Agenda
West Dunbartonshire Council · 25 March 2026
Back to West Dunbartonshire Council — 25 March 2026 and its agenda
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Agenda West Dunbartonshire Council Date: Wednesday, 25 March 2026 ___________________________________________________________________ Time: 16:00 ___________________________________________________________________ Format: Hybrid meeting ___________________________________________________________________ Contact: Carol-Ann Burns, Senior Democratic Services Officer Email: carol-ann.burns@west-dunbarton.gov.uk committee.admin@west-dunbarton.gov.uk Dear Member Please attend a meeting of West Dunbartonshire Council as detailed above. Members will have the option to attend the meeting remotely or in person at the Civic Space, 16 Church Street, Dumbarton. The business is shown on the attached agenda. Yours faithfully PETER HESSETT Chief Executive Page 1
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Distribution:- Provost Karen Murray Conaghan Councillor June McKay Councillor James Bollan Councillor John Millar Councillor Kevin Crawford Councillor Lawrence O’Neill Councillor Ian Dickson Councillor Lauren Oxley Councillor Diane Docherty Councillor Chris Pollock Councillor Fiona Hennebry Councillor Martin Rooney Councillor Gurpreet Singh Johal Councillor William Rooney Councillor Daniel Lennie Councillor Gordon Scanlan Councillor David McBride Councillor Hazel Sorrell Councillor Jonathan McColl Councillor Clare Steel Councillor Michelle McGinty Councillor Sophie Traynor Chief Executive Chief Officers Date of issue: 12 March 2026 Audio Streaming Audio recordings of the meeting (including the attendance or contribution of any party participating or making a contribution) will be published on the Council’s website and the Council’s host’s webcast/audio stream platform. You should be aware that the Council is a Data Controller under the General Data Protection Regulation. Data collected during this audio stream will be retained in accordance with the Council’s Privacy Notice* and Retention Schedules including, but not limited to, for the purpose of keeping historical records and making those records available via the Council’s internet site. Page 2
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WEST DUNBARTONSHIRE COUNCIL WEDNESDAY, 25 MARCH 2026 AGENDA 1 STATEMENT BY CHAIR – AUDIO STREAMING The Chair will be heard in connection with the above. 2 APOLOGIES 3 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST Members are invited to declare if they have an interest in any of the items of business on the agenda and the reasons for such declarations. 4 RECORDING OF VOTES The Council is asked to agree that all votes taken during the meeting will be carried out by roll call vote to ensure an accurate record. 5 OPEN FORUM The Council is asked to note that no open forum questions have been submitted by members of the public. 6 MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETINGS Submit, for approval as correct records, the Minutes of Meetings of West Dunbartonshire Council held on:- (a) 17 December 2025 (Special); 7 – 8 (b) 17 December 2025 (Ordinary); 9 – 23 (c) 11 February 2026 (Requisitioned); and 25 – 27 (d) 4 March 2026 (Budget). 29 – 62 7/ Page 3
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7 MINUTES OF MEETING OF AUDIT COMMITTEE 63 – 66 Submit for information, and where necessary ratification, the Minutes of Meeting of the Audit Committee held on 10 December 2025. 8 NON-DOMESTIC RATES HARDSHIP APPLICATION 67 – 72 Submit report by the Chief Officer – Resources requesting consideration of a non-domestic rates hardship application. 9 TREASURY MANAGEMENT STRATEGY AND ANNUAL 73 – 107 INVESTMENT STRATEGY Submit report by the Chief Officer – Resources seeking approval of the proposed Treasury Management Strategy Statement and Annual Investment Strategy, and the indicators contained within. 10 GENERAL SERVICES REVENUE BUDGETARY 109 – 138 CONTROL REPORT TO 31 JANUARY 2026 (PERIOD 10) Submit report by the Chief Officer – Resources advising of the 2025/26 Revenue Budget position at 31 January 2026 and the forecast position of the General Fund Reserve as at 31 March 2026. 11 GENERAL SERVICES CAPITAL BUDGETARY CONTROL 139 – 153 REPORT 2025/26 TO 31 JANUARY 2026 (PERIOD 10) Submit report by the Chief Officer – Resources providing an update on the General Services capital financial performance to 31 January 2026. 12 HOUSING REVENUE ACCOUNT BUDGETARY CONTROL 155 – 164 REPORT TO 31 JANUARY 2026 (PERIOD 10) Submit report by the Chief Officer – Resources advising of the 2025/2026 Housing Revenue Account (HRA) revenue budget position on 31 January 2026 and the forecast position of the HRA reserves as at 31 March 2026. 13 HOUSING REVENUE ACCOUNT (HRA) CAPITAL BUDGETARY 165 – 175 CONTROL REPORT TO 31 JANUARY 2026 (PERIOD 10) Submit report by the Chief Officer – Resources providing an update on the HRA capital programme to 31 January 2026. Page 4
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14 CRESCENT COURT LIFT – INFORMATION AND TIMELINE 177 – 188 Submit report by the Chief Officer – Housing providing information on the events, timeline, challenges and learning in relation to the breakdown of the Crescent Court lift. 15 COUNCIL RESPONSE TO THE FUTURE OF COUNCIL TAX IN 189 – 195 SCOTLAND CONSULTATION Submit report by the Chief Officer – Resources providing the Council’s response to the Scottish Government’s consultation on the Future of Council Tax in Scotland. 16 NOTICE OF MOTIONS (a) Motion by Councillor Jim Bollan – Health & Social Care Partnership Service Redesign In view of 96% of GMB carers recently balloted on the so-called “redesign” of their service agreeing to take action, including strike action, to defend the quality of services for their service users and to ensure those in detriment are dealt with as a priority, Council requests in the strongest possible terms that the H&SCP immediately suspend the implementation of the redesign and engage urgently with the Unions to try and avoid a damaging strike in this vital care sector. (b) Motion by Councillor Martin Rooney – West Dunbartonshire Council Welcomes the UK Government Announcement of an Additional £921m of Funding to the Scottish Government This Council welcomes the Spring Statement, delivered by the Chancellors on 3rd March, which announced an additional £921m of Barnet Consequentials for the Scottish Government. The consequential include Transport, Business Rate Relief, and Special Educational Needs and Disability. The additional funding is split as follows: £900m resource and £21m capital The funding will be phased over the three years 2026/27, 2027/28 and 2028/29. Page 5
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Transport: The Transport element comprises £21m is capital funding linked to the rail fares freeze in London. This provides £7m a year for the three-year period. Business Rates: The additional business rate relief element is for pubs and comprises of £40.4m of resource funding as follows: 2026/27 £8.8m 2027/28 £13.3m 2027/28 £18.3m Special Educational Needs and Disability Provision: The additional funding provides £533m of resource for special educational needs spending in 2026/27. In addition, the Scottish Government will receive a further £326.5m of revenue in 2028/29, which is expected to be recurring for Special Educational Needs and Disability. Council recognises that there is risk that Scottish Government is unlikely to pass the funding to local government to support education and additional support needs. Council notes that if the £533m of special educational needs spending was allocated across all 32 Scottish councils based on the normal distribution WDC would get 1.8% which would be £9.59m. West Dunbartonshire Council calls on the next Scottish Government to prioritise the £553m of funding for local government in Scotland, to support local services such as education and special educational needs. The Council also calls on the next Scottish Government to prioritise the additional £326.5m of revenue that becomes available in 2028/29 should also be prioritised for local government in Scotland to help councils to support local services. Based on a share of 1.8% this would mean an uplift of £5.877m of recurring revenue for local services. Council requests that the Chief Executive writes to the Scottish Government and to the other 31 councils in Scotland, requesting that they consider supporting a similar motion at their next council meeting. 17 DATE OF NEXT MEETING Members are requested to note that the next ordinary meeting of West Dunbartonshire Council is scheduled to be held on Wednesday, 29 April 2026 at 4.00 p.m. Page 6