How Good Is Our Service - October 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 dropped in October to 91.1% from 95.5% in September, however this remains a positive figure and is well above our target of 85%. Improvement measures implemented continue to have a positive impact on turnaround times and our objective is to maintain and improve performance going forward.

Property Maintenance have achieved our target of 100% for Gas Servicing in October with 334 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. 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. Sessions were held in seven venues across East Dunbartonshire and were well attended. These events generated increased applications for various positions and interviews commenced in October and will continue over the coming weeks.  

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

Covid continues to impact on the uptake of school meals, income levels, resources and product availability. A return to the full lunch menu offering was implemented in August at the start of the new term and it is anticipated this will further improve the uptake of school meals.

The uptake of free school meals in Primary school for the month of October 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 continues to work with the Soil Association to meet the criteria to achieve their Food for Life Bronze Award, which involves delivering nutritional school meals, meeting set percentages in respect of locally sourced produce and preparing meals fresh rather than by other means.

Estates

There are 73 Operational Assets which require an annual Gas Safety Check. For the month of October 1 property required an annual Gas Safety Check. The property was 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. 

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. A number of individual suites were returned to Estates following the natural expiry of the lease agreements in October. These assets are now being actively marketed on the Council’s website. Discussions are ongoing with colleagues in the HSCP/NHS to support a need for premises to deliver services from in Milngavie.  At present the non-operational estate is over 92% occupied.

Offers received at the closing date for the lease of the new Kirkintilloch Community Sports Complex are currently being reviewed. 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 the current active 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 with a date of entry agreed as at 28 February 2023. The sale of 51 Main Street, Torrance concluded following a successful marketing exercise.

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, with handover of the new facility now expected at the end of January 2023. The new ASN school in Kirkintilloch remains on schedule to complete in mid-2023.  Kirkintilloch Community Sports Complex is now due for completion in January 2023 due to further delays in securing connections with third party utility companies. New affordable housing projects at the Loaning, Lenzie and Kerr St, Kirkintilloch continue to progress well. 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.

The refurbishment of Brookwood Villa has commenced over the period with early works progressing well. A temporary site compound has been erected at the edge of the town centre to support delivery of the works and will be fully reinstated on completion.

Projects at Balmuildy, Milngavie and Bearsden Primary schools are all progressing towards planning applications early in 2023.

The construction of new all-weather pitches progresses at both Killermont PS and Holy Family PS, with works due to be substantially complete by the end of the year. Finished surfaces at each are temperature-dependent and if required will be handed over to each school with a temporary finish to allow the space to be used, with final finishes applied where temperatures allow.  

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. 

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 91.1% 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 November (1 property) and December (2 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 communications in October promoting the cost of living support package agreed by Council, the official opening of Boclair Academy and planning for the 2022 Remembrance services. A total of 15 media enquiries were responded to this month, 16 media releases were issued (all available on the Council website news section) generating coverage in local and national media with an equivalent advertising value of just under £6k and 9 photocalls were co-ordinated. Social media posts continued to generate good interaction across a range of themes. There were 168 Facebook posts generating a reach of 788k and 156 Tweets generating a potential reach of 3.5m. The top posts for engagement on both channels related to the free gym and swim opportunities for school children in the cost of living support package and the progress on Kirkintilloch Community Sports complex.

Corporate Performance

In October 2022, the Corporate Performance and Research team have continued to fulfil required duties in relation to reporting of performance and provision of service level data returns within agreed timescales and continues with day to day work ensuring the Council has adequate insurance arrangements in place, acting as a point of escalation in regards to any claims made. The team also continues to provide all service areas with area statistics and research support on request.

Customer Services

Throughout October the Customer Services team continued to deliver customer services across all channels. Average call response times continued to be achieved within the three minute target. Training of new recruits to the team and refresher training across the existing team was also a focus for the month. A total of 133 direct messages through social media were received and actioned (86 Facebook, 47 Twitter) up from 98 the previous month, and a total of 119 99 direct messages were sent (98 on Facebook, 21 Twitter) up from 91 the previous month.

Revenues & Benefits

The main focus of the Revenues and Benefits team continues around the processing of Council Tax and Benefits services and ongoing administration of the Scottish Welfare Fund. The team are also supporting other teams including the Ukrainian Refugee Support Team and Shared Services Education. The team continue testing the new online Council Tax System which will go live later this year to provide secure access by residents to their Council Tax account. Work continues on a new Document Management System which is due to go live early next year to replace the current system which is now approaching end of life.

Shared Services

The Shared Services team continue to provide support across all Council services. The Social Work and Education teams are supporting both service areas in the CARH (Children at Risk of Harm) inspection. The Social Work Team continue to develop processes around Child Disability Payment and Adult Disability Payment, while the Blue Badge Team are meeting with Scottish Government to prepare for the ADP roll out. The Homecare Team are continuing to progress a review around chargeable services – gathering information to establish if clients are liable for a charge from EDC.

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. October saw a reduction in the number of calls due the October School Week with just over 2000 calls during the month. ICT continue to support the migration of services to Microsoft 365 in partnership with the Business and Digital Change Team. The infrastructure team have been supporting the Integrated Housing Management System through the creation of a Business Objects server to provide reporting capabilities. The team are also working to allow printing for customers own devices in EDLC libraries. The team continue to work on the new Boclair with the installation of a new device which will allow the installation of heating control software. The ICT Security team continue to monitor the estate and perimeter defences to ensure that our systems and data are protected.

Key Achievements / Areas of Focus

Communications & Engagement

• Co-ordinated and promoted the official opening of Boclair Academy, including designing invites, Provost’s speech and media release and photography
• Promotion of the Women in Property programme at Douglas Academy including photocall, media release and creating a video showcasing the pupils who took part
• Launch of two consultations and a survey, promoting on website and social media
  
  • Lennoxtown Main Street Improvement Consultation
  • Statement of Licensing Consultation
  • 2022 Annual Travel Survey
• Communications to support Cost of Living crisis including the creation of a dedicated webpage with information and promotion of Council support package
• Design of materials for Locality Plans Review drop in events in each of the four Locality areas.
• Organised and promoted the Kirkin of the Council event at St Mary’s Parish Church in Kirkintilloch
• Promotion of Council support for key October dates/initiatives including Challenge Poverty Week videos, Show Racism the Red Card and Bonfire Night safety

Corporate Performance

• Collation of 6 monthly HGIOS reports for all Executive Officer portfolios for November Committee Cycle
• Data support provided for the ongoing inspection of Children’s Services
• Development of annual PPR report for publication early 2023
• Continued assistance to the Business & Digital Change team on transformation projects
• Following approval of a revised Corporate Risk Register in October, work continues to update the operational risk registers and it is anticipated these will be in place by the 2023/24 reporting period

Customer Services

• Continued focus on further recruitment to vacancies and training of new agents on customer service delivery across all channels
• Continued CCTV monitoring in the ERC and participation in the project to replace CCTV infrastructure and monitoring equipment
• Continuing to be involved in the progression of the analogue to digital phone project (impacting ERC and telecare customers)
• Continuing with roll-out of the Netcall telephony upgrade to improve call handling and performance management

Revenues and Benefits

• The team issued and dealt with the queries on over 3200 Council Tax bills, 1200 reminders, 2400 summary warrants and 2350 Benefits notifications. Over 220 Non Domestic Rates bills were also issued
• The team dealt with 2600 telephone enquiries in October
• Continue to administer the revised Self Isolation Support Grant applications and payments

Shared Services

• Continued development of the Adult and Child Disability Payment processes
• Made the October Bridging payment to October Bridging Payment made
• Completed the recalculation of Early Years fees as a result of the closure for HM Queen Elizabeth II’s state funeral
• Completed the end of year process for the cessation of the Care of Garden Service for 2022
• Homecare Team continue to work on Income Maximisation Form exercise with Social Work to determine if clients are liable for a charge from EDC
• Completed the re-assessment of interim funding clients and invoices issued where appropriate
• Completed 24 direct payment audits (17 standard and 7 final) for clients receiving Self Directed Support Option 1 support from EDC
• The team received 299 Education Maintenance Allowance applications from opening up to the end of October. Over 95% of the claims have been processed up to the end of October
• 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

ICT Services

• Upgraded Non-Domestic Rates system database to the latest supported version
• Installation of servers to provide mechanism for migrating email accounts to the M365 platform.
• Completed the installation of a new server to allow an upgrade of ICT systems for monitoring infrastructure, network capacity and software licenses
• Completed a Security Improvement Review with our 3rd party supplier, awaiting final report from Supplier.
• Completed a Multi Factor Authentication proof of concept for use with the Employee Self Service portal.

East Dunbartonshire Leisure and Culture Trust

Leisure Centres

Areas	P1	P2	P3	P4	P5	P6	P7
Wetside	20,936	25,040	29,689	26,146	31,036	30,255	24,660
Dryside	25,034	30,599	39,303	30,841	33,760	41,298	35,876
	45,970	55,639	68,992	56,987	64,796	71,553	60,536

Following a busy period 5 & 6 the Centre headcounts produced a drop in footfall. The post pandemic recovery is still strong given the difficult times.

Libraries

For period 7, there were 23,411 visits in person and digital usage was 44,111. This represents 93% of the overall target for the period.  Visits in person continue to increase and have achieved 82% of target for the period. Digital usage continues to be consistently above or close to target.

Period 7
Target: 72,990
Actual: 67,522

Detail

                        Actual              Target              Actual as % of target 

Physical          23,411             28,514             82%                                                    

Digital              44,111             44,476             99%                

Total                67,522             72,991             93% of target

Museums

For period 7, there were 1,065 visits in person and digital usage was 1,768 totaling 2,833. This represents 74% of the overall target for the period. Visits in person fell by 34% and 23% at the Auld Kirk Museum and Lillie Art Gallery, respectively. The Lillie Art Gallery closed for a day during period 7, due to COVID absences. An increase in mask wearing has been observed at both the Lillie Art Gallery and Auld Kirk Museum, which suggests an increase in public anxiety regarding COVID, which could also explain the reduction in footfall.

Period 7
Target: 3,823
Actual: 2,833

Detail

                        Actual              Target              Actual as % of target

Physical          1,065               1,401               76%

Digital              1,768               2,422               73%

Total                2,833               3,823               74% of target

Sports Development

Sports Development members for term time programmes increased slightly in period 7 with the total number of members attending our weekly programmes across all sports reaching 2,492. There was a poor response to the already limited October holiday programme where the only courses with sufficient numbers to run were swimming lessons which were fully booked.

Key Achievements / Areas of Focus

Sports Development

Football primary schools programmes are going well and due to the positive response from children during sessions, the coaches have been invited to deliver some reading sessions to the children at Hillhead Primary School.

October Swimming Camps were full and most children who attended have applied for term time lessons. 75% of children who applied have been placed so far and the team are working to place the remaining 25%.

Cultural Services

The library service delivered “Festival of Facts” – a programme of activities designed to attract children in to libraries and supported by a grant from SLIC. The festival took place in all library branches and focused on non-fiction resources with a science theme.

The Wee Green Library service, designed to support library outreach activities to Hillhead and Twechar got underway, using the service’s new electric van to deliver staff and resources. The project is supported by grant funding from the Scottish Government.

A new season of art classes commenced during period 7 and are fully booked. Snack and Play was also delivered successfully during the October school holiday week with 76 participants.

Leisure Centres

The gym extension at Kirkintilloch Leisure Centre had their building warrant approved and a schedule of works planned.

Additional bookings were received by local netball clubs to increase female participation at the Leisuredrome.

Former Scotia swimmer Katie Shanahan returned to the Leisuredrome to carry out a master class with local swimmers. Katie - who lit up the 2022 Commonwealth Games and European Championships - first dipped her toes in the water at a Mother and Baby class at the Leisuredrome in Bishopbriggs when she was just six months.

Education

Early Years and Supporting Families

• Snack and Play provision was in operation during the October week holiday. 238 children were offered a place. Merkland Playscheme also operated, offering 44 children a place.
• The Hubs and ASN Playscheme were open from 10am – 3.00pm each day. They provided a range of play opportunities, indoor and outdoor activities, and opportunities to develop friendships / social skills as well as lunch.
• 53 evaluations were received from parents/carers. They rated Snack and Play and Merkland Playscheme as 4.72 and 4.83 out of 5 stars respectively.  Key aspects valued by parents/carers/children were the opportunity for social interaction and participation in a range of activities such as sports, baking, arts and crafts and outdoor learning.
• Early Years Professional Learning: In October, Outdoor Learning and Language and Communication Friendly Establishments courses took place with 44 and 58 practitioners attending respectively.  These courses are offered over 2 or more sessions, with the expectation that attendees will implement a Plan Do Study Act Practitioner Enquiry. This will support early years staff to reflect on models of improvement.
• Funding from Education Scotland: A grant for £2598 to continue the Science, Technologies, Engineering and Maths (STEM) woodwork programme was approved. As a result, five early years centres are creating a programme to develop woodwork learning. The aim of this initiative is to develop literacy, numeracy and gross / fine motor skills through woodwork. This follows on from the successful STEM project that took place in the Milngavie locality last session.
• Early Years Staffing: A further recruitment drive for additional Early Years Workers and Support Workers is underway with a further 15 vacancies for Early Years Workers and 9 Support Workers advertised.
• A total of 41 families are currently being supported through 1 to 1 interventions for family support. 9 new requests for assistance were received in October.
• 16 Family Champions who are based in our Early Years Centres and recently completed the level 3 Triple P training, continue to be supported by the Supporting Families Workers to help build capacity and confidence in delivering sessions to parents. Feedback from Family Champions has been very positive with 10 Family Champions having delivered short interventions with parents during October on themes such as toilet training, bedtime routines and behaviour.
• The Supporting Families team have led on the ‘Warm Jacket’ appeal which ran in 2 areas of PLACE - Hillhead Community Centre and Lennoxtown Primary School in October. More than 500 items of warm clothing for babies to adults were donated and all items have been distributed to families who attended the events. This appeal and events were supported by colleagues from Education and Social work as well as volunteers.

Primary, Secondary and ASN Schools

• Strategic planning for the Scottish Attainment Challenge was finalised, with the following key priorities identified:
• A Strategic Equity Funding Lead Officer will be appointed to work across all sectors to develop a data informed culture at all levels.
• We will work in partnership with the Motivation, Commitment and Resilience (MCR) Pathways mentoring programme to improve outcomes for care experienced young people who have experienced disadvantage; and to narrow the inequalities that exist between MCR young people and their peers. In year 1, the programme will be introduced in 4 secondary schools, supported by the appointment of 2 full time co-ordinators.
• Strategic planning for the Scottish Attainment Challenge includes the setting of stretch aims across all sectors in attainment and wellbeing. The Quality Improvement Team will support Head Teachers and schools to set targets in order to contribute to the overall achievement of stretch aims.
• The Educational Psychology Service and ASN/Children’s Services team have identified an external partner to collaborate with all schools to deliver high quality, school based health improvement research and data driven innovation. Researchers from the University of Glasgow and University of St. Andrews established a new Scottish Schools Health and Wellbeing Improvement Research Network (SHINE). The aim of SHINE is to support improvements in health and wellbeing amongst school age children by building a collaboration between schools, researchers and policy-makers. In Year 1, all schools will be supported to sign up to participate in the programme.
• The central team led a Developing the Young Workforce (DYW) Partnership Seminar in October, which included inputs from Education Services, Secondary Schools, DYW Regional Team, Skills Development Scotland, Community Learning & Development, Young Enterprise Scotland and McLaughlin & Harvey Construction Ltd.  Enhancing collaboration among key partners continues to enable our schools to provide tailored support to young people when they leave school to find positive, sustained destinations after their secondary school education.
• Inclusion support officers continued to roll out ‘Introduction to Inclusion’ training programme for Support for Learning Assistants. Evaluations reported that almost all attendees reported a 40% or more increase in confidence and knowledge in supporting ASN pupils. 

Skills for Life, Learning and Work Update

• At the end of September 168 people had registered on the Local Employability Partnerships new No One Left Behind provision, with 77 going into employment.
• These figures include the 16 new apprenticeship jobs and the 10 new temporary jobs for Long Term unemployed people within East Dunbartonshire Council. One of the participants has already secured full time employment with the council in Early Years as a result of the placement.
• A Positive Achievements residential to Gartmore House focused in team building, bushcraft and outdoor activities. 18 young people took part and the activities will contribute to a range of awards including the Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Award.

Finance & Audit

The month of October saw the Finance Team progressing initial work on the 2023/24 budget, the finalisation of the annual accounts and the reporting of Period 5 General Revenue and Capital Monitoring to the Policy & Resources Committee. 

Work to model inflationary pressures remains ongoing within Council pay and purchasing with further consideration given to demand pressures and supply. This work was reported to Council on 2 November 2022 with an indication of the likely financial gap albeit with the commitment to keep this estimation under review as information is clarified and expectations harden throughout the budget process.

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 by 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 iProc (ordering and receipting), Grant Funding Received, Play Parks Inspections and a follow up report on outstanding audit actions. Work nearing completion includes HSCP Corporate Governance, Social Work Charging and Total Mobile.

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 a higher than expected pay settlement.
• 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.
• Period 5 reporting to the Policy and Resources Committee, with p6 report to be presented in November.
• Publication of the Treasury Management Interim Report 2022/23 to the Audit & Risk Management Committee.
• 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, performing vetting and planning for the forthcoming National Fraud Initiative Exercise, which produces data matches which will then be investigated for possible fraud or error.
• Initial steps have been 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:

• 4 year accreditation scrutiny meeting with UNICEF for the Breast Feeding Programme.  The HSCP are keeping our GOLD accreditation. The feedback for the team was "excellent" and "outstanding". 
• Launch of GAMH a new service aimed at young people 16+ to support their mental health and wellbeing.
• The Integrated Care Home Support Team and the Perinatal Mental Health Team have both been nominated for a Daily Record Scottish Health Award.
• Reviewed and updated all services Business Continuity Plans and overarching HSCP BCP in preparation for anticipated winter pressures.
• Participation in and promotion of:
• International Stutter Awareness Day
• Breastfeeding support
• Breast Screening Awareness month
• National Advanced Health Practitioners Day
• Malnutrition Awareness Week
• World Mental Health Day
• National Cholesterol Month
• Stoptober – stop smoking campaign

Areas of Focus:

Children and Criminal Justice Services:

• 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:

• 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.
• Review of commissioned Mental Health and Alcohol and Drugs services.

Housing

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

At the moment there are 7 vacancies and 2 members of staff are on maternity leave:

6 of the vacancies have been appointed and are due to start next month. 

1 vacancy is out for advert and interviews will be carried out next month.

Housing manage 3757 social rented properties, 3704 of these are mainstream accommodation and 53 are used for homeless temporary accommodation. The service also manages 84 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 3332 applications, made up of the following:

General Waiting list: 2563 applicants waiting (32 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: 565 applicants (33 currently on offer)

(Council or Housing Association tenants who are looking to move to another Council or Housing Association property either of a different size or in a different area. This queue allows the tenant to choose which area, house type etc. they would like to move to);

Priority waiting list: 195 applicants (44 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: 9 applicants (1 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 23 properties have been re let; 3 new builds, 17 mainstream (15 general needs &2 sheltered) and 3 buy backs (Bought from the open market) they were let to the following queues:

2 were let to applicants on the transfer queue

7 were let to applicants on the general waiting list queue

14 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 the estates and allocations modules are now Systems Officer post is still being advertised.
• Performance Monitoring Officers are in the process of developing a tenant’s database to allow for a more streamlined communication process between the Housing Department and tenants.
• Draft Local Housing Strategy consultation process finished and final draft has been sent to the Scottish government for peer review, with  strategy returning to a later PNCA committee seeking approval to adopt/implement once complete. This is estimated to be around the end of the financial year.
• Liaising with Tenant Participation Team to review and produce the new Tenant Participation Strategy.
• 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.
• in the build phase, while the rents module is due for sign off next month.
• Two new Concierge posts have been appointed and will start next month.

Areas of focus

• IHMS progression (3 year project).
• Local Housing Strategy 2023-2028 consultation.
• Performance Monitoring.

Housing Operations – Estates

Key Achievements

• 9 new Anti-social cases received and 9 open Anti-social cases were resolved.
• 8 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.
• Housing Staff attended Anti-Social Training ran by Scotland’s Housing Network.
• An internal Anti-Social Audit commenced and will last for 25 working days.
• Void rent loss has decreased since August, joint working with the void team continues.
• Percentage of tenancy sustainment increased from 76% in September to 95.7% in October.
• Percentage of tenancies refused has decreased from 32% in September to 15% in October.

Areas of focus

• Improve void re-let times through joint working with void team.

Housing Operations – Rents and Tenant Participation

Key Achievements

• 9 tenants assisted and successfully awarded payment from Hardship Fund towards rent payments totalling £6,392.80.
• Team continue to provide significant time/resources along with support to the change team and NEC with the development of the IHMS.
• Tenant Participation Strategy Development – the first draft has been prepared and now being consulted on. 
• 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.

Areas of focus

• Active Tenant Rent Arrears are £1,546,646.9 which is an increase on September’s figure (£1,509,937.56).
• Former Tenant Arrears are £735,007.97 which is an increase from September’s figure (£725,678.55).
• Team continues to work on active Tenant rent arrears and former rent arrears to bring this figure down.

Homelessness and Prevention

• 232 Homelessness applications taken – highest in last 5 years.
• 148 applicants awaiting offer, 48 under offer = 196 on list. No Homelessness households waiting longer than 3 years for offer of settled accommodation (only 2 households waiting longer than 2 years).
• 98% of decision within 28 days – 2 cases out with (lost contacts). Less cases investigated within 0-2 weeks than previous years.
• 19 Housing Options Interviews (85% resolved at HO stage).
• 74 households referred for housing support (21% homeless applicants).
• 55 referrals to Project 101.
• 111 calls to out of hour’s service - increase compared to last year.
• 11 Offer appeals – 10 not upheld 1 upheld.
• Temp: 160 voids; 97 sign ups; 21 properties flipped; 7 antisocial complaints and 6 returned to landlord.
• Hardship Fund – 19 awards with a £35, 272.00 spend.
• Length of stay in Temporary Accommodation – 2022/23  - Average days – all 205 days     (245 self-contained and 49 first stop 0 bed and breakfast use) No breaches of Unsuitable Accommodation Order.
• Rent Deposit Guarantee/Private Sector Scheme – 30 households provided with advice and 9 of these were housed.
• Complaints – 5 FOI- 20 Councillor/MSP enquiries – 32.
• Landlord Registration: 144 new landlord registrations; 461 updates; 336 renewals; no appeals, rent penalty notices etc.; 1 HMO application; and no mortgage to rent enquiries. 
• New Short term let policy introduced.

Project 101

• Project 101(s):
•  has been undergoing its covid recovery plan and has commenced the return of face to face appointments, drop in sessions and budget friendly cooking.
• young people have been learning new kitchen skills, including food hygiene, preparation and cooking. 8 young people have benefitted from this so far since its return.
• is also creating partnerships locally to assist more young people with employability skills and gain employment to help with tenancy sustainment.
• has had 10 young people benefitting from its’home-pack service this quarter.
• ran a competition to win a Halloween hamper with lots of great gifts including donations from Coia’s butchers, Locavore and Majellas café.
• elf on the shelf will also be returning very soon to run more competitions, helpful giveaways and delivering information to help sustain tenancies and encourage young people to stay safe throughout the winter.

Land Planning and Development

Land Planning & Development have progressed a number of significant work streams during October 2022 in line with the Business Improvement Plan commitments. 

Land Planning Policy

• Work towards the production of a draft Circular Economy Strategy for East Dunbartonshire is ongoing. Actions and objectives have been refined in collaboration with internal services and key external partners. A Members briefing was held ahead of its submission to PNCA Committee.
• Council approved the adoption of Local Development Plan 2 on 22 September 2022 and subsequently officers have submitted the Notice of Intention to Adopt, the Proposed Plan as Modified and all other relevant documentation to Scottish Ministers as required by the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997 as amended by the Planning etc. (Scotland) Act 2006.
• Following August 2022 PNCA Committee approval of two pieces of planning guidance, consultation has been undertaken.  
• 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.

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. As agreed by Council in March, progress is also being made in the delivery of 37 early actions to address climate change which will be carried out alongside the development of the Climate Action Plan. A meeting of the Climate Change Member Officer Group will be held in January to discuss progress and an Options Report setting out proposed pathways to net zero will subsequently be presented to Council.
   
• 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. Discussion is under way with the Improvement Service on the delivery of further information sessions on climate change for elected members to be delivered in the New Year. Those elected members who attended the Carbon Literacy Training can submit their evidence forms by the end of November to receive a Carbon Literacy certificate and ‘certified Carbon Literate’ accreditation badge to add to their email signature. 
   
• 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 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 shortly and surveyors will be out and about across East Dunbartonshire assessing play areas and facilities during the autumn. 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 recently seen new staff filling vacancies and as such a period of transition and improvements.
• The team has carried out GIS analysis for the Land Planning Policy and Sustainability teams. This has included a variety of routing work, calculating distances to determine travel time distances to key services and creating web apps which help to understand consultation results better. We have also created maps which have been used in the City Deal A803 consultation.
• 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.
• 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.

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.
• Working on the development of new business support products designed to help businesses having difficulties in recovery, sustainability or diversification. Preparing to provide funding to businesses previously in receipt of the previous (2021) Discretionary Fund Covid grant using the Local Authority Covid Recovery funding. Currently working on 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 form comment. The land acquisition strategy is now under review by the Project Board and land owner discussions are continuing. The Environmental Sustainability Plan (ESP) will be developed further along with the masterplan proposals. Peat investigation surveys have now been appointed and will be carried out in the area before the end of the year.
• The Westerhill Development Road design contract is now underway and the focus over the coming year will be route options assessment.
• Design consultants have been procured and work has commenced on the next stages of the design process for Bishopbriggs Town Centre. The scope of work has been extended to include a high-level masterplan to (Riba stage 3) for Bishopbriggs Park. Public consultation is anticipated for early 2023.
• Work continues to progress the feasibility (Stage 1) for the A803 Corridor Improvements project. Public Consultation is planned for November with drop-in event at the War Memorial Hall in Bishopbriggs planned for Tuesday 15th November. The online survey is available until the 22nd November and thus far we have seen a good uptake in responses.  Responses will be used to inform the design stage of the project. Stage 2, Options Assessment, is scheduled to commence early 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 over the autumn. 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 will be available from 3-31 October 2022. Public consultation events are being held on 16 and 19 November to allow people the opportunity to contribute in person.

Traffic & Transport Team

• Work has concluded on design work for the Canniesburn Toll Improvement Project. Work will soon commence on procuring contractors for the construction period. A project management consultancy has been appointed to coordinate progress of the project. The statutory consultee stage of the Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) process has commenced for the proposed delivery of four associated TROs.
• Construction work is complete on the upgrade of the Strathkelvin Railway Path between Kirkintilloch and Lennoxtown. The project has been funded through SPT and the Council’s Cycling Walking Safer Routes allocation from Transport Scotland.
• Feasibility and design works are progressing on a range of active travel infrastructure projects included in the Local Transport and Active Travel Strategies.
• The team has successfully attracted external funding to help deliver a number of projects over 2022/23. Work is ongoing to recruit additional staff to support project delivery.
• 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 79 applications and validated 52 applications. The Building Standards team have received 112 building warrants and approved 132 applications.  The Enforcement Team opened 9 new cases and closed 7. 
• The Building Standards team have had to manage a high workload whilst carrying 2 vacancies over this reporting period.  In addition the Validation Team have 1 vacancy and the Planning Team have a half vacancy. Managing customer expectations has been critical, as unfortunately the team have not been able to respond as quickly as we normally strive to do. 
• In recent months there has been significant results from our recruitment campaign for Building Standards in that we should have all of our vacancies filled by the end of November. This will allow the service to wind down the use of agency staff. The use of agency staff ensured continuity of service for our customers.
• The Scottish Government have confirmed that East Dunbartonshire Council is appointed as building standards verifier for the area which the authority is responsible for a six year period to 30 April 2029. The reappointment will commence on 1 May 2023. The Scottish Government Minister confirmed that he had received positive feedback from his officials about the teams progress and the evidence provided had been used to evaluate the service. 
• The Development Application team have no business for the meeting of Planning Board in November but will be preparing reports for the meeting in December.

Key Achievements / Areas of Focus

• 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.
• The Scottish Government have confirmed that East Dunbartonshire Council is appointed as building standards verifier for the area which the authority is responsible for a six year period to 30 April 2029. The Scottish Government Minister confirmed that he had received positive feedback from his officials about the teams’ progress and the evidence provided had been used to evaluate the service. 

Legal and Democratic Services

The indicators chosen for monthly reporting represent transactions where Legal Services involvement is nearer the end of the process.  Each indicator relates to services which are important to individuals and Council Services, but that also have an impact on the local economy. They also represent areas where performance was not previously as good as it might have been, which resulted in the introduction of the PIs.  Whilst performance is generally consistently high, the continued application of the PIs ensures that this remains the case.  It also ensures that any change in performance is identified and addressed early.

Performance against all indicators for Legal Services for October is 100%. Apart from one indicator where it is 96%.  The indicator that is 96% is LDS-BIP-07 Percentage of taxi licence applications approved or refused by Legal Services within 5 days of receipt of the complete application. 1 application was granted outwith the 5 day period due to an administrative error in allocating the application to a solicitor who was on leave. 

In October, Democratic Services managed the implementation of the Council’s new Hybrid meeting system against a challenging and busy cycle of meetings. YouTube viewing figures remain steadily above the numbers who previously attended the Council Chambers in person.  The Team continues to manage and represent the Council at various Civil Contingency and resilience meetings and progress work in relation to the Council’s PREVENT obligations. 

In addition, officers within Democratic Services have been considering the provisions of the new Election Act and what it means for the administration of UKG elections by the Council. Whilst there is some awareness of the voter id provisions, the Act is also introducing changes which may impact on the Council’s election staffing, training, polling places and wider polling scheme.  This will be the subject of a report to the Policy & Resources Committee in the new year, once there is greater certainty around the implementation of some aspects which requires the publication of secondary legislation.

The Information Management Team continues to support major project work e.g. the implementation of MS365 and commenced a review of a number of policies and procedures which will support elements of the organisation and workforce of the future. 

The SMT Support Team continues to support both CMT and SMT in all aspects of work and are a key part of the administration behind the production of reports for committees and other decision making bodies.  The Members Support Team continue to work with and support Members in their role and will shortly commence training to assist them in supporting Members in the roll out of MS Teams and other new systems.

The Service is commencing preparations for the forthcoming Scottish COVID Inquiry. First step is the development of a plan for the creation of a “data room” to hold and catalogue the information held by the Council so as to make compliance with requests for information (Section 21 Notices) from the Inquiry more efficient. Thereafter, the focus will be on supporting the organisation’s engagement with the Inquiry once it starts in earnest.

Key Achievements / Areas of Focus

• During October, the Team processed 5 contract form reviews, 4 Contract award letters, 29 taxi licences, and 6 grants.
• All of the above categories were processed within the required timescales, except for one taxi licence which was not processed in time due to an administrative error.  In light of the performance for all categories, it is not proposed to take any steps at this time other than to continue to monitor progress against the set PIs.
• Agreed final form of the second design contract for the Bishopbriggs Town Centre (City Deal) project.
• Commenced title diligence on three key landowner titles for the Westerhill Development Road (City Deal) project.
• Supported procurement of various initial site investigation surveys including topographical and peat surveys.
• Completed two shared equity sales and two open market purchases.
• Former Gartshore Colliery s75 agreement to secure a restoration bond for restoration of the former colliery site completed to allow planning permission to be issued.
• Agreed a contract for the provision of funding for the next five years by the University of Strathclyde for a teacher to teach Mandarin.
• Approval of a new Surveillance Policy and the delivery of awareness raising training for Members.
• Reporting on the public consultation in relation to taxi fares and the fixing of new fares.
• Providing training to Social Work colleagues on report writing for permanence cases.
• Planning & delivery of 12 Community Council elections. Providing assistance throughout the nominations process – most Community Councils achieved the required number of members to establish a Community Council without a contested election.
• As part of our Civil Contingencies Training, several officers attended “Exercise Hoolie” – a severe weather exercise based on the events & learning arising from Storm Arwen.
• The Registration Technical adviser oversaw the training of Customer Service agents to help deliver the registration of - 83 births; 207 deaths; and 40 marriages in October.

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 October, providing residual, recycling, food, garden and special waste collections on behalf of the Authority. The team has also managed the waste and recycling collections from over 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 1833 tonnes of waste through this contract in October, ensuring our waste undergoes treatment for recycling extraction prior to being sent through an Energy from Waste process.

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

Fleet Management has worked in partnership with services and officers from procurement in order to specify, tender and procure further vehicles and associated items of specialist plant, suitable for service users’ needs and to coincide with Lease contracts terminating through the financial year. Tenders are currently out for the replacement of specialist vehicles, plant & equipment for Social work 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

• Mavis Valley Recycling Centre went on to Winter opening hours at the end of October, the website was updated to reflect this. The Recycling Centre continues to be busy with 9067 residents booked to visit the facility during the month of October.
• Work started with the contractor Alfred Knight in the analysis of our general waste materials, analysing 50 bins per day over a period of 1 week. Upon completion of the data analysis, this information will be used to target future residual and recycling campaigns to shape and enhance the waste service.
• The operational team held a risk assessment focus group, assessing the risks associated with the activities of our service, both department representatives and our internal Health & Safety Officer was in attendance.
• The Waste service achieved a 98% performance figure for Special Collections in October. The average collection time was noted at 3.71 days, significantly ahead of the 10 day period and 90% target. 
• The service have continued working closely with the Business Change team to progress the business case for digitally modernising the waste collection routes. Officers are now working in conjunction with the procurement team in order to specify and obtain costs for this work.
• We are now moving towards the end of the green waste season, with the final collections being completed on Saturday 26th November. The Service will recommence on the first Sunday in March of 2023.
• Ongoing attendance at meetings in support of other Council services and partners to identify options for Carbon reduction and the Circular Economy Agenda as part of the wider Climate Action Plan.
• 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 Zero emission and alternative fuelled vehicle and plant fleet, in the lead up to legislative deadlines and targets.

Organisational Transformation

Procurement

During October, 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, OT services were involved in ongoing support to a number of strategic procurements/projects, particularly in relation to City Deal, ICT and various Capital projects. 

The Strategic Commissioning Team extended its monitoring and oversight arrangements across the commissioned market with a view to supporting and strengthening the sustainability of the sector. Ongoing support to the HSCP to help inform and progress its strategic agenda and budget setting process continued and will remain a key priority over the next few months.   

Business & Digital Change

The IHMS team continues to work closely with the Housing service to design, build and configure the new Integrated Housing Management System (IHMS). The solution design for the core Estates module was completed this month and system build and testing is ongoing. Progress has also been made in development of financial interfaces and preparation for data migration to the new NEC Housing system. 

Pre-planning work on our Oracle Fusion ERP Programme has now commenced. The Programme Team are being mobilised and an initial stakeholder identification workshop has been held. The programme will formally commence in December with an onboarding workshop for key stakeholders. 

Detailed M365 project planning has been completed for the migration of the Councils Lotus Notes e-mail to the M365 Outlook/Exchange platform by end of April 23. Initial design workshops have been held and further design and discovery workshops are scheduled during November working towards an initial technical pilot in December. 

The procurement process for our new Council website (CMS) is underway and a contract for our new Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system is nearing completion. Work continues to explore the implementation options for our new Employee Intranet, which will be developed on the Microsoft SharePoint platform. 

Further benchmarking work has been undertaken to evaluate Freedom of Information solutions across Scotland. This work will be used to help inform the route to market for a new FOI system 

Work continues on the delivery of our new Education budgeting database, with user testing continuing for the first development phase.   Development of staff commitment reports for Education is complete and initial testing has been successful, work now begins to agree a roll out plan. 

The team are working with colleagues across the Council to develop a requirements specification for our CCTV replacement programme 

A Business Case development for our Waste Collection Modernisation Project (Formerly InCab) is underway. 

Business Systems 

The systems team have been focused on improving the Councils Business Systems health index by successfully completing upgrades including; the Eden Middleware platform, the Leisure Trust Leisure management System and the HSCP administration system Winscribe. A new Respite Care assess form has been developed for the Adult East Team enabling respite home caring requests to be processed within Carefirst replacing legacy spreadsheet processes. 

Work has started on developing options appraisals towards migrating a number of key council business systems to the cloud including the building & Planning system IDOX, the Graphical Information System ARC GIS and the Bank Automated Clearing System EPG. 

The team continue to resolve incidents and requests logged via the service desk ensuring continued systems availability and performance.  

Health and Safety

The Health and Safety team carries out various roles across services such as:

• Statutory guidance, advising where required, 
• Compliance in planning, safe working and training,
• Supervision while works are being undertaken
• Incident reporting and investigation
• Recording and managing on-site attendance and health and safety operations at Broomhill depot and Marina HQ.

Key Achievements

Procurement

• Providing ongoing support to the City Deal team in relation to Contract requirements and alternative procurement route options.
• Supported key Business & Digital Change projects such as Oracle Fusion upgrade, M365, CRM & CMS, supporting workforce of the future planning.
• Completed renewals for support and maintenance of business critical systems to facilitate current remote working
• Supported contract management to facilitate the commencement of works for the Lowmoss Boardwalk upgrade
• Successfully led the closure of a local care at home service including the transition of existing business to other / alternative commissioning arrangements 
• Developed a robust proposal to support and improve current monitoring arrangements for care at home business. Due to be implemented November 2022 
• Established a Void Protocol geared towards improving and strengthening current oversight and governance (service and financial) arrangements

Business & Digital Change

• Launch of Oracle Fusion ERP Programme 

• Launch of tender - analogue to digital transition for the Alarm Receiving Centre. 
• Detailed planning phase for migration of the Council's e-mail system to M365 Outlook & Exchange services 
• Solution design, build, testing, and data migration preparation for the Integrated Housing  Management System (IHMS)    

Health and Safety

Supporting Services

• Supporting Education and Estates in reviewing premises re H&S issues arising and School Improvement team.
• The SMART working for the future – local arrangements, recording and managing no. people on site and Employee Zone update and review for on- site working
• Telecare RAMS creation and training
• Roads RAMS final review, Streetscene RAMS review and Facilities Management  COSHH review
• New Boclair Academy temporary car park layout support and the new Allander’s health and safety and fire safety operational requirements, CDM Client visits
• Review of Contractors RAMS, Construction Phase Plans, Pre Construction information for works in schools and other sites, commissioned by Mugdock Park, Streetscene, Assets, Estates, Property Maintenance, Housing and subsequent site inspections
• Operational support for Broomhill clear-out

Fire, Health and Safety and Occupational Health services

• Health Surveillance – vaccinations HepB/Tetanus
• Reactec HAVS tag and Operator card programming for Roads
• Respiratory Face Fit Testing
• Ladder Training
• Fire risk assessments across all educational establishments and a number of corporate building
• Education policies and procedures benchmarking – Finger trapping

Risk Assessments and Training

• Fire extinguisher- training manual creation
• Induction training for new operatives – Property Maintenance
• Duty Holder, Risk Assessment and Incident reporting, Building Manager, Manual Handling, Safe use of ladders, fire extinguisher training.
• Waste service risk assessment review - continued
• Workplace assessments across services supporting SMART working.
• Supporting HR and Education with individual risk assessments.

Human Resources & Organisational Development

• Continued support for employees and managers on HR policy based and guidance noted, with support in attendance on ER case work,
• Launch of Menopause Policy to coincide with World Menopause Day
• Introduction of an Online Employee Exit Questionnaire to support ongoing work regarding retention
• Update to Covid-19 related absence recording as sickness absence and updated reporting procedures.
• Recruitment Open days held for Facilities Management
• People Development delivered 9 sessions, across 10 topics, to include SMART Working sessions, Mental Health Awareness, EDC Policy & H&S based topics, along with 12 externally delivered sessions including Flexible Workforce Development Funding. With these sessions capturing an overall total of 254 employees,
• Exploration of funded places for CPD with Upskilling Scotland
• Within Payroll Services maintained and processed the payover of 6 payruns within timescales, with the completion of a series of statutory reports,
• Finalised work to support the re-enrolment of employees with regards to pension,
• Preparatory work in relation to the SJC pay award.
• Recruitment is still ongoing having an impact of service support

Place and Community Planning

Community Protection

(Environmental Health, Trading Standards and Community Safety)

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 October the service has been actively engaged 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 has continued to be engaged in the delivery of essential public health services throughout the reporting period in order to protect the community from hazards in the environment and to regulate and facilitate the growth of responsible businesses.  During the October period officers have been required to undertake investigations during the night in a number of locations due to various ongoing complaints at sensitive times.  Our Public Health Compliance Officers have been carrying out a range of project work on behalf of the team and the last remaining Homes for Ukraine property checks are being finalised. There are expected to be further calls for homes to be made available by the Scottish Government imminently. In a similar vein, 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 October has, amongst other things, included continuing work to develop the new Trading Standards Trusted Trader Scheme for the local authority area.

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 continue to deliver community development and capacity building support to our four place areas.  Working alongside communities and third sector organisation supporting the delivering a range of community-led activities and initiatives addressing poverty and inequalities.

Four positive community feedback sessions are planned, providing further opportunities for individuals whose voices are seldom heard to actively engage in the review and refresh of the locality plans. Engagement has been extremely positive.

The team with support from communication and engagement team are progressing cost of living workstream and Community Warm Spaces. They continue to work with community planning partners to support community-led opportunities.

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

We continue to work with Scottish Government, Homes Office and partners to deliver the resettlement agenda across East Dunbartonshire Council area. This includes working with partners to support VPRS and UDP.

Officers also continue to work alongside services and teams to deliver the Equalities outcomes.

Community Testing Team

The winter vaccination programme has provided Covid and Flu vaccination to the oldest and most vulnerable in our communities. The programme is now offering vaccination to citizens aged 50 or over and those with eligible health conditions.

Clinics are scheduled for 4 days a week; Tuesday and Wednesday at Kirkintilloch Town Hall, with Thursday and Saturday at Milngavie Town Hall. Council staff are working with the NHS to minimise queues and ensure the safety of those attending the clinic.

Key Achievements / Areas of Focus

Community Protection

 (Environmental Health, Trading Standards and Community Safety)

• 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.
• Project on gas safety in catering premises launched to ensure operators are maintaining gas appliances as required by employment law.
• Awareness raising campaign on the ban of single use plastics launched with local take away and restaurant premises.
• EDC Air Quality Annual Progress Report feedback received with acceptance and commendation for the author.
• Commencement of co-ordinated programme of vehicle idling patrols across the Council area in conjunction with key partners.
• Coordination and organisation of community safety partner activity for the 2022 bonfire and fireworks season.
• 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. 
• Successful completion of the Junior Warden programme by 28 pupils at Harestanes Primary School, with a new programme also due to commence in November in Hillhead Primary School.
• 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.
• Delivery of an integrity testing programme for tobacco and nicotine vapour products at tobacco registered premises in order to check compliance levels in relation to age verification policies and procedures.
• Soft launch of the new Trusted Trader Scheme for East Dunbartonshire by Trading Standards with a number of local businesses expressing interest in joining the scheme.
• Trading Standards participation at a number of community events in conjunction with Health and Social Care Partnership colleagues.

Community Planning and Partnership Team

• Progressing East Dunbartonshire Warm Spaces workstream with partners and communities.
• Provision of community capacity support using a Community Learning and Development approach across our Place areas and communities of interest.
• In partnership with EDVA, and HSCP planning feedback session on the locality plan consultation reports
• Supported the delivery of successful CPD opportunity to CLD practitioners in partnership with The Standards Council
• Delivering resettlement support under both VPRS and Homes for Ukraine agenda’s
• To continue via SG matching service to match those in welcome hub to available hosts in EDC
• Recruitment of two Community Development Workers

Community Testing Team

• To continue to support delivery of the NHS vaccination programmes of flu and Covid-19 at two town centre venues, and through use of the GGC NHS Board mobile vaccination bus at outreach communities, as is possible.

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 interviews for the Senior Roads Technician and two Roads Technicians are scheduled to take place in November. The process to backfill the two Squad Leader and two Roads Operatives posts are being progressed. The capital programmes for both teams continue with the carriageway and footway resurfacing programme and lighting projects ongoing across East Dunbartonshire. Finally, winter maintenance standby has commenced with three weather checks per day and suitable actions progressed as required. 

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 Team welcome the newly appointed Senior Traffic Officer and the recruitment of a Structural Engineer is ongoing with interviews scheduled for November.

Streetscene Operations

The team continues with seasonal grounds maintenance tasks including grass cutting and summery cyclical works within open spaces, schools grounds, sports grounds and community facilities.  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 summer seasonal workforce have completed their contacted period in October.

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. Unfortunately, staff turnover is now an issue for the team with a long-standing member of the team retiring and the Team Leader schedule to leave to pursue other opportunities. The recruitment process for both posts has commenced, but may leave the team short for a period.

Mugdock Country Park

The team have completed a first draft of the 2022-27 Mugdock Strategy as well as progressing several quotes for various improvements across the Country Park, and this will enter a period of initial consultation in-house prior to full consultation with the public and third party stakeholders. Year on year the October visitor numbers are well in excess of expectations.

Key Achievements / Areas of Focus

Roads Network Operations Teams (including Street Lighting)             

• EDC Internal Resurfacing Programme (non-coal tar location)
  
  • Sinclair Avenue, Milngavie
  • Cairnsmore Road, Bearsden
  • Springfield Road, Bishopbriggs
  • Getter Grove, Twechar
  • Woodmill Drive & Park Terrace, Torrance
• EDC External Resurfacing Programme (Footway)
  
  • Eileen Gardens, Bishopbriggs
• EDC External Resurfacing Programme (Carriageway)
  
  • Eileen Gardens, Bishopbriggs
• EDC Internal Footway Resurfacing Programme (non-coal tar locations)
  
  • Canniesburn Road, Bearsden
• EDC Road Drainage System Upgrades
  
  • A number of road gullies renewed on Auchehowie Road with all other jetted and cleared.
• EDC Street Lighting Capital/Replacement Projects
  
  • Ralston Road / Russell Drive, Bearsden (partly commissioned)
• EDC Christmas Lighting
  
  • Workshop testing and repair of Christmas lighting features in preparation for site installations commencing early October
• EDC Winter Maintenance Standby preparations completed with dry run undertaken. However, mild weather meant no Winter Action (Gritting) were completed in October
• EDC Flood Response Team attended a number of localised flooding reports following short periods of heavy rain.

*Some of the work listed was completed in July, but the Service are still awaiting disconnection by Scottish Power Energy Network (SPEN) to allow old columns to be removed.

Roads Technical & Engineering Teams -

Flood Risk

• 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.
• River Kelvin Flood Defence Maintenance Contract - WGM Ltd have started planned service visits to all flood defence pumping stations in EDC.
• Climate Ready Park - to be reissued for tender process. Consultants pulling tender document together for re-tender in the coming weeks. 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. The Flood Scheme landscaping is being maintained by our StreetScene colleagues.
• Some civils works have been undertaken by our framework contractor George Leslie's at various locations and are complete. This includes urgent drainage works at Lenzie Moss at footpath to rear of Ash Grove, Lenzie.

Drainage

• CCTV of several road locations with reported drainage issues.
• Works completed at the following locations
• 15 Thomson Dr Bearsden
• Newlands Terrace, Milton of Campsie
• Ashburn Road, Milngavie
• Emergency works ongoing at Canniesburn Road, Bearsden (expected off road by 18/11/22)
• Investigations at Glenhead Road, Lenzie

Upcoming works;

• Beaufort Drive, Kirkintilloch in progress
• Millersneuk Drive, Lenzie completed
• Victoria Road, Lenzie completed
• Maitland Drive, Torrance completed
• Inverary Drive, Bishopbriggs completed
• Hillside Drive, Bishopbriggs completed
• Angus Avenue, Bishopbriggs postponed till 6/2/22 due to road closure

Development

• Road inspections at development sites, monitoring site progression. Inspections (category A, B and C) are carried out on a regular basis. Quarter 2 inspections have been agreed and sent for invoicing (approximately 75% complete)
• Processing road opening and temporary traffic light permits, discussing acceptable dates for road occupation.
• National Coring in the south west area is complete, agreement meetings taking place with Statutory Undertakers before the final report is issued. This is in compliance with the timescale set by the Scottish Road Works Commissioner's Office.
• Site meetings to agree remedial works with developers.
• Attendance at all RAUC meetings this year. The next local RAUC is 7 December 2022

Structures

• General and Principal inspections are ongoing.
• Graffiti removal at Bearsden Rail Bridge.
• Strengthening works ongoing to Parkburn Bridge Kirkintilloch.
• Liaising with Procurement for Westergartshore footbridge demolition contract.
• An agency Structures Engineer has been hired while recruitment of a permanent replacement is ongoing.

Upcoming works;

• Roman Rd Bearsden Rail bridge weak footway protection works.
• Torrance footbridge repairs and strengthening works.
• A candidate has been selected for a replacement Structures Engineer to start in January, subject to reference checks

Traffic

• A new Senior Traffic Officer is in post.
• Traffic Regulation Orders are being progressed for Clachan of Campsie; Crosshill Road, Bishopbriggs and Manse Road, Bearsden.
• The team are finalising the design prior to the construction of the flat topped hump in Manse Road, Bearsden including new drainage systems.
• The team are looking to install two new pedestrian crossings in Bishopbriggs and update an existing crossing in Kirkintilloch within the next 3 months.
• Attendance at various regional and national meetings related to road safety.
• The team are providing technical support for City Deal projects and Canniesburn Toll.
• The team are working through various locations installing new or replacing street signs as per customer requests.
• The team are assessing and installing new disabled bays and removal.
• The team continue to assess areas for potential traffic calming and pedestrian crossings.
• A proposal has gone to Milton of Campsie Community Council to signalise the Cross and amend Traffic Regulation Orders.
• Commencing the procurement of seven new vehicle activated speed-warning signs.
• Responding to Planning Applications.
• Responding to Lining Requests.
• Commenting on various licences i.e. street trader licences, public entertainment licences and occasional licences.
• Dealing with various requests for temporary road closures.

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, cemetery grass cutting, installing headstone foundations, benches etc.
• Final summer cyclic grass cutting of open spaces, Housing estates, sports pitches, school grounds, open space hedge cuts.
• COG service (final month).
• Housing one off grass cuts
• Checking and clearance of culverts
• Play park inspection
• Football pitch lining.
• Preparation and planting of Spring bedding; shrub bed facing up; cutting and removal of wildflower meadow areas
• Responding to Customer Service Requests and complaints.
• Culvert grill cleaning and monitoring
• Bonfire monitoring and removal of debris.
• Arranging winter servicing of machinery
• Assisting Groups with Queen’s Green Canopy Tree delivery.
• Christmas Tree installation preparations.
• Preparations for the Royal Visit, Southbank Marina.

Streetscene Technical Support

• Repointing works carried out on War Memorial sites prior to Remembrance Sunday.
• Final specification written for Ash Dieback monitoring. 
• Specification written for Tree planting and wildflower site assessment.
• Work continuing on project relating to upgrade of the canal towpath, Kirkintilloch; contact made with Scottish Water.
• Escalation made with Legal Services regarding Woodland Training opportunities.
• Tree surveys carried out in the following play areas: Haughhead Play Park, Haughead; Campsie Drive, Milngavie; surveys to be rolled out during the winter months.
• 30 year asset management plan for Streetscene, first draft created.
• Works continuing for projects as funded by the Scottish Government’s Nature Restoration Grant.
• Summer bedding and hanging basket procured and order raised.
• Third cycle of vertidraining of Leisure Trust and Education pitches; order raised for weed and feed.
• Mechanical bulb planting EDC wide
• Lenzie Moss Boardwalk contract finalised.
• Luggie Park pathwork continuing.
• KLR and BRR works ongoing; monthly litter picks ongoing during the winter period.
• Litter picking activity as part of cross-working partnership with Keep Scotland Beautiful initiative for verge cleaning completed.
• Responding to a number of planning applications
• Site visit with Planning regarding path connection, Roman Fields, Twechar.
• Play park defect repair work ongoing.
• Evaluation of tender returns for Mosshead Play Park.
• Westerton Play Park upgrade Brief for Contractors advertised.
• Etive Park Play Park upgrade Brief for Contractors advertised.
• Team working with City Deal Team and consultants in relation to masterplan of Bishopbriggs Public Park.
• CCTV survey and cleaning of drainage system started in all active Cemeteries and cleaning thereof. Second phase order raised.
• Specification for Bishopbriggs Path and Mains Park path upgrade written.
• Awaiting works to start by contractor for the relaying setts and paving at Milton of Campsie Cross.
• Upgraded steps constructed at McArthur Park, Lenzie.
• Cut and lift of wildflower meadows continuing.
• 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.
• Delivery of bulbs for the annual Bulb Competition.
• Appointed Tree consultant commenced Tree survey within Peel Park, Kirkintilloch.
• Tree survey carried out within Milngavie Reservoir by Bell Ingram on behalf of Scottish Water. (Permission granted to undertake remedial tree works identified within report)
• Recruitment underway for Team Leader and Operations Programmer.

Mugdock Country Park

• Meeting of the Mugdock JMC (Joint Management Committee) took place with a presentation of the draft Mugdock Strategy 2022-27;
• The draft Strategy will be on EDC website for final consultation during November and final draft will be taken to JMC in Dec 22;
• Capital projects which are underway include fencing for Craigand Quarry - contract has been signed off;
• Septic tank replacement - pre-contract survey work is underway;
• Walled Garden design work has commenced with company appointed to carry this out;
• Courtyard improvements continue involving painting interior and exterior of building;
• Replacement BBQ structures is out for tender;
• Events took place during the October week holiday and included Wildlife Weans - Wonderful Welly Wander, Fungi on the Hill, Twechar, Wildlife Weans - Den building, Fungus Amungus, Lenzie, Craft with Clay, Creepy Crawlies and Conservation, Mugdock Sensational Safari - Stargazing, Sensory Sunday - Forest School for Wee Folk, Stargazing at Mugdock;
• Countryside Rangers have been working with schools to delivery Forest Schools activities;
• Seasonal Rangers completed outdoor patrols as part of the Better Places Fund and provided 'boots on the ground' at the Park over the summer months;
• A joint project with Scottish Water has commenced with seasonal Rangers patrolling Milngavie Reservoirs and the southern part of the Park;
• Panto tickets for Cinderella at the Courtyard Theatre at Mugdock are on sale with on-line bookings being made through Eventbrite.
• Mugdock's first Light Show also has tickets on sale through an external company - Mugdock Christmas Wonderland.