How Good is Our Service - May 2026

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Voids performance has dropped in May to 61% and is well below or target of 85%. The service has been working through a significant backlog of properties over the past few months with a large number of these properties requiring high-cost repairs.  This has had a significant impact on turnaround times, however we are progressing well with these and are close to the point of returning these properties.  We have made operational changes within the section, including implementing a revised target timescale for void turnaround to align with the new enhanced lettable standard.  We are focussed on improving and maintaining  performance  in the coming weeks and months with significant improvement expected over the next few months, returning the service to the appropriate levels of performance.

Property Maintenance have achieved our target of 100% Gas Servicing in May with 351 properties serviced in the month.  We continue to manage this contract robustly to ensure compliance each month and continually throughout the year.

The average number of days to complete non-emergency repairs in May is 8.60 days and exceeds our target of 12 days.  Our focus remains on maintaining a high level of performance in this area throughout 2026/27 and we will continue to review operational process with a view to achieving our targets.

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

Cyclical maintenance gutter cleaning and close painting programmes are ongoing and will continue throughout 2026/27.

Work had started in preparation for the new menu change in 2026 which reflected the feedback we had received from pupils and schools this year.  However, given recent discussions with Food for Life, an application for reaccreditation is being pursued based on the menu meeting their criteria.  As a result, the current menu will run until the end of this school term.

The free school meal uptake in the Primary School’s was 70%, however this would likely have been more if it hadn’t have been for the school trips which likely brought the uptake down by 2 or 3%.  The uptake in Secondary Schools was lower than normal at 41%, again, the uptake was impacted by school exam leave, with pupils in 4th, 5th and 6th Year having study leave.  The service continues to work with suppliers to source locally produced produce, with 54% of the school menus now using locally sourced produce.

Thirteen of the first fifteen new mechanised crossing points have now been installed with school crossing patrollers previously located at 4 of the 13 locations now relocated to alternative locations.  The recruitment exercise for additional school crossing patrollers is ongoing with a view to staffing all vacant crossing points which are not currently or due to be mechanised.  Following the recruitment drive in March a number of applications were received with one new school crossing patroller now in post at Millersneuk Primary School with a further 3 more interviews undertaken.

Following the 20% reduction in cleaning across the Council’s Corporate estate, a new cleaning model has now been agreed and is currently being implemented.  The service is progressing the recruitment of 900+ weekly cleaning hours across the East, West and Central locations.  Over 750 hours have now been filled with further interviews scheduled following a very successful recruitment open day at Auchinairn Community and Early Years Centre.

The service has robust measures in place to monitor performance with regards gas safety compliance across the Operational Estate.  EICR’s are being progressed across all educational properties over the coming months with St Machan’s PS, Lennoxtown PS and Baljaffray PS completed this month.  Tests are scheduled to commence in Auld Kirk Museum, St Helen’s PS and three Early Years Centres in the coming weeks.

Officers continue to progress reactive repairs across the operational estate, although currently focusing on H&S related repairs and ensuring assets remain wind and watertight.  Works are progressing at Clober PS following issues with the floor which had started to rise in one of the corridors.  Engagement is taking place with Education to minimise any inconvenience. 

Estates Management continue to market vacant premises within the non-operational estate.  At present the non-operational estate is over 94% occupied, with vacant suites in Southbank Marina being actively marketed by agents, DM Hall.  The closing date for offers for of Lenzie Public Hall was Friday 30th January 2026.  Two applications for Community Asset Transfers were received and are being progressed in line with the Council’s CAT Policy.
 
Officers continue to progress disposals with colleagues in Legal Services to ensure that capital receipts are delivered and ongoing liabilities i.e. non-domestic rates, utilities, security etc are reduced.  

The Service continues to progress a wide range of capital projects both in pre-construction and construction phases.

Projects currently in construction include: 

• The Westerhill Development Road project, where early construction phase activities including site establishment and final pre-construction surveys have been undertaken during the course of May 2026. The refurbishment of Milngavie Primary School (completion July 2026) continues to progress well, with the roofs now replaced in full and the tented scaffold now removed.
• The construction of a replacement Balmuildy Primary School also continues to make good progress, with works now well progressed. External to the site boundary, utilities connections are planned for the summer holiday period in July 2026.
• Pitch replacement at Huntershill Sports Hub commenced in May 2026 and is due to complete for the start of the new football season in August 2026.
• At Twechar Canalside, the construction of 15no. affordable Passivhaus houses continues to make good progress and continues to be on schedule for completion in September 2026.
• The refurbishment of Torrance Community Centre has now completed and the building will re-opened to the public in early May 2026.

Several projects continue to progress through pre-construction, including: 

Design development continues to progress for the Lenzie Academy Project. The project planning application was submitted in February 2026 and has now been validated. A separate planning application for proposals at the existing school site at Myrtle Avenue, Lenzie is now in preparation and due to be submitted in June 2026.

The Stage 1 report for the Milngavie Early Years project was also approved by Council in December 2025 and the project planning application has now been submitted, with a determination expected in June 2026. The project Stage 2 report will be submitted to Council for approval in June 2026.

Feasibility design continues to progress i n support of the Accommodation Strategy and for proposals to introduce all-weather sports provision and upgraded changing pavilions at Oakburn Park, Milngavie. An initial public consultation event on proposals for Oakburn will be undertaken in early June 2026.

The Service continues to develop the next phase of a building decarbonisation strategy for the school estate, operational estate and for the existing affordable housing stock, with a variety of surveys, pilot projects and further feasibility reviews planned throughout the remainder of this financial year. The revised Learning Estate and Corporate Property Asset Management Plans were approved within the Council’s revised Asset Management Plan and include proposals for the decarbonisation of the Council’s learning and corporate estates, including Phase 1 priority sites which will form the basis of activity in the coming financial year.

The delivery of several areas of on-going capital investment across the Council’s existing affordable housing stock continue, including several significant measures to improve housing quality and energy efficiency. The tender has now been awarded for the next round of the Council’s energy efficiency improvements to its housing stock with works expected to start in June 2026.

The pre-construction phase of the next stage of the Council’s new-build affordable housing programme continues to progress. Planning approval has now been obtained for the site of the former Auchinairn Primary School and for Cleddans, Kirkintilloch. The demolition of the remaining flats at Nithsdale Crescent, Bearsden is underway. 

• Achieved 100% compliance for Gas Servicing with focus on this continuing going forward.
• Kitchen, Bathroom and Central Heating upgrade programmes ongoing with positive feedback being received from tenants across all contracts.
• Cyclical maintenance gutter cleaning and close painting programmes are ongoing and are being well received.
• Positive level of performance in non-emergency repairs turnaround times with our focus being on maintaining and improving further in this area moving forward.
• Full decoration in void properties from 1st April providing a significantly enhanced standard of property for new tenants.
• Continue to focus on enhancing voids operational processes with the objective being to improve and maintain performance in this area going forward. 
• Improved functionality of Total Mobile and the integration with Servitor enables a more streamlined and efficient service. We continue to explore alternative options for enhanced efficiencies moving forward
• Improve communications with customers and stakeholders to ensure the highest level of service delivery.
• Continue to utilise robust reporting mechanisms for enhanced performance and service delivery.
• Progress decoration works across the school estate.
• 100% of Operational Assets requiring a Gas Safety check within the year’s anniversary of the previous check are completed.
• Schedule in the upcoming Gas Safety Checks with contractors which are required during June and July
• Improve uptake of nutritious school meals.
• Improve communications with customers and stakeholders to ensure the highest level of service delivery.
• Reduce FM overtime

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The Community Protection Service delivers on a broad statutory remit, with delivery measures centred on protecting public health and safety, well-being and consumer protection. During May 2026, the service continued to engage in the local Co-Production arrangement with Police Scotland, with regular community harm and risk meetings being held to provide the focus for joint work and activity to protect local communities across the East Dunbartonshire area. The service also continued to develop intelligence led approaches for all areas of work to target local public health, community safety and consumer protection activity towards the areas of greatest need, risk and priority.

Throughout the reporting period, Environmental Health played a key role in delivering essential public health services, fulfilling a wide range of statutory responsibilities with a view to protecting the community from environmental risks and supporting the development of responsible business.  The work included both proactive work such as routine inspections for food safety and reactive responses to environmental public health complaints and service requests.  In May, the team was involved in regulatory checks for upcoming community events in the district as well as several major planning application reviews.

The Community Safety Team continued to deliver a broad range of front-line work for the benefit of local communities during the reporting period, working closely with a range of colleagues and key partners to successfully deliver appropriate interventions and to make our local communities safer. Officers from the team were engaged in the delivery of services in relation to community engagement/support, antisocial behaviour, neighbour disputes, environmental incivilities, dog control, decriminalised parking enforcement, fly-tipping, pest control, and mobile CCTV. The team continued to deliver enforcement work in relation to the new Transport (Scotland) Act 2019 parking prohibitions relating to pavement, double and dropped kerb parking recently introduced across the Council area. ASB patrol activity by the Community Wardens, with particular emphasis on several areas in and around Bishopbriggs, was also prevalent during the month. 
 
The Trading Standards and Licensing Enforcement team were engaged in the delivery of essential consumer protection and licensing services to local consumers and businesses to maintain and protect a fair-trading environment in East Dunbartonshire. During May, Trading Standards, assisted by Police Scotland, led on co-production visits to premises believed to be involved in the sale/supply of illicit tobacco products.  These visits, aided by a detection dog, identified over 6000 cigarettes and 1kg of hand rolling tobacco.  Officers carried out inspections and visits to retailers to follow up on national safety concerns over counterfeit and unsafe toys.  Follow up Integrity/Challenge 25 test purchasing were carried out by the Licensing Advisors at off-sales premises. 

Work has continued to strengthen support for families and new arrivals across East Dunbartonshire. This includes ongoing work with Ukrainian families, asylum seekers and other households arriving through humanitarian routes, as well as continued partnership activity with East Dunbartonshire Welcomes Refugees. Community connection work is also helping build relationships and support integration.

Health and wellbeing support remains in place through the community vaccination programme, with weekly clinics operating in Milngavie and Kirkintilloch in partnership with NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.

Following Council budget setting then discussions and planning underway for the new Community Grant Scheme with the allocated £100,000 budget.  This will be an inclusive process with GAC, stakeholders and will be presented to CPEG and CPPB.

Work is also progressing to widen community influence over local assets, with ongoing collaboration between Asset Management and Legal Services to support Community Asset Transfer and increase community control of buildings and spaces.

A programme of activity for International Women’s Day 2026 was delivered successfully, alongside continued partnership work focused on improving women’s safety through the Violence Against Women and Girls Partnership and building upon brain health for women in Auchinairn.

Community development activity remains inclusive, with wellbeing focused learning opportunities being planned to better reach quieter voices and support families identified through child poverty work.

In parallel, equality work is being further embedded across services, including preparation for the first Equality Action Planning Forum to strengthen coordination and delivery of equality outcomes.

Workforce development within CLD continues to move forward, including a well-received practitioner workshop at the West Alliance Learning Festival, which supported reflective practice and shared learning across teams.  Plans are progressing to deliver future session in collaboration with Centre for Good Relations.

Housing manages 3,911 social rented properties; 3,823 of these are mainstream accommodation and 88 are used for Homeless Temporary Accommodation. The service also manages 48 Lead Tenancies which are rented from either private landlords (27) or Housing Associations (21), to assist with accommodating homeless households.

At present, the Housing list for East Dunbartonshire has 3,520 applications - made up of the following:

General Waiting list 2,682 applicants waiting (2 of which are on offer)
(Applicants who have somewhere to stay i.e., they are owner occupiers, a tenant of a private let, stay care of family etc. This queue allows the applicant to choose which area, house type etc they would like to move to).

Transfer waiting list 608 applicants (8 of which are on offer)
(Council or Housing Association tenants who are looking to move to another Council or Housing Association property, either for a different size, or, for a different area. This queue allows the tenant to choose which area, house type etc. they would like to move to).

Priority waiting list 229 applicants (14 of which are on offer) 
(Homeless)
(Applicants who have no accommodation or will have nowhere to stay within the next 2 months. This queue does not allow the applicant to choose area or house type).

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

Within the last month,14 properties were allocated, 12 of which were general needs mainstream and 2 were sheltered.

They were let to the following queues:

• 9 to the transfer queue
• 5 to the general waiting list queue

Environmental Health, Trading Standards and Community Safety Teams

• Delivery of effective services on a flexible basis to meet all statutory requirements and duties in relation to public health, community safety, consumer protection and licensing enforcement matters.
• Delivery of local Co-Production activity between Community Protection and Police Scotland, with particular focus on effective tasking processes and the delivery of joint action plans and work to protect the communities of East Dunbartonshire.
• Delivery of Business Improvement Plan activity relating to Community Protection - actions being implemented in accordance with set targets to deliver effective services in line with relevant corporate outcomes and with positive performance being reported.
• Delivery of regulatory services that assist with economic recovery and that are designed to support local businesses and communities.
• An Officer attended at the Licensing Board for a hearing following the end of a pub’s trial period for extension of hours to play music. As the Environmental Health Service is in the process of conducting a statutory noise nuisance investigation at this premises, we requested that the Board Members grant an extension to the trial period to allow this matter to be fully assessed and investigated. A 3-month extension was agreed.
• Two health and safety Prohibition Notices were served on two separate business for unguarded machinery due to the risk of serious personal injury to employees.
• Officers attended a meeting with the Society of Chief Officers for Environmental Health in Scotland to discuss nation-wide topics affecting Environmental Health. 
• Environmental Health staff conducted an unannounced inspection at a local food takeaway which resulted in its closure on public health grounds due to the lack of hot water at the premises.
• Delivery of parking enforcement activity to support the traffic free schools’ pilot and all other school areas.
• Delivery of decriminalised parking enforcement activity in relation to recently introduced parking restrictions across the authority relating to pavement, double and dropped kerb parking. 
• On-going Community Warden activity under the MCR Pathways national programme, with several officers actively mentoring local school children.
• Delivery of targeted ASB patrols and deployment of mobile CCTV, with particular emphasis on several areas in and around Bishopbriggs, in response to reports of youth disorder, graffiti and vandalism.
• Delivery of patrols specifically in response to complaints of dog fouling. No offences witnessed being committed but several dog walkers spoken to and reminded of their responsibilities as dog owners.
• On-going promotion of the East Dunbartonshire Trusted Trader scheme through relevant channels, with the aim of attracting further local traders to join the scheme.
• Further Integrity test purchasing carried out in relation to alcohol products at retail level and improvement in compliance noted.
• Submission of logs to the National Intelligence Database for Trading Standards with contribution to the wider national and cross authority picture.
• 6,000 Cigarettes and 1 Kg of hand rolling tobacco seized as part of an intelligence led enforcement program targeting illicit tobacco supply with significant media coverage highlighting the dangers of illicit tobacco and our enforcement approach.

Community Planning and Partnerships Team

• A series of wellbeing-focused kitchen sessions has been delivered for young tenants and families, helping to build confidence, practical skills and stronger social connections. Further opportunities are being explored with third sector partners to extend this approach and strengthen community wellbeing.
• Following budget decisions then work has started considering new Community Grant Scheme through discussion with stakeholders, partners and GAC members. This will be discussed and presented at Community Planning Executive Group and Board.
• Community vaccination clinics continue to run locally in partnership with NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, improving access for residents and supporting wider public health.
• Work is progressing across priority neighbourhoods, where community development staff are supporting local people to develop sustainable organisations and take forward action on poverty and inequality. 
• The Resettlement Team continue to build up on the range of welcome and connection activities for asylum seekers, helping people to better understand local support and build stronger links within their communities.
• Delivery of the CLD Plan 2025–27 is well underway, including actions linked to the Local Child Poverty Action Report, with a continued focus on reducing inequality and improving outcomes for families.
• Learning from the well-received programme of activity for International Women’s Day to inform ongoing activity around violence against women and girls, including planning for future 16 Days of Action campaigns.

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

• There were 8 nominations from the Housing waiting list sent to a Registered Social Landlord operating in East Dunbartonshire to be considered for allocation to their housing stock. Discussions are ongoing with Clyde Valley Housing Association to agree new Nominations Agreement.
• Ongoing regular attended this month included Housing Liaison meetings where cases of relevance to Social Work, Community Safety and Police Scotland are discussed, MARAC meeting with other agencies, CPC MISE group to discuss Child Protection issues, Safe and Together forums, 2-weekly meetings of the Community Harm and Risk Meeting (CHARM) with Police Scotland, Community Protection, Trading Standards and Licensing and regular meetings with Legal Services regarding dispute over title deeds in the housing estate, NOP’s and other legal matters.
• Housing continues to review processes and make changes to them where possible to allow for a more customer, person centred approach. 
• The new on-line CRM system training has been issued for Housing staff using the system and now up and running.
• The team is part of new Steering Group to re-establish and implement new procedures for processing and issuing Tenant Recharges.
• Attendance at new 2-weekly Community Harm and Risk Meeting (CHARM) with Police Scotland, Community Safety, Trading Standards and Licensing officers continues. Attendance at East Dunbartonshire Safe and Together steering group is ongoing. 
• Hold monthly budget meetings with HRA accountant to keep abreast of costs. Weekly meetings with Void Team at Property Maintenance to focus on improving performance. Monthly attendance at new Housing/Social Work liaison meeting to discuss Throughcare cases and Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children.
• Monthly void property meetings with Property Maintenance to endeavour to improve performance.
• Work to reduce the Voids, - liaising with the property maintenance department to streamline this process. 
• Propose bringing items in stock items and work on reusing key boxes. 
• Ensuring all ASB cases are actioned 
• Ensuring turn around times on void properties falls and offers are out with applicants on these properties. 
• 23 homeless applications taken (same as last month)
• 16 households booked into temporary accommodation (increase from last month; 12)
• 26 calls to homeless out of hours service (increase from last month; 5)
• No households were booked into unsuitable accommodation during May 2026
• 155 application requests to landlord registration (increase from last month; 142) 
  
  • 21 cancelled
  • 21 new
  • 43 renewals 
  • 70 updates 
• Following PDR’s Two Officers within the team started their Shelter Scotland Law Course this month.
• The tender process for Housing Support is still ongoing; provider to be confirmed June 2026
• New weekly ‘Brunch drop ins’ started this month with Project 101 at Hillhead Community Centre
• Project 101 and 9 applicants/residents were guests at Hampden Football Ground for an educational/wellbeing day during May. World Cup themed activities/competitions will run at P101 during the summer. Drop ins, cooking lessons and chance to chat sessions continue.

Key areas of focus in May for the Communications & Engagement team included the Scottish Parliamentary Election, launch of the Provost’s Community Champion Awards and official opening of the new Bishopbriggs playpark.

Media relations remained fairly consistent this month with ten releases issued (3 in April), two photocalls, (two in April) and eight media enquiries dealt with (13 in April).

All releases are on the Council website news section and the local coverage achieved equated to an equivalent advertising value of £3,672 (£2,460 in April).

Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn again all saw increases in followers with the most popular posts this month relating to Bishopbriggs playpark, the seizure of illicit cigarettes and the Scottish Parliamentary election result.

Across the Council’s four social media channels the average engagement rate was 1.5 (a good engagement rate is 0.5, anything above 1 is deemed great).

The Council website had 198,050 visits (excluding internal traffic). The most popular page was the Household waste and recycling centres with 28,375 views.

There were 7,014 call-to-action button clicks. 

The most watched video on Facebook was the opening of Bishopbriggs playpark with 42,193 views and on YouTube What to Expect at the Polling Station with 830 views.

Four videos were created this month with 44 design jobs completed overall.

In May 2026, the Corporate Performance and Research team continued to fulfil required duties in relation to reporting of performance and risk management at a corporate level and provision of service level data and statistical support as well as continuing to ensure the Council has adequate insurance arrangements in place, providing advice and support in relation to insurance related queries and acting as a point of escalation in regards to any claims. All business-as-usual work was completed within agreed timescales. 

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

Throughout May the Customer Service team handled a variety of enquiries and requests for service including 9,702 telephone calls, the team also served 175 appointments and 906 drop-in customers in the Community Hubs. This is slightly lower than the previous month. 

An essential update was carried out to the Council’s payment system which ensures customer payment card information continues to be safe and secure and the Council remains complaint with financial security standards. The customer service agents provided guidance to customers making telephone payments as they now input their card details via their telephone keypad. This change for customers will be monitored over the coming weeks using management reports to identify if any additional support is required.

Preparations continued throughout May for the replacement of analogue telecare equipment in the final Sheltered Housing scheme to undergo this work ahead of the digital switchover in 2027. This group of sheltered housing properties is the most technically challenging of all the sites and the Emergency Response Centre team will carry out all required tasks before the work begins in July. It is anticipated it will take approximately two weeks to complete the installation of digital equipment.

The programme to replace the Town Centre CCTV system progressed across May, this will continue for a further few weeks until all cameras and equipment have been replaced. 

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

Communications & Engagement

• Supported the Scottish Parliamentary Elections for the Strathkelvin and Bearsden constituency with key messaging on social media and website updates, media management and in person support on both polling day and at the count.
• Co-ordinated the unveiling of the Red Wheel Plaque commemorating the Monkland & Kirkintilloch Railway including photocall, press release and social media.
• Promotion of Foster Care Fortnight including social media campaign, graphics, website updates and webinar promotion.
• Design of EDLC assets including Charlie’s Big Adventure, essential works and recruitment. 
• 213 websites jobs completed including updates and creation of new pages.

Corporate Performance

• Year-end HGIOS reports for all service areas for 2025/26 were reported to the relevant strategic committees.
• Guidance for Business & Improvement Plans across all service areas was used and BIPs were collated across all service areas for consideration at June Council.
• Our annual complaints handling report was completed for consideration at the June meeting of Council.
• Work progressed in the analysis and submission of year end reporting and statutory data returns following the end of the 2024/2025 financial year and guidance prepared for our annual Local Government Benchmarking return.
• Continued assistance was provided to the change team in relation to the rollout of Oracle Fusion.
• The team provided statistical data to support the annual Chief Social Work Officers Report.

Customer Services

• The Customer Service team continue to handle customer enquiries via all contact channels focussing on improving enquiry response time.
• Work continues to replace analogue telecare equipment in the final sheltered housing complex; this is a more technically challenging site and work is anticipated to be undertaken in July ensuring East Dunbartonshire Council are ready ahead of the digital switchover.

Human Resources & Organisational 

• Continued engagement with the Trade Unions on strategic and operation HR initiatives, including service reviews and policy development. 
• Continued support for employees and managers on HR policy based and guidance noted, with support in attendance on ER case work.
• Within Payroll Services, the team have maintained and processed the payover of the various payruns within timescales, with the completion of a series of statutory.
• The HCM Project Board, continues to provide oversight and governance in support of moving to the new HR/Payroll system. 
• Teams across HR and Payroll continue to undertake series of milestones and output required as part of the HCM project, whilst managing operational work. 
• The People Development team delivered sessions across a number of topics including SMART Working, Induction, EDC policy sessions & Leadership Topics. 
• Continued support by team in the facilitation of statutory training in a number of services areas to ensure continued compliance and certification. 
• In May, 149 delegates received training across a range of topics.

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• The Allander suffered faults with the pool hall air handling units that resulted in a two-day closure. The remedial works have been completed, and the units appear to be operating much more effectively than they have for some time. 
• Preparations are under way to host the Glasgow Warriors return to play scheme for 1st and 2nd team players whilst the club have been displaced from Scotstoun Leisure Centre (due to Commonwealth Games). The Warriors will utilise the multipurpose room and subscribe to 50 memberships for the duration of the displacement.
• The Leisuredrome held the Scottish Parliamentary Election count on the 8th May. A thank you to all involved for making the event a success. 
• Huntershill refurbishment is now well underway with work starting on both synthetic surfaces on 4th May and the athletics area having a significant upgrade. Work is scheduled for completion around end of July. New sauna benches and panelling was installed at the 
• Leisuredrome and feedback from customers since work was completed has been fantastic.  The centre has been performing reasonably well in terms of usage figures, with wetside increased by 4.2% on last year, group fitness numbers up by 4.2% and the biggest increase was in Charlies soft play, with a staggering 53.2% increase on the same period in 2025. We hope this is in part to the recently installed new air handing system therefore improving the customer experience in that area. The additional £1 charge for adults has certainly not proved to be a deterrent.  

• Archive & Local Studies received 2,377 visitors and 286 enquiries.  ALS also received visits from Lamb Hill local history group and facilitated a walk in partnership with museums exploring the site of the Monklands and Kirkintilloch Railway. 
• The service received 3,144 digital visits to museum, archive and local studies online collections. 
• Museums launched a call out for young artists age 14 – 25 years to take part in a new exhibition, Young Artists Art Exhibition in August 2026. Submissions from school pupils and youth groups  have been requested. This exhibition is a spin off from Annual Art Exhibition which has been running for over 50 years. The aim is to engage with a younger audience. 
• May was a busy months across all libraries, with school pupils taking advantage of quiet spaces for exam studies. 
• The public have been delighted with the return of The Bearsden Shark to Bearsden library, which has helped contribute to the over 5,000 visitors to Bearsden library during period 2. 

The theme this year was Bookbug’s Big Quest and so it seemed appropriate to celebrate with a couple of Buggy Walks where parents and carers were invited on a walk to a local park to take a leisurely stroll stopping for songs and a story. Walks took place from Kilmardinny House and Bishopbriggs Library with each venue offering some lovely trails - Gruffalo Sculptures, fairytale characters, woodlands and playparks.
The popular digital drop in sessions continue and this month saw the re-introduction of Silver Surfers, where older people work with pupils from Douglas Academy who support the group with digital access. 
The Homebound library service welcomed its newest, and oldest member, who is 103! In his own words, the gentleman explained, “I have my wits about me, just not the knees for climbing anymore.”

Summer of Sport 2026

The ASCS team have been working with Sportscotland and other local/national partners to develop a comprehensive plan for the additional Summer of Sport 2026 funding allocated to East Dunbartonshire. The plan was submitted to Sportscotland for approval at the end of May, and focuses on key projects such as:

• Free swimming and court/ pitch bookings for 0-17 year olds during the school summer holidays.
• Support for LAC and care experienced young people to engage in sport and physical activity throughout the funding period.
• Funding for local sports to deliver free or reduced cost activity for children and young people across East Dunbartonshire.
• Free training opportunities for young people or volunteers, prioritising nationally recognised qualifications.

Inclusive Sport Forum

The most recent Inclusive Sport Forum meeting was hosted at Woodland View school on 6th May. The forum aims to create more opportunities for young people with additional support needs to participate in sport and physical activity in East Dunbartonshire. Partners from community clubs, Education, the NHS, Scottish Disability Sport and national governing bodies joined EDLCT staff for productive discussions and the sharing of good practice.

Inclusive Football Festival

The Active Schools & Community Sport team organised an inclusive football festival which was attended by 140+ pupils from 10 schools. Primary school pupils took part in skills sessions in the morning delivered by EDLCT coaches before the secondary schools participated in a tournament in the afternoon.

SUPERteams

High Park in Lennoxtown was this year’s venue for the East Dunbartonshire SUPERTeams competition. 8 schools attended and competed in a combination of run, jump and throw disciplines. The event was organised in partnership between Active Schools and Springburn Harriers Athletics Club with the aim of strengthening pathways between the club and local schools across the Bishopbriggs, Lenzie and Kirkintilloch areas.

Dance Festivals

During May, the Active Schools team organised 2 dance festivals for schools in the Bishopbriggs area and primaries that feed into Boclair Academy. Pupils attended extra-curricular dance clubs at their primary schools in the weeks building up to the festivals

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

• The Education Leadership Team (ELT) is completing all corporate reporting and planning for Session 2026 – 2027.  This will be shared with schools and parents as appropriate
• Schools are currently completing their Standards and Quality Reports for Session 2025 – 2006.  Next session, all School Improvement Plans have a focus on Pedagogy, Skills Development and Health and Well-being. These documents will be collated and evaluated by Quality Improvement Officers (QIOs) over the summer period. Professional learning will then be planned as an output of school improvement priorities. 
• QIOs have undertaken final Attainment Visits to all schools.  This had a focus on ‘A Curriculum for Excellence’ (ACEL) data which is due to be submitted to Scottish Government in June 2026.
• The second Additional Support Needs (ASN) Seminar of this session took place on Tuesday 19th May with all services and schools in attendance; this was centred on Communication and was well attended and received. The seminar included input from CALL Scotland, Educational Psychology Service, Central ASN Team and National Health Service (NHS) Speech and Language Therapy.

• Westerton Primary has received their 7th Green Eco Flag. 
• In collaboration with Police Scotland, Westerton’s Junior Road Safety Officers have been given two parking buddies to help improve road safety.
• A Primary 1 pupil at Wester Cleddens primary has won an award in the National Show Racism the Red Card Creative Competition 2025/2026.  They will be presented with their award at a ceremony in Hampden Stadium, Glasgow.
• Wester Cleddens Primary pupil Charities and Fundraising Committed are participating in the Scotties in the City trail this summer to raise fund for Maggie’s Cancer Care. 
• Buchanan Nursery have achieved their Bronze Rights Respecting Schools Award in recognition of the work they are doing to promote Children’s Rights.
• Bishopbriggs Academy have achieved their Silver Rights Respecting Schools Award in recognition of the work they are doing to promote Children’s Rights – they will now work towards achieving Gold.
• Kirkintilloch High School have achieved their Silver Rights Respecting Schools Award in recognition of the work they are doing to promote Children’s Rights – they will now work towards achieving Gold.
• Twechar Primary School have achieved their Silver Rights Respecting Schools Award in recognition of the work they are doing to promote Children’s Rights – they will now work towards achieving Gold.

Education Service congratulates all of our schools on their ongoing achievements in ensuring all of our children and young people achieve excellence and reach their full potential.

Early Years, Primary, Secondary and Supporting Families

• This year’s Early Years Conference provided a valuable day of learning for early level practitioners across Council and funded provider early years centres. It offered an opportunity for practitioners to hear from Professor Sam Wass, a child psychologist & neuroscientist who is an expert in child concentration and child stress. Over two sessions, three hundred attendees were provided with a thought-provoking seminar exploring how diverse and rapidly changing early childhood environments shape brain development.  The presentations had a focus on attention, learning and stress and how we can make transformational changes to support young learners.
• Learning & Teaching Development Students from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in collaboration with Education Scotland participated in an extensive programme of experiences showcasing the work of the Supporting Families Team. The initiative is designed to broaden and deepen student understanding of the importance of parental engagement, family learning and supporting families. Students had the opportunity to attend sessions led by Family Learning Assistants, the Whole Family Wellbeing Fund, Early Years, EDLC and the Count Me in Team.
• Through the early years professional learning programme, two events were hosted to share the work which took place in early years centres on nurturing environments, the Circle Programme for early years and Up, Up and Away. Both final sessions offered an opportunity for sharing and showcasing good practice across the sector.
• Rollout of the updated transition reporting took place. All centres submitted their spreadsheet overview of children’s foundation skills across literacy, numeracy and health and wellbeing which will inform primary one teachers of the new cohorts of children. The transition locality meetings were attended by almost all schools and early years centres where individual transition reports were shared with schools. This will ensure a smooth transition for our children who require additional support.
• 113 Provisionally Registered Teachers (PRTs) have been allocated; 57 in the Secondary sector and 56 in the Primary Sector. 
• A series of Professional Development Days brought together 160 middle leaders of curriculum from our eight secondary schools, representing 20 subject areas. With eight principal teachers from each subject area participating, the days provided a significant opportunity for collaboration and dialogue. Subject teams worked to strengthen consistency in learning, teaching and assessment practices, sharing effective approaches and moderating expectations across schools. 

Additional Support Needs (ASN) and Children’s Services

• The ASN Lead’s session took place attended by the ASN lead from almost all schools. A robust overview of the Mental health and Wellbeing strategy was delivered by EPS with a strong and evidential acknowledgement of what is working well to support children and young people. 
• A presentation was shared to help ensure effective support is in place by the Transition Support Service. This will support the crucial stage of transition between early years and primary for children with additional support needs.
• Work continues to develop a Virtual Support Service, to coordinate the most effective and necessary support for children and their families who are unable to attend school.
• Staff from 3 Secondary Schools participated in a Mentors in Violence Prevention (MVP) training session at Lenzie Academy with EDC trainers on Tuesday 5th May 2026.
• Staff participated in a Moving & Handling training session at Woodland View School with EDC trainers on Thursday 7th May 2026.
• The Instrumental Music Service participated in training on Thursday 7th May 2026 covering topics including anti-racism awareness, Sensory Service information and wider ASN updates.
• The Whole Family Wellbeing Team supported continuing professional development through delivery of Sleep and Talking Mats professional learning community sessions.
• Primary and Secondary school staff attended a CIRCLE participation scale practice sharing session. Information gathered in the session will inform planning of CIRCLE delivery in 2026-2027.

Educational Psychology Service (EPS)

• Input to Early Years’ teachers on meta-skills was positively evaluated by practitioners.  A range of implementation documents have been developed to support embedding this in practice and evaluation. In addition, progress made within Curriculum Imagine group on meta skills pilot.
• A meta skills project planned to support transition of current Primary 6 cohort from St Machan’s Primary to St Ninian’s Secondary, involving pupils and Senior Management Team (SMT) from both schools, and Skills Development Scotland (authors of Meta Skills).  
• The Professional Learning Community (PLC) delivered to Early Level practitioners on play Pedagogy and ASN. The end of session evaluation of Play Pedagogy programme was completed and positive. The experienced Play Practitioners’ network met to share practice and plan for next session and initial stages of planning Play Pedagogy programme with Woodland View School in partnership with Play Scotland (Accreditation partner).
• Data from primary and secondary schools has been collated to inform Scottish Government reporting through the Whole Family Wellbeing Fund (WFWF).  Staff from each school were asked to complete a pre and post questionnaire this session.  Results of the questionnaires have been collated and indicate that staff feel more confident using the CIRCLE resource, the CIRCLE Participation Scale (CPS) and overall supporting a range of children with Additional Support Needs.  96.4% of school staff who completed the questionnaire agree or strongly agree that the CIRCLE framework will support their school to enhance its inclusive practice.  96.5% also agree or strongly agree that the CIRCLE framework will help them in their own professional practice to support a range of children/young people with Additional Support Needs.  Furthermore, when scores were collated and compared between the pre and post data, average scores increased across all domains of the CPS.  This indicates that use of the CPS and resulting skills and strategies planning has had a positive impact on skill development for individual learners. 
• The Addressing Dyslexia Guidance was presented to Education Committee and has been shared with the Parent Council Forum. This ties to our Literacy strategy to support all learners in schools. 
• The EPS continues to contribute to the implementation of the Education Strategic Trauma Informed Practice Plan.  As part of this process, EPS delivered NES Level One Trauma Informed Practice training to staff from specific education teams including Nurture and Secondary wellbeing teachers, Family Learning Assistants and Home Link Officers and Youth Workers. Participants reported an increase in their knowledge about the prevalence of trauma, about responses to trauma and ways of supporting and improving outcomes for people who have experienced trauma. There was a recognition of the importance of self-care. 
• The Early Years Nurture forum has been involved in practice sharing, evaluation of the years’ PLCs and co-creation for next year.  The final PLC has taken place, and evaluations have been completed by all Nurture Practitioners and Head Teachers of Core Nurture schools. Year 3 TEP has begun collaborating with young people from 2 secondary schools to complete an evaluation of the wellbeing bases. In addition, 20 EDC practitioners attended Glasgow City’s Nurture Conference in May.  

School Planning and Improvement

• Lenzie Academy consultation with the school management team continues to progress with regards to the design of the new build school. The 
• Balmuildy Primary School and Early Years new build is progressing well.  A site visit will be arranged for the Education Leadership Team to visit the site and see progress.
• Milngavie Primary School visit with School Leadership Team and ward Elected Members to see progress of works prior to the re-cant taking place.  The project is on schedule for being open to pupils and staff for the start of new term in August 2026.
• Milngavie Early Years planning and preparation with a potential decant for a new build commenced.  Dates to be finalised and shared appropriately.
• Probationer allocations were performed after allocation to East Dunbartonshire from Scottish Government.  Placings are now being allocated.

Skills for Life, Learning and Work

• The Count Me In programme funded through the Shared Prosperity fund supported 147 adults to improve numeracy and literacy skills with 13 awards achieved.  Additionally, we are awaiting the results of the 15 National 5 Applications of Maths learners who sat the exam in May. We currently have 2 learners working towards Nat 4 qualifications.

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Finance 

The month of May saw the Finance Team continuing to respond to audit queries on the 2023/24 accounts as this audit progresses towards finalisation, however, the Mugdock and Charitable accounts are now signed as finalised. The 2024/25 audit for Charitable are now concluded with Mugdock nearing conclusion.

As the finance team works through a critical period of demands on the team, with movement into Phase 2 of the ledger system with HCM also in progress which has been staffed with an additional 0.5 full time equivalent within the Finance team as a further temporary resource. However, the Service is currently working with fewer accountants, and some absence within the team. An internal training process has begun to remedy this long term.

The team has started year end and uploaded period 10 reports for committees. In addition, work has begun on the year end position for 2025/26, whilst working on audits for 2024/25 and 2023/24.

The Council continues to deliver against an ambitious capital programme supported largely by borrowing. 
Treasury Management Reporting continues to highlight the increasing revenue costs associated with the current programme with ongoing affordability being challenged within a tight funding settlement. Reports to Council have provided updates on the programme, the associated costs and any mitigations required.

Revenues & Benefits

The Revenues and Benefits team have continued to progress Council Tax and Benefits services and administration of the Scottish Welfare Fund. 

The Council Tax Collection Rate at 19.05% is marginally behind the target of 19.15% for this point in the year. The number of accounts which pay over twelve months rather than ten has been steadily increasing over the past few years. This may be because of the cost-of-living issues and residents spreading the costs. The Council’s Recovery and Enforcement Procedures continue to be applied, and individuals being signposted to the exemptions and discounts available as appropriate.

Shared Services

The Shared Services Team continues to provide support across all Council services. The Homecare Team continues to support an initiative from the Planning & Commissioning Team, processing variations in addition to their normal workload. The Transport Team continue to manage the day-to-day contracts and procure any ad-hoc contracts as required.

ICT Services 

The ICT Services team continues to support the Council’s information technology systems and services to ensure high availability and performance in line with agreed service levels. The Team resolved 938 tickets in May and dealt with 214 telephone calls. 95.6% of respondents were happy with the service provided from ICT Support.

ICT Infrastructure continues to support the delivery of major projects in conjunction with the Business & Digital Change Team and Major Assets team. The team continues to review telephony services across the estate in preparation for the PSTN switch off. The team continues to monitor the underlying infrastructure to ensure maximum performance. The ICT Security team continues to monitor the estate and perimeter defences alongside ongoing improvements to ensure that our systems and data are protected. Patching compliance is at 93.3%. 

Housing Rent and Tenant Participation 

The maximisation of housing rental income and pursuit of rent arrears continues to be a priority for the service, to safeguard income. This is achieved by a dedicated team of Officers, whose role is to actively pursue rent arrears and provide advice and support to tenants struggling to pay their rent. This includes issuing letters, home visits, telephone calls, emails, etc, which begin as soon as arrears are accrued on a rent account; pre tenancy advice on rent charges, payment options and discussing rent affordability to new tenants at the time of offer acceptance of their new tenancy; signposting tenants struggling financially to relevant support services to ensure household incomes are maximised; having a weekly presence at Kirkintilloch Job Centre to provide additional support for tenants in receipt of the housing element of Universal Credit; and escalating arrears actions to include court action or eviction for serious rent arrears cases. Active rent arrears of £843,478.52 are £34,592.88 lower than at the same period as last year with the team committed to working with tenants to reduce arrears further.

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

Business & Digital Change Team

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

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

Internal Audit 

Current focus is on delivering the budget option to share the Chief Internal Auditor post with two other Councils. A Service Level Agreement has been drafted and work is ongoing with regards to IT arrangements and Data Protection Impact Assessments.

Work continues towards completion of several audits on the 2025/26 plan as the team provides assurance over key areas of risk, making recommendations and following up on these to improve the control environment. Audits near completion include Green Waste Permits, a review of the Supply Teacher Database and a review of Winter Planning arrangements. A focus in the coming weeks will be on planning, year-end deliverables and implementing the shared post. 

Corporate Fraud 

The Corporate Fraud Team continues to prioritise the investigation of referrals and the proactive vetting of applications across key service areas, including Housing, Education, Licensing, and Estates. This work is essential to safeguarding access points and preventing fraud and error from entering council systems.

Preparatory work has commenced for a further National Fraud Initiative (NFI) data matching exercise. A number of datasets from various services will be required for submission to Audit Scotland in September.
In advance of this, it is essential that the team review the data holdings and ensure that any data to be shared is accurate and can be extracted in the required format. A review is also required to ensure continued compliance with the NFI Data Matching Code of Practice. 

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

The team continue to experience difficulties in obtaining information from certain external data holders, who can now only release information under the provisions of the Investigatory Powers Act 2016. Policy is required to be developed and committee approval obtained to ensure that the investigatory process is not compromised and to ensure our compliance with legal requirements.

Finance 

• The Corporate Fraud Team continues to prioritise the investigation of referrals and the proactive vetting of applications across key service areas, including Housing, Education, Licensing, and Estates. This work is essential to safeguarding access points and preventing fraud and error from entering council systems.
• Preparatory work has commenced for a further National Fraud Initiative (NFI) data matching exercise.  A number of datasets from various services will be required for submission to Audit Scotland in September.
  In advance of this, it is essential that the team review the data holdings and ensure that any data to be shared is accurate and can be extracted in the required format.  A review is also required to ensure continued compliance with the NFI Data Matching Code of Practice. 
• The Economic Crime and Transparency Act 2023 has, from 01 September 2025, introduced a new criminal offence applicable to public bodies who fail to prevent fraud by employees or agents.  The team have attended briefing sessions held by CIFAS on the measures required to be taken to ensure compliance.   A briefing document for SLT and fraud risk assessment templates have been developed and issued to SLT for consideration.
• The team continue to experience difficulties in obtaining information from certain external data holders, who can now only release information under the provisions of the Investigatory Powers Act 2016.  Policy is required to be developed and committee approval obtained to ensure that the investigatory process is not compromised and to ensure our compliance with legal requirements.

Revenues and Benefits

• In the month of May, the team issued:
  
  • 2,980 Council Tax bills and 7,230 Benefits notifications; and,
  • 450 crisis grants and community care grant applications were received.
• The team received and dealt with 1,645 documents for Council Tax queries and reduction and 640 for benefits.  In addition, the team received 2,200 ATLAS notifications from DWP.
• The team dealt with 2,675 telephone enquiries.

ICT Services

• ICT Services are working closely with the Business and Digital Change Team across several projects including HCM and Fusion.
• The Infrastructure Team have:
  
  • Started provisioning new software and equipment for our EDLT colleagues and libraries.
  • Provided support in the hardware aspect of rolling out the new Pay360 application.
  • Initiated work on renewing and upgrading the Council IP telephony SIP trunk.
  • CCTV project brought online new cameras in the Lennoxtown area.
  • Supported the elections team in the delivery of the Scottish Parliamentary Election.
• ICT Security have:
  
  • Completed Education server patching strategy for a summer rollout.
  • Continuing to review alerts/vulnerabilities and remediate.
  • Finalised work on internet security system for decrypting and inspecting secure traffic.  Allowing for better protections against malware threats

Shared Services

• The Residential Team added 112 service agreements to CareFirst for clients moving into care homes or for supported living services within their own homes.  
• The Homecare Team added 286 service agreements to CareFirst for clients receiving a homecare service or a direct payment.  
• Direct Payment Audit Team – 29 (27 standard, 2 final) audits completed for clients receiving self-direct support.  

Housing Rent and Tenant Participation

• Active Tenant Rent Arrears were £843,478.52 which is a decrease of 3.94 % on same period as last year (week 8).
• Housing Officers continue to utilise all avenues to maximise rental income and reduce rent arrears, apply a firm but fair approach when escalating actions against tenants whose rent arrears are increasing, and also provide advice and assistance to tenants who engage and need additional support. 
• Weekly Tuesday morning appointments for tenants at Kirkintilloch Job Centre with Housing Officers and Work Coaches to assist those in receipt of the Universal Credit housing element.
• A Tenant Participation Working Group meeting held at Hillhead Community Centre, Kirkintilloch. This was attended by tenants, tenant representatives, elected members and EDC staff.

Business & Digital Change

• During this period, the Business Systems team upgraded 5 system environments, resolved 25 incidents, assisted with 5 projects.
• HCM Data migration 92% completed additional rehire migrations recently identified will increase migration workload. Data Migration to be completed mid to end of June. MFA deployment remains on schedule with prerequisite upgrades will complete by end of June, with full rollout to Fusion Phase 1 users after the school holidays. UAT2 and regression testing continues but is competing with Data Migration resource demands.
• The final site for Sheltered Housing telecare upgrades will take place in July.  This is due to additional mitigation measures being put in place to address the risk of the site being offline.
• Fixes have been applied to multiple council forms, including Help with Rent, Council Tax and Change of Circumstances.
• Development continues on the replacement for the Mugdock Country Park booking platform.
• The Council’s core financial management system (AIM) was successfully upgraded.
• Three new team members were successfully recruited to the IHMS project in preparation for Phase 2.
• The team is developing an option appraisal for the replacement of business objects reporting ahead of its supplier planned de-support in December 2026.
• The implementation team have been carrying out preparatory work ahead of a supplier patch update relating to audit capabilities within the IHMS.
• Work has been complete on a draft Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA), which has been shared for review, examining the use of offshore resources in relation to SaaS mobile working.
• The team provided technical support for the successful set up and operation of ballot paper scanning for the recent election.

Internal Audit

• The Team is working on completing the remaining audits on the 2025/26 Internal Audit Plan, in line with available resources. There is a vacancy at the Lead Auditor level, with the post currently going through a job evaluation process.  Advice continues to be provided by Internal Audit in line with the Internal Audit Charter to support the enhancement of governance arrangements, risk management and controls.  
• Work on the 2025/26 plan continues with audits such as Green Waste Permits, the Supply Teacher Database and Winter Planning Maintenance being near completion. 
• Work has been completed in the form of a gap analysis & action plan for the new Global Internal Audit Standards.   Audits recently completed include Complaints, Council Tax Refunds and HSCP Performance Management.

Corporate Fraud

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

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The HSCP and its staff continue to work hard to ensure quality delivery of the Council’s operational delivery of statutory social work services, which are integrated with NHS services under the strategic governance of the Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP) Board. Service quality and outcomes associated with these specific social work services are the focus of this report with reference to three identified performance indicators in accordance with the Council’s strategic approach to business improvement planning.

The wider objective is that improved customer and organisational outcomes can be achieved through successful integrated planning and collaborative delivery of health and social care functions, under single management, with a combined budget, working to a single set of outcomes and operating to a single Strategic Plan. The impact and performance of all these integrated health and social care services overall are reported on a quarterly and annual basis to the HSCP Board and through agreed representation and reporting arrangements, to the Council.

In May 2026, the HSCP performed above target on two of three identified performance indicators. Data for the third indicator was not available at the time of publication.

Key Achievements:

• Published the Self-Directed Support (SDS) Annual Newsletter 2025-26, providing clear, accessible information on SDS options, usage trends, and legislative updates for service users and carers.
• Mental Health Teams in Kirkintilloch Health & Care Centre supported Mental Health Awareness Week by providing a resource stall offering self-help materials and advice, promoting practical actions individuals can take to improve their own and others’ mental health.

Areas of Focus:

HSCP Wide:

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

Children’s Services:

• Improve access to early intervention and prevention support for families at risk of or experiencing poverty
• Progress self-evaluation activity to inform the national review and public inquiry on Group Based Child Sexual exploitation and Group based child criminal exploitation, with an agreed improvement plan led by Public Protection Chief Officers
• Write the 2024-2026 report on The United Nations Convention on the Rights of The Child
• Write the Integrated Children’s Services Plan 2026-2029

Adult Services:

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

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

• In preparation for resubmitting the Evidence Report for Local Development Plan 3, officers have been liaising with the Planning and Environmental Appeals Division of the Scottish Government to discuss administrative elements of the submission process.
• A draft of a new Greenspace Strategy was approved at Place Neighbourhood and Corporate Assets (PNCA) committee on 28/05/26.  Public consultation on the draft strategy is expected to commence in early August.
• A Report seeking confirmation of the Tree Preservation Order at Whitegates Park was also approved at PNCA committee on 28/05/26.

• The Climate Action Plan and accompanying Report of Consultation were taken to Climate Change Member Officer Group for consideration in May 2026.
• The updated eight evidence reports and accompanying summary report for Active Travel Strategy 2 were shared with Transport Working Group in advance of a meeting scheduled for June 2026.
• Data for estimating corporate emissions for the 2025/26 financial year has been gathered from colleagues from across the Council.

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

• Work is underway to plan for the sixth and final sheltered housing complex to be upgraded to a digital telecare system.

• A new digital grant programme has been launched using UK Local Growth Funding, allocated by the Glasgow City Region for business support. Workshops to support businesses and the application process has been created, to go live later in June / early July 2026. 

• Bishopbriggs Town Centre and Westerhill Development Road started on site.

• Approved was given to progress phase two of the Lennoxtown Main Street Project, subject to external funding at Place, Neighbourhood & Corporate Assets Committee in May. 

• Update reports on EV Charging Infrastructure and Birdston Core Path closure were agreed at Place, Neighbourhood & Corporate Assets Committee in May. 
• A number of capital paths projects were completed, including Craigdhu Wedge section 3. 

During the reporting period the planning side of the team has determined 46 applications and validated 62 applications. 

• The Building Standards team have received 122 building warrants and approved 98 applications.  
• The Planning Enforcement team have opened 16 new cases and closed 4 cases.

• Approval of the draft Greenspace Strategy.
• Delivery of an effective public consultation on the draft strategy.

Commencement of construction of both Bishopbriggs Town Centre and Westerhill Development Road.

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Overview of Progress

Throughout May, the Democratic Services Team continued to support the internal governance of the Council, in addition to certain regulatory functions.  Six governance meetings took place during May.  Preparations are well advanced for the use of Modern.gov to support the maintenance and publication of Members’ Registers of Interest.  In addition, work is underway to develop the system for use in the preparation, approval, and publication of Technical Notes and Contract Standing Orders waiver forms.  In time, it will also be used to support public engagement and consultation, and a petitions function.

As part of the Primary and Secondary Schools Registration process, the Team continued to deal with mid-term applications and appeals for placing requests in relation to the 2025/2026 school year and had commenced arrangements for the annual placing request appeals.  The deadline for placing requests was 15 March 2026.  A total of 68 appeals were received for on-time applications.  The appeals are scheduled for June and July 2026. 

The Team’s focus in May was to  deliver the Scottish Parliament elections on 7 May 2026 and count on 8 May 2026 for the Strathkelvin and Bearsden constituency and regional ballots.  This is the most complex and demanding electoral event that the Team administers and generated a huge amount of work for the core Team and the wider election team which spans across various Council Services.  Although turnout was down slightly from 2021, it was third highest in Scotland and the Team counted the second highest number of ballot papers.  Work now continues, locally and nationally, in preparation for the Local Government Elections in 2027.

The Team continues to support Children’s Hearings Scotland as part of the North Strathclyde Area Support Team.  Ongoing support was also provided to Community Councils.  The Team continues to participate in local and national resilience partnership meetings and training exercises.

The Council continued to deliver registration services May and supported colleagues in neighbouring authorities.  In addition, the service continued to engage with partners across Greater Glasgow as part of ongoing resilience planning for potential incidents which may impact on demand for services, in relation to both storage and registration in the event of a mass casualty event or periods of excess deaths.

The service continued to support Members and the Strategic Leadership Team.  Officers from SLT Support and Members Support participated in the Civic Committee and delivered many of the decisions of that Committee.  The Information Management Team continued to provide important support and advice to the MS365 implementation team, in addition to business-as-usual support in relation to freedom of information and data protection.

Key Achievements / Areas of Focus

• Registration & Customer Services completed 73 birth and 152 death registrations in May.  29 marriages and no civil partnerships were also registered in this period.  
• Citizenship Ceremonies were held to welcome 12 new citizens.
• Continued development of the new committee administration system, which included further support for report writers, elected members and development of additional functionality.
• Information Management received and processed 139 FOI/EIRs, 12 internal review requests and 25 SARs (Subject Access Requests).  

Overview of Progress

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

Performance against all indicators for Legal Services for May is 100% 

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

Key Achievements / Areas of Focus

• During May, the Team processed 14 contract review forms and 3 contract award letters, and 3 open market purchase offers.  In addition, 27 taxi licence applications processed.  There were no housing repair grants received this month.  All were processed within the timescales.  Considering this, it is not proposed to take any steps currently other than to continue to monitor progress against the set PIs.
• The Team continued to provide support to the wider City Deal team including supporting the start of construction, providing support on land issues and advising on procurement matters.
• Property and planning work included  purchase settlement of 14A Kilsyth Road, Kirkintilloch and new lease granted to podiatrist at Springfield House in Bishopbriggs and providing support on potential licences to occupy for the Glasgow City Region Electric Vehicle Charging Project.
• Contracts and procurement work in this period included award of contracts for external wall insulation, commercial brake tester, garden waste services, and Drivers CPC Training; extension of BACs electronic gateway contract, review of terms and conditions for Netcall Liberty and WDM Scanner Surveys.
• The Litigation and Licensing Team continued to provide support to Social Work in relation to adults with incapacity and permanence planning and to Education on a variety of matters including a significant number of cases in the Additional Support Needs Tribunal.  The Team continues to provide advice on a wide range of confidential matters including employment advice and support the Housing Service.
• The team also supported the election team with the Scottish Parliamentary Election including on polling day and at the count.  Members of the Team also supported an appeal hearing before the Non-Domestic Rates Board.

Overview of Progress

During May, the Procurement Service continued to support other services across the Council in the delivery of various projects, including ongoing support to several strategic procurements/projects, particularly in relation to City Deal, ICT, Business & Digital Change, Key System renewals and upgrades, and various Capital projects.  In particular, the Team continued to be heavily involved in data cleansing, Solution redesign, Communication planning, Key User training and support, Data Reconciliation and Supplier data correction as part of the ongoing management of the new Fusion Financial system.  This continues to place a significant demand on the resources of the Team.  In addition to the above, the Team is now testing for a major upgrade to the Fusion system and the implementation of the Supplier Portal model.  The upgrade is of such magnitude that it requires to be managed as a project in its own right and will require support from other Council services.  

The Team continuously works to manage and support the operational activity in terms of the buyers work centre, Fusion catalogue management, supplier management and payment processing, and in May remained focussed on delivering against the increased demand from Services around queries in relation to Fusion, whilst managing the ongoing implementation, remodelling and updating of the System.

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

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

Key Achievements / Areas of Focus

• Providing ongoing support to the City Deal team in relation to Contract requirements and alternative procurement route options.
• Supported key Capital, Business & Digital Change projects such as Oracle Fusion Redwood upgrade , Fusion HCM Phase 2, IHMS, Westerhill Development Road, Capital projects such as school estate Professional Fees, Itrent extension options, Oracle Support updates, school new build contracts, and general budget projects such as school maintenance works, Systems Support whilst supporting workforce of the future planning and Business as Usual workstreams.
• Participation in extensive meetings and workshops to train, test, reconcile data transfer and solution implementation for the Oracle Fusion Redwood upgrade.
• Completed renewals for support and maintenance of business-critical systems to facilitate workforce of the future.
• Ongoing support to the /implementation of Fusion to support the technical requirements for Payment integrations, Managed Stores, and e-invoicing. 
• Commenced preparation for the 2025-2026 Annual Procurement Report to include alignments with organisational Climate Action Planning, Circular Economy Strategy, Community Wealth Building & the City Region Community Wish List planning.
• Finalised the Annual Procurement Strategy 2026-2027
• Processing invoices, payments, and Fusion housekeeping actions.
• Continued efforts to improve payment KPI’s, planning and communications for Oracle Fusion.
• Continued Business Critical expenditure considerations within Buyers Work Centre for spend in excess of £16,500.
• Ongoing work on the review of Contract Standing Orders for alignment with organisational changes, financial management and Procurement governance for reporting to Council in December 2026.
• Continued Fusion Redwood upgrade actions and communications in alignment with the quarterly Oracle schedules, managing the backlog resulting from the system downtime and managing business as usual.
• Continued workstreams for the Oracle Fusion upgrade to Redwood Self Service Procurement, including testing and revisiting personalisation to consider business impacts.
• Continued workstreams for the implementation of the Oracle Fusion Supplier Portal, including testing and revisiting system set up prior to roll out in September 2026.
• Implemented Fusion electronic feeder payment files for Fortnightly payment processing.
• Review of resourcing considerations to support Project workload and business as usual priorities.
• Supported the delivery of the Scottish Parliamentary election.

Overview of Progress

Throughout May, , the Strategic Commissioning team supported  the progression of the HSCP’s Transformation and Budget programme, whilst continuing to direct and guide the commissioned market daily, intervening if/where necessary to support sustainability and/or other related pressures.    

Key Achievements / Areas of Focus

• Explored opportunities for additional budget savings across commissioned services via collaborative commissioning and contracting approaches.  
• Finalised commissioning arrangements to support an individual from a hospital setting into a bespoke community-based setting.  The arrangements reflect a comprehensive and multi-disciplinary approach grounded in a person centred / values-based approach. 
• Aligned to national policy, progressed  implementation of Scottish Living Wage uplifts for Adult services
• In relation to the Health and Care (Staffing) (Scotland) Act 2019, finalised reporting requirements in preparation of IJB approval and subsequent submission to the Scottish Government in June 2026.
• Aligned to the Learning Disability Strategic Review, held a Provider Forum to discuss key priorities and future accommodation requirements with providers.  Discussions and agreed actions will help to shape and inform the development of an HSCP Accommodation with Support Strategy    
• Continued to support and progress several key review workstreams relating to commissioned and in-house services and provided added value via the provision of technical commissioning, project management and budget management expertise.   
• Continued to progress transitional planning arrangements for 2026/2027. 
• Continued to monitor and report on financial frameworks underpinning strategic reviews to ensure accuracy, alignment with the HSCP’s medium term financial plan and respective commissioning delivery plans.   
• Contributed to and supported progression of multi-agency collaborative inpatient redesign approaches geared towards alleviating acute and community pressures.  
• Continued discussions with external HSCPs to explore the potential to co-produce & co-design a service model capable of providing cross boundary generic support to meet identified needs & outcomes & deliver value for money.
• Explored alternative and more bespoke commissioning models to meet current and future demand including a model specifically geared towards alleviating discharge pressures. 
• Continued to support and guide the HSCP with operational pressures related to commissioned services.  

Click image to enlarge

The Roads and Neighbourhood Service continue to oversee the maintenance function and safe operation of the adopted public carriageway/footway network, adopted open spaces (including trees), cemeteries, domestic, commercial waste & recycling collection, fleet, and transportation within East Dunbartonshire. In addition, the Service also oversees the management and operations of Mugdock Country Park.

This Service area is divided into eight portfolio groupings:

• Roads Network Operations
• Roads Technical & Engineering
• Steetscene Technical Support (including Bereavement and Arboriculture)
• Streetscene Operations (including grounds maintenance, street cleansing and cemetery operations)
• Waste Services (including domestic & commercial waste & recycling collections)
• Fleet Services (including fleet operations, maintenance, and transportation)
• Mugdock Country Park
• Corporate Health & Safety Team 

Each team has specific areas of responsibility; however, they all operate, and function collectively as required. Within their own areas, each team has several service accountabilities contributing to local outcomes.

The various sections within the portfolio groups continue to progress both revenue operation/maintenance work and internally and externally funded capital projects with colleagues in Procurement, Finance and Health & Safety. Several projects are time specific due to the external funding conditions to it is very important to make best use of the time available to bring these projects to fruition for the benefit of local communities.

Health & Safety

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

Ongoing and comprehensive health and safety assistance is provided to services throughout the council, HSCP and EDLC, conducting multiple site visits to offer expert guidance, address emerging issues, and assist with the completion of risk assessments and safe systems of work. During this period, the team have been working closely with the Education service, Estates & Facilities, Mugdock country park, EDLC and HSCP.  

This included reviewing safe systems of work and risk assessments, COSHH assessments, document review and other health and safety enquiries. 

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

The team also participated in the Equally Safe at Work working group meeting to contribute to ongoing discussions and collaborative action supporting safer and more inclusive working practices.

The team assisted People Development with learning and development opportunities in the design of new Moodle H&S programmes.

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

The focus continues for Construction Design and Management compliance with site visits, inspections, reviewing construction phase plans, risk assessments and method statements for refurbishment, general estate repairs, new builds, paths, roads and greenspace projects for various teams.  Specific site visits during this period include Balmuildy Primary School, St Helens Primary School, Lenzie Academy, Huntershill Sports Hub and Allander Leisure Centre. 

The team continue to work with Shared Services and HR to reinstate the health surveillance programme.

Fire Risk Assessments are conducted in accordance with the predetermined schedule.  Officers undertake routine inspections and continue to carry out site visits to address any fire safety concerns, assess fire documentation where required and support with personal emergency evacuation plans, offering expert advice.
Fire Safety training has also been delivered by the team including fire extinguisher training and fire safety awareness training.
The Fire Advisers have also been involved with the supporting Sheltered Housing with advice for the Telecare programme within Jedworth Court.

The team continue to promote reporting of health and safety incidents throughout the council and programme health and safety inspections of council workplaces.

Carriageway & Footway Defects (May 2026)

Between 1–31 May 2026, 243 defects were identified across East Dunbartonshire. Of these, 184 repairs were completed within SLA (75.7 %), 36 were late (14.8 %), and 23 (9.5 %) remain outstanding but are still within SLA. 

Road Works Delivery (May 2026)

A wide programme of carriageway and footway works was delivered, predominantly minor excavation repairs addressing surface defects and potholes across Lenzie, Kirkintilloch, Bearsden, Bishopbriggs, and surrounding areas. Other works included drainage upgrades, gully repairs, lining works, and installation of new traffic signals. The majority of projects were completed on schedule as advised on technical notes. 

Technical Notes 2026, Issue 70 - Roads & Neighbourhood Services 2026/27 Carriageway and Footway Resurfacing Programme - East Dunbartonshire Council

Gully Cleaning Performance (May 2026)

A total of 22,011 gullies is maintained across the network. Between 1 April 2026 and 31 May 2026, 3,693 gullies were cleaned (17.93%). This includes 3,507 of 6,221 gullies on primary routes (55.4%) and 168 of 14,448 on secondary routes (2.3%). This reflects strong delivery in drainage maintenance and contributes to reducing flood risk.

Safety Inspections (May 2026)

A total of 12 scheduled carriageway safety inspections were completed, all within required inspection intervals. 

Winter Maintenance (May 2026)

No Action. 

Streetlighting 

Capital LED replacement programme is ongoing

The Roads Development, Structures, Traffic, Flood Risk and Drainage Teams continue to work on and contribute to multiple projects including Road Coring, Flood Defence Maintenance, Bridge Inspection/Replacement and Signalisation/TRO Projects across various area. 

The Team also continues to work with Legal colleague to oversee the TRO process associated with the potential implementation of 20mph speed limits across various the remaining geographical areas.

The Team is also coordinating with external contractors to delivery multiple traffic surveys with the information used to determine the next steps for various proposals. This information is used as evidence to either support the need for action or validate the decision not to take forward a proposal if it is not supported by evidence. 

The Traffic Officer also liaise with Police Scotland colleagues to monitor any road related incidents.

Drainage

Auchenhowie Road Milngavie - Drainage investigations including CCTV survey for Active Travel Route – Completed.

Streetscene Operations

• Summer cyclical works ongoing
• Street cleansing and mechanical sweeping; removal of fly posting and uplifting of fly tipping, mechanical street sweeping and replacement of older bins. Includes cleaning of precinct areas.
• Graffiti removal.
• Ongoing cemetery operations, digging and carrying out interments, installing headstone foundations
• Checking and clearance of culverts
• Play park inspection
• Herbicide works in open spaces, including Japanese knotweed treatment.
• Countryside verge maintenance
• Education and Leisure Trust pitch maintenance ongoing; School sports marking

Streetscene Technical Support

• Play Area upgrades or equipment completed at Bishopbriggs Public Park, Twechar Healthy Living Centre with contracts awarded for Eastside and Twechar Pump Track.
• Headstones/Memorials Inspection –make safe progressing at Campsie and thereafter to New Kilpatrick
• Ash Dieback Survey on Roadside – committee report now prepared for full Council in June
• Lenzie Moss – various works progressing across the site – dam works, access management, dead hedging etc – this will continue into the late spring/early summer
• Carved Benches – 5 installed across the district in April/May
• Management Plans – Lenzie Moss, Whitefield Pond, Cairnhill Woods and Heather Avenue – now progressing to 2nd year actions
• Bishopbriggs Park Management Plan – now in draft will be shared with community groups in May/June this year for further comment
• TCV Partnership – environmental improvement works are progressing on the John Muir Way  - 2 nd year commenced May 26
• Merkland LNR – wayfinding signage delivered

Mugdock Country Park

• 9 Volunteering sessions with a total of 78 volunteers
• There were 13 different events at Mugdock in May and in total 113 people attended.

Waste Services collect over 400,000 assorted household bins monthly, providing collections for residual, recycling, food, garden and special waste collections. The team also manage the waste and recycling collections from over 400 of our local businesses and provide recycling disposal provision at the Mavis Valley Recycling Centre.

• The service attended a final workshop in Edinburgh for the new Household Recycling Code of Practice, led by the Scottish Government.  Discussions took place to consider opportunities for aligning all services across Scotland.
• The team successfully completed the removal of all remaining recycling bring sites across the area as agreed by Council.  This has significantly reduced the overall fly tipping distribution.
• The Technical Compliance team visited several of our external contractors to carry out spot checks, ensuring safety compliance and opportunities for improvement.
• A new in-house booking system was adopted at the Mavis Valley Recycling Centre.  
• In May we issued 1890 garden waste permits, a total of 28,468 issued for the 2026 season.
• The service continued to utilise the new digital optimisation software to review all recycling routes with a view to changing collection routes and creating service efficiencies.
• The Waste Technical and Compliance Team dealt with 89 Corporate Complaints in May.
• The Waste Technical and Compliance Team dealt with 1098 general enquiries in May.

• Between 1st to 31st May 2026, the team inspected and repaired 208 vehicles and items of plant, all in accordance with our servicing schedules and defect procedures.
• We are currently awaiting delivery of several new vehicles and plant assets to replace older equipment as part of our scheduled fleet replacement programme.
• We continue to support Council services by delivering ASN transport and distributing essential supplies to vulnerable residents, including meals for early years facilities and lunch clubs.
• Work is progressing on managing the capital programme for fleet asset replacements throughout the financial year.
• We are maintaining our CPC training schedule to ensure all relevant drivers meet their requirements before the deadline. Furthermore, we continue to manage our fleet operations in full compliance with operator licensing legislation, maintaining a 'Green' DVSA Operator Compliance Risk Score for both Traffic and Compliance.
• Our in-house maintenance team continues to support front-line operations, covering everything from standard vehicle repairs to the upkeep of horticultural and construction plant equipment.
• We are currently in the process of replacing our Fleet Management and Telematics systems, as well as undertaking a full update of our Fleet Policy.
• We have implemented a data-led approach to fleet management, evidenced by our recent utilisation report. By using telematics data to identify under-utilised assets, we can refine our vehicle replacement programme, ensuring resources are focused on high-demand service areas while driving down the overall fleet size.
• We are actively monitoring external hires.
• Fleet have developed a new driving at work and fleet management policy