How Good is Our Service - June 2026

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Service performance in returning void properties to the housing stock performance has deteriorated significantly in June to 27% and is well below or 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 are progressing well with these and are close to the point of returning these properties.

operational changes have been made within the service, 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 June with 441 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 10.52 days and is ahead of 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.

A new school 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.

The free school meal uptake in the Primary School’s was down slightly from May at 66.5%, however this would likely have been more if it hadn’t had been for the school trips which likely brought the uptake down by 2 or 3%. The uptake in Secondary Schools was lower than normal at 43.5%, again, the uptake was impacted by school exam leave, with pupils in 4th, 5th and 6th Year having study leave. The service continues to work with suppliers to source locally produced produce, with 52% of the school menus now using locally sourced produce.

Thirteen of the first fifteen new mechanised crossing points have now been installed with school crossing patrollers previously located at 4 of the 13 locations now relocated to alternative locations. 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 in March a number of applications were received with one new school crossing patroller now in post at Millersneuk Primary School with a further 3 more interviews undertaken.

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 is progressing the recruitment of 900+ weekly cleaning hours across the East, West and Central locations. Over 750 hours have now been filled with further interviews scheduled following a very successful recruitment open day at Auchinairn Community and Early Years Centre.

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 in, 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 are progressing at Clober PS following issues with the floor which had started to rise in one of the corridors. Engagement is taking place with Education to minimise any inconvenience. Work has also started at Bearsden PS Canteen with the erection of scaffolding to allow for roof repairs to the rear pitch of the roof.

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. The closing date for offers for of Lenzie Public Hall was Friday 30th January 2026. Two applications for Community Asset Transfers were received and are being progressed in line with the Council’s CAT Policy.
 
Officers continue to progress disposals with colleagues in Legal Services to ensure that capital receipts are delivered and ongoing liabilities i.e. non-domestic rates, utilities, security etc are reduced.

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

Projects currently in construction include: 

• The Westerhill Development Road project, where early construction phase are now progressing
• The refurbishment of Milngavie Primary School (completion July 2026) is now substantially 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 are planned for the summer holiday period in July 2026
• Pitch replacement at Huntershill Sports Hub commenced in May 2026 and is due to complete for the start of the new football season in August 2026
• At Twechar Canalside, the construction of 15no. affordable Passivhaus houses continues to make good progress and continues to be on schedule for completion in September 2026
• The refurbishment of Torrance Community Centre has now completed and the building was successfully re-opened to the public in May 2026.

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
• Council approved the Stage 2 report for the Milngavie Early Years project in June 2026, with contractor mobilisation now underway and decant arrangements for staff and pupils also in progress
• Feasibility design continues to progress in support of the Accommodation Strategy and for proposals to introduce all-weather sports provision and upgraded changing pavilions at Oakburn Park, Milngavie, where an initial public consultation event on proposals for Oakburn was undertaken in early June 2026. Council also approved a Report recommending that detailed proposals for the project are developed on the basis of an all-weather pitch being installed on the existing blaes pitch alongside a new changing pavilion also located within the Park area. Options for car parking both on and off-site are now under review
• 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
• 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.

• 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 forwar
• 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 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 July and August
• Improve uptake of nutritious school meals
• Improve communications with customers and stakeholders to ensure the highest level of service delivery
• Reduce FM overtime.

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The Community Protection Service delivers on a broad statutory remit, with delivery measures centred on protecting public health and safety, well-being and consumer protection. During June 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. The work included both proactive work such as routine inspections for food safety and reactive responses to numerous environmental public health complaints and service requests.

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 new 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 June Trading Standards, carried out compliance checks on precious metal dealers as part of a regional project looking at buyers and sellers of gold. Trading Standards enhanced scam prevention measures by installing call blocking devices in homes of vulnerable consumers. Licensing Advisors carried out joint visits with Police Scotland to on-sales premises in the evenings and responded to enquiries and business advice requests arising from the FIFA World Cup provisions around trading hours and conditions. Trading Standards continued to promote the Trusted Trader scheme to provide a valuable resource for consumers and a platform for trustworthy local businesses. Trading Standards Officers responded to product safety enquires notably in relation to children’s soft toys and play sand subject to national recalls regarding the presence of asbestos.

Access to health support remains strong, with the community vaccination programme continuing to run weekly clinics in Milngavie and Kirkintilloch alongside NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, giving residents convenient local access to this service.

Workforce development within CLD also continues to build momentum. Following a well-received practitioner session at the West Alliance Learning Festival, which supported reflective practice and shared learning across teams, plans are progressing for further joint sessions in partnership with the Centre for Good Relations.

Building on the wellbeing-focused kitchen sessions already delivered to young tenants and families, which have helped grow confidence, practical skills and social connections, the team continue to progress discussion with third sector partners about extending this model further and reaching more households.

Support for families and people new to the area continues to expand. The Resettlement Team has widened its programme of welcome and connection activity for asylum seekers, helping newcomers understand what local support is available and build stronger ties within their communities. This sits alongside ongoing work with Ukrainian households and other families arriving through humanitarian routes, and continued close partnership with East Dunbartonshire Welcomes Refugees.

Planning for the new Community Grant Scheme is moving forward following the Council's budget decisions. With £100,000 allocated, officers are working through the detail with the Grant Advisory Committee and partners, so the scheme reflects local priorities, ahead of the proposal going to the Community Planning Executive Group and Community Planning Partnership Board for sign-off.

Community control over local buildings and spaces is also progressing, with Asset Management and Legal Services continuing to work together to support Community Asset Transfer applications and give communities a stronger say over the assets that matter to them.

In priority neighbourhoods, community development staff continue to work directly with local people to establish sustainable community organisations and drive forward action on poverty and inequality, practical, on-the-ground work that complements the wider strategic picture.

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

Momentum from March's successful International Women's Day programme is now feeding into further work on women's safety, with the Violence Against Women and Girls Partnership using the learning to shape planning for the upcoming 16 Days of Action campaign, alongside continued work on women's brain health in Auchinairn.

Equalities work is being embedded more deeply across services, with preparation continuing for the first Equality Action Planning Forum, intended to bring greater coordination to how equality outcomes are delivered.

Housing manages 3,911 social rented properties; 3,823 of these are mainstream accommodation and 88 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 3,577 applications - made up of the following:

General Waiting list 2,734 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 231 applicants (18 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)

(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, 19 properties were allocated, 18 of which were general needs mainstream and 1 was sheltered.

They were let to the following queues:

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

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 takeaway in Milngavie closed voluntarily following an inspection from an Environmental Health Officer due to the unsatisfactory hygiene standard of the premises including no hot running water at the wash hand basin, a lack of cleanliness and absence of cross contamination controls
• The Good Food Nation coordination group had their second meeting and agreed steps to move the plan forward
• Notices were served on several abandoned vehicles requiring removal of the vehicles
• Officers held Elementary Food Hygiene training for 20 EDC employees including those working in catering in schools/nurseries and in the care sector
• Officers attended weekend community events to conduct trader food and safety checks
• The Scottish Government returned confirmation of funding support for the authority’s air quality monitoring network in 2026/27
• A representative attended Food Standard Scotland’s SAFER technical group in Dundee with a cohort of other local authority food safety colleagues
• Delivery of parking enforcement activity to support the traffic free schools’ pilot and all other school areas
• Delivery of decriminalised parking enforcement activity in relation to recently introduced parking restrictions across the authority relating to pavement, double and dropped kerb parking
• On-going Community Warden activity under the MCR Pathways national programme, with several officers actively mentoring local school children
• 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
• 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
• Licensing Advisors carried out co-production visits with Police Scotland to on-sales premises
• Submission of logs to the National Intelligence Database for Trading Standards with contribution to the wider national and cross authority picture
• Project work delivered in relation to precious metal dealers, toy safety, doorstep crime and scam awareness
• Engagement in the ongoing product safety recalls in relation to children’s toys and asbestos.

Community Planning and Partnerships Team

• 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
• 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 recent budget decisions, discussions are underway with stakeholders, partners and Grant Advisory Committee members to shape the new Community Grant Scheme, with proposals due to be brought to the Community Planning Executive Group and Board
• 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 14 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 improve void turnover, - liaising with Property Maintenance to streamline this process
• Ensuring all ASB cases are actioned 
• 31 homeless applications taken (35% increase compared to last month; 23)
• 16 households booked into temporary accommodation (same as last month)
• 10 calls to homeless out of hours service (61% decrease compared to last month; 26)
• No households were booked into unsuitable accommodation during June 2026 
• Following comprehensive tender process Housing Support will be provided by the Blue Triangle from 22 July 2026 onwards 
• P101 New brunch drop in cooking/lessons at Hillhead are going very well
• 139 application requests to landlord registration (decrease from last month; 155)
  • 13 cancelled
  • 22 new
  • 49 renewals
  • 55 updates. 

Key areas of focus in June for the Communications & Engagement team included the official opening of Mugdock Park’s new playpark, Early Years and Out of School Care Consultation and Bishopbriggs Civic Space signage.

Media relations increased this month with 24 releases issued (10 in May), four photocalls, (two in May) and 18 media enquiries dealt with (8 in May).

All releases are on the news section and the local coverage achieved equated to an equivalent advertising value of £6,860 (£3,672 in May).

Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn again all saw increases in followers with the most popular posts this month relating to Mugdock’s new playpark, Westerton Primary being awarded Gold by UNICEF’s UK’s Rights Respecting School programme and a sneak peak of the new pump track in Twechar.

Across the Council’s four social media channels the average engagement rate was 1.6 (a good engagement rate is 0.5, anything above 1 is deemed great).

The Council website had 176,182 visits (excluding internal traffic). The most popular page was the Bin Collection tool with 27,106 views.

There were 5,062 call-to-action button clicks. 

The most watched video on Facebook was the opening of Mugdock Park’s new playpark with 54,042 views and on YouTube it was the Meeting of the Council on 25 June 2026 with 127 views.

Six videos were created this month with 47 design jobs completed overall.

In June 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.

Throughout June the Customer Service team handled a variety of enquiries and requests for service including 9687 telephone calls, the team also served 199 appointments and 895 drop-in customers in the Community Hubs. This is broadly similar the previous month. 

The month was very much routine for the customer service team with the key focus continuing to be on enquiry response times. 

Preparations continued throughout June for the replacement of analogue telecare equipment in the final Sheltered Housing scheme to undergo this work ahead of the digital switchover in 2027. This group of sheltered housing properties is the most technically challenging of all the sites and the Emergency Response Centre team will carry out all required tasks before the work begins in July. It is anticipated it will take approximately two weeks to complete the installation of digital equipment.

The programme to replace the Town Centre CCTV system progressed across June, this will continue for a further few weeks until all cameras and equipment have been replaced. 

The Human Resources & Organisational Teams lead on workforce centred activities including, policy development, resourcing, workforce and succession plannning, workforce analytics, people development, Job Evaluation, attendance and wellbeing improvement as well as providing strategic and operational employee relations support including case management and partnership working.

Communications & Engagement

• Co-ordination of Armed Forces Day commemoration with photocall, unveiling of flag, social media, media release and website updates
• Promotion of Oakburn Park engagement events including social media, graphics, website updates, display boards and media release
• Creation of EDLC Strategy storymap including various assets such as video and infographics
• Ongoing promotion of the Provost’s Community Champions Awards as well as judging, notifying and announcing the winners
• Delivered additional communications support for the Bishopbriggs Civic Space project including webpage updates, including extensive FAQs, drafting and designing fencing banners, information panels for local venues and leaflets for businesses
• 213 websites jobs completed including updates and creation of new pages.

Corporate Performance

• Business & Improvement Plans for 2026-29 were approved at the June Meeting of Council
• Our annual complaints handling report was reported to the June meeting of Council
• Work progressed in the analysis and submission of year-end reporting and statutory data returns following the end of the 2025/2026 financial year with supplementary guidance prepared for our annual Local Government Benchmarking return
• Child Poverty Statistics for the area were prepared for the CLD Child Poverty Working Group to inform the revised Child Poverty Strategy
• Continued assistance was provided to the change team in relation to the rollout of Oracle Fusion.

Customer Services

• The Customer Service team continue to handle customer enquiries via all contact channels focussing on improving enquiry response time
• Work continues to replace analogue telecare equipment in the final sheltered housing complex; this is a more technically challenging site and work is anticipated to be undertaken in July ensuring East Dunbartonshire Council are ready ahead of 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, with the Retirement, Family Friendly, and Gender and Relationship Based Violence policies all approved at committee
• 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
• 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
• The People Development team delivered sessions across a number of topics including SMART Working, Induction, EDC policy sessions & Leadership Topics
• Continued support by team in the facilitation of statutory training in a number of services areas to ensure continued compliance and certification
• In June, 144 delegates received training across a range of topics.

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The Allander Leisure Centre installed protective netting to prevent bird fouling on the Southeast roof section. The roof area was cleaned, and plant technicians have restored safe access to air handling units that serve the gym, main hall and studios.

Overall headcount for the Centre was down by 454 (61,160 vs 61,614 25/26) however the 1st quarter of 26/27 is up by 4,333 (2.8%) on Q1 last year.

The Leisuredrome’s Group Fitness headcount has seen a steady increase of just under 5% in periods 1-3, compared to last year. Again, Charlies Soft Play area has performed well once again, showing an overall increase in headcount of 36% (3371 to 5258), which in turn has generated additional increase of 39% in income for the area. 

Huntershill Sports Hub is still under refurbishment and now has a re-opening date of Monday 27 July, which is ahead of schedule, as anticipated handover date was 3 August. Additional works on the throws area will still take place and a date for handover will be confirmed in due course. 

Heritage & Arts

The Auld Kirk Museum opened the Wearing Japan exhibition on the 30th of May. The collection showcased a visual history of the Kimono; how it is made and worn, and featured over 30 kimonos. There were 1,014 visitors to the gallery during this time.

The Lillie Art Gallery continued with the Milngavie Art Club and Agnes Ownes exhibitions. Sorcha Dallas, custodian of the Alistair Gray Archive gave a talk on the Agnes Owens Collection. The Gallery received 1,507 visitors. 

216 children and adults participated in the arts & events workshop programme which included life drawing and pottery.

Archives & Local Studies received 1,639 visitors and 317 enquiries. 
In period 3 there were 2,521 visits in person and 4,952 digital visits to museums, which is an increase of 14% on the same period last year.

Libraries

Digital use of the library had its highest ever monthly total, with 81,377 usages – 11% higher than the same period last year. The new app and the upgraded online-catalogue experience contributed to the increase.

Throughout June, the Children & Families team visited every East Dunbartonshire primary school to promote the Summer Reading Challenge, where children get prizes and awards for reading six books during the school holidays. 

Milngavie library hosted it’s biggest ever programme of activities supporting Milngavie Week, with one third of the total events taking place in the library. William Patrick Library also hosted a programme of events supporting Kirkintilloch Gala Day.

Bishopbriggs Library celebrated Scotland’s appearances at the World Cup with a photo-booth and flags & facts.

In period 3 there were 32,232 visits in person to libraries and 81,377 digital usages, which is an increase of 9% on the same period last year. 

Fit for Girls Workforce Event

In partnership with sportscotland and the Youth Sport Trust, the Active Schools team delivered a Fit for Girls workforce event for East Dunbartonshire. This showcased the fantastic work of our Fit for Girls Ambassadors, who have spent the past year supporting opportunities for girls within their schools and exploring the barriers and challenges affecting girls' participation in sport and physical activity. Feedback from attendees from all nine East Dunbartonshire secondary schools, Scottish Rugby, Scottish Golf, Scottish Athletics, EDLCT Aquatics team and local clubs involved in golf, rugby, cricket and yoga, reflected the success of the evening. Bringing together such a wide range of partners created an opportunity to share experiences, strengthen partnerships and identify practical ways to address the barriers preventing more girls from taking part in sport and physical activity across East Dunbartonshire.

Tennis Tutor Training

The Active Schools team completed a Tennis Leaders Tutor training course organised in partnership with Tennis Scotland, which aimed to provide staff with the skills and knowledge to deliver the Tennis Leaders award locally. Active Schools Coordinators will now work with secondary schools in East Dunbartonshire to train Young Leaders, enabling them to coach tennis sessions for younger pupils within their school and local community.

Bearsden & Milngavie Schools Athletics Event

Douglas Academy hosted the Bearsden & Milngavie Primary Schools Athletics Championship on 10th June. Over 150 P6-7 pupils participated in a range of track & field disciplines representing 12 local schools. The event was supported by a team of secondary school Young Leaders from Douglas Academy who helped with officiating and scoring on the day.

Community Sport Term Time Programme

Term time programme numbers increase to a record high of over 3,400 children attending weekly classes. The steady increase over the past few months has been a result of the addition of new classes to our Learn to Swim programme and the development of our Active Schools and Community sport newsletter inviting children from to sign up for classes. Our dryside classes have also increased through promotion in local schools to maximise numbers in each class. 

Whole Family Wellbeing Fund – Year 1 completion

Year one of the Whole Family Wellbeing Fund came to a close at the end of June, with £13,000 being used to increase participation for children with additional support needs within primary and secondary schools in East Dunbartonshire. An 8 week block of Gymnastics was completed this month in the Allander Leisure Centre for 24 pupils from Woodland View. An additional 8 pupils from Woodland View completed a block of swimming lessons during curriculum time.

McDonalds Fun Football World Cup kick off

As part of our ongoing partnership with McDonald’s in association with the Scottish FA, a World Cup kick-off party was held at the Allander Leisure Centre to celebrate Scotland’s first involvement in the competition in 28 years. Children were encouraged to come along dressed in all things Scottish; strips, face paint and even see you jimmy hats! The pitch was decorated with flags, balloons and Scotland glasses where children played small sided 3v3, 4v4 and 5v5 games.

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

In April 2026, a team of inspectors from HMIE and The Care Inspectorate visited Colquhoun Park Early Years Centre (EYC). 
The inspection team found the following strengths in the school’s work.

• The headteacher, depute headteacher and staff team develop positive and nurturing relationships with children. They have a shared understanding of wellbeing and its importance for children’s security, achievement and learning. This helps children to participate well with learning and achieve success
• Children who are polite, articulate and motivated to learn. They are proud of their school and feel included in making decisions about school life
• Staff work very effectively with a range of partner agencies to provide children with support and experiences which meet children’s needs well. This helps children to develop well their social skills, wellbeing and resilience. Across the school, this is leading to improved outcomes for all children.

Areas for improvement included senior leaders and staff working together to ensure all children experience consistently high-quality learning and teaching. In doing so, they should ensure all children experience tasks and activities set at the right level of difficulty. 

The Early Years Centre was inspected using the new Quality improvement framework for the early learning and childcare sectors.

The EYC achieved ‘very good’ evaluations across all indicators inspected.

Some key strengths highlighted were as follows:

• A confident team that demonstrates a deep understanding of child development and children’s rights
• Educators successfully use thoughtful commentary and open-ended questioning to stimulate and extend learning
• Most children are making successful progress in numeracy, mathematics, and mark making skills. Staff consistently use observations and targeted assessments to support learning in literacy, English, numeracy, and mathematics.

Through attainment visits, all Quality Improvement Officers from all sectors have been working in collaboration with senior leadership teams to support the completion of annual transition planning, A Curriculum for Excellence (ACEL) achievement of a level data upload, Standards & Qualities Reporting and School / Centre Improvement Planning. 

This ensures that all schools and centres are highly supported to have clear priorities for improvement for the new academic session. 

Snack and Play and Playscheme final arrangements have been made for the summer provision.  All families have been informed of their allocation and staffing arrangements finalised.

• St Machan’s Primary School was accredited as a UNICEF UK Bronze: Rights Respecting School by the Accreditation and Standards Committee
• Balmuildy Primary School was accredited as a UNICEF UK Silver: Rights Respecting School by the Accreditation and Standards Committee
• Douglas Academy hosted a workshop on a new resource, ‘Bro Code’ on Monday 8th June 2026, with pupils from several of our secondary schools attending the interactive session. A new set of resources aimed at tackling misogyny amongst young people; Bro Code is available to schools and colleges across Scotland to complement existing programmes such Mentors in Violence Prevention (MVP) and Equally Safe at School and will be promoted across all secondary school
• Lenzie Academy received their Gold Reading School Award in May 2026. Evidence submitted towards their Gold accreditation included; Book Club Cafe's, author visits, zine and comic book workshops, digital library app roll-out, date with a book, primary seven transition events and pop-up libraries within the school and the wider local community. The accreditation report from the Scottish Book Trust highlighted the 'strong reading culture' that has been established throughout the whole school community. This was clearly evidenced in the quotes that were provided by the staff and young people which 'stand out and show the huge impact your reading culture is having.'
• Kirkintilloch High School has achieved a Silver Award as a UNICEF Rights Respecting School in recognition of how the UNCRC has been embedded directly into the ethos and values of the school. The school are now actively working towards achieving the Gold Award, ensuring the needs and rights of young people are at the centre of education
• Milngavie Primary School was awarded first place in the 2026 ‘My Favourite Pocket Garden’ Design Competition run by Keep Scotland Beautiful.

Early Years, Primary, Secondary and Supporting Families

Early Years Practitioners took part in a celebration of strong leadership leading to improvements.

Examples of this are as follows:

• Educational Psychologists shared work using the Meta Skills Framework
• Riverside Childcare shared their journey on becoming the first East Dunbartonshire Early Years Centre to gain Breastfeeding Friendly accreditation
• Oakburn Early Years Centre communicated the evidence they presented for the STEM Nation award
• Buchanan Nursery achieved their Bronze UNCRC award and have started working towards their silver award
• Awareness raising of the development of Froebelian Practice in some settings across the West Partnership, including East Dunbartonshire and how that work had been shared throughout the Froebel Networks. Through the marketplace event, some 25 settings showcased their leadership roles and implementation of initiatives, including Nurture, Up, Up and Away, Woodwork, Outdoor Learning, STEM, Play on Pedals and Learning to read in the Early Years
• Nursery Teachers shared examples of good practice with examples of tracking children’s progress, a Frobel project, wellbeing approaches and homelinks relating to the SHANARRI characters, the impact of Up Up and Away approaches supporting learners and supporting staff capacity
• 15 schools have been awarded Reading Schools awards throughout the session: Two at Gold (reaccreditation), five at Gold, four at silver and four at Core. We also have a further six schools that have submitted evidence and waiting to hear the outcome of their submissions
• Four primary schools have signed up to participate in the Reading Recovery training programme next session. This professional learning programme takes place over the course of a year. Reading Recovery is an early literacy intervention designed to target and support learners to reach age-expected levels in reading and writing
• 11 practitioners from secondary and primary sectors have started on their Improving Our Classroom journey. Three primary schools have signed up to participate in the Improving Our Schools (IOS) programme. IOS is a year-long programme involving all practitioners and senior leaders within the school, with a focus on improving learning and teaching, high-quality self-evaluation and effective use of evidence and enquiry to drive change
• Almost all Provisionally Registered Teachers (PRTs) shared their learning from their Practitioner Enquiries at a celebration event hosted by with QIO with responsibility for PRTs. All PRTs successfully completed the Teacher Induction Scheme year and achieved full registration with the General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS)
• 116 PRTs have been allocated to the Council to undertake their Teacher Induction Scheme year during Session 26/27; 57 in the Primary Sector and 59 in the Secondary Sector. All PRTs have been allocated to a school
• Almost all of the new PRTs attended a Welcome event which provided an overview of the Council, expectations of the Teacher Induction Scheme year and advice on accessing support and guidance
• Two Secondary Depute Head Teachers, two Primary Depute Head Teachers and one Acting Primary Head Teacher have successfully completed the Into Headship qualification
• Two Acting Primary Head Teachers and four Secondary Depute Head Teachers have attended the induction sessions for Into Headship beginning during Session 26/27
• The Middle Leaders Leading Change (MLLC) participants successfully completed change initiatives and shared these with colleagues at celebration event. The MLLC Professional Learning programme delivered in collaboration with Education Scotland was highly valued by all participants
• The Lenzie Academy Community Engagement (LACE) programme has achieved remarkable success by embedding a culture of inclusive volunteering within the school's infrastructure. Through an effective partnership between dedicated school staff and local youth workers, LACE provides a diverse range of flexible volunteering opportunities tailored to pupils' individual interests and comfort levels, ensuring participation is open to everyone rather than just a select few. This approach has fostered profound personal development among students, with participants reporting significant improvements in confidence, leadership, communication, and a strong sense of community and purpose. Furthermore, the programme has successfully expanded its impact by connecting students with wider community initiatives, such as intergenerational work at Lenzie Parish Church and national Young Scot programmes. The programme's success culminates annually in a pupil-led "Celebration of Character" ceremony, which recognizes the diverse volunteering efforts of students, fosters school unity, and inspires future ambition among peers and parents.

Additional Support Needs (ASN) and Children’s Services

• The My Voice My Choice Showcase event took place on Friday 5 June 2026 at Kirkintilloch High School; this is the East Dunbartonshire Pupil Forum and pupil representative from all primary and secondary schools came together to share some of the rights respecting work they had undertaken throughout the year. The pupils shared a wide variety of work including posters, learning journals, presentations, and so much more. Some of the school mascots even made an appearance. Louise Chambers from Scottish Action for Mental Health (SAMH) delivered a workshop on Mental Health and Wellbeing before the pupils were awarded participation and Dynamic Youth Award certificates for all their hard work and the important role they played as school representatives on the My Voice My Choice forum
• In October 2025, Robyn McIlroy, HM Inspector joined the My Voice My Choice forum online session to share information about the national School Inspections project, reviewing school inspections and listening to the views of children and young people. Following conclusion of the public consultation about school inspections, HMIE have now published the analysis and response with the HM Chief Inspector having also prepared a short video response for children and young people which summarises how their feedback has been reflected in the analysis of the consultation findings. This has been shared with the My Voice My Choice forum
• A recent multiagency audit took place focussing on IRDs relating to Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) and Harm Outside the Home. Partner agencies shared relevant information ensuring a holistic approach to understanding a child’s experiences, risks, relationships and environmental influences. Discussion extended beyond individual vulnerabilities to consider a contextualised safeguarding approach. The audit process identified several recurring themes that will be incorporated into future training
• The Whole Family Wellbeing Team have worked in partnership with seven third sector agencies to enhance wellbeing of vulnerable families. These projects have supported 1,500 children or young people within the past year. Examples include five primary schools participating in Creatovators sessions which support development of resilience, and wellbeing for children or young people that are neuro diverse. Five Primary schools and the Secondary Wellbeing Support Service participated in New Roots food growing sessions supporting development of children and young people’s understanding of sustainability alongside improved of self-esteem and practical skills. Ramekin and Rolling Pin offered children and young people who experience anxiety and emotionally based school avoidance to participate in cooking sessions supporting them to leave the family home. East Dunbartonshire Women’s aid delivered workshops aimed to tackle misogyny and gender-based violence to 834 secondary and upper primary school pupils.

Educational Psychology Service

• Primary Nurture Teachers have completed their post intervention evaluation measures and returned these to the EPs ready for analysis
• The Secondary Pupil led evaluation of the wellbeing bases in three schools has been completed. The final PLC of the year took place with practitioners completing their evaluations and schools sending in their pre and post intervention data
• As part of their New Vision on Relationships (NVR) Level 4a training, two educational psychologists and a Nurture Teacher delivered Level 1 three-day training to ten education staff. Feedback from participants was extremely positive with many requesting further training
• The two educational psychologists and Nurture Teacher also presented at NVR UK’s national conference in Liverpool, sharing how NVR has been developed and delivered within East Dunbartonshire Council
• One secondary school has taken up the offer to complete attendance self-evaluation. This has been completed and shared with school to support their planning for next session
• There has been an offer to all schools in Professional Learning Community (PLC) group for visits to support initial or revisited completion of self-evaluation to inform planning. Linked with EDC statistician and QIM secondary reharding planning input for summer PLC to support schools with attendance data management
• West Partnership Attendance Network no longer in operation. Two EPs now link in with national network and attending to support understanding and dissemination of national work where appropriate. 

School Planning and Improvement

• The rebuild of Milngavie Early Years Centre (EYC) was approved at Council on 26.06.26. The new EYC will open in August 2027. This enhanced learning environment will allow the provision of an even higher quality early learning and childcare for our youngest learners
• It was also approved that to allow the new build to be constructed, we will be decanting the children to two well established Early Years Centres, Oakburn and Clober. The Early Years Central Team have been working in the background to plan for allocations which has been shared with parents
• In terms of continuity of care, Milngavie Early Years Centre will close on Friday 31 July and will start in their new centre week beginning 3 August 2026. Both decant centres are excited to welcome the Milngavie staff and children for the year. The registration of Milngavie with Care Inspectorate will be suspended for the period of the rebuild. We will then have increased capacity and in addition to the returning staff, we will have new staff
• Milngavie Primary School will re-open for pupils in August 2026. Senior Officers have visited the school, parents and children have visited and the new Primary One intake visited their classroom as part of their transition. It is agreed that the works completed have made a significant improvement to the learning environment and the children are excited to return
• Summer works will take place in Gartconner, Clober and Colquhoun Park Early Years Centres which will enhance the learning environments.

Skills for Life, Learning and Work

Over 40 learners who have been taking part in adult literacy, numeracy and English speaking for other languages classes attended a celebration of learning in the East Dunbartonshire Campus. Learners were presented with several certificates of achievement and some read out stories and poems that they had completed. 

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Finance 

The month of June saw the Finance Team continuing to respond to audit queries on the 2023/24 accounts as this audit progresses towards finalisation with the Mugdock and Charitable accounts are now signed as finalised. The 2024/25 audit for Charitable Accounts are now concluded, alongside Mugdock

As the finance team works through a critical period of demands on the team, with movement into Phase 2 of the ledger system with HCM also in progress which has been staffed with an additional 0.5 full time equivalent within the Finance team as a further temporary resource. However, the Service is currently working with fewer accountants, and some absence within the team. An internal training process has begun to remedy this long term.

The team has started year end and period 10 reports 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 28.06% is marginally behind the target of 28.20% 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 Homecare Team continues to support an initiative from the Planning & Commissioning Team, processing variations in addition to their normal workload. The Transport Team continue to manage the day-to-day contracts and procure any ad-hoc contracts as required.

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 912 tickets in June and dealt with 247 telephone calls. 92.7% 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 93.1% for June. 

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 £798,138.60 are £35,661.36 lower than at the same period as last year 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 June 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.

The month of June saw the completion of key year end deliverables including the Annual Audit Report for 2025/26, the Annual Follow Up Report and the completion of detailed areas of focus for the audit plan for 2026/27 for both the Council and the HSCP.

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 near 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.

Preparatory work continues for a further National Fraud Initiative (NFI) data matching exercise. A number of 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 continue to experience difficulties in obtaining information from certain external data holders, who can now only release information under the provisions of the Investigatory Powers Act 2016. Policy is required to be developed and committee approval obtained to ensure that the investigatory process is not compromised and to ensure our compliance with legal requirements.

Finance 

• Responding to audit queries on the 2023/24 draft accounts as the audit progresses towards finalisation. Charitable Trust final accounts for 2024/25 and 2023/24
• General Fund in final weeks of finalising unaudited position which can be finalised on the completion of the 23/24 audit
• Mugdock Country Park and the Charitable Trust accounts completed
• 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 month
• Staff development is a key focus and given a challenging external recruitment market, the service is continuing to upskill existing staff where possible. A practice of grow your own 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:
  • 3,420 Council Tax bills and 6,850 Benefits notifications; and
  • 180 crisis grants and community care grant applications were received
• The team received and dealt with 1,250 documents for Council Tax queries and reduction and 640 for benefits. In addition, the team received 2,200 ATLAS notifications from DWP
• The team dealt with 2,780 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:
  • Supported the upgrade of the Uniform system, system testing in progress
  • Tender for the replacement of the AC units in the datacentre has gone out
  • Started planning for upgrading the servers in Education to the latest version in prep for the new school year
  • Milngavie Primary internal network upgraded to 10gb fibre
  • 50% of PSTN lines have now migrated to Pre Digital lines for PSTN switch off
• ICT Security have:
  • Tested Education patching strategy
  • Supporting Fusion project in the implementation of MFA for Fusion and Supplier users
  • Continuing to review alerts/vulnerabilities and remediate.

Shared Services

• The Residential Team added 81 service agreements to CareFirst for clients moving into care homes or for supported living services within their own homes
• The Homecare Team added 388 service agreements to CareFirst for clients receiving a homecare service or a direct payment
• Direct Payment Audit Team – 18 (14 standard, 4 final) audits completed for clients receiving self-direct support.

Housing Rent and Tenant Participation

• Active Tenant Rent Arrears were £798,138.60 which is a decrease of 4.2 % on same period as last year (week 13)
  • 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 

• The Business System team successfully resolved three security vulnerabilities, upgraded four systems, supported four key projects and responded to 19 incidents maintaining the security, stability and reliability of Council systems
• HCM Data migration 98% including additional rehire migration. Completed final draft of revised HCM implementation plan with project board for approval. MFA deployment remains on schedule with all prerequisite upgrades completed
• Progression of a business case and option appraisal for the NEC Business Objects ahead of supplier support ending in December
• Testing and validation of supplier developed statutory reporting for the Scottish Social Housing Charter (SSHC)
• Established audit logs in the IHMS test environment and identified outstanding issues for supplier resolution
• Progressed the Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) for the Saas mobile working solution for Housing
• Working with Corporate Communications to develop a style sheet for Housing Online, ensuring alignment with the Council’s branding and user experience
• Continued team development through self-directed SQL learning
• CareFirst training was successfully delivered during this reporting period
• Development continues for the replacement of the Annual Lettings application
• Mugdock Country Park’s new booking platform has entered its first testing stage
• Work has begun on a Digital Support Grant application
• The residents of Jedworth Court, the final sheltered housing complex to be upgraded to digital, have been provided with temporary alarms in order to maintain service during July’s scheduled upgrade.

Internal Audit

• The team has delivered the year end reporting requirement of the Annual Audit Report to the June 2026 Audit & Risk Management Committee, including the provision of assurance in the form of an annual opinion in support of the annual governance statement which will be included in the Council’s draft annual report
• The Team is working on the Internal Audit Plan, in line with available resources. There is a vacancy at the Lead Auditor level, with the post expected to be advertised in July
• 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 supported the delivery of a Scrutiny Panel to Elected Members considering the work of the Revenues and benefits team and the implications for Corporate Fraud in the Council
• 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.

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The HSCP and its staff continue to work hard to ensure quality delivery of the Council’s operational delivery of statutory social work services, which are integrated with NHS services under the strategic governance of the Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP) Board. Service quality and outcomes associated with these specific social work services are the 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 June 2026, the HSCP performed above target on two of three identified performance indicators. Data for the third indicator was not available at the time of publication.

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Throughout June, the Democratic Services Team continued to support the internal governance of the Council, in addition to certain regulatory functions. Six governance meetings took place during June. 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 2025/2026 school year and had commenced arrangements for the annual placing request appeals. The deadline for placing requests was 15 March 2026. A total of 68 appeals were received for on-time applications. These appeals took place in June. One hearing had to be postponed due to a conflict of interest and so these appeals along with late appeals are scheduled for July 2026. 

The Team’s focus in June was to complete the post-election work, following the Scottish Parliament elections on 7 May 2026 and count on 8 May 2026 for the Strathkelvin and Bearsden constituency and regional ballots. In addition, meetings and other preparation have commenced for the 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.

In addition, the Team delivered in excess of 16 governance meetings across June including meetings of the Planning Board, Community Planning Partnership Board, HSCP Board and Council.

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. The Team also continues to participate in local and national resilience partnership meetings and training exercises.

The Council continued to deliver registration services in June 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 97 birth and 171 death registrations in June. 27 marriages and no civil partnerships were also registered in this period
• There were no Citizenship Ceremonies during June
• 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 156 FOI/EIRs, 8 internal review requests and 26 SARs (Subject Access Requests).  

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 June is 100% 

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

Key Achievements / Areas of Focus

• During June, the Team processed 8 contract review forms and 6 contract award letters, and 2 open market purchase offers. In addition, 13 taxi licence applications processed, and 9 housing repair grants were processed. All were processed within the timescales apart from one taxi application which was due to an administrative oversight. 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 supporting the start of construction by providing support on land matters, utilities works and contractor performance bond; providing legal support and advice for variations to provisional service contracts; support in obtaining ATIF Tier 2 Design Grant; and finalising agreement with Civic Space neighbour in relation to land use and access
• Property and planning work included conveyancing support to AHIP2; purchase of 20 Burns Court, Kirkintilloch, lease extensions for Units at Donaldson Crescent, Kirkintilloch and Springfield Works, Bishopbriggs; 5-year lease to wealth management business at Suite 5, Springfield House, Bishopbriggs; and licences to occupy for Unit 4 Kilsyth Road and for market outside Bishopbriggs Library
• Contracts and procurement work in this period included supporting project surveys for A807 Active Travel; completion of Bearsden Hub RAAC Removal PSSC; supporting the negotiation of Milngavie Primary School Early Years construction contract; support in relation to GCR Electric Vehicle Charging project; advising on the implications of the ongoing conflicts in middle east for supply chains etc; review of upgrade to Income Management System; data sharing agreements with Police Scotland, Skills Development Scotland and for Community Payback Orders; contracts awarded included Lennoxtown Community Greenspace, ARC GIS Enterprise licence, demolition of 30-50 Nithsdale Crescent, for renewal of artificial surfaces at Huntershill Sports Hub, Microsoft Licensing
• 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 an employment tribunal claim for the Leisure Trust. The Team continues to provide advice on a wide range of confidential matters including employment advice and support the Housing Service. The team also supportive Services with different disputes relating to data protection
• 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 Board work including the Civic Government Appeals Board and the Local Review Body.

During June, 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
• Published the Annual Procurement Strategy 2026-2027
• Extraction, redaction and review of 2025-2026 Financial information for publication to 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
• Extensive support and tendering activity for planned Capital projects to be undertaken over school summer holiday.

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

Key Achievements / Areas of Focus

• Progressed commissioning arrangements to support an individual transition from a long stay hospital setting into 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, progressed implementation of Scottish Living Wage uplifts for Adult and Children’s services
• Continued to support and progress 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 progress transitional planning arrangements for 2026/2027
• Drafted a service specification for Complex Services with Accommodation.  The Spec sets out explicit service and environmental requirements and will be incorporated into all future related contracts
• Working collaboratively with children and families’ providers to explore alternative commissioning arrangements that deliver more flexible, innovative and value for money services /models
• Worked collaboratively with a provider to reconcile and finalise year end accounts for local commissioned services, ensuring accuracy, transparency and contractual compliance
• 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
• The team played a central role in leading and supporting the HSCP with the operational and business / commercial aspects of commissioned services, ensuring effective delivery and governance .  

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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.

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 EDLC, conducting multiple site visits to offer expert guidance, address emerging issues, and assist with the completion of risk assessments and safe systems of work. During this period, the team have been working closely with the Education service, Estates & Facilities, Mugdock country park, EDLC and HSCP.  

This included reviewing safe systems of work and risk assessments, COSHH assessments, document review and other health and safety enquiries. 

The H&S Team were present at the Education and Corporate 2nd Tier H&S Meetings and 3rd Tier (service level) meetings for Property Maintenance, Facilities Management, Roads, Streetscene, Fleet and Waste.  

The team continue to assist People Development with development of new Moodle H&S programmes to assist in the learning and development opportunities.

Workplace assessments and individual risk assessments, in collaboration with HR colleagues, continue to be reviewed and assessed, as well as continuing to review First Aids 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 Meadowburn PS fencing, demolition of toilet block at Campsie Cemetery, roofing works at Gartconner PS, Twechar Cycle Track and Lennoxtown Main Street. 

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 programme health and safety inspections of council workplaces.

Carriageway & Footway Defects (June 2026)

Between 1–30 June 2026, 217 defects were identified across East Dunbartonshire. Of these, 181 repairs were completed within SLA (83.4 %), 11 were late (5.07 %), and 25 (11.53 %) remain outstanding but are still within SLA. 

Road Works Delivery (June 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. Most projects were completed on schedule as advised on technical notes. 
Technical Notes 2026, Issue 100 - Roads & Neighbourhood Services 2026/27 Carriageway and Footway Resurfacing Programme – Quarter 1 Update - East Dunbartonshire Council

Gully Cleaning Performance (June 2026)

A total of 22,011 gullies is maintained across the network. Between 1 April 2026 and 30 June 2026, 5,963 gullies were cleaned (27.68 %). This includes 4,354 of 6,221 gullies on primary routes (67.9 %) and 1,533 of 14,448 on secondary routes (11%). This reflects strong delivery in drainage maintenance and contributes to reducing flood risk.

Safety Inspections (June 2026)

A total of 12 scheduled carriageway safety inspections were completed, all within required inspection intervals.

Winter Maintenance (June 2026)

No Action. 

Streetlighting 

Capital LED replacement programme is ongoing.

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

• 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  - all being prepared
• Headstones/Memorials Inspection – inspections commenced 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
• Bishopbriggs Park Management Plan – now in draft will be shared with community groups this year for further comment.

Mugdock Country Park

• Nine Volunteering sessions with a total of 74 volunteers
• Ten different pre-booked events and in total 73 people attended. 

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 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 and assisting the frontline crews with contractual agreements
• The Waste Technical and Compliance Team dealt with 89 Corporate Complaints in June
• The Waste Technical and Compliance Team dealt with 1158 general enquiries in June
• The Mavis Valley Household Waste Recycling Centre received 16152 bookings
• The Waste Service provided waste management provisions to several local community events including Milngavie Classic Cars show, the Kirkintilloch Gala Day, the Loretto Football Festival in Bishopbriggs and the Bearsden & Milngavie Highland Games.

• Between 1 to 30 June 2026, the team inspected and repaired 220 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 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 systems, as well as undertaking a full update of our Fleet Policy
• 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.