday 27 April
• A slightly dull and dreary morning brightened up with fine dry weather from late morning onwards. Over 400 participants completed the swim, run and cycle with competitors starting in the Leisuredrome main pool before using local routes to run and cycle safely. There was over 70 volunteers and the race director Stewart Milne heralded the event a great success
• Charlie’s Big Adventure Soft Play hosted an Easter Party with plenty of fun for our younger customers. The party was a sellout.
• Two National Pool Lifeguard Courses were delivered across the Leisure Centres during the Easter Break. Resulting in 24 newly qualified lifeguards. These courses complimented the Leisuredrome recruitment day as four soon to be appointed Leisure Assistants were awarded their qualification.

Active Schools and Community Sport 
ASCS ASN Schools Football Festival

On 25 April, we hosted our first ASN Schools Football Festival at the Allander Leisure Centre. This event was organised in partnership between the Active Schools and Community Sport teams. The idea for the festival came because of discussions with schools at our Inclusive Sport Forum meetings. Schools had expressed an interest in having more opportunities for their ASN pupils to participate in inter-school events locally.

The festival was split into a primary skills session in the morning and a secondary schools tournament in the afternoon. The skills sessions were delivered by Community Sport coaches who also assisted by refereeing secondary fixtures in the afternoon. There were 73 ASN pupils participating across the day representing Woodland View and 6 other school ELR (Enhanced Learning Resource) departments.

The event was a great success with some really positive feedback from schools:

“It was absolutely amazing, the kids were buzzing.”
“When can we do it again?”

All participants were rewarded with medals for their efforts on the day and for many, this was their first time representing their school in a sporting environment.

Following the success of this event, the Active Schools and Community Sport teams are looking at expanding their current offering of ASN festivals and also hope to form stronger partnerships with local community clubs to provide greater pathways for ASN sports participation in the community.

Easter Programme

The Community Sport delivered a 2 week Easter programme during the Easter holidays, with 450 participants enjoying activities across the EDLCT Leisure centres. Full week camps were delivered in Football, Multi Sports and Gymnastics along with half day football and netball camps and swimming crash courses. All Easter activities were booked through the new online booking site which was launched in March 2025.

Swimming

Aquatics Officer, David Walker gave a presentation on the EDLCT Swimming Programme, at the national Scottish Swimming’s conference. The theme of the conference was the ‘power of partnerships’, and the swimming programme, and in particular the Diving was highlighted as a great example of partnership working due to the links with Edinburgh Leisure. 

McDonalds Fun Football numbers increase

Over 60 kids are now enjoying Free Friday Fun Football across the three centres. The children play in small sided 3v3, 4v4 and 5v5vgames. 

Athlete Performance Programme

Several of our talented athletes in the programme have gained national representation this month, listed below are some of their key achievements:

• Well done to Findlay for representing Scottish Ice Hockey during the Lion’s Cup in Finland over the Easter holidays and for scoring and getting MVP [Most Valuable Player] in one of the games
• Huge congratulations to Ben from Bishopbriggs Academy who was the only pupil in East Dunbartonshire to be selected to represent Scottish Schools U18 International team who won the Centenary Shield outright for the first time since 2000
• Great success for Isla for the start of the dry slope season in Sunderland at the weekend; coming 2nd in the RTR club national and 1st in the NESA club national. Well Done!
• Congratulations to Max and Ben who won the League with the U18 Falkirk team, Annie and Oliva won their league in U16 hockey, and also Angus represented Scotland U18 team in the 6 nations in Belgium.

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The Service has made very good progress against priorities in the Business and Improvement Plan (BIP) 2024-2027. 

• Two new Development Officers have been appointed to support Numeracy and Learning and Teaching 3-18. They will be leading priorities within the Education Service Plan (ESP) 2025 – 2028 with the aim of supporting school improvement, raised attainment and closing the poverty related attainment gap
• Killermont Early Years Centre (EYC) were chosen to participate in a National Literacy Thematic Inspection by Education Scotland. The inspection feedback was very positive with inspectors reporting that ‘the strategic leadership of the ELC is having a positive impact on approaches and interventions in Literacy and English. This is leading to improved outcomes for all children’
• Three EYCs participated in the new Early Years Quality Framework pilot visits with Care inspectorate and Education Scotland (HMIe). This was a positive experience with key information from the visits being shared across all EYCs
• The Mental Health Strategy for the Education Service has been revised and will be shared with schools and centres.

• Auchinairn EYC was accredited as a UNICEF UK Bronze: Rights Respecting School by the Accreditation and Standards Committee
• Twechar Primary School was accredited as a UNICEF UK Bronze: Rights Respecting School by the Accreditation and Standards Committee
• In further supporting rights, equality and diversity in our schools we are pleased to announce that Craigdhu Primary has achieved their bronze LGBT Charter Award
• Pupils at St Ninian’s High School are celebrating winning the Community Impact category at The King’s Trust Scotland Awards. A group of students have been reading to local primary two pupils as part of a shared reading project
• Bishopbriggs Academy Bar Mock Trial Team were placed 3rd, out of 22 teams, in the UK final of this year's Young Citizens competition in the Royal Courts of Justice, and they also won the Highest Scoring New Team Award.

Early Years, Primary, Secondary and Supporting Families

• The 3-year improvement priority on Language and Communication Friendly Establishments for Early Years Centres (EYC) is now complete. A cohort of 25 EYCs took part in the 9-session programme, culminating in a sharing event of good practice. Centres who have taken part will receive a certificate of participation
• Central officers continue to support EYCs in developing outdoor learning with the final session being delivered by the Outdoor Education Officer. Three sessions took place this year with 30 practitioners attending each session
• The Early Years’ Enhanced Transition document, developed by a working group led by an EY QIO and supported by an EP was launched, and will be used to support the transitions of all children who have been allocated a Tier 2 or Tier 3 Primary 1 placement for August 2025, as well as a small number of children requiring enhanced transition to mainstream Primary.  This launch followed an evaluation of the pilot (2023-2024)
• Central officers continue to support Early Years Leaders through Learning Partnership Groups (LPGs). 30 Heads, Deputes and Managers participated in the second part of Agile Leadership to support their processes in driving change, self-evaluation and improvement planning. Senior Early Years Workers continue to focus on building their leadership capacity and supporting practitioner practice on the playroom floor
• The second STEMfest event was a highly successful with 400 P7 pupils from nine schools attending. 33 industry partners were exhibiting at the event. Alongside young STEM Leaders from Bearsden and Boclair Academies, they provided a range of exciting STEM related activities for the P7 learners to inspire further learning supporting the transition to secondary school.
• All primary and secondary schools are now signed up for the Reading Schools accreditation programme, which helps and supports schools to build and sustain a culture of reading for their learners and communities
• Lenzie Academy recently hosted their annual ‘Spring Fling’. 64 members of the local community, many of whom were from the ‘Come and Sing’ group enjoyed an afternoon of Music and refreshments. The programme included performances by the Wind Band, String Group, Junior Choir, Jazz Band, Ceilidh Band and Senior Vocal Ensemble
• Turnbull High School Advanced Higher Art class had the opportunity to showcase their support for a fellow student at a group exhibition hosted at the Glasgow School of Art (GSA). This experience proved to be more than just an art show - it became a moment of creative connection and an inspiring day for all involved. The exhibition, which included a diverse array of artwork from students at various stages of their artistic journeys, provided an invaluable opportunity for the Advanced Higher Art pupils to witness first-hand the creativity of others at a similar point in their academic and creative development
• The EDC Spring Concert took place in The New Auditorium, Royal Concert Hall Glasgow.  Two sell out concerts featuring String Ensemble, Senior Strings, Pipe Band, Wind Band, Concert Band, Percussion Ensemble and Jazz Band
• The winner of the EDC Young Musician competition was A Gault who will represent EDC at the Scottish final at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in May 2025. 7 Secondary Schools took part in this competition and the standard was very high
• EDC Pipe Quartet won the Scottish Schools Pipe Band Schools Quartet competition
• 86 primary pupils attended the Primary Symphony Orchestra and 122 attended the Primary Training Orchestra.

Additional Support Needs (ASN) and Children’s Services

• The ASN Seminar took place on the 25th of April 2025 had a Health and Wellbeing Focus with almost all senior leaders from primary and secondary in attendance. Topics included updates from supporting services such as LifeLink Counselling and the Compassionate Response Distress Service (CDRS). The ASN and Children’s Services team worked closely with the Educational Psychology Service in proving up to date information on professional learning and revised policy and guidance
• The Whole Family Wellbeing (WFW) Hub in Hillhead Community Centre was launched at the end of March 2025. The event was supported by 3rd sector services who will be running WFW projects alongside neuro-developmental support services. The launch event was attended by 116 families. Pupils from St. Ninian’s High School and Kirkintilloch High school hosted activities for children and young people
• Following the launch of Whole Family Wellbeing Fund (WFWF), 3rd sector partners have begun to implement group work programmes. Creatovators have worked successfully with WFW Social Worker and Hillhead Primary school staff to run a Lego based play programme for children who are neurodiverse. Early Years Scotland have completed their first blocks of Marvellous Minds parenting supports and Sensory Stars play sessions for families of young children who have an ASN
• Professional Learning Sessions for Up, Up, and Away and the CIRCLE took place from 28th- 30th April. Sessions included an evaluation and showcase of how inclusive practice has been implemented by participating schools and centres over the past year
• Multi-agency staff training opportunities continue to be developed through the WFWF. A group of 16 professionals completed their Level 2 Non Violence Resistance (NVR) training, this training will allow them to implement group work or to support individual families and young people. A group of commenced Sleep counselling training, once individual research projects are completed in May this group of staff will be able to lead Sleep Counselling groups
• A Professional Learning session was provided to all Early Years Partners about GIRFEC, Safeguarding and using Chronologies. A Chronology Template was shared with agreement from all participants to implement. Ongoing quality assurance will provide further support as required.

Educational Psychology Service (EPS)

• In April 2025 the Professional Learning Community Session was focused on supporting children with Additional Support Needs through Play Pedagogy.  The Principal Teacher of a Primary Enhanced Learning Resource led the session.  Planning is being finalised for the Play Forum in May, including the ‘post’ participant evaluation
• Draft Guidance has been produced to support children with dyslexia, and plans are in place to consult with children, parents and staff on the revised guidance
• The EPS contributed to the ASN Leadership Forum in presenting on Promoting Attendance, What’s the Harm? Training, and the Mental Health Strategy for Education
• In April 2025 the Early Years’ Nurture practice sharing event took place, and the ‘post’ practitioner evaluations were completed. This is the end of a 3-year cycle for EY Nurture, and the participants provided feedback and advice to support the co-creation of the plan for Session 2025-2026.   The Primary Nurture and Family Learning Head Teachers’ Network also took place and the Head Teachers provided information and feedback on Family Learning and worked on a cost/benefit analysis of Core Nurture
• All sectors had their final Professional Learning Community on CIRCLE and Up, Up and Away.  Staff from all sectors presented their progress to date in relation to the resource.  Feedback was given to schools on analysis of Pupil Voice Tools and Practice Visits
• In April an update on work in relation to attendance guidance was presented to the ASN leadership forum. This covered consultation with the Children’s Reporter to agree guidance content and pilot work briefing. The last PLC meeting was changed to offers of in person school visits for each school in the two pilot clusters to provide support in their improvement planning tasks in relation to attendance for academic year 2025-26. These visits are taking between April and May
• EY continue to lead on the pilot of a replacement for the Strengths and Difficulties (SDQ) document. 
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Skills for Life, Learning and Work

Several trainee posts were advertised for low-income parents with a view to improving employability and households’ incomes. These trainee posts are funded by the Scottish Governments ‘No One Left Behind’ and ‘Tackling Child Poverty’ funding and are for six months, paid at living wage levels. All the trainees will also receive a range of employability and training relevant to their role. The roles are in the areas of Early Years, Facilities, Leisure and culture. 84% of trainees moved into permanent / supply list roles with the council as a result of the last programme.

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The month of April saw the Finance Team preparing for the year end tasks required for the collation of 2023/24 accounts and planning for the 2024/25 year end. The closure of remaining 2024/25 financial periods is being progressed to support this process, with an accelerated timeline, alongside usual year end tasks.  There are timeline risks associated with these processes, with the team operating across three financial periods. As the finance team moves into a critical period of demands on the team, an additional 1 FTE resource has been identified to temporarily supplement existing teams and to help manage the external audit process and timeline risks. Movement into Phase 2 of the ledger system with HCM is also in progress and this has been staffed with an additional 0.5 full time equivalent within the Finance team as a further temporary resource. 

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.  Reports to Council have provided updates on the programme, the associated costs and any mitigations required.  The mid-term Treasury Management report was prepared and presented to the March Audit & Risk committee.

The team has supported the budget process, with the Council’s budget being agreed in March, providing a balanced position in a highly challenging financial context and are now working towards the manual entry within the budgeting system.

The Revenues and Benefits team have continued to progress Council Tax and Benefits services and administration of the Scottish Welfare Fund.  

The Council Tax Collection Rate at 10.08% is very slightly behind the target of 10.25% for the year. The Council’s Recovery and Enforcement Procedures continue to be 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 continues processing school registration applications. The Homecare Team continues to support an initiative from the Planning & Commissioning Team, processing variations in addition to their normal workload. The Transactional Finance Team are working with colleagues in the HSCP to review process for contract variations in Homecare Services. The Transport Team continue to update the transport requirements for Education and Social Work colleagues for academic year 25/26. The General Team have continued for the 25/26 annual letting process: updating calendars, pricing and holidays. The General Team have completed the new for overtime process for the move to monthly pay.  

The ICT Services team continues 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 1,037 tickets in April and dealt with 350 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.

The maximisation of housing rental income and pursuit of rent arrears continues to be a priority for the service, to safeguard income. This is achieved by a dedicated team of Officers, whose role is to actively pursue rent arrears and provide advice and support to tenants struggling to pay their rent. This includes issuing letters, home visits, telephone calls, emails, etc, which begin as soon as arrears are accrued on a rent account; pre tenancy advice on rent charges, payment options and discussing rent affordability to new tenants at the time of offer acceptance of their new tenancy; signposting tenants struggling financially to relevant support services to ensure household incomes are maximised; having a weekly presence at Kirkintilloch Job Centre to provide additional support for tenants in receipt of the housing element of Universal Credit; and escalating arrears actions to include court action or eviction for serious rent arrears cases . The Rents Team commitment to reducing active rent arrears has seen a decrease of £265,452.51 on same period as last year (week 4).
The Tenant Participation Team continues to provide direct ongoing support to active Tenants and Residents Association.

During April 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.

Work continues towards completion of the 2024/25 plan as the team provides assurance over key areas of risk, making recommendations and following up on these to improve the control environment, with work recently completed including HSCP Transport Policy and AskSara. The audits nearing completion are School Roll Forecasting. 
 
The audit plan for 2025/26 has been approved and initial planning work on the first audits has commenced. 
 
The team has responded to requests from management for consultancy work and advice where this contributes to the control environment, governance arrangements or enhances risk management.

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 systems.  
          
Data matches for a number of reports have been received from the National Fraud Initiative (NFI), which is a data matching exercise undertaken by Audit Scotland to identify fraud and error. A total of 2,318 matches have been received.  Two vacancies within the Corporate Fraud team delayed the commencement of the sifting and investigation process. Recruitment has been completed, and the new employees have commenced sifting of the data matches. Further data matches, relating to Business Rates and Creditors, have been released and will be subject to sifting in the near future.  

A tailored training package, for both Housing Services and Revenues & Benefits employees, is being developed and is scheduled for delivery in May. The Corporate Fraud team commenced the development of in-house anti-fraud and bribery training package but this has been paused at present.  This will be progressed when resources allow.

Finance 

• The 2023/24 year end is now underway with an agreed timetable for accounts production. The timetable is a stretch target for the team, with multiple competing priorities ongoing
• The team is reviewing timelines for the 2024/25 year end
• The Oracle Fusion General Ledger system project has now been signed off as Green status with a few legacy tickets to be completed. Phase 2 with HCM and PBCS/Fusion has now commenced and likely to last for 18 months
• Staff development is a key focus and given a challenging external recruitment market, the service is continuing to upskill existing staff where possible. A practice of grow your own is hoped to be followed over the next few years
• 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. 
  

Revenues and Benefits

• In the month of April, the team issued:
  • 6,300 Council Tax bills and 12,000 Benefits notifications; and,
  • 2650 Non-Domestic Rates bills.
• 315 crisis grants and community care grant applications were received
• The team received and dealt with 1,600 documents for Council Tax queries and reduction and 470 for benefits. In addition, the team received over 2,000 ATLAS notifications from DWP
• The team dealt with 3,000 telephone enquiries.

ICT Services

• ICT Services are working closely with the Business and Digital Change Team to implement M365
• The Infrastructure Team:
  • Completed Pilot Group by transitioning users from several service areas on to Always On VPN from Direct Access
  • Completed network upgrades at Bishopbriggs Hub and Westerton Library
  • Completed preparations for Interactive Panel installation at Lenzie Academy
  • Continued testing for Windows 11 replacement programme
• ICT Security have:
  • Monitored incident reporting through partners
  • Continued preparation for the annual IT Health Check
  • Maintained the Council’s perimeter defences
  • Monitored the migration of devices onto newly configured hybrid platform
  • Completed various remediations and investigations across the estate.

Shared Services

• The Residential Team added 159 service agreements to CareFirst for clients moving into care homes or for supported living services within their own homes
• The Homecare Team added 315 service agreements to CareFirst for clients receiving a homecare service or a direct payment  
• Direct Payment Audit Team – 23 audits completed, 15 standard and 8 final audits finalised for clients receiving self-direct support
• The EMA Team continue to follow up pupils for additional information to support their Education Maintenance Allowance. 

Housing Rent Arrears

Active Tenant Rent Arrears were £688,574.42 which is a decrease of -£265,452.51 on same period as last year (week 4)

• Housing Officers continue to utilise all avenues to maximise rental income and reduce rent arrears, apply a firm but fair approach when escalating actions against tenants whose rent arrears are increasing, and also provide advice and assistance to tenants who engage and need additional support
• Weekly Tuesday morning appointments for tenants at Kirkintilloch Job Centre with Housing Officers and Work Coaches to assist those in receipt of the Universal Credit housing element
• Facilitated an information stall promoting Tenant Participation and providing general housing advice at the East Dunbartonshire HSCP & Partners Meet The Services Event
• Online issue of the Taking Part newsletter published with links emailed to all EDC tenants where they have provided their contact email address. Newsletter available on EDC website and also advertised on EDC social media platforms.

Business & Digital Change

• The B & DC Team have supported the move to a 3-weekly refuse collection with a particular focus on the new digital routing and planning software. A tool for residents to check their new collection dates online is in the final stages of development
• Work is ongoing on the second and final design stage of the Oracle Fusion HCM project. The project remains on track for Go Live in Nov 25.A moderation meeting for the upgrade of our remaining analogue telecare alarms and Sheltered Housing complexes has been completed, with a technical winner chosen. Commercial evaluations are on-going
• The Business Systems Team have successfully upgraded 2 systems in the period. They have also managed 16 incidents and supported 6 projects and implemented 1 new systems interface
• Testing has continued on our new monthly payroll for all employees of EDC and the Leisure Trust with no significant issues found. The switchover is on track as planned for the first monthly payroll on 15th April 25
• The Business Systems Team have successfully upgraded 2 systems in the period. They have also managed 17 incidents, supported 7 projects and implemented 1 new Fusion interface.
• The online tool for refuse collections has been completed and is now live on the council website
• Work is nearing completion on our replacement of the Mavis Valley booking system, fully integrating it with our website and CRM platform
• Delivery of the new monthly payroll for all employees of EDC and the Leisure Trust was completed, with the first payroll completed on April 25. No significant issues have been highlighted during the post live support phase
• Secondary workshops on the design stage of the Oracle Fusion HCM project have been completed. Work has been ongoing to sign off on all documentation in relation to the project. Planning for the next stage of the project is underway
• The Housing Management System is currently being upgraded from version 22.2 to 25.1. Testing is underway, progressing well, and remains on track.

Internal Audit

• The team is working on completing the revised 2024/25 Internal Audit Plan, in line with available resources
• 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
• The internal audit plan for 2025/26 has been prepared and approved and initial work has begun on the 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 NFI
• The initial review of NFI data matches was delayed due to vacancies within the team. Recruitment interviews have been successful and new starts have started in April, which will allow for the sifting exercise to be undertaken.
• 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
• The team is focused on maximising its value adding activity through prioritising large value cases, which in some instances are challenging to resolve and may require an update of the policy base to support action – specifically the creation of a Communications Data Policy.

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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 April 2025, the HSCP has performed on or above target on all identified performance indicators.

• East Dunbartonshire achieved Green status for the Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) standards. The MAT standards are evidence based standards to enable the consistent delivery of safe, accessible, high-quality drug treatment across Scotland
• Promotional activity in support of:
  • Community Connections: Meet Your Services event in April
  • Power of Attorney resources and overview event
  • Demystifying Death Week.

HSCP Wide:

• Improve quality and relevance of information on HSCP website and maximise the potential of HSCP website to enable people to manage their own health and care needs
• Implement year one of the East Dunbartonshire Public Health Framework
• Refresh Digital Strategy in line with the new Strategic Plan 2025-30
• Review and refresh the HSCP Medium-Term Financial Strategy
• Review of Business Support Function
• Review of HSCP Management Structure
• Develop the 2025-2030 HSCP Workforce Plan.

Children and Criminal Justice Services:

• Implementation of Children's Social Work Services Review
• Introduction of Just Enough Support (Fair Access, Transport, Eligibility Criteria).

Adult Services:

• Review Care at Home services to focus on reablement expansion to mitigate demand growth 
• Continue with the work streams associated with the Learning Disability review and agreement obtained to take forward the John Street review 
• Explore potential of developing an all-age learning disability function
• Review and develop new commissioning strategy for Adult Commissioned Services 
• Review the model of delivery for HSCP clinical mental and learning disability health services across adult and older people care group
• Adult and Children & Families Services Commissioning Review
• Review of adult Social Work delivery model.

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Land Planning & Development have progressed a number of significant work streams during April 2025 in line with the Business Improvement Plan commitments.  

• Work on the Evidence Gathering process for Local Development Plan 3 is ongoing. Officers are continuing to work with key agencies to secure agreement on the Evidence Report, before reporting to Council for approval to submit to the DPEA for the Gate Check process thereafter
• The National Planning Improvement Framework for East Dunbartonshire was endorsed by the National Planning Improvement Champion on 14 April 2025 and will be published on the Council’s website in due course
• 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. Work is continuing on an updated Open Space Audit which will support the development of the strategy. Work is also ongoing to finalise a Food Growing Strategy for the area
• Early engagement on a new Economic Development Strategy (EDS) for East Dunbartonshire was held from February 2025 to April 2025. Online questionnaires seeking opinions from the public and local businesses continued to be promoted via social media by the Corporate Communications team during April. In addition to the public drop-in sessions and other engagement events undertaken during March, officers sought the views of young people on the local economy through the Pupil Forum and Hillhead Youth Project (both taking place in late April).  All responses will be collated, analysed and used to create a foundation for developing the new EDS
• A meeting of the East Dunbartonshire Economic Partnership (EDEP) was held on 28 April 2025. A draft economic baseline and initial outputs from the early engagement were presented to and discussed by the partnership
• Work on the monitoring and delivery of the Circular Economy Strategy is ongoing. 

• Further progress was made on the development of the Draft Climate Action Plan (CAP) including a detailed presentation and engagement session being held with Senior Leadership in April 2025 on the overall approach of the CAP was held. There was a specific focus on the mission, themes, actions and objectives in these sessions. The full draft Climate Action Plan was then shared with the senior leadership team to gather further input. Extensive work was done to prepare for a public consultation on the draft CAP including meetings with community engagement and education teams. Progress was also made on the Environmental Report for the Climate Action Plan
• Work continued on the implementation of the Local Heat & Energy Efficiency Strategy (LHEES) Delivery Plan including gathering relevant data for feasibility studies for heat networks in preparation for funding bids to be submitted in May 2025 on the main heat network opportunities in East Dunbartonshire: Kirkintilloch Town Centre, Bearsden, and opportunities for smaller networks connecting Council-owned properties. Regular meetings were also held with colleagues in assets to establish a coordinated approach between the LHEES and the Capital Assets Management Plan
• A committee report was prepared for PNCA in May on the Scottish Government’s Draft Statutory Guidance for public bodies on the implementation of the Climate Change Duties. The report contains an analysis and summary of the 266-page guidance document in addition to proposed Council responses to the consultation. The consultation will close 23 May 2025
• A Technical Note on the Scottish Government’s consultation on the Draft Just Transition Plan for Transport was prepared for distribution in May. The report contains an analysis and summary of the document in addition to proposed Council responses to the consultation. The consultation will close on 19 May 2025.
• Conversations were held about using the shared prosperity fund to fund a Nature-Based Investment Study which would quantify the current greenhouse gas emission absorption potential of nature in East Dunbartonshire and set out options to leverage additional public and private investment to support environmental outcomes, contribute towards the Council’s net zero targets and deliver meaningful action to preserve and bolster flourishing biodiversity
• The final sessions of the Community Carbon Literacy Training Programme have been delivered. The training was delivered to a total of 179 attendees: 141 completing the accredited training, 21 completing a focussed session, 5 completing the in-depth ‘Train the Trainer’ course and 12 participated in a youth session. An evaluation of the project is being drawn up in partnership with Keep Scotland Beautiful
• Further meetings have been held in March to discuss how the 10-year investment plan for Fleet, which is based upon vehicle demand by sites and replacement dates, could support net zero targets
• Following the Council’s Employee Travel Survey, further input was provided from the CAP’s Evidence and Options Report to the consultants to create a draft Employee Travel Plan
• The Sustainability Team are piloting of an informal partnership with Glasgow Caledonian University’s Master’s in Urban Climate and Sustainability programme to give postgraduate students the opportunity to complete their thesis in an area related to the Sustainability Team’s work while providing the students with an insight into local government’s role in sustainability policy. Member of the sustainability team engaged with the university and students and three dissertations are being undertaken in areas that could add value to the Council’s work. The dissertations will be produced in summer 2025
• Teams across the Council have been contacted to gather the data required to estimate the Council’s carbon footprint in the 2024/25 financial year and inform the development of the Council’s Public Bodies Climate Change Duty Report and Carbon Management Plan
• Discussion were held with the land planning policy and development applications teams to identify means of integrating environmental considerations into the Local Development Plan and development applications process
• A Strategic Environmental Assessment service has been provided to colleagues across the Council including for the Greenspace Strategy and Food Growing Strategy. 

• The Team is currently working with colleagues in Business & Digital Change and ICT on a major update of our ArcGIS software which will ensure our software is up-to-date and which will introduce improved functionality.  We are experiencing issues with the dated version which we are currently running including server layers not loading. We anticipate that the update will be completed around the end of May/early June
• Uniform live 10.7.21 upgrade has been successfully completed. 
• The Team are currently working with a number of Teams across the Council on a range of GIS projects including Customer Relationship Management and RMMS (roads management system) Integration, Greenspace Strategy Mapping, , Mapping support for FOI, , The Team also continues to support the preparation of the LDP Evidence Report
• A new GIS Service & Error Reporting Action app: we have received multiple requests through this system. The team has resolved most of them. Examples include a request to transfer existing Supply teaching annual questionnaire MS word document to survey123, Shapefiles data requests, CAD format data requests, updating GIS data /Online Maps, Ordnance survey data requests
• The Team completed multiple address register/update requests and several address queries and new ArcGIS online accounts requests from Teams across the Council.

• Transition to the new IHMS system is being supported by the IHMS Project team. Officers continue to utilise both Test and Live environments until snagging is complete
• Systems officers are assisting with day-to-day processing of direct debits and the set-up of rent accounts in both Test and Live IHMS and continue to monitor/escalate issues as they arise
• Performance Monitoring Officers continue to complete monthly statistics and dashboards that inform the HGIOS Report and Annual Return on the Charter. In addition, a Quarterly Return is voluntarily submitted to Scotland’s Housing Network that informs an annual benchmarking analysis against other social landlords.
• Performance Monitoring Officers are completing a monthly Voids Return for Scotland’s Housing Network who are actively monitoring voids timescales nationally
• Policy officers continue to work on revising the Council’s Allocations Policy
• Both Policy and Housing Estates teams are preparing to progress a feasibility study into the cost effectiveness and viability of lock up garages and garage ground sites
• Procurement of a new Digital Telecare system is progressing The project team are ensuring the successful transition of analogue telecare to digital telecare throughout the sheltered complexes and will deliver in-person briefings to tenants at each site Asbestos surveys will be carried out at each site to ensure that operatives commissioned can access properties safely
• The Housing Estates Officer is working closely with sheltered housing Wardens to ensure a robust service is provided to tenants during the Telecare switchover to the new system and to minimise disruption to tenants as equipment is removed and replaced
• The Housing Estates officer is delivering health and safety training to Concierge officers and Wardens and is responsible for delivery of Toolbox talks on various topics to maintain knowledge of standards and procedures when carrying out duties in relation to their respective roles. 

• 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. This includes provision of local business support grants to support start up and growth SMEs
• The team are working with City Deal team looking at promotional opportunities for investment at Westerhill. The site enabling and regeneration grant set to go live later this summer (2025)
• Digital Boost will no longer be funded through Scottish Government although webinars will continue to be delivered by Business Gateway National. The team are using currently available expertise to support companies on their digital journey, as well as developing further internal expertise. For more complex projects the Digital Development Grant has been utilised
• Growth and inward investment enquiries are being supported and coordinated by the team, directing them primarily to masterplan locations (Kirkintilloch Gateway, and the emerging Westerhill masterplan area).  

• The team continues with a range of work to ensure the delivery of the Council’s City Deal project. The Outline Business Case (in-line with City Deal & HM Greenbook requirements) was approved at the Glasgow City Region November 2024. Work is underway on the Final Business Case stage for the two project elements – Bishopbriggs Town Centre and Westerhill Development Road
• The Westerhill Regeneration Area (WRA) planning guidance and its associated delivery plan is now adopted under LDP2. Work is taking place to examine how different aspects of the WRA can be supported to a delivery stage, out with the current City Deal Projects
• Work is ongoing on the Westerhill Development Road (WRA) which is currently at DMRB Stage 3. The planning application has been submitted
• Work continues on the next stages of the design process for Bishopbriggs Town Centre. The A803 project is now out with the scope of City Deal, but work continues to look at how this can be funded and delivered through other means. 

• The Campsie Memorial Hall project in Lennoxtown secured funding from the Scottish Government’s Regeneration Capital Grant Fund, and is now on site
• 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 end of March 2025. Work to prepare projects for a fourth year of SPF funding has also been undertaken over this period
• The Lennoxtown Main Street Improvement Project has concluded the development of technical designs. Progress to the construction phase will be subject to external funding, which is being examined including a pending application with Transport Scotland for Tier 2 Active Travel Infrastructure Fund funding. The application was submitted a number of months ago, and local authorities who have applied to this fund await any feedback and an outcome from Transport Scotland
• Work is well underway on the Twechar Canalside Outdoor Pursuits Centre project, and work is ongoing in relation to the lease arrangement ahead of the centre opening later in 2025
• Work is ongoing with the Milngavie BID and Kirkintilloch BID as they move through year one of a five-year term. 

• The construction phase of Canniesburn Toll Improvement Project is now complete. The activation of the new traffic light system took place over October and November 2024. The project is now finished and in its defects stage. Monitoring of the new signals will be carried out six months post completion with the findings being reported to Council. Detailed updates have been provided in various Technical Notes
• 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 various active travel paths
• Work is progressing well on the A807 Active travel route, and construction has concluded for Phase 1a. The associated TROs for the project have been approved. Design and consultation work will be starting for the next phases through 2025/26
• The BetterPoints East Dunbartonshire App has been launched to promote active travel. The Traffic Free Schools pilot continues, and it will be reviewed and reported on to determine longer term implication of the work to enhance accessibility and sustainable modes of transport for children and school communities
• 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
• Work is ongoing in partnership with the Glasgow City Region to develop a delivery option to increase regional and local Electric Vehicle charging network provision. 

• During the reporting period the planning side of the team has determined 67 applications and validated 57 applications
• The Building Standards team have received 116 building warrants and approved 91 applications  
• The Enforcement Team opened 9 new cases and closed 2 cases
• The Development Applications team have been busy preparing reports for the forthcoming Planning Board Meeting in May
• The Team have been supporting the Councils Major Assets team with pre application technical advice in relation to the proposals for the WDR project
• Both Planning and Building Standards teams continue to offer support and informal advice to customers through our daily duty service Monday to Friday. 

• National Planning Improvement Framework for East Dunbartonshire endorsed
• Campsie Memorial Hall project on site
• Telecare provision in a dispersed environment to be progressed.

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Overview of Progress

Throughout April, the Democratic Services Team continued to support the internal governance of the Council, in addition to certain regulatory functions. Seven governance meetings took place during April.  Officers continued to support Members with the move to paperless meetings and use of the Modern.gov App.  Preparations are well advanced for the use of Modern.gov to support the maintenance and publication of Members’ Registers of Interest. In addition, work is 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.

As part of the annual Primary and Secondary Schools Registration process, the Team has made arrangements for the Placing Requests Appeals scheduled to be held in June 2025. A total of nine Appeal Committee meetings will take place and these will be facilitated by Officers from Democratic Services. Although the final number of appeals has yet to be confirmed, the Council typically processes over one hundred appeals annually and so this represents a significant commitment from both Officers and Members.

The Team continues to engage with the Electoral Commission, Electoral Management Board and Association of Electoral Administrators in preparation for future electoral events, particularly the Scottish Parliament elections scheduled for May 2026. This is the most complex and demanding electoral event that the Team administers, and so detailed planning will commence immediately after the Council recess.

The Team continued to support Children’s Hearings Scotland as part of the North Strathclyde Area Support Team.  Ongoing support was also provided to Community Councils.  With regards to the Community Council annual grants, paperwork was issued to Community Councils for completion and submission to the Council. The Team continued to participate in local and national resilience partnership meetings and training exercises.

The Council continued to deliver registration services during March and when able, supported colleagues in neighbouring authorities. In addition, the service continued to engage with partners across Greater Glasgow as part of ongoing resilience planning for winter and other potential incidents, in relation to both storage and registration.

The service continued to support Members and the Strategic Leadership Team. Officers from SLT Support and Members Support participated in the Civic Committee and delivered many of the decisions of that Committee. The Information Management Team continued 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 66 birth and 162 death registrations in April. 28 marriages and 2 Civil Partnership were also registered in this period 
• Citizenship ceremonies saw 6 new citizens receive British citizenship
• Continued development of the new committee administration system, which included further support for report writers, elected members and development of additional functionality
• Information Management received & processed 165 FOI/EIRs and 25 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 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 April is 100%.

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 April, the Team processed five contract review forms and two contract award letters, four open market purchases, 15 taxi licence applications, and one housing repair grants. All were granted within the required timescales except for one housing repair grant Considering this, it is not proposed to take any steps currently other than to continue to monitor progress against the set PIs
• The Team continued to provide support to the wider City Deal team with advice and support including in relation to access relevant to the Bishopbriggs Town Centre Civic Space Project and providing support in relation to options appraisals for the wider City Deal project
• Property and planning work included three open market purchases, and four offers issued, discharge of title burden at Huntershill House for £20,000 plus an overage provision for potential additional payment, new leases at Springfield House, Southbank Marina, Springfield Works and Milngavie Enterprise Centre, and an extension to a commercial lease at 48 Cowgate. 
• Contracts and procurement work in this period included supporting Housing Capital with Hub Letters of Engagement for pre-construction services, contract for refurbishment works at Torrance Community Centre, memorandum of understanding for website maintenance and partnership agreement extension for the Antonine Wall Heritage Site Project, contract for photovoltaic panels and systems repair, oracle upgrade contractual work, contract award for treatment and disposal of recyclate waste CSO, and a licence to occupy for Torrance Famer’s Market.  
• Grants offers accepted included grant for No One Left Behind and acceptance for grant for Social Work Justice Services. 
• 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. The Team continues to provide advice on a wide range of confidential matters including employment advice and support the Housing Service. This month the team resolved an appeal to the Sheriff Appeal Court in relation to a housing matter.

Overview of Progress

During April, the Procurement Team continued to support services across the Council in the delivery of various projects, including ongoing support to several strategic procurements/projects, particularly in relation to City Deal, ICT, Business & Digital Change, and various Capital projects. In particular, the Team continued to be heavily involved in data cleansing, Solution redesign, Communication planning, Key User training and support, Data Reconciliation and Supplier data correction as part of the ongoing management of the new Fusion Financial system. This has placed a significant demand on the resources of the Team as it is responsible for four of the six ongoing workstreams. In addition to the above, the Team is now testing for a major upgrade to the Fusion system and the implementation of the Supplier Portal model. The upgrade is of such magnitude that it requires to be managed as a project in its own right and will require support from other Council services.  

The Team also continuously works to manage and support the operational activity in terms of the buyers work centre, Fusion catalogue management, supplier management and payment processing, and in April remained focussed on delivering against the increased demand from Services around queries in relation to Fusion, whilst managing the ongoing implementation, remodelling and updating of the System.

During April, the Team was heavily involved with multiple Capital programme requirements, system software renewals, Transport Contracts, School Building Summer planned maintenance and Housing New Build Maintenance support

The team has been co-ordinating the actions instructed by SLT regarding additional authorisations and prioritisations around spend controls, and the contract requirements against budgets, through newly implemented governance procedures and controls.

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, , Fusion HSM Phase 2, Westerhill Development Road, , school estate Professional Fees, school maintenance works, School Transport contracts whilst supporting workforce of the future planning and Business as Usual workstreams.
• Participation in extensive meetings and workshops to train, test, reconcile data transfer and solution implementation for the Oracle Fusion Redwood upgrade.
• Completed renewals for support and maintenance of business-critical systems to facilitate workforce of the future.
• Ongoing support to the /implementation of Fusion to support the technical requirements for Payment integrations, Managed Stores and e-invoicing. 
• Ongoing data analysis in preparation of the 2025-2026 Annual Procurement Strategy to include alignments with organisational Climate Action Planning, Circular Economy Strategy, Community Wealth Building & the City Region Community Wish List planning.
• Processing and payment of Welfare Support Payments in line with Council support requirements.
• Processing End of Financial Year receipts and payments and Fusion housekeeping actions
• Continued efforts to improve payment KPI’s, planning and communications for Oracle Fusion
• Continued Business Critical expenditure considerations within Buyers Work Centre.
• Ongoing work on the review of Contract Standing Orders for alignment with organisational changes, financial management and Procurement governance.
• Continued End of Financial year actions and communications in alignment with the implementation of a new finance system, managing the backlog resulting from the system downtime and managing business as usual
• Continued workstreams for the Oracle Fusion upgrade to Redwood Self Service Procurement, including testing and revisiting personalisation to consider business impacts
• Continued workstreams for the implementation of the Oracle Fusion Supplier Portal, including testing and revisiting system set up prior to roll out in December
• Review of resourcing considerations to support Project workload and business as usual priorities.

Overview of Progress

Throughout April,  the Strategic Commissioning Team focussed on supporting the HSCP to identify and progress transformation, redesign and management savings  whilst continuing to provide daily oversight and support to the commissioned market.  

Key Achievements / Areas of Focus

• Developed revised planning protocol geared towards delivering management efficiency whilst improving and strengthening oversight & governance across a key strategic service area  
• Supported a local provider to re-establish a service delivery model resulting in  increased local capacity to meet complex and challenges needs
• Reviewed and updated Options Appraisals to help inform strategic decision making 
• Progressed plans to support and integrate individuals with complex health needs who are currently in long stay hospital settings, into more appropriate / homely community settings
• Facilitated a Provider Forum to enable effective engagement and consultation with providers regarding future service review plans 
• Contributed to and supported the progression of several HSCP strategic and service reviews and provided added value by providing project management and budget management advice and expertise
• Continued to prepare for  reporting requirements related to the Safe Staffing Act which comes into effect in April 2025 –A published annual report is to be sent to the Scottish Government by 30th  June 2025
• Reviewed & updated financial frameworks underpinning strategic reviews to ensure accuracy, alignment with the HSCP’s medium term financial plan and respective commissioning delivery plans
• Continued discussions with providers with a view to bottoming out actual service costs, implementing spend control measures and mitigating and/or reducing projected deficits.   

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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 eight portfolio groupings:

• Roads Network Operations
• Roads Technical & Engineering
• Streetscene Technical Support (including Bereavement and Arboriculture)
• Streetscene Operations (including grounds maintenance, street cleansing and cemetery operations)
• Waste Services (including domestic & commercial waste & recycling collections)
• Fleet Services (including fleet operations, maintenance, and transportation)
• Mugdock Country Park
• Corporate Health & Safety Team.

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, Finance and Health & Safety. 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 continues to work towards full resource capacity with some vacancies for operational posts. 

The Roads Network Team Leader and Senior Roads Technician continue to oversee the cyclical Safety Inspections and responses to ad-hoc enquiries. 

The Streetlighting Team are also working on their 2025/26 Capital Programme.

The Roads Network Operations Team will complete the Roads Winter Maintenance Period in mid-April for both carriageway and footway winter maintenance. 

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 also continue to work with Legal colleague to oversee the TRO process associated with the potential implementation of 20mph speed limits across various geographical areas starting with Bearsden and Twechar.

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 Traffic Officer also liaise with Police Scotland colleagues to monitor any road related incidents.

The three geographical based teams have completed the winter grounds maintenance tasks with a view to commencing spring and summer grounds maintenance tasks. The teams are also undertaking street cleansing of all adopted council roads and pavements including litter collection, leaf clearance, mechanical sweeping, and servicing of street litter bins. 

The team also continue to manage the Councils tree stock. The team manages burials in the eight operational cemeteries. 

The Streetscene Operations Team were heavily involved in the work during and following Storm Éowyn ensuring roads and open spaces were cleared of flooding and storm damaged trees. It should be noted the some of this work is ongoing.

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 continues to analyse the results of the first Ash Dieback Surveys which will inform the actions that need to be prioritised to address this important issue. Ash Dieback Information will be communicated over the coming months as this is an issue that will become more prominent, and it is important to update elected members and communities on potential tree work resulting from the completed surveys.

The team are also currently overseeing the delivery of the remaining landscaping works to finish the  Climate Ready Park Project in Etive Park, Bishopbriggs 

The team is also progressing several Play Area improvement and replacement projects throughout East Dunbartonshire and about to commence the 2025/26 play area redevelopment works. 

The Streetscene Operations Team were heavily involved in the work during and following Storm Éowyn ensuring roads and open spaces were cleared of flooding and storm damaged trees. It should be noted the some of this work is ongoing.

The team have completed the winter maintenance period. 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 in line with the Mugdock Country Park Strategy. 

The Mugdock Country Park Team were heavily involved in the work during and following Storm Éowyn ensuring the Park was open for business shortly after the storm. It should be noted the some of this work is ongoing.

The Waste Team has continued the frontline service operations for the collection of over 400,000 assorted household bins over the month of April, 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 1484 tonnes of waste through this contract in April, 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.

The Corporate Health and Safety team provides a range of occupational safety and health services, including advice on statutory guidance, safety action notices, safe working and training, incident reporting and investigation, including RIDDOR. The H&S Team continues to work cooperatively with Trade Union colleagues to review incidents statistics and other health and safety activities.

Ongoing and comprehensive health and safety assistance is provided to services throughout the council, HSCP and EDLC, conducting multiple site visits to offer expert guidance, address emerging issues, and assist with the completion of risk assessments and safe systems of work. During this period, the team have been working closely with Education technical departments and Estates & Facilities, Early years Centres, the corporate risk team, Mugdock country park, Strategic Commissioning team - Legal & Regulatory Services, HSCP Justice Services, School Improvement Team for minor projects, with Housing, reviewing safe systems of work and risk assessments, HSCP, on fire safety plans and safe systems of work and undertook COSHH assessments and document review for Fleet.

Various teams received assistance through workplace, manual handling and individual risk assessments in collaboration with HR colleagues, specifically for Education and EDLC staff, as well as continuing to review First Aids needs assessments with HR People Development. 

H&S training in April focused on ladder safety, fire safety, Duty Holder, UFAS and H&S inductions. The H&S Manager conducted training for Housing Concierge service. Safety alerts were issued this month and Toolbox talks were created to support safe operations as a safety targeted approach. 

The focus continues for Construction Design and Management compliance with site visits, inspections, reviewing construction phase plans, risk assessments and method statements for refurbishment, general estate repairs, new builds, paths, roads and greenspace projects for various teams. For Greenspace, High Park Lennoxtown Pond, for D&I, Housing, Assets and Major Assets teams, Twechar outdoor pursuits, Bearsden PS, Torrance Community Centre, Lenzie Academy, King George V Pavilion, Campsie Memorial Hall, Westerhill Rd, housing communal closes, among other construction projects.

To support Estates & Facilities team in their CDM works, reviews were undertaken for repair works in educational establishments such St Nicholas PS, Baldernock PS, St Helen’s PS, Castlehill PS, Milngavie PS, Kirkintilloch Leisure Centre and other corporate buildings as well as training for the new E&F team leaders.

Fire Risk Assessments are conducted in accordance with the predetermined schedule. Officers undertake routine inspections and continue to carry out site visits to address any fire safety concerns and offer expert advice. In April there was a focus on HSCP operational sites and their fire safety arrangements as well as follow up fire audits for 3rd party care providers for the Strategic Commissioning team.

The team continue to promote reporting of health and safety incidents throughout the council and programme health and safety inspections of council workplaces. 

Roads Network Operations Teams (including Street Lighting)

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

Between 1 April 2025 and 30 April 2025, we have identified 246 defects in East Dunbartonshire Council carriageways and footways. We have completed 216 repairs on time (approx. 87.8%), 7 repair late (approx. 2.85 %) and 23 repair (approx. 9.35 %) are in list for action and are still within SLA (incomplete).

Below chart compares our last three months performance:

Between 1 April 2025 and 30 April 2025, East Dunbartonshire Council completed 15 scheduled safety inspections. Three of these inspections are related to Footway inspection and 12 of them related to carriageway inspections. All inspections were completed and comply with East Dunbartonshire Council tolerance between inspections.

Details of these inspections are as below:

No action were taken in East Dunbartonshire Council between 1 April 2025 and 30 April 2025. Please see below summary report of winter maintenance actions between 1 April 2025 and 30 April 2025.

Summary for East Dunbartonshire Council - 1 April - 30 April

Total chemical or plough actions: 0
Number of days with operations: 0
Number of days without any operation: 30
Total salt amount used (Tonne): 0

Structures

• Review & response to abnormal load requests
• Assisting other departments in the assessment of non-council assets
• Emergency repair underway at Burnbrae Bridge, Calfmuir Road following a bridge strike. In addition to the masonry repair, bollards will be installed to give drivers extra warnings
• Procurement process underway for FY25-27 structures framework contract.

Development

• Network Rail have been carrying out remedial works at Drumgrew Roundabout, Twechar in order that a one year maintenance period can begin prior to adoption
• The Cala site at the old Broomhill Hospital, Kirkintilloch is now adopted. This includes Lanfine Drive, Broomhill Drive, Clugston Court, Cormorant Drive and Wylie Court
• Site visits to monitor progress on developments currently under construction
• Site meetings to inspect developments and identify remedial works prior to adoption by EDC
• Assist planning with development applications, distribute to officers for their comments on potential future developments
• Process road adoption enquiries from internal and external departments
• Process road opening permits and temporary traffic management permits
• Coordination of future works relating to development sites
• Temporary Traffic Light invoices processed and invoiced on completed works: continuing.

Traffic

• Signs to support pavement parking exemptions have been procured
• 20mph for Bearsden/Twechar remitted from PNCA to Council
• Responding to Lining Requests and refreshing faded road markings and street signs
• Commenting on various licences i.e. street trader licences, public entertainment licences and occasional licences
• Commenting on planning applications
• Disabled Bays TRO public consultation closed and a report will be submitted to Council.

Flooding and Drainage

• River Glazert Restoration Project, Lennoxtown – Planning Application not progressed
• Kelvin Tributaries River Restoration & NFM Project – Consultants are progressing with works and Green Action Trust are Project Managing on behalf of EDC. Ongoing
• Held meetings with contractors for the flood bund at Castle Circle, Lennoxtown to close out section 75 agreement. Ongoing
• Further survey investigation works for City Deal Team
• Providing advice to customers about ponding and flooding issues.

• Site visits to monitor progress on developments currently under construction
• Site meetings to inspect developments and identify remedial works prior to adoption by EDC
• Assist planning with development applications, distribute to officers for their comments on potential future developments
• Process road adoption enquiries from internal and external departments
• Process road opening permits and temporary traffic management permits
• Coordination of future works relating to development sites
• Roadworks continue to monitor all incoming works on Roads Register
• Roadworks continue to complete Q4 Inspection charges
• Temporary Traffic Light invoices processed and invoiced on Completed works
• Fixed Penalty notices issued for February 2025
• Christmas embargo on recorded on Register from 1 December 2025 to 4 January 2026.

• 20mph for Bearsden/Twechar public consultation completed and the Service have received 98 objections. Officers are working on the responses
• Footway parking exemption TRO was approved at PNCA
• Signalisation of Milton of Campsie Cross is now completed
• Queens Court Ramp project: contractor appointed and has applied for construction permit to start the work
• Responding to Lining Requests and refreshing faded road markings
• Commenting on various licences i.e. street trader licences, public entertainment licences and occasional licences
• Commenting on planning applications.

• River Glazert Restoration Project, Lennoxtown – Planning Application submitted awaiting decision
• Kelvin Tributaries River Restoration & NFM Project – Consultants are progressing with works and Green Action Trust are Project Managing on behalf of EDC.  Ongoing
• River Kelvin Flood Defence Scheme – WGM maintenance contract – Pumping Station maintenance & repair contract extended for another year
• River Kelvin Flood Defence Scheme – Xylem telemetry system reactivated for another year
• Arranged and supervised CCTV works on Crowhill Road – Bishopbriggs. These works were financed by roads as they plan to resurface in early April
• Arranged and supervised CCTV and cleaning works on Kilsyth Road – Kirkintilloch. These works were financed by roads as they plan to resurface in early April
• Arranging investigation works for the WDR and Bishopbriggs town centre for the City Deal team
• Planning capital works for the new financial year starting with Crowhill Road, Bishopbriggs and Catter Gardens, Milngavie.

Greenspace & Streetscene Teams

Streetscene Operations

• Commencement of the Summer cyclical works
• Street cleansing and mechanical 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, installing headstone foundations, benches etc
• Countryside verge de-littering started
• Invasive non native species spraying
• Checking and clearance of culverts
• Play park inspection 
• Herbicide works in open spaces/schools
• Education and Leisure Trust pitch maintenance, athletic and football initial lining for schools
• Replacement of damaged bins
• Responding to Customer Service Requests and complaints
• Supply and fitting of no dog fouling signs in EDC Cemeteries
• Removal of dead animals and excess waste at recycling centres.

Streetscene Technical Support

• Bishopbriggs Park – brief complete and with procurement – now out for framework agreement – returns expected in May
• Play Areas – Westerton – brief complete with procurement  - now out to framework agreement - returns expected in May
• Play Areas – Kincaid (MOC)  - brief complete and with procurement  - now out to framework agreement - returns expected in May
• Play Areas – annual external safety inspection complete – repairs ongoing
• Twechar Pump Track – consultation undertaken with community re potential for pump track adjacent to Healthy Living Centre – feedback being collated
• Cemetery Management Rules – internal review ongoing noting recent wider Scottish Govt consultation – Scottish Govt regs now being finalised and implemented
• Headstones/Memorials Inspection  – inspections complete at Old Aisle Cemetery – ‘make safe’ arrangements where required will commence in May, Inspectons have now commenced in Campsie
• Cadder Cemetery Extension – works ongoing with consultant – initial design being reviewed with first Pre Application event having taken place at Bishopbriggs Library
• Ash Dieback Survey on Roadside – updated survey received – a small number of trees require urgent works – ownership is a mixture of public and private – contact with private owners now made – EDC trees addressed. Further analysis of other trees and works ongoing with a number of notices now sent to private owners to progress
• Schools Estate – tree survey findings now being analysed – orders raised for any priority works over the next 3 months
• Tree Planting – number of tree planting initiatives across the district undertaken  - Street Trees, Etive Park, Heather Avenue etc
• Storm Eowyn – significant damage as a consequence of the recent storm with hundreds of trees impacted – all emergency works complete however clear up will continues across the district for a number of months – this remains ongoing
• Climate Ready Park – Allotment works complete - allotments now allocated and opened , pump track complete, trees planted,  bund works and reinstatement programme have commenced with completion anticipated in early June
• Community Growing Facilities – progressing improvement works via Shared Prosperity Fund – range of works completed at Jedworth Court, Sense Scotland, Twechar TCA and Kilmardinny Community Garden  
• Nature Restoration Fund – projects identified for 25/26 and works will progress from June  
• Lenzie Moss – environmental works undertaken across the moss 
• Community Consultations re Management Plans – Lenzie Moss, Whitefield Pond, Cairnhill Woods and Heather Avenue – drafts complete and shared with community groups for final comment
• TCV Partnership – environmental improvement works have commenced on the John Muir Way  - 3 year programme in total
• Clyde Valley Green Network – liaison re EDC Wetland Strategy.
• Merkland – Scottish Water undertaking infrastructure works to site – now complete  - reinstatement ongoing
• Glazert Project – team input into overall project re trees and biodiversity aspects
• The team continues to respond to high volume of open space, tree and bereavement enquires, along with planning application consultations and complaints
• Team working with City Deal Team and Consultants in relation to Masterplan of Bishopbriggs Relief Road/Westerhill
• 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.

Events

• There were a number of Spring holiday events at Mugdock, as well as the monthly Mugdock Market and regular weekend Ranger-led Events
  This Spring Mugdock undertook several three day long Ranger camps which were fully booked. In addition, for Easter there were a number of themed trails, egg hunts, films, Puppet Show and craft activities
• The combined income for Events via Eventbrite was £2,916.00 and via on the day till sales was £323, giving a combined total of £3,239. There were 5 sold out events. There were 345 advance bookings. 

• There were five Forest School sessions between Westerton Primary, Mosshead Primary and Balfron High School
• There was also an evening visit for 12th Glasgow Scout Group.

• April warden events have been a combination of the regular, project, reactive maintenance and event activities including:
• Herbicide spraying, litter picking, emptying bins, dog bins, cleaning toilets, weekly courtyard deep clean, bin housings, tables etc., playpark, toadstool trail, car park checks, taking vehicles to and from Hilton for servicing and repairs and edging with blower and brushes
• Has included rotovating & reseeding landscape as part of Pond BBQ hut Project, assist with removal of wood from pond demolition, trailer use and emptying and painting of Walled Garden exterior Wall post harling repair
• Included on-going pot holes in car parks, fence repairs to Khyber field, and removal of tree ar Walled garden boundary wall, alongside tidying up of brash in areas where trees were processed as part of the Storm Eowyn damage
• Activities include setting up of easter activities, participating in easter activities, set up of monthly market, auctioning of equipment and set up of increasing BBQ bookings. 

• Clearing of culverts to Mugdock Pond and Mugdock Loch
• Creating of new pond at Mugdock Orchard
• Removing guards from trees and shoring up trees
• Fixing existing fencing and creating new dead hedge fence at Pond BBQ hut
• Preparing rhododendrons for herbicide. 

• Stock orders amounted £859
• The total Retail takings for April 2025 were £3,176.78
• The largest sellers were Trail and Toys which reflects the school holiday season, followed by homeware

• The total non-retail income, which includes donations and lets (BBQ huts and rooms) was £1,969. 

• Marketing focus on Easter and Spring activities
• The social communication campaign was on Mugdock Loch
• The new signage was installed with park Code of Conducts and guidance for visitors. The Mugdock Loch Protection signs were all deliberately and forcibly removed
• There were three days without water. 

• BBQ shelter – Both structures are built and just require their gutters to be installed before applying for completion certificate.  The marketing design has been completed and will be launched in June. The landscaping is currently underway utilising Mugdock Warden and Conservation Volunteers
• Procurement paperwork for two Walled Garden Project initiatives and Walled Garden role is advertised
• Play area companies attended the site as part of the EDC tender package
• Initial design meeting was held with Corporate Communications regarding decorative boundary in Walled Garden project. 

• The Clyde Valley Residual Waste contract accepted 1484 tonnes of general waste throughput in April from our households and Street Cleansing for recycling pre-sort, and then ongoing production of energy from waste. This was a reduction of 18% compared to April last year
• The implementation of the 3 weekly residual collection started on Sunday 30th March 2025 and the team have been busy implementing the first cycle of the new service
• Waste Advisors have been working alongside the frontline refuse crews, tagging bins to remind residents of the changes to the collection frequency and answering any questions
• The team have been visiting residents to provide waste management support to those who have been struggling with the changes to the collection frequency
• There was 54 waste diaries distributed in April to residents who requested additional capacity for their waste generated, the diaries are aimed at supporting residents in analysing the household waste and consider other means for recycling.
• There were 14 new residential applications accepted for additional general waste capacity on the grounds of medical requirements
• The Garden Waste Permits were launched early February for the 2025 Season. There were 4436 permits sold in April. This brought the total figures at this time to 26,690
• The food waste treatment contract was award to Energen Biogas, Cumbernauld in April. This is a new contract for the service, a first since the start of food collections. The food will continue to be processed through an anaerobic digestion process, producing renewable electricity, renewable gas and biofertilizer. The team had the fantastic opportunity to visit the facility in April and be shown the treatment process of the food we collect
• The contract for the treatment of the paper and card that we collect from the kerbside was successfully awarded to Saica, Cumbernauld for a further 3-year period
• The team attended the final board meeting with the Business Change team for the new waste route modernisation project. The business change team have been invaluable in recent months in supporting the service with moving from a historic paper-based routing system to a new electronic back office / in-cab facility for all collection routes. The waste team continue to take this forward and support and encourage our frontline staff in using this new technology
• New members of the Waste Technical team along with one of the Councils Environmental Health students attended the Viridor pre-sort recycling facility at Bargeddie. This allowed the staff to view the process that the general waste we collect goes through to remove recycling material ahead of the moving to the energy from waste facility at Dunbar
• The Waste Technical team attended the Millersneuk Primary School Eco Committee to speak to the pupils and discuss how the service could support the school in recycling and waste management.

• During the period 01/04/25 to 30/04/25 there were 244 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
• The team carried out a variety of gate checks, any issues that were identified were reported to the relevant management team.
• Monthly audits have been implemented to ensure MOT station compliance
• We continue to monitor external hires
• The team worked extremely hard during this period to ensure the frontline services had enough vehicles/plant during the period to carry out their duties
• Work is ongoing to replace the fleet management system.