Technical Notes 2022, Issue 23 - Coronavirus (COVID-19) – Service Updates (4 February)

Further to our technical note on 21 January (TN-012-22), please find below our detailed service updates, 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.

With COVID-19 incidence rates across the East Dunbartonshire area remaining high, civil contingency operational command and control protocols remain in place to ensure that resources and activities are appropriately prioritised. The Corporate Management Team continues to meet regularly with Executive Officers, the HSCP Chief Officer and the General Manager of EDLCT to discuss service delivery pressures and to agree operational mitigating actions.

Employee absence rates across Council services (including HSCP) continue to be much higher than normal (c. 8%) with available resources being monitored daily, service by service by Executive Officers and their management teams.  The position continues that depending on the level of available resources, it may be necessary to adjust service delivery; however, all options continue to 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.

For your information, over recent weeks, officers have experienced a significant increase in enquiries from external sources.  These include an increase in specific service delivery enquiries, requests for information/data and FOIs. Officers will continue to respond to councillor enquiries within normal timescales, where possible, but depending on the nature of enquiry, this may not be possible in all cases. Please be assured, responses will be provided to you as soon as practicable and councillor enquiries are prioritised over other external enquiries, subject to any statutory response timescales, which we are obligated to meet.

As you are aware, (Technical Note: TN-015-22 issued on 26 January 2022), the Council’s budget setting meeting will take place on Thursday 24 February 2022. Officers continue to review announcements by the Scottish Government as it progresses through its budget setting process. For ease of reference, the timetable for consideration of the Scottish Government’s budget by the Scottish Parliament is as follows –

• Stage 1 – 27th January 2022
• Stage 2 – 1st February 2022
• Stage 3 – 10th February 2022
• Stage 4 – 24th February 2022

As previously indicated, the final Agenda for the budget meeting on 24 February will be issued on Thursday 17 February and will include a reminder of the process and deadlines for submission of any amendments.

In the meantime and in advance of our next fortnightly update, 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 4 February 2022

ASSETS & FACILITIES

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 continues to be well received with Aids & Adaptation works ongoing across the stock.

The Smoke and Heat detector installation programme is reaching its 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. We are also working closely with Scottish Fire and Rescue through our Care & Repair service to ensure that all eligible private residents who request help with the new alarms are supported.

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.

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.   A suite of training requirements has been identified and developed for newly appointed Building Managers and the roll out of this training commences early February.

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.

Development & Investment

All development projects across Major Assets and Housing Investment programmes continue to progress well.  Construction continues to progress at pace at Boclair, Allander, ASN Kirkintilloch, Kirkintilloch Community Sports Complex and the former Lairdsland Primary School and is nearing completion at Blackthorn Grove, Lenzie and at the site of the former Tom Johnston House, Kirkintilloch.

Several projects are progressing through their pre-construction phase with the refurbishment of Brookwood Villa, Bearsden expected to be the next to enter its construction phase.  A Stage 2 report for the project is due for Council approval at the end of March.

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.  This includes an update on the next phase of the Council's Affordable Housing Investment Programme (2022/23 to 2027/28) where proposals are in development for the construction of new-build affordable housing across a range of sites across the area.

Estates (no change)

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.

HOUSING

Homelessness & Prevention

The Homelessness and Prevention team continue to work remotely, it is expected that the Team will recommence face-to-face interviews from April 2022 onwards once risk assessments have been completed.

The backlog of applicants on the Council's homelessness list remains low; 107 applicants are awaiting an offer of settled accommodation; only 2 (1.6%) applicants have been waiting longer than 3 years for settled accommodation.

The demand for appointments and temporary accommodation has started to increase.  The Homelessness Team continue to work with the Council's Repairs Team to return properties to a re-let standard, therefore reducing pressure 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).

Homelessness & Prevention Team

In recent months, there has been a number of vacancies in the homelessness team.  Following interviews a few weeks ago, 4 applicants have been offered posts.  Following final checks, new members of the team will start on 21 February 2022. 

COVID19 Tenant Hardship Grant

During October 2021. The Team were 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:

- 33 referrals have been received

- 32 awards have been given (£41, 366)

- Of the 32 awards

    -  19 EDC tenants

    -  12 Housing Association tenants

    -    1 Private Sector Tenant

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

Housing Operations
The Estates team continues to work closely with Property Maintenance to ensure void properties are turned around as quickly as possible. There are currently 29 properties with the void team undergoing empty house repairs. Since April 2021, a total of 301 new tenancies have been created, this figure includes 80 new build properties at the Tom Johnston Place site. Terminations have been received for a further 16 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.

Offers to the successful applicants have been issued for the 26 new build properties at Blacklands, Lenzie and these properties are expected to be released from the builders late February/March 2022. Offers have also been made for the 6 amenity properties at Blackthorn Grove and the new tenants are expected to take up for residence later this month. 

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. 107 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.  Clyde Valley Housing Association has recently advised that 22 properties will be released over the summer months to the Council for allocation at High Street, Kirkintilloch and Link Housing Association expect the completion date for the remaining 18 properties at the Jellyhill site in Bishopbriggs to be around August 2022.  All housing association new build properties will be allocated from the Council's housing lists through the nomination process.

There have been 49 new anti-social behaviour cases raised since the start of the financial year and the Housing 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) - in line with legislation and with assistance from Legal Services.

Rents

The Rents Team continue to engage with tenants to ensure rental income is being 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 60 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 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 £1,487,920 (week 43).

Tenant Participation

The last online TPWG meeting was held on Thursday, 27 January 2022 and was well attended, with the main agenda item being a discussion on the annual rent setting consultation.   

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 concluded - with contract in place (Phase 1 of system to be implemented by summer 2023). Liaising with HSCP regarding Telecare digital migration issues.  1 loft conversion completed. Wardens (Sheltered Housing) and concierge service in the process of moving from HSCP and FM to Housing.

Two Performance Monitoring Officers now in post and working through quarter 3 statistical returns.  One Systems Adviser IHMS now in post and will be the services systems key link with the organisational change team throughout the IHMS implementation period (2022 -25).

LAND PLANNING & DEVELOPMENT

Business Support

The December/January Business Support Top Up for the hospitality sector is now live.  Officers have notified businesses and are receiving applications.  Of those received, a large number have been paid.  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 that 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 has distributed invitations to all nightclubs to apply for support.  If approved Officers would arrange payment.  The Scottish Government has allocated £28 million to help Taxi and Private Hire Drivers and Operators recover from the significant reduction in demand during the rapid spread of the Omicron variant. Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle drivers who previously received a grant under the Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle Driver Support Fund 2021 will receive a one-off grant of £750 from local authorities and Officers have contacted drivers to advise they can apply

Operators who previously received a grant under the Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle Operator Support Fund 2021 will receive a one-off grant from local authorities based on the number of vehicle licenses each company, partnership, sole trader or trust (operator) holds as follows, where those vehicles remain active in the trade. Operator fund levels depend on the number of operational and licensed vehicles, and as with other schemes, applications must be submitted via local authorities to claim the grant.

The Council will administer the new Brewers Fund and will contact eligible businesses in due course.

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.    Recent consultations on the Draft Parking Management Plan and Planning Guidance have been analysed and will be brought to a future available committee for consideration. Work continues on the Active Travel Strategy and will be a key focus for the year ahead.

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 tender for design consultants for A803 options has been issued.  This will help inform the Outline Business Case.  Consultant appointment for a feasibility study looking at Town Centre Incubation Space is under way.  

Regeneration and Town Centres

Officers continue to work on a number of approved projects, which includes finalising technical designs for the Regent Gardens, and Union Street project and progressing pre-construction activities for the Twechar Outdoor Pursuits and Training and Education Centre with Major Assets.  Unfortunately, the Council’s stage two submission for the Scottish Government’s Regeneration Capital Grant Fund was not successful for the Campsie Memorial Hall project. Officers are now considering a revised bid for 2022 and examining other possible funding streams to enable the project to move forward.  Officers are also assessing options for a 2022 Kirkintilloch Canal Festival and the Kirkintilloch Business Gateway Masterplan has been finalised following consultation and will be presented for adoption at a Place, Neighbourhood and Corporate Assets Committee in due course.   

Development Applications

The Development Applications Teams continues to assess applications, provide pre application advice and respond to enforcement and dangerous building enquiries as these are received. The team 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 including the associated Enhanced Member Briefing session in advance of the meeting. 

NEIGHBOURHOOD SERVICES

WASTE SERVICES

Household Collections Update

The service continues to deliver routine household collections in line with schedules across the authority whilst ensuring employee safety through compliance with the ongoing Covid control measures.

The team have now completed the one-off Christmas tree and garden waste collections for residents whom requested this service. The full garden waste collections will recommence in March.

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 and caddies following a recent delivery of new stock. Operatives are engaged in delivering the replacements as quickly as possible and as resources allow.  

Recycling Banks & Bring Sites Update

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. 

Contractor Updates

Following on from a recent tendering exercise the Council has now renewed two contracts for the treatment and recycling of Garden Waste and food waste collections across the authority. The contracts will run for a two-year period with the option of extending at the end of the term, should this prove favourable for the authority.

Driver Training

The service is currently working with the Organisational Development team to up-skill some staff through the provision of LGV driver training. This training is key to providing additional resilience for the service, with ongoing vocational driver recruitment challenges at a national level and will also facilitate opportunities for career progression for the workforce within waste operations.

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 continues to have an impact on lead times and deliveries however, some vehicles ordered in 2021 are now starting filter through.

Officers continue to work with colleagues in Sustainability Policy on the longer term plans for the decarbonisation of the Councils vehicle and plant fleet.

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. 

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 that continues to present a major pressure on the fleet budgets.

PLACE & COMMUNITY PLANNING

Environmental Health Team

Environmental Health are continuing with the resumption of Official Food Controls and other statutory duties.  However, Covid-19 is still a focus for the team.  We 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).  Meetings with other regional environmental health departments and Greater Glasgow and Clyde Health Board are taking place fortnightly where pandemic updates and current issues are shared.

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 will also be offering advice and taking enquiries on current requirements.

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.

Trading Standards Team

From 24th January 2022 there are no longer 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 nightclubs can reopen.

In light of the current position with the omicron variant and decreasing cases, routine inspections of trade premises are currently being progressed. Officers are presently continuing to work from home in line with the council however, essential trading standards and licensing enforcement visits are being delivered wherever required.

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 ongoing.

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, has now been resumed. Now that the position with the latest Covid-19 variant seems to be easing significantly the consideration will also be given to reintroduction of the ASB Domestic Night Noise Service and alongside other front facing community focussed community safety related work activities that Team normally deliver in order to protect our communities.

Community Planning and Partnerships Team

Our equalities officer in collaboration with partners is progressing the actions highlighted in our Equalities Outcomes and Mainstreaming Report and continues to connect with a range of representative groups both formal and informal building.  Accessable have completed their surveys on key facilities across East Dunbartonshire and officers are working with them to raise awareness and promote the accessible guides across our communities and community planning partners.

We have launched round two of our Community Grants Scheme.  Round two opened on-line on 28th January with a closing date of Friday 25 February 2022.  The Community Grants Scheme is one of the ways that the Council provides funding to the community and voluntary sector. Any group that has a constitution, a bank account, is not for profit and aims to bring benefits to the residents of East Dunbartonshire can apply to the grants scheme. To access the application form and guidance, please follow link Community Grants Scheme | East Dunbartonshire Council

The consultation on the draft CLD consultation is nearing an end and officer are hosting a range of focus group to support engagement and participation.  The CPP team will work with strategic partnership to collate, analyse and incorporate results in an updated report for future council meeting.

Officers continue to provide wrap around support to individuals and families participating in the VPRS.  COSLA and the Home Office have been updated on potential properties to enable the matching process and officers are working collaboratively with partners, progressing the procedural framework.  Officers are working alongside East Dunbartonshire Welcomes Refugees in progressing their community sponsorship application with the Home Office.

The strategic partnership group are engaging with IOM (International Organisation for Migration) to deliver training for our frontline colleagues in preparation for welcoming families under the ARAS and ACRS Schemes.  The training will include Afghanistan Information Session: Geography, History, Current Events and Services and Afghanistan Information Session: Cultural Norms, Family and Social Life.

Review of the Locality Plans (Place Plans) is entering week 8 of the consultation.  Our citizens and interested individuals are being actively encouraged to participate through the different platforms including telephone, survey and blether box.  Five well-received information session the blether box have been hosted and a programme of creative activities and opportunities is being progressed to support people to have their voices heard.  This will include streets work, and doorstep conversations.  This work will support connections with the wider community, targeting those with the quietest voices.  We want our approach to be community led and this means we need to hear from those living and working in each of the four communities. We want individuals, groups and organisations to have their say and help to shape what the future looks like.

Information is provided below;

Survey

Complete the survey: This can be either online or hard copy.  Paper copies of the survey are available at key locations, including our community centres in Auchinairn and Hillhead, Lennoxtown and Twechar Healthy Living Initiative.  Access the online survey

Telephone

If you do not have access to the internet or would like to speak to a person, please phone Pam Campbell on 07919093040 or Anne-Marie Timmoney on 07990916514 or East Dunbartonshire Council contact centre on 0300 1234510.

Host a Blether Box Session
The Bletherbox is a tool to help you to host a conversation about the consultation to review and refresh our Locality Plans (also known as Place  Plans) for our priority communities:

People can have a conversation round the table, when having coffee with your friends, family or neighbour or when at your group activities.  Access the online copy of the bletherbox 

For more information on the locality plan consultation please follow the link  to the Locality plans consultation  

Community Testing and Vaccination Support Team

Community Testing

The current guidance in relation to the use of the LFD kits has ensured that the demand for LFD kits has remained high.

Supplies of LFD Test kits have been maintained in all locations, despite challenges with LFD supplies:-

•            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 EY & Community Centre
•             Hillhead Community Centre
•             Twechar Healthy Living Centre

An additional location has been added at Regent Shopping Centre, which is distributing over 500 LFD kits to citizens per day.

The process to make Broomhill and Hilton Depot Workplace Testing Centres is ongoing and is anticipated that this will be operational within the next 2 weeks.

Vaccination Centres

The number of people attending the vaccination clinics continue to decrease and the NHS have reduced the number of scheduled vaccination clinics at both Kirkintilloch and Milngavie Town Hall, which is reflective of all clinics across Greater Glasgow and Clyde. This week it was announced that the NHS have issued 580,000 letters to eligible 18 – 59 year olds who have not had their booster job, which may have an impact on the number of clinics over the coming weeks. 

Over the next 2 weeks, the team will be located at Twechar Healthy Living Centre, Auchinairn EY & Community Centre and Hillhead Community Centre and Lennoxtown Hub to encourage uplift of LFD kits and facilitating the completion of the Locality Plan Survey.

Regular meetings and communications take place with partners from NHS and Scottish Government on both testing and vaccination.

ROADS & ENVIRONMENT

Roads Network Operations

• Our office based Roads officers continue to work remotely and we 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 and we have resurfaced around 6700 sq.m of our network (over a kilometre) during January 2022.
• A Hotbox vehicle allocated 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 continue working on tender exercises to employ external contractors to increase carriageway resurfacing action planed in network in next following months. So far, a contractor has been employed to carry out 5 coal tar carriageways sites and 3 coal tar footways project between March and August 2022.  These projects will be cost more than our initial expectations due to Covid and Brexit effected our industry.    
• 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.

Street Operations

• Continuation of all cemetery operations.
• Continuation of all street cleansing duties; litter picking, servicing of bins, graffiti removal, dog fouling, removal of fly posting, uplift of needles & sharp; mechanical street sweeping.
• Marking of football pitches.
• Checking & clearing of culvert grills / flood prevention.
• Inspection & maintenance of play equipment.
• Shrub pruning.
• Dealing with wind-blown / storm damaged trees.
• Responding to CRM reports & service requests.

Streetscene Technical Support Team

• Site visits with SEPA along the Luggie, Allander and Parkburn in relation to developing a statement of requirements for ground investigation works and detailed design as part of the Kelvin Tributaries river restoration works. 
• Ongoing work with consultations and SEPA (hydrological modelling) to determine finalised plans for planning for the River Glazert restoration works.
• Procurement package being developed following planning permission given for a Climate Ready Park at Woodhill & Etive Open spaces.
• Assisting Local Community Group with Milngavie Library Pond naturalisation works.
• Orders raised and works started in some areas relating to Nature Restoration capital received for habitat restoration at: Lenzie Moss; Millersneuk Marsh; Colquhoun Park, Whitefield Pond; Balgrochan Marsh; Merkland, Lenzie; Kilmardinny Loch, Bearsden.
• Monitoring of drainage ditch and drainage at Mosshead Park, assessing of additional works required with the view to conducting basic ground investigation and profile works in the Spring of 2022.
• Arranging of herbicide application in various wildflower meadow sites in preparation of seeding in Spring; monitoring of all meadow sites; continued identification of additional sites and discussion with local groups and in-house operational teams.
• Electrical works complete at Kilmardinny House, inspection to be arranged in February.
• Ongoing surveying and removal of dangers trees or limbs; scheduling of tree works in new financial year.
• Obtaining of samples for plaques relation to restoration of the Beatrice Clugston memorial.
• Doune Crescent, Meadowburn North and Woodhead Park Project – play upgrades ordered, with Meadowburn and Woodhead to start in February 2022, and completed by financial year-end; Doune Crescent will be upgraded in the new financial year 2022.
• New play equipment (zipline) installed at King George V Park, January 2022.
• Play park repair programme ongoing, orders have been made for equipment and the team is awaiting date of installation from play park suppliers (Croft Road, Balmore; Langfaulds Field, Bearsden; Leisuredrome, Bishopbriggs, Thornwood Avenue, Lenzie); Lennox Crescent, Bishopbriggs.
• Community litter picks restarted, following revision of procedure for supply of litter pickers and bags.
• Audit carried out relating to Headstone Stabilisation programme, with associated recommendations for actions agreed; programme of works ordered for 21/22 financial year.
• Order raised for the resurfacing of the Froggy Path, Colquhoun Park.
• Path upgraded at Monklands Place, Lenzie.
• Meeting with Scottish Water regarding woodland planting mitigation as part of the Burncrooks pipeline project.
• Craigfoot Allotment, designs near completion currently costing exercise underway; meeting with Community Council to be arranged once all documents are finalised. Due to poor soil, raised beds will require to be provided as the sole growing structure, planning permission will be sought in 2022.
• Merkland Pitch fence, evaluation completed and order raised; installation due in late February. 
• Meeting arranged with H&S and HR to discuss risk assessments, training and toolbox talks.
• Tender evaluation for Peel Park Bandstand renovation works has been completed.
• Initial discussions with The Conservation Volunteers and Employability teams regarding Green Skills initiative along the John Muir way.
• The team continues to respond to high volume of open space, tree and bereavement enquires, along with planning application consultations and complaints.

Mugdock Country Park

• Mugdock Strategy 2022-2027 is underway with information gathering, benchmarking and visitor surveys completed.  Stakeholder meetings are taking place and initial feedback will be presented to the Mugdock Joint Management Committee on 22 Feb;
• Cabling has been completed on Craigallian Road for the Openreach Ultrafast Community Broadband Programme which should see the Park having better connectivity within a few months;
• The Mugdock Theatre is being refurbished with seats reupholstered and replacement flooring;
• Work has started on the new Observatory based at the Country Park.  The project is in partnership with the Astronomical Society of Glasgow and is situated at the north end of the overflow field;
• Work is continuing cutting back rhododendrons and planting trees in the gaps that have opened up.  Stakes and tree guards are also being installed with the new trees;
• Events during the February mid-term break include Stargazing, Whittling with Elder, Buck and Tree, Winter ID, Wildlife Weans, Wintery Natural Art and a Wonderful Welly Walk;
• Forest Schools sessions have started back at schools with the Countryside Ranger service carrying out the lessons.

EDUCATION, PEOPLE & BUSINESS: SERVICE UPDATES: Friday 4 February 2022

EDUCATION

A new version of the guidance for schools was published on 1 February 2022 and can be found on the Scottish Government website – Coronavirus (COVID-19): guidance on reducing the risks in schools - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

For the most part, the changes mean that the guidance reverts to the position that was in place prior to Omicron, with the additional change to reduce the expectation of staggered start/finish/break times that were previously in place to reduce the number of parents coming together and to support grouping of young people.

The key changes to the guidance include:

• No longer requiring ‘bubbles’ (paras 25-26)
• A return to the previous position in relation to Parent Councils and PTAs (para 30) – if the virtual meetings
• Ease the restriction on school visits and trips in order to reflect wider mitigations across society (paras 34-35)
• Remove the requirement for staggered timetables (para 37)
• Edits to material in Annex A to ensure consistency with the changes above
• Edits to material in Annex E on guidance for residential boarding and hostel accommodation in educational facilities

In common with earlier changes, there is not an expectation of immediate change.  Rather, the language used is “as soon as is practicable in line with local circumstances”.  East Dunbartonshire Guidance and update Risk Assessments will be discussed with schools and Trade Unions shortly.  This is to provide clarity through Q&A sessions to support leaders and staff.

Preparing for Academic Session 2022-23

School and Early Years applications for the next academic session starting in August 2022 are underway.  This also includes deferral and placing request processes as outlined below:

Registration for Early Years

Applications for Early Years are now open and close on 28 February 2022.

Registration for Children and Young People – Primary and Secondary

Primary applications were open from January 2022 and closed on Friday 21 January 2022.

Secondary applications were open the week before Christmas and closed on Friday 14 January 2022.

All registrations are now online with a requirement to upload verified documentation for residency checks and processing.

Schools will support any family with issues accessing online applications.

Deferred Entry Applications

Requests for session 2022/23 now open and close on 31st January 2022.  We will continue to work with Scottish Government for the automatic right to deferral at parental request for session 2023/24.

Placing Request

Placing Requests for children looking to commence their education at the requested school from August 2022 are available from Monday, 3 January 2022 and the closing date will be 15 March 2022.  Again, these applications are online or available through visiting the Local Hub or if you are unable to complete the online application form, you can request a paper application form by emailing sharedservices.education@eastdunbarton.gov.uk

ORGANISATIONAL TRANSFORMATION

Business & Digital Change

Business Systems 

The Council’s Enterprise Mobility solution, Total Mobile, has been successfully upgraded.  The upgrade enables more informed property maintenance decisions utilising highly effective dashboard analytics.  A number of key business applications are in the process of being updated to ensure continued legislative compliance and supportability including the Council’s HR Management System iTrent and the Council Tax system.  Work is scheduled to be completed along with other end of financial year updates before the end of March. 

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

Contract & Supplier Management 

Following a recent contract award, the Team is working with the Supplier and service areas to update the Council’s repair, job costing and assets property maintenance system, ensuring it remains supported while also achieving Public Sector Network security requirements.  Work on the procurement of a new eLearning platform has continued with the identification of a preferred supplier.  A schedule for implementation will be developed in the next period.  Implementation of a new Employability Management system has progressed and a contract has recently been awarded, which will allow for work to begin with the supplier. 

Project Delivery and Transformation 

Work is underway to implement Microsoft 365 services.  Initial awareness building and planning workshops have been concluded with engagement from ICT, key service areas & the Council’s Microsoft Gold Partner.  The Parents Portal system continues to be rolled out across the school estate.  The portal is now live in 15 schools.  All schools are scheduled to be live by June 2022.

A proof of concept for an Internet of Things (IOT) project is underway and includes 35 water safety devices that will monitor water temperature across 2 sites (sites to be confirmed).  Work continues on the analogue to digital transition for Telecare.  The Team continues to engage with Procurement on a potential route to market and new digital equipment is being assessed to replace outdated hardware to improve patient care. 

In collaboration with the Improvement Service, the team has now successfully rolled out the Young Person's Free Bus Travel Scheme.  Work will continue to raise awareness of the scheme in line with the Scottish Government's planned marketing campaign.  The replacement for SEEMiS Finance & Budgeting continues and the team continue 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:

• Replacement for EDC Hub (Intranet)
• Web Content Management System (CMS/Website)
• New Customer Relationship Management System (CRM)
• In-Cab Technology – Route optimisation
• Further development of the Road Maintenance Management System from a mobilisation perspective
• Development of a Cemetery system to explore the digitalisation of historical ledger books
• Modernising the Council’s central income management transaction database.  This is used to control income from a wide range of sources processing thousands of transactions every week.

Health & Safety Team

A wide range of activities are ongoing supporting services across the Council and below highlights some of this detail;

COVID-19

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

-     Work with HR to support COVID-19 tracing of work close contacts and implement changes to self-isolation policy for HSCP.

-     Assessing positive cases and their impact in the work environment in all services through review of cases, assisting HR with queries and supported by on-site visits to assure adherence to Covid controls. 

-     Update Education risk assessment according to updated government guidelines

-     Review of individual educational establishment risk assessments, all schools and Early Years Centres.

-     Continue to organise LFD testing to operational sites and upkeep of test availability

-     Completed a COVID-19 RA for the educational Psychology Department to allow essential training to take place.

-     Occupational health risk assessments for employees in the high-risk categories.

Health and Safety services

-     Creation of Health and Safety team action plan 2022 and continue to develop a Health and Safety Management System

-     Evaluation of Accident/Incident Statistics logging with view to implement change and maximise use of lagging indicator.

-     H&S Manager attended EPB, PNCA and Education 2nd Tier Health and Safety committee meetings

-     Continue to develop a Gas Safety Management System for EDC (policies and procedures) - discuss progress and implement an action plan.

-     Manage, maintain and record health surveillance including HAVS Tier 4 consultations and vaccine clinics (health surveillance related).

-     Logging, review and investigation of incoming incident reports and subsequent reporting of RIDDOR submissions where required

-     Continue to monitor the Health and Safety and Ventilation inbox and respond to enquiries

-     Updated HAVS Individual Risk Assessments

-     Assisting employees with their DSE requirements including organising equipment for homeworking, workplace assessments to assist employees within their working environment and assisting management with implementation of relevant adjustments

-     Preparing and reviewing of Individual risk assessments for persons in the high risk category and pregnancy risk Assessments in line with changing legislation or guidance

Risk Assessments and Training:

-     HAVS training with Mugdock Park employees

-     Completion of Property Maintenance training: H&S Induction, Accident and Incident Reporting and Basic Scaffold Awareness.

-     Completion of Six Pack refresh and Building Manager training packages for delivery to Facilities Maintenance Leads and building managers.

-     Development of the 'COVID-19 Community Protection Door to door RA' for Community Planning & Partnership.

-     Provide support to Waste/Fleet for review of risk assessments

-     Duty Holder Training

-     Review of Roads risk assessments for the service and convert into new standardised format.

-     Risk Assessment training for the Heritage & Arts team and the Library team.

-     Carry out a face Fit Test for staff at Auld Kirk Museum and provide advice on new P3 Filters and valves for Half Mask (M3)

Supporting other services:

-     Installed Reactec HAVwear within Property Maintenance

-     Reviewed RAMS for our gas contractors and carry out a site inspection to check compliance.

-     Advised on disposal of hazardous and radioactive material to school technicians

-     Ventilation inspections & compilation of reports

-     Programming of Reactec HAVS tags for Mugdock Park and Streetscene

-     Creation of Task Based Vibration risk assessments for Roads and  Fleet

-     Carried out Vibrating tool assessments at Hilton Depot

-     Review of RA/MS for Estates

-     Health and Safety visits, inspections and reports supporting Education and Estates

-     Review of working at height at Central Record Stores, Kirkintilloch.

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.  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 being implemented from February 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.  As the Council emerges from restrictions, targeted action has commenced in the form of an Absence Action Working Group within HR during Quarter 3, to develop a joint approach to reviewing absence trends and formulating absence action plans tailored to service areas, where necessary.  These plans will aim to reduce and mitigate absence.  Work is also ongoing in relation to actions to improve absence reporting information. 

The development and launch of an on-line form in January 22, which takes the reporting of COVID absences away from the need for telephone contact for all cases, has bought efficiencies to this process, which in turn has allowed resources to be redirected to HR case management.  Cases continue to be monitored over a 7 day period to continue providing timely responses to mitigate risks in relation to COVID, and supporting services to remain operational.  The number of cases continue to be reported to CMT to monitor any changes, with onward reporting to external stakeholders as required.  .  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.  This activity continues to be monitored.  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.

The Payroll Team and Employee Services implemented the 2021 Pay Award for Local Government Employees and Chief Officers.  Employees received their backdated remuneration at the end of January / beginning of February 2022.  This was a substantial task and was diligently managed by these teams.  The SJC has now submitted the 2022-23 Pay Claim.  With regards to the National negotiations for the 2021 Teacher Pay Award, the current position is that Teaching Trade Unions are balloting members on the offer made, with the outcome anticipated shortly.

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 during 2021.  Further sessions are planned for delivery from February 2022.  Another item of organisational development 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.  The revised training material is being piloted within a service in late February.

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, HSCP and Roads.  Renewal and award of various contracts continue with various key ICT system requirements being progressed at this time.  Procurement representation is in place across multiple Business & Digital Change projects include, Microsoft 365, Digital Telecare, Customer Relationship Management System, Oracle, I-Trent and Town Centre CCTV.

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, and planning for election supplies has commenced  Work is also ongoing to embed Health & Safety management systems via the 2022 Action Plan, including inclusion in relevant tender and contract documentation.

The Procurement Team is currently supporting key work streams, these include New Build Housing Projects, implementation of the new Integrated Housing Management System, Managed Stores service renewal, Transport Service arrangements, Remote Digital Solutions for Education, 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.

The Procurement Project Lead for City Deal is embedded within the day-to-day working of the projects.  Procurement timelines are being managed to support achievement of the Project Plan with associated prioritisations and mitigations being considered.  Management attendance at the City Deal Procurement Support Group includes Sustainable process approaches for Community Wish List development, Community Wealth Building, and Contract Pipelines

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.  Progress has been made in line with the Climate Action Plan, Local Housing Energy & Efficiency Strategy and the Circular Economy Strategy to identify objectives for inclusion with the annual Procurement Strategy 2022-2023.

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, Hospitality and Leisure Grants, and Taxi and private Hire Drivers and Operators Funding are being 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)

In response to the on-going pandemic and wider system pressures, P&D continues to provide enhanced support across commissioned services – with a strong focus on high- risk Care at Home and Care Home sectors.  On-going workforce issues – including recruitment & retention, absences and isolation requirements has inevitably impacted these sectors and requires P&D to increase daily oversight /monitoring to help manage and mitigate service disruption and potential sustainability risks.  The team attends the HSCP’s Flash and Oversight meetings to provide daily updates on the status of commissioned services and agree any necessary intervention / contingency action.

P&D, with support from Legal and Finance colleagues, is currently finalising the Social Care Uplift award (increase basic rate to £10.02) in line with national requirements.  Due to the protracted process involved in delivering this requirement, payments are scheduled, as planned across January / February 2022.  It is worth noting that this is in line with most other authorities.  P&D is preparing to repeat the process in March to support implementation of the Scottish Living Wage (increase basic rate to £10.50) which is due to be paid  1st April 2022

Despite the welcomed increase to basic pay, the Council’s rolling recruitment for care at home with enhanced terms & conditions impairs the markets ability to retain existing carers – inevitably reducing capacity levels.  Vacancies are currently being backfilled by office staff and management whilst providers continue to explore alternative recruitment routes.    

P&D is currently collating the number of actual staffed care home beds available per day to help inform and support hospital discharges and wider acute and care at home pressures.  This is in addition to the daily TURAS reporting the team compiles which provides oversight across the care home sector in terms of outbreak status, general staffing and occupancy levels and escalation requirements.  Daily reporting underpins recent care home audits undertaken by P&D to help determine service performance and compliance levels.  Improvement actions are captured within agreed action plans and monitored by P&D.  

Other related work streams for P&D include liaising with the market re LFT capacity, isolation procedures, reviewing and updating Business Continuity Plans and RAGS. 

Commissioning business is prioritised daily 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 that have been re-convened in response to 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.  There has been a considerable rise in the registration of births deaths & marriages where for the month of January 2022, 78 births, 169 deaths and 16 marriages were registered across the Council area.  Despite increased service demands and Covid reduced resources, the Registrar and Customer Service Agents / Assistant Registrars have continued to deliver first class services to our customers. 

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 increased 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 e.g. 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 itself and for the initial weeks of the new Council post 5th May.  Pre-nomination briefings will be arranged in February to assist all those wishing to stand for election to the Council.  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 and is supporting a number of projects with information management implications e.g. the implementation of Microsoft 365.

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.

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, reviewing the grant offer for business ventilation funding from the Scottish Government, and providing information to the Scottish Government on the taxi trade for the purposes of preparing new grants.  Assistance is also being provided to create a process for reviewing applications to ensure applicants are within subsidy limits.

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, supporting the refurbishment of Brookwood Villa, 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 is assisting Trading Standards with a fireworks appeal and also assisting colleagues in Planning with a potential prosecution of planning control breaches.

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 for 2020/21 is being finalised ahead of the statutory publication requirement in March. The format includes case studies of tangible examples of positive impact through case studies, which will be published throughout the year on the refreshed East Dunbartonshire Performance webpage. The most recent case study, produced through the Communications team, on Improving outcomes for young people through School Education has been published to the Focus on Performance: case study section of that webpage. The final PPR report will incorporate the preliminary LGBF data, anticipated to be formally published in February.

Following agreement of the performance framework approach by both the Council in December and the Community Planning Partnership Board in January, the team are working with the Community Planning & Partnerships team to progress the local satisfaction survey and develop the approach for ensuring representative participation throughout the area.

The Corporate Performance & Research team continues to support the collation and reporting of ongoing Council COVID data returns across a number of service areas. The team also continues to support data collation and quality assurance for wider 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. 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 continues across all service portfolios to prepare requirements and ensure adequate cover is secured at policy renewal. The team is also progressing the development of the Business Improvement Plans for 2022-25, having updated the guidance in line with the performance improvements agreed by Council during 2021/22.  This has been issued to Executive Officers and support for the development process is ongoing.

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 Covid-19 status continues with an ongoing focus on the uptake of vaccination and the ongoing encouragement of community testing and reporting of test results. Promotion of the expanded availability of lateral flow testing kits through Council facilities (Community Hubs, community centres and leisure centres) also continues.

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 a further 11 having been issued in the period from 21 January to 4 February, and published to the Technical Note page in line with the agreed approach.

Media Management

Media management has seen the team respond to 11 media enquiries in the past fortnight, all meeting publication deadlines. A total of six media releases have been issued so far this year with predominantly positive coverage online and print media for the Council. The media releases issued included the announcement of the Council’s participation in the Housing decarbonisation trial (one of three local authorities participating), the launch of the latest round of Community Grant funding and the flying of the Rainbow Flag in support of the LGBTI community for LGBT History Month which is February.  These and all media releases are available in the News Section of the Council website.

Social Media

Social Media messaging remains a key focus and effective channel for engaging with East Dunbartonshire communities with a total of 160 posts in the last fortnight’s reporting period (90 or 56% on Facebook and 77 or 44% on Twitter).  Twitter currently has almost 19.3k followers (20 more than the previous update) and a total reach of 1.44 million. Facebook currently has 20k followers, 18.3k fans and a reach over the past fortnight reporting period of 408.2k.

Top Twitter and Facebook Posts for reach:

The top posts for Twitter reach so far this month have been the posts in relation to the promotion of ‘Time to Talk’ day, the deadline for applications to Douglas Academy Music School and ‘Welcome to your vote week’ encouraging 16-17 yr olds to ensure that they register to vote. Facebook posts were the Covid Memorial, an update on the Testing Bus and one of the popular musical gritting posts:

Consultation

The team is supporting two current consultations, through the establishment of surveys development of web pages and production of promotional collateral to raise awareness and encourage participation:

• Locality Plan Consultation (Council led, runs to 20 February). This consultation is seeking views from the communities in each of the established Place/Locality areas in Auchinairn, Hillhead, Lennoxtown and Twechar to inform the revision of the Place/Locality Plans for the next five years. In addition to the survey on the Council website, outreach work is taking place and promotion through posters, leaflets and flyers as well as social media continues in the target areas.
• HSCP Strategic Plan 2022-25 consultation (HSCP led, runs to 4 March). This consultation for the next HSCP Strategic Plan is available on the HSCP website which is maintained by the Communications team. In addition to HSCP consultation outreach activity on the current draft Plan, the consultation is being promoted through social media channels. Comments are invited to be submitted to ggc.edhscpconsultation@ggc.scot.nhs.uk

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. 

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. 

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.

The team has been involved in the promotion of the U22 free bus travel initiative, working closely with colleagues in communications, education and business & digital change to target appropriate communications to key audiences, and responding to applications and enquiries. The also team continues to lead on the processing of school clothing grant and free school meal applications. 

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, the new systems and processes are adding considerable time to their workload and that of the schools whilst they adapt.  The SSCs and their clusters are also adapting to the new processes for supply teachers to ensure they are paid on time.  The SSCs continue to provide cover in school offices for clerical/admin staff due to the effect of Covid/self-isolation rules and normal illness.

The Transport Team along with their day-to-day work are collating paperwork for Round 1 of the tendering process.  The team have been working to resolve issues on mainstream transport including COVID (drivers isolating) and bus break downs.

The Residential and Homecare Teams are still processing changes due to the recent Scottish Government Adult Social Care Pay uplifts.  In addition, the team are extremely busy due to a change in the process of recording variations as part of the Scotland Excel Audit process.

The Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) Team are working towards finalising all EMA information for the end of the financial year.

The Direct Payment Audit Team continue with their day-to-day audits, while additional resources have been allocated to deal with the increasing workload.

The P2P Team usual processing payments for taxi contractors for schools’ and SW contracts.

The General Team continue to support the Test & Protect Service through the National Assistance Helpline (NAH).  Outbound contacts continue at around the 230 weekly. 

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 and Benefits

The Scottish Welfare Fund continues to place extremely high demand on the services we deliver. In particular, we have seen a significant increase in ‘Self-Isolation Support Grant’ applications since December 2021.  The service are giving priority to these claims along with crisis applications including diverting resources from other less critical areas and through over time to ensure deadlines and targets are met.  The team are receiving twice as many crisis grants and 15 times the number of self-isolation applications than the same period last year. This continues to be 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 month.  Collection whilst significantly improved compared to 20/21 still remains considerably below the 19/20 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. We are also working on the significant changes to the Council Tax Reduction legislation which are effective from 1 April 2022.

Council Tax and Council Tax Recovery continues to be busy with significant numbers of customer interactions.

The annual billing processes for Council Tax and Benefits are now underway as there is significant work for this area as well as our colleagues within business systems support to ensure a full test run is scheduled to commence in the next week.

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

ICT

The Infrastructure Team continues to support the major assets programme, including 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.  Preparation of key ICT systems, in both Corporate and Education, which are key to the delivery of the project have commenced including Active Directory Cleansing, backup for the cloud.  Further workshops have been arranged with our partner for the coming weeks to keep implementation on track.

ICT completed an upgrade to our electronic payments system to the latest version ensuring that electronic payments (payroll, invoices) continue to be made by the Council.

The Support Team continue to provide support across the Education and Corporate estates working to agreed SLAs.  The new Service Desk system has been rolled out and tested in the Education estate, with key users now using this exclusively for ICT support tickets.

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. Financial returns to the Scottish Government continue to be resource intensive with increased frequency and now new grants being awarded.

In the new calendar year finance teams have continued to work through the Scottish Government’s Budget and Finance Circular to ensure the movements are included within the Council’s 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 have prepared an update to Council at its meeting on the 3 February focusing on the settlement as well as next steps within the overall budget strategy.  Following agreement of the Budget, now confirmed for the 24 February, Officers will move on to year-end work and preparation for the Annual Accounts and ongoing monitoring at Period 10.

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.  Most recently these have been Reported to Council on the 3 February with further updates planned for as the Council moves towards the year-end.

The Treasury team continue to monitor cash flow closely due to the increased financial transactions due to Covid, ensuring that there is liquidity for all Council activities, including all the various Covid grant payments.  Additional borrowing was taken immediately prior to the interest rate increase to 0.5% to continue the low rates within the Council’ temporary debt portfolio.

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 4 February 2022

HSCP Business Continuity

All departmental and overarching Business Continuity Plans were updated ahead of the Winter period and 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 now 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 have been a significant factor in slowing down people’s ability to move into their correct care setting, but that is beginning to ease now with outbreak numbers down to 3 from 11 at the time of the last report. 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.

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. Initial difficulty with the LFD kit supply and delivery chain appears to have been addressed.

Initial discussions have commenced in relation to flu, and potential Covid vaccination programmes for 2022-23. At this stage it is not clear what the JCVI guidance dictates will be required but the service will actively engage in the planning processes.

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. 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.