Item 06 Appendix 3
West Dunbartonshire Council · 4 March 2026
Back to West Dunbartonshire Council — 4 March 2026 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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2026/27 MANAGEMENT ADJUSTMENT Chief Officer: Amanda Graham Saving Ref: CCF12 Saving Title Facilities Management Operating Model Summary of Savings Proposal The Facilities Management service has circa 600 staff and provides a range of services across educational and operational premises including access, a building cleaning service and nutritionally balanced breakfasts, lunches and snacks for pupils. During 2025/26 a new operating model was proposed for Facilities Management to deliver a more effective, efficient and resilient service and is set to be implemented in March 2026 following extensive consultation with employees. A £250,000 saving will be generated from implementation of the model. Is there a Capital Requirement? No Risk Associated with Proposed Savings Service Risk: Service operations have not been reviewed in over 10 years and in this time there have been significant changes in the landscape. There is an issue with resilience currently and absence levels have been significant historically. There is a risk that staff do not buy in impacting on implementation or that absence continues at current levels impacting on service delivery. This has been mitigated against by significant and ongoing consultation and engagement both with employees and TU colleagues. Strategic Risk Register: N/A People Risk: This proposal offers opportunity for service improvement and efficiencies, however may result in a reduction of some posts. It is anticipated this will be achieved by voluntary means. Reputational Risk: Given circa 600 employees are employed within the service there is a risk of reputational impact. Employee feedback received through a staff survey, back to the floor and working groups has been incorporated into the new delivery model. There has also been early and ongoing TU engagement throughout. Saving (Cumulative) 2026/27 2027/28 2028/29 £000 FTE £000 FTE £000 FTE 250 TBC 250 TBC 250 TBC FTE impact delivered through existing vacancies: TBC Equality Impact Assessment Completed: Yes EIA No: 1374 APPENDIX 3
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2026/27 MANAGEMENT ADJUSTMENT Chief Officer: Amanda Graham Saving Ref: CCF13 Saving Title Vacant Facilities Management support post Summary of Savings Proposal A vacancy has arisen within the Facilities Management team. In the short term the work is being undertaken on a temporary basis to support implementation of the service redesign however with a new structure being introduced to provide further support for the frontline, the Business Support Officer vacancy would be deleted during 2026/27 to realise a saving. Is there a Capital Requirement? No Risk Associated with Proposed Savings Service Risk: Services are being delivered in a different way which will minimise the risk of service impact. Strategic Risk Register: N/A People Risk: Deletion of one vacant post. Reputational Risk: N/A Saving (Cumulative) 2026/27 2027/28 2028/29 £000 FTE £000 FTE £000 FTE 40 1 50 1 50 1 FTE impact delivered through existing vacancies: 1 Equality Impact Assessment Completed: Yes EIA No: 1375
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2026/27 MANAGEMENT ADJUSTMENT Chief Officer: Gillian Hamilton Saving Ref: 2627 EDU18 Saving Title Right size Free School Meal, Alternative Holiday Payments and School Clothing Grant budgets Summary of Savings Proposal At present children and young people are eligible for Free School Meals (FSM) where their household income is below a set threshold. In addition, Scottish Government provide FSM to all P1-P5 pupils. During school holidays, an alternative to the school lunch is provided in the form of payment to parents. The budget in 2025/26 is £563k and the total estimated cost is £535k, representing a £28k underspend (in 2024/25, expenditure was £568k). Similarly, dependent on circumstances, families are eligible for a school clothing grant of £120 per primary child per year and £150 per secondary child per year. Currently 3,679 families receive this grant. The budget in 2025/26 is £605k and the total estimated cost is £502k, representing a £103k underspend. Falling school rolls have had an impact on eligibility numbers for free school meals, alternative to meals holiday payments and school clothing grants. As a consequence, current projections show a favourable variance against all three of these areas and there is scope to reduce these expenditure budgets. Is there a Capital Requirement? No Risk Associated with Proposed Savings Service Risk: There is risk that the budgets would need increased in time to reflect changing demand from eligible families. Strategic Risk Register: N/A People Risk: N/A Reputational Risk: There is a risk that this is perceived as a reduction impacting upon children. This can be mitigated by ensuring we meet demand from all eligible families. Saving (Cumulative) 2026/27 2027/28 2028/29 £000 FTE £000 FTE £000 FTE 128 0 128 0 128 0 Equality Impact Assessment Completed: Yes EIA No: 1449
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2026/27 – MANAGEMENT ADJUSTMENT Chief Officer: Gillian Hamilton Saving Ref: 2627 EDU24 Saving Title Early Learning and Childcare Education Support Officer Summary of Savings/Management Adjustment Proposal Currently within the Early Learning and Childcare central team there are four Link Officer posts (3.5FTE), one of which is vacant. Link Officers provide improvement and quality support to the Council’s 29 Early Learning settings and 12 partner settings. Two Link Officers are employed on Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers (SNCT) terms and conditions, as an Education Officer (0.6FTE) and Principal Teacher (1FTE). They are both employed on a term-time basis. One Link Officer is an Education Support Officer (ESO) (1FTE) and employed under Administrative, Professional, Technical & Clerical (APT & C) terms and conditions on a 52-week basis on a temporary contract. The vacant post is 0.5FTE on a 52-week contract. The 1FTE ESO post splits the work of an Education Support Officer (0.5FTE) and cover for the Education Officer post (0.5FTE), due to the Education Officer’s flexible working arrangement. Both Education Support Officer posts are employed on a 52-week basis to support in the running of our ELC service outwith term time. This option proposes deletion of the 0.5FTE Education Support Officer post, creating a saving of £28K. The remaining Education Support Officer post which is vacant would be filled on a 52-week basis and the temporary filled post would no longer exist. This would reduce the ELC Link Officers to 3FTE and these staff would be required to adopt more innovative and automative approaches to manage the revised workload. Is there a capital requirement? No Impact and Risk Associated with Proposed Savings Service Risk - With the further reduction of 0.5fte of the ELC central team, the remaining ELC central team would be required to provide support to more ELC settings and the current strategic remit aspects would require to be delegated to remaining team members. This would have an impact on the time and quality of support that could be provided to settings. People Risk – None (as post is currently vacant)
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Reputational Risk – With reduced central support there is a risk that settings will not perform as well at inspection and could fall below the requirements of ‘good’ for the National Standard. Saving (Cumulative) 2026/27 2027/28 2028/29 £000 FTE £000 FTE £000 FTE 18 0.5 28 0.5 28 0.5 FTE impact delivered through existing vacancies: 0.5 Equality Impact Assessment Completed: EIA No: 1382
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2026/27 MANAGEMENT ADJUSTMENT Chief Officer: Victoria Rogers Saving Ref: 2627 PT06 Saving Title 365 Licence Savings Summary of Savings Proposal The council has made a significant investment in the Microsoft 365 technology platform to support modern, collaborative, and secure working practices. The current licensing model enables employees to access a suite of productivity and security tools, including Outlook, Word, Excel, SharePoint, OneDrive, Microsoft Teams, and the enterprise mobility and security suite. The Council’s corporate Microsoft Enterprise Agreement (EA) expired on 31 December 2025 and as part of the renewal planning process, a detailed review of existing licence usage has been undertaken. This review has identified an opportunity to optimise the deployment of Microsoft 365 E3 licences and reduce licence volumes by 500. The associated saving on our renewal is estimated to be £72,000. A small part of this amount will be used towards 2025/26 savings already agreed by council in March 2025 (PT20). The remainder, amounting to £60,000, is a 2026/27 management adjustment. Is there a Capital Requirement? No Risk Associated with Proposed Savings Service Risk: There is no risk to service areas with the reduction of licences. All council employees and partnerships have been allocated a E3 licence which provides secure access to Office 365, SharePoint and One Drive. The licences that are reduced are surplus to requirements and will not impact service delivery across the organisation. Strategic Risk Register: N/A People Risk: N/A Reputational Risk: N/A. Saving (Cumulative) 2026/27 2027/28 2028/29 000 FTE 000 FTE 000 FTE 60 0 60 0 60 0 FTE impact delivered through existing vacancies: NIL Equality Impact Assessment Completed: Yes EIA No: 1318
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2026/27 MANAGEMENT ADJUSTMENT Chief Officer: Victoria Rogers Saving Ref: 26/27 PT07 Saving Title: Reduce ICT Support Summary of Savings Proposal Information, Communications and Technology (ICT) provides centralised services across the Council and partnerships, including Health and Social Care Partnership, West Dunbartonshire Leisure Trust and Valuation Joint Board. The service includes delivery and support of network infrastructure to provide access to critical business systems such as finance, social care, housing, and desktop office applications such as MS Teams, email and office 365 suite. In addition, ICT delivers and supports technology across all educational establishments The team are currently migrating council employees to MS365 & SharePoint/One Drive, and implementing Artificial Intelligence solutions such as Copilot and Transcribe. In addition, a new Telephony replacement project is being rolled out across the Council estate. Recent focus has been on strengthening the organisation’s cyber security posture and raising employee awareness to cyber risk, plus supporting service projects such as Faifley Campus and the Council’s new financial system. ICT currently employs 51.5 FTE, including 6.6 FTE employees funded by capital. Under this option 1FTE G3 Device Support, currently vacant, will be deleted from the structure. Is there a Capital Requirement? No Risk Associated with Proposed Savings Service Risk: Any reduction in this area has the potential to cause delays to resolution of device incidents and requests impacting all Council employees requiring ICT support, extending waiting times for all users. It is likely to reduce Tech Bar support to corporate employees in Church Street office. Strategic Risk Register: Impact linked to SR004. People Risk: As this is option refers to a post which is currently vacant, there is no people risk. If the proposal is accepted, full-year savings will be realised from 2026/27 following the formal deletion of the post. Reputational Risk: There is a risk that further reduction to the ICT service would impact on device support, which could directly impact upon frontline services causing reputational damage. Saving (Cumulative) 2025/26 2026/27 2027/28 £000 FTE £000 FTE £000 FTE 32 1 32 1 32 1 FTE Impact delivered via vacancies: 1 Equality Impact Assessment Completed: Yes EIA No: 1364
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2026/27 MANAGEMENT ADJUSTMENT Chief Officer: Gail Macfarlane Saving Ref: 2627 RN12 Saving Title Separation of Garden/Food Waste Summary of Savings Proposal Currently garden and food waste is collected and treated together as a comingled material. The cost to process and treat comingled waste is significantly higher per tonne than the cost to treat garden and food waste separately. In addition, the waste requires to be transported to a processing site at a further distance than separate waste. This option proposes to separate collection and disposal of food and garden waste, which will have financial benefits, as well as environmental benefits including reducing the Council’s carbon footprint. Is there a Capital Requirement? Yes, the purchase of food waste vehicles for collection and food waste caddies for residents to use for disposal. Both will be funded through extended producer responsibility budget. Risk Associated with Proposed Savings Service Risk: The separation of waste aligns to the national and local ambitions to increase recycling. Strategic Risk Register: SR011 Inability to reduce carbon footprint in line with targets. People Risk: N/A Reputational Risk: If this change leads to further disruption to residents’ collections following the introduction of the recycling prioritisation schedules, the Council will be heavily criticised. A number of local authorities have implemented separation of garden and food waste and it aligns to the Household Charter ambitions. Saving (Cumulative) 2026/27 2027/28 2028/29 £000 FTE £000 FTE £000 FTE 50 0 100 0 100 0 FTE impact delivered through existing vacancies: N/A Equality Impact Assessment Completed: Yes EIA No: 1368
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2026/27 MANAGEMENT ADJUSTMENT Chief Officer: Regulatory & Regeneration Saving Ref: 2627 RR02 Saving Title Secondment to Clydebank Neighbourhood Board The Clydebank Neighbourhood Board, established as part of the UK Government’s Pride in Place/Plan for Neighbourhoods programme, is responsible for developing Clydebank’s 10‑year Regeneration Plan and overseeing delivery of regeneration projects to ensure they reflect community needs. The board includes local community representatives, local organisations, elected members and a chairperson. The Board needs a full-time Project Officer to support delivery of the overall project. Consideration of the role’s profile outlined by other local authorities identified similarities to the Council’s Regeneration Officer role. At its meeting in January 2026 the Board agreed the principle of secondment to Clydebank Neighbourhood Board of a Grade 8 from the Regeneration team to be the Programme Manager for the programme of interventions. The grade of the new post will need to be determined through the Job Evaluation process. It is proposed a Communities Worker (Grade 5) from Communities Team would be seconded to the Regeneration Team to assist with the community engagement work which is currently undertaken by Regeneration Officers. This officer would be paid for by capital funds, as the Regeneration team are, meaning there would be a revenue saving in the Communities team and a saving to capital (the difference between a Grade 8 and Grade 5 officer). If this role is developed during the period of secondment, a job evaluation exercise would be required however this is not currently envisaged. Is there a Capital Requirement? There will be impact on capital through a reduced commitment from a Grade 8 to Grade 5. Risk Associated with Proposed Savings Service Risk: There are two other proposals impacting the Communities Team. 2627 RR01 and 26/27 RR03. This option and 2627 RR03 propose dedicating employees to community engagement in particular service areas, however alongside the reduction proposed in 2627 RR01 there would be a net reduction in the team’s overall capacity, and less scope to address general community engagement work. This would impact on annual reporting through the Community Learning and Development Plan. The team would direct its focus to community planning, with less opportunity to support organic community activity and participation. This is contrary to the Community Wealth Building agenda. If taken alongside 2627 RR01 and RR03 the reduction in such work would be significant however in part offset as noted above. Strategic Risk Register: N/A People Risk: N/A Saving (Each Year)
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2026/27 2027/27 2028/29 £000 FTE £000 FTE £000 FTE 42 0 42 0 42 0 FTE impact delivered through existing vacancies: N/A Equality Impact Assessment Completed: Yes EIA No: 1455
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2026/27 MANAGEMENT ADJUSTMENT Chief Officer: Regulatory & Regeneration Saving Ref: 2627 RR03 Saving Title Capacity Funding - Plan For Neighbourhoods The Clydebank Neighbourhood Board, established as part of the UK Government’s Pride in Place/Plan for Neighbourhoods programme, is responsible for developing Clydebank’s 10‑year Regeneration Plan and overseeing delivery of regeneration projects to ensure they reflect community needs. The board includes local community representatives, local organisations, elected members and a chairperson. At its meeting on 30 January 2026 the Board agreed in principle, subject to Council approval, utilising capacity funding of the Pride in Place annual budget. The proposal would see the partial funding of two posts within the Communities Team to support Community Development work on behalf of the Clydebank Neighbourhood Board rather than the programme of work being delivered by consultants. The proposal would see the fund meeting 50% of a Grade 5 Community Worker and 25% of a Grade 6 Project Development Officer to support a programme of work. Is there a Capital Requirement? No Risk Associated with Proposed Savings Service Risk: There are two other proposals impacting the Communities Team. 2627 RR01 relates to a reduction of one FTE on a permanent basis while 2627 RR02 relates to a member of the Communities Team’s time dedicated to community engagement associated with regeneration. This option and 2627 RR02 propose dedicating employees to community engagement in particular service areas, however alongside the reduction proposed in 2627 RR01 there would be a net reduction in the team’s overall capacity, and less scope to address general community engagement work. This would impact on annual reporting through the Community Learning and Development Plan. The team would direct its focus to community planning, with less opportunity to support organic community activity and participation. This is contrary to the Community Wealth Building agenda. If taken alongside 2627 RR01 and RR02 the reduction in such work would be significant however in part offset as noted above. Strategic Risk Register: N/A People Risk: N/A Reputational Risk: N/A. Saving (Each Year) 2026/27 2027/27 2028/29 £000 FTE £000 FTE £000 FTE 34 0 34 0 34 0 FTE impact delivered through existing vacancies: N/A Equality Impact Assessment Completed: Yes EIA No:1456
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2026/27 MANAGEMENT ADJUSTMENT Chief Officer: Alan Douglas Saving Ref: 2627 RR06 Saving Title: Planning, Environmental Health and Building Standards Summary of Savings Proposal Planning, Environmental Health and Building Standards have identified the following potential savings and income generation options which have limited financial impact on service users. £ Reduction of Place and Design Panel budget 5,000 Review Planning Preapplication Service and Associated Fee 4,500 Introduce Charges for Stopping Up Orders 2,000 Review Charges for Street Naming and Numbering 500 Review EH Pest Control Fees 1,000 Statutory Local Review Body Fees 1,500 Recover admin costs associated with Dangerous Buildings 1,000 Total 15,500 Is there a Capital Requirement? No Risk Associated with Proposed Savings Service Risk: There is always a risk on income generation activities that the required numbers of applications do not arise, however estimates are conservative for the achievable sums to mitigate this risk. Strategic Risk Register: N/A People Risk: N/A Reputational Risk: There is likely to be some concern around fee increases however these are modest increases and are justified in the current financial climate. Saving (Cumulative) 2026/27 2027/27 2028/29 £000 FTE £000 FTE £000 FTE 15.5 0 15.5 0 15.5 0 FTE impact delivered through existing vacancies: N/A Equality Impact Assessment Completed: Yes EIA No: Screening 1451
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2026/27 MANAGEMENT ADJUSTMENT Chief Officer: Alan Douglas Saving Ref: 2627 RR07 Saving Title: Business Gateway Summary of Savings Proposal The Business Gateway service is currently situated in the Titan Enterprise building at Queens Quay, Clydebank. This proposal would see the relocation of services to Council offices at Church Street, Dumbarton. The main physical impact would be the requirement for ready access to meeting rooms and a degree of branding in place as a requirement for the funding we receive to operate the service. An additional saving can be achieved by reduction of the current Publicity and Promotions budget based on the ability to utilise online promotion more effectively. Is there a Capital Requirement? No Risk Associated with Proposed Savings Service Risk: There is a possibility that the service may have difficulty accommodating their meetings in the busy office space at Church Street. Other nearby offices and facilities would provide sufficient overspill, and occasional sessions to Clydebank and The Vale could be accommodated within other Council properties with some planning. Strategic Risk Register: N/A People Risk: N/A Reputational Risk: The change would involve another service being withdrawn from Clydebank which may draw negative comment given the long established nature of the facility in Clydebank, and the recent closure of other facilities in the area e.g. Registration Services. Saving (Cumulative) 2026/27 2027/27 2028/29 £000 FTE £000 FTE £000 FTE 10 0 10 0 10 0 FTE impact delivered through existing vacancies: N/A Equality Impact Assessment Completed: Yes EIA No: 1452
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2026/27 MANAGEMENT ADJUSTMENT Chief Officer: Alan Douglas Saving Ref: RR09 Saving Title Merger of Manager Roles – Legal and Democratic Services Summary of Savings Proposal The proposal would see the merger of two service manager roles under a new single post of Manager of Legal and Democratic Services with some teams relocated to other senior managers and/or Chief Officer areas to facilitate compliance with the Council’s Strategic Operating Model and provide synergies in service delivery. Details of these structural changes were reported to Recruitment and Individual Performance Committee in February. The gross saving of this option is £75,000 however £50,000 is required as a contribution toward the 2024/25 Strategic Operating Model saving option (PT08). This leaves a balance of £25,000 to be taken as a management adjustment in 2026/27. Is there a Capital Requirement? No Risk Associated with Proposed Savings Service Risk: The merger of two key roles always brings a risk of creating single points of failure and of being too large a role to successfully fill. Any potential risk to service delivery is reduced through the recruitment of an experienced individual to undertake the new role and by having a full complement of direct reports. Strategic Risk Register: The new post will impact on a number of strategic risks through the oversight of the legal and administrative establishment of the Council. The proposed postholder is suitably qualified to address these risks with their teams and the assistance of the Chief Officer: Regulatory and Regeneration while the new arrangements bed in People Risk: N/A Reputational Risk: N/A Saving (Cumulative) 2026/27 2027/28 2028/29 £000 FTE £000 FTE £000 FTE 25 0 25 0 25 0 FTE impact delivered through existing vacancies: Equality Impact Assessment Completed: Yes EIA No: 1441