How Good Is Our Service - December 2022

Monthly Performance Report

On this page you will find information on:

• Assets and Facilities
• Customer and Business Support Services
• East Dunbartonshire Leisure and Culture Trust
• Education
• Finance & Audit
• Health and Social Care Partnership
• Housing
• Land Planning and Development
• Legal and Democratic Services
• Neighbourhood Services
• Organisational Transformation
• Place and Community Planning
• Roads and Environment

 

 

Assets and Facilities

Property Maintenance

Voids performance has increased in December to 100% from 98% in November, exceeding our overall target of 85%. We have consistently exceeded our target this year and we continue to look at ways of maintaining and enhancing performance going forward.

Property Maintenance have achieved our target of 100% for Gas Servicing in December with 280 properties serviced in the month. We continue to achieve our target each month and we are confident this will continue throughout the remainder of the year.

Reactive repairs are ongoing and we continue to perform well in dealing with emergency and non-emergency repairs.  However, there was a significant increase in emergency repairs due to severe weather conditions in December with almost double the number of repairs carried out compared with November which has adversely affected performance in this area for the month. The Care & Repair service continues to operate well, with Aids & Adaptation works ongoing and progressing well across the stock.

The Smoke & Heat alarm installation programme has reached its conclusion and we have achieved our plan of visiting all properties across the estate in line with Government targets with more recent installations meaning 96% of properties are now fitted with Smoke & Heat alarms. The remaining properties have been no access. The service will continue to schedule these installations as and when tenants make contact. We continue to carry out the installation of Smoke & Heat alarms for residents in East Dunbartonshire eligible through our Care & Repair service and this is being well received. We are also referring residents who do not meet the criteria to Scottish Fire and Rescue Service where they can request a Home Fire Safety visit to determine whether SFRS can provide them with assistance.

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

Facilities Management

The rollout of the new FM structure is nearing conclusion and employee displaced meetings are continuing with the aim to secure suitable alternative positions for displaced employees. Recruitment of all vacant positions commenced in July, however there was limited interest in these positions and recruitment open days were organised in October, advertising all available positions within FM. Interviews were held during October, November and December and will continue on an on-going basis to fill vacant positions. 

All FM Lead and Catering Co-ordinator positions are filled and staff training is on-going.

A catering consultation exercise is in progress and will be released early January. This consists of two online surveys for Stakeholders to complete in relation to Primary and Secondary school meals. The aim is to gain feedback regarding the catering service to shape the future delivery of the service and assist with menu planning.

The uptake of free school meals in Primary school for the month of December was below target, however the target was achieved in Secondary schools. Our focus remains on improving the uptake in the lower performing schools. Significant work was undertaken to ensure the lunch menu complies with the revised nutritional regulations and we continue to work with suppliers to source alternative food products, ensuring the menu complies with the revised regulations and meets all nutritional standards.

The service has worked with the Soil Association to meet the criteria to achieve their Food for Life Bronze Award and following an evaluation of evidence against the set criteria, the service has been award the Food for Life Served Here award – Bronze status. A celebratory event was held at Thomas Muir Primary school in December when representatives from the Food for Life team officially presented the award to the Council. Internal communication was issued to advertise this achievement. We continue to work with the Soil Associate and our aim is to work towards the next level of award status.

Estates

There are 73 Operational Assets which require an annual Gas Safety Check. For the month of December 2 properties required an annual Gas Safety Check. These properties were serviced prior to the anniversary date. With robust measures in place to monitor performance, we are confident that all safety checks will be completed throughout the year. The annual gas safety checks for 2023 have been scheduled in for the months of January, February and March 2023 with our current contractors. The remaining months of 2023 will be scheduled in via a new contractor(s) once appointed through the Scotland Excel Framework.

The Phase 2 Boiler Replacement programme is progressing, with Mosshead PS new boiler due to be installed early in the New Year, with Holy Family and Castlehill Primary Schools scheduled for March/April 2023. The remaining 9 schools will be scheduled in between Easter and over the summer holiday period with no (or very little) disruption to the schools.

Officers continue to progress reactive repairs across the Education and Operational Estate on a daily basis with over 150-200 repairs processed on average every month through Property Maintenance or our external contractors.

The Quality Assurance service continue to inspect the cleaning standards across the Educational Estate, with over 40 assets inspected and reports produced monthly. 

Estates Management continue to market vacant premises within the non-operational estate. During the month of December new lease agreements were finalised for Suite 1 Enterprise House, 91 Main Street, Lennoxtown and Suites 12 and the Craigallian suite, Milngavie Enterprise Centre.  At present the non-operational estate is over 94% occupied.

Officers are working with the Antermony Development Trust to conclude the formal Community Asset Transfer of Antermony Loch in early course.

Officers continue to progress disposals with colleagues in Legal Services to ensure that capital receipts are delivered and ongoing liabilities i.e. non-domestic rates, utilities, security etc are reduced. Missives are now concluded for the sale of Kelvinbank Resource Centre.

Development & Investment

Phase 2 of the Boclair Academy project, which involves the demolition of the original building and the development of car parking, wider external spaces and an additional sports pitch continues to progress well, with the original building almost completely cleared form the site.  The project remains due for completion in early June 2023.

Good progress continues to be made towards completion of Phase 1 of the new Allander Leisure Centre. The existing Leisure Centre will close on 15th January 2023 to allow for the completion of final utility connections and for the decant of furniture and equipment to the new Centre. The new Centre will open on Monday 6th March, with work currently progressing with HSCP and Kelvinbank to agree transitional arrangements and an opening date for care services at the new Allander.

The new ASN School in Kirkintilloch remains on schedule to complete in mid-2023. The Luggie Park continues to be maintained by the contractor team and inspected on a regular basis ahead of handover, currently anticipated in late spring / early summer 2023.  

Kirkintilloch Community Sports Complex will be substantially complete by the end of January 2023, with some final external works concluding over the spring.

The development of affordable housing at Kerr St, Kirkintilloch continues to progress well towards completion in March 2023. Capital works across the Council’s existing Affordable Housing stock, including kitchen and bathroom replacement, roof replacement, External Wall Insulation projects and central heating replacement all remain in progress.

A contractor and design team have commenced development of proposals for each of the two lots which comprise the Council’s next Affordable Housing Investment Programme, involving up to 11 sites and which aims to further increase the supply of affordable housing in East Dunbartonshire over the next 5 years. Site surveys are now underway and revised development proposals for each site will be progressed in early course. 

The refurbishment of Brookwood Villa continues to progress well over the period and remains on target for completion by mid-2023.

Projects at Balmuildy, Milngavie and Bearsden Primary Schools are all progressing towards planning applications early in 2023. Following Council approval in December, a feasibility review into the development of a new-build replacement primary school and community facilities on the Westerton Hall site, incorporating a new Westerton Primary School, will commence in early 2023 and report back to Council during the course of the calendar year.

The construction of new all-weather pitches are progressing well at both Killermont PS and Holy Family PS. Both are now substantially complete with final finished surfaces at each due to be installed when air temperatures have increased.

Work is on-going to prepare the revised Housing Capital and General Services Capital Investment Plans, both of which will be submitted for approval by Council in February 2023. A feasibility review of future decarbonisation measures required for both the Council’s Housing and Learning Estates has now concluded and the findings of each will be considered in through the revised Capital Plans and inform future investment planning across each estate.

Key Achievements / Areas of Focus

• Achieved 100% compliance for Gas Servicing with focus on this continuing going forward.
• Continued positive level of performance in void turnaround times with 100% of properties completed within our target timescales.
• Kitchen, Bathroom, Central Heating and Roofing upgrade programmes ongoing with positive feedback being received from tenants across all contracts.
• Continue to monitor and improve processes within Voids to ensure turnaround times exceed our performance target.
• Assess and improve functionality of Total Mobile and the integration with Servitor to enable a more streamlined and efficient service.
• 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.
• Continue to carry out the installation of Smoke & Heat alarms for tenants and residents in East Dunbartonshire.
• Progress decoration works across school estate.
• 100% of Operational Assets requiring a Gas Safety check within the year’s anniversary of the previous check are completed.
• Schedule in the upcoming Gas Safety Checks, which are required over January (4 properties) and February (30 properties) with contractors.
• Continued progress in the delivery of capital works in the Council’s existing Affordable Housing estate, including kitchen/bathroom replacement.
• Improve uptake of nutritious school meals.
• Improve communications with customers and stakeholders to ensure the highest level of service delivery.
• Reduce FM overtime.
• Progress with recruitment exercise to fill identified vacant FM positions.

Customer and Business Support Services

Communications & Engagement

The key focus of the Communications & Engagement Team in December was… the continued promotion of the cost of living support package agreed by Council and the launch of the Budget consultation. Given the Christmas and New Year shut down it was a quieter month for media relations with 17 enquiries (28 in November) 10 media releases (19 in November) and five photo calls. All releases are on the Council website news section and the local and national regional coverage achieved equated to an equivalent advertising value of £6,880k. Social media posts continued to generate good interaction across a range of themes. There were 138 Facebook posts generating a reach of almost 900k and 129 Tweets generating a potential reach of 2.8m. The top posts for engagement on Facebook were in relation to the return of the annual schools instrumental music Christmas Concert at the Royal Concert Hall, the farewell post to the Allander Leisure Centre and gritting. Top posts on Twitter were the farewell to the Allander, the Council report on a potential new-build Westerton Primary School and the weather/gritting updates. Video on both YouTube and posted to Facebook continued to do well this month with the schools choir rendition of Highland Cathedral at the Concert Hall receiving over 2,000 views.

Corporate Performance

In December 2022, 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. The latest draft of the annual Public Performance Report was shared with Executive Officers for final proofing ahead of an early 2023 publication. The team also continues to ensure the council has adequate insurance arrangements in place, acting as a point of escalation in regards to any claims made. All business as usual work was completed within agreed timescales.

Customer Services

Throughout December, the Customer Services team continued to deliver customer services across all channels. Average call response times were again within the three minute performance target. Training of new recruits to the team and refresher training across the existing team was also a continued focus for the month. Management of the 24/7 ERC coverage, standby emergency registration coverage and the delivery of customer services between the Christmas and New Year period (28-30 December) was also a key priority. A total of 202 direct messages through social media were received and actioned (159 Facebook, 43 Twitter) a significant increase compared to 116 in November. A total of 162 direct messages were sent (158 on Facebook, 4 Twitter) compared to 119 the previous month. Face to face appointment demands continued to be met in the four Community Hubs.

Revenues & Benefits

The Revenues and Benefits team have continued to process Council Tax and Benefits services and administration of the Scottish Welfare Fund. The new online Council Tax System has gone live with a soft launch providing secure access by residents to their Council Tax account. The team have started receiving notifications through this system as residents find the link through the website. The new system will be promoted in line with the annual billing process. Work continues to implement a new Document Management System to replace the current system which is approaching end of life. The team continue to support other teams including the Ukrainian Refugee Support Team and Shared Services Education.

Shared Services

The Shared Services team continue to provide support across all Council services. The Social Work and Education teams completed the record gathering requirements for both service areas for the CARH (Children at Risk of Harm) inspection. The Social Work Team continue to develop processes around Child Disability Payment and Adult Disability Payment. The Transport team updated responsible adult records to help SPT cleanse the database. The School Support Co-ordinators continue to work closely with their primary and nursery school clusters to ensure that their schools funds are being managed appropriately and audits carried out. The team are receiving significant numbers of requests for public funding for clients already in care homes as self-funders and who are falling below the charging threshold.

ICT Services

The ICT Services team continue to support the Council’s information technology systems and services to ensure high availability and performance in line with agreed service levels. The Team received 1486 tickets in December and dealt with 600 telephone calls, reflecting the shortened month due to the Christmas holidays. ICT continue to support the migration of services to Microsoft 365 in partnership with the Business and Digital Change Team. The infrastructure team have commenced the deployment of new networking hardware to refresh the Education estate and improve connectivity. The ICT Security team continue to monitor the estate and perimeter defences alongside ongoing improvements to ensure that our systems and data are protected.

Key Achievements / Areas of Focus

Communications & Engagement

• Supported the Provost’s Christmas Card Competition by liaising with Primary and ASN Schools, supporting the judging panel, turning the winning design both printed and e-card and promoting the winners.
• Created webpages and delivered two seasonal social media campaigns; Winter Safety and Festive Information for residents.
• Supported the communications for the Catering team’s Food for Life Bronze Award including co-ordinating the event and working with the Soil Association on promotion.
• Design of the Tenant Participation Strategy, HSCP’s 12 Days of Christmas social media calendar, Active Travel strategy and 2023 waste calendars.
• Delivered communications relating to the closure of the Allander Leisure Centre ahead of new centre opening including social media posts, FAQs and press release.
• Supported the Provost’s Christmas appeal including co-ordination of collection bins, design of posters, internal communications and promoting fantastic donations.

Corporate Performance

• Analysis undertaken of East Dunbartonshire Budget Survey 2022 Results to inform budget decisions taken for 2023-24 and beyond.
• Draft of the Councils annual public performance report sent out to EO’s for approval in advance of publication in March 2023
• Area infographics profiles developed with the Comms & Engagement team for the Place areas with a view to expanding this approach across all localities in 2023
• Initial analysis undertaken of pre-release LGBF data due for Publication in 2023
• Work is ongoing on our Insurance Tender Renewal for new insurance arrangements to be in place by June 2023
• Following Council approval of a revised corporate risk register, work continues to update the operational risk registers to be in place in the 2023/24 reporting period.
• Additional data support provided for the ongoing inspection of Children’s Services
• Work underway with the Alcohol and Drugs Partnership to assist in the implementation of a new statutory dataset of addictions indicators due for reporting in 2023.

Customer Services

• Continued focus on training of new agents on customer service delivery across all channels and to prepare recruitment plans for January to fill remaining vacancies
• Continued CCTV monitoring in the ERC and participation in the project to replace CCTV infrastructure and monitoring equipment
• Continuing with roll-out of the Netcall telephony upgrade to improve call handling and performance management
• Contributing to the CRM replacement project to deliver a new and improved customer relationship management system that will enhance efficiency and service delivery.

Revenues and Benefits

• The team issued and dealt with the queries on over 2000 Council Tax bills, 1300 reminders, 500 summary warrants and 2810 Benefits notifications. The team issued 100 Non-Domestic Rates bills and 135 NDR reminders.
• Soft launch of the new Citizens Access Revenues - enabling customer to sign up for on line billing, view accounts, set up Direct Debit and advise us of moves online.
• The team dealt with over 2000 telephone enquiries in December.
• Continue to administer the revised Self Isolation Support Grant applications and payments.

Shared Services

• Processed the Christmas Child Bridging payment and Free School Meal payment for 2485 children/young people totalling just over £1Million.
• Processed a payment in lieu of Free School Meals for eligible children during the school strikes.
• Updated the Council website and online application forms for Placing Requests, Early Entry and School Registrations
• Provided support for the CARH Inspection process
• The Complaints Team aided services in the completion of Freedom of Information requests as well as their normal duties.
• The Residential Team added 48 service agreements to Carefirst for clients moving into care homes. 
• The Homecare Team is processing a significant quantity of variations in homecare packages due to the holiday season
• The Transport Team initiated the process for transport request for academic year 2023/24 by issuing round one information to Education and Social Work for completion
• The DP Audit Team completed 16 direct payment audits for clients receiving Self Directed Support EDC

ICT Services

• ICT Services are working closely with the Business and Digital Change Team to implement M365. This included:
• Migration of 6 pilot user in December
• Procurement of backup services for M365
• Implementation of mobile services for MS Outlook
• Completed the upgrade of the Non-Domestic Rates system to the latest supported database version.
• Completed the installation of new network infrastructure at Twechar Primary as a pilot for the deployment to all Primary schools
• Completed the preparatory work for the removal of CC4 at Turnbull High School.
• Completed the upgrade of the perimeter firewalls and internet filtering devices to the latest software versions to maintain our security posture and protect Council assets.

East Dunbartonshire Leisure and Culture Trust

Leisure Centres
2022/2023

As expected with the World Cup, festive preparations and colder weather conditions the period 9 headcounts dropped across all three centres.

Libraries

For period 8, there were 28,582 visits in person and digital usage was 51,628. This represents 99% of the overall target for the period.  Visits in person continue to increase and have achieved 85% of target for the period. Digital usage continues to be consistently above or close to target.

Period 9

Target: 81,232
Actual: 80,210

Detail	Actual	Target	% of Target
Physical	28,582	33,555	85%
Digital	51,628	47,676	108%
Total	80,210	81,232	99%

Museums

For period 9 there were 1,522 visits in person and digital usage was 3,455 totaling 4,977. This represents 116% of the overall target for the period. Compared with P8, visits in person have increased by 23% and digital usage has increased by 26%.

Period 9

Target: 4,304
Actual: 4,977

Detail	Actual	Target	% of Target
Physical	1,522	1,798	85%
Digital	3,455	2,506	138%
Total	4,977	4,304	116%

Sports Development

Sports Development members for term time programmes dropped by 27 in period 9 with a total 2,481 members attending our weekly programmes across all sports. Many staff finished mid-December to use up their annual leave as this is the only time of the year when Sports Development classes stop for the holidays.

Active Schools

This term the Active Schools team have been working to re-establish core extra-curricular activity across East Dunbartonshire schools, with the long term aim to build back to the levels of activity seen pre-pandemic. The first step in this process is to begin to gather full data on extra-curricular activity levels in each school, something which has not been possible since before the pandemic.

The team completed this process at the start of January 2023, and are awaiting for sportscotland to publish the complete analysis. The following information can be reported prior to the official statistics being released:

• There were 1725 male and 1405 female distinct participants in extracurricular sport and physical activity across all East Dunbartonshire schools.
• 245 people delivered extracurricular sport, 226 of which were volunteers.
• Of the total deliverers 94 were young leaders (14+ secondary pupils) who delivered activity across the local authority.
• 29 schools (primary, secondary and ASN) had direct input from one or more local sports clubs during term 1.

Key Achievements / Areas of Focus

Leisure Centres

The Leisuredrome gym completed phase two of upgrading with a redecoration of the facility. Service work was completed to the swimming pools resulting in a two day closure to allow safe working conditions for contractors.

The new Gym extension at KLC opened during quarter 3 with positive feedback from both existing and new customers.

Cultural Services

Bishopbriggs Library was a key venue for Light up Bishopbriggs and recorded impressive visits and new memberships.

The Christmas exhibitions at both the Lillie Art Gallery and Auld Kirk Museum proved popular this year and saw an overall increase in visits of 35%, compared with the same period last year. Income from sales increase by 12% compares with the same period last year. This shows that, although visitor numbers increased, income was proportionately less.

Education

School Planning and Improvement Team

• East Dunbartonshire Council agreed that proposals be prepared for a new-build Westerton Primary School, co-located with a new library, community hall and early years facility, following an update on the feasibility of the previously agreed refurbishment of the existing school site. The council will prepare to engage with the local community to shape future proposals. 
• The final phase of landscaping for the new Boclair Academy continues to  progress as planned and is due for completion by Summer 2023.
• The new Woodland View School build continues to make very good progress and is on schedule for completion by Summer 2023. The Head Teacher has been appointed and the management and staffing structures are being reviewed.
• Planning for the refurbishment of Bearsden and Milngavie Primary Schools is ongoing, with a focus on decant planning for both schools and finalising designs. Going forward, transport analysis for both sites will be a continued area of focus, along with stakeholder consultation.

Early Years and Supporting Families

• The Admissions Policy has been updated in order to inform parents of the process for applying for early learning and childcare places as well as containing information on the new legislation on deferred entry. This has been shared with Early Years Centres and is now uploaded onto the Council Website.
• Applications for deferred entry for an additional year of early learning and childcare opened in December and will close on 31st January. From August 2023 all children, whose fifth birthday falls on or between the first day of the school term in August and the last day of the following February, are automatically entitled to 1140 hours of funded early learning and childcare for their deferred entry year.
• A total of 48 parents are currently being supported through 1 to 1 parent interventions.10 new Requests for Assistance were received in December.
• Two Seasons for Growth (Children and Young People) groups were completed in December. 9 children were supported over the 8 week programme.
• Further recruitment for staff to join the supply bank to work in Snack and Play and ASN playschemes took place in December resulting in a further 24 new appointments.
• Professional Learning: Moderation - A second Assessment and Moderation event was delivered by the West Partnership with a focus on the moderation cycle. This is supporting Depute Heads of Centre and Managers to gain a deeper knowledge of the learning, teaching and assessment cycle in early years. There will be a future session taking place in March 2023 to further enhance knowledge and understanding.
• An information session was provided by the East Dunbartonshire team of inspectors on the newly published Care Inspectorate Quality Framework (February 2022). This was well attended by Managers, Heads and Depute Heads of Centres from both council and funded provider centres. The session also involved a question and answer session which supported attendees to gain further knowledge and understanding of the framework and inspection processes. 

Primary, Secondary and ASN Schools

• The HMI Inspection Report was published for Holy Family Primary School and Early Years Centre. The inspection evaluated the school as follows:

Quality Indicator	Quality Indicator	Evaluation
1.3	Leadership of change	Satisfactory
2.3	Learning, teaching and assessment	Good
3.1	Ensuring wellbeing, equality and inclusion	Good
3.2	Raising attainment and achievement	Good

        

            The inspection evaluated the Early Years Centre as follows:

    

	Quality Indicator	Quality Indicator	Evaluation
1.3	Leadership of change		Good
2.3	Learning, teaching and assessment		Good
3.1	Ensuring wellbeing, equality and inclusion		Good
3.2	Raising attainment and achievement		Good

• The Quality Improvement Team will continue to support the school with continuous improvement, supported by an action plan. A detailed report was shared with the Education Committee.
• Curriculum leaders across all subject areas in secondary schools engaged in discussion on the Hayward Review and the implications for assessment and qualifications in the Senior Phase curriculum. This included the development of vocational courses across all levels and approaches to assessment for National Qualifications.
• Following consultation, partnership working with Motivation, Commitment and Resilience (MCR) pathways will be introduced across four secondary schools. This national relationships based mentoring programme will provide support to care experienced young people and those who have experienced disadvantage.
• Partnership working with college providers has led to a revised vocational curriculum including in- school provision and locality arrangements to support access for young people.
• Outdoor Education secured funding from Cycling Scotland to deliver Level 2 Bikeability to primary Schools. From August until end of December, 14 primary schools participated, giving 539 young people the opportunity to work with expert instructors to experience “real” cycling on quiet roads.
• Since August 22, 362 young people completed expeditions across Bronze, Silver and Gold levels in the Duke of Edinburgh Award. A key area of focus will be to build on this success from January 2023 onwards.
• Instrumental Music Service represented EDC at the Investiture Ceremony hosted by the Provost and Lord Lieutenant at Kilmardinny House. A string ensemble comprising 12 pupils from 4 secondary schools provided background music for medal ceremony and afternoon tea.
• The Christmas Gala Concert took place on 5 December in Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, welcoming a capacity audience of over 2000 people. Performances included:

Symphony Orchestra - 77 pupils from our secondary schools

Primary Choir - 237 pupils from our primary schools

Choir and Clarsach Group from Meadowburn Gaelic unit

EDC Children’s Chorus and Youth Choir

EDC Pipers

Merkland and Campsie View Choir

Skills for Life, Learning and Work Update

• A learning celebration was held to mark the continued progress of adult learners undertaking adult literacy and English for Speakers of other Languages. The event gave learners the opportunity to demonstrate their new skills and to read out stories and poems they had worked on during the term.  A new full time English for Speakers of other Languages tutor will start in January who will have a main focus on working with Ukrainian learners.
• Youth Development Workers in secondary schools developed and delivered a range of youth activities linked to Christmas including a group of young people in Kirkintilloch High running a coffee morning to raise funds for Sporting Aces and the Foodbank, a Christmas Fayre at Merkland which raised £2000 and young people from Douglas Academy working with Gavin’s Mill cafe to improve and learn new culinary skills.

Finance & Audit

The month of December saw the Finance Team progressing initial work on the 2023/24 budget and the reporting of the Financial Planning and Budget Update 2022/23 to Council. 

Following the Scottish Government’s Budget announcement on 15 December, Finance performed initial analysis of the associated allocations to East Dunbartonshire Council. There are complexities associated with this analysis as the headline figures need to be compared to the ring fenced allocations and the assumptions of income already made, such as towards the pay agreement.  Some clarifying questions were raised with the Scottish Government on the information provided. Once all these issues and questions have been resolved, an updated expected financial gap for 2023/24 can be established as the basis for further work on the budget.

Work has also continued to progress the service concession flexibilities. These fiscal flexibilities were previously proposed within the 2022/23 Budget but this Scottish Government proposal was not suitably developed to allow a definitive financial assessment at that time. The Scottish Government has agreed to changes proposed by the Directors of Finance which will enable the Council to remodel debt relating to PPP/PFI contracts over the life of the asset, as opposed to the life of the contract.

The Council continues to deliver against an ambitious capital programme supported largely by borrowing. Where this remains the case the Council continues to plan to incur increasing revenue costs through servicing this debt.

The majority of vacancies have now been filled. One remaining post has been re-advertised and following a successful interview it is hoped to fill this position in January 2023.

Internal Audit have been focussing on continuing the 2022/23 audit plan, with audits for the Council and the HSCP underway.  Work recently completed includes HSCP Corporate Governance, Social Work Charging and Total Mobile.  Work nearing completion includes Hardware Asset Management, Insurance and Trading Standards.

The Corporate Fraud Team have been undertaking investigations as a result of referrals received and have been undertaking vetting of applications for services such as Housing, Education, Licensing and Estates to secure the gateways by preventing fraud or error entering the system.

Key Achievements / Areas of Focus

• Financial planning and budgeting continue to be a key focus, with a planned in year use of reserves being compounded by inflationary pressures and the pay settlement. 
• Allocation figures for 2023/24 from the Scottish Government are being reviewed.
• The Treasury team continue 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.
• Work has continued in line with the 2022/23 Internal Audit Plan, with work progressing across a number of Council and HSCP services.
• Corporate Fraud are investigating allegations received, focusing on Education suspected fraud or error in registrations and on National Fraud Initiative matches.
• Finance have taken steps to monitor and reporting on the costs associated with the Cost of Living Support Programme.
• Initial steps are being taken in appraising the options for potentially replacing the General Ledger system.
• Following successful recruitment a number of candidates are being provided with on the job coaching as they begin working in the Council’s Finance team.

Health and Social Care Partnership

The HSCP and its staff continue to work through the constraints of the pandemic to support the most vulnerable people in our community and promote social justice, equality and safety. In doing so, the Partnership rigorously applies its Business Continuity Plans and Covid-19 Recovery and Transition Plans.

The Covid-19 outbreak has continued to impact on a number of the performance metrics. Ongoing adaptation and prioritisation of health and social care resources in response to critical response management, the continued implementation of the vaccine programme, have all impacted on our ability to deliver the full range of services as they were delivered pre-pandemic. 

Despite these significant operational challenges, the HSCP continues to deliver on the majority of its performance indicators.

Key Achievements / Areas of Focus

Key Achievements:

• Consultation continuing on the refreshed HSCP Carers Strategy

Participation in and promotion of:

• Naloxone postal service, Naloxone temporarily reverses the effects of opioid steroids
• Overdose Response Team
• Quit your Way, promoting that you could save approximately £165 before Christmas if you stop smoking at the start of December
• Power of Attorney
• Flu and Covid-19 vaccinations
• World Aids Day

Areas of Focus:

Children and Criminal Justice Services:

• CARH Inspection
• Supporting Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children to begin their recovery and live in safety in nurturing placements in East Dunbartonshire.
• There has been an increase in the number of Looked After and Accommodated placements across East Dunbartonshire throughout 2021-22. Work is ongoing to redress the balance of care by reviewing out of authority placements and continuing the Foster Carer recruitment campaign.
• Delivery of year 2 of House Project which will improve outcomes for young Care Leavers.
• Implement the Children’s Services Plan which covers areas such as Community Mental Health and Wellbeing, Keeping Children Safe, Corporate Parenting and Healthy Lifestyles.
• Implement The Promise with a focus on Family Group Decision Making.
• Implementation of the Children and Young People’s Mental Health and Wellbeing Framework.
• Refresh EDC child protection procedures to reflect the new national child protection guidance.
• Address the unpaid work services backlog to ensure those sentenced are able to complete their hours and are not breaching any order.

Adult Services:

• Close working with colleagues in Acute NHS service to ensure people are not delayed in their discharge from hospital.
• Continue to ensure that we provide Self Directed Support training to Social Work and Health practitioners to instil confidence and knowledge about the options amongst the workforce. 
• Continue to implement our Digital Health and Care Actions, seeking to link traditional telecare with telehealth monitoring and technology enabled care. Aiming to maximise the experience of remote technology and implement the Analogue to Digital Telecare Transformation by 2024.
• Work continues to analyse and manage care home admission pressures, taking into account the potential consequences, both personal and organisational, for decision-making, with the aim to optimise the service model in relation to quality and efficiency. Although there has been a downturn in the numbers seeking a Care Home placement, the complexity of those being managed in the community continues to rise.
• Continuing to provide multi-disciplinary intensive oversight, support and assurance for all care homes and other registered care providers in the area.
• Continue to pursue achievement of compliance with target timescales for adult protection cases.
• Taking forward the Allander Leisure and Day Care Centre - to be augmented by informal community based support network and the development of community led partnerships to facility the growth of employability and third and voluntary sector supports.
• Conduct a strategic review of all formal and informal social supports for older people to inform a five year strategy and commissioning plan, including centre based day care. 
• Refresh the HSCP Carers Strategy.

Housing

The Housing service is made up of 4 teams, Estates, Rents, Strategy & Systems along with Homelessness and there are currently 58 members of staff working within these teams.

At this time, there are 2 vacancies and 2 members of staff are on maternity leave.

Housing manage 3763 social rented properties, 3712 of these are mainstream accommodation and 51 are used for Homeless Temporary Accommodation.  The service also manages 78 Lead Tenancies which are rented from either private landlords or Housing Associations, to assist with accommodating homeless households.

At present, the Housing list for East Dunbartonshire has 3389 applications, made up of the following:

General Waiting list 2500 applicants waiting (25 currently 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  569 applicants (29 currently 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   222 applicants (36 currently 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   6 applicants (3 currently 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, 18 properties have been re let; 18 mainstream (all 18 general needs).

They were let to the following queues:

• 6 were let to applicants on the transfer queue
• 4 was let to applicants on the general waiting list queue
• 8 were let to applicants on the priority homeless queue

Key Achievements / Areas of Focus

Strategy & Systems

Key Achievements

• The new IHMS implementation is progressing and functional testing is progressing well in the estates module. The build phase of the rents, allocations and housing advice modules are now almost complete.
• Both Systems Officer posts have now been appointed and will start next month.
• Performance Monitoring Officers have completed the development of a tenant’s database which will allow for a more streamlined communication process between the Housing Department and tenants.
• The new draft Tenant Participation Strategy has been produced and will be put forward for approval at the PNCA Committee on 26th January 2023.
• Working on the Digital Telecare and part of the Project Board to ensure the successful transition of analogue telecare to digital telecare throughout the sheltered complexes.
• Energy voucher database working well and energy vouchers being issued to all tenants.
• Organised staff training day to gain staff input on Housing website content, which took place on 15th December 2022.
• Initial planning for CHR (Common Housing Register) review has begun and will be progressed in January 2023.

Areas of focus

• IHMS progression (3 year project).
• CHR Housing Application waiting list review.
• Performance Monitoring.

Housing Operations – Estates

Key Achievements

• 1 new Anti-social case received and this case was resolved within the month received.
• 4 nominations to Registered Social Landlords being considered for allocation of their stock.
• Monthly Housing Liaison meeting attended to discuss cases with Social Work, Antisocial Team and Police Scotland.
• Internal Anti-Social Audit is still ongoing.
• Void rent loss has decreased since November, joint working with the void team continues.
• Percentage of tenancies refused has decreased from 32% in November to 14% in December.

Areas of focus

• Improve void re-let times through joint working with void team.
• Percentage of tenancy sustainment decreased from 94% in November to 87% in December.

Housing Operations – Rents and Tenant Participation

Key Achievements

• 30 tenants assisted and successfully awarded payment from Hardship Fund towards rent payments, totalling £18,108.93.
• The Rents Team continue to support the change team with the development of the IHMS (NEC).
• Housing Officers continue to utilise all avenues in an attempt to maximise rental income and reduce rent arrears, while also providing advice and assistance to tenants who engage and need additional support.
• New process developed to provide pre tenancy advice to applicants who have recently accepted a property offer.  Housing Officer will make contact at this early stage to discuss rent charges and payment options. The intended payment method and pattern will be noted. This proactive approach will improve tenancy sustainment and assist in preventing new tenancies falling into early arrears. This will be introduced in January 2023.
• Tenant Participation Strategy has now been developed and will be submitted to committee for approval. 
• New Tenant Participation Officer recruited and will start in early January 2023.
• Active Tenant Rent Arrears are £1,407,050.72, which is a decrease on November’s figure (£1,505,212.29).

Areas of focus

• Former Tenant Arrears are £841,729.19, which is an increase from November’s figure (£746,889.06). Team continues to work on former rent arrears to bring this figure down.

Homelessness and Prevention

• 30 Homelessness applications taken.
• No Homelessness households waiting longer than 3 years for an offer of settled accommodation.
• 1 Short term Let applications received.
• 1944 tenants were issued with the first cost of living voucher payment totalling £95,256.

Project 101

• Continuation of drop in sessions and budget friendly cooking.
• Young people have been learning new kitchen skills, including food hygiene, preparation and cooking.
• Continued work with young people in creating partnerships locally, to assist with employability skills and to gain employment, helping with tenancy sustainment.
• Elf on the shelf returned with competitions, helpful giveaways and delivering information to help sustain tenancies and encourage young people to stay safe throughout the winter.
• Christmas parcels distributed to young people with goods generously donated to the Project.

Land Planning and Development

2022 in line with the Business Improvement Plan commitments. 

Land Planning Policy

• The Draft Circular Economy Strategy was approved at PNCA Committee in November and subsequently the consultation activities have been organised. Following discussion with corporate communications the consultation is all to be held in January. A Technical Note has been issued to Members with full details.
• Following adoption of Local Development Plan 2 on 28 November 2022, the team has been carrying on notification and publication procedures required by legislation.  Local Development Plan 2 now constitutes the adopted plan for East Dunbartonshire and Local Development Plan 1 (adopted 2017) has now been superseded. A Technical Note was issued to Members noting the adoption of LDP2. LDP2 can be found on the LDP2 web page.
• A Revised Draft NPF4 [opens in a new window] was laid before the Scottish Parliament for approval on 8 November 2022 and subsequently published on the Scottish Government website. A period of scrutiny of around nine weeks followed the laying of the draft, during which the revised NPF4 was debated by the Scottish Parliament before being subject to a vote in the chamber. The Scottish Parliament voted to approve the document as laid before them on 11 January 2023. Now approved, the Framework will be adopted and published by Scottish Ministers. Further information will be provided to Members in a Technical Note.
• Following August 2022 PNCA Committee approval of two pieces of planning guidance, consultation has been undertaken. Analysis of the responses received has now been undertaken with the final guidance to be considered at PNCA in January 2023. 
• Work is ongoing on a new Active Transport Strategy for East Dunbartonshire, which will reflect the Active Travel Discussion consultation in 2021 and align to work on the Climate Action Plan. Officers have finalised the evidence base for the new ATS which Members considered at the Transport Working Group in December. The evidence base and summary booklet are to be considered at PNCA in January 2023. 

Sustainability Policy

• Work on the Climate Action Plan and Local Heat & Energy Efficiency Strategy is continuing. Work is under way to identify opportunities for emissions reduction across the Council’s own estate and operations and across the whole of East Dunbartonshire. These will inform the development of pathway options to achieve net zero emissions at corporate and area-wide levels. Consultation with key internal stakeholders took place during December and an external stakeholder workshop was held in January to help inform the development of the Climate Action Plan and Local Heat & Energy Efficiency Strategy.    Following on from the consultation work, a progress report on the Local Heat & Energy Efficiency Strategy will be presented to the Climate Change Member Officer Group on 31st January.  While good progress has been made in preparing the Strategy work has currently been paused at the final preparatory stage due to data sharing issues affecting all Scottish local authorities and as a result of changes to the LHEES guidance and methodology set by the Scottish Government.  Discussions are under way with the Scottish Government in an effort to resolve the data sharing issue and work is being undertaken to address changes required to work previously undertaken as a result of the new guidance.  Resolution of these issues will enable us to progress to finalise preparation of the Draft Strategy. Due to the consequent delays, the programme for preparation of the CAP and LHEES is currently under review and a revised programme will be presented to Member Officer Group on 31st January.  
• Elected member training was delivered during September on Climate Change Adaptation, in partnership with Climate Ready Clyde.  A Carbon Literacy Training Course has also been developed and was delivered to SMT in late September/early October and to elected members in November.  A further information session on climate change and the cost of living crisis for elected members is being arranged with the Improvement Service, for delivery in late January and information on this will be circulated shortly.
• The Council launched the Re-Heat Project in partnership with Scottish Power Energy Networks and E.On in August.  The Project will provide an opportunity for low-carbon electrified heat and smart control to be introduced to 50 homes in East Dunbartonshire. Information was provided in a recent Technical Note and is available on the re-heat web page.
• Work is underway to identify priority projects for inclusion in the Council’s new Greenspace Strategy, which will replace the Green Network Strategy and Open Space Strategy. Opportunities for improvement of open space, increasing tree cover, expanding peatland restoration and wetland creation are currently being assessed in collaboration with internal and external stakeholders. Audit work on play facilities will commence in January and surveyors will be out and about across East Dunbartonshire assessing play areas and facilities between January and March. The outcome of the assessment will inform the priority actions on play to be included in the draft Greenspace Strategy.

GIS Team

• The team has carried out GIS analysis for the Land Planning Policy and Sustainability teams.  This has included a variety of map production work for LDP2, calculating distances to determine travel time distances to key services and creating web apps and data dashboards, which help to understand consultation results better. The team have also created a number of maps which will be used in many consultations across East Dunbartonshire. Work has also progressed on creating connectivity corridors for the new Active Travel Strategy, to help understand how settlements within EDC are connected. Alongside this work, the team have been focusing on developing a Beta version of an EDC open data portal. This will allow for improved sharing of public facing datasets and documents.
• The team continues to provide technical support to Community Protection and Development Applications to improve efficiently and ensure we are in line statutory guidance and regulations through IDOX. Assistance was also provided to the Housing Service by exporting data from IDOX for the IHMS Project. The team have developed new templates and made improvements to historic ones, such as the High Hedges template alongside others.
• Street naming and numbering is underway for the Barratt homes development at Bishopbriggs Town Centre. The address change for Waterside residents is currently with Royal Mail. The Council has also adopted a number of roads that have been updated and reflected on appropriate systems.

Business Support

• Working with numerous public sector agencies to ensure all support mechanisms to help business and create jobs are fully utilised, including development of new skills & technologies.  Cost of doing business continues to be a concern and resources to  help and inform businesses continue to be priority with combined support materials available through FindBusinessSupport
• Working on the development of new business support products designed to help businesses having difficulties in recovery, sustainability or diversification.  Administration of requests for Funding is underway to businesses previously in receipt of the previous (2021) Discretionary Fund Covid grant using the Local Authority Covid Recovery funding.  .  The team is working on three projects funded by UK Shared Prosperity fund that encourage digital take up or enhancement, carbon reduction and additional support for Social Enterprises.
• The Business Gateway National Review continues but in the interim services continue to be delivered as usual.

City Deal Team

• The team continues with a range of work to ensure the delivery of the Council’s City Deal project, including the preparation of the different stages of business cases (in-line with City Deal & HM Greenbook requirements) which are required to unlock the funding from the region.
• Work is ongoing on the Westerhill Masterplan and the Strategic Environmental Assessment has been issued to statutory consultation authorities for comment.   Land owner discussions are ongoing.  The Environmental Sustainability Plan (ESP) will be developed further along with the masterplan proposals in the New Year.  Peat investigation surveys have now been carried out and the findings will feed into the Masterplan and the WDR design stages that will commence in January.
• The Westerhill Development Road design contract is now underway and the focus over the coming year will be route options assessment.
• Work continues on the next stages of the design process for Bishopbriggs Town Centre and Bishopbriggs Park.  Public consultation will be online from 6th to 28th February 2023 with a drop-in event at the War Memorial Hall on the 7th February.  This will be advertised on the Councils social media platforms and in the Kirkintilloch Herald over the coming weeks.  Meetings have been arranged with Bishopbriggs Elected Members and Bishopbriggs Community Council to present the information in advance.
• The findings from the A803 feasibility report will feed into Stage 2, Options Assessment, which is scheduled to commence early in 2023. A large traffic data collection exercise was undertaken week commencing 5th December along the entire route corridor and this data will feed in to the transport modelling that is being carried out for the project in order to test design options in 2023.

Regeneration & Town Centres Team

• The Regent Gardens project is being progressed and work is ongoing to try secure a main works contractor.  On the Campsie Memorial Hall in Lennoxtown - Work continues with the Trust for the hall to develop proposals to improve the hall and examine external funding opportunities.
• The Kirkintilloch Business Gateway Masterplan has now been approved at the PNCA Committee. The team in partnership with colleagues across the Council and landowners will now look to progress the actions set out in the delivery plan with the aim of encouraging new development proposals to come forward for the site.
• UK Levelling Up Fund bid was submitted to support regeneration activity in Lennoxtown, and a decision is expected by UK Government shortly. Work to prepare for the Shared Prosperity Fund has been ongoing. Projects have been identified and are being developed for implementation over the next 2.5 years.
• The Lennoxtown Main Street Improvement Project has recommenced having been paused in 2019 with designs being completed and shared with the public. The project is resuming where those who live, work and visit Lennoxtown will be invited to share their fresh views of the project area today and 2019 designs via an online survey, which were made  available between 3 and 31 October. Public consultation events were held on 16 and 19 November to allow people the opportunity to contribute in person.

Traffic & Transport Team

• The tender process is live to try secure a main works contractors for Canniesburn Toll Improvement Project. Four Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) will be promoted  to support aspects of the new design
• Feasibility and design works are progressing on a range of active travel infrastructure projects included in the Local Transport and Active Travel Strategies.
• Work is progressing on key functions of the team including: working on a range of Traffic Regulation Orders at various stages of the statutory process, liaising with the network operator and maintenance contractors of the public electric vehicle charging network and continuing to assist in resolving access issues.

Development Management:

• During the reporting period the planning side of the team has determined 67 applications and validated 57pplications. The Building Standards team have received 81 building warrants and approved 113 applications.  The Enforcement Team opened 1new cases.
• The Development Application team provided Members with an Enhanced Briefing session in advance of the meeting of the Planning Board.
• The Development Applications team presented Reports to members of the Planning Board in December with three applications decided.
• Planning Advisor has prepared presentations for the meeting of the Local Review Body on the 18th January where three cases are to be heard and site visits are to be carried out
• Legal agreement have been signed to require developer contributions of
  
  • £31,980 towards affordable housing
  • 57 affordable housing units on site to be delivered.
  • £899,024.03 towards education provision,
  • £141,360 towards open space provision
  • £350,403.45 towards route corridor improvements.
• The Team continue to provide applicants including the Councils Major Assets and Housing teams with pre application advice and support.

Key Achievements / Areas of Focus

• Adoption of LDP2
• Delivery of funding to businesses previously in receipt of the previous (2021) Discretionary Fund Covid grant using the Local Authority Covid Recovery funding.
• Delivery of the A803 consultation period.

Legal and Democratic Services

Performance against all indicators for December is 100%.

In Democratic Services – confirmation that all responses were received by the Boundary Commission for Scotland in relation to the final UK Parliamentary Boundary proposals and final boundaries will be published end of June 2023. The Team continues to consider the potential impact of and make preparations for the Elections Act 2022.  Secondary legislation in relation to the Act was published during November and this is under consideration. The Act has significant implications for those charged with administering and participating in future electoral events – initially in Scotland this relates solely to UK Parliamentary elections. In addition it will have a significant impact on the scheduled review of the Polling Scheme (Polling Places and Polling Districts). A report on the implications of the Act will be submitted to Council in March.  Under business as usual, Democratic Services administered 3 strategic service committees and 3 quasi-judicial Boards during December. A Citizenship Ceremony was arranged and conducted at Kilmardinny House in December attended by the Provost and 2 Depute Lord Lieutenants for Dumbartonshire during which 13 applicants became British citizens. 

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 this report.

Key Achievements / Areas of Focus

• During December, the Team processed 3 contract form reviews, 6 Contract award letters, 30 taxi licence applications, and 14 grants.
• In light of the 100% performance, it is not proposed to take any steps at this time other than to continue to monitor progress against the set PIs.
• Signed the second design contract for the Bishopbriggs Town Centre (City Deal) project.
• Concluded and signed a contract for pre-construction services, in connection with the refurbishment of both Bearsden and Milngavie Primary Schools.
• Reaching agreement on a professional services contract and pre-construction services delivery agreement in connection with the installation of a 3G pitch and pavilion changing room in Lennoxtown High Park.
• Conclusion of missives for the sale of Parkburn Pavilion.  This transaction has been ongoing for 7 years, due to a number of reasons, and has now concluded.  The missives are conditional upon the purchaser obtaining planning permission for a residential unit.
• Completion of a lease for 91 Main Street Lennoxtown.  This was achieved in a very short space of time to allow the tenant entry to take advantage of the Christmas trade.
• Completion of the S75  planning agreements with Cala for a 160 unit residential development at Market Road, Kirkintilloch and a 68 unit residential development at Chryston Road.
• Completion of GEN+ Minute of Understanding for a pilot programme at St Ninian's school to provide a meta skills and leadership programme with the school.
• The promotion of a number of Traffic Orders which are now ready for final approval.
• In Registration Services - 59 births, 244 deaths and 22 marriages were administered during December.
• Civil Contingencies/Registration – engagement with colleagues across Greater Glasgow and Clyde regarding challenges, including attendance at meetings during the Christmas holiday period and putting arrangements in place to support an area wide response.
• The roll out of MS Teams training to Members during December.

Neighbourhood Services

The Waste Team has continued the front line service operations for the collection of over 400,000 assorted household bins over the month of December, providing residual, recycling, food and special waste collections on behalf of the Authority. The team has also managed the waste and recycling collections from over 500 of our local commercial premises.

The Waste service have continued to work with our Clyde Valley partners through the period on the treatment and disposal contract for all residual household waste.  The Council processed 1832 tonnes of waste through this contract in December, ensuring our waste undergoes treatment for recycling extraction prior to being sent through an Energy from Waste process.

The Fleet team continue to manage transport operations including the Councils Goods Vehicle Operator Licence and compliance across all services. This includes provision and management of the maintenance workshops, annual testing, statutory inspections and management of Drivers in line with obligations and conditions laid out in the Councils commitment to the Scottish Traffic Commissioner.

Fleet Management has worked in partnership with services and officers from procurement in order to specify, tender and procure further vehicles and associated items of specialist plant, suitable for service users’ needs through to the end of the financial year. Tenders are currently out for the replacement of specialist vehicles, plant & equipment for Roads and Environment and other front line services.

Replacement vehicles continue to filter through from suppliers for Assets and Facilities including the   Property Maintenance and Fleet Services. The team at Fleet Management continue working to transfer systems and equipment and arrange the de-fleeting and disposal of the outgoing vehicles.

The fleet service continues to support and manage Transport Operations for the provision of Additional Support Needs Transport service for Education and Integrated Health and Social Care, including delivery of school meals on behalf of the authority. This service has provided additional support for other services throughout the period. 

Key Achievements / Areas of Focus

• The main focus for the services throughout December was in gearing up and resourcing the delivery and collections catch up for the Waste and Recycling services over the festive period. The team worked on a 2 day catch up period for both weeks, with additional staff and vehicles deployed in order to uplift all bins from the kerbside.
• The Waste service is scheduled to provide additional resources in January to facilitate a real Christmas tree uplift service over a two week, this will enable residents to recycle real Christmas trees following the festive break. 
• Work progressed in December with the Business Change team and procurement, considering options and a route to market to digitally modernise the Waste and Recycling collection service, potentially creating servicing efficiencies and savings, whilst taking a step forward in reducing carbon emissions.
• The team collected 1832 tonnes of general waste from the kerbside for ongoing processing / recycling under the Clyde Valley Residual Waste contract.
• Delivery of Statutory Fleet Maintenance and Management services throughout the period.
• Support Council services in the delivery of ASN Transport including the distribution of essential supplies for vulnerable individuals throughout the period including meals for early year’s facilities and lunch clubs etc.
• Continued work on the management of Capital programme for the replacement of fleet assets through the financial year.   
• Continued support to front line service operations through the provision of in house fleet maintenance function including horticultural and construction plant repairs.
• Management of Fleet Operations in compliance with Operator Licencing legislation with a DVSA Operator Compliance Risk Score of Green 03 for both Traffic and Compliance and a 100% first time pass rate for annual tests.
• Continue work for the review and creation of a new Fleet Asset Management plan to incorporate a strategy for the introduction of Zero emission and alternative fuelled vehicle and plant fleet, in the lead up to legislative deadlines and targets.
• Ongoing work with the Major Assets Team in order to install additional Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure across the Councils Estate.

Organisational Transformation

Transformation 

During December, the B & DC Team has continued to support services across the Council in the delivery of key strategic digital development programmes and projects. 

The Team also continues to support 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 and resilient; Scalable and flexible; Standardised and value for money; and Secure. 

Key Achievements/Areas of Focus 

• The IHMS team continues to work closely with the Housing service to design, build and configure the new Integrated Housing Management System (IHMS). The building of the system configuration for the Rents, Allocations, Housing Advice, and Support Services modules were completed this month, and testing is ongoing. Progress has continued in the development of financial interfaces, system security, document management and preparation for data migration to the new NEC Housing system. 
• A pilot is now underway to migrate from Lotus Notes to MS Outlook and the new versions of Office – Word, Excel and PowerPoint.  On successful completion, work will then commence on preparing for wider service deployment. Work on a new Adoption Portal is also nearing completion. This is being built on our new SharePoint intranet service and will provide a one stop shop for all learning and training resources.  The Information Governance workstream has also been initiated informing records and data management compliance of planned M365 service deployment. 
• The procurement process is underway for our new Council website (CMS), supplier bids have been received and evaluation of these bids has commenced. 
• A contract for our new Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system has been awarded and our Project Team has begun training to understand the functions within the new solution. 
• An onboarding workshop for our Oracle Fusion ERP Programme has been held with key stakeholders and High-Level Assessment workshops are ongoing to walk through each of the modules and understand how EDC processes will be transformed as a result of the new solution. Work has also begun to setup our new cloud services and develop the skills required to support and administer the Councils Oracle Fusion Enterprise Management system 
• The procurement process is underway both for a new Managed Stores contract and a cloud solution for our Roads Management Maintenance System (RMMS). 
• Work has continued to develop effective reporting for Education and planning is now underway for the roll out to all Schools which will enable budget holders to monitor committed costs for all employees across Education. 
• System development work continues on an interim budget application which will streamline the annual budget creation process for Education. 
• Further development work has been undertaken to ensure the correct security restrictions are in place for the roll out of Universal Employee Self Service 
• Work to understand the potential benefits across wider council departments for the introduction of Waste Modernisation Software has commenced. 
• Implementation of new functionality to ensure PDF invoices can be issued to residents has begun to be tested.  
• The team are looking to increase our service offerings through the Parents Portal.  A pilot is due to commence on Permission Slips, this would look to reduce duplication of effort and paperwork from our School Offices.   
• Options appraisals are being developed to inform future decisions to migrate a number of key business systems to the Cloud including ARC GIS, IDOX Uniform and the properties Scottish Housing Quality Standards asset management system. 

Human Resources & Organisational Development

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

Key Achievements / Areas of Focus

• Continued support for employees and managers on HR policy based and guidance noted, with support in attendance on ER case work
• Continued engagement with the Trade Unions on strategic and operation HR initiatives.
• Promotion of Health and Wellbeing Campaigns
• The People Development team delivered 15 sessions across 8 topics including SMART Working sessions, EDC Policy sessions & leadership skills. Additionally there were a further 3 externally delivered sessions. In total 165 delegates received training.
• Consultation with Business Change and New College Lanarkshire to design bespoke Outlook and SharePoint training to meet Digital strategy requirements, funded under 2023 FWDF grant, plus ongoing work developing learning materials to support the launch of the e-learning platform.
• Within Payroll Services, the team has maintained and processed the payover of 6 payruns within timescales, with the completion of a series of statutory reports,
• Full implementation of the SJC pay award was included in December payruns, the final pay before Christmas.

Working with the Education Leadership Team developed planning, logistical and communication arrangements, with support on the day for the Industrial Action for Teachers on 7 December

Procurement

Overview of Progress

During December, the Service continued to support services across the Council in the delivery of various projects and in support of the necessary day to day business which enables the Council to operate successfully.  In addition, the Service was involved in ongoing support to a number of strategic procurements/projects, particularly in relation to City Deal, ICT, Business & Digital Change and various Capital projects.  A significant amount of time was allocated to early implementation work for the replacement financial and e-procurement system.

Key Achievements / Areas of Focus

• Providing ongoing support to the City Deal team in relation to Contract requirements and alternative procurement route options, including instructing Contract 2 for the Westerhill Development Road.
• Supported key Business & Digital Change projects such as Oracle Fusion upgrade, M365, Waste Collection Modernisation, CRM & CMS, supporting workforce of the future planning.
• Completed renewals for support and maintenance of business critical systems to facilitate remote working
• Supported IT workstreams to ensure required security works were enabled
• Processed Cost of Living Payments
• Processed Scottish Bridging Payments and Free School Meals for the Xmas holiday period
• Extended and updated contractual arrangements to facilitate ongoing support to the LHEES (Climate Action Plan Consultancy Support) in line with updated funding terms & conditions
• Information gathering and project Stakeholder participation in the Oracle Fusion implementation project

Commissioning

Overview of Progress

The Strategic Commissioning Team continued to manage and support the commissioned market as winter pressures, delayed discharges and the cost of living crisis directly impacted capacity levels and wider sustainability issues across sectors.  The Team also continued work with the HSCP in terms of prioritising current and future services, resources and budgets.

Key Achievements / Areas of Focus

• Implemented Market / Risk Assessment matrix specifically developed by the Strategic Commissioning Team to help identify and support future contracting arrangements in the context of known service, market and financial risks
• Mini tender completed and contract awarded for Children & Families FGDM service
• Supported the completion of the HSCP’s Older People’s Social Supports Five year Strategy, service review and developed a commissioning strategy to support delivery of agreed outcomes 
• Increased capacity, knowledge and experience within the Strategic Commissioning Team via the successful recruitment of a Strategic Commissioning Officer.  The Officer will have a specific focus/remit on the care home sector across all client groups

Health and Safety

The Health and Safety team continuously delivers general occupational safety and health services such as: Providing advice on statutory guidance, where required; Compliance in planning, safe working and training; Supervision and inspection while works are being undertaken; Incident logging, reporting and investigation, including RIDDOR.

Key Achievements / Areas of Focus

Supporting Services:

• CDM Site Visits - Boiler Upgrades, Mugdock  Country Park, Decommission of gas pipe work at the Allander LC
• Meetings to discuss Asbestos Management Plans at schools in preparation of Health and Safety Executive Inspections
• Total Mobile - Lone Working solutions for various teams
• Update of Gas Policy, Emergency Procedure and Gas Industry Unsafe Situations Procedure to now include Liquefied Petroleum Gas Appliances/Installations
• DSE requirements support for various services including workplace assessments and offering advice on relevant workplace adjustments.
• Kelvinbank Resource Centre - Visit and advise on Fire Evacuation for persons with disabilities
• Assist with Fire Safety Design Summary for new Broomhill welfare facility
• Produce advice on implications of future Scottish Fire and Rescue Policy on new model for responding to unwanted fire alarm signals (UFASA) in Scotland

Fire, Health and Safety and Occupational Health services:

• Review Contractors RAMS and Construction Phase Plans for various projects
• Desktop audit of gas contractors paperwork for Estates team
• PAS79 Fire Risk Assessments and fire safety visits on target
• Reactec - Tag all new plant for both the Roads and Streetscene Teams
• Hep B Vaccination clinic for Property Maintenance
• Continued review of management system standards, policies and procedures
• Induction Training include roll out of RAMS to the Roads Team Operatives including management. Road specific risk assessment, Permit to Dig, MEWP Rescue Plan.
• Provide gas safety advice to all teams

Delivering of Duty Holder Training

Place and Community Planning

Environmental Health, Trading Standards and Community Safety Teams

The Community Protection Service delivers on a broad statutory remit, with delivery measures centred on protecting public health and safety, well-being and consumer protection. During the course of December the service has continued to engage in the local Co-Production arrangement with Police Scotland. This has resulted in a significant amount of joint work and coordinated activity to protect communities across the East Dunbartonshire area. The service has also continued to develop intelligence led approaches for all areas of work in order to target local public health, community safety and consumer protection activity towards the areas of greatest need, risk and priority.

The Environmental Health Team have been engaged in the delivery of essential public health services in order to protect the community from hazards in the environment and to regulate and facilitate the growth of responsible businesses. In December there continued to be a lot of engagement from the public in terms of service requests whilst officers also worked through notified planning applications to provide environmental controls on new developments. Our Public Health Compliance Officers continued to delivering a range of short-term project work to help the team – this work also assisted in terms of the wider rebalancing processes for service delivery that are on-going post Covid-19.

The Trading Standards Team has been engaged in the delivery of essential consumer protection and licensing services to local consumers and businesses in order to maintain and protect a fair trading environment in East Dunbartonshire. Priority activity in December included work to develop business participation in the new Trading Standards Trusted Trader Scheme for East Dunbartonshire. The Licensing Advisers in the team were also involved in the delivery of targeted inspection activity at a number of licensed premises across the district as part of the 2022 Festive Safety Campaign.

The Community Safety Team has continued to undertake a broad range of front-line work for the benefit of local communities during the reporting period. Officers from the team have therefore been engaged in the delivery of services in relation to community engagement/support, antisocial behaviour, youth disorder, neighbour disputes, environmental incivilities, dog control, decriminalised parking enforcement, fly-tipping, mediation, pest control and CCTV. Officers have continued to work closely with a range of colleagues and key partners to successfully deliver appropriate interventions and to make our local communities safer. The Community Wardens have also been developing links within the local communities they serve, getting involved in a number of initiatives and events that are now taking place or recommencing across the Council area.

Community Planning and Partnership Team

The team continues to work with Scottish Government, Home Office and various partners to deliver the resettlement agenda across the East Dunbartonshire area.  This also includes working with partners to support the Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme and Ukrainian Displaced Persons.

The team are working to deliver community development and capacity building support to our four place areas and communities of interest. 

Officers continue to work alongside our communities to develop community-led warm spaces initiatives and deliver the East Dunbartonshire Community Warm Spaces Grant.

Officers are supporting the delivery of the CLD Plan 2021-24, including developing a programme of continued professional development upskilling CLD practitioners.

Community Testing/ Vaccination Team

The winter vaccination programme has provided Covid and Flu vaccination which has been delivered to all eligible citizens aged 50 or over and those with eligible health conditions. Clinics were reduced to 2 days a week at the being of December.  The mobile vaccination bus provided vaccinations in Bishopbriggs.  Council staff are working with the NHS to minimise queues and ensure the safety of those attending the clinic.

Key Achievements / Areas of Focus

• Delivery of effective services on a flexible basis in order 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 in order 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 in the route out of the pandemic.
• Food law enforcement visits to local businesses were concluded for the calendar year in advance of the Christmas break and a busy period for the local hospitality sector.
• Officers in the team attended various working groups and forums on food safety, public health and housing matters to keep abreast of national priorities and developments.
• Officers completed the annual licensing inspection visits to local horse riding establishments.
• Procurement processes were concluded for the purchase of some new air quality monitoring equipment for the area.
• Delivery of community safety activity for the 2022 Festive Safety Campaign - Community Wardens out and about assisting the public, providing reassurance, deterring crime, supporting businesses and helping to keep the streets of East Dunbartonshire safe.
• Delivery of community safety activity around water/ice safety working in conjunction with colleagues from Police Scotland and Scottish Fire & Rescue highlighting to members of the public and young people the dangers associated with frozen canals and large areas of water.
• Appropriate referrals and outcomes for a number of young persons referred to the Early & Effective Intervention Group which is coordinated and chaired by the Community Safety Team.
• Completion of the Junior Warden programme in Hillhead Primary School with 28 pupils successfully completing the programme. There are a number of inputs from partners which include Police Scotland (discussing cyber-crime/online stalking/strangers/saying safe online), Scottish Fire & Rescue Service (discussing Open Water Safety), Mugdock Ranger Service (discussing the environment and how to try and achieve an eco-friendly school and environment) and the Dogs Trust (discussing safety around dogs and dog fouling).
• Recommencement of some decriminalised parking enforcement patrols in and around a number of our primary schools – further to work that has been ongoing to update parking restrictions across all of our primary school estate as we emerge from Covid-19.
• On-going recommencement of Trading Standards and Licensing routine inspection and project work.
• Trading Standards participation at a number of community events in conjunction with Health and Social Care Partnership colleagues.
• Delivery of market surveillance activity at Christmas markets across East Dunbartonshire Council area.
• Trading Standards Officers delivering local work on a Scottish Pricing Project to identify levels of pricing marking compliance across retail premises.
• Delivery of targeted inspection activity by the Licensing Advisers at licensed premises as part of the 2022 Festive Safety Campaign.
• Working with partners to support and develop Community Warm Spaces across East Dunbartonshire.
• Delivering East Dunbartonshire Community Warm Spaces Grant
• Provision of community capacity support using a Community Learning and Development approach across our Locality areas and communities of interest.
• Supported the delivery of successful CPD opportunity to CLD practitioners
• Delivering resettlement support under both VPRS and Homes for Ukraine agendas
• Community Development Workers connecting with range of community organisations and partners
• To continue to support delivery of the NHS vaccination programmes of flu and Covid-19 at two town centre venues, through jointly working with the GGC NHS Board.

Roads and Environment

The Roads and Environment Service continues to oversee the maintenance function and safe operation of the adopted public carriageway/footway network, adopted open spaces (including trees) and cemeteries within East Dunbartonshire. In addition, the Service also oversees the management and operations of Mugdock Country Park.

This Service area is divided into five portfolio groupings:

1. Roads Network Operations

2. Roads Technical & Engineering

3. Streetscene Technical Support (including Bereavement and Arboriculture)

4. Streetscene Operations (including grounds maintenance, street cleansing and cemetery operations)

5. Mugdock Country Park

Each team has specific areas of responsibility; however, they all operate and function collectively as required. Within their own areas, each team has a number of 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 and Finance. 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.

Roads Network Operations Team (including Street Lighting)

The team continue to delivery both planned and reactive maintenance to both roads and street lighting assets. Regrettably, staff turnover and the subsequent vacancies continues to be an issue, but both teams are utilising the tools and resources available to ensure maintenance work continues. The appointment of a new Senior Roads Technician and one Roads Technician is arranged with start date set as 6th February 2023. The capital programmes for both teams continue with the carriageway and footway resurfacing programme and lighting projects ongoing across East Dunbartonshire. A high number of winter maintenance actions were undertaken during the period (26 treatment actions undertaken) with duty officers continuing to undertake three weather checks per day and suitable actions progressed as required. Finally, the service also accepted a trainee undertaking a Foundation Apprenticeship at level six in Civil Engineering one day per week, to give practical experience to an East Dumbarton student (Douglas Academy) and help achieve the FA qualification.

Roads Technical & Engineering

The Roads Development, Structures, Traffic, Flood Risk and Drainage Teams continue to work on multiple projects including Road Coring, Flood Defence Maintenance, Bridge Inspection/Replacement and Signalisation/TRO Projects across various area. The Team is also coordinating with external contractors to delivery multiple traffic surveys with the information used to determine the next steps for various proposals. This information is used as evidence to either support the need for action or validate the decision not to take forward a proposal if it is not supported by evidence. The recruitment of a Structural Engineer is now completed with a start date in January.

Streetscene Operations

The team continue to complete the winter seasonal grounds maintenance e.g. leaf clearance, shrub pruning, etc. The teams are also undertaking street cleansing of all adopted council roads and pavements including litter collection, mechanical sweeping and servicing of street litter bins. In addition, the team also continues to manage the Councils tree stock carrying out surveys and arranging remedial works as required. The team manages and performs burials in the eight operational cemeteries. The recruitment process for the summer seasonal workforce has commenced for an April start date.

Streetscene Technical Support Team

The team are developing and implementing projects relating to Council Strategies such as the Open Space Strategy, Local Biodiversity Action Plan, Green Networks and Food Growing (emerging).  Additionally, capital grants received from the Scottish Government are being utilised for play park improvements and Nature Restoration Grants. Other work relate to working with community groups regarding Environmental Improvement Projects including path improvement, play area renovations, amenity planting, cemetery and allotment development. Both recruitment processes for the Work Programmer and Team Leader are complete. The new Work Programme started and the Team Leader is schedule to start on Monday 3rd April 2023.

Mugdock Country Park

The 2022-27 Mugdock Strategy has been presented and approved by the JMC. The new fence at the quarry is progressing and should be in place from spring 2023. Year on year the December visitor numbers are well in excess of expectations.

Key Achievements / Areas of Focus

Roads Network Operations Teams

Street Lighting

• Christmas lighting installations were commissioned in line with the published schedule. Following completion of the festive season, lights are now switched off and removal of features to store / workshop are in progress.
• Street lighting repairs continue apace with Sub Contractor assistance and volumes at the  seasonal peak.
• Responses to various enquiries / complaints continue, as required
• Site visits and inspections of developers’ road lighting installations continue at various location Council wide.
• EDC Street Lighting Capital/Replacement Projects
• Heriot Road, Lenzie  - Ducted Road crossings for future lighting being installed in advance of carriageway surfacing work
• Cloberfield Gardens, Watt Place, Dunlop Place and Stable Place, Milngavie (works in progress on site)
• Rosehill Road / School Road / Kings Park, Torrance (New installation commissioned,  removal of redundant apparatus pending Scottish Power supply cable disconnections)

Network Operations

The carriageway & footway resurfacing program works undertaken in December include;

• EDC Internal Resurfacing Programme (non-coal tar location)
  
  • Craigmaddie Gds Torrance.
  • Smeaton Avenue, Torrance.
  • Charlotte Ave, Torrance.
• EDC External Resurfacing Programme (Footway)
  
  • Pinewood Ave, Lenzie  (works commenced)

     EDC Internal Footway Resurfacing Programme (non-coal tar locations)

• • Eildon Ave, Kirkintilloch.
• EDC Street Lighting Capital/Replacement Projects
  
  • Clobberfield Rd, Milngavie  (works commenced)
  • Replaced a number of lighting column on Station Rd Milngavie near town hall and train station.
• EDC Flood Response Team attended a number of localised flooding reports following short periods of heavy rain.
• A full review and an induction program arranged for Roads & Lighting operatives into RAMS established for Jan.
• Upcoming works Jan Include Differ Avenue Twechar, Morar Drive Bearsden, Dunlop Place & Watt Place  Milngavie (subject to weather)

Roads Technical & Engineering Teams

Traffic

• Officers are revisiting the abandoned gateway project for Milton of Campsie.
• Design of the flat-topped speed table in Manse Road, Bearsden is ongoing.
• Notices are being posted for revisions to disabled parking spaces.
• Two new pedestrian crossings in Bishopbriggs are under construction.
• Attendance at various regional and national meetings related to road safety.
• The team are providing technical support for City Deal projects, Canniesburn Toll, Lennoxtown Main Street and Cycling Connectivity Corridors.
• The team are working through various locations installing new or replacing street signs as per customer requests.
• The team continue to assess areas for potential traffic calming and pedestrian crossings.
• Responding to Planning Applications.
• Responding to Lining Requests.
• Commenting on various licences ie street trader licences, public entertainment licences and occasional licences.
• Dealing with various requests for temporary road closures.

Development

• Attended national coring lead authority update meeting. Coring samples that have failed/passed have been recorded on the Roads Register.
• Local RAUCS meeting attended/chaired  with all Issues passed to utilities to resolve - Previous minutes have been agreed and sent to the Commissioner’s Office to upload .
• Inspection of utility works at developments
• Site meetings to inspect developments prior to adoption by EDC.
• Assist planning with applications, distribute to officers for their comments on developments.
• Process adoption enquiries from internal and external departments.
• Coordination of future works, road openings and temporary traffic management permits

Flooding

• River Glazert Restoration Project, Lennoxtown - Detail design works currently on going and topographical surveys are due to be carried out in the coming weeks. Landownership discussion are on going.  
• Kelvin Tributaries River Restoration Project - Specification of Requirements (Scope) for concept design has been reviewed by EDC and is currently being reviewed by SEPA. On going
• River Kelvin Flood Defence Maintenance Contract - WGM Ltd have completed the annual service and we are working on remedial actions at various pumping station locations.
• Climate Ready Park - Stantec Consultants have been given go ahead to revisit the design scheme and produce tender documents for re-tender early in Jan 2023. On going.  
• Golf View FAS, Bearsden - JBA are currently modelling our flood scheme and proposed wetland proposals as part of the Bearsden Golf Club extension to demonstrate what impact this has on flood risk to properties at Golf View. Draft report being reviewed by EDC flood risk and is on going.  
• Civils works by our framework contractor George Leslie's at various locations is on going.

Drainage

• upcoming works 2023
• Fossil Grove Kirkintilloch started 16/1/23 - 2/2/23
• Baird Drive @ Thorn date T.B.C
• Angus Avenue, Bishopbriggs due to start 6/2/23- 3/3/23
• Manse Road, Bearsden due to start 13/2/23 - 24/3/23 6 wk road closure drainage work and speed table install
• 113 Milngavie Road due to start 27/3/23- 31/3/23
• Boclair Road @ Milngavie Road due to start 27/3/23 - 31/3/23

Structures

• General and Principal inspections are ongoing.
• Milton station bridge in MOC, the repairs have now been completed.
• Culvert at Iona way Kirkintilloch replacement grill due to be fitted in the coming days.
• Acre valley bridge in Lennoxtown, tree removal and strengthening works are ongoing.
• Dealing with abnormal load requests.

Upcoming works

• Footbridge replacement off Bute Rd Kirkintilloch.
• Bearsden Roman Road Rail Bridge  weak footway protection works.  
• Westergartshore Kirkintilloch, footbridge demolition contract is now awarded works due to start soon.
• CCTV at various locations throughout EDC to assist with our inspections.
• The replacement Structures Engineer is now in post.

Greenspace & Streetscene Teams

Streetscene Operations

• Street cleansing and associated tasks such as leaf litter sweeping; removal of fly posting and uplifting of fly tipping, mechanical street sweeping and installing replacement or additional bins. 
• Graffiti removal.
• Ongoing cemetery operations, digging and carrying out interments, installing headstone foundations, benches etc
• Winter cyclical works ongoing; leaf fall removal and clearance; pruning of shrub beds and tree works.
• Checking and clearance of culverts
• Play park inspection
• Football pitch lining.
• Bulb planting
• Responding to Customer Service Requests and complaints.
• Culvert grill cleaning and monitoring
• Christmas Tree installation.
• Arranging winter servicing of machinery
• Seasonal Squad Leader and Operatives recruitment

Streetscene Technical Support

• Paved path installation at Auchinairn War Memorial completed along with cleaning and repointing of paving stones.
• Specification written for Tree planting and wildflower site assessment provided to Green Action Trust for discussion and agreement.
• Specification relating to upgrade of the canal towpath, Kirkintilloch submitted to Procurement, awaiting publishing on Public Contract Scotland
• Awaiting response from Legal Services in regard Woodland Training opportunities.
• Tree surveys carried out in the following play areas:Whitegates Park, Springfield Road, Heather Avenue, Maxwell Avenue, Falloch Road, Doune Crescent, Stanley Drive; additional surveys to be rolled out during the winter months.
• Attendance at Scottish Tree Officers Working Group for Ash Dieback Disease
• Works continuing for projects as funded by the Scottish Government’s Nature Restoration Grant.
• Lenzie Moss Path upgrade continuing
• Luggie Park pathwork continuing.
• Cairnhill Woods pathwork completed.
• Cairnhill Woods Team Building event with Rangers. Rhododendron removal.
• Templehill Woods Team Building event with Rangers. Pond creation and Rhododendron removal.
• Mains Park and Bishopbriggs Park path upgrades out to tender.
• KLR and BRR works ongoing; monthly litter picks ongoing during the winter period.
• Responding to a number of planning applications
• Play park defect repair work ongoing.
• Public voting for Mosshead Play Park Team working with City Deal Team and consultants in relation to masterplan of Bishopbriggs Public Park.
• Renovation works required along boundary wall at New Kilpatrick Churchyard and wall at the Tower Bell, Old Aisle; team organised initial survey from Roads. CCTV survey and cleaning of drainage system started in all active Cemeteries and cleaning thereof. Second phase order raised, drainage works ongoing
• Awaiting works to start by contractor for the relaying setts and paving at Milton of Campsie Cross.
• Input into Additional Capital investment for drainage, active travel/access and footway surfacing.
• The team continues to respond to high volume of open space, tree and bereavement enquires, along with planning application consultations and complaints.
• SGNRF Redhills Woodland, Lennoxtown  ongoing
• Partnership working with Trees for Cities at Meadowburn Park in progress
• Staff recruitment completed; role profile for Food Growing Officer being assessed and graded.
• Community Group support ongoing
• Planning application responses and support to Planning Team ongoing

Mugdock Country Park

• The annual Pantomime was fully booked with over 2,000 tickets sold. The Panto has been running at Mugdock for around 15 years and is always popular.  This year the company performed Cinderella and in addition to family groups there were also school, nursery and community groups attending;
• For the first time the Park hosted a Light Experience - Mugdock Christmas Wonderland. Despite some challenging weather conditions feedback has been very positive. There were paid jobs available at the Light Show for around 40 people during December with many coming from the local area;
• Fencing work around Craigend Quarry was carried out before Christmas. The fence is now in place with just some minor adjustments required;
• Plans for the Walled Garden are under development with a landscaping company and it is anticipated the work will be carried out over the next few months;
• The Ranger project with Scottish Water is continuing. The Rangers are patrolling Milngavie Reservoirs as part of SW's visitor engagement strategy although they are based at Mugdock CP;
• Work to trees in the Park has been carried out in line with the Mugdock Tree Hazard Management Report dealing with a prioritised list of trees within the Park;
• Reduction of invasive species has been taking place with conservation volunteers at Pheasants Wood including the removal of rhododendron;
• Birch tree removal has taken place at Drumclog Moor's grassland and moorland areas;
• Winter weather planning has included gritting and ploughing of car parks and paths;
• Clearance of the maintenance Yard continues;
• Litter picking, path sweeping, play park and car park checks;
• Preparation and cleaning of rooms for hire, fire and security checks;
• Installation of fibre optic cables by Openreach is almost complete and, after a period of testing, will be commissioned;
• Footfall for the month of December was 80,388 visitors. This is much higher than previous years mainly due to the Light Show.