Important announcement

Due to operational issues, regrettably, some of our food waste collections have been suspended. If your food caddy is not collected on its scheduled day, please take your bin in and present it on your next collection day. We apologise for the inconvenience this will cause and we’re working hard to remedy the situation.

Assets and Facilities

Performance Indicators

100% of operational properties that required a gas safety record had a gas safety check and record completed by the anniversary date- Non Housing compared to a target of 100%   100% properties that required a gas safety record had a gas safety check and record completed by the anniversary date compared to a target of 100%   41% of Voids returned within timescales compared with a target of 85%   10.71 days taken to complete non-emergency repairs, compared with a target of 12 days

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Property Maintenance

Voids performance has increased to 41% in July from 27% in June and is still well below our target of 85%.  The service has been working through a substantial backlog of properties over the past few months with the majority of these properties requiring high-cost repairs.  This has had a significant impact on turnaround times, however we have now returned the vast majority of these properties with only 3 remaining and due to be returned imminently. 

We have made operational changes within the section, including implementing a revised target timescale for void turnaround to align with the new enhanced lettable standard.  Performance in this area is now targeted at mainstream void properties only and doesn’t include homeless voids.  As a result, and due to the large number of longer-term backlog properties currently being returned the performance has shown a significant drop.  However, once we clear these numbers our priority will be on managing the most recent batch of properties and having these returned as quickly as possible.  We are focussed on improving and maintaining performance in the coming weeks and months with significant improvement expected over the next few months, returning the service to the appropriate levels of performance.

Property Maintenance have achieved our target of 100% Gas Servicing in July with 353 properties serviced in the month.  We continue to manage this contract robustly to ensure compliance each month and continually throughout the year.

The average number of days to complete non-emergency repairs in June is 10.71 days and exceeds our target of 12 days.  Our focus remains on maintaining a high level of performance in this area throughout 2026/27 and we will continue to review operational process with a view to achieving our targets.

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

Cyclical maintenance gutter cleaning and close painting programmes are ongoing and will continue throughout 2026/27.

Estates and Facilities

A new menu for 26/27 has been designed and has taken into consideration of the feedback the Catering team have received from pupils and the schools last year.  The menu has also been passed to Food for Life, with a view of the Council re-applying for the Bronze accreditation having worked with Food for Life over the past few months, ensuring their targets aren’t impacting the Council financially in terms of produce requirements and costs.

With the school holiday’s starting at end of June, there are no free school uptake figures available.  The service did provide breakfast and lunches to the Snack n Play classes across 6 schools during the summer holidays. 

Fourteen of the fifteen new mechanised crossing points have now been installed.  The recruitment exercise for additional school crossing patrollers is ongoing with a view to staffing all vacant crossing points which are not currently or due to be mechanised.  Following the recruitment drive at the beginning of the year, there are only 9 vacancies now, with 4 new SXP now recruited since March 2026. 

Following the 20% reduction in cleaning across the Council’s Corporate estate, a new cleaning model has now been agreed and is currently being implemented.  The service has actively recruited for over 800 weekly hours across the East, West and Central areas.  Interviews are held regularly with applicants while the recruitment exercise still active. 
The service has robust measures in place to monitor performance with regards gas safety compliance across the Operational Estate.  EICR’s are being progressed across all educational properties over the coming months with Colquhoun Park PS, Hillhead PS, Auld Kirk Museum and the three new Early Years Centres completed this month.  Tests are scheduled to commence at St Helen’s PS and two other schools in the coming weeks.
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 have been completed at Clober PS following issues with the floor which had started to rise in one of the corridors as a result of an underfloor water burst.  Work has also been completed at Bearsden PS Canteen roof and flooring works at Thomas Muir Primary School.

Estates Management continue to market vacant premises within the non-operational estate.  At present the non-operational estate is over 94% occupied, with vacant suites in Southbank Marina being actively marketed by agents, DM Hall.  
 
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.  

Development and Investment


The Service continues to progress a wide range of capital projects both in pre-construction and construction phases.  

Projects currently in construction include: 

  • The Westerhill Development Road project, where initial construction phase activities are now progressing
  • The refurbishment of Milngavie Primary School (completion July 2026) is now complete and preparations are well underway for welcoming pupils and staff back to the building for the start of the new term in August 2026
  • The construction of a replacement Balmuildy Primary School also continues to make good progress, with works now well progressed.  External to the site boundary, utilities connections were progressed during the summer holiday period in July 2026
  • Pitch replacement at Huntershill Sports Hub commenced in May 2026 and is now substantially complete, with some final works in progress to form the new discus throwing area
  • At Twechar Canalside, the construction of 15no. affordable Passivhaus houses continues to make good progress.  The project is now expected to complete in October 2026
  • Initial construction phase activities are now underway at the Milngavie Early Years Centre, following the decant of staff and pupils in July.  The original building has now been demolished and initial groundworks are progressing.


Several projects continue to progress through pre-construction, including:

Design development continues to progress for the Lenzie Academy Project.  The project planning application was submitted in February 2026 and has now been validated.  A separate planning application for proposals at the existing school site at Myrtle Avenue, Lenzie was submitted in June 2026.  A Stage 2 report will be submitted to Council confirming the final tendered construction cost following determination of the planning application for each site.

Proposals to introduce all-weather sports provision and upgraded changing pavilions at Oakburn Park, Milngavie were approved by Council in June 2026.  Options for car parking both on and off-site are now under review and will be submitted for consideration by Council in October 2026.

During the reporting period, contracts have been awarded and projects now mobilising for the refurbishment of Colquhoun Park Pavillion, Merkland Pavillion and Thorn Pavillion.  Roof replacement projects at Wester Cleddans Primary School and Colquhoun Primary School have made significant progress during the summer holiday period, with both projects due to complete in September. 

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 financial year.  The revised Learning Estate and Corporate Property Asset Management Plans were approved within the Council’s revised Asset Management Plan and include proposals for the decarbonisation of the Council’s learning and corporate estates, including Phase 1 priority sites which will form the basis of activity in the coming financial year.

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.  The tender has now been awarded for the next round of the Council’s energy efficiency improvements to its housing stock with works are now in progress to Council-owned properties around Ferguson Avenue, Milngavie.  Works are also progressing on the next phase of the Council’s Mixed Tenure Roof Replacement programme and in undertaking a refresh of stock condition data

In June 2026, Council also approved the Stage 2 reports for new-build affordable housing projects at Cleddans, Merkland and Auchinairn.  Final contractual matters are now being concluded for each project and contractor mobilisation is expected in late Summer 2026 ahead of construction activity commencing at each site.

Key Achievements / Areas of Focus

  • Achieved 100% compliance for Gas Servicing with focus on this continuing going forward
  • Kitchen, Bathroom and Central Heating upgrade programmes ongoing with positive feedback being received from tenants across all contracts
  • Cyclical maintenance gutter cleaning and close painting programmes are ongoing and are being well received
  • Positive level of performance in non-emergency repairs turnaround times with our focus being on maintaining and improving further in this area moving forward
  • Full decoration in void properties from 1st April providing a significantly enhanced standard of property for new tenants.
  • Continue to focus on enhancing voids operational processes with the objective being to achieve our targets and further improve and maintain performance in this area going forward. 
  • Improved functionality of Total Mobile and the integration with Servitor enables a more streamlined and efficient service. We continue to explore alternative options for enhanced efficiencies 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 August and September
  • Improve uptake of nutritious school meals
  • Improve communications with customers and stakeholders to ensure the highest level of service delivery
  • Reduce FM overtime.

Community Services

Performance Indicators

317 targeted decriminalised parking enforcement initiatives and patrols in response to complaints, service requests and intelligence received, compared with a target of 60   91% of environmental health high risk food safety inspections and public health service request responses delivered within target timescales, compared with a target of 85%   Rent loss due to void properties data is £61,009.03 with a target of £10,833.00   Average length of time taken to re-let properties in the last year, 340 days, compared with a  target of 75 days

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Environmental Health, Trading Standards and Community Safety Teams

The Community Protection Service delivers on a broad statutory remit, with delivery measures centred on protecting public health and safety, well-being and consumer protection. During July 2026, 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 with a view to protecting the community from environmental risks and supporting the development of responsible business.  July was particularly busy for the team with a large volume of service requests as well as dealing with seasonal food poisoning investigations and local event’s regulatory oversight. 

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. The team continued to deliver enforcement work in relation to the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019 parking prohibitions relating to pavement, double and dropped kerb parking recently introduced across the council area. ASB patrol activity by the Community Wardens, with particular emphasis on several areas in and around Bishopbriggs, was also prevalent during the month. 
 
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. During July, Trading Standards delivered scam prevention work in conjunction with Police Scotland colleagues on a Co-production basis, utilising the scam van across the authority. Work was also carried out with the Financial Ombudsman to secure a significant Authorised Push Payment refund for a vulnerable consumer, and a Sanctions Referral was made to the HMRC in connection with the supply of illicit tobacco from retail premises within the area. Trading Standards continued to promote the Trusted Trader scheme to provide a valuable resource for consumers and a platform for trustworthy local businesses. July also saw exam success with an officer successfully completing Stage 1 of the Trading Standards Qualifications Framework. 

 

Community Planning and Partnerships Team

During July, work continued across the Community Planning and Partnerships Team to support local communities, strengthen partnerships and reduce inequality.

Community development work remained focused on priority neighbourhoods, with staff working alongside local people to develop strong and sustainable community groups. This practical support is helping communities take forward local priorities and respond to issues linked to poverty and inequality.

Support for families and people who are new to the area also continued to grow. The Resettlement Team has expanded activities for asylum seekers, helping people settle into their communities, find out about local services and make new connections. Support also continues for Ukrainian families and others arriving through humanitarian programmes, working closely with East Dunbartonshire Welcomes Refugees.

Planning for the new Community Grant Scheme progressed during July. Following the Council's decision to allocate £100,000 to the scheme, officers are working with the Grant Advisory Committee and partners on how the funding will operate and ensure it responds to local priorities.

Community groups continue to be supported to play a greater role in managing local buildings and spaces. Along with Asset Management and Legal Services, we are working with groups interested in Community Asset Transfers, providing support as they consider taking responsibility for assets.

The CLD Plan 2025–27 continues to move forward, including work linked to the Local Child Poverty Action Report. The focus remains on tackling inequality and improving opportunities and outcomes for children, families and communities.

Equalities work also progressed during the month, with preparations continuing for the first Equality Action Planning Forum. The forum will help services work more closely together and provide a more joined-up approach to delivering equality outcomes.

Work around women's safety and wellbeing remains a priority. Learning from the International Women's Day programme is helping to shape the Violence Against Women and Girls Partnership's plans for the upcoming 2026 16 Days of Action campaign.

The team's community wellbeing-focused kitchen sessions have continued to provide practical support for young tenants and families, helping people build confidence, develop everyday skills and make social connections. Discussions are taking place with third sector partners about how this approach could be extended to reach more households.

Development opportunities for the CLD workforce are also being taken forward. Following positive feedback from the practitioner session delivered at the West Alliance Learning Festival, further joint learning sessions are being explored with the Centre for Good Relations.
Local access to health support remains available through the community vaccination programme. Weekly clinics continue to operate in Milngavie and Kirkintilloch in partnership with NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, making it easier for residents to access vaccination services locally.

The Resettlement Team is broadening its range of welcome and connection activities for asylum seekers, helping people better understand the support available locally and build stronger links within their communities.

Housing Operations & Estates and Homelessness & Prevention Teams

Housing manages 3,919 social rented properties; 3,823 of these are mainstream accommodation and 96 are used for Homeless Temporary Accommodation.  The service also manages 48 Lead Tenancies which are rented from either private landlords (27) or Housing Associations (21), to assist with accommodating homeless households.

At present, the Housing list for East Dunbartonshire has 3,559 applications - made up of the following:

General Waiting list - 2,736 applicants waiting (3 of which are on offer)
(Applicants who have somewhere to stay i.e., they are owner occupiers, a tenant of a private let, stay care of family etc. This queue allows the applicant to choose which area, house type etc they would like to move to).

Transfer waiting list - 610 applicants (8 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 - 211 applicants (22 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 (Urgent medical)- 2 applicants (0 of which are on offer)
(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, 40 properties were allocated, 36 of which were general needs mainstream and 4 was sheltered.

They were let to the following queues:

  • 12 to the transfer queue
  • 4 to the general waiting list queue
  • 24 to the homeless priority queue

Key Achievements / Areas of Focus

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 large number of environmental public health complaints were received for investigation including two reports of noisy cockerels disturbing residents
  • The service assisted the local NHS Board to interview several residents who had confirmed infectious disease results which was largely associated with food and water consumption or foreign travel.  Further allegations of food poisoning were also investigated
  • EHO’s have been involved for regulatory oversight purposes in public entertainment licence applications including for upcoming local summer events
  • Monitoring visits at water bodies for the assessment of seasonal blue-green algae were undertaken in July
  • Two reportable accidents at local businesses were investigated by EHO’s
  • Delivery of decriminalised parking enforcement activity in relation to recently introduced parking restrictions across the authority relating to pavement, double and dropped kerb parking
  • Delivery of targeted ASB patrols and deployment of mobile CCTV, with particular emphasis on several areas in and around Bishopbriggs, in response to reports of youth disorder, graffiti and vandalism
  • Delivery of patrols specifically in response to complaints of dog fouling. No offences witnessed being committed but several dog walkers spoken to and reminded of their responsibilities as dog owners
  • Community Wardens carried out several drop-in public surgeries across the local authority area
  • 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
  • Submission of logs to the National Intelligence Database for Trading Standards with contribution to the wider national and cross authority picture
  • Delivery of Co-production work with Police Scotland across the local authority area on scam prevention
  • Completion of work with the Financial Ombudsman to secure a significant Authorised Push Payment refund for a vulnerable consumer
  • Completion of a Sanctions Referral to HMRC in connection with the supply of illicit tobacco from retail premises in the area.

Community Planning and Partnerships Team

  • Across priority neighbourhoods, community development staff continue to work alongside local people to establish sustainable community organisations and drive forward action on poverty and inequality

  • Delivery of the CLD Plan 2025–27 is progressing well, with actions tied to the Local Child Poverty Action Report continuing to reduce inequality and improve outcomes for families

  • Residents continue to benefit from good local access to health support, with community vaccination clinics running in partnership with NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, helping strengthen wider public health outcomes

  • Insight gained from the well-received International Women's Day programme is now shaping ongoing work on violence against women and girls, including early planning for future 16 Days of Action campaigns

  • Following engagement with stakeholders, partners and members of the Grant Advisory Committee, development of the new Community Grant Scheme is progressing, with feedback helping to shape the approach and ensure it reflects local needs and priorities

  • A programme of wellbeing-focused kitchen sessions for young tenants and families has helped build confidence, practical skills and stronger social connections, and the team is now exploring with third sector partners how this approach could be extended further.

Housing Services - Operations & Estates Team and Homelessness & Prevention Teams

  • There were 12 nominations 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 new Nominations Agreement
  • Ongoing regular attended 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
  • Housing continues to review processes and make changes to them where possible to allow for a more customer, person centred approach
  • 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
  • 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 keep abreast of costs. Weekly 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
  • Ensuring all ASB cases are actioned and investigated 
  • Ensuring turn-around times on void properties falls and offers are out with applicants on these properties
  • New Housing Support Tender awarded to Blue Triangle
    • July – August – existing support cases (18)
    • Mid August onwards – NEW referrals
  • 40 homeless applications taken (29% increase compared to last month; 31)
  • 8 households booked into temporary accommodation (reduced from last month)
  • 13 calls to homeless out of hours service (30% increase compared to last month; 10)
  • No households were booked into unsuitable accommodation during July 2026
  • 103 application requests to landlord registration (26% decrease from last month; 139)
    •  8 cancelled
    • 19 new
    • 26 renewals
    • 40 updates 

Customer Services & Organisational Development

Communications & Engagement

Key areas of focus in July for the Communications & Engagement team included the official reopening of Campsie Memorial Hall, the Climate Action Plan and online summer safety campaign.

Media relations overall was consistent this month with six releases issued (24 in June), seven photocalls, (four in June) and 17 media enquiries dealt with (18 in June).

All releases are on the Council website news section and the local coverage achieved equated to an equivalent advertising value of £9,740 (£6,860 in June).

Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn again all saw increases in followers with the most popular posts this month relating to the Civic Space in Bishopbriggs, Lennoxtown Main Street works and the BroCode event at Douglas Academy.

Across the Council’s four social media channels the average engagement rate was 1.5 (a good engagement rate is 0.5, anything above 1 is deemed great).

The Council website had 176,856 visits (excluding internal traffic). The most popular page was the Bin Collection tool with 29,870 views.

There were 4,279 call-to-action button clicks. 

The most watched video on Facebook was our visit East Dunbartonshire playparks this summer with 11,532 views. On YouTube it was the civic space in Bishopbriggs update with 289 views.

 

Corporate Performance

In July 2026, 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. 

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

The team have faced some challenges in July with complaints levels being at a record high leading to a slight backlog in processing times. Additionally the team have had difficulties in regard to fulfilling some elements of service specific reporting as resources have been prioritised to assist with the HCM/ Oracle fusion implementation.

Customer Services

Throughout July the Customer Service team handled a variety of enquiries and requests for service including 10,377 telephone calls, the team also served 182 appointments and 962 drop-in customers in the Community Hubs. This is a slight increase on the previous month. The Hub appointments were predominantly for Taxi Licensing, Blue Badge and National Entitlement Card applications as these often require an in-person visit to progress the application.  

Work has been completed in the final Sheltered Housing complex to have telecare equipment upgraded from analogue to digital. This ensures East Dunbartonshire Council is now ready for the digital switchover in January 2027. The Emergency Response Centre will continue to provide full support to both East and West Dunbartonshire Councils until the switchover has been concluded.

Human Resources & Organisational Development

The Human Resources & Organisational Teams lead on workforce centred activities including, policy development, resourcing, workforce and succession planning, 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.

Key Achievements / Areas of Focus

Communications & Engagement

  • Seven videos created and 60 design jobs completed overall
  • Co-ordination of the reopening of Campsie Memorial Hall with event organisation, liaising with partners and funders, design, script writing, social media and media release
  • Promotion of summer safety messages on social media including water safety, staying safe online and wildfire alerts
  • Supported EDLC’s Doors Open Day events with brochure, poster, leaflet and social media graphics design, media release and website updates
  • Progression of the Provost’s Community Champions Awards with winner presentations
  • 186 websites jobs completed including updates and creation of new pages.

Corporate Performance

  • Collation of Local Government Benchmarking Return for submission to the Improvement Service
  • Preparation of our annual performance guide for 26/27 outlining our requirements and dates for performance reporting for the rest of the financial year
  • Progression of the tender for the Council’s Insurance brokerage services
  • Training was delivered to Waste Services officers in relation to the handling of Complaints, this training will be rolled out across other teams throughout the year
  • Increased assistance was provided to the change team in relation to the rollout of Oracle Fusion
  • Progression of Management reporting of complaints for Q1 in a revised format including the development of a Power BI Dashboard view for Executive officers.

Customer Services

  • The customer services team continued to handle customer enquiries via all contact channels, with service quality and prompt response time key priorities
  • Essential work is completed in the final sheltered housing complex to install digital telecare equipment, ensuring we are now fully ready for the digital switchover.

Human Resources & Organisational Development

  • Continued engagement with the Trade Unions on strategic and operation HR initiatives, including service reviews and policy development

  • Continued support for employees and managers on HR policy based and guidance noted, with support in attendance on ER case work

  • 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

  • Preparatory work ahead of Teachers Pay Award and increments due in August

  • The HCM Project Board, continues to provide oversight and governance in support of moving to the new HR/Payroll system

  • Teams across HR and Payroll continue to undertake series of milestones and output required as part of the HCM project, whilst managing operational work

  • Due to the holiday period July is a much quieter month for the People Development team with 22 delegates receiving face to face training.

East Dunbartonshire Leisure and Culture Trust

Performance Indicators

EDLC had a total of 12,740 Gym Direct Debit Memberships, compared with a target of 14,198

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Leisure Centres

Huntershill Sports Hub has reopened to the; public after its extensive refurbishment over the summer. Both astro pitches and athletics area were subject to significant upgrades. 

Group fitness headcount has increased by nearly 4% over the same period the previous year. 

Cultural Services

Heritage & Arts

The  popular Wearing Japan kimono exhibition continued at the Auld Kirk Museum generating a further 1,421 visits during period 4. 

Archives & Local Studies received 1,256 visitors and 254 enquiries.  Archives and Local Studies Collections received 337 visits to outreach displays in libraries. 

The Lillie Art Gallery opened the 200 Years of the Royal Scottish Academy of Art exhibition, showcasing over 30 RSA artists’ works from the East Dunbartonshire Collections. The Young People’s Art Exhibition shared art works from talented young people who take part in the regular Saturday Smart Programme at the Lillie Art Gallery, Kilmardinny Arts Centre and the Auld Kirk Museum. 

The service received 5,523 virtual visits to online museum, archive and local studies collections.   

Libraries

The Summer Reading Challenge continued throughout the school Summer holidays.  The Children & Families team had visited every East Dunbartonshire primary school, in advance, to promote the challenge, which has resulted in participation increasing by 30% compared with last year.  

The service provided East Dunbartonshire Council with children’s books to support their Summer Snack and Play initiative.

Although many events and activities take a break over the Summer holiday period, loneliness doesn’t, so libraries continued the Together Times programme – social activities aimed at combatting loneliness.  These programmes can be a lifeline to some of the most vulnerable in our communities, and it was particularly rewarding for staff to receive a written Thank You from one of the regular customers. 

Active Schools & Community Sport

Community Sport Summer Programme

This summer 1400 children attend sports camps and lessons delivered by Community Sport. The most popular sessions were multi-sport camps, where 9 camps were delivered across the 3 leisure centres. Football and Gymnastics camps were also provided giving tasters of our term time programme. 
The aquatics programme was well attended with 410 children attending swimming crash courses through the summer.  Children of all abilities were supported across the 4 levels, with 4  young swimmers managing to progress though all 4 levels within the holiday!  We also delivered a number of swim disciplines, with 60 children attending a mini polo, water polo or artistic swimming taster in the Allander Leisure Centre.

New for 2026 was a partnership with Twechar Outdoor Centre where we lessons in paddle boarding. 16 young people took part over 2 sessions, and due to its success more session are planned for Easter and Summer 2027.

Athlete Performance Programme

APP taster sessions were delivered throughout the summer holidays, aimed the new intake of athletes who would join the programme at the start of term.  The sessions gave the young people an opportunity to meet the coaches, familiarise themselves with typical session and ask questions.

Mini-Fit Training

The Active Schools team recently organised and delivered a Mini-Fit training course in Milngavie, which was attended by 11 secondary school pupils from across East Dunbartonshire. The Mini-Fit course is designed to give participants the tools to go and deliver fun multi-sport activities to primary school aged children. Following the completion of the course, these pupils will now work with the Active Schools Coordinators to deliver extracurricular activity clubs within local schools in their cluster.

Dance Leaders Training

The Active Schools team organised and delivered an intensive four-day Dance Leaders training course for 18 pupils in S3 to S5, representing seven different secondary schools. This Leadership Scotland-accredited program was a great success, with participating pupils earning an official SCQF Level 4 qualification in Dance Leadership. Pupils are now required to deliver a 4-week block of dance in their local schools.

Summer of Sport Community Club Partnerships

Thanks to Summer of Sport funding, the Active Schools and Community Sport team facilitated the delivery of a diverse programme of free, targeted sport and physical activity sessions throughout the summer holidays. Working in partnership with seven local community sports clubs, the ASCS team successfully supported inclusive opportunities across a range of disciplines including dance, judo, rugby, and skiing. These activities were specially designed to engage targeted groups across the region specifically focusing on girls and young women, as well as children and young people with additional support needs.
The ASCS team also collaborated with the East Dunbartonshire Council House Project team and the Twechar Outdoor Pursuits Centre to offer targeted paddleboarding sessions to care-experienced young people with the feedback from participants really positive.

Education

Overview of Progress

The Service has made very good progress against priorities in the Business and Improvement Plan (BIP) 2026-2029. 

Key Areas of Focus and Achievement

  • Education Leadership Team completed the Education Service Standards and Quality Plan 2025 – 2026 which will be shared with schools and families in August 2026.  This shows the progress made by the Education Service and sets out next steps for Session 2026 – 2027 which are detailed in the Education Service Plan 2025 – 2028
  • All Primary School Improvement Plans were reviewed and analysed by the Primary Quality Improvement Officers (QIO) in preparation for feedback to Head Teachers in the new academic session. Key themes were identified to support Quality Assurance Group and Cluster Working
  • Most Early Years Centres Improvement plans have been received by the Early Years QIOs from both council and funded provider early years centres. The themes identified will support the delivery of the Quality Assurance Groups (QAG)
  • All Primary School Standard and Quality reports were quality assured by the primary team with a focus on school’s HGIOS 4 self-evaluations. Opportunities to further support schools on their journey of continuous improvement were identified for discussion with Head Teachers
  • Most Early Years Centres Standards and Quality Reports have been received by the Early Years QIOs and are under review for the start of the new session. We will continue to focus on self-evaluation for continuous Improvement alongside the Quality Improvement Framework for Early Learning and Childcare
  • To support data analysis and improvement in attainment, the Secondary Team have further developed the National qualifications results machine to identify attainment priorities. This provides schools with an in-depth analysis tool to support continuous improvement and improve outcomes for young people
  • The Learning and Teaching IMAGINE Group and Central Officers, have started planning Quality Assurance Group (QAG) sessions to support self-evaluation, enhance learning and teaching and promote continuous improvement within our Primary schools. 

School and Early Years Centre Awards and Achievements

Schools are closed for Summer hence no updates.

Sector Updates

Early Years, Primary, Secondary and Supporting Families

  • Preparation for the Provisionally Registered Teachers (PRTs) starting in August continued including ensuring completion of PVGs, General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS) registration and Church approval. The PRT Handbook was updated to support schools to meet the requirements of the Teacher Induction Scheme (TIS) due to the significant changes implemented by the GTCS, The Professional Learning calendar was finalised ready to be distributed to schools. The PRT Team used to support PRTs throughout the TIS year was updated with the required guidance and resources
  • The ADES Quad Leadership plan was finalised by the QIO who chairs this group in conjunction with colleagues in Aberdeenshire, Orkney and Perth and Kinross. Areas of agreed collaboration were:
    • Refine and extend existing professional learning opportunities to strengthen Aspiring Middle Leadership and Middle Leadership development
    • Refine and develop existing coaching and mentoring pathways for Middle and Senior Leaders
    • Review the current Professional Review and Development (PRD) processes across the QUAD
    • Collaborate to strengthen leadership sustainability through enhanced recruitment, retention and succession planning for Head Teachers.
  • The ADES QUAD on Quality Assurance & School Improvement met to share practice and approaches including Standards & Quality reporting. The EDC practice shared was well received and documentation will be shared across the group
  • A combined Early Years, Primary and Secondary Head Teacher Handbook was created based on the existing work of Early Years and Primary. The Handbook provides an overview of the Council’s Education Service and processes and procedures new Head Teachers should know and understand
  • The Education Services’ Professional Learning Calendar was finalised in preparation for the start of the new academic session. It provides a comprehensive programme of support for schools and Centres
  • The early years professional learning programme review for 2025-2026 showed how it engaged a wide reach of educators across various initiatives:
    • High-Capacity Networks & Events: The West Froebel Family engaged the largest audience with 400 practitioners across 4 twilight sessions, closely followed by the Early Level Conference with 300 participants across two sessions in a single day
    • Core Professional Learning: Up, Up and Away involved 60 practitioners (5 sessions plus a showcase), Early Level Play Pedagogy reached 50 practitioners per session (5 sessions plus play visits), and EYCAT Supporting Learners signed up 40 practitioners (3 sessions). Nurture in Early Years where almost all early years centre have now embedded the two pillars of nurture and nurture principles in practice. Importantly the Plan, Do, study, Act (PDSA) method is used to gather record, evaluate and implement change
    • Targeted & Specialised Training: Focused skill development included Leading Language (35 practitioners, 4 sessions), Songs, Rhymes and Stories (15 practitioners per session, 3 small group sessions), and the intensive Froebel Childhood Practice qualification (3 practitioners, yearlong)
  • Snack and Play took place over four weeks in Summer from five primary school hubs. This concludes the service for the academic year 2025/26, and evaluation demonstrates the service continues to have a positive impact on children and families. The service provided targeted support to 247 children from 178 families, with the majority meeting low-income eligibility criteria and a strong focus on inclusion with 89% experiencing additional support needs or vulnerabilities. Children reported enjoying opportunities to make friends, participate in activities and access healthy meals, while 93% of parents rated the service as highly valuable, citing benefits for family wellbeing, childcare and employment
  • Quality improvement work continues to positively impact the uptake of funded early learning and childcare places for eligible two-year-olds in East Dunbartonshire. Data for academic year 2025-26 shows that 68% of children identified by the Department for Work and Pensions had taken up a place by July 2026, exceeding the stretch aim of 60% and representing a significant increase from 55% in 2024-25. This sustained improvement demonstrates the effectiveness of targeted engagement and partnership working to reduce barriers to access. Increased uptake ensures that more children from low-income households can benefit from high-quality early learning experiences, supporting improved outcomes in learning, development, wellbeing and future attainment.

Additional Support Needs (ASN) and Children's Services

  • Lifelink have successfully tendered as School Counselling provider for East Dunbartonshire Council. Having delivered counselling and groupwork services for the past four years, Lifelink will continue with a similar suite of services from 1st August 2026 for two years, with the option of a further two-year extension thereafter. Services include universal 1:1 school-based counselling, groupwork and Holiday Support for pupils from 10 years of age. Schools will receive updates in the coming weeks and at the next Head Teacher meetings
  • The Whole Family Wellbeing Fund Team are continuing to offer support to families through the summer holidays. The summer programme has included outdoor education, cooking, football and trips out alongside regular drop-in sessions. This programme allows primary 7 pupils facing complex barriers to education the opportunity to develop friendships with people from different primaries prior to transition to secondary.  Young people have reported feeling more at ease, with one young person saying he feels proud of what he had achieved
  • The new Virtual Service Team has been recruited and will start work on piloting a service provision from August to October 26. The team will focus on improving pupil wellbeing and learner engagement with care experienced pupils and those with emotional based school non-attendance
  • The Playscheme held at Woodland View School took place over three weeks in July and provided much needed support and respite for the families of children with Additional Support Needs (ASN). Following a variation to the Care Inspectorate registration, the playscheme offer was extended to secondary pupils up to the age of 16.  62 primary pupils and 9 secondary pupils attended the service.  The Playscheme offered a wide range of tailored activities, including sensory play, outdoor games, music, arts and crafts, therapeutic experiences and access to soft play. Community based organisations supported additional activities including; Beat Buddies, Indepen-dance, Creative Spark and Operation Play Outdoors. Parental feedback so far has been positive with many highlighting the high-quality care and support from staff and how much their children enjoyed their experience. Playworker feedback so far indicates that they felt well supported in their role through the induction and training programme and ongoing support from leadership staff.   

Education Psychological Service (EPS)

  • Meta skills Professional Learning Community (PLC) programme has been planned for session 2026-2027. Meeting took place with Skills Development Scotland and QIO Early Years to discuss national perspectives on Meta Skills. End of session evaluation of Play Pedagogy programme completed.  
  • Currently, three professionals are in the process of completing their Level 4a and another three are undergoing their local supervisor training in New Vision on Relationships (NVR). Dates have been set for the PLC’s next session (meeting termly), and the strategic group have linked with NVR Innovations to schedule training for next session. This includes a Level 1 in April 2027, and a Level 2 in March 2027 which will also train professionals within the authority to Level 4a and 4b. 
  • Following presenting at the national conference, the EPS have linked with North and South Ayrshire EPS to share practice surrounding the implementation of NVR within each authority.
  • New tracking tool for Attendance has been launched by the Quality Improvement Manager for Secondary and Provision. A GLOW form has been issued to schools to gather feedback on support provided to date and inform planning for next year.

School Planning and Improvement

  • Final placing request appeals for on time placing requests and late performed.  Fuller details will be available in Education Committee Report.
  • Preparation for decant of Milngavie Early Years was performed for moving to Clober & Oakburn Early Year Centres for period of 1 year.
  • Milngavie Primary recant from St Nicholas and Torrance Primary near completed with successful hand over of Milngavie Primary back to the Council.
  • Balmuildy Primary continues to progress with the new build school and Early Years Centre.
  • Lenzie Academy replacement roof is complete for over the Art & Music wing.  Internal repairs complete within these classes, with the painting progressing to be completed for the pupil return in August.
  • Temporary decant of Colquhoun Park Early Years to the school building completed to allow for roof works to be undertaken.
  • Internal decoration of Clober Early Years is complete.
  • Torrance Primary School reinstallation of teaching kitchen complete after the Milngavie recant.
  • Hillhead Early Years outdoor play space remodelled with installation of hard standing along with new drainage system.

Skills for Life, Learning and Work

  • The Youth Services team delivered a Skills Pathway programme in early summer for young people who were sitting minimal exams and/or would benefit from opportunities to build skills and resilience. The programme included Construction Skills Certification Training, cookery, Minifit train the trainer and outdoor education. The programme has received positive feedback from young people and schools.

Finance & Digital Services

Performance Indicators

A total of £798,138.60 in rent Arrears - Active accounts, compared with a target of £848,365.86   The percentage of income from council tax due, received by the end of the year 28.06%, compared with a target of 28.2%   Housing Benefit - Average Days to fully process new claims 18, compared with a target of 22   Council Tax Reduction - Average Days to fully process new claims 19, compared with a target of 25

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Overview of Progress

Finance 

The month of July saw the Finance Team delivered the 2023/24 accounts. Work now begins on the accounts for 2024/25 and 2025/26.

The Finance Team are moving into a critical period of demands on the team.  Phase 2 of the ERP Fusion programme is progressing with HCM migration. The team continue to balance the resource demands across the service area to provide essential services and support projects. The team have initiated an internal training programme to address future demands as part of resource and succession planning.

The team has started year end period 10 reports which have been reviewed by committees. In addition, work has commenced on the year end position for 2025/26, whilst working on audits for 2024/25 and 2023/24.

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.  

Revenues & Benefits

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 37.04% is marginally behind the target of 37.22% for this point in the year. The number of accounts which pay over twelve months rather than ten has been steadily increasing over the past few years. This may be because of the cost-of-living issues and residents spreading the costs.   The Council’s Recovery and Enforcement Procedures continue to be applied, and individuals being signposted to the exemptions and discounts available as appropriate.

Shared Services

The Shared Services Team continues to provide support across all Council services.  The Letting Team have been significantly busier during this year’s annual letting due to the implementation of a new system for 26/27.  The Homecare Team continues to support an initiative from the Planning & Commissioning Team, processing variations in addition to their normal workload.  The Transport Team worked on the transport arrangements for 26/27 in preparation for the new academic year.  

ICT Services 

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 860 tickets in July and dealt with 192 telephone calls.   92.1% of respondents were happy with the service provided from ICT Support.  

ICT Infrastructure continues to support the delivery of major projects in conjunction with the Business & Digital Change Team and Major Assets team.    The team continues to review telephony services across the estate in preparation for the PSTN switch off.   The team continues to monitor the underlying infrastructure to ensure maximum performance.   The ICT Security team continues to monitor the estate and perimeter defences alongside ongoing improvements to ensure that our systems and data are protected. Patching compliance is at 87.5% for July. 

Housing Rent and Tenant Participation 

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. Active rent arrears of £965,408.23 are £1,437.38 lower than at the projected target of £96,845.71 (week 18) with the team committed to working with tenants to reduce arrears further.
 
The Tenant Participation Team continues to provide direct ongoing support to active Tenants and Residents Associations.

Business & Digital Change Team

During July 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.

Internal Audit 

Current focus is on recruiting into the vacant Lead Auditor post to support the new structure in with the shared Chief Internal Auditor post.  The Service Level Agreement has been signed, and work is ongoing with regards to IT arrangements and Data Protection Impact Assessments.

Work continues towards completion of several audits on the 2025/26 plan as the team provides assurance over key areas of risk, making recommendations and following up on these to improve the control environment.  Audits nearing completion include Green Waste Permits, a review of the Supply Teacher Database and a review of Winter Planning arrangements.  Recruitment into the Lead Auditor post will be key for ensuring timely completion of these audits.

Corporate Fraud 

The Corporate Fraud Team continues to prioritise the investigation of referrals and the proactive vetting of applications across key service areas, including Housing, Education, Licensing, and Estates. This work is essential to safeguarding access points and preventing fraud and error from entering council systems. The team has prioritised the vetting of school registration applications to ensure they are completed before the commencement of the 2026/27 academic year.

Preparatory work continues for a further National Fraud Initiative (NFI) data matching exercise.  Several datasets from various services will be required for submission to Audit Scotland in September.
In advance of this, it is essential that the team review the data holdings and ensure that any data to be shared is accurate and can be extracted in the required format.  A review is also required to ensure continued compliance with the NFI Data Matching Code of Practice. 

The Economic Crime and Transparency Act 2023 has, from 01 September 2025, introduced a new criminal offence applicable to public bodies who fail to prevent fraud by employees or agents.  The team have attended briefing sessions held by CIFAS on the measures required to be taken to ensure compliance.   A briefing document for SLT and fraud risk assessment templates have been developed and issued to SLT for consideration.

The team continues to experience challenges in obtaining information from certain external data holders, some of whom are now only able to disclose information under the provisions of the Investigatory Powers Act 2016. Consequently, a policy framework requires to be developed, and appropriate committee approval obtained to ensure that investigatory processes are not compromised and that all enquiries are conducted in full compliance with legislative requirements. This will enable the service to undertake all relevant lines of enquiry, regardless of whether they result in inculpatory or exculpatory evidence being identified.

Key Achievements/Areas of Focus

Finance 

  • Finalised 2023/24 Group accounts.  
  • 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 amid a challenging external recruitment market, the service is continuing to upskill existing staff where possible.  A practice of grow your own has begun and is hoped to be see benefits 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 June, the team issued:
    • 2,450 Council Tax bills and 4,950 Benefits notifications; and,
    • 235 crisis grants and community care grant applications were received.
  • The team received and dealt with 1,100 documents for Council Tax queries and reduction and 520 for benefits.  In addition, the team received 2,200 ATLAS notifications from DWP.
  • The team dealt with 2,440 telephone enquiries.

ICT Services 

  • ICT Services are working closely with the Business and Digital Change Team across several projects including HCM and Fusion.  
  • The Infrastructure Team have:
    • Relocated the ICT hub in Castlehill Primary allowing for additional teaching and learning space 
    • Supported the relocation of pupils back to Milngavie Primary school after the decant to Torrance and St Nicholas Primaries.
    • Continued preparations for the upgrading of the school servers.
    • 90% of PSTN lines have now migrated to Pre Digital lines for PSTN switch off
  •  ICT Security have:
    • Deployed the first round of patches to Education servers
    • Supported B&DC colleagues in disabling legacy Tunstall equipment after the move to Digital Alarms
    • Continued to review alerts/vulnerabilities and remediate.

Shared Services

  • The Residential Team added 87 service agreements to CareFirst for clients moving into care homes or for supported living services within their own homes.
  • The Homecare Team added 354 service agreements to CareFirst for clients receiving a homecare service or a direct payment
  • Direct Payment Audit Team – 20 standard audits completed for clients receiving self-direct support.  

Housing Rent and Tenant Participation

  • Active Tenant Rent Arrears were £965,408.23 and are slightly lower than the projected target for week 18
  • 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.

Business & Digital Change

  • During the reporting period, the Business Systems team successfully delivered 3 solution upgrades, resolved 17 incidents and provided support across 7 project areas helping to maintain and enhance key business services
  • Overall HCM project progress remains on track against the programme plan. Key achievements include completion of HCM Data Migration Iteration 5 and detailed planning for Data Migration Iteration 6. Security testing activities have commenced, and preparations are underway for the final User Acceptance Testing cycle.  MFA Phase 1 deployment testing has been completed, with identified technical issues currently being resolved prior to rollout
  • The analogue to digital transition has been completed with 100% of East Dunbartonshire's telecare residents now provided with a digital alarm system and connected peripherals
  • East Dunbartonshire has been recognised by COSLA and the Digital Office, being awarded with the Platinum level award for our work in digital telecare, their highest tier
  • The IHMS implementations team worked closely with Procurement and Legal colleagues to progress acceptance of Phase 1 of the integrated housing management system.
  • The IHMS team continues preparations for Phase 2, undertaking process mapping across multiple service areas, progressing the Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) for offshore support arrangement, facilitating technical discussions on Microsoft 365 integrations, and coordinating a series of housing workshops to support supplier solution design
  • Work continues on multiple replacement applications hosted on the new CRM platform including Community Letting System, Digital Grants and Mugdock Country Park
  • Some revision work has been completed on the Mavis Valley waste booking system, considering customer and service feedback
  • The team successfully recruited a new CareFirst Advisor, who commences their role next month.

Internal Audit 

  • The Team is working on the Internal Audit Plan, in line with available resources. There is a vacancy at the Lead Auditor level, with interviews being carried out in August
  • Advice continues to be provided by Internal Audit in line with the Internal Audit Charter to support the enhancement of governance arrangements, risk management and controls
  • Work on audits continues with audits such as Green Waste Permits, the Supply Teacher Database and Winter Planning Maintenance being near completion
  • Work has been completed in the form of a gap analysis & action plan for the new Global Internal Audit Standards.   

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 team also continues to undertake vetting on applications, from several services, to prevent fraud, error 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 require an update of the policy base to support action – specifically the creation of a Communications Data Policy
  • The team will also be focussing on the measures required to ensure compliance with The Economic Crime and Transparency Act 2023
  • The team will continue the preparatory work for the forthcoming 2026/2027 NFI Exercise and ensure we remain compliant with the Code of Data Matching Practice regarding the retention of personal information. 

Health and Social Care Partnership

Performance Indicators

TBC of customers (65+) met the target of 6 weeks from completion of community care assessment to service delivery, compared with a target of 95%     100% of individuals began a work placement within 7 working days of receiving a Community Payback Order, compared with a target of 80%     No child protection case conferences took place in july

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Overview of Progress

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 focus of this report with 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 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.

In July 2026, performance was above target for the one indicator with reportable data. No Child Protection Planning Meetings took place during the month, therefore performance could not be assessed for that indicator, and data for the community care assessment to service delivery measure was not available at the time of publication.

Key Achievements / Areas of Focus

Key Achievements:

The annual Care at Home customer survey reported very high levels of satisfaction, with 97.6% of respondents rating the service as Good, Very Good or Excellent and no Weak or Unsatisfactory ratings, reflecting the commitment of frontline care and support staff.

Areas of Focus:

HSCP Wide:

  • Deliver year two of the East Dunbartonshire Public Health Framework, including alignment to national priorities and a whole-systems approach to prevention
  • Embed the Empowering People and Communities service grouping through realignment of functions and development of an integrated workplan
  • Develop and implement a new Carers Strategy, aligned to national policy and supported by partnership working
  • Establish and expand the use of AI and digital tools to improve service efficiency and delivery, in line with the EDC AI Policy
  • Implement year one of the HSCP Digital Strategy to strengthen digital capability and service integration
  • Improve quality and relevance of information on HSCP webpages to enhance access, signposting and self-management
  • Implement year two actions of the HSCP Workforce Plan, including strengthened recruitment and increased apprenticeship opportunities
  • Promote and enhance staff wellbeing through increased awareness of support mechanisms, peer support and return-to-work arrangements.

Children’s Services:

  • Improve access to early intervention and prevention support for families at risk of or experiencing poverty
  • Progress self-evaluation activity to inform the national review and public inquiry on Group Based Child Sexual exploitation and Group based child criminal exploitation, with an agreed improvement plan led by Public Protection Chief Officers
  • Write the 2024-2026 report on The United Nations Convention on the Rights of The Child
  • Write the Integrated Children’s Services Plan 2026-2029.

Adult Services:

  • Review Care at Home services to strengthen reablement and optimise service delivery, staffing and leadership models
  • Conclude the Learning Disabilities Supported Accommodation review to support development of local Learning Disability provision
  • Implement Learning Disability review recommendations to reduce reliance on high-cost care packages through expansion of supported accommodation
  • Implement outcomes of the Clinical Service Review for CMHT and OPMH, including development of an integrated leadership model
  • Develop core and cluster accommodation models for individuals with complex and challenging needs, supported by increased local capacity
  • Progress commissioning of a centralised specialist service model for complex needs, supported by collaborative contracts and financial frameworks
  • Implement the East Dunbartonshire Frailty Hospital at Home within care homes and the community, including establishment of bed capacity and pathways
  • Implement the outcomes of the Adult Social Work Service Review, including reconfigured staffing models and modernised service delivery.

Land Planning and Development

Performance Indicators

Planning Applications receiving a letter confirming whether application is valid or invalid within 5 working days, is 65% compared with a target of 80%

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Overview of Progress

Land Planning & Development have progressed a number of significant work streams during July 2026 in line with the Business Improvement Plan commitments.  

Land Planning Policy

Following approval of a draft Greenspace Strategy at Place, Neighbourhood and Corporate Assets committee on 28 May 2026, officers have been preparing for public engagement on the draft strategy which will commence in early August.

Sustainability

  • Progress updates were requested from Executive Officers on implementing the CAP actions, a meeting was held to update the two CAP working groups, and the Climate Change Duties Report was prepared to be taken to a Climate Change Member Officer Group which has been scheduled for August
  • The first meetings of the Community Climate Change Forum and Youth Climate Change Forum were organised for August and promotion of the forums was undertaken with the Comms Team and Education Team respectively
  • The Transport Officers Group was convened to build on the detailed internal and external discussion on Draft ATS2 that was held throughout July. A Transport Working Group meeting has been scheduled for August.

GIS Team

  • GIS and Idox system are fully operational. Users can access GIS layers, maps, Uniform live/Enterprise, Unimap web, DMS, Stamper and Planning Application.
  • GIS Service & Error Reporting Action app continues to work well with service users utilising the software. The Team is currently supporting a range of projects across the Council to provide GIS technical support.
  • Street Naming and Numbering database is up to date and the team is continuing to act as first point of contact for all street naming and numbering queries and applications. The daily One Scotland Gazetteer Improvement service file is currently processing successfully with no data quality adjustments necessary.

Housing Strategy & Systems

  • The Housing Policy Team contributed to the Council’s Strategic Housing Investment Plan (SHIP) that supports housing development in East Dunbartonshire
  • Performance Monitoring officers completed validation of and submitted the Housing Statistical Annual Return (HSAR) to the Scottish Government’s More Homes Division
  • Systems IHMS are developing bespoke manuals to support Phase One deliverables
  • Strategic Estates contributed to the completion of upgrading the Council’s sheltered housing stock from analogue to digital community alarms that ensure a lifeline to its Emergency Response Centre.  

Business Support

  • Various business support and Business Gateway work streams ongoing. 

City Deal Team

  • Various work streams ongoing, with Bishopbriggs Civic Space and the Westerhill Development Road now on site. 

Regeneration & Town Centres Team

  • Various work streams ongoing, with work being undertaken to finalise designs for Lennoxtown Greenspace project, which is expected to go to site later in 2026. 

Traffic & Transport Team

  • Various work streams ongoing which includes procurement work for services to support the delivery of Capital Path and Active Travel projects over the coming financial year. 

Development Management:

  • During the reporting period the planning side of the team has determined 68 applications and validated 44 applications
  • The Building Standards team have received 85 building warrants and approved 70 applications
  • The Planning Enforcement team have opened 5 new cases and closed 6 cases.

Key Achievements / Areas of Focus

  • Progress on the draft Active Travel Strategy
  • Preparation for the Greenspace Strategy consultation.

Legal and Regulatory Services

Performance Indicators

100% of contract acceptances were completed within: 7 days of full instructions, compared with a target of 100%   96% of Taxi licence applications were approved or refused by Legal Services within. 5 days of receipt of the complete application, compared with a target of 100%   100% of Housing Improvement and Repairs Grants Processed and authorised within 7 days of receiving full instructions compared with a target of 90%

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Democratic Services

Throughout July, the Democratic Services Team continued to support the internal governance of the Council, in addition to certain regulatory functions.  Four governance meetings took place during July.  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 Primary and Secondary Schools Registration process, the Team continued to deal with mid-term applications and appeals for placing requests in relation to the 2026/2027 during July.6. 

Meetings and other preparations have commenced for the Scottish Local Government Elections in 2027, both locally and nationally.  This work involves winding up the current Council, putting in place all of the necessary arrangements for the election including an electronic count, and preparing for the new Council.  Members will be aware that the Scottish local Government Elections comprise an electronic count.  A new contactor has been appointed by the Scottish Government, and the Team has already attended a number of events in preparation for the electronic count.

The Team continues to support Children’s Hearings Scotland as part of the North Strathclyde Area Support Team.  Ongoing support was also provided to Community Councils and are processing the Community Councils annual grants.  The Team also continues to participate in local and national resilience partnership meetings and training exercises.

The Council continued to deliver registration services in July and supported colleagues in neighbouring authorities.  In addition, the service continued to engage with partners across Greater Glasgow as part of ongoing resilience planning for potential incidents which may impact on demand for services, in relation to both storage and registration in the event of a mass casualty event or periods of excess deaths.

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 86 birth and 168 death registrations in July.  39 marriages and 1 civil partnership was also registered in this period.  
  • There were 16 new citizens welcomed in Citizenship Ceremonies held during July.
  • 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 and processed 159 FOI/EIRs, 3 internal review requests and 26 SARs (Subject Access Requests).  

Legal Services

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 July is 100% apart from taxi licences when one application was processed two days late.

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 July, the Team processed 12 contract review forms and 5 contract award letters, and 2 open market purchase offers.  In addition, 25 taxi licence applications processed, and 9 housing repair grants were processed.  All were processed within the timescales apart from one taxi application which was processed two days late.  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 including completion of land agreement with Scottish Prison Service for the Westerhill Development Road and continues to provide support on construction phase of ongoing City Deal projects.
    Property and planning work included supporting agreement of licences to facilitate archaeological investigations for the A807 project and new leases for commercial units at Donaldson Crescent, Kirkintilloch and Springfield Works, Bishopbriggs
  • Contracts and procurement work in this period included ongoing support for AHIP2 project, contracts awarded for Carefirst Support & Maintenance, blacksmith services, the Council’s Wide Area network, Data Centre Cooling and power equipment, and Forensic Energy Audit review; agreeing Data Sharing Agreement for STEMspace and reviewing terms and conditions for Energy Performance Certificate Generation
  • The Litigation and Licensing Team continued to provide support to Social Work in relation to adults with incapacity and permanence planning and to Education on a variety of matters including a significant number of cases in the Additional Support Needs Tribunal.  The team supported the placing request appeals this month including providing training to the panel.  The team resolved employment tribunal claims for the Leisure Trust and the Council.  The Team continues to provide advice on a wide range of confidential matters including employment advice and support the Housing Service
  • Members of the Team also continued with its support in relation to an ongoing appeal hearing before the Non-Domestic Rates Board in addition to other Committee work including making the East Dunbartonshire Council (Designated Disabled Persons’ Parking Places and Amendments) Order 2026 and publishing the statutory notice that the Council proposals to create a taxi stance in Bishopbriggs.

Procurement

During July, the Procurement Service continued to support other 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, Key System renewals and upgrades, 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 continues to place a significant demand on the resources of the Team.  In addition to the above, the Team is now finalising testing and training/support documentation 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 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 June 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.

The Team was also heavily involved with multiple Capital programme requirements, system software renewals, Grant funded projects, Council Building planned maintenance, Transport Contracts  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 Redwood upgrade , Fusion HCM Phase 2, IHMS, Westerhill Development Road, Capital projects such as school estate, Professional Fees, Itrent extension options, Oracle Support updates, school new build contracts, and general budget projects such as school maintenance works, Systems Support whilst supporting workforce of the future planning and Business as Usual workstreams
  • Participation in extensive meetings and workshops to train, test, reconcile 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
  • Commenced preparation for the 2025-2026 Annual Procurement Report to include alignments with organisational Climate Action Planning, Circular Economy Strategy, Community Wealth Building & the City Region Community Wish List planning
  • Support to Commissioning team to co-ordinate papering and progressing contractual opportunities around un-commissioned spend and ongoing HSCP service reviews
  • Commenced workstream for replacement of 67 new vehicles for Fleet at a value of £3.5million
  • Submitted 2025-2026 Financial information for review prior to publication on the Scottish Government Observatory for spend profiling
  • Processing invoices, 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 for spend in excess of £16,500
  • Ongoing work on the review of Contract Standing Orders for alignment with organisational changes, financial management and Procurement governance for reporting to Council in December 2026
  • Continued Fusion Redwood upgrade actions and communications in alignment with the quarterly Oracle schedules, 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
  • Identification and management of further Fusion electronic feeder payment files for electronic processing
  • Review of resourcing considerations to support Project workload and business as usual priorities
  • Commencement of Contract Supplier Management trial within two operational service areas.  Associated document and process developments, alongside training and support with initial supplier meetings for the services involved.

Strategic Commissioning

Throughout July, the Strategic Commissioning team continued to support the progression of the HSCP’s Transformation and Budget programme, whilst leading the commissioned market daily, intervening if/where necessary to support sustainability and/or other related pressures.    

Key Achievements / Areas of Focus

  • •    Advanced commissioning arrangements to support an individual transition from hospital to a bespoke community-based setting.  The complex planning involves a comprehensive and multi-disciplinary approach grounded in a person centred / values-based approach. 

  •  

     Aligned to national policy, finalised implementation of Scottish Living Wage uplifts for Adult and Children’s services

     

  • Continued to play an integral role in supporting and progressing several key review workstreams relating to commissioned and in-house services and provided added value via the provision of technical commissioning, project management and budget management expertise.   

     

  • Continued to support and progress transitional planning arrangements for 2026/2027 which includes working with individuals and their families to identify and secure permanent and appropriate adult placements – within the local area if /where possible

     

  • Working collaboratively with children and families’ providers to explore alternative commissioning arrangements that deliver more flexible, innovative and value for money services /models 

     

  • Continued to monitor and report on financial frameworks underpinning strategic reviews to ensure accuracy, alignment with the HSCP’s medium term financial plan and respective commissioning delivery plans

     

  • Contributed to and supported progression of multi-agency collaborative inpatient redesign approaches geared towards alleviating acute and community pressures

     

  • Informed the early development of an Accommodation with Support Strategy and next steps.  The Strategy, which sets out the vision for accommodation with support for people with learning disabilities, is aligned with national policy and will be developed in collaboration with key stakeholders including providers and registered social landlords

     

  • The team continued to play  a central role in leading and supporting the HSCP with the operational and business / commercial aspects of commissioned services, ensuring effective delivery and governance.

Roads and Neighbourhood Services

Performance Indicators

91.7% of responsive road repairs completed within timescales compared with a target of 85%   89,182 visitors to Mugdock Country Park compared with a target of 48,000   73% of special uplifts were completed within 10 working days compared with a target of 90%   99% of all streetlight repairs completed within 7 days compared to a target of 80%   Fleet utilisation was 97.2% compared with a target of 80%

Click image to enlarge

Overview of Progress

The Roads and Neighbourhood Service continue 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.

Key Achievements / Areas of Focus

Health & Safety

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 and support for services when requesting statistics under Freedom of Information requests as well as personal injury claims incident reports.  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 EDLCT, 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 the Education service, Estates & Facilities and HSCP.  

The H&S Team worked collaboratively with EDLCT and Trade Union colleagues to undertake inspections of a number of buildings including libraries and halls, to ensure that appropriate standards are maintained.  A full inspection of Kirkintilloch Leisure Centre was also undertaken.

The H&S Team have been involved in developing and delivering of training including manual handling and the induction training programme.

The H&S Team were present at 3rd Tier (service level) meetings for Property Maintenance, Facilities Management, Roads, Streetscene, Fleet and Waste.  

Workplace assessments and individual risk assessments, in collaboration with HR colleagues, continue to be reviewed and assessed, as well as continuing to review First Aid Needs Assessments with HR People Development.  Display Screen Equipment assessments continue to be reviewed alongside line managers.

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.  Specific site visits during this period include Milngavie Primary School, Balmuildy Primary School, Colquhoun Park Pavillion, Gartconner Primary School and Trial Pit Site Investigation Works at Auchinarin.  

The team continue to work with Shared Services and HR to reinstate the health surveillance programme.

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, assess fire documentation where required and support with personal emergency evacuation plans, offering expert advice.
Fire Safety training has also been delivered by the team including fire extinguisher training and fire safety awareness training.

The team continue to promote reporting of health and safety incidents and near misses throughout the council and log these accordingly, liaising with managers and the HSE where appropriate.

Roads Network Operations Teams (including Street Lighting)

Carriageway & Footway Defects (July 2026)

Between 1 to 30 July 2026, 311 defects were identified across East Dunbartonshire. Of these, 199 repairs were completed within SLA (64 %), 18 were late (5.8 %), and 94 (30.2 %) remain outstanding but are still within SLA. 

Road Works Delivery (July 2026)

A wide programme of carriageway and footway works was delivered, predominantly minor excavation repairs addressing surface defects and potholes across Lenzie, Kirkintilloch, Bearsden, Bishopbriggs, and surrounding areas. Other works included drainage upgrades, gully repairs, lining works, and installation of new traffic signals. The majority of projects were completed on schedule as advised on technical notes. 

Technical Notes 2026, Issue 70 - Roads & Neighbourhood Services 2026/27 Carriageway and Footway Resurfacing Programme - East Dunbartonshire Council

Gully Cleaning Performance (July 2026)

A total of 22,011 gullies is maintained across the network. Between 1 April 2026 and 31 July 2026, 8,466 gullies were cleaned (39.5 %). This includes 5,045 of 6,372 gullies on primary routes (79.2 %) and 3,3340 of 13,991 on secondary routes (23.9%). This reflects strong delivery in drainage maintenance and contributes to reducing flood risk.

Safety Inspections (July 2026)

A total of 16 scheduled safety inspections were completed, all within required inspection intervals. 

Winter Maintenance (July 2026)

No Action. 

Streetlighting 

Capital LED replacement programme is ongoing.

Roads Technical & Engineering Teams 

Traffic 

  • The coordination of the 20mph TRO in Bishopbriggs roll out is ongoing.

Structures

  • Structures 3-year civils framework contract awarded
  • All structure inspections continue as per work plan.

Drainage

  • Roman Road Car Park – repairs to carrier pipes commenced.

Streetscene, Greenspace & Mugdock Country Park Teams 

Streetscene Operations

  • Summer cyclical works ongoing
  • Street cleansing and mechanical sweeping; removal of fly posting and uplifting of fly tipping, mechanical street sweeping
  • Graffiti removal
  • Ongoing cemetery operations, digging and carrying out interments, installing headstone foundations
  • Checking and clearance of culverts
  • Play Park inspection 
  • Education and Leisure Trust pitch maintenance ongoing; School sports marking.

Streetscene Technical Support

  • Play Areas – annual external safety inspection - order raised - due to be undertaken in Sept this year
  • Merkland Play Area – contractor appointed to remove all equipment as per Technical Note – now complete – consultation to begin re opportunities in area
  • Twechar Pump Track – construction has commenced – anticipated completion late August 26
  • Twechar Healthy Living Centre – several pieces of equipment updated/added – reviewing other opportunities
  • Briefs for Play Areas at Lennox Park (Gym/Fitness), Lennox Crescent (replacement equipment), Langfaulds Park (refurb play area), High Park (refurb play area) Milton of Campsie (Gym/Fitness) – all now with procurement
  • Cemetery Management Rules – Scottish Govt regs now being finalised and implemented prior to March 2026 – EDC rules will now be updated for submission to committee - date to be confirmed
  • Headstones/Memorials Inspection – inspections complete at Campsie Cemetery and New Kilpatrick Churchyard – make safe progressing at Campsie and thereafter to New Kilpatrick. Inspections ongoing in Cadder Cemetery
  • Cadder Cemetery Extension – Planning application submitted – likely date for determination Autumn 26
  • Langfaulds Cemetery - consultants working to finalise design works for next phase
  • Ash Dieback - committee report approved by full Council - recommendations to be progressed from report with subgroup now set up
  • Lenzie Moss – various works progressing across the site – dam works, access management, dead hedging etc – this will continue into the late spring/early summer – now complete
  • Nature Restoration Fund – funding now confirmed for 26/27 – programme to be drawn up re spend  
  • Management Plans – Lenzie Moss, Whitefield Pond, Cairnhill Woods and Heather Avenue – 1st year actions largely complete – now progressing to 2nd year actions
  • Bishopbriggs Park Management Plan – now in draft will be shared with community groups at an in-person meeting in September
  • TCV Partnership – environmental improvement works are progressing on the John Muir Way - 3-year programme in total – 2nd year ongoing
  • Clyde Valley Green Network – liaison re EDC Wetland Strategy
  • Glazert Project – team input into overall project re trees and biodiversity aspects – planning consent and construction both approved

Mugdock Country Park

  • 89,182 visitors 
  • 8 volunteer days (40hrs) with a total of 74 volunteers
  • 13 different pre-booked events and in total 262 people attended. 

Roads Technical & Engineering Teams 

Traffic 

  • 20s plenty signs overlayed with 20mph signs in Bearsden
  • 20mph part-time flashing signs overlayed with children crossing signs in Bearsden
  • Installation of cycle warning signs on approach to Lennoxtown at Strathkelvin Railway path
  • TTRO for Kessington Road, Rannoch Drive etc, Bearsden – valid Monday 4 May 2026 to Wednesday 3 November 2027
  • TTRO for Westergreens Avenue, Kirkintilloch – valid Monday 15 June 2026 to Tuesday 14 December 2027
  • TTRO for Freeland Place, Kirkintilloch – valid Monday 29 June 2026 to Tuesday 28 December 2027
  • TTRO for Keystone Avenue, Milngavie – valid Monday 29 June 2026 to Tuesday 28 December 2027.

Structures

  • Structures 3-year civils framework contract awarded.

Drainage

  • Stirling Drive, Bearsden - root cutting completed.

Waste Services

Waste Services collect over 400,000 assorted household bins monthly, providing collections for residual, recycling, food, garden and special waste collections. The team also manage the waste and recycling collections from over 400 of our local businesses and provide recycling disposal provision at the Mavis Valley Recycling Centre.

•    The team are continuing with supporting the implementation of the commercial route review.  There has been a focus around optimising the routes, ensuring all contracted agreements are adhered to and creating new procedures.  Waste Services Officers have been working closely with our customers, have been present on the collection vehicles during July, and have been assisting the frontline crews with contractual agreements.

  • The Waste Technical and Compliance Team dealt with 119 Corporate Complaints in July
  • The Waste Technical and Compliance Team dealt with 1146 general enquiries in July
  • The Mavis Valley Household Waste Recycling Centre received 17,453 bookings
  • The Technical Team visited Norwood Park to meet with residents and factors to redevelop the area to enhance the waste and recycling proficiency for the residents
  • The team have been planning for Christmas service delivery, meeting with our residual waste contractor, along with Clyde Valley partners to ensure a joined-up approach to avoid disruption
  • Monthly meeting took place with our Zero Waste Scotland Officer to discuss pending changes to waste legislation, including the UK Emission Trading Scheme and proposed changes within the new pending Code of Practice.

Waste Services

Waste services statistics
Service May June July

Volume of household general waste throughput for recycling pre-sort, and then ongoing production of energy from waste.

1716.10

1659.74

1637.03

Garden Waste Kerbside Collection material collected for composting.

927.82

1014.76

1005.70

Number of Garden Permits Purchased

1890

1061

664

Kerbside Food waste collected

232.47

249.94

215.48

Kerbside Mixed recycling in the brown kerbside bin

403.08

458.24

402.18

Kerbside Paper recycling in the blue bin

295.44

279.74

279.64

Mavis Valley HWRC General Waste Deposited by the Public for ongoing energy from waste treatment.

859.46

887.42

1004.32

Fleet Services

  • Between 1st to 31st July 2026, the team inspected and repaired 210 vehicles and items of plant, all in accordance with our servicing schedules and defect procedures. 
  • We are currently awaiting delivery of several new vehicles and plant assets to replace older equipment as part of our scheduled fleet replacement programme.
  • We continue to support Council services by delivering ASN transport and distributing essential supplies to vulnerable residents, including meals for early years facilities and lunch clubs.
  • Work is progressing on managing the capital programme for fleet asset replacements throughout the financial year.
  • We are actively identifying and evaluating suitable council sites for EV charger installations. This infrastructure planning is a critical step in enabling the replacement of our internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles with electric alternatives.
  • We are maintaining our CPC training schedule to ensure all relevant drivers meet their requirements before the deadline. Furthermore, we continue to manage our fleet operations in full compliance with operator licensing legislation, maintaining a 'Green' DVSA Operator Compliance Risk Score for both Traffic and Compliance.
  • Our in-house maintenance team continues to support front-line operations, covering everything from standard vehicle repairs to the upkeep of horticultural and construction plant equipment.
  • We are currently in the process of replacing our Fleet Management and Telematics and Camera systems.
  • We have implemented a data-led approach to fleet management, evidenced by our recent utilisation report. By using telematics data to identify under-utilised assets, we can refine our vehicle replacement programme, ensuring resources are focused on high-demand service areas while driving down the overall fleet size. 
  • We are actively monitoring external hires.
  • Fleet have developed a new driving at work and fleet management policy.
  • Recent recruitment exercises have been successfully carried out, and the workshop staff is now fully staffed.