How Good is Our Service -September 2026

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Voids performance has increased in September to 73% which is up from 67% in August and is a steady improvement over the previous months, however this is still below our target of 85%.  We are confident that operational changes and process enhancements will ensure we achieve and improve on our targets going forward.
 
The service carried out 420 annual gas safety checks in September with 100% of these completed within the anniversary date. We continue to achieve 100% compliance in this area, and we are confident this will continue throughout the year. 
 
Non-Emergency repairs performance continues to be positive and has improved in September with the average turnaround being 9.58 days. This is an improvement on 10.3 days in August and exceeds our target of 12 days. 

Capital upgrade programmes – Kitchens, Bathrooms and Gas Central Heating are progressing well and on track to complete on schedule.  These continue to be well received by our tenants across the district   Our schools painting programme is advancing according to plan with positive feedback being received from schools staff and stakeholders alike.  Information on the finalised programme will be issued shortly.

Cyclical maintenance gutter cleaning, close painting and fencing programmes are ongoing with good progress being made on all programmes across the estate.  

The number of Primary pupils taking up school meals over September accounted for 73.5% of pupils which is the highest it’s been for over a year.  It’s encouraging that pupils appear to be enjoying the current menu.  Likewise, with Secondary school pupils, the uptake is 60.6%, which again is 10% above our target.  53% of the food used in school menus is local sourced. 

Recruitment is ongoing for school crossing patrollers across 10 sites, as well as a small number of cleaning and catering roles across the East, West and Central areas.

The service has robust measures in place to monitor performance with regards gas safety compliance across the Operational Estate. 

Officers continue to progress reactive repairs across the operational estate, although currently focusing on H&S related repairs and ensuring assets remain wind and watertight.  Officers are investigating drainage issues that are currently affecting Wester Cleddens PS and Bearsden PS with our contractor.  Gutter cleans will commence over the next few months across the school estate with autumn approaching.

The Service continues to progress a wide range of capital projects both in pre-construction and construction phases, with notable progress during the reporting period including: 

•    Continued progress through construction phases at Balmuildy Primary School; Twechar Canalside Affordable Housing; construction of Milngavie Early Years Centre; and EWI works at Ferguson Avenue, Milngavie;

•    Construction contract agreed at Merkland and Cleddans affordable housing sites, with site mobilisation now underway;

•    Design continues to progress at Lenzie Academy / Whitegates Park; Oakburn Park; and Westerton Primary School projects.

•  Achieved 100% compliance for Gas Servicing with focus on this continuing going forward.
•  Kitchen, Bathroom and Central Heating upgrade programmes progressing well and on track to complete on schedule, with positive feedback being received from tenants across all contracts.
•  Cyclical maintenance gutter cleaning, close painting and fencing programmes are ongoing with good progress being made across all programmes
•  Schools Painting programme advancing according to plan and is being well received by all relevant stakeholders.
•  Positive level of performance in non-emergency repairs turnaround times with our focus being on maintaining and improving further in this area moving forward.
•  Full decoration in void properties from 1st April providing a significantly enhanced standard of property for new tenants.
•  Continue to focus on enhancing voids operational processes with the objective being to achieve our targets and further improve and maintain performance in this area going forward. 
•  Improved functionality of Total Mobile and the integration with Servitor enables a more streamlined and efficient service.  We continue to explore alternative options for enhanced efficiencies moving forward.
•  Improve communications with customers and stakeholders to ensure the highest level of service delivery.
•  Continue to utilise robust reporting mechanisms for enhanced performance and service delivery.
•  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 October and November.
•  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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During September, the Community Planning and Partnerships Team continued to support local communities, strengthen partnership working and address inequality across East Dunbartonshire.

Community development activity remained focused on priority communities, with staff working alongside local people to strengthen existing groups, support new community-led activity and help residents take forward local priorities. This work continues to support action on poverty, inequality and wellbeing.

Delivery of the CLD Plan 2025–27 also progressed during the month. Work linked to the Local Child Poverty Action Report remains focused on reducing inequality and improving outcomes for children, families and communities.

The new Local Community Grant Fund was launched, the Fund will provide £100,000 of support for community-led projects that respond to local needs and priorities. Developed with input from the Grant Advisory Committee, partners and local stakeholders, the Fund is intended to help communities deliver practical activity that strengthens local wellbeing, tackles inequality and supports positive local change.

The team is working with Asset Management and Legal Services to provide guidance to groups exploring Community Asset Transfers and considering responsibility for local assets.

Resettlement activity continued to develop, with the Resettlement Team supporting asylum seekers, Ukrainian families and others arriving through humanitarian programmes. In addition to practical help to understand local services and settle into their new communities, the team is progressing a series of hosted community conversations. These sessions will bring together new and established residents, creating opportunities to share experiences, build understanding and make stronger local connections. This work is being developed with East Dunbartonshire Welcomes Refugees and other local partners.

Well-being-focused kitchen sessions continued to provide practical and social support for young tenants and families. Participants are developing everyday skills, increasing confidence and building connections with others. The team is now exploring opportunities with third-sector partners to extend the approach to reach more households.

Preparations for the Locality Forums inaugural meetings in November have commenced, across the Localities of Hillhead and Harestanes, Twechar, Lennoxtown and for the Unity Voice Forum for communities of interest across EDC area. The Forums will play a part of ensuring community voice is heard across the Community Planning Partnership.

Work on women’s safety and wellbeing also remained a priority. Learning from the International Women’s Day programme is informing planning by the Violence Against Women and Girls Partnership for the 2026 16 Days of Action Campaign in November.

The team continues to support development opportunities for the Community Learning and Development workforce. Following positive feedback from the West Alliance Learning Festival practitioner session, further joint learning opportunities are being explored with the Centre for Good Relations.

Weekly community vaccination clinics remain available in Milngavie and Kirkintilloch, delivered in partnership with NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde. These clinics continue to improve local access to vaccination and support wider public health outcomes.

During August, the Community Planning and Partnerships Team continued to support local communities, strengthen partnership working and address inequality across East Dunbartonshire.

Community development activity remained focused on priority communities, with staff working alongside local people to strengthen existing groups, support new community-led activity and help residents take forward local priorities. This work continues to support action on poverty, inequality and wellbeing.

Delivery of the CLD Plan 2025–27 also progressed during the month. Work linked to the Local Child Poverty Action Report remains focused on reducing inequality and improving outcomes for children, families and communities.

The new Local Community Grant Fund was launched during August. The Fund will provide £100,000 of support for community-led projects that respond to local needs and priorities. Developed with input from the Grant Advisory Committee, partners and local stakeholders, the Fund is intended to help communities deliver practical activity that strengthens local wellbeing, tackles inequality and supports positive local change.

The team is working with Asset Management and Legal Services to provide guidance to groups exploring Community Asset Transfers and considering responsibility for local assets.

Resettlement activity continued to develop, with the Resettlement Team supporting asylum seekers, Ukrainian families and others arriving through humanitarian programmes. In addition to practical help to understand local services and settle into their new communities, the team is progressing a series of hosted community conversations. These sessions will bring together new and established residents, creating opportunities to share experiences, build understanding and make stronger local connections. This work is being developed with East Dunbartonshire Welcomes Refugees and other local partners.

Well-being-focused kitchen sessions continued to provide practical and social support for young tenants and families. Participants are developing everyday skills, increasing confidence and building connections with others. The team is now exploring opportunities with third-sector partners to extend the approach to reach more households.

Preparations for the inaugural meeting for the Equality Action Planning Forum continued during August. The forum will support more joined-up working across services and partners, helping to strengthen the delivery of equality outcomes.

Work on women’s safety and wellbeing also remained a priority. Learning from the International Women’s Day programme is informing planning by the Violence Against Women and Girls Partnership for the 2026 16 Days of Action Campaign.

The team continues to support development opportunities for the Community Learning and Development workforce. Following positive feedback from the West Alliance Learning Festival practitioner session, further joint learning opportunities are being explored with the Centre for Good Relations.

Weekly community vaccination clinics remain available in Milngavie and Kirkintilloch, delivered in partnership with NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde. These clinics continue to improve local access to vaccination and support wider public health outcomes.

Housing manages 3,925 social rented properties; 3,829 of these are mainstream accommodation and 96 are used for Homeless Temporary Accommodation.  The service also manages 48 Lead Tenancies which are rented from either private landlords (27) or Housing Associations (21), to assist with accommodating homeless households.

At present, the Housing list for East Dunbartonshire has 3641 applications - made up of the following:

General Waiting list     2,829 applicants waiting (4 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    618 applicants (12 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        192 applicants (13 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        2 applicants (0 of which are on offer)
(Urgent medical)
(Applicants who are unable to remain in their current home due to their medical condition. This queue allows the applicant to choose which area, house type etc. they would like to move to).

Within the last month, 44 properties were allocated, 40 of which were general needs mainstream and 4 were sheltered.

They were let to the following queues:

•    12 to the transfer queue
•    8 to the general waiting list queue
•    24 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.
•  Environmental Health staff held the third Good Food Nation Governance Group meeting with representatives from several services. The outcome of the meeting was to outline plans to split priorities into thematic groups and nominating relevant leads for each thematic group. 
•  Officers investigated a complaint regarding a foreign body in bottled water manufactured in East Dunbartonshire.  
•  A newly opened takeaway in Kirkintilloch closed voluntarily following a food law inspection which noted several food safety concerns. 
•  Our student Environmental Health Officer was successful in their REHIS Diploma exams which is the final step to becoming a qualified Environmental Health Officer.
•  Staff attended a webinar on new food legislation which came into force on 1st October 2026 and will change how food and drinks high in fat, sugar or salt can be promoted and displayed in some shops and online sales.
•  Delivery of decriminalised parking enforcement activity including enforcement for offences relation to pavement, double and dropped kerb parking. 
•  Delivery of parking enforcement activity to support traffic free schools’ and all other school areas.  
•  Delivery of targeted ASB patrols in response to reports of youth disorder, graffiti and vandalism.
•  Deployment of mobile CCTV in several areas where fly-tipping and antisocial behaviour is regularly occurring.  
•  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. 
•  Officers carried out and participated in several litter picks across the LA area and assisted Torrance Community Garden with some maintenance.   
•  On-going promotion of the East Dunbartonshire Trusted Trader scheme through relevant channels, with the aim of attracting further local traders to join the scheme.
•  Submission of logs to the National Intelligence Database for Trading Standards with contribution to the wider national and cross authority picture.
•  Delivery of Co-production work with Police Scotland across the local authority area on scam prevention.
•  Processing of Explosives Storage Licenses  
•  Issued notice of suspension of Taxi Driver and Vehicle Operators Licence. 

Community Planning and Partnerships Team

•  Community development staff continue to work alongside residents in priority communities to build sustainable community organisations and progress local action on poverty and inequality.
•  Delivery of the CLD Plan 2025–27 and Local Child Poverty Action Report actions continue to support improved outcomes for children, families and communities.
•  The Local Community Grant Fund launch, making £100,000 available for community-led projects that reflect local priorities and support positive change, across 2 rounds in 2026/27.
•  Resettlement support is expanding through practical orientation, welcome activity and planned community conversations that help new and established residents build connections.
•  Wellness kitchen sessions continue to strengthen confidence, practical skills and social networks among young tenants and families, with options being explored to extend the model.
•  Work continues to strengthen equality, women’s safety and wellbeing, workforce development and access to local vaccination support.

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

•  There were 31 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 improve performance.
•  Ensuring all ASB cases are actioned 
•  Ensuring quick turn around times on void properties and offers are out with applicants on properties. 
•  18 homeless applications taken (33% decrease compared to last month; 24)
•  25 households booked into temporary accommodation (40% increase compared to last month; 15 last month)
•  13 calls to homeless out of hours service (63% increase compared to last month)
•  No households were booked into unsuitable accommodation during September 2026 
•  120 application requests to landlord registration (31% decrease from last month; 173
  
  -    14 cancelled
  -    16 new
  -    40 renewals
  -    50 updates 

Key areas of focus in September for the Communications & Engagement team included the opening of Twechar pump track, final presentations of the Provost Community Champion Awards and promotion of the Funder Fair.

Media relations was consistent this month with nine releases issued (13 in August), five photocalls, (four in August) and 12 media enquiries dealt with (14 in August).

All releases are on the Council website news section and the local coverage achieved equated to an equivalent advertising value of £6,316 (£7,240 in August).

Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn again all saw increases in followers with the most popular posts this month relating to the burst water main in Waterside, recruitment and the Provost Community Champion Awards. 

Across the Council’s four social media channels the average engagement rate was 1.9 (a good engagement rate is 0.5, anything above 1 is deemed great).

The Council website had 159,727 visits (excluding internal traffic). The most popular page was the Bin Collection tool with 27,395 views.

There were 4,260 call-to-action button clicks. 

The most watched video on Facebook was the opening of Twechar pump track with 20,048 views. On YouTube ‘How East Dunbartonshire Council is tackling Ash Dieback’ was the most popular with 631 views.

In September 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 for any claims. 

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

The team have continued to face some challenges in September with complaints levels continuing to be high leading to a slight backlog in processing times which has been improving throughout the month. Additionally, the team have continued to have challenges in fulfilling some elements of service specific reporting as resources have been prioritised to assist with the implementation of Oracle Fusion HCM project.

Throughout September the Customer Service team handled a variety of enquiries and requests for service including 9,127 telephone calls, this is slightly less than the previous month’s total of 9,452, the team also served 175 appointments and 841 drop-in customers in the Community Hubs, this is also slightly fewer appointments and drop-ins than the previous month. 

The Emergency Response Centre team handled 25,887 community alarm calls, ensuring help and reassurance is provided to our most vulnerable residents. The team also handled 544 urgent and emergency out of hours calls.  Progress continues to be made with the replacement of the Town Centre public realm CCTV system. 

Recruitment process began to fill vacancies across the team including Receptionist, Emergency Response Centre and Customer Service Agent posts. The process will take a number of weeks to conclude before successful candidates join the team. 

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.

The team continues to prioritise and provide all available resources to the project to replace the current HR and payroll system with Oracle Fusion HCM.

Communications & Engagement

•    Seven videos created and 55 design jobs completed overall
•    Delivered communications for 999 Emergency Services Day including photocall, liaising with emergency services partners, media release, social media and website updates
•    Promotion of the new carvings at Cairnhill Woods with creation of video, photocall, social media and press release 
•    Progression of the Provost’s Community Champions Awards with publication of final winners’ stories 
•    Promotion of nationally recognised campaigns; Scottish Employability Day, Trusted Trader Week and Scotland’s Climate Week,
•    283 websites jobs completed including updates and creation of new pages.

Corporate Performance

•    Work is underway on a Child Friendly Complaints handling e-learning course to be available as a resource to all Council officers on the Moodle platform.
•    An analysis of the full suite of LGBF indicators was completed and issued to Elected Members via technical note
•    Increased resource support was provided to the implementation team in relation to the rollout of Oracle Fusion HCM.

Customer Services

•    Throughout September the team responded to wide range of customer enquiries across all contact channels, the team maintained good response times for all enquiries, this will continue to be a key focus  
•    Recruitment undertaken to fill vacancies across the team

• Human Resources & Organisational Development

•    Continued engagement with the Trade Unions on strategic and operation HR initiatives, including service reviews and policy development.
•    Continued support for employees and managers on HR policy based and guidance noted, with support in attendance on ER case work.
•    Within Payroll Services, the team have maintained and processed the payover of the various payruns within timescales, with the completion of a series of statutory.
•    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 implementaion project, whilst managing operational work. 
•    The People Development team delivered 18 sessions across a number of topics including SMART Working, Induction, Health and Safety, 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 September, 266 delegates received training across a range of topics.  

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Allander Leisure Centre

The Allander recorded it lowest DD membership since October 2025. Whilst this is not a crisis it is an area of focus with retention and marketing interventions being applied to prevent any further drop off.

Kirkintilloch Leisure Centre

Kirkintilloch played host to the KKASC Swim Club Championships and the Glasgow Triathlon Club Aquathlon, with both events running (and swimming) successfully.

Libraries

Period 6 saw the last of the Edinburgh International Book Festival streamed events in libraries.  This was the second year East Dunbartonshire Libraries have participated in these events, which have been very popular with local residents, who have had free access to high profile international events, in the comfort of their local library. 

Lennoxtown library hosted a Take The Mic event; another first for the library service.  This new initiative provides local residents with the opportunity to share their own, often very personal, writing, which they read out to the audience.  This has proven very popular and a great example of how sharing personal experiences, can often be healing as well as creative and entertaining. 

As part of EDLCT’s Health Information Hub partnership with East Dunbartonshire Health and Social Care Partnership (EDHSCP), Lennoxtown library held a weaning fayre which followed on from one of the popular Bookbug sessions.  As well as providing advice and support for parents moving their babies on to solids, local health practitioners were also on hand to provide dietary and oral health advice.  This was the third of these sessions under the banner of “Growing Well With Bookbug”, with previous events having taken place at William Patrick and Bishopbriggs libraries. 

In collaboration with the National Deaf Children’s Society, Westerton library held a Bookbug session with a British Sign Language interpreter, allowing families with deaf children to benefit from this national initiative which supports the development of babies and toddlers. 

The Learning & Access coordinator teamed up with SenseScotland, a charity which supports individuals with complex and sensory disabilities, to deliver a silent book walk.  The group, including four wheelchair users, listened to animal stories by Enid Blyton during their walk from Bishopbriggs library. 

Heritage & Arts

Archives & Local Studies received 1,560 visitors and 338 enquiries. 88 additional people visited the department; this included a school class, Campsie Local History Group and people attending a  Doors Open Day activity.  

Museum, Archives and Local Studies Collections received 539 visits to the outreach display at William Patrick Library. 

Museum collections on Art UK received 444 engagements and the EDLC collections catalogue received 1,953 visitors. This is due to successful promotion of online Museum, Archives and Local Studies collections via social media channels and email marketing. 

On 27th September, The Auld Kirk Museum opened Shades of Blue, an indigo dye journey by artist Elizabeth Viguie-Culshaw. Art workshops exploring the use of natural dyes from plants grown in the museum's grounds will take place during the exhibition.

The Lillie Art Gallery opened Glasgow Society of Women's Artists and Ally Wallace, Structures on 5 September. 

163  local art enthusiasts participated in the art workshops for children and adults. The Arts & Events programme received 163 unique visits to workshops attended by young people and adults.  Period 6 also included a day of drawing for senior secondary pupils, helping them prepare folio work.  Pupils from Kirkintilloch and Turnbull High schools attended

ED Rugby Forum

The ASCS team are supporting the development of a local Rugby Forum and ED Rugby plan, bringing together Allan Glens, West of Scotland and Lenzie Rugby Clubs, along with our partners at Scottish Rugby Union. The Forum will be held four times a year, with the first meeting held in September. The group will help prioritise key areas of work, creating better connections and improving school, community and club pathways.

Summer of Sport- Interim reporting

The ASCS team completed 6 monthly interim report to Sportscotland and Research Scotland, showing how the Summer Of Sport investment has progressed within the local area.
In East Dunbartonshire there were almost 22,000 free swimming attendances, and more than 3,000 free court and pitch bookings. In addition, summer holiday provision for targeted groups including care experienced young people, young people with additional support needs and girls and young women was delivered in partnership with community clubs, and attracted more than 500 attendances.

East Dunbartonshire Young Ambassadors Conference

Nineteen pupils from nine secondary schools across East Dunbartonshire attended our local Young Ambassadors Conference at Bearsden Ski Club, building on the sportscotland Young Ambassadors training they had previously taken part in. Young Ambassadors are secondary school pupils who use their passion for sport to inspire others, encourage participation and help create more opportunities for young people in their schools and communities. The day included a tubing session in the morning, followed by discussions around how the pupils can support their schools to achieve the sportscotland School Sport Award. They also had time to plan ideas and activities with their Active Schools Coordinators that they can take forward in their own schools, helping to get more young people involved in sport and physical activity.

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The Service has made very good progress against priorities in the Business and Improvement Plan (BIP) 2025-2028.

• The Chief Education Officer and members of Educational Leadership Team (ELT) have been visiting schools to complete Headteacher Professional Review and Development Meetings.  This included meeting with the three Head of Centres from the three standalone Early Years Centres (EYCs). These professional discussions support Headteachers and Head of Centres to continue to confidently and effectively lead improvement and contribute to wider priorities outlined in the Education Service Plan.
• Education Leadership Team and Central Officers continued to plan for the October INSET Day where all teachers from Primary and Secondary Schools will come together in clusters to prepare for curriculum change through the Curriculum Improvement Cycle.  There will be a focus on pedagogy and skills development to ensure consistency of high-quality learning and teaching across all of our schools.
• Headteachers, supported by central officers continue to lead the IMAGINE Strategy Groups and are making very good progress across all seven areas of the Education Service Plan.

• Colquhoun Park Primary School has achieved their Silver Rights Respecting Schools Award in recognition of the work they are doing to embed Children’s Rights.
• Congratulations to St Ninian’s High School who won the regional heat of Enterprising Maths competition and will be representing East Dunbartonshire in the Scottish National finals in late November. Runners up Bearsden Academy will also be supporting them in the final. 

Early Years, Primary, Secondary and Supporting Families

•    Primary Quality Improvement Officers (QIOs) have completed the first school visits of the new academic session focussing on quality assurance of School Improvement Plans, Standard and Quality Reports and Self Evaluation for continuous improvement processes in schools. 
•    Joint school visits between Early Years and Primary QIOs have taken place in targeted centres with a focus on supporting transition and a progressive approach to learning and teaching.
•    Early Years QIOs have scheduled in Term 1 visits to EYCs focussing on Centre Improvement Plans, Self Evaluation of Learning and Teaching. This is supported by our first Quality Assurance Groups meeting for both Managers and Seniors in early years settings. Additional support visits will continue to settings in meeting the National Standard.
•    Provisionally Registered Teachers (PRTs) have attended a total of 5 Professional Learning Sessions as part of the PRT Professional Learning programme. Sessions have focussed on developing knowledge and understanding of high-quality learning and teaching. 
•    Professional Learning for Senior Leaders has been delivered by facilitators from the National Scotland Assessment (NSA) team on effective methods of analysing NSA data.
•    As part of the IMAGINE Leadership Professional Learning programme, the Corporate Policy professional learning has begun. Two sessions have been delivered by the People Development Team focussing on Attendance Management and the effective implementation of the Discipline and Grievance policy.
•    Expanding the Leadership IMAGINE Professional Learning Programme to include a dedicated early career pilot for Early Years Practitioners will prove to be a valuable mechanism for fostering leadership capability in early years settings. Cohort 1 have had an initial induction session with a focus on EDC policies, roles and responsibilities and professional learning, including access to Moodle.
•    The QIO with responsibility for Leadership chairs the Association for Directors of Education in Scotland (ADES) QUAD 1b Leadership Group. A presentation was given to the Strategic Group representing the four Local Authorities to outline the progress to date. The work of the QUAD during Session 25/26 was shared along with the action plan for Session 26/27. Both were positively received.
•    The extensive Professional Learning programme offering training in a range of Literacy, Numeracy, Play, Enquiry based learning and Metaskills approaches is underway and being well attended across both Early Years and Primary sectors.
•    Support for the Promethean panel rollout continues and over 100 newly enrolled or new recruit teachers attended the two twilights sessions offered by our Promethean trainer to ensure they are able to confidently use these interactive boards. An extensive training schedule has been advertised looking at a range of functions and capabilities over this academic session.

Additional Support Needs (ASN) and Children’s Services

•    The Inclusion Support Officer for Home Education has been working over the summer months with all families whose Home Education is registered with East Dunbartonshire Council to obtain their annual updates on their children’s education.  In response to parental requests, several families have also been supported with transitions, either into Home Education or from Home Education back into schools. 
•    Two training sessions were delivered for Pupil Support Assistants during the August in-service days.  Induction training was provided for those new in post, and all PSAs were also invited to attend a session introducing them to the professional learning resources available through Education Scotland’s Pupil Support Staff Framework.  Two further training sessions will be delivered in September to support those who have recently changed role from Classroom Assistant to Pupil Support Assistant.
•    A catch-up Child Protection and Safeguarding presentation was delivered to Outreach and Early Years teachers. The session was positively evaluated with participants identifying aspects most relevant to their daily practice.
•    The ASN Leads meeting focused on providing an overview of the updated Suicide and Self-Harm documents. There are examples of practicable self-harm plans co-designed with young people with lived experience and downloadable resources to ensure procedures for supporting incidents of self-harm or suicidal ideation are robust. A presentation by the NSPCC lead was delivered. This partnership approach helps strengthen the support provided to schools. Advice and resources were shared to support the implementation of Speak Out, Stay Safe, including an adapted programme for children with ASN, and the Talk Pants programme. There is ongoing support and intervention available and school staff actively encouraged to contact the Education NSPCC link. 
•    An overview of the ASN National Workstreams, and the Staged Intervention Route Map was delivered by QIO and a direct link to EDC Policy and Practice. The session was well received and positively evaluated. This work will positively impact earliest intervention for children and families.
•    ASN QIOs have completed the first secondary ELR focus visits of the new academic session providing a systematic approach to self-evaluation, improvement planning and quality assurance, focussing on learner outcomes, wellbeing and inclusion.

Educational Psychology Service (EPS)

•    The new Dyslexia Guidance has been launched through the Literacy Hub, alongside leaflets. A sample report has also been provided to support staff using the new process. A working group of Educational Psychologists (EPs) have started working on staff webinar to accompany new guidance and training. 
•    Initial planning to revise the Dyscalculia Guidance with the QIO with remit for numeracy and numeracy development officer to generate timescale proposal for guidance refresh. 2 EPs are drafting potential changes to current guidance after reviewing with Education Scotland documents and 4 other EPS guidance documents. 
•    The Primary Sector CIRCLE Professional Learning Community (PLC) focused on Up Up and Away Early Years documents to support P1 transitions.  The EYC PLC session explored early language development and supporting parental engagement.  The secondary PLC has been rearranged for October due to colleagues being unable to attend.  Participants have fed back that these sessions are useful to them in supporting implementation of CIRCLE in their settings.
•    A full day Introduction to Nurture Session was delivered for new Nurture and Wellbeing Teachers and Family Learning Assistants. This was highly evaluated by all participants. The first primary PLC of the session took place with a focus on feedback on evaluation outcomes from session 25/26 and planning. It was well attended and the group welcomed some new Nurture Teachers and FLAs.
•    The first secondary wellbeing PLC also took place with a focus on feedback on evaluation outcomes, practice sharing with peers and information sharing in relation to the revised suicide and self-harm policies.  
•    8 multi-agency professionals undertook Assessing Suicide in Kids (ASK) training for Facilitators. This training allows them to deliver ASK training to multi-agency colleagues in support of children who are affected by suicide 
•    The new Suicide and Self Harm Multi-Agency Guidance Documents have now been updated and launched at the ASN Leads meeting on 30th September. 
•    An EP attended an Education Scotland National Attendance Network Meeting. Update has been provided to the authority in terms of practice within this area.
•    An EP is a member of the Alternative and Augmentative Communication (AAC) working group, which has begun planning S6 training in AAC to contribute to transition project with Primary 7 pupils and staff workshops happening later in the session. An EP has led the first Talking Mats session, in which we launched the Talking Mats Knowledge Hub (a multi-agency platform for sharing information and resources) and reviewed Talking Mats recently launched Play Mat, which will likely contribute to the Early Years transition service in future.

School Planning and Improvement

•    Milngavie Early Years Centre new build continues to make very good progress.  Staff and children are all settled well within their temporary Early Years Centres.
•    Balmuildy Primary & Early Years Centre new build is on schedule for hand over to Education early next year with the school taking occupancy at Easter and then Early Years will follow.  Education Leadership Team visited the building and are delighted with the progress.
•    Lenzie Academy new build is awaiting approval from Planning Board.  New head teacher has been briefed with regards to the plans of the new build. 
•    Education have been engaging with the four CLASP schools with regards to consultation taking place over October & November this year with colleagues from Capital Asset Team.
•    Census analysis has been taking place within the team following Census week.  Further information will be published by Scottish Government early December with all other Local Authorities data.

Skills for Life, Learning and Work

•    Nominations are now open for young people to stand for election to become Members of the Scottish Youth Parliament (MSYP). East Dunbartonshire has 3 constituency seats with elections taking place between 2 November – 15 November, and results being announced the 17 of November. Information has been shared by the Youth Services team via schools and social media, and several young people have stated an expression of interest (EOI) to stand. EOI close on the 25 September in East Dunbartonshire.  Youth Services are supporting interested young people through this process.  

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Finance 

The Finance Team worked on the accounts for 2024/25 and 2025/26 during September.

The Finance Team are experiencing a critical period of demands on the team.  Phase 2 of the ERP Fusion programme is progressing with HCM migration.   The PBCS project has been repackaged with the Education budgeting project to align resources in the delivery of Oracle Fusion HCM.   The team continue to balance resources to provide essential services and support projects.  The team have initiated an internal training programme to address future demands as part of resource and succession planning.  This is a long-term working review and will place pressure on the team until it comes to fruition.

The team completed the P&R outturn for period 4 HRA, capital and general fund which has been reviewed by committee, period 5 is now being investigated.  In addition, work has commenced on the year end position for 2025/26, whilst working on audits for 2024/25. Mugdock Annual Accounts for 2025/26 were presented to the Mugdock Joint Board in September and handed to Forvis Mazars auditing for auditing. Work has now commenced on the 2027/28 budget.

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 54.85% is marginally behind the target of 55.25% 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.   Some anecdotal evidence has been heard at IRRV meetings that other councils are experiencing similar issues.  The Council’s Recovery and Enforcement Procedures continue to be applied, and individuals being signposted to the exemptions and discounts available as appropriate.

Shared Services

The Shared Services Team continues to provide support across all Council services.  The Letting Team have been significantly busier during this year’s annual letting due to the implementation of a new system for 26/27, this work is ongoing and continues to provide a challenging environment.  The Homecare Team continues to support an initiative from the Planning & Commissioning Team, processing variations in addition to their normal workload.  The Transport Team completed the transport arrangements for 26/27 with the award of concessionary travel in September. 

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 1246 tickets in September and dealt with 230 telephone calls.  ICT Support conducts a satisfaction survey for all users who raise a ticket, 98.6% of respondents were happy with the service provided from ICT Support in September.  

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 91.2% for September. 

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 £1,090,344.34 are £39,956.44 higher than the projected target of £1,050,387.90 (week 26) with the team committed to working to reduce arrears.

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

Business & Digital Change Team

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

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

Internal Audit 

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

Work continues towards completion of several audits on the 2026/27 plan as the team provides assurance over key areas of risk, making recommendations and following up on these to improve the control environment.  Audits nearing completion include Green Waste Permits, a review of the Supply Teacher Database and a review of Winter Planning arrangements.  Recruitment into the Lead Auditor post will be key for ensuring timely completion of these audits.  It is expected that the role will be filled in December 2026.

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 ahead of upload of datasets in October.  Several datasets from various services will be required to be extracted from systems to allow for submission to Audit Scotland.

In advance of this, it is essential that the team review the data holdings and ensure that any data to be shared is accurate and can be extracted in the required format.  A review is also required to ensure continued compliance with the NFI Data Matching Code of Practice. 

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

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

Finance 

•    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 Fusion has now commenced and likely to last for 18 months. The Education budgeting system & HCM to PBCS will be reviewed after this project.
•    Staff development is a key focus and amid a challenging external recruitment market, the service is continuing to upskill existing staff where possible.  A practice of grow your own is progressing and will 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 September, the team issued:
  • 3,165 Council Tax bills and 6,040 Benefits notifications; and,
  • 395 crisis grants and community care grant applications were received.
•    The team received and dealt with 1,450 documents for Council Tax queries and reduction and 775 for benefits.  In addition, the team received 2,000 ATLAS notifications from DWP.
•    The team dealt with 2,690 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:
  • Activated the SD-WAN connection at Torrance Community Centre
  • Moved Kilmardinny House onto a SD-WAN connection
  • Held a project kick off meeting to upgrade the Council’s phone system
    
    
•    ICT Security have:
  • Renewed multiple certificates for various systems
  • Reviewed 21 security alerts with 4 requiring further investigation.

Shared Services 

•    The Residential Team added 103 service agreements to CareFirst for clients moving into care homes or for supported living services within their own homes.  
•    The Homecare Team added 364 service agreements to CareFirst for clients receiving a homecare service or a direct payment.  
•    Direct Payment Audit Team – 22 audits including 2 final and 20 standard audits completed for clients receiving self-direct support.  
•    The EMA Team processed 42 of 56 applications received for Education Maintenance Allowance.

Housing Rent and Tenant Participation

•    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.
•    Annual rent setting consultation continued giving tenants a six-week opportunity to give their views on proposals for a rent increase for the financial year 2027/28. This consultation closed at the end of September

Business & Digital Change 

•    During the reporting period, the Business Systems team successfully delivered 7 solution upgrades, resolved 21 incidents and provided ongoing support across 9 services areas and solutions.
•    The HCM HR/Payroll implementation remains on track against the revised programme plan. Data Migration iteration 6 was completed during the period. 
•    UAT2 (User Acceptance Testing) is planned for October. 
•    Fusion Phase 1 Multi Factor Authentication, (MFA), Implementation remains on track for early November. MFA non-production testing completed along with allocation and training of MFA system administrators.
•    Delivered the first iteration of an in-house Power Platform solution for Building Schedule of Rates (BSoR), ready for User Acceptance Testing (UAT).
•    Gathered information and assessed scope, effort, capacity and timelines to support planning for the TLMS Azure migration.
•    Investigated and resolved an issue affecting new card registration for BACS transactions.
•    Began developing a draft requirements document to support the replacement of CareFirst.
•    Attended election management training to support readiness for the upcoming election.
•    Supported the development of a user guide to assist users with multi-factor authentication (MFA).
•    Delivered CareFirst training sessions for new starters to support effective use of the system.
•    Finalised the Phase 2 plan for the IHMS project in collaboration with the project team and supplier.  Phase 2 will address residual Phase 1 items and include workshops for new modules, including document management, SMS notifications and new online housing portal for residents.
•    The CRM team continued development of the replacement Annual Lettings and Mugdock Country Park applications, alongside work on the planned replacement for the Freedom of Information (FOI) platform.
•    Developed and implemented new CRM forms and application processes, including the Green Businesses Support Grant and Digital Support Grant.
•    Development of new online forms, including Training and Evaluation and a new Tree Adoption Initiative, which are currently undergoing testing.

Internal Audit

•    The Team is working on the Internal Audit Plan, in line with available resources. There is a vacancy at the Lead Auditor level, with the role expected to be filled in December 2026. 
•    Advice continues to be provided by Internal Audit in line with the Internal Audit Charter to support the enhancement of governance arrangements, risk management and controls.  
•    Work on audits continues with audits such as Green Waste Permits, the Supply Teacher Database and Winter Planning Maintenance being near completion. 
•    Work has been completed in the form of a gap analysis & action plan for the new Global Internal Audit Standards.  

Corporate Fraud

•    Corporate Fraud is investigating allegations received, focusing on suspected fraud or error within Education, Housing and Revenues Services and on the remaining cases resulting from the NFI.   The team also continues to undertake vetting on applications, from several services, to prevent fraud, error and any potential reputational damage.
•    The team is focused on maximising its value adding activity through prioritising large value cases, which in some instances are challenging to resolve and require an update of the policy base to support action – specifically the creation of a Communications Data Policy.
•    The team will also be focussing on the measures required to ensure compliance with The Economic Crime and Transparency Act 2023. 
•    The team will continue the preparatory work for the forthcoming 2026/2027 NFI Exercise and ensure we remain compliant with the Code of Data Matching Practice regarding the retention of personal information.

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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 September 2026, performance was above target for the two indicators with reportable data. Data for the community care assessment to service delivery measure was not available at the time of publication.

Key Achievements

• An unannounced Care Inspectorate inspection awarded Ferndale Outreach Service a grade of 6 (Excellent) for supporting people's wellbeing, recognising outstanding person-centred support, positive outcomes for young people and families, and strong leadership and workforce development.

Areas of Focus:

HSCP Wide:

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

Children’s Services:

• Improve access to early intervention and prevention support for families at risk of or experiencing poverty
• Progress self-evaluation activity to inform the national review and public inquiry on Group Based Child Sexual exploitation and Group based child criminal exploitation, with an agreed improvement plan led by Public Protection Chief Officers
• Integrated Children’s Services Plan Annual Report 2025/2026
• Write the Integrated Children’s Services Plan 2026-2029

Adult Services:

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

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

Land Planning Policy

• Public consultation on a draft Greenspace Strategy for East Dunbartonshire ran from 03 August 2026 until 25 September 2026.  In addition to the six in-person drop-in sessions that were previously held throughout August, officers held an engagement session at Turnbull High School on 23 September 2026 which was attended by representatives from two high schools and six primary schools.  
• An interactive map setting out Call for Sites submissions received for consideration in the next Local Development Plan has been published on the Council’s website.
• The Land Planning Policy Team Leader, alongside the Development Applications Manager and Team Leader, meet with officers at Inverclyde Council as part of the National Planning Improvement Framework process.

Sustainability

• The Climate Change Duties Report and progress updates on the actions from the Climate Action Plan were published in advance of being taken to 1 October Council for a decision. This included details of the first meetings of the Community Climate Change Forum and Youth Climate Change Forums on 10 August and 24 August 2026 respectively
• The draft Active Travel Strategy 2, its delivery plans, and its eight evidence reports were published in advance of being taken to 1 October Council for a decision.
• Reports on the Climate Change Duties Report and draft Active Travel Strategy 2 were prepared in advance of Community Planning Partnership Board on 8 October. 

GIS Team

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

Housing Strategy & Systems

• The Housing Policy Team completed the Your Housing News publication that is a requirement of the Scottish Housing Regulator to inform tenants of the Council’s performance against the Scottish Social Housing Charter for Financial Year 2025/26. 
• Performance Monitoring officers are assisting Housing, Capital and Property Maintenance teams to transition from Smartsheet to NEC where functionality allows. This will ensure that data is securely held in a supported environment. 
• The Systems IHMS team has delivered a half day staff training session on new features of NEC and Systems officers have successfully delivered 121 sessions to the Homelessness & Prevention team. 
• Systems officers contributed statistical information to the National Fraud Initiative that takes place every two years and is led by the Council’s Corporate Fraud team.  

Business Support

• Various business support and Business Gateway work streams ongoing. 
• New grants for digital and green business support are now ready.  The digital grant was launched this week and already has applications.  The green grant will launch next week.  These are funded through Local Growth Fund.
• PR has been organised for the grant launch, and this will be issued by Corporate Communications next week when both grants will be open for application online
• Quality Assurance measured by Business Gateway National, shows that East Dunbartonshire continues to have a high satisfaction score of 97%
• The team continues to work on the development of Inward Investment initiatives to support both Westerhill and Kirkintilloch Gateway Master plans.
• The first Site Enabling Regeneration Grant has been completed.

City Deal Team

• Various work streams ongoing, with Bishopbriggs Civic Space and the Westerhill Development Road now on site. 
• Enabling Commercial Space project is now underway for Southbank House, with business case consultants appointed to produce a Full Business Case for approval by Council and Glasgow City Region in 2027.  The Project will address local demand, such as for general commercial space to relieve pressures on constrained local markets and offer particular benefit to SME businesses and start-ups that struggle to fund being sited in appropriate commercial space, and potentially businesses supporting wider supply chains, including to support supply chain clustering underpinning other high value commercial uses.  The Project will also support the Councils wider Accommodation Strategy.

Regeneration & Town Centres Team

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

Traffic & Transport Team

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

Development Management:

• During the reporting period the planning side of the team has determined 49 applications and validated 41 applications. 
• The Building Standards team have received 89 building warrants and approved 119 applications.  
• The Planning Enforcement team have opened 7 new cases and closed  7 cases.

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

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Throughout September, the Democratic Services Team continued to support the internal governance of the Council, in addition to certain regulatory functions. Eleven governance meetings took place during August. Preparations are well advanced for the use of Modern.gov to support the maintenance and publication of Members’ Registers of Interest and it is anticipated that this will launch in November. This will be followed by the development of the system for use in the preparation, approval, and publication of Technical Notes and Contract Standing Orders waiver forms. In time, it will also be used to support public engagement and consultation, and a petitions function.

As part of the Primary and Secondary Schools Registration process, the Team continued to deal with mid-term applications and appeals for placing requests in relation to the 2026/2027 during September.

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

The Team continues to support Children’s Hearings Scotland as part of the North Strathclyde Area Support Team and is currently supporting the annual recruitment of Panel Members with interviews planned for October. Ongoing support continues to be provided to Community Councils, and the Team is finalising the processing of the Community Councils annual grants. The Team also continues to participate in local and national resilience partnership meetings and training exercises.

The Team is responsible for the Council’s Civil Contingencies arrangements. In addition to planning and management of incidents, this includes work relating to CONTEST, which is the UK’s counter-terrorism strategy. There are four strands to this work – Prevent, Pursue, Protect, Prepare. The Council has traditionally been involved in Protect, which involves multi agency work to prevent people from becoming radicalised and becoming or supporting terrorists. This work has steadily been increasing over the last 18 to 24 months.

In addition, Councils are now facing increasing demands relating to Protect (work to strengthen national security and protection against terrorist attacks) and Prepare (work to minimise the impact of attacks and lower the chance of further harm). Demand in relation to these pillars is also increasing and there are series of meetings in October setting out the requirements of local authorities.

The Council continued to deliver registration services in September 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 115 birth and 172 death registrations in September. 33 marriages were also registered in this period.
• There were 16 new citizens welcomed in Citizenship Ceremonies.
• 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 155 FOI/EIRs, 5 internal review requests and 33 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 September is 100% apart from one taxi licence application and one housing repair grant, both of which were processed ouwtih the timescales. 

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

Key Achievements / Areas of Focus

• During September, the Team processed 8 contract review forms and 4 contract award letters, and 1 open market purchase offer.  In addition, 28 taxi licence applications processed, and 9 housing repair grants were processed.  All were processed within the timescales apart from one taxi licence application and 1 housing repair grant.  Considering this, it is not proposed to take any steps currently other than to continue to monitor progress against the set PIs.
• The Team continued to provide support to the wider City Deal team during construction phases specifically during this period supporting ongoing discussions on utilities, liquidated damages and ongoing contract management matters.
• Property and planning work included supporting property aspects of the AHIP2 project, progressing the sale of property at Drymen Road, and concluding the purchase of 14 Kincardine Drive, Bishopbriggs.
• Contracts and procurement work in this period included ongoing support for AHIP2 project including execution of the design and build delivery agreement and associated documents for the former Merkland Primary School site; concluding three data sharing agreements for the East Dunbartonshire Census; approval of the preliminary concession contract for the City Deal EV Charging Project; contracts awarded included Lennoxtown Primary School Multi Use Games Area, agency agreement with SPT for real time passenger information services, and provision of 2 compact sweepers.
• The team assisted with the making of traffic regulation orders for introducing parking charges in Bearsden and Kirkintilloch as well as introduction of traffic free times on streets around Thomas Muir Primary, Meadowburn Primary and Lennoxtown Primary during school drop off and pick up times. 
• 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 continues to provide advice on a wide range of confidential matters including employment advice and support to the Housing Service.  Work has included representing the Council as Education Authority at an Independent Adjudication which resulted in recommendations supporting the approach of the Education Authority.
• Members of the Team also supported preparatory work for the roll out of Copilot chat including assessing potential risks. 

During September, 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 and the implementation of the HCM modules.  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 September remained focussed on delivering against the increased demand from Services around queries in relation to Fusion, whilst managing the ongoing implementation, remodelling and updating of the System.

The Team was also heavily involved with multiple Capital programme requirements, system software renewals, Grant funded projects, Council Building planned maintenance, Transport Contracts  and Housing New Build Maintenance support.

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

Key Achievements / Areas of Focus

• Providing ongoing support to the City Deal team in relation to Contract requirements and alternative procurement route options.
• Supported key Capital, Business & Digital Change projects such as Oracle Fusion Redwood upgrade , Fusion HCM Phase 2, IHMS, Westerhill Development Road, Capital projects such as school estate, Professional Fees, Itrent extension options, Oracle Support updates, school new build contracts, and general budget projects such as school maintenance works, Systems Support whilst supporting workforce of the future planning and Business as Usual workstreams.
• Participation in extensive meetings and workshops to train, test, reconcile and solution implementation for the Oracle Fusion Redwood upgrade.
• Completed renewals for support and maintenance of business-critical systems to facilitate workforce of the future.
• Ongoing support to the /implementation of Fusion to support the technical requirements for Payment integrations, Managed Stores, and e-invoicing. 
• Commenced preparation for the 2025-2026 Annual Procurement Report to include alignments with organisational Climate Action Planning, Circular Economy Strategy, Community Wealth Building & the City Region Community Wish List planning.
• Support to Commissioning team to co-ordinate papering and progressing contractual opportunities around un-commissioned spend and ongoing HSCP service reviews
• Commenced workstream for replacement of 67 new vehicles for Fleet at a value of £3.5million
• Published 2025-2026 Financial information for review prior to publication on the Scottish Government Observatory for spend profiling.
• Processing invoices, payments, and Fusion housekeeping actions.
• Continued efforts to improve payment KPI’s, planning and communications for Oracle Fusion.
• Continued Business Critical expenditure considerations within Buyers Work Centre for spend in excess of £16,500.
• Ongoing work on the review of Contract Standing Orders for alignment with organisational changes, financial management and Procurement governance for reporting to Council in December 2026.
• Continued Fusion Redwood upgrade actions and communications in alignment with the quarterly Oracle schedules, managing the backlog resulting from the system downtime and managing business as usual.
• Continued workstreams for the Oracle Fusion upgrade to Redwood Self Service Procurement, inuding 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 in newly awarded contracts.  Associated document and process developments, alongside training and support with initial supplier meetings for the services involved.

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

Key Achievements / Areas of Focus

• Continued to support and guide progression  of strategic transformation reviews relating to commissioned and in-house services and provided added value via the provision of technical commissioning, project management and budget management expertise.   
• Compiled a Strategic Needs Assessment to inform the development of the Learning Disability Accommodation with Support Strategy, the outcome of the John Street Care Home review and established a cost modelling framework to support implementation within an affordable financial framework  
• Facilitated a Provider Forum for Chief Executives to discuss, explore and seek commitment regarding future investment opportunities across the learning disability commissioned landscape  
• Concluded the reprovisioning of commissioned care and support business following the cessation of a provider - ensuring minimal impact / disruption to service users and carers 
• Commenced preparations for 2027/28 transitions which includes identifying and securing appropriate accommodation with support  within the local area if where possible.
• Working collaboratively with children and families’ providers to explore alternative commissioning arrangements that deliver more flexible, innovative and value for money services /models. 
• Continued to monitor and report on financial frameworks underpinning strategic reviews to ensure accuracy, alignment with the HSCP’s medium term financial plan and respective commissioning delivery plans.   
• Contributed to and supported progression of multi-agency collaborative inpatient redesign approaches geared towards alleviating acute and community pressures.  
• The team continued to play a central role in leading and supporting the HSCP with the operational and business / commercial aspects of commissioned services, ensuring delivery of safe and effective services and value for money. 

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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.

Health & Safety

The Corporate Health and Safety team provides a range of occupational safety and health services, including advice on statutory guidance, safety action notices, safe working and training, incident reporting and investigation, including RIDDOR and support for services when requesting statistics under Freedom of Information requests as well as personal injury claims incident reports.  The H&S Team continues to work cooperatively with Trade Union colleagues to review incidents statistics and other health and safety activities.

Ongoing and comprehensive health and safety assistance is provided to services throughout the council, HSCP and EDLCT, conducting multiple site visits to offer expert guidance, address emerging issues, and assist with the completion of risk assessments and safe systems of work. 

The H&S Team have been involved in development of COSHH and Hazardous Waste Training and delivering of training including Induction Training, Manual Handling and Violence and Aggression Training.  The Team took part in the Gender Lens training as part of the Violence Against Women Group Training.

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

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

The focus continues for Construction Design and Management compliance with site visits, inspections, reviewing construction phase plans, risk assessments and method statements for refurbishment, general estate repairs, new builds, paths, roads and greenspace projects for various teams.  Specific site visits during this period include Merkland Recreation, the Marina walkway 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 were involved in meetings with the Fire Service regarding Fire Action Notices.

The team promote a positive health and safety culture by encouraging the prompt reporting of health and safety incidents and near misses throughout the council.  These are recorded and investigated where required.  The team liaise with relevant managers and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) where appropriate to ensure that any necessary corrective or preventive actions are implemented.

Carriageway & Footway Defects (September 2026)

Between 1–30 September 2026, 236 defects were identified across East Dunbartonshire. Of these, 198 repairs were completed within SLA (94.2 %), 12 were late (5.8 %), and 26 remain outstanding but are still within SLA.

Road Works Delivery (September 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. The majority of projects were completed on schedule as advised on technical notes. 
Technical Notes 2026, Issue 70 - Roads & Neighbourhood Services 2026/27 Carriageway and Footway Resurfacing Programme - East Dunbartonshire Council

Gully Cleaning Performance (September 2026)

A total of 22,011 annually gullies maintain across the network. Between 1 April 2026 and 30 September 2026, 12,448 gullies were cleaned (57.8 %). This includes 6,084 of 6,372 gullies on primary routes (96 %) and 6,228 of 14,070 on secondary routes (44.3 %). This reflects strong delivery in drainage maintenance and contributes to reducing flood risk.

Safety Inspections (September 2026)

A total of 18 scheduled safety inspections (carriageway and footway) were completed, all within required inspection intervals.

Winter Maintenance (September 2026)

No Action.

Streetlighting 

• Capital LED replacement programme is ongoing
• Defect continue to be repaired, but there is a delay on the delivery of replacement parts 

Flooding 

• Lindsaybeg Road, Lenzie – Flooding Emergency works - Completed. 

Drainage

• Roman Road, Bearsden – Repair of drainage carrier pipe - Completed.  

Traffic 

• Pavement Parking Exemption and Mitigation Actions continue

Structures

• All structure inspections continue as per work plan 

Streetscene Operations

• In-house carriageway spraying ongoing, team arranging follow up sweeping with large and small mechanical sweepers.

Streetscene Technical Support

• Twechar Pump Track – practical completion agreed - facility now opened
• Twechar Healthy Living Centre – several pieces of play equipment updated/added – reviewing other opportunities
• Briefs for Play Areas at Lennox Park (Gym/Fitness), Lennox Crescent (replacement equipment), Langfaulds Park (refurb play area), High Park (refurb play area) Milton of Campsie  (Gym/Fitness) – all now with procurement
• Cemetery Management Rules – Scottish Govt regs now being finalised and implemented prior to March 2026 – EDC rules will now be updated for submission to committee  - date to be confirmed
• Headstones/Memorials Inspection – inspections complete at Campsie Cemetery and New Kilpatrick Churchyard – make safe progressing at Campsie and New Kilpatrick. Inspections complete in Cadder Cemetery – make safe to follow
• Cadder Cemetery Extension – Planning application submitted – likely date for determination later in 2026
• Langfaulds Cemetery - consultants working to finalise design works for next phase
• Ash Dieback  - committee report approved by full Council - recommendations to be progressed from report with sub group now set up
• Lenzie Moss – signage for site designs agreed – will be installed in October
• Bishopbriggs Park Management Plan – now in draft will be shared with community groups at an in person meeting in October

Mugdock Country Park

• 63,442 visitors 
• 9 volunteer days (40hrs) with a total of 71 volunteers
• 10 events with 183 participants in total.

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 Waste Technical and Compliance Team dealt with 709 general enquiries in September.
• The Mavis Valley Household Waste Recycling Centre received
• 13486 bookings.
  The Waste Compliance Officer and Waste Services Officer attended a presentation at Forfar Recycling Centre, hosted by Angus Council and Zero Waste Scotland. This was to review a new project around the implementation and benefits of introducing a sorting station at the recycling centre facilities.  Angus Council have made improvement in their recycling rates while reducing general waste tonnage.
• The service has worked to re-introduce improved recycling facilities at some flatted developments in the area including, Cedar Road in Bishopbriggs and Fossil Grove in Kirkintilloch. The aim is to improve the quality of recycling being produced and support in general waste reduction. The team has also met with the factors of Norwood Park, Bearsden to discuss the introduction of recycling facilities in the near future.
• The Waste Services Officer attended the Good Food Nation Governance event in Kirkintilloch, where the aim of the event was for the group to discuss phase 1 of the agenda. This included the group agreeing governance arrangements, identifying leads for each workstream, and mapping current food related activity across East Dunbartonshire.
• Officers have worked with procurement on implementing new contracts for Mavis Valley HWRC for the disposal/treatment of wood and gas cannisters following some challenges with recent market availability.

•  Between 1st to 30th September 2026, the team inspected and repaired 241 vehicles and items of plant, all in accordance with our servicing schedules and defect procedures. 
•  We are currently awaiting delivery of several new vehicles and plant assets to replace older equipment as part of our scheduled fleet replacement programme.
•  We continue to support Council services by delivering ASN transport and distributing essential supplies to vulnerable residents, including meals for early years facilities and lunch clubs.
•  Work is progressing on managing the capital programme for fleet asset replacements throughout the financial year.
•  We are actively identifying and evaluating suitable council sites for EV charger installations. This infrastructure planning is a critical step in enabling the replacement of our internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles with electric alternatives.
•  We are maintaining our CPC training schedule to ensure all relevant drivers meet their requirements before the deadline. Furthermore, we continue to manage our fleet operations in full compliance with operator licensing legislation, maintaining a 'Green' DVSA Operator Compliance Risk Score for both Traffic and Compliance.
•  Our in-house maintenance team continues to support front-line operations, covering everything from standard vehicle repairs to the upkeep of horticultural and construction plant equipment.
•  We have now awarded the fleet management system contract to Chevin FleetWave, and we are currently replacing our telematics and camera systems. 
•  We have implemented a data-led approach to fleet management, evidenced by our recent utilisation report. By using telematics data to identify under-utilised assets, we can refine our vehicle replacement programme, ensuring resources are focused on high-demand service areas while driving down the overall fleet size. 
•  We are actively monitoring external hires.
•  Fleet have developed a new driving at work and fleet management policy.
•  Recent recruitment exercises have been successfully carried out, and the workshop staff is now fully staffed.