Technical Notes 2022, Issue 12 - Coronavirus (COVID-19) – Service Updates (21 January)

Further to our technical note on 21 December (TN-199-21), please see attached below our first detailed service updates of 2022, reflecting on the current challenges faced by Council services, together with an update on the additional COVID-19 support activities our services are providing to residents, communities and businesses on behalf of Scottish Government and/or NHS.

As previously advised, operational command and control protocols remain in place to ensure that resources and activities are appropriately prioritised.

Absence rates across Council services (including HSCP) continue to be higher than normal, with available resources being monitored daily, service by service. 

Depending on the level of available resources, it may be necessary to adjust service delivery, however, all options will be explored before any adjustments are made and elected members will be fully informed of any such developments. This may result in service disruption and activities, which are planned and committed, may not be able to be delivered.

With the need to prioritise operational focus on essential service delivery, COVID-19 support services and civil contingency planning, officers may not be in a position to provide individual service updates or responses to other non-essential member enquiries within normal timescales but please be assured, responses will be provided as soon as practicable.

We would thank you again for your support and co-operation in relation to the measures in place and the civil contingency planning taking place. 

PLACE, NEIGHBOURHOOD & CORPORATE ASSETS: SERVICE UPDATES: Friday 21 January 2022

ASSETS & FACILITIES

ASSETS & FACILITIES

Facilities Management

The rollout of the new FM structure continues with significant progression, including the filling of vacant roles, expected in early 2022. The majority of the FM Management team has now been recruited with 3 posts remaining to be filled.

All staff continue to support the COVID response, ensuring buildings are open, clean and safe for all stakeholders.

With the expansion of free school meals to Primary 4 and 5 pupils (P4 in August ‘21, P5 from January ‘22), the service has identified additional catering resources and equipment required to deliver this. The rollout to P4 has been successful and the roll out to P5 commenced January 2022.

Property Maintenance

Gas Safety inspections are ongoing and we continue to closely monitor inspections to ensure ongoing compliance across the housing stock with all properties having their annual service carried out within the anniversary date.

Progress continues on reducing the number of void properties with the implementation of improvement measures having a positive impact on operations as we continue to look at ways of improving service delivery in this area. All reactive repairs are ongoing and we continue to make good progress in addressing the backlog of non-essential repairs. The Care & Repair service is ongoing across the area and continues to be well received. 

Aids & Adaptation works continue with good progress in the completion of these works. The Smoke and Heat detector installation programme is reaching it's conclusion and we have achieved our plan of visiting all properties across the estate in line with Government targets with 93% of properties now fitted with Heat, Smoke and CO detectors. The remaining properties have been no accesses and we continue to re-schedule these as and when tenants contact us. Kitchen, Bathroom and Heating upgrade programmes remain hold and will remain on until it is safe and practicable to reintroduce these multi-trade works.

Roofing replacement works are ongoing as we continue to liaise with suppliers on the supply of materials for these works. Progress continues in carrying out reactive and larger scale refurbishment works across the education and non-housing stock with decoration works ongoing in the school estate.

Fixed CO2 detectors have been installed throughout the school estate, with monitoring of levels being undertaken to determine where there are challenges with the level of ventilation in specific areas to ensure appropriate interventions are undertaken to address any concerns.

Estates

The Estates service continues to maintain the operational and non-operational estates. Priority has been given to ensuring the estate is compliant with current legislation with that work unaffected by the current pandemic.

Viewings of commercial property are currently being undertaken with strict social distancing measures and appropriate face coverings in place. The number of viewings are at a minimum with the non-operational estate having few vacancies at present.
 

Development & Investment

All development projects across Major Assets and Housing Investment programmes continue to make good progress on site and have been largely unaffected by the changing restrictions of the last 8 weeks. 

Good progress continues to be made on projects at pre-construction stage including Brookwood Villa, Twechar Canalside (including Outdoor Pursuits Centre and affordable housing) and in the next phase of the Affordable Housing Investment Programme.  Preparatory work remains on-going for the delivery of 3 major school refurbishments and new Balmuildy PS.

The Council's revised 10 Year Capital Investment Plan and 5 Year Housing Capital Plan (including the updated Strategic Housing Investment Plan) will be submitted for approval in February and include a detailed update on current and future development projects.

HOUSING

Homelessness & Prevention

During early 2022 there has been an increase in demand for assistance; over 40 appointments have been arranged already for January 2022. Due to higher demand and vacancies within the team the waiting time for an appointment has increased from a few days to within 2 weeks.  (Similar to pre pandemic arrangements).  Emergency enquiries continue to be responded to on the same day. 

The backlog of applicants on the Council's homelessness list remains low; 120 applicants are awaiting an offer of settled accommodation; only 2 (1.6%) applicants have been waiting longer than 3 years for settled accommodation.

Demand for temporary accommodation has increased.  The Homelessness Team continue to work with the Council's Repairs Team to return properties to a re-let standard and reduce pressures on demand.

Unsuitable Accommodation Order

There are no households in B&B at this time and the Council to date has not breached the Unsuitable Accommodation Order (placing applicants in unsuitable accommodation longer than 7 days).

Following clarification from the Scottish Government on 19 January 2022, breaches of the unsuitable accommodation will now be calculated per homelessness application rather than placement duration. The Homelessness Team will further review existing approaches to mitigate any impact that this may have.

Homelessness & Prevention Team

Vacancies in the homelessness team - following interviews this week, 4 posts will be filled, which will assist with the increase in homelessness applications and provision of temporary accommodation.

Festive out of hours

The Homelessness & Prevention Team received 18 calls between 24 December 2021 and 5 January 2022.  Of the 18 households; 2 were booked into emergency accommodation.

COVID19 Tenant Hardship Grant

During October 2021. the Homelessness & Prevention Team was awarded £105k from the Scottish Government to prevent tenants in the social and private sector who have accrued rent arrears as a direct result of COVID19 from becoming homeless. 

To date:

- 29 referrals have been received

- 28 awards have been given (£30,493.73)

- Of the 28 awards

            - 16 EDC tenants

            - 11 Housing Association tenants

            - 1 Private Sector Tenant

Further information on how to apply for the grant is available by emailing homelessness@eastdunbarton.gov

Housing Operations

The Team continues to work closely with Property Maintenance to ensure void properties are turned around as quickly as possible.  There are 41 properties with the void team currently undergoing empty house repairs.  Since April 2021, a total of 265 new tenancies have been created, this figure includes 60 new build properties at the Tom Johnston Place site. Terminations have been received for a further 9 properties which are due to become available for allocation within the next 28 days.   5 properties which were purchased from the open market have been allocated since April 2021 (included in the above figure) and a further 3 buy back properties (awaiting repairs) have been offered to applicants from the housing list.

The team also continues to work closely with Housing Associations in the area to provide nominations for void and new build properties in this sector. 104 new tenancies have been created since April 2021 as a result of nominations from the housing list to housing associations.  This figure includes 68 new build properties within Link Housing Association's stock at Broomhill, Kirkintilloch (57 properties) and Jellyhill, Bishopbriggs (3 properties) and a further 8 flats in Milngavie owned by Sanctuary Housing Association.

Work has started on the process of making provisional offers to the successful applicants for the 26 new build properties at Blacklands, Lenzie which are expected to be released from the builders in February/March 2022. The remaining 22 properties at the Tom Johnston Place site will be allocated by end of January 2022.  Offers have also been made for the 6 amenity properties at Blackthorn Grove, the new tenants are expected to take up for residence later in January 2022. 

There have been 47 new anti-social behaviour cases raised since the start of the financial year and the Estates Team continue to work closely, including chairing monthly meetings, with Police Scotland, Social Work and the Community Safety Team to deal with these cases along with noise complaints received of a more serious nature.  Complaints have escalated during the duration of the pandemic period.  In relation to anti-social behaviour - 1 tenancy has recently been converted to a Short Scottish Secure Tenancy (SSST) - converted in line with legislation and with assistance from Legal Services.

Rents

The Rents Team continue to engage with tenants to ensure rental income is maximised. Advice and support continues to be offered to tenants whose circumstances have changed as a result of the pandemic or they are struggling to pay their rent.  A Hardship fund is now in place to assist tenants who have accrued arrears due to circumstances outwith their control, with 50 households having now received awards. However, there continue to be tenants who do not pay and/or engage. Escalation actions to reduce arrears are fully operational now, except for face to face meetings and home visits. Legal action has now resumed against tenants with increasing and or significant rent arrears. The rents team continue to support and assist as many tenants as they can with UC claims/verifications. DHP claims, putting affordable agreements in place and also referring to CAB where required; all to ensure that income is maximised where possible. Currently there are a number of vacancies within the team with recruitment ongoing. Rent arrears are currently £1,455,858 (week 41).

Tenant Participation

The next online TPWG meeting will be held on Thursday, 27 January 2022. The recent annual rent setting consultation issued to all tenants had a return rate of 10.6%, this was the highest response ever received when carrying out these surveys.   

Systems & Policy

The policy team is continuing to develop the new Local Housing Strategy (2022-2027) - stakeholders conference took place on the 19th January ‘22 with over 80 attendees from various departments and sectors, resulting in great feedback being received.

The team continue to review policy and procedures – allocations policy, tenant participation strategy and asset management strategy all due this year.

IHMS tender award is almost concluded - ironing out final aspects of contract (Phase 1 of system implemented for summer 2023). Liaising with HSCP regarding Telecare digital migration issues.  1 loft conversion almost complete (end of January). Wardens (Sheltered Housing) and concierge service in the process of moving from HSCP and FM to Housing.

2 performance monitoring officers now in post and working through quarter 3 statistical returns. 1 Systems Adviser IHMS now in post and will be the services systems link with the organisational change team through the IHMS implementation.

LAND PLANNING & DEVELOPMENT

Business Support

The December/January Business Support Top Up for the hospitality sector is now live.  Officers have notifies 120 companies and so far 67 applications have been received.  Of these, 30 have been paid totalling £192,000.  The remaining applications are still under review awaiting further information omitted from the applications.  The grants provide a single one-off payment to businesses of £4,500 (Rateable Value (RV) less than £51k) or £6,800 (RV over £51k) for the following businesses:

• public houses,

• restaurants,

• cafes,

• other licensed premises classed as hospitality

• nightclubs

• hotels with bars and restaurant

A grant has also been made available to support hospitality businesses for the loss of business due to physical distancing guidance and restrictions on socialisation announced on 21 December, a payment at the rate of:

• £1,400 for premises which have a rateable value of up to and including £51,000, or
• £2,100 for premises which have a rateable value of £51,001 or above

The December/January Business Support Top Up - Hospitality fund will close for applications on 31 January 2022.

The Scottish Government has also allocated funding to support businesses in the leisure sector who are impacted by the requirement for physical distancing and capacity limits which came into force from 27 December 2021.

The January Business Support Top Up - Leisure Fund will provide support to businesses in the leisure sectors who are impacted by the restrictions introduced from 27 December 2021 where they are registered as one of the following:

• conference centres
• music venues
• arts facilities
• sports facilities
• gyms
• leisure centres
• outdoor centres
• cinemas
• amusement and recreation businesses
• bingo
• casinos
• soft play
• snooker clubs.

The applications launched on the 19th January and the Council’s website and social media has been updated accordingly inviting qualifying companies to apply.  So far 4 declarations have been received.

The Scottish Government have distributed invitations to all nightclubs to apply for support.  If approved Officers would arrange payment.

The Council awaits guidance on the forthcoming Brewers Fund and Taxi Drivers/Operators Fund.

Funding is available by the Scottish Government to help small and medium-sized businesses improve their ventilation, and help reduce the spread of COVID-19.

Grants of up to £2,500 are available. Support will initially target settings where people come into close contact, such as restaurants, bars and gyms.

The Business Ventilation Fund will remain open until 31 March 2022 or when funds are exhausted - whichever occurs first.

The funding is to help pay for work to improve ventilation and air quality. This could include:

• Installation of carbon dioxide monitors
• Repairs to windows and vents.

The Council’s website is being kept up to date and social media used to communicate the latest information available.

Traffic & Transport

The team continues to progress the delivery of capital projects within the 21/22 financial year as well as ongoing work under the remit of the team. Project delivery work includes ongoing work on the Canniesburn Toll Improvement Project, progressing the upgrade of the Strathkelvin Railway Path between Kirkintilloch and Lennoxtown, installing real time passenger information units at bus stops in Milngavie and progressing a number of other projects at design and feasibility stages. The team is making plans for next financial year and working to secure external funding to deliver more projects next year intended to support delivery of the Council's Local Transport Strategy and Active Travel Strategy.

Land Planning Policy, GIS and Sustainability Policy Teams

Work is progressing well on the emerging Climate Action Plan for the Council with the recent appointment of consultants.  In line with the approved governance, work will be reported to Council at key milestones.  The Local Development Plan 2 Examination continues with 7 Further Information Requests received from the Reporters to date.  The first Circular Economy Ambassadors Meeting was held with local businesses, social enterprises and business support organisations to support the development of the Council’s Circular Economy Strategy.   

City Deal Team

The team are now working with the appointed consultants to progress a masterplan for the Westerhill area, which includes scoping for: Land Use and Economic Study (property market information, vision and business land use options); Preliminary Ecological Appraisal; mapping of opportunities and constraints, and site investigations.  This work will inform future follow on investment options for the Westerhill area, enabled by the Bishopbriggs Relief Road.  Consultants  have also been appointed for the road design and options development.  The team continue 1-2-1 discussions with landowners.  Transport Modelling consultants have been appointed and have started a review of the regional model and the team are finalising a brief for design consultants for A803 options to help inform Outline Business Case.  Consultant appointment for a feasibility study looking at Town Centre Incubation Space is under way.  

Town Centres and Regeneration Teams.

Officers continue to progress a number of approved projects including the Regent Gardens and Union Street public realm design works and the Twechar Outdoor Pursuits and Training Centre pre-construction works.  Unfortunately, the Council’s stage two submission for the Regeneration Capital Grant Fund funding was not successful for the Campsie Memorial Hall project. Officers are now examining other possible funding streams to enable the project to move forward.  Officers are also currently assessing options for the Kirkintilloch Canal Festival  

Development Applications

The Development Applications Teams continues to work to approved and agreed risk assessed protocols which allow unaccompanied site visits where alternative evidence is not sufficient and reflecting the updated Scottish Government “safer businesses & workplace” guidance.  Work to prepare for the next Planning Board is underway. 

NEIGHBOURHOOD SERVICES

WASTE SERVICES

Household Collections Update

The service have been busy working throughout the festive period.  Operational working arrangements were put in place to ensure minimal disruption to collections over this period whilst still managing to maintain employee safety through compliance with the current Covid control measures.

• Brown Bin - Employees collected 432 tonnes of cans plastic bottles and glass at the kerbside throughout December, 35% increase on November tonnage.
• Blue Bin - Employees collected 392 tonnes of paper / cardboard throughout December, 13% increase on November tonnage.
• Food Waste - Employees collected 285 tonnes of food waste throughout December, 22% increase on November tonnage.

Christmas tree skips were placed in 3 locations across the district from the 5th January, William Patrick Library, West of Scotland Rugby Club and Mavis Valley Recycling Centre. Christmas Tree and one-off garden collections commenced on Monday 17th January, there were 1235 requests received, the team are busy working through these at present.

Bulky Collections (Special Uplifts)

The Waste team continues to deliver the Special uplift service in line with requests and demand however delays are inevitable due to ongoing resource challenges. The team continue to monitor and will allocate resources as available for this activity.       

Bin Deliveries

The service continues to work through requests for replacement bins however recent delays in supplier deliveries has had a major impact on timescales. Priority is given to residual bin deliveries and the team continue to work through all requests as resources allow.  

Mavis Valley Recycling Centre

The Mavis Valley Booking System introduced in August 2021 has been a success.  The site is currently operating on Winter hours providing 2880 slots for our resident weekly.  The feedback from visitors over this time has been positive, the new system has helped ensure all residents visiting the facility, over an extremely busy festive period, were able to do so safely and without delay.

Recycling Banks & Bring Sites

Officers continue to work with the Councils procurement team in order to procure a new contractor for this work. In the interim, the team continues to engage with a local contractor to attend sites and empty the banks across the area as necessary. The Waste and Streetscene teams will continue to visit the locations on a regular basis in order to clear and collect excess materials. 

FLEET SERVICES

Fleet Management

The service continues to manage the legal operation of the Councils fleet including compliance with the Goods Vehicle Operators licence, Drivers hours’ management and maintenance regimes. Officers continue to progress work on the fleet replacement Capital Programme for all services.

Work is progressing for tenders and orders of new vehicles and plant due for delivery into 2022/2023 financial year. The global shortage for semiconductors used in building of all vehicles is having a major impact on lead times and deliveries. A number of major manufacturers have now advised that order books will be closed until 2023 for some product lines, in order to address the backlog in their production schedules. This has also had an impact on costs for all customers due to the manufacturer list price increases and removal of discount structures for large fleets.

Fleet Maintenance

The fleet workshops based at the Hilton depot continue to service and maintain all front line Operational fleet vehicles and plant on a rotational shift basis. The service is currently working to meet significant demands for ongoing maintenance and remedial works in support of front line operations. The team continue to prioritise all work based on available staff and the greatest needs in order to deliver through these challenging times.  Fleet personnel worked throughout the festive period in order to deal with maintenance and emergencies for all operational fleet through this time in addition to preparing a number of vehicles scheduled for annual testing over the period.

Transport Operations

The team continue to support colleagues in Education, HSCP and Facilities Management for Transport activities associated with ASN School Transport, day services  and meal deliveries across the Authority. The team also continue to manage vehicle and plant hire activities which have increased significantly over the year, as a consequence of revised working arrangements for services in delivering through the pandemic response which continues to present a major pressure on the fleet budgets.

PLACE & COMMUNITY PLANNING

Community Protection

Environmental Health Team

Community transmission of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 over recent weeks had once again resulted in Covid-related work being heavily prioritised for Environmental Health.  We continue to assist Education colleagues in contact tracing within school settings in liaison with health board colleagues through local Problem Assessment Groups (PAG’s) and Incident Management Teams (IMT’s). 

The service is also being advised of significant local clusters within occupational settings that require investigation to ensure the adequate mitigation measures are being put in place by businesses to prevent virus transmission.  To this end, the service takes part in additional meetings with Health Board colleagues to agree investigation plans and protocols. 

Comprehensive visits to local businesses to monitor Covid-19 compliance and mitigation measures will continue to be delivered by the service's Public Health Compliance Officers who worked with the hospitality trade in the run up to Christmas and are also responding to any Covid-related enquiries from local businesses and organisations. 

Other routine business and environmental regulation is ongoing as are public health investigations.  The team are also statutory consultees for relevant incoming Planning, Public Entertainment and Occasional Licence applications thus the ongoing Covid-19 work continues to add to the remit delivered by the service.

Trading Standards Team

As a result of a decrease in community transmission of the omicron variant over recent days the Health Protection (Coronavirus) (Requirements) (Scotland) Regulations 2021 will be amended to reduce restrictions. From 24th January 2022 there will no longer be requirements in place for limits on attendance at indoor public events, 1 metre physical distancing in indoor public places or table service in hospitality premises, and night clubs can reopen. Officers from Trading Standards are available to respond to enquiries and engage with local businesses in relation to the latest requirements.

In light of the position with the omicron variant in December, plans to recommence some routine inspection and project work had been scaled back, with Covid-19 and essential work taking priority. Visits to trade premises and domestic dwellings are now only being carried out only where required, with officers working from home as much. This position will be reviewed in the coming weeks with a view to resuming routine work when appropriate and in line with the latest guidance.

The pandemic has resulted in an increase in workload in the areas of home improvement complaints, scam prevention, product safety and fair trading. Unfortunately there has been a surge in the number of Coronavirus scams circulating via email, Facebook and text messages. Working closely with the Corporate Communications Team Trading Standards are posting regular warnings on social media to alert residents. The Team also continues to receive a number of complaints relating to bogus workers and Operation Skipjack work in conjunction with colleagues from Police Scotland is on-going.

The Team's Fair Trading Officers have been providing advice to consumers and traders in relation to contractual disputes.  Many of these instances have arisen as a consequence of the coronavirus restrictions impacting on performance of contracts, particularly in relation to home improvement works. This has resulted in a significant rise in complaints that cannot be easily resolved, in part due to the problem of tracing and identifying traders from out with East Dunbartonshire. Officers have therefore started to actively look at the introduction of a trusted trader scheme for local residents.

Community Safety Team

The Community Safety Team continues to undertake a broad range of frontline work for the benefit of local communities, with service delivery activities meeting the requirements of the latest Covid-19 restrictions that are currently in place. Core activities include decriminalised parking enforcement and investigation of fly-tipping, dog fouling, littering and control of dogs incidents. A full pest control service is also being provided including the monitoring of all permanent bait sites. 

Essential patrols in relation to environmental incivility breaches as well as antisocial behaviour and youth disorder patrols in and around identified issue areas are being delivered and mobile CCTV cameras will continue to be deployed as required in conjunction and agreement with colleagues in Police Scotland.

The Team also continues to provide a remote service in terms of neighbour complaints/disputes, providing advice by phone and email and liaising regularly with colleagues in other services including Housing, Social Work and Police Scotland.  As part of this the team will continue to carry out antisocial behaviour visits in the most serious of cases. However, alternatives means are still being utilised wherever possible with face to face visits only being carried out where absolutely essential. 

The Mediation Service which had been paused because of the reintroduction of restrictions due to the omicron variant will be resumed in the coming weeks. Consideration will also be given to reintroduction of the ASB Domestic Night Noise Service that is normally delivered by the Team now that the position with the latest Covid-19 variant seems to be easing significantly.

Community Planning and Partnerships Team

The Team continues to work in partnership with local communities developing community-led Locality Plans. Working in partnership with colleagues from EDVA and East Dunbartonshire HSCP, the Team has embarked on a 12-week consultation period to review and refresh our Place Plans (Locality Plans) for our most deprived communities of Auchinairn, Hillhead & Harestanes, Lennoxtown and Twechar.  A soft launch has been hosted in Auchinairn, Lennoxtown, Twechar, and Hillhead and Harestanes is planned for 21 December 2021.  Officers have developed a comprehensive engagement and communication plan to raise awareness and support active meaningful participation.  To support wider participation, ensuring those with quietest voices are heard a ‘blether-box’ tool-kit has been developed. A series of interactive awareness sessions have been delivered.  By working collaboratively together we will bridge the gaps and the survey will help shape the new plans.  To access the survey, please follow link by completing the survey. 

Find out more about the Locality Plans.

Within the Team, we are working collaboratively with colleagues to deliver our corporate Equality Outcomes and connecting with equality groups, ensuring we provide timely and appropriate platforms for the lived experience voice to be heard, supporting and enabling participation in appropriate platforms.

Officers continue to monitor the strategic partnership agreements, and raise awareness including offering guidance and support to community groups in preparation for our community grant scheme round 2 opening on 28th January 2022.

We continue to provide personalised individualised wrap around support to the four VPRS families resettled into East Dunbartonshire.  We are in year 4 of 5.  We are working alongside the families to develop an agreed ending of the specialist resettlement support, however, there will be processes in place to collaboratively assess if continued support is required post year 5 (approximately September 2022).  And if required, appropriate referrals, signposting and connection will be facilitated. The families have settled into the community, engaging in ESOL provision, local community activities and school life.

Through our strategic working group, we are developing and formalising the procedural framework, which includes identification of resources.  In preparation for welcoming new families in the Afghan Relocation and Assistance Scheme (ARAS) and Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) and connecting with East Dunbartonshire Welcomes Refugees.

Community Testing and Vaccination Support Team

The change in Guidance in relation to the use of the LFD kits; to shorten the period of isolation if a citizen has tested positive for Covid-19; the requirement not to take a PCR if you are asymptomatic and have had a positive LFD test, and the increase in Omicron variant of Covid-19, has led to significant demand for LFD kits.

Supplies of LFD Test kits have been maintained in all locations:-

•                          Bishopbriggs Community Hub
•                          Kirkintilloch Community Hub
•                          Bearsden Community Hub
•                          Lennoxtown Community Hub
•                          Leisuredrome
•                          Kirkintilloch Leisure Centre
•                          Allander Leisure Centre
•                          Kirkintilloch Vaccination Centre
•                          Milngavie Vaccination Centre
•                          Auchinairn Community Centre
•                          Hillhead Community Centre
•                         Twechar Community Centre

A request has been made to NSS for Broomhill and Hilton Depot to become workplace testing centres which should be actioned within the next couple of weeks.

Over the festive period and throughout December there were scheduled vaccine clinics and additional asks from NHS partners which will all responded to and supported successfully by the council services involved in delivery.

At the start of January, however, the number of people attending the vaccination clinics in has significantly decreased and for February the NHS have reduced the number of scheduled vaccination clinics at both Kirkintilloch and Milngavie Town Hall. This situation will be closely monitored and responded to.  These clinics will initially be providing vaccination for clinically vulnerable adults and clinically vulnerable 5 -11 year olds.

The priority over the next 2 weeks will be to maintain LFD kits at all sites and that any changes to the GGC NHS Board vaccination schedule can be accommodated locally. Regular meetings and communications take place with partners from NHS and Scottish Government on both testing and vaccination.

Care for People

The Care for People agenda and isolation support role were stood up over the festive period.

This response involves key relationships with EDVA, OPAL Helpline and the 3 Community Response Groups that operate across East Dunbartonshire. The important role of these third sector and volunteer networks in providing support for shopping assistance, prescription delivery, transport for appointments, together with a range of ad hoc services, is well appreciated and now established across the authority.

The ED Foodbank had festive hours opening at the 4 locations for provision of food support, and met the needs of people of East Dunbartonshire.

Information on the above for the public , and also for access to grant provision and emergency funds is available through National Assistance Line ( locally answered by council employees in Services) and also by Revenues and Benefits colleagues who support and organise the distribution of the Self Isolation grants and also Scottish Welfare Fund etc.

Our EDC website is regularly updated with covid response and Care for People information and services available.

ROADS & ENVIRONMENT

Roads Network Operations

• Our office based Roads officers continue to work remotely however they are carrying out site inspections and preparing resurfacing projects programme for next financial year.
• Road operational staff continue to carrying out their day-by-day tasks within ongoing Covid restrictions
• Carriageway resurfacing projects have been continued after Christmas break.
• Operational team are aiming to allocate a Hotbox vehicle in network to “find and fix “ surface defects in major roads during next following weeks in order to complete their backlogs and speed up respond to defects enquires in their system.
• Roads officers are working on tender exercises to employ external contractors to increase carriageway resurfacing action planed in network in next following months.
• Winter Maintenance actions have been continued on daily basis as per Winter Duty Officers instruction.
• Winter Duty officers have been monitoring the weather and road surface temperature at least three times per day.
• Road emergency respond team will continue to respond to any emergency road related situations.
• Gully cleaning team have been cleaning primary and secondary cleaning routes and aim to continue with task in next few months.
• Roads safety inspections have been carried out regularly without failure.
• Coal tar testing have been continually instructed to an external contractor to be able to identify sites contaminated with coal tar for our resurfacing programme.

Roads Technical & Engineering

• All office based Roads officers continue to work remotely however they are carrying out site inspections and preparing various traffic related projects.
• The Bridge, Structures and Flood/Drainage Officers continue to undertake all relevant safety inspections to fulfil the Services statutory obligations. In addition, the officer continue to oversee several repair projects undertaken by external contractors.

Streetscene Technical Support

• All office-based staff will continue to work in the main remotely, with a skeletal staff requiring access to Cemetery ledgers working from the Broomhill Depot. 
• Cemetery administration and demand for interments remains high.
• Regarding open space project work, the team are working to deliver a number of projects funded from an allocation of Capital made available from the Scottish Government’s general capital fund in the latter half of 2021, relating namely to Habitat Restoration (please refer to Technical Note 003-22) and play improvements for Meadowburn North and Woodhead Park. Both play park upgrades are due to be delivered in FY 21/22. An additional upgrade, funded out with this allocation, has been ordered for Doune Crescent (Bishopbriggs) with the expectation this project will be delivered on the ground in FY 22/23.
• Drainage improvement works have been carried out at Mosshead Play area and the open space will be monitored to determine whether additional site investigation works will be required, prior to development of any play upgrade work. 
• Officers continue to work in partnership with Roads in relation to River Basin Restoration Work, relating to the River Glazert (detailed design) and the sections of the Allander, Luggie and Parkburn as part of a Kelvin Tributaries projects, partly funded by SEPA’s Water Environment Fund. 
• Planning approval has been given for a large scale Green Infrastructure project at Woodhill & Etive Parks, Bishopbriggs; a specification for contractors has been completed and currently with procurement colleagues for issue. 
• In relation to food growing, the team are in the final stages of the design for a proposed food growing site at Craigfoot Field and will undertake consultation with the local community in Milton of Campsie regarding this once completed. 
• The team have sought tender returns for the refurbishment of the Peel Park bandstand in Spring-Summer 2022. 
• On behalf of the Leisure Trust, the team has undertaken a tender process and evaluation relating to the installation of a fence around Merkland Pitch. 
• Request for submissions relating to re-issue of maintenance of the Kirkintilloch Link Road and Bishopbriggs Relief Road has been advertised on the Scottish Procurement portal. 
• In regard to access upgrades, a specification for the replacement of the boardwalk at Lenzie Moss has been drafted, along with a breakdown of works for the upgrade of the path around Colqhoun Park pond; Officers are working with procurement with the intention of issuing in FY21/22.

Mugdock Country Park

• A series of consultation events have taken place with stakeholders in regard to the new Mugdock Strategy, while the visitor survey closed for responses on 17th January 2022.
• The Park's winter weather plan is in place to deal with seasonal weather issues as they arise. 
• BT fibre optic works are planned in the area that will benefit wi-fi connectivity for the Park. 
• Visitor numbers remain high for the park and the move of the shop to the central courtyard has resulted in a higher level of shop profile and sales.

Streetscene Operations

• The teams continue to undertake all Street Cleansing duties including litter bins, public recycling, removal of fly tipping, flood prevention (clearing culverts/trash screens), and grit access to Vaccine Centres, Cemeteries, Parks and Play Area Inspections.

• In addition, Operational staff will continue to respond to any issue that is deemed an emergency or essential on working days and via the seasonal stand-by rota on non-working days.  Officers are preparing for the recruitment of seasonal staff to undertake the Care of Gardens Service, and seasonal works such as the Countryside Verge litter picking programme.

EDUCATION, PEOPLE & BUSINESS: SERVICE UPDATES: Friday 21 January 2022

EDUCATION

All Primary, Secondary and ASN schools and centres started back on Wednesday 5th January 2022. There has not been a requirement to close any classes, departments, schools or centres. This is due to the levels of commitment from leaders, central support staff and additional staffing within establishments where high levels of absence are experienced.

Weekly technical notes will continue to update Elected members on the current positive cases for children and staff within our schools and centres.

The updated guidance of 20 December and then further updated on 5th January 2022 related almost exclusively to the self-isolation rules and is summarised below:

Education Covid Guidance

• There is no longer a requirement to get a confirmatory PCR where someone has a positive LFD.  On result of a positive PCR or LFD an individual should isolate.
• Positive cases should isolate for 10 days (though they may end isolation after 7 days if they have two negative results on day 6 and 7)
• Non-symptomatic contacts, including household contacts, are not required isolate or get a PCR if fully vaccinated (2 doses and booster) or under 18yrs 4mths old.  Instead, they should take 7 days of lateral flow tests and report results – only isolating where a LFD result is positive.  (In these circumstances - positive LFD result for a close contact - there is no requirement to take a confirmatory PCR unless applying for the self-isolation support grant.)
• Non-symptomatic adult contacts who are unvaccinated or partially vaccinated must take a PCR and isolate for 10 days.

A related consequence of this is that the previously announced exemption for critical workers (including school staff) allowing them to voluntarily return to work if a close contact by undertaking daily testing no longer applies.  Essentially, this is because this has become the position for all who are fully vaccinated.

The online guidance can be accessed on the Scottish Government website. 

Care Inspectorate Scrutiny Changes

The Care Inspectorate will now follow the Education Scotland lead and suspend on-site inspections – except where they “…have serious concerns, there are immediate risks or where planned inspections cannot be carried out remotely and these need to be done on-site because of the risk / nature of the concerns, or complexity of the care environment.”  This was notified to centres via a provider update on 17 December. 

Scottish Qualifications Authority

The SQA have confirmed that examinations will commence this session and secondary schools have begun prelim exam diets this term. The SQA will work closely with local authorities to provide timelines and support the assessment process. All schools are gathering assessment evidence in case of future changes to this plan. Examinations can take place in the normal spaces, proving distancing risk assessments are adhered to.

ORGANISATIONAL TRANSFORMATION

Business & Digital Change

Business Systems

The Council’s Criminal Justice risk management system has been migrated to a new Scottish National centralised solution endorsed by the Scottish Government.  Work is underway to upgrade the Councils Enterprise Mobility solution, Total Mobile.  The upgrade will enable more effective dashboard analytics and provide informed management information.

Work is now scheduled to integrate the Council’s HR & ICT systems.  This work will improve the efficiency of the current joiners and leavers process.  Work is also scheduled to upgrade the document management system which underpins the Council Tax system.  This work will also include a new Citizens Access Revenue module which will enable citizens to pay Council tax, view their account and change their details.  My Account will also be supported.  The upgrade will also introduce campaign-based customer engagements including workflow and real time access to citizen data. 

The annual update of the Business Application Register has been completed.  The register informs strategic plans, developments and enables assessment of the Council’s enterprise systems health based on contract state, system version and criticality.

The team continues to support the Council's Business Systems minimising operational service impact and maintaining availability of the systems underpinning services delivered to internal and external customers.

Contract & Supplier Management

The contract for the new Housing Management solution is in place and the team will work with the Supplier to develop the implementation plan.  The team is also working with Procurement and Legal Services to conclude the contract for a new Employability Management system and e-learning system.

The team is assessing the route to market to upgrade our CCTV security across the Council estate.

Project Delivery and Transformation

The Microsoft 365 discovery phase has successfully concluded and a contract has been awarded to implement foundational level services by April 2022.  The B&DC team is working closely with ICT Services to achieve this important next step on the Council’s Workplace Modernisation journey.

Network connectivity gateways are now installed across East Dunbartonshire which underpin the delivery of the proof of concept for Internet of Things (IOT).  The first pilot that will be undertaken is water temperature monitoring within schools.  This solution will help to maximise water safety by continuously monitoring and measuring water temperature to identify and reduce the risk of legionella and other bacteria.  With real-time alerts set up against defined parameters, hazards are identified, and the risk of dangerous water conditions minimised.

Work continues on supporting the delivery of a new Committee Management System, Modern.Gov.  Training for report authors is ongoing and between now and the end of March the system will run along-side the existing processes to iron out any issues.  Thereafter, the system will go live for all Council governance meetings post election.. 

Following a successful pilot of the Parents Portal system, the system is now live in 9 schools.  Work will continue to roll out this service across the Education estate.  All schools are scheduled to be live by June 2022.

Work continues on the analogue to digital transition for Telecare.  The Team has engaged with Procurement on a potential route to market and new digital equipment is being assessed to replace outdated hardware to improve patient care.

The replacement for SEEMiS Finance & Budgeting continues and the team continues to work with schools, finance, payroll and HR to develop alternative solutions to replace the retired modules

Business cases are in development for the following;

• Web Content Management System (CMS/Website)
• New Customer Relationship Management System (CRM)
• In-Cab Technology – Route optimisation
• Further development of our Road Maintenance Management System from a mobilisation perspective
• Development of our Cemetery system to explore the digitalisation of historical ledger books

Health & Safety Team

COVID-19

The team continues to support the COVID-19 effort of the council by:

• Assessing positive cases and their impact in the work environment in all services through desktop review of cases, assisting HR with queries and supported by on-site visits to assure adherence to Covid controls.  Visits are carried out in conjunction with Environmental Health officers and service manager.
• Risk assessment for Education Service based on government guidelines and training for Head Teachers and Early Years Head of Centres.
• Work with HR to support and implement changes in guidance whether sectoral or in general, including changes to self-isolation policy.
• Introduction of LFD testing to operational sites and upkeep of test availability
• Covid-19 risk assessment updates for services and individual activities/instances requiring such assessment.
• Occupational health risk assessments for employees in the high risk categories.

Health and Safety Management System

Work continues writing policies and procedures to form the new health and safety management system, the creation of Health and Safety action plan 2022 Plan-Do-Check-Act and the Occupational Health Policy.  The Team continues to develop and implement a Gas Safety Management System for EDC with Estates and Property Maintenance and creation of the EDC Contractor and Visitor Induction Cards

H&S Support, Guidance and review of safe systems of work for services

• Development of Building Management system with Estates and Facilities Management with full review and update of Six Pack.
• Develop and Implement a Building Manager training package
• Set out Estates 2022 H&S support and guidance for the wider team.
• Continued on site support and inspection of Assets and Estates’ contractors.
• Liaising with the School Planning and Improvement team to implement relevant workplace adjustments including the creation of workplace assessments
• Assist in the development of RAMS for the Wheeled Loading Shovel for Roads and operational vehicle safety cards
• Liaising with Facilities Management team leads and manager where support and guidance is required for arising H&S issues.
• Preparing and reviewing of Individual Risk Assessments and Pregnancy Risk Assessments in line with changing legislation assisting HR services
• Continued collaboration with the Community Safety team creating risk assessments

Training

Delivery of Duty Holder, Moving and Handling and Risk Assessment Training for the Heritage & Arts team and the Library team.

The development and delivery of training packages to Property Maintenance trade operatives, supervisors and team leaders including Induction, basic Scaffold Awareness, Construction Dust and Safe Working at Height Toolbox Talk.

Health and Safety services

• Hearing Conservation Program continues with a series of Noise dosimetry being carried out amongst Instrumental Music Service employees.
• Continued operation and administration of the Health Surveillance program -  90% complete.
• Rollout and implementation of Reactec HAVS monitoring system at Mugdock park and amongst Property Maintenance high risk employees.
• Management and recording of incidents forms including RIDDOR and IRIC if applicable. Analysing of accidents/incidents and subsequent investigation and report.
• Preparation, review and report of accident/incident statistics for 2nd and 1st Tier H&S Committees
• Attending 3rd Tier Health and Safety Meetings to provide support and guidance to Waste, Fleet, HSCP, Roads and Streetscene.
• Support for DSE users providing assessments and organising equipment for employees to meet DSE requirements.

Human Resources & Organisational Development

Trades Unions engagement continues on a weekly basis and has been focused on strategic issues such as targeted vaccination updates, risk assessments in returning services to capacity following lock down and required actions to respond to the relaxation of COVID restrictions.  Additional meetings are being scheduled as required, in order to keep TU colleagues updated on the impact of the Omicron variant on the Council and its workforce.  Supported by the HR Business Partners, implementation of service reviews continue with the Education Review (Support Roles) commencing and the Facilities Management (FM) concluding - with outcomes of this review intended to be issued in early January 2022.

The HR Operations team continues to work on concluding discipline and grievance cases as timely as possible whilst always ensuring early intervention and informal resolution principles apply.

The HR&OD team continues to receive daily calls on COVID reporting for various circumstances.  Numbers of contacts have and continue to increase in light of the highly infectious nature of omicron variant.  The implementation of a 7 day cover rota remains in place and will be continued across the holiday period.  Advice and guidance to employees and managers on COVID related issues and absences continue to be supported by the HR&OD and H&S teams.  As cases increase within the staff community, this places more demand on the team in terms of recording data, along with the internal and external reporting requirements, taking the team away from core activities.

The Payroll Team and Employee Services have delivered December pay dates, which included forecasting due to the festive break.  Both of these teams have been working on testing the system to allow for the implementation of the agreed 2021 Pay Award for Local Government Employees and Chief Officers.  Significant work is involved in processing a Pay Award, however the Council is on target for employees to receive the pay award, to include the backdated element, at the end of January / beginning of February 2022.  National negotiations are ongoing in relation to the 2021 Teacher Pay Award.

Over the past 2 years, there has been an increase in the number of adverts by over 30%, most of which can be attributed to the increased number of posts across the Council in relation to COVID and following service reviews.  With the increase in number of posts being advertised, the number of appointments has doubled over the same 2 year period.  With services requiring a timely turnaround on candidates being started, this put demands on the recruitment and appointments process, with the team working with managers and services to address.

Work continues to enhance the Employee Zone pages with updates and additions to the Wellbeing page to reflect Healthy Working Lives campaigns going forward.  Detailed scrutiny of the absence performance across all services continues with engagement taking place to understand required support and actions for improvement.

Through joint working of colleagues from across services in the Organisation Transformation directorate, work has commenced in relation to reviewing the Council’s e-learning platform, with a new system being scoped to be available from Spring 2022.

Moving and Handling (M&H) training is a key requirement within Education and the HSCP.  With in house delivery, a number of sessions have been successfully delivered between Oct-Dec 2021.  Subject to COVID restrictions, further sessions are due for delivery from January 2022.  Another item of organisational development early next year, is the intended roll out of a revised Discipline and Grievance training to supervisors / managers.  These sessions will be delivered in a meaningful context in relation to the Council, outlining the roles and responsibility of both the manager and the employee, and the support available from HR&OD.

Procurement Team

The Procurement Team continues to support tender and contract requirements across all services with significant workstreams around major assets, City Deal, Property Maintenance contracts, Community/Employability Grant applications and other needs across services such as Education, Housing, Business & Digital Change Projects, and Roads.  Renewal and award of various contracts continue with various key ICT system requirements being progressed at this time.

The team continues to monitor supply chains for PPE stocks and other critical supplies.  The operating arrangements and support to services have been updated for all services to ensure sufficient supplies and emergency procedures where required.  PPE demand is monitored from the Stores location, and is managed/facilitated by the Procurement team.  Procurement continues to work with Health & Safety on key contractual requirements, risk assessments and method statements in light of the updates from the Omicron strain.  Engagement with key suppliers for monitoring continuity of supply for front line service teams is ongoing.

The Procurement Team is also currently supporting key work streams, these include New Build Housing Projects, City Deal, the new Integrated Housing Management System, Managed Stores, Transport Service arrangements, Remote Digital Solutions for Education, Town Centre CCTV, Pandemic Support Payments and Supplier/Partner provider support in line with COSLA guidance.  These along with emergency boiler replacements, structural repairs and roads resurfacing are being prioritised

Contract Standing Orders are currently being reviewed in alignment to the Council Administrative Scheme update and will be reported to Council prior to the election.  The associated Governance, training, and procedural documentation is currently being reviewed to align to both legislative and organisational updates.

The team is supporting ongoing applications in line with Scottish Government Guidance.  Financial tracking of costs for Free School Meals, Hardship and Isolation Payments is ongoing, and associated Grant claims to Scottish Government are being submitted.

Pandemic Support Payments and Hospitality Grants will continue to be processed via the Procurement Support team to support Scottish Government payment requirements.  Prioritised processes for invoices and grant payments are currently in progress and resources aligned to support the increased demand on the Procurement Support Team.

The Procurement Team has struggled to fill existing vacancies given competition from other organisations and the sector shortage of experienced/qualified Public Sector procurement officers.  There have been further resignations in recent weeks and so existing vacancies are currently being re-advertised.  The national sector-wide shortage and its implications has been raised at Scottish Government level through the Scottish Local Government Procurement Forum (SLGPF).  Meantime, work is ongoing to identify options to address resource gaps.

Social Work - Planning & Service Development Team  (P&D)

Market fragility across Care at Home and Care Home sectors is widely acknowledge and further exacerbated by the Omicrom variant.  On-going work force issues – including recruitment & retention, increasing absences, isolation requirements and impact on services is beginning to take hold and requires P&D to increase its daily oversight / management of the market to ensure there is no / minimal service disruption.

The national requirement to increase commissioned care staff pay to £10.02 – backdated to 1st December 2021, is resource and time intensive, not only for P&D, but also for Legal and Finance colleagues who are working collectively with P&D to support implementation.  Due to the protracted process involved in delivering this requirement, it is expected payments will be made late January / February 2022.  It is worth noting that this is in line with most other authorities.

Late last week, the Chief Executive of NHSGGC requested an Emergency Discharge Plan to help facilitate local discharges over the next few weeks.  The Plan, which is currently being finalised, includes the potential commissioning of 15 care home beds (subject to approval), on a short term block contract basis.  Given the timescales and work involved, this work has/ will continue to place additional pressure and strain on the P&D team. 

Other new / key work streams for P&D include co-ordinating mop-up booster testing, liaising with the market re LFT capacity, reviewing and updating Business Continuity Plans and RAGS.  The in-house Care at Home Service is currently recruiting care workers – offering more attractive / enhanced Terms and Conditions in comparison to the market.  Glasgow HSCP is also about to commence its own recruitment drive early next year.  As more staff leave commissioned services to join in-house services, the impact intensifies and is likely to result in providers invoking RAG to help manage demand and capacity levels and/or hand back cases to in-house.  P&D is monitoring closely and continues to report daily via HSCP Flash and Oversight meetings.

Commissioning business is prioritised daily in accordance with the above and within available limited resources.  Inevitably, this means there is slippage across other work streams including service / contract monitoring, audits, strategic and service review actions – albeit with the intention of recommencing once other noted pressures reduce. 

LEGAL & DEMOCRATIC SERVICES

Democratic Services

The team continues to support the Council’s COVID-19 civil contingencies response, supporting command structures at Council, local, regional and national level which have been re-convened in response to the developing situation around the Omicron variant.  

The Team continues to be involved in the strategic management of Registration Services at a local and regional level.  The registration of births and marriages/civil partnerships continues to be supported by colleagues in Legal Services.  Registrars continue to meet at a GG&C level with colleagues from the Health Board and funeral directors to monitor the impact of Omicron on mortuary capacity across the GG&C area.  In December 2021, 150 deaths were registered in East Dunbartonshire, bringing the total deaths registered in 2021 to 1,764 which is reduction on 2020 where 1,855 deaths were registered.  Since 5 January to 19 January 2022 – 52 Births, 95 deaths and 11 Marriages have been registered. 

Wedding and Civil Partnership ceremonies continue to take place at 21 Southbank Road for now and bookings were starting to increase as a result of the easing of restrictions and amended guidelines.  As the infection rates increase as a result of the Omicron variant, the Registrar and Team continue to closely monitor the ever developing situation around restrictions and what they mean for ceremonies and receptions.    

On top of the above, there are other emerging civil contingency concerns in relation to which the Team continues to participate in various local and regional awareness and planning meetings including the review of strategic infrastructure and fulfilment of the “All Risks” approach to the various concurrent risks across the country including the recent severe weather warnings.  Preparations are made in the event of any weather disruption during the festive period. 

Planning for the Local Government Elections scheduled for 5 May 2022 continues.  This is now intensifying to include plans for both the election event its self and for the initial weeks of the new Council post 5th May.  Members will be regularly updated as plans develop.  Whilst it is hoped that the situation with Omicron will have dissipated by the time of the election, planning is being informed by COVID and appropriate health and safety measures are being built into arrangements as recommended by the Electoral Commission and the Electoral Management Board for Scotland.

Information Management

The team continues to support to services in relation to information management, data protection and data sharing, which are critical in these circumstances and has supported various services in the ongoing development and amendment of Privacy Notices and Privacy Impact Assessments for new workstreams and the establishment of information sharing agreements and protocols which assist the Council in its work to protect some of the most vulnerable residents.  In addition to supporting the Council’s postal mail services, the Team remains busy with print activity in support of schools, Committee cycles and in general to support the manner in which most services are operating.  In addition to the foregoing, the Team is working in relation to the classification and preservation of information generated by the Council’s response to the COVID pandemic.

SMT Support & Members Support Teams

The SMT Support team is working with the CMT and SMT to support services across portfolios and continues to support other areas of the wider service and beyond as required.  The Team continues to support the CMT, SMT and Departmental Management Teams with processes for remote meetings, production of Committee Reports and Elected Member Technical Notes.  The Members Support Team also continues to support Elected Members and has been assisting with COVID absence reporting calls.  This may be expanded as required and Members will be kept up to date if this impacts on the available service. 

Recruitment to current vacancies across the teams is being addressed to assist the teams in support of the current level of “business as usual” and the expected commitments intimated in recent guidelines governing the new Omicron variant.

Legal Services

Legal Services continues to support services in the Council’s response to COVID-19.  This includes putting in place variations of contracts with the providers of adult social care to allow payment of additional funding from the Scottish Government to uplift the hourly rates of pay for social care workers.  A Minute of Understanding has been put in place with Greenspace Scotland for Remembering Together which is a national project for the creation of COVID Community Memorials.   The Team has also assisted with the putting in place of grants for hospitality affected by COVID and reviewing the grant offer for business ventilation funding from the Scottish Government.  Assistance has also been given in providing information to the Scottish Government on the taxi trade for the purposes of preparing new grants.

The team also works closely with the procurement team in ensuring procurement processes are complying with the changing law in this area and that the flexibilities offered by Government guidance are appropriately used.  This also involves the drafting and documentation of contracts with suppliers of goods, works and services to the Council and the contractual clauses on the risk to the delivery of contracts caused by COVID-19 and the EU exit have to be tailored to fit the individual nature and circumstances of each contract.  The team continues to assist with urgent procurements which have some complicated features and, as such, need detailed legal advice to ensure compliance and minimisation of risk. 

Further resource continues to be dedicated to interpreting, assessing and, where necessary, protecting the Council from the impact of the pandemic and the EU exit on its legal interests.  In tandem with this the team endeavours to ensure that any potential benefits to the Council are optimised.  One particularly busy area of work continues to be in relation to the many grant offers which the Council is receiving.  The nature of Scottish Government funding in support of the Council’s COVID response is that it is awarded as subject specific grants.  Each grant comes with its own terms and conditions which the team assesses and then advises the relevant service in relation to any potential risks or performance/reporting requirements.  This work can often be challenging - whilst the terms and conditions are not overly complex, the volume and increasingly short turnaround times within which the grant has to be accepted in order for the Council to access funds can at times impact on other work.  Recently, the Team has also assisted with the putting in place of grants for hospitality affected by COVID and reviewing the grant offer for business ventilation funding from the Scottish Government.  Assistance has also been given in providing information to the Scottish Government on the taxi trade for the purposes of preparing new grants.

On top of this, Legal Services is endeavouring to carrying out its “business as usual” activities while assisting with major projects for the Council.  This includes significant work for the Affordable Housing Investment Programme 2, section 75 agreements including for the former Gartshore Colliery site and the former Bearsden Golf Club, the refurbishment of Balmuildy Primary School,  the tendering of installation of new kitchens and bathrooms for the Council’s housing stock, the extension of the Care at Home contracts on the Scotland Excel Framework,  supporting the Council’s City Region Deal projects which are part of the Glasgow City Region City Deal, supporting the refurbishments of Milngavie and Bearsden Primary Schools, the Twechar Canalside Project and delivering a new Integrated Housing Management System for the Housing Service.  Assistance is also being provided to services, including Education, Social Work Services and Housing, in reviewing current policies and procedures including changes required as a result of COVID-19.  The Litigation and Licensing Team has also progressed reviews of different licensing areas including assisting the Licensing Board with the introduction of a new Supplementary Statement of Licensing Policy.  The team also continues to provide advice on a variety of pre-litigation matters and ongoing close support to social work colleagues in respect of sensitive and important matters involving children, families and vulnerable adults some of which are particularly pressing at the current time.

In respect of litigation, physical appearances in court by the team were becoming more commonplace following the easing of restrictions.  However, in recent weeks many hearings were converted into virtual hearings and, at present, none have been cancelled.  Moreover, it remains the cases that hearings can take place at short notice.  In recent months, heritable court actions in relation to rent arrears and evictions have resumed.  While Legal Services has been working with Housing to ensuring the reintroduction of these actions are manageable this will require significant resources from the team. The Team has also assisted Education with the resolution of cases at the ASN Tribunal and is assisting Trading Standards with a fireworks appeal.

As before, a significant amount of work is dedicated to the running of quasi-judicial boards.  This has included a consultation for the Statement of Principles for Gambling which will cover the period 2022-2025.  In conjunction with colleagues in Democratic Services, virtual meetings of the Planning Local Review Body, the Licensing Boards and the Civic Government Appeals Board are now taking place regularly, which all required expert legal advice.  However, due to growing concerns of the Omicron variant, site visits scheduled for the Local Review Body have been postponed.  It is hoped that these can take place early this year.  Solicitors continue to act as the legal adviser for the adoption panel.

As always and due to the nature of the work of the team, there are many matters which the team is working on which are confidential and sensitive and further detailed information cannot be given on these.

Unfortunately, there remains some vacancies in Legal Services. A recruitment process is being undertaken and it is hoped that many posts will be filled in the next few months and the team will be better resourced to be able to continue to support the Council through the projects and challenges which lie ahead. 

CUSTOMER & BUSINESS SUPPORT SERVICES

Corporate Performance & Research

The Council’s annual Public Performance Report is being prepared ahead of the statutory publication requirement in March. The format includes case studies of tangible examples of positive impact and the report will incorporate the preliminary LGBF data, anticipated to be formally published in February.

Following agreement of the performance framework approach to enhance the satisfaction survey at Council in December, the team supported a report to the Community Planning Partnership Board this month and will be involved in developing and implementing the agreed approach in the coming year.

The Corporate Performance & Research team continues to support the collation and reporting of ongoing Council COVID data returns. The team also continues to support data collation and quality assurance for performance reporting including the preparation and submission of statutory returns and local performance indicators as well as wider data analysis across Council services and HSCP social care services and ongoing reporting requirements. The team supports the response to FOIs across the social care service, and volumes of these have increased in recent months. Quality assurance improvement and data cleansing activity is ongoing to ensure accurate data and confidence in data returns.

The annual insurance renewals process has begun and engagement is underway across all service portfolios to prepare requirements and ensure adequate cover is secured at policy renewal.

Communications & Engagement

The Communications Team continues to provide 24/7 communications support for emergencies and essential out of hours messaging.  Sharing messaging in relation to current vaccination focus and the ongoing requirement to encourage participation in the required PCR and community asymptomatic testing remains an important focus, alongside messaging reminding employees and residents to continue to follow the Scottish Government guidelines which have been updated weekly this month. Promotion of the expanded availability of lateral flow testing kits through Council facilities (Community Hubs, community centres and leisure centres) has been undertaken.

Website

The website continues to be updated daily in line with service requirements, and to link to the latest guidance and Covid-19 support initiatives. Further business grant initiatives have been prepared for launch this month, with updated information and application forms prepared for the website as required. 

The publication of Technical Notes on the Council website continues, with 11 having been issued this year and published to the Technical Note page in line with the agreed approach.

Media Management

Media management has seen the team respond to 21 media enquiries so far in January, all meeting publication deadlines. A total of three media releases have been issued so far this year with predominantly positive coverage online and print media for the Council. The media releases issued were: The Lillie at 60 – an exhibition celebrating 60 years of the Lillie Art Gallery in Milngavie; further promotion of the Locality Plans consultation – seeking views on priorities for community-led change in our Place areas; and the announcement that the Council will again be lighting its key buildings purple next week to support International Holocaust Memorial Day .  These and all media releases are available in the News Section of the Council website.

Live Streaming on YouTube

The team continues to support the live streaming of public meetings on the Council YouTube channel. The Council meeting on 16 December had a total of 22 viewing with a maximum of nine at any one time. Average viewing duration was 29 minutes. The Community Planning Partnership Board on 13 January had a total of seven viewing with a maximum of three at any one time and an average of 36 minutes per viewer.

Social Media
Social Media messaging remains a key focus and effective channel for engaging with East Dunbartonshire communities with a total of 244 posts so far in January (137 or 56% on Twitter and 107 or 44% on Facebook).  Twitter currently has almost 19.244 followers (compared to 19,170 in January and a total reach over the month so far of 2.1 million. Facebook currently has 20,534 followers and a reach so far for the month of 797.2k.

Top Twitter Posts for reach:

The top posts for Twitter reach so far this month have been the posts in relation to primary school registration and school placing requests:

Top performing Facebook Posts:

Top three posts for Facebook reach were a homecarer job advert promoted post, an emergency road closure on Waterside Road on 16 January as a result of a house fire and a post seeking participation in a Mugdock Country Park visitor survey which resulted in high levels of consultation submissions.

Top social media posts for interaction so far this month have been on Facebook and were the gritting post on 7 January, the Mavis Valley booking system availability on 15 January and the promotion of homecarer jobs in a recruitment campaign on 6 January:

Consultation

There have been two consultations that have recently, one for Planning Guidance on the Local Development plan and one for Mugdock Country Park.

Planning Guidance consultation comms
The consultation webpage - was live from 19 November 2021 until 14 January 2022. During that time it received 586 views. There was coverage in Scottish Housing News form the media release when issued and social media performance was as follows:

• Total social media posts - 10
• Total potential Twitter reach (number of people who could have read the posts) - 96,500
• Total potential Facebook reach - 40,500
• Total engagements (likes, comments, shares, retweets, link clicks) - 395

Mugdock visitor survey consultation comms

The consultation webpage - was live from 20 December 2021 until 17 January 2022. During that time it received 950 views. There was coverage in the MB Herald on 23 December.

Social media promotion included:

• Total social media posts - 11
• Total potential Twitter reach (number of people who could have read the posts) - 130,100
• Total potential Facebook reach - 74,300
• Total engagements (likes, comments, shares, retweets, link clicks) - 1,463There were a total 1,638 survey submissions.

Customer Services

The Emergency Response Centre continues to provide customer support 24/7 for the hour care alarm service, CCTV monitoring and emergency communication across services out of hours as required.  Full service was effectively delivered across the festive period including public holidays.

The wider Customer Services team continues to respond to changing priorities and fluctuating numbers of daily enquiries, predominantly in response to local and national measures in relation to Covid-19 including vaccination and testing and to service changes and announcements as these are communicated and promoted. 

Digital channels as well as phone calls are responded to, and in January since Council operations resumed following the Christmas and New Year public holidays, volumes of enquiries have been high across phone and digital channels in relation to Christmas tree recycling, bin changes over the festive period and in response to the Mavis Valley booking system challenges over 15/16 January.

An appointment system remains in place across the four community hubs although customers do still attempt to attend without appointment with the team supporting this wherever possible To address current demand and recruitment and training challenges the Community Hubs continue to operate reduced hours of 1pm to 4pm which has a beneficial effect on call response times. Registration services (delivered by Customer Services Agents/Assistant Registrars) continue to effectively provide a 5-day service delivery in line with current guidance and by appointment.  Death registrations are delivered remotely through telephone appointments from Kirkintilloch Community Hub where documentation can be issued.  Birth registrations are being undertaken in real time with a preliminary telephone appointment prior to a face to face appointment for the final stage and signing of the register.  A strict appointment system also remains in place for marriage paperwork submission.  Ceremonies are being delivered at the former Registration Office on Southbank Road which has been risk assessed and appropriately signed for those attending. 

Shared Services

The school support co-ordinators (SSCs) continue to be involved in the implementation of the interim processes due to the retirement of the SEEMIS Finance module. They are supporting their cluster schools with the new supply timesheet process to ensure supply teachers are paid on time.  There is a phased implementation of the new Parent Portal and the SSCs are helping to support the implementation within their schools. The SSCs have been providing cover in school offices for the shortage of clerical/admin staff due to the effect of Covid/self-isolation rules and normal illness.

The Transport Team continue to deal with the business as usual work for main stream and ASN pupils school transport.  The team has also started the collating paperwork for Round 1 of the tendering process.

The Residential and Homecare Teams are processing uplifts due to the recent Scottish Government Adult Social Care Pay uplifts as well as their normal day to day processing tasks. In addition, the Homecare Team are implementing changes in the process of recording variations as part of a Social Work Audit.  Both teams continue to process paperwork for services to the more vulnerable people within EDC, to ensure providers receive their payments.

The Education team have been working on the application processes for Early Years, Primary and Secondary Registration and Placing Requests.  All of these are now live on the website for parents.   The General Team continue to support the Test & Protect Service through the National Assistance Helpline (NAH).  The team provided cover for the NAH in between Christmas and New Year due to the Omicron forecasts.  Outgoing contacts have peaked at around 250 per week in early January, however, this has dropped by 15% in the last two weeks reflecting national figures.  The Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) Team are finalising all EMA information for the end of the financial year.

The Complaints team have been delivering guidance and training to Education colleagues to improve the response to complaints.

The Social Work team have been working with colleagues in Business and Digital Change to implement new processes for the Child Disability Payment for Social Security Scotland (SSS).  The team will be the front door for all enquiries from SSS for CDP and from later this year the Adult Disability Payment.

Revenues & Benefits

The Scottish Welfare Fund continues to place extremely high demand on services we deliver. In particular we have seen a significant increase in Self-Isolation Support Grant (SISG) applications since December 2021 and we are giving priority to these claims along with the crisis applications.  The team are currently receiving twice as many crisis grants as we did at the same time last year and are receiving around 15 times more SISG applications than the same period last year. This has been the most challenging period for the entirety of the SWF scheme since its introduction in 2013.

Non Domestic Rates cases remain higher than pre-Covid levels, but recovery has continued this year and the first summary warrant has been issued this month. Collection whilst significantly improved compared to 2020/21 remains below the 2019/20 levels at this time.  Rates collection is proving extremely challenging in the current climate.

The Benefits area continues to deal with high levels of enquiries and applications, particularly for Council Tax Reduction. We are continuing to meet our performance targets in this area. The Housing Benefit Accuracy Initiative is continuing in line with the DWP requirements.

Council Tax and Council Tax Recovery continues to be busy with significant numbers of customer interactions. Our collection level is slightly improved on the same period for 2019/20.

Where services are issuing debtors’ invoices, recovery is continuing as normal.

ICT

The team continues to support the major assets programme, in particular the new Boclair Academy, and various transformation projects across the Council. The team are also planning upgrades to the schools network infrastructure and device replacement programme. 

The team continue to work closely with the Business and Digital Change Team to deliver the implementation of Microsoft Office 365.  The team have attended workshops are developing new solutions for Backup, 2 Factor Authentication and enhanced internet connectivity.

The team have completed all security mitigation work relating to the recent log4j threat which was recently in the public domain.

ICT have completed the upgrades of various systems including our Mobile Device Management system and our server infrastructure.

The Support Team continue to provide support across the Education and Corporate estates working to agreed SLAs.  The team are in the process of rolling out a new Service Desk system within ICT, with further engagement planned over the next few weeks.

FINANCE & AUDIT

All staff within the Finance and Audit Teams continue to work within current protocols supporting key activities across all services including business grants, support payments, vaccination & asymptomatic testing and any new ringfenced activities as the policy response to Covid-19 and any new variants emerge.  This includes working with legal and operational teams to coordinate grant awards with finance teams supporting any reporting requirements therein.  Finance Officers continue to work on financial returns for the Scottish and UK Governments and on systems improvements and issues such as cashless hubs."

In the period immediately before and after Christmas finance teams have been working through the Scottish Government’s Budget and Finance Circular to understand the implications for our own budget setting process.  This work, carried out alongside other Councils and through Cosla has been challenging given the nature, timing and extent of resulting queries.  Given the significance of the settlement and the challenges resulting from current circumstances Officers are in the process of preparing an update to Council on the 3 February focusing on the settlement as well as next steps within the overall budget strategy.

Despite the decision to stand down committees finance teams continue to prepare revenue and capital monitoring reports for both General Fund and Housing.  These continue to track the course of Covid through our financial commitments with implications across all areas with this being required through Standing Orders and Financial Regulations.

Operational changes within the Corporate Fraud Team have been implemented to create additional resource capacity.  This will now be required as part of assessing the validity of business grants claims as they are received.  In addition the Chief Internal Auditor has phased certain aspects of the audit plan where the responsible Executive Officer or Team is required to support new or accelerated processes.  Audit work is therefore giving due cognisance to ongoing Command & Control arrangements with any new capacity being applied to support the required audit checks as part of new grants, processes and controls. 

HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE PARTNERSHIP (COUNCIL DELEGATED SERVICES): SERVICE UPDATES: Friday 21 January 2022

HSCP Business Continuity

All departmental and overarching Business Continuity Plans have been updated in preparation for the Winter period and taking account of the covid pandemic management experience to date, including anticipated impact of the new variant. A Covid-19 annex to the HSCP Business Continuity Plan provides detailed information on essential service prioritisation approach, team consolidation plans, public protection arrangements, arrangements to support and sustain commissioned services, arrangement for sustaining staff capacity and communications.  Virtual management team meetings are well established and the HSCP Board continues to meet virtually, most recently on 20 January 2022.

Performance and activity reports continue to be prepared for consideration by the HSCP Board as normal. These provide indications of service activity and outcome impacts as a result of Covid-19 across HSCP functions and services, as well as reporting on normal business activity and performance.

Public Protection

Public protection work, which includes child and adult protection, drug and alcohol services, metal health, and a range of justice services, continues to be prioritised. Incoming referrals for adult and child concerns, with some fluctuation, are at a high and sustained level. Statutory mental health interventions with individuals have also been at a high level.

The Public Protection Chief Officers Group (COG) continues to meet virtually. The Public Protection Leadership Group established at the outset of our Covid-19 response has continued, but as with the COG meetings, has reduced frequency.  This ensures ongoing management oversight of all operational matters and statistics relating to Public Protection, in a manageable manner. The local Child and Adult Protection Committees continue to review expected business items, alongside data and emerging risks and issues. Child Protection procedures are ow due to be updated in line with changes to national guidance.

Service Delivery Impacts

Most social care services continue to be delivered on a business as usual basis e.g. statutory assessment and supervision services, care at home and residential care. Building based day and respite services have all now resumed, working on a revised and reduced capacity basis, including Kelvinbank Resource Centre and Milan, and capacity increases have been implemented in line with national guidance.

Assessment and Care Management

Social Work assessment and care management referrals are operating at or exceeding pre-pandemic levels with notable upturns in drug and alcohol, mental health, community care and community nursing service requirements. There are a significant number of people in the community waiting for completion of a formal assessment to inform care decisions. Additional funding provided by Scottish Government to support winter pressures has been used in part to add to the assessment workforce to support addressing this backlog of service demand. Numbers of East Dunbartonshire residents going to and being admitted to hospital is high with a resulting pressure around people whose discharge from hospital is delayed. Care Home closures as a result of covid outbreaks are a significant factor in slowing down people’s ability to move into their correct care setting. This is of particular concern during the winter period where pressure on hospitals is usually high, coupled with the evident additional demand brought by the new covid variant. Work to ensure people can move on from hospital either home or to an appropriate care setting is a current priority.  

Direct Services

All of the Council’s in-house social care services continue to operate.  Our day services are operating on a limited basis.  The Outlook and Outreach services operate an emergency response to families and individuals in crisis.  The oversight of all registered services, including those delivered by 3rd and independent sector partners, is monitored via the HSCP Oversight Group which has input from Public Health and the Care Inspectorate.

It has been noted that the volume of demand, and levels of need and complexity of care required for people accessing our care at home and rehabilitation services is particularly high and our care at home service, and those we commission, are significantly stretched. Care at Home services have developed a risk and priority rating system to support targeting of services at those most in need, and those who have no other way of being supported, in the event of workforce shortages. This risk rating system would see families potentially asked to step in to provide some aspects of care packages where possible, when staffing number drop, for sickness or self-isolation reasons. Additional Scottish Government funding has been provided to support delivery of service in the community and a significant amount of the East Dunbartonshire allocation has been targeted at increasing the Care at Home workforce. Recruitment has yielded positive results so far however it should be noted that in some cases this represents movement between employers rather than actual additional overall workforce numbers.

Joint working with trade union colleagues continues to be very positive in responding to issues on the ground.

Testing for Social Care Staff & vaccinations

Testing processes for staff continue to be in place in line with national and local guidance. There have been some difficulties with the LFD kit supply and delivery chain in response to changes but this now appears to be bedding in effectively.

The HSCP has concluded its aspect of the vaccination programme, which was to deliver boosters and third doses to care homes and those who are housebound, with only mop up deliveries remaining. There are concerns about the booster uptake among local care staff, both within in house and provider services, with a range of reasons for the lower uptake being put forward. The HSCP offered a mop up staff clinic in the local area to support this but take up was not high.

Support to Care Homes

A high level of support continues to be provided to care homes. Processes for regular staff testing and enhanced outbreak testing of residents where required are well established. At the time of writing no care homes in the area are experiencing an outbreak. Indoor visiting in care homes is in place in all services in the area, albeit restrictions have recently been put in place to limit numbers, in response to the spread of the new variant.

Other

The HSCP Board (IJB) is working to develop a new HSCP Strategic Plan 2022-25, which will be supported by one year ED HSCP Delivery Plans, setting out the detail below the strategic level. The plan has just gone out for a second and final round of consultation.