Agenda Document Pack - Cabinet - 30/05/2023
Midlothian Council · 30 May 2023
Back to Cabinet — 30 May 2023 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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Notice of Meeting and Agenda Cabinet Venue: Council Chambers/Hybrid, Midlothian House, Dalkeith, EH22 1DN Date: Tuesday, 30 May 2023 Time: 11:00 Executive Director : Place Contact: Clerk Name: Democratic Services Clerk Telephone: Clerk Email: democratic.services@midlothian.gov.uk Further Information: This is a meeting which is open to members of the public. Privacy notice: Please note that this meeting may be recorded. The recording may be publicly available following the meeting. If you would like to know how Midlothian Council collects, uses and shares your personal information, please visit our website: www.midlothian.gov.uk Page 1 of 258
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1 Welcome, Introductions and Apologies 2 Order of Business Including notice of new business submitted as urgent for consideration at the end of the meeting. 3 Declaration of Interest Members should declare any financial and non-financial interests they have in the items of business for consideration, identifying the relevant agenda item and the nature of their interest. 4 Minute of Previous Meeting 4.1 Minute of Cabinet - 28 February 2023 for approval 5 - 10 4.2 Action Log 11 - 12 5 Public Reports 5.1 22-23 Adult Health and Social Care Performance Annual Report by Head of Adult & Social Care 13 - 22 5.2 22-23 Childrens Services Partnerships and Communities Annual Report by Chief Social Work Officer 23 - 32 5.3 22-23 Corporate Solutions Performance Annual Report by Acting Chief Officer Corporate Solutions 33 - 52 5.4 22-23 Education Performance Annual Report by Chief Operating Officer Education 53 - 70 5.5 22-23 Place Performance Annual Report by Chief Officer Place 71 - 122 5.6 22-23 Midlothian Balanced Scorecard Indicators Annual Report 123 - 134 5.7 22-23 Midlothian Council Annual Report 135 - 142 5.8 Cherry Road Inspection Report by Head of Adult Services, Health and Social Care 143 - 150 5.9 Burnbrae Primary School Inspection Report by Chief Education Operating Officer, Children, Young People and Partnerships 151 - 160 5.10 Danderhall Primary School Inspection Report by Chief Education Operating Officer, Children, Young People and Partnerships 161 - 166 Page 2 of 258
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5.11 Sacred Heart Primary School Inspection Report by Chief Education Operating Officer, Children, Young People and Partnerships 167 - 174 5.12 Protective Services, Environmental Health Food Service Plan 2023/24 Report by Chief Officer Place 175 - 220 5.13 Waste Services – Proposed application for external funding to facilitate the introduction of kerbside collections of textiles and small electrical appliances Report by Chief Officer Place 221 - 258 6 Private Reports 6.1 Minute of Dalkeith High Education Appointment Committee of 7th April 2022 by Chief Education Operating Officer, Children, Young People and Partnerships • 1. Information relating to a particular employee, former employee or applicant to become an employee of, or a particular office holder, former office-holder or applicant to become an office-holder under, the authority. • 7. Information relating to anything done or to be done in respect of any particular person for the purposes of any of the matters referred to in section 27(1) of the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968 (providing reports on and supervision of certain persons). 6.2 Minute of St Andrews Primary School Education Appointment Committee of 30 June 2022 by Chief Education Operating Officer, Children, Young People and Partnerships • 1. Information relating to a particular employee, former employee or applicant to become an employee of, or a particular office holder, former office-holder or applicant to become an office-holder under, the authority. • 7. Information relating to anything done or to be done in respect of any particular person for the purposes of any of the matters referred to in section 27(1) of the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968 (providing reports on and supervision of certain persons). 6.3 Minute of Saltersgate School Education Appointment Committee of 2nd March 2023 by Chief Education Operating Officer, Children, Young People and Partnerships • 1. Information relating to a particular employee, former employee or applicant to become an employee of, or a particular office holder, former office-holder or applicant to become an office-holder under, the authority. 6.4 Minute of Bonnyrigg Primary School Education Appointment Committee of 4th May 2023 by Chief Education Operating Officer, Children, Young People and Partnerships • 1. Information relating to a particular employee, former employee or applicant to become an employee of, or a particular office holder, former office-holder or applicant to become an office-holder under, the authority. 6.5 Minute of Tynewater Primary School Education Appointment Committee of 4th May 2023 by Chief Education Operating Officer, Children, Young People and Partnerships • 1. Information relating to a particular employee, former employee or applicant to become an employee of, or a particular office holder, former office-holder or applicant to become an office-holder under, the authority. Page 3 of 258
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6.6 Minute of Danderhall Primary School Education Appointment Committee of 5th May 2023 by Chief Education Operating Officer, Children, Young People and Partnerships • 1. Information relating to a particular employee, former employee or applicant to become an employee of, or a particular office holder, former office-holder or applicant to become an office-holder under, the authority. 6.7 Minute of Beeslack Community High School Education Appointment Committee of 5 May 2023 by Chief Education Operating Officer, Children, Young People and Partnerships • 1. Information relating to a particular employee, former employee or applicant to become an employee of, or a particular office holder, former office-holder or applicant to become an office-holder under, the authority. 7 Date of Next Meeting The next meeting will be held on 5 September 2023 Page 4 of 258
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1-1 Cabinet Tuesday 30 May 2023 Item 4.1 Minute of Meeting Cabinet Date Time Venue Tuesday 28 February 2023 10.00 am Council Chambers, Midlothian House, Buccleuch Street, Dalkeith Present: Councillor Parry (Convener) Councillor Bowen Councillor Cassidy Councillor McKenzie Councillor Scott Religious Representatives: Ms Elizabeth Morton In attendance: Dr Grace Vickers, Chief Executive Kevin Anderson, Executive Director Place Nick Clater, Head of Adult Services Joan Tranent, CSWO & Chief Officer Children’s Services, Partnerships and Communities Derek Oliver, Chief Officer Place Saty Kaur, Chief Officer Corporate Solutions (Acting) Michelle Strong, Chief Operating Officer (Education) Alan Turpie Legal Services Manager/Monitoring Officer Andrew Henderson Democratic Services Officer Item 4.1 Page 5 of 258
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1 Welcome, Introductions and Apologies Councillor Parry welcomed those in attendance to the meeting of Cabinet. Apologies were then noted on behalf of Councillor Alexander and Ms Anne-Theresa Lawrie 2 Order of Business The Order of Business was as detailed within the Agenda. 3 Declarations of interest No declarations of interest were received. 4 Minutes of Previous Meetings 4.1 The Minute of the Meeting of the Cabinet held on the 29 November 2022 was submitted and approved as a correct record. 4.2 The Action Log of Cabinet was submitted and noted. 5. Reports Agenda No. Report Title Presented by: 5.1 Inspection of Midlothian Council’s Young People’s Care Home Chief Executive Outline of report and summary of discussion Grace Vickers provided a brief overview of the report making reference to the improvements made referencing to the grades attained and took the opportunity to pass on her thanks as head of paid services. Members took the opportunity to echo the comments of the Chief Executive and agreed to note the report. Decision Cabinet noted the content of the report and progress made and agreed to forward the report to the Performance Review and Scrutiny Committee. Agenda No. Report Title Presented by: 5.2 Adult Health and Social Care Performance Report Quarter Three 2022/23 Head of Adult Services Outline of report and summary of discussion Nick Clater provided a brief overview of the Adult Health and Social Care Performance Report Quarter Three 2022/23 making reference to seasonal Flu/Covid booster programs, unpaid work, substance misuse, staffing challenges, Mental health, Sport and Leisure and further outlined the challenges and risks. Nick Clater then took the opportunity to respond to members questions. With regard to the retention of social workers, Nick Clater confirmed that whilst Page 6 of 258
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retention levels are good, recruitment into mental health and old age is challenging and that work is being undertaken to look into this. Joan Tranent made further reference to national trends and work with social work Scotland. A discussion ensued with regard to service provision within substance misuse. Nick Clater acknowledged that improvements are required with regard to access to treatment and with work being done with the third sector partners to look into possible capacity building. Nick Clater also acknowledged that there was a continued uptake in relation to alcohol issues and assessment was going with regard to possible staffing recourse to address this. Nick Clater further highlighted a lack of nursing staff and outlined that further work was being conducted to assess the possibility of transferring certain tasks to Social Workers and Community Care Assistants. Nick Clater agreed to update members with regard to the possibility of existing users of Midlothian Sport and Leisure cards to access facilities at Hillend. Decision A) Nick Clater agreed to update members with regard to the possibility of existing users of Midlothian Sport and Leisure cards to access facilities at Hillend; and B) Cabinet noted the contents of the report. Agenda No. Report Title Presented by: 5.3 Children Service, Partnership and Communities Performance Report Quarter Three 2022/23 CSWO & Chief Officer Children’s Services, Partnerships and Communities Outline of report and summary of discussion Joan Tranent provided a brief overview of the Children Service, Partnership and Communities Performance Report Quarter Three 2022/23 making reference to recruitment, arrival of Ukrainian families, unaccompanied asylum seeking children and financial pressures. Joan Tranent then took the opportunity to respond to members questions. A discussion ensued in relation to the risk of unaccompanied asylum seeking children going missing, Joan Tranent confirmed that records are maintained and safeguards are in place to minimise the risk of unaccompanied asylum seeking children going missing. Further discussion ensued in relation to the 7% increase in child referrals. Joan Tranent clarified that the majority of referrals are finance related and that a staff member had been recruited to screen applications. Joan Tranent also confirmed that data could be collected regarding referrals providing further insight. Decision Cabinet agreed to note the contents of the report. Page 7 of 258
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Agenda No. Report Title Presented by: 5.4 Corporate Solutions Performance Report Quarter Three 2022/23 Chief Officer Corporate Solutions (Acting) Outline of report and summary of discussion In speaking to the report, Saty Kaur made reference to work undertaken with regard to the budget and medium term financial strategy. Saty Kaur also made reference to the hybridisation of the council chamber, customer service platform, crisis grants and warm and well hubs. Saty Kaur then took the opportunity to respond to points of clarity. In response to comments regarding contact centre complaints not being picked up by services, Saty Kaur confirmed that work was being conducted internally, including the implementation of a new complaints module within the customer service platform which will allow better tracking of complaints and responses allowing for pinpointing of challenges. Saty Kaur outlined that the customer service strategy is being refreshed to focus on supporting vulnerable customers and that work is being undertaken in hubs and libraries to create a first point of contact approach. Saty Kaur confirmed that the implementation period for the customer service platform was ongoing and that the ‘contact us’ complaints feature is scheduled for the beginning of April. Councillor Parry, seconded by Councillor McKenzie then took the opportunity to offer Cabinets thanks to the Council’s twitter help team. A discussion ensued in relation to welfare grants. Saty Kaur confirmed that those who are refused welfare grants are signposted to alternatives including food parcels, alternative funding and DWP grants. Saty Kaur also highlighted that refusals are signposted to trusted partners in addition to other initiatives including welfare rights and income maximisation. In response to comments regarding the mixed footfalls at warm and well hubs, Saty Kaur confirmed that work is being done to communicate the location of warm and well hubs in addition to reducing the stigma of use and that additional consideration was being given to the opening of hubs in Danderhall and Lasswade. Further comments were raised in relation to the possibility of separating payments into set streams. Saty Kaur confirmed that discussions regarding this are ongoing with regard to how this can be facilitated. Decision a) Cabinet offered it’s thanks to the twitter help team for it’s work in responding to customer queries; and b) Noted the contents of the report. Agenda No. Report Title Presented by: 5.5 Education Performance Report Quarter Three 2022/23 Executive Director Children, Young People and Partnerships Outline of report and summary of discussion Michelle Strong provided a brief overview of the Education Performance Report Quarter Three 2022/23 making reference to service improvement priorities and outlined further work to be completed regarding response to complaints and attendance with the aim to see improvement in quarter four. Page 8 of 258
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In response to comments regarding to attendance and the impact of strike action and the impact on student mental wellbeing, Michelle Strong confirmed that there is a 13.8% difference in attendance to pre pandemic levels but that there is a 21.3 variation in the secondary sector and that work is being undertaken to drill into the variations across different schools in addition to work being undertaken with officers, head teachers and support services to ascertain whether nonattendance was habitual or a result of barriers to engagement. A discussion then ensued in relation to the mental wellbeing of learners and the impact on attendance and exclusions Michelle Strong acknowledged the continued presence of more distressed behaviours amongst learners compared to pre pandemic and highlighted that work is being undertaken to ascertain how learners can be best supported. Michelle Strong further outlined the importance of using local and national data to support improvement around attendance, exclusions, the reporting of incidents. In response to comments regarding ‘future classroom’ Michelle Strong confirmed key priorities around the development of the curriculum to ensure that learners are provided with the best opportunities and that work is being linked to the equipped for learning program and highlighted that further information would be reflected in quarter four. Decision Cabinet noted the contents of the report. Agenda No. Report Title Presented by: 5.6 Place Performance Report Quarter Three 2022/23 Chief Officer Place Outline of report and summary of discussion In speaking to the Place Performance Report Quarter Three 2022/23 Derek Oliver made reference to building standards service, building maintenance services, property and facilities management, neighbourhood services, planning and economy, and protective services. Derek Oliver then took the opportunity to respond to points of clarity. There was a brief discussion in relation to the possible use of pre-payment meters. Derek Oliver confirmed that pre payment meters are not being considered whilst acknowledging some issues with energy companies impacting the turnaround time for voids and that work was ongoing to streamline this. With regard to properties that had a pre-payment meter installed, Derek Oliver confirmed that these could not be removed and continued to provide a brief overview of the process that is undertaken when transferring between tenants. Further discussion ensued in relation to the improvements made to void turnarounds. Derek Oliver confirmed that the bulk of the work is undertaken in house and confirmed that staff retention within building maintenance services is good. Decision Cabinet noted the contents of the report. Page 9 of 258
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Agenda No. Report Title Presented by: 5.7 Midlothian Council Report Quarter Three 2022/23 Chief Executive Outline of report and summary of discussion Grace Vickers provided a brief overview of the Midlothian Council Report Quarter Three 2022/23 making reference to progress against strategic outcomes, achievements, challenges and risks. Grace Vickers then offered to respond to members' questions. Decision Cabinet noted the contents of the report. 6 Private Reports In view of the nature of the business to be transacted, the Cabinet agreed that the public be excluded from the meeting during discussion of the undernoted item, as contained in the Addendum hereto, as there might be disclosed exempt information as defined in paragraph 6 of Part I of Schedule 7A to the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973:- Agenda No Report Title Presented by: 6.1 Irrecoverable Debt Write-Off Chief Officer Corporate Solutions (Acting) Decision Cabinet authorised write-off to a total value of £328,744.84 for the irrecoverable debts • Appendix B (Housing Rent Former Tenants) amounting to a total of £124,940.52 • Appendix 2 (Non Domestic Rates) amounting to a total of £105,267.90 • Appendix 3 (Sundry Debt) amounting to a total of £98,536.42 7 Date of the Next Meeting The date of the next meeting was noted as Tuesday 18 April 2023 at 11 am. The meeting terminated at 11:35am Page 10 of 258
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Cabinet: Tuesday 18 April 2023 Action Log No Subject Date Action Action Owner Expected completion date Comments 1 Adult Health and Social Care Performance Report Quarter Two 2022/23 28/02/2023 Nick Clater to provide update to members with regard to the possibility of using existing Midlothian Leisure Cards to access facilities at Hillend. Head of Adult Services Q3 2023/24 Lead appointed to review S&L charges. Briefing meeting held on Friday 12th with completion end of June/beginning of July. Full details will be presented to the Council. Review of memberships and possible inclusion of Hillend will be determined after review. Hillend not part of this review (current business cases already reviewed by external company). 2 Place Performance Report Quarter Three 2022/23 28/02/2023 Clarification to be provided in relation to LACER funding streams as outlined in the report in advance of PRS. Chief Officer Place 14/03/2023 Complete - Funding Streams detailed in Q4 report Cabinet Tuesday 30 May 2023 Item No: 4.2 Item 4.2 Page 11 of 258
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1 Adult Health and Social Care Performance Report 2022/23 Progress in delivery of strategic outcomes Our Vision: People in Midlothian are enabled to lead longer and healthier lives. Our Values: Right support, right time, right place. Midlothian Integration Joint Board plan and direct the services that are delivered by Midlothian Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP). The HSCP is a partnership between NHS Lothian and Midlothian Council and is responsible for services that help Midlothian residents to live well and get support when they need it. This includes all community health and social care services for adults in Midlothian and some hospital based services such as Accident and Emergency. In order to meet the legal requirements of the Public Bodies (Joint Working) (Scotland) Act 2014, the HSCP was required to develop, consult on, and publish a new 3 year Strategic Plan in 2022. The new Strategic Plan for 2022- 25 was published in April 2022. HSCP COVID-19 Response: The Health and Social Care Partnership, its partners and the communities it services continued to be impacted by the ongoing effects of the COVID19 pandemic. A recent spike in infections over the winter months coupled with Influenza cases has caused significant pressure on our workforce due to absences. The Health and Social Care Partnership has maintained delivery of services and continues to work with its partners to ensure resources are being managed and deployed to cover staff absences where needed. The partnership continue to deliver the vaccination programme across sites in Midlothian. Midlothian Community Hospital have seen a return in face-to-face outpatient clinics. More recently, guidance around PPE has been further relaxed and there has been an indication from the World Health Organisation (WHO) that, “with great hope”, the pandemic is at an end. Seasonal Flu/COVID Booster Programmes: The Midlothian Vaccination Team have responsibility for all vaccinations; Seasonal Flu, all covid vaccines, shingles and pneumococcal and all unscheduled vaccines that were part of the Vaccination Transformation Programme from the GPs to the HSCP. The Autumn/Winter 2022/23 Vaccination Programme for Flu and Covid boosters concluded on 31st March 2023. As of 31st March 2023, the uptake of flu vaccines for adults administered in Midlothian HSCP is 71% for Flu vaccines and 70% for Covid Booster vaccines. The Community Vaccination Team continue to deliver the school flu programme and the 0-5 immunisation team deliver the 2-5 year flu programme with a 61% uptake on 31st March 2023. Shingles and Pneumococcal vaccinations – as of 31st March 2023, Shingles vaccination uptake for Midlothian is 82% and the pneumococcal vaccination uptake for Midlothian is 78% with some second offers outstanding. This will be picked up following the spring booster vaccination programme. The Spring Covid Booster Vaccination Programme commenced on 27th March 2023. The first two weeks have been dedicated to Care Home and House Bound patients. All eligible cohorts thereafter, 75+ and those 12+ with Weakened Immune Systems (WIS), have been invited for their vaccinations across 3 venues from 11th April 2023 – Midlothian Community Hospital, Rosewell Steading and Dalkeith Medical Practice. As part of the ongoing inclusivity plan and to promote further uptake in line with the Scottish Government, Pop-up vaccination clinics have taken place to target areas of deprivation, areas of lower uptake, residents in homeless accommodation, those with substance misuse and those involved in the Criminal Justice System. These venues include: IKEA Edinburgh, Mayfield Community Big Dig event, local Ukrainian coffee morning, Dalkeith Library/Arts Centre and Warm Hubs in Midlothian, separate clinic sessions were held inviting individuals in homeless accommodation and Learning Disabilities teams continue to support with vaccinating their patient who are unable to attend clinics. Item 5.1 Page 13 of 258
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2 Service Transformation: Whilst there remains some pause on the work to develop a National Care Service, discussions continue around the preparation required at both Chief Social Work Officer meetings and other Social Work Scotland fora. It should be noted that both COSLA and Social Work Scotland have requested that the Scottish Government pause on the Bill pending further consultation. Notice was provided in March 2023 that there would be a pause in NCS progression pending the outcome of the election of a new First Minister. It had been anticipated that work would re- start in June 2023 but the new Minister for Social Care, Wellbeing and Sport, Maree Todd, has indicated that the debate may be pushed further back in the timetable. Justice: The Justice Team have continued to deliver a range of interventions that fulfil our statutory requirements, despite managing a number of vacancies throughout the financial year. This has included making progress to implement the national outcomes outlined in the Scottish Government’s Vision for Justice in Scotland. To ensure that we are able to provide early interventions at the Court stage we continue to liaise with colleagues locally and nationally to enable us to offer and provide a range of bail services to those resident in Midlothian. As evidenced by the updated performance measures we have made good progress against the performance indicators, despite workforce pressures and this has been supported by close partnership working to ensure that we can achieve positive outcomes for service users. Throughout the 2022-2023 financial year the Community Justice and Safety Manager has continued to work with partner agencies (statutory and third sector) to deliver the outcomes in the 2020-2023 Community Justice Outcome and Improvement Plan (CJOIP) and to develop the forthcoming 5 year plan (2023-2028). The importance of communicating and increasing awareness and understanding of Justice and Community Justice was highlighted and during 2022-23 financial year and we worked in collaboration with media students at Edinburgh College (Dalkeith Campus) to raise awareness around the issues on topics including Hate Crime, Masculinity, Restorative Justice and Violence against Women and Girls. The project culminated in the students producing short videos highlighting the issues which were showcased at an event on 21st February 20203. This prompted detailed and positive discussions allowing sharing of knowledge & expertise between the students, professionals and others in attendance. In addition the event allowed opportunities for discussion on gaps that Midlothian Council and partners could address in the coming years to address issues and concerns together with establishing and developing partnership Feedback from the event was extremely positive with partner agencies keen to build on the work undertaken to inform learning and development within their own organisations. Substance Misuse: Key services based in Number 11 in Dalkeith continued to provide services including outreach treatment, injecting equipment provision (IEP), Naloxone, and information/advice. Currently, there are challenges with recruitment. However, the Midlothian Substance Use Service continues to support and treat those individuals who are most at risk. This includes the provision of Buvidal (an injectable form of Buprenorphine). MELDAP is in the top six ADPs in terms of the uptake of Buvidal. The national uptake is 12.5% while the MELDAP figure is 25%. MELDAP has been advised of a provisional Green rating for Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) Standards 1-5. MAT 1 included improved access and starting treatment on the same day as presenting. For Q4 the waiting times performance was 95%. (National standard is 90%). Midlothian is well placed to deliver MAT Standards 6 -10 by the March 2024. The Scottish Government predicts a rating of amber for these standards. This is due to the fact that Scottish Government have yet to confirm the processes and measurements associated with the delivery of these standards. Learning Disabilities: Finance and Performance Group approved the recommendations of the Complex Care Expert Panel for allocation of the Community Change Fund. The key spending priorities are the recruitment to a Transition Development Worker, Improvements to Day Service Venues for people with Complex Needs, A Positive Behavioural Support Training Programme and grants to third sector organisations. The Human Rights Expert Panel has completed its first programme of activity and has now agreed a programme of two monthly meetings for the remainder of 2023. Building work has started on the flats at Bonnyrigg High Street and is scheduled for completion in June 2024. Designs for Primrose Lodge in Loanhead are complete, and the property is now vacant. A reapplication for capital to Page 14 of 258
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3 fund the project was refused, and alternative sources of funding are being sought. Renovations at Teviot Court are now complete with the exception of some outside groundwork that should not affect tenants. Numbers on the Learning Disability waiting list remain constant. Cases are prioritised based on urgency and the figures will mask the turnover of cases on the waiting list or cases that have been allocated immediately. The waiting list is regularly reviewed for any change in circumstances that will require immediate allocation. Older People: Care at home: Our internal and external providers delivered 68,765 planned hours of care during this quarter. Our internal Care at Home service delivered 35% of the planned hours, and a total of 56,537 visits across Midlothian. A new Resource Manager was appointed and face to face meetings have been held with carers in each area, jointly with Union partners. Staff feedback and engagement has helped with the development of a Service Improvement Plan. Learning and Development continues to be a significant focus, with the opening of the new training suite at Hardengreen offering a local space to facilitate Moving and Handling training. Carers: Unpaid carer management oversight changed to Service Manager Disabilities at the start of Q4. Work during Q3 to produce a business case and plan committing available recurring and underspent Carers Act funding continued during Q4, but the change in manager allowed the opportunity for a status check on HSCP internal funding utilisation and commitment. Carers Act funding is ring-fenced, but recognition is being given to the impact on carers and services of the wider Council/HSCP budgetary situation. Head of Adult Services has been apprised of carer funding proposals, and is working with the Service Manager and Carer Planning Officer regarding a transparent and collaborative decision making process regarding the commitment of available funds. The Carer Planning Officer is in discussion with Alzheimer Scotland senior managers regarding the Dementia Carer Support Practitioner post. Identification of an HR issue has resulted in changes to the original /person specification, but this is resolved and can hopefully result in the post being advertised as soon as possible. Mental Health: Primary Care 2022 Action 15 developments continues to be postponed still awaiting update from Scottish Government. Individual Placement Support Occupational therapist post has been recruited into and commenced and has a triage referral caseload of 25 individuals. During Q4 up until the IPS OT commenced post it’s important to note that the core Adult Mental Health OT service has been able to support the following individuals: Employment (14), Volunteering (3), and Education (17). Continued Strong partnership working continues between Housing, Health and Social care with third sector. Providing support for individuals with complex needs, through the housing first model. The current local Adult Mental Health Social Work Team/Mental Health Officer team comprises 4 full time Mental Health Officers (MHO), 2 trainees currently out of practice and 1 part time social worker. The team is currently progressing with the recruitment of 1 further Social Worker for the team. Over the last year there have been various challenges in relation to workforce pressures and recruitment of MHOs. Locally we identified the need to support further development, training and retention of MHOs within the current Midlothian Social Work teams, thus enhancing the capacity to address both the Mental Health Social Work waiting list and the Welfare Guardianship Order waiting list. As a service we addressed these challenges through the review of the current waiting list at the time, identified the local Social Work staff who were appropriate to progress with MHO training as well as having the opportunity to invest further through additional monies the recruitment of a 1 wte permanent Social Worker for the team. We were also able to proceed with the recruitment and support of one agency MHO and one casual MHO to support with progressing and reducing the Welfare Guardianship Order waiting list. Over 2022/2023 we have successfully made a significant impact on our waiting list from 60 individual's waiting for MHO report to current waiting list being 18. We are hopeful that once our current MHO trainees are back in practice and the new Social Worker is in post, we will be able to maintain a minimal waiting list and be reactive to WGO's, as a service we will continue to monitor the demand and waiting list on a monthly basis. Page 15 of 258
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4 Adults with Long Term Conditions, Disability and Impairment: Awareness training sessions for relevant HSCP staff, provided by Sight Scotland are being delivered, starting in June 2023. Sight Scotland continue to provide information sessions to staff in relation to the services they provide and report back on the people they have worked with. They continue to reduce waiting lists for people requiring their service, which is offered in their community and evidence this through quarterly reporting. Deaf Action now have a qualified Social Worker in place who has actively engaged with Social Work and Physical Disabilities Teams within the Partnership. A review of work being undertaken by CCA’s at Deaf Action has taken place jointly with the Physical Disabilities Team. Volunteers continue to uplift peoples’ faulty hearing aids from their homes and deliver the aids to Midlothian Community Hospital for an Audiology technician to repair, and then return the repaired aids back to the individuals. Specially trained staff are also able to repair hearing aids for people on the same day. This service is offered both by HSCP and Red cross staff. There has been no active movement in terms of re-introducing Community Audiology Clinics as there has been no communication from the Audiology Service, despite several attempts. The Physical Disabilities Team and Long Term Conditions Team is currently part of a joint project with the Thistle Foundation which aims to improve support provided to someone who has Neurological Condition. This is due to be evaluated in the Autumn. The Service is also in the process of reviewing its Guidelines for the provision of Aids and Adaptations with the aim that this document can be shared with members of the public to help them understand better the role and remit of the Service Hybrid model up and running for delivery of face to face and digital for all weight management programmes. Digital devices secured for people referred so they are able to decide what options best suits their needs Improving. Sport and Leisure: The Sport and Leisure Service Review is nearing completion and the new structure will be implemented from early 2023/24. Vacancies remain in the service and recruitment is continuing for these. ToneZone Memberships have increased from 4103 at the start of the quarter to 4346 at the end of Q4. On return form Covid we had 3570 memberships which currently sits at 4346 (1796 less than pre Covid) however up 776 since reopening. Factors influencing a decline in retuning customers include: • post Covid training habits – more people are inclined to use the outdoor spaces; • delayed access in returning to facility of choice (specifically Lasswade and Newbattle); • current cost of living; • alternative gyms opening in the Midlothian and outside Midlothian. The management team in Sport and Leisure are working hard to identify opportunities to increase participation, membership and income and these include: • A Tone Zone marketing plan (£0 costs involved) is available – initiatives include reduced joining and membership fees, a focus in December on fitness, free months; • Promote all our offerings on social media platforms and via the Council Communications team regularly (43 posts about classes, 70 posts about individual centres and operational matters, 13 posts about offers such as joining fees, 20 general media type posts such as success of Ageing Well initiatives, Destination Hillend updates and Walk the Line calls for entries); • We also promote through Active Schools (April 23) 15 tweets, 17.4K tweet impressions, 544 visits, 24 mentions and 3 new followers. Project work We continued to undertake various project work including: • CLLE: we have continued to work in partnership with CLLE to offer opportunities to identified young people and families; • Daily Mile: We are continuing to work on promoting and providing support for schools to deliver this; • Cycle fund: We have received £7522 from Scottish Cycling to purchase some bikes and organise training to allow us to deliver more cycling sessions and make cycling more accessible to all. We plan to apply for year 2 funding to expand this programme to allow us to take a more targeted approach; Page 16 of 258
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5 • Kit for All: we have continued to develop this with Young Ambassadors driving this project. They are currently promoting the project and coordinating donation and collection of kit. This is currently running in 3 areas, with plans to expand into others. Secondary Schools Work in our Secondary Schools continues: • Young Ambassadors: Our young ambassadors have worked on various projects this term including kit for all, inter house events, Active Girls events & promotion and organisation of Lasswade Sports Personality event; • Fit for Girls (FFG) – our existing and new FFG group attended a workshop delivered by national trainers to help with planning and development of our FFG work in Midlothian. Page 17 of 258
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6 Challenges and Risks COVID-19: The Health and Social Care Partnership, its partners and the communities it serves continued to be impacted by the COVID 19 pandemic. The Health and Social Care Partnership has maintained delivery of services and continues to work with its partners to ensure resources are being managed and deployed to cover staff absences where needed and continue to develop our remobilisation plans. We continue to work to ensure key staff receive both the Covid and flu vaccine. The winter covid 19 vaccination programme has been completed, with plans for the spring booster programme by cohort groups planned to commence 27 March 2023 A growing and ageing population: Midlothian is the second smallest Local Authority in mainland Scotland but the fastest growing. This will continue to pose challenges for health and social care services whilst also changing some local communities. As people live for longer many more people will be living at home with frailty and/or dementia and/or multiple health conditions. An increasing number of people live on their own, and for some this will bring a risk of isolation. We have invested further in providing post-diagnostic support to people living with dementia in their own homes, particularly to those newly diagnosed. We are working hard to ensure all people diagnosed with dementia have access to a link worker for the first year post-diagnosis Higher rates of long-term conditions: Managing long-term conditions is one of the biggest challenges facing health care services worldwide, with 60% of all deaths attributable to them. Older people are more susceptible to developing long-term conditions; most over 65s have two or more conditions and most over 75s have three or more conditions. People living in areas of multiple deprivation are at particular risk with, for example, a much greater likelihood of early death from heart failure. They are also likely to develop 2 or more conditions 10-15 years earlier than people living in affluent areas. Our Community Treatment and Assessment centres (ctac) continue to develop within our localities linked to our GP practices. We provide phlebotomy services Long term condition monitoring, wound management in our CTAC clinics. We plan to collaboratively develop a digital platform that engages people to access preventative support with activities of daily living (ADLs) using the LifeCurve platform to empower people to feel more in control of their own health and wellbeing. This will bring together learning and insights from several projects including the Neurological Conditions project, the Long Covid Pathway and the Integrated Falls Pathway which aim to target support for the wellbeing and symptom management of those living with long term conditions in Midlothian. Higher rates of mental health needs: Many mental health problems are preventable, and almost all are treatable, so people can either fully recover or manage their conditions successfully and live fulfilling healthy lives as far as possible. The incidence of mental health issues in Midlothian, while similar to the rest of Scotland, is a concern. Living in poverty increases the likelihood of mental health problems but also mental health problems can lead to greater social exclusion and higher levels of poverty. People who have life-long mental illness are likely to die 15-20 years prematurely because of physical ill-health. Alongside more established nursing and social work services, Midlothian HSCP established the Mental Health and Resilience Service (MHARS) in August 2022. This is a 7-day per week telephone service people can access for advice and support around how they can better manage their mental health. It is self-referral and there are a range of options available post-telephone call. Our services are under pressure: People place a high value on being able to access effective health services when they need them. People expect to receive high quality care services when these are needed whether as a result of age, disability, sex, gender or long term health conditions. Yet there are a number of pressures on our services. For example, we have particular pressures regarding transitions of young people with learning disabilities from childrens’ to adults’ services. Financial pressures Financial pressures on public services are well documented. There is no doubt that we need to do things differently: the traditional approach to delivering health and care services is no longer financially sustainable. We have particular pressures in our disability services with challenges to meet complex needs in the community when in the past care settings may have been considered. In working through the IJB budget for 2023-24, we are beginning to look at how we can make efficiencies. It is likely that difficult choices may have to be made. Page 18 of 258
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7 Transitions from Children’s Services There is a specific pressure regarding the transition of young people from children’s’ to adult services (mainly with learning disabilities). There is an increasing number of young people meeting eligibility criteria for support and the number of you people with particularly complex needs also increasing. In additional to the overall financial pressure of increased support provision by adult services there are challenges related to improving the experience of transitions, Improvement work is being progressed to improve multi-agency practice in relation to transitions and embed the newly developed Principles of Good Transitions. Specific ring-fenced Learning Disability funding will be used to recruit a development worker who will be tasked specifically taking forward this work related to improving the transition pathway. Workforce pressures The Covid-19 pandemic has and will continue to influence the demand for, and deployment of, the health and care workforce for the foreseeable future. There is reduced availability of staff with appropriate qualifications or skills, including General Practitioners, Social Care Workers and Staff Nurses. This impacts on service delivery and development. Whilst we continue to attempt recruitment, we acknowledge that some areas remain stubbornly difficult to recruit to. To offset this, where we can, we look to change workforce skills mix but this is not always feasible. Our Lothian wide clinical education plans have been developed to respond to the need to develop numbers of staff working at and Advanced Practice level in nursing and AHP as part of the approach to orienting the whole system to meet modern challenges, thus enabling GPs focus on more complex work by developing the skills of the nursing and AHP workforce to undertake diagnosis and prescribing. Midlothian currently has a Pharmacy team that is fully established and has a recent history of successful recruitment. This team is deployed in GP practices supporting the principles of the 2018 GMS contract focussing on delivery of Pharmacotherapy, within the limits of the current funding allocation. Practice pharmacy teams have discussions with patients daily to ensure the safest and most appropriate use of their medicines. Unpaid carers Unpaid carers fulfil significant, valuable and wide-ranging roles within Midlothian communities, helping to keep people with care and support needs within our communities. During the pandemic many people became carers for the first time, or saw changes to their caring role, resulting in them providing significantly more care for their elderly, sick or disabled family, friends and neighbours. Through this period services supporting carers continued to offer a range of support, including digitally, and by telephone, though services supporting the person they provide support to may have been reduced, e.g. respite and day services, impacting on carers. Further work is required to reduce the significant pressure and impact of caring that carers reported, by continuing to explore innovative options to enable support to be given to both carers and the cared-for, and for there to be opportunities for breaks from caring. We are currently working with key stakeholders to determine how best to allocate the resources we have for unpaid carers. We are particularly keen to see an increase in capacity of respite opportunities for both individuals and their carers. Acute hospitals Acute hospitals are under huge pressure due to unsustainable demand and financial restrictions. Investing in community based services and work with carers is required to minimise avoidable and inappropriate admissions and facilitate earlier discharge. By treating people closer to home, or in their own home the HSCP can support admission avoidance and improve people’s outcomes. Winter has seen a consistent pressure at the front doors of our hospital sites across Lothian. Midlothian HSCO community services are focusing on flow through the hospital and have invested in an umbrella of community services to embed our Home First model of care delivery. Community Respiratory Team, Rapid response team, district nursing, care at home services have been supported to increase capacity to sustain support to those within community and avoid hospital admission. Page 19 of 258
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1 Children's Services, Partnership and Communities Performance Report 2022/23 01. Progress in delivery of strategic outcomes Item 5.2 Page 23 of 258
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4 01. Progress in delivery of strategic outcomes GIRFEC Service Priority: More children and young people are safe, healthy and resilient Priority Action 1: Develop a Midlothian Whole Family Support Service Progress and Achievement in Q4 • The team are in place however still a significant amount of development work to be undertaken to ensure we are utilising the service towards holistic family support at the earliest point of contact. Plans for improvement next year ahead • Undertake a full review of 3rd sector support which will be available to enhance this service so that we have a menu of options of support for families • Ensure that we have a self evaluation plan in place that will evidence the impact of supporting families at the earliest point of access • Develop a single point of access Performance Indicator Due Date Target Baseline (previous data) Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Funding and resources are in place for 23/24 31/03/23 New Measure 0 12 staff recruited All staff in place All staff in place Priority Action 2: Increase the number of families who benefit from Family Systemic work Progress and Achievement in Q4 • Achievements being that workers are now trained in NVR (non-violent resistance) and beginning to support parents using coaching methods in NVR. • Continue to manage the waiting list to keep it to a minimum • Support to help families to improve relationships and communication. Feedback from family- ‘it was better than I expected as I want sure what to expect… it was bringing the family together, identifying ideas for helping, feeling heard.’ Plans for improvement next year ahead • Currently writing an update on the benefits of having a second worker in systemic work. However uncertainty exists about whether this post will retained or the person will return to their substantive post. • Another member of the EIP team is due to start their systemic family training at foundational level in September 23 Performance Indicator Due Date Target Baseline (previous data) Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 17 new families 31/03/23 17 12 4 5 29 17 Priority Action 3: Promote the use of Self-Directed Support (SDS) amongst families using services Progress and Achievement in Q4 • We continue to make significant progress in this area of work with families having the option of us supporting the or making their own decisions about what support looks like. Plans for improvement next year ahead • Consolidate our learning over the past year and develop a team that is skilled and competent in what is a growing area of need • Develop a menu of options that offer support to children and their families who have additional support needs Performance Indicator Due Date Target Baseline (previous data) Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Increase by 10% the number of families who organise their own support 31/03/23 75 68 46 67 87 Page 26 of 258
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5 Priority Action 4: Further develop the supports offered to Family Group Decision Making and Kinship supports Progress and Achievement in Q4 • The pace of growth in this area of work is a good example of us intervening earlier with families and more importantly empowering them to find their own solutions. The team has a skilled workforce who are fully committed to offering a service that is respectful and works in partnership with families to manage risk in often very complex situations. Plans for improvement next year ahead • To secure funding for permanent posts as most of the staff are funded via short term funding applications. • To develop the service so that FGDM is core to all the work we undertake in children’s services. • To develop the service so that we can further support our kinship carers as and when they require this. Performance Indicator Due Date Target Baseline (previous data) Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Number of families who are referred to Family Group Decision Making 31/03/23 increase 21/22 figs by 15% 79 32 59 82 Number of families who participate in Family Group Decision Making 31/03/23 Increase 21/22 figs by 10% 32 16 24 42 The number of assessments by kinship worker 31/03/23 increase 21/22 fig by 15% 14 4 6 6 Percentage of kinship carers who attend engagement sessions 31/03/23 80% of Kinship carers one event New Measure 0 0 N/A Reduce the number of CEYP who enter homeless accommodation vs other suitable accommodation 31/03/23 2 N/A N/A N/A Number of CEYP living with Foster Carers on After Care arrangement post 21 years 31/03/23 3 New Measure N/A N/A 1 Increase number of young people in the National Housing Project 31/03/23 10-12 New Measure N/A N/A 27 Average age of young people in Continuing Care 31/03/23 Age 18 New Measure N/A N/A 18 Priority Action 5: Develop a pathway for children and families to navigate mental health services Progress and Achievement in Q4 • There had been an agreement 22/23 for CAHMS for give the LA £100k to develop a Single Point of Access. Due to staffing issues within our service this didn’t progress and CAHMS have now withdrawn the funding for this piece of work. Plans for improvement next year ahead • Develop a Single Point of Access that will be led by CAMHS rather than the LA • Continue to improve options for C&YP to access mental health services at the earliest point of need. Performance Indicator Due Date Target Baseline (previous data) Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 1 x Single Point of Access in place (SPOA) 31/03/23 New Measure 0 N/A N/A N/A Page 27 of 258
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6 Priority Action 6: Strengthen mechanisms to support families maximise their income Progress and Achievement in Q4 • There has been significant work over the year supporting families to access benefits/additional funding which they are entitled to, in order to ease the pressure of the cost of living crisis Plans for improvement next year ahead • Continue to offer this support in a flexible way that meets the needs of families • Further work to be undertaken regarding referrals received when families have had 3 offers of support from the Scottish Welfare Fund, we need to develop a pathway that keeps them away from statutory services and identify what other offers of support they can access. Performance Indicator Due Date Target Baseline (previous data) Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Number of families offered an income assessment 31/03/23 90 60 27 45 68 Priority Action 7: Children, young people and their families experience high quality services Progress and Achievement in Q4 • We have had our inspection of our children’s residential houses where we received ‘Very Good’ grades which is a magnificent achievement. Plans for improvement next year ahead • Ensure we maintain a high standard of care in all our services • Foster care recruitment will be a focus of work in the coming year, as there is a local and national shortage of foster carers. Performance Indicator Due Date Target Baseline (previous data) Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Local Adoption Service will provide high quality care and support 31/03/23 Care inspection Grading of GOOD New Measure N/A N/A N/A Local Fostering Service will provide high quality care and support 31/03/23 Care inspection Grading of GOOD New Measure N/A N/A N/A Local Continuing Care/Adult services will provide high quality care and support 31/03/23 Care inspection Grading of GOOD New Measure N/A N/A N/A Hawthorn Family Learning Centre will provide high quality care and support 31/03/22 Care inspection Grading of GOOD New Measure N/A N/A N/A Young People’s Care Homes will provide high quality care and support 31/03/22 Care inspection Grading of GOOD New Measure N/A VERY GOOD N/A Priority Action 8: Children and young people are supported to develop a strong sense of their own identity Progress and Achievement in Q4 • We gather qualitative and quantative information regularly which supports our ethos of ensuring C&YP develop a strong sense of their own identity. Plans for improvement next year ahead • Continue to train staff and carers to better understand life story work and the impact this has on C&YP lives Performance Indicator Due Date Target Baseline (previous data) Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Staff are trained and understand Life Story work 31/03/23 20 16 N/A at this time 12 Page 28 of 258
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7 Priority Action 9: Children and young people are supported by staff who understand the importance of trauma informed practice Progress and Achievement in Q4 • Roll out of trauma informed practice for all staff across the service Plans for improvement next year ahead • Ensure that trauma informed practice is embedded in all our work and our meetings with families Performance Indicator Due Date Target Baseline (previous data) Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Staff are trained in using a trauma informed approach 31/03/23 20 15 N/A at this time N/A at this time N/A at this time Page 29 of 258
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8 02. Challenges and Risks Workforce: The biggest challenge facing children’s services in quarter 4 is the workforce. Whilst there is a national workforce issue within social work and social care, we are experiencing higher levels of staff absence, maternity leave and the inability to recruit external candidates. The pool of agency staff is poor as all local authorities are facing similar challenges. Due to the size of our local authority being unable to recruit coupled with increased sickness absence results in a significant impact on services. The volume of work and new initiatives coming into children’s services is increasing and the challenges of identifying suitably skilled and experienced staff to take forward pieces of important work is a real issue. It is becoming increasingly difficult to drive forward change or to allow time for evaluation around how we are doing business. Whilst not the only factor, the issue is exacerbated by our salaries not being as competitive as neighbouring local authorities. Within the last 6 years we have only been able to recruit one team leader from an external source all other positions have been promotions within the organisation. Furthermore, there is a view that many workers are leaving the profession due to increasing demands being placed on the social work role. We recognise that this is something that professional bodies are tackling nationally. Currently and unusually we have vacancies for social workers (4), team leader (2) and a service manager backfill. The risk this brings to the service is that we are only able to deliver on operational matters with little or no capacity for managers to do any strategic work. Our numbers of looked after and children on the child protection register remain low which means we are getting this right, and have done for quite some time, but the concern is the volume of referrals coming into the service means we could be at risk of missing something that is low level escalating. Given the many competing demands upon service managers in particular we have no capacity to undertake additional work at this stage to improve or better understand this situation. In August several managers return from maternity leave thus allowing some capacity within the service to take forward areas of improvement. Children’s Services Referrals: Referrals into the duty team are at an all-time high. There has been a 49% increase in the number of referrals since 2020 when the pandemic began, and a 13.39% increase from last year to this year. Having undertaken some further exploration a large percentage of referrals are repeat referrals which evidences that we are not getting things right at the first point of contact, furthermore a significant proportion are around financial requests. The inception of the family wellbeing service will over time support a change in practice and culture where we reduce the number of repeat referrals, many of which are related to financial pressures within families. Unfortunately due to workforce issues around recruitment, sickness and maternity leave we have been unable to progress a deeper dive into this piece of work. We are however working with partners to identify a suitable person to progress this work as an area of priority. National Care Service: The ‘Bill’ which is currently in Stage 1 of the process remains at the developmental phase. The Minister for social care has requested an extension to after the summer recess before publishing another version of what an NCS could look like. A response is still to be received as to whether Parliament agrees to this or not. Given the changes in structure/positions it is likely this will be granted. A significant amount of work is happening behind the scenes around how an NCS could improve outcomes for service users. Over the summer there hopes to be extensive consultation with officers in children’s services around the impact of being included or not within the NCS. This level of uncertainty is challenging for the workforce and comes at a time when there is a national workforce crisis across both social work and social care. Work is however being progressed regardless of the NCS status around a National Social Work agency (NSWA) This work is just commencing but there appears to be a real appetite to progress to a national approach to pay and conditions across the land. The Promise: The Promise lead has now commenced in post and will progress Midlothian’s Promise Strategy and plan. A challenge in progressing this work will be to engage with all partner agencies to ensure shared responsibilities as corporate parents. A series of Promise engagement/awareness raising will be rolled out across the Council and Partnership and will include Elected members. Page 30 of 258
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9 Poverty: As families continue to be impacted by the cost of living crisis this is expected to lead to an increase in the number of families experiencing poverty. This also applies to workers on low incomes. Financial requests into the children’s services remains high however we have recently recruited a worker to look at all financial request to ensure families are accessing the right supports and benefits. Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children: The arrival of Ukrainian families continues in Midlothian with support from the local authority and our 3rd sector colleagues too as well as our hosts. What is more challenging is the arrival of unaccompanied asylum seeking children within Scotland. Last year Scotland received 280 UASC most of which we were mandated to take. The numbers arriving in Kent via the boats are beginning to increase as the weather improves and there is a legitimate concern that we may be mandated as a country to open a hotel to accommodate young people. Within Social Work Scotland and other national groups such as COSLA we are strongly opposing this approach. Having children reside within hotels is not a model of care that anyone in 2023 would support and would result in one local authority having a statutory responsibility for all the looked after young people within this accommodation. Given the current concerns around lack of foster care and residential care accommodation it is very concerning how we shall support ongoing requests to accommodate unaccompanied asylum seeking children and young people. To date Midlothian have been able to accept all mandatory requests from the home office however we are now in a position like many other local authorities where we have no foster care placements or beds within our children’s house and therefore if a young person under 16 presented tomorrow we would need to consider an external placement. Children with and Enduring Complex Needs: We continue to work with partners to explore how best to meet the current demands and pressure whilst making sure we future proof our services to deliver sustainable options locally for children and young people with ASN and Complex and Enduring Needs. This includes consideration of residential care home provision. Foster Care: We continue to seek and explore options to expand our foster carer population recognising the need to future proof this area of service. We are looking at new campaigns to promote recruitment of foster carers for both local children and young people but also to consider caring for unaccompanied asylum seeking children and young people. Once again this is a national issue not unique to Midlothian Page 31 of 258
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Corporate Solutions Performance Report 2022/23 Corporate Solutions will “deliver forward looking services fit for a modern 21st Century organisation and put the citizen at the centre of Service Redesign”. Corporate Solutions encompasses Finance, Human Resources, Digital, Customer and Communication Services, Legal & Governance and Corporate Resources. This report presents the Q4 performance for Corporate Solutions and a summary for the 2022/23 reporting year. Corporate Solutions supports the whole Council delivering services to internal and external stakeholders; with responsibility for leading the Council’s Medium Term Financial Strategy and ensuring organisational compliance, developing the workforce and advancing transformation. Achievements for 2022/23 Finance • Presentation to Council of a full suite of financial monitoring reports for Quarter 3 to promote sound financial governance. • Development of a detailed Medium Term Financial Strategy with particular focus on 23/24 base budget and Local Government Finance Settlement. • The finance team continue to provide in-depth financial input to key revenue and capital projects embedded in the Medium Term Financial Strategy. • Benefits claims - reducing the processing times for change of circumstances from 12 days in Q3 to 5 days in Q4 bringing this indicator on target for the last quarter of the year. • Scottish Welfare Fund - £815,042 was awarded from the Scottish Welfare Fund. 7,790 applications were assessed for crisis grants of which 4,083 met the criteria and resulted in payments. • Processing of Community Care Grant applications totalling 1,457 of which 490 payments were made. Workforce • As part of the ongoing review of People Policies: o Council agreed to 10 days of miscarriage leave to be incorporated into the suite of family leave policies and committed to the Miscarriage Association’s pledge. o IVF treatment leave has been added to our suite of family leave offerings. o Revisions are underway on the Whistleblowing Policy and Overpayments Policy. o A Hybrid Working policy has been drafted for consultation and implementation. Item 5.3 Page 33 of 258
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o Work has commenced on the development of the Wellbeing Strategy which will focus on the financial, physical and psychological wellbeing of the workforce. o A new Recruitment Strategy is in development which will set out our objectives in attracting, recruiting and on-boarding talent to the organisation. Alongside this the HR service has worked with the Communications Service to develop recruitment documentation for Local Government Worker job adverts, designed to promote Midlothian’s offer as an employer of choice. • The Corporate Workforce Plan was launched earlier in the year with a roll out of workforce planning templates across all services. Succession planning is ongoing to further understand the organisation and its current environment, analyse the current and potential workforce, determine future workforce needs and identify gaps against future needs. • Continuation of a rolling programme of Wellness@Midlothian initiatives to ensure we continue to support the positive health and wellbeing of our staff. A coaching programme is planned in for roll out later in 2023. • First phase of hybrid working staff survey was conducted with 1,000 staff members responding. This provided valuable insights into staff wellbeing whilst working from home/in the community or other work setting. Feedback from the survey is now being considered and actions put in place as a result of the findings. In addition, a Hybrid Working Teams news channel was launched in April supported by online staff sessions providing an overview of the projects visions, current work streams and events. • As part of transformational activities, the Human Resources Business Partners continue to contribute a significant amount of resource working with services supporting service reviews. • Work also continues with services on employee relations cases across the council supporting managers and providing guidance. • Our Employment and Reward and Business Applications teams successfully implemented the Local Government Worker pay award and associated backdated payments. Digital • Continued progression of the Digital Services Strategy ensuring the Council has the capacity and skills to take forward the associated investment and delivery of plans. • Hybrid Working project: Over the year, workspaces have been upgraded across Midlothian and Fairfield House. Over 1000 corporate laptops have been migrated to Global Protect and upgraded to Windows 10 version. In addition, approximately 1,000 mobile phones have been migrated to new platforms to allow better integration with Microsoft Office 365(M365) plans. A new desktop booking application has been launched to enable staff to easily find and book a workspace. • Target Operating Model: A new structure was agreed to strengthen the core staffing of Digital Services and Phase 1 is almost complete. • Education strategy: New Web Filtering software has been successfully piloted in schools. A new Wi-Fi network for Chromebooks and iPads has been introduced. A 3rd Page 34 of 258
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party Wi-Fi audit for schools has taken place and the actions are being implemented to improve coverage and capacity. Significant planning for phase 2 and phase 3 of the strategy has been completed. • Digital enabled projects: a number of business applications have been upgraded throughout the year and those continue to improve customer and staff experience including ITRENT, ManageEngine systems, Nutanix, Mosaic, TotalMobile, OpenRevenues, Civicapay, Civica Automation and Committee Management System. • This quarter, Business Services successfully rolled out a Print and Post service across our Revenues team which ensures that customer correspondence in relation to the Revenues and Benefits service are sent out timeously, whilst reducing internal resource, postage and stationary costs required to do so. • Cyber Security resilience: A Cyber Incident Response partner was established to provide incident management and forensic support. A number of phishing exercises for staff have been conducted this year. The team deployed a Meta Learn to MS Teams to provide cyber security training to all staff. This was supported by Cyber Scotland Awareness week with an information publicity campaign. • M365: A Project Board has been established to deliver M365 and security and compliance assessment has been completed by Insight to help manage the data protection risks of compliance. Customer • Work continues on implementing the Customer Services Platform (CSP) for Midlothian Council: o This year saw the launch of the FOI/EIR module which introduced a new public FOI disclosure log, in addition to the Council’s Publication scheme, making more information easily accessible to members of the public. o The Registrars module launched in Q3 allowing customers to request and pay for replacement birth, death and marriage certificates online, at a time that is more convenient to them; and has reduced the demand on the team through introducing this self-service functionality. o The customer feedback module was launched in April 2023. Further information on performance will be contained within the Q1 2023/24 report. o The work programme for CSP was reviewed in 2022, with a further 20 modules identified for implementation in the first half of 2023. These include civic licence applications and environmental health service requests. CSP is crucial to the way the Council transforms the customer experience through redesigning key services that will improve the end to end customer journey. o Other modules in progress are missed refuse bins, assisted collections, additional recycling containers, bulky uplifts and Subject Access Requests. These are all in either design, configuration, build or test phases prior to launch. • In support of the cost of living crisis, two additional ‘Warm and Well’ Hubs in Danderhall and Loanhead Libraries were launched this quarter (to complement the hubs launched in Lasswade and Newbattle) to help our communities with the cost of Page 35 of 258
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living crisis. All sites provide free soup and hot drinks plus access to all other library resources including free books, Wi-Fi, PC access and information. • Library Services has remained busy this year with the majority of activities and events, which had been suspended due to COVID, having resumed. Highlights this year include: o The launch of the NHS ‘Near Me’ video appointment service in Gorebridge Library. This pilot project provides a safe, secure private space for appointments and supplies the technology and support for people to access them. Midlothian is one of 10 library services across the country providing this service. o Book Week Scotland 2022 which saw 51 events take place across libraries with almost 2000 people attending. o In partnership with the University of Edinburgh’s Engineering Department which tied in with the ‘Gadgeteers’ theme pop-up engineering sessions were held across the county including rocket launching and bridge building. o Through Scottish Government COVID Relief Funding, the library services launched a new Bibliotherapy service for people living with long term health conditions. The ‘Writing for Wellbeing’ course received very positive feedback. o Gorebridge Library was selected as one of the first in Scotland to host a ‘Lend and Mend Hub’ as part of a trailblazing pilot project managed by the Scottish Library and Information Council. The hub, which is funded by the John Lewis Partnership £1m Circular Future Fund will help the local community and wider to repair, reuse and upcycle everyday items. • Physical Library visits have increased significantly this year with 383,702 visits for this year compared to 156,250 for 21/22. As a result, virtual library visits has decreased from 225,804 in 2021/22 to 170,797 this year. Overall, total library visits has increased by 45% this year compared to last. Procurement • Work continues on the development of the SME/Procurement strategy. The team have reviewed and streamlined the non-competitive action process, the request for procurement and developed a non-regulated procurement process and new contract database. The team are working to implement a review of the procurement arrangement across the Council including continuing to explore options for joint working with neighbouring councils, populating and maintenance of the new contract database. • The team continues to utilise framework agreements with Scotland Excel which provides an easier route to market and delivers value for money. • A range of high value/complex contracts continue to be awarded and key activities include overhaul of Contract Database and City Deal participation. A follow up review of upcoming expiring contracts within Health and Social Care began this year. The review will look for opportunities to extend services, and consolidate opportunities for efficiency. Page 36 of 258
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• Progress being made for consultation on a new procurement structure, designed to increase the capacity and capability in this area. • The Annual Procurement Report 2021/22 was presented to Council in December 2022. • The Procurement Service have been working closely with the Economic Development Service to strengthen the relationship with local suppliers and deliver against the Local Procurement Strategy. A number of ‘Meet the Buyer’ events has taken place this year, as well as a specific work stream on local tradespeople as part of the Building Maintenance Transformation programme. Further information is contained within the Place Q4 update. Page 37 of 258
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Challenges and risks Financial position Council approved the 2023/24 budget at its meeting on 21 February 2023. Delivery is reliant on a combination of savings and service reductions and includes the use of retrospective service concession savings and earmarked Covid recovery reserves. Whilst the 2023/24 budget is agreed, the challenge remains to reach ongoing financial sustainability. Cost and income projections for future years will be embedded in the Council’s Strategic Blueprint which contains a range of transformation themes to drive towards a position of financial sustainability. Close working continues with the Business Transformation Steering Group to respond to the challenge. Risk The Council’s Strategic Risk Profile is presented retrospectively to Audit Committee quarterly. For 2022/23, the most critical risks to the Council are Financial Sustainability, Climate Change and the Change Programme. Corporate Solutions is key to the delivery of mitigating actions to these risks; through strategic planning and the Medium Term Financial Strategy, and driving forward the Council’s transformation programme to derive change and redesign services. Economic pressures Inflation, as well as rising energy costs, are affecting the construction industry in Scotland. The UK is currently experiencing unprecedented adverse market conditions, leading to significant rises in tender prices for a wide range of materials. There is evidence that inflation of between 10% and 15% beyond BCIS predictions is affecting projects. The pandemic has also accelerated financial challenges, and the growth from being the fastest growing local authority in Scotland places significant pressure on Midlothian to be able to deliver services to its citizens. In response to all of these pressures, a range of reprioritisation activity is taking place, with a revised Capital Plan being considered by the cross- party Business Transformation Steering Group, and options to review what and how services are delivered as part of the savings measures to reduce the funding gap. National Care Service The estimated funding gap for the next three financial years does not include the associated costs of the Scottish Government’s National Care Services (Scotland) Bill. If enacted, the bill would have fundamental implications for the community and for Local Government itself. The wide reaching changes in the bill aim to deliver a National Care Service by the end of the parliamentary term, which will impact on all aspects of the work of the Corporate Solutions team, including financial implications, in both revenue and capital, our asset base, our workforce, governance and legal arrangements and our digital infrastructure and platforms. It will require an immediate focus for the foreseeable future and this will inevitably have implications for other priority work at a time of continued resource constraint. Page 38 of 258
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Cost of Living Crisis Midlothian’s citizens are facing significant financial challenges. The impact on households is already being noted across the UK with 93% of adults reporting an increase in their cost of living in March 2023 (Office for National Statistics; Francis-Devine et al, 2022). The UK is currently facing an unprecedented wave of increasing prices, bills and tax challenges. The 41 year high inflation rate of 10.4% is the main driver of the cost of living crisis which has outstripped wage and benefit increases. The price rises will impact low-income households hardest as a larger proportion of their costs are on energy and food. The Resolution Foundation estimates that absolute poverty is set to rise in the short-run, from 17.2% in 2021-22 to 18.3% in 2023/24 (or an additional 800,000 people in poverty). As our citizens feel the impact of the Cost of Living Crisis, they will seek additional support from public services; in particular local authorities. To respond to this emerging crisis, the Council established a Cost of Living Task Force last year, which is chaired by the Council Leader and meets regularly to coordinate mitigating activities. In Q3 2022/23, the Council established four ‘Warm and Well’ hubs in the Lasswade, Newbattle, Danderhall and Loanhead libraries, as safe and warm spaces that all Midlothian citizens can access. The hubs provide free hot food and drinks, the opportunity to socialise with others and access free wifi to work, study, as well as enjoy books, jigsaws and games. Across the year, requests for crisis funding remains consistently high, with over £815k awarded from the Scottish Welfare Fund and 9,247 applications for Crisis Grants and Community Care Grants. Application numbers across quarter 1 to 3 average 2,150 with the highest number of applications received during Q4 of 2,778. This demonstrates the significant challenge faced by our communities. Growing Council Midlothian is projected to have the highest percentage change in population size of all mainland council areas in Scotland. From 2018 to 2028, the population of Midlothian is projected to increase from 91,340 to 103,945. This is an increase of 13.8%, which is in contrast to a projected increase of 1.8% for Scotland as a whole, with a 40.9% increase in older people over 75. In addition, Midlothian has 10 zones which fall into the most deprived areas giving a local share of 8.7% living in the most deprived areas in Scotland. This growth creates the opportunity to meet housing need with 25% of new homes being built in the affordable housing provision, in addition to the expansion in our Council house building. This construction directly supports employment and will see a steady increase in the value of Council Tax income received over time. To ensure Midlothian is ‘building back better’, this investment is also creating new jobs, apprenticeship opportunities, opportunities for businesses and communities and families hard-hit by the impact of the pandemic. These new opportunities help lead the way towards a better future for Midlothian. Midlothian’s approved Capital Strategy sets out the infrastructure required to meet those demographic pressures and includes the financial contributions Midlothian will make to the Page 39 of 258
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Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Region Deal. Encompassing five main themes the City Region Deal will bring significant investment across the regions with total investment of circa £1.3 billion across: • Data Driven Innovation: £751 million • Integrated Regional Employability and Skills: £25 million • Transport: £156 million • Culture: £45 million • Housing: £313 million Through the Data Driven Innovation strand the Deal will leverage existing world-class research institutes and commercialisation facilities in order that Easter Bush becomes a global location of Agritech excellence. The Easter Bush project includes significant investment in transport infrastructure along the A701/2 transport corridor. In addition, by improving on-site infrastructure at Easter Bush and transport infrastructure, The University of Edinburgh expects commercial partners will be able to co-locate at scale to commercialise Agritech breakthroughs. The Capital Investment Strategy sits centrally within the Council’s future planning activities and in doing so has to reflect the demands of Council services to ensure positive outcomes are achieved in the right place, at the right time for the maximum benefit to Midlothian. The extensive capital programme, totalling £0.8bn, delivers new schools, a record investment in council housing, improved community infrastructure, investment in the local transport network and in innovative developments such as the new low carbon heat network in Shawfair. In light of the challenging financial landscape the Capital Programme has been subject to a review and a reprioritisation. Opportunities The Council’s transformation programme provides the framework for opportunities to change the way services are improved and delivered to be more efficient. Corporate Solutions has a particular focus on the delivery and acceleration of the Capital Programme, delivering digital first approaches, embedding automation to improve customer access to services and hybrid working. The redesign of services and the changes to build back better are predicated on the overarching principle that in delivering services, whether commissioned internally or externally, we will keep our communities, our employees and our environment safe, at the same time as meeting our commitment to being carbon neutral by 2030. The key activity the service is focused on includes: • Securing continued financial sustainability and maintaining strong financial management across the Council through the delivery of the Council's Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) incorporating Capital Strategy and Capital Investment plans, Reserves Strategy and Treasury Management Strategy; Page 40 of 258
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• Nurturing a highly motivated and effective workforce through the delivery of the Workforce Strategy and the development of Service Workforce Plans; • Digital first and embracing data insight and analytics by developing and implementing a refreshed Digital Strategy and Digital Learning Strategy; • A refresh of the Customer Services Strategy and implementation of the online payments and services (CSP) platform; • A refreshed Procurement Strategy and Contract Delivery Plan. Medium Term Financial Strategy The core objective of the Medium Term Financial Strategy is to secure the Council’s financial sustainability during an ongoing period of financial constraint coupled with acute service demand pressures and increasing customer expectations. The Medium Term Financial Strategy is not only about balancing the budgets, it provides a means to ensure as far as possible that the limited resources available to the Council are targeted on delivery of improved outcomes, particularly against the key priorities of: • Reducing the gap in learning outcomes • Reducing the gap in health outcomes • Reducing the gap in economic circumstances • Reducing Midlothian carbon emission to net zero by 2030 Workforce Strategy The purpose of the Workforce Strategy is to ensure that the Council continues to have a workforce that is able to deliver positive outcomes for the people of Midlothian. It sets out an approach to supporting, developing and reshaping the workforce now and in the future in response to changes as a consequence of national and/or local issues. It is underpinned by the Council’s values and vision. The Workforce Strategy is an important tool to outline the organisation’s approach to articulating how workforce issues will be managed and ensures the Council has the people and skills to manage change and deliver services effectively and efficiently. Digital Strategy and Digital Learning Strategy Supported by the appointment of SOCITIM Advisory (Society for innovation, technology and modernisation) as a strategic partner and led by the Digital First Board, work progressed to deliver an ambitious new digital strategy, Digital Midlothian 2021-2023, “Empowering People, Enabling Growth”. Aimed at improving the way services are delivered to Midlothian citizens, the strategy sets out how local outcomes will be improved by delivering digital services to digitally connected communities. Among the aims set out in the new strategy are plans to: Page 41 of 258
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• Refresh the council’s approach to customer service, focussing on ‘digital first’, while making sure alternatives remain in place for those who need them • Have a council website that meets customer needs , enabling customers to request and pay for services online and to log in to see their interactions • Implement an update service, so that customers contacting the council online can receive follow up text messages or emails • Look at opportunities to automate and better integrate processes so that staff can focus on the things that matter most to customers • Enable people to stay independent and healthy for longer by using data and technology • Introduce bookable online and face-to-face appointments so that customers don’t have to waste time queuing or travelling and to help the council reduce costs • Review and improve online engagement with customers, including online consultations, communications and social media • Promote Midlothian as a digital destination, creating an environment that attracts leading digital businesses to the area and supporting the innovation of start-ups • Cultivate digital skills in our communities, ensuring that young people have access to the technology and support that they need to improve educational outcomes and to prepare them with the skills they need for the future • Reduce digital exclusion and empower learners of all ages, enabling online access and supporting them to develop digital skills • Support Midlothian to achieve high speed connectivity, smart infrastructure and resilient cyber defences. Customer Service Strategy The Customer Service Strategy defines the key drivers that will enable Midlothian Council to deliver a high level of service to our communities. It outlines the commitment to provide choice to the customer in the way services are accessed and provided. This includes innovation, partnership working and optimising the use of technology within resource constraints. The strategy will help us to change the way we deliver services utilising the latest technologies and linking to national frameworks. As one of the fastest growing areas in Scotland, the Council cannot support more customers using the current resources, systems and processes. This means that the adoption of digital and automated processes will be key to continuing to provide a seamless customer journey, satisfying enquiries at the first point of contact and meeting increased demand. Customer self-service and new automated processes can help deliver some key services without customers dealing directly with a member of staff and could truly transform the way the Council deliver services. Increasing the pace of digital transformation, particularly in front-facing customer services, will be a service and corporate priority. There continues to be a steady volumes of calls via our Contact Centre, with 163,113 calls received during 22/23 compared to 168,692 for 21/22. As well as webforms and social media, the contact centre have dealt with 13,000 emails in Q4, an increase from 9,000 during Q3. Call handling performance during quarter 4 has reduced to 56% of calls answered Page 42 of 258
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within 60 seconds compared to 64% in Q3. The decrease in call handling performance is due to seasonal impacts of severe weather and service activity such as Council Tax billing and garden waste service. As a result of high call volumes, Q4 saw an increase in call abandonment rate to 9% from 6% in Q3. Procurement Strategy The procurement function has a central role in supporting the Council to achieve its strategic priorities within a constrained financial envelope. Procurement allows the Council to repurpose its spending power to drive our key strategic priorities and to secure the best possible value and outcomes for Midlothian. Effective procurement can maximise the value of every pound spent in terms of jobs, skills and supply chain opportunities in the local community. We will aim to address economic, social and environmental considerations at all stages of the procurement cycle within the rules of open, fair and transparent competition. The Procurement team, in conjunction with Economic Development, have developed a Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Strategy to support and assist local businesses to win contracts fairly and transparently in a competitive market. We will further develop our collaborative and commercial relationships with key partners as part of our strategic category management approach, to deliver the best possible outcomes for the citizens of Midlothian. Page 43 of 258
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Corporate Solutions 22/23 performance report Trend Data A full review of quarterly performance data is available via Pentana (Browser login link - https://midlothian.pentanarpm.uk/login) 115 109 109 115 120 Q4 21/22 Q1 22/23 Q2 22/23 Q3 22/23 Q4 22/23 Total number of female employees in top 5% 45,903 44,243 46,715 38,422 41,417 Q4 21/22 Q1 22/23 Q2 22/23 Q3 22/23 Q4 22/23 Number of virtual library visits 4933 8343 8892 8956 8230 Q4 21/22 Q1 22/23 Q2 22/23 Q3 22/23 Q4 22/23 Number of Council Tax transactions received online 354 331 338 283 774 Q4 21/22 Q1 22/23 Q2 22/23 Q3 22/23 Q4 22/23 Number of social media contacts via Contact Centre 2.58 1.72 0.49 2.29 Q1 22/23 Q2 22/23 Q3 22/23 Q4 22/23 Corporate Solutions - Average number of working days lost due to sickness absence (quarterly) 3,893 3,345 2,710 2,783 3,613 Q4 21/22 Q1 22/23 Q2 22/23 Q3 22/23 Q4 22/23 Number of webforms received via Contact Centre 2.40% 2.40% 3.60% 2.40% 1.96% Q4 21/22 Q1 22/23 Q2 22/23 Q3 22/23 Q4 22/23 Percentage of staff turnover (including teachers) 253 364 257 311 406 Q4 21/22 Q1 22/23 Q2 22/23 Q3 22/23 Q4 22/23 Number of Freedom of Information requests received (Council wide) 2,173 2,189 2,107 2,778 Q1 22/23 Q2 22/23 Q3 22/23 Q4 22/23 Number of Scottish Welfare Fund applications received 808,000 208,730 423,781 662,225 815,042 Q4 21/22 Q1 22/23 Q2 22/23 Q3 22/23 Q4 22/23 Total amount granted from Scottish Welfare Fund for crisis grants and community care grants (£) (cumulative) 2.7 3.5 2.5 3 5.4 Q4 21/22 Q1 22/23 Q2 22/23 Q3 22/23 Q4 22/23 Average time in working days to respond to complaints at stage 1 (Corporate Solutions) Target (5 days) 54 59 37 47 68 Q4 21/22 Q1 22/23 Q2 22/23 Q3 22/23 Q4 22/23 Number of complaints received (Corporate Solutions) Page 46 of 258
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Our customers have choice in the way Council services are accessed and provided Channel-shift has increased by the adoption of new digital tools and automated practices Delivery of customer service excellence to our communities Our Customers Holistic Modern Hub and Spoke One size fits one Key highlights Work continues on implementing the Customer Services Platform (CSP) for Midlothian Council. This year saw the launch of the FOI/EIR module which introduced a new public FOI disclosure log, in addition to the Council’s Publication scheme, making more information easily accessible to members of the public. The Registrars module launched in Q3 allowing customers to request and pay for replacement birth, death and marriage certificates online, at a time that is more convenient to them; and has reduced the demand on the team through introducing this self-service functionality. The customer feedback module is complete and will be launched in Q1 2023/24. Other modules in progress are missed refuse bins, assisted collections, additional recycling containers, bulky uplifts and Subject Access Requests. These are all in either design, configuration, build or test phases prior to launch. The work programme CSP was reviewed last quarter, with a further 20 modules identified for implementation in the first half of 2023. These include civic licence applications and environmental health service requests. CSP is crucial to the way the Council transforms the customer experience through redesigning key services that will improve the end to end customer journey. In support of the cost of living crisis, this year, the Council established four ‘Warm and Well’ hubs in the Lasswade, Newbattle, Danderhall and Loanhead libraries, as safe and warm spaces that all Midlothian citizens can access. The hubs provide free hot food and drinks, the opportunity to socialise with others and access free wifi to work, study, as well as enjoy books, jigsaws and games. Library Services remain busy with the majority of activities and events, which had been suspended due to the pandemic having resumed. Various activities have taken place across the year including, Book Week Scotland 2022 saw 51 events take place across libraries with almost 2000 people attending. Gorebridge Library has been selected as one of the first in Scotland to host a ‘Lend and Mend Hub’. Physical Library visits have increased significantly this year with 383,702 visits for this year compared to 156,250 for 21/22. Overall, total library visits has increased by 45% this year compared to last. Areas of improvement Our Contact Centre received 163,113 calls during 22/23 compared to 168,692 for 21/22. As well as webforms and social media, the contact centre have dealt with 13,000 emails in Q4, an increase from 9,000 during Q3. Call handling performance during quarter 4 has reduced to 56% of calls answered within 60 seconds compared to 64% in Q3. The decrease in call handling performance is due to seasonal impacts of severe weather and service activity such as Council Tax billing and garden waste service. As a result of high call volumes, Q4 saw an increase in call abandonment rate to 9% from 6% in Q3. Resources continue to be prioritised to process Scottish Welfare Fund applications as soon as these are received. This has meant that processing times for change in circumstances for benefit applications etc have experienced some delays throughout this year. This year £815,042 was awarded from the Scottish Welfare Fund. 7,790 applications were assessed for crisis grants of which 4,083 met the criteria and resulted in payments. 57 69 45 35 41 Q4 21/22 Q1 22/23 Q2 22/23 Q3 22/23 Q4 22/23 Average processing time for new benefit claims (Days) Target (25 days) 11 10 17 12 5 Q4 21/22 Q1 22/23 Q2 22/23 Q3 22/23 Q4 22/23 Average processing time for change of circumstances (Days) Target (8 days) 44,769 40,575 38,943 38,932 44,663 Q4 21/22 Q1 22/23 Q2 22/23 Q3 22/23 Q4 22/23 Number of Contact Centre calls Page 47 of 258
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Digital by default We pledge to optimise the ways in which the Council does digital, data and technology to work effectively, collaborate, make decisions, adapt and innovate We pledge to create better relationships between the Council and its communities by providing modern digital services that communities wants to use We pledge to maximize opportunities for digital, data and technology to enhance quality of life, the economy, sustainability and individual opportunity in Midlothian Key highlights • Continued progression of the Digital Services Strategy ensuring the Council has the capacity and skills to take forward the associated investment and delivery of plans. • Hybrid Working project: Over the year, workspaces have been upgraded across Midlothian and Fairfield House. Over 1000 corporate laptops have been migrated to Global Protect and upgraded to Windows 10 version. In addition, approximately 1,000 mobile phones have been migrated to new platforms to allow better integration with Microsoft Office 365. A new desktop booking application has been launched to enable staff to easily find and book a workspace. • Target Operating Model: A new structure was agreed to strengthen the core staffing of Digital Services and Phase 1 is almost complete. • Education strategy: New Web Filtering software has been successfully piloted in schools. A new Wi-Fi network for Chromebooks and iPads has been introduced. A 3rd party Wi-Fi audit for schools has taken place and the actions are being implemented to improve coverage and capacity. Significant planning for phase 2 and phase 3 of the strategy has been completed. • Digital enabled projects: a number of business applications have been upgraded throughout the year and those continue to improve customer and staff experience including ITRENT, ManageEngine systems, Nutanix, Mosaic, TotalMobile, OpenRevenues, Civicapay, Civica Automation and Committee Management System. • This quarter, Business Services successfully rolled out a Print and Post service across our Revenues team which ensures that customer correspondence in relation to the Revenues and Benefits service are sent out timeously, whilst reducing internal resource, postage and stationary costs required to do so. • Cyber Security resilience: A Cyber Incident Response partner was established to provide incident management and forensic support. A number of phishing exercises for staff have been conducted this year. The team deployed a Meta Learn to MS Teams to provide cyber security training to all staff. This was supported by Cyber Scotland Awareness week with an information publicity campaign. • M365: A Project Board has been established to deliver M365 and security and compliance assessment has been completed by Insight to help manage the data protection risks of compliance. Work will progress on the Digital Services priorities to continue to drive the Council’s vision to improve outcomes using dig Modern 3,538 3,141 3,311 2,963 3,1273,325 2,982 2,975 2,789 2,851 Q4 21/22 Q1 22/23 Q2 22/23 Q3 22/23 Q4 22/23 Number of service incidents Received Resolved 2,115 1,969 2,298 1,964 1,9451,917 1,719 2,038 1,802 1,728 Q4 21/22 Q1 22/23 Q2 22/23 Q3 22/23 Q4 22/23 Number of service requests Received Resolved Page 48 of 258
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Our Workforce Our people deliver high performing services We build an entrepreneurial council for future We demonstrate strong and consistent leadership We Promote Equality, diversity and fairness Key highlights • Policy and Strategy: A review of our People Polices is currently underway. The Council agreed to 10 days of miscarriage leave to be incorporated into our suite of family leave policies and committed to the Miscarriage Association’s pledge. In addition, IVF treatment leave has also been added to our suite of family leave offerings. Revisions are underway on the Whistleblowing Policy and Overpayments Policy. A Hybrid working policy has been drafted for consultation and implementation. Work has commenced on the development of our Wellbeing Strategy which will focus on the financial, physical and psychological wellbeing of our workforce. A new Recruitment strategy is also in development which will set out our objectives in attracting, recruiting and on-boarding talent to the organisation. Alongside this the HR service has worked with the Communications Service to develop recruitment documentation for Local Government Worker job adverts, designed to promote Midlothian’s offer as an employer of choice. • This year we launched the Corporate Workforce Plan and roll out of workforce planning templates across all services. Succession planning is ongoing to further understand the organisation and its current environment, analyse the current and potential workforce, determine future workforce needs and identify gaps against future needs. • Continuation of a rolling programme of Wellness@Midlothian initiatives to ensure we continue to support the positive health and wellbeing of our staff. A coaching programme is planned in for roll out later in 2023. • First phase of hybrid working staff survey was conducted where 1,000 staff members took part which provided valuable insights into staff wellbeing whilst working from home/in the community or other work settings. Feedback from the survey is now being considered and actions put in place as a result of the findings. In addition, a Hybrid working news channel was launched in April as well as various staff sessions providing an overview of the projects visions, current workstreams and events. • As part of transformational activities, the Human Resources Business Partners continue to contribute a significant amount of resource working with services supporting various service reviews. Work also continues with services on various employee relations cases across the council supporting managers and providing guidance in relation to a variety of People Polices. • Our Employment and Reward and Business Applications teams successfully implemented the Local Government Worker pay award and associated backdated payments. Holistic 9.33 2.71 4.81 7.89 11.04 Q4 21/22 Q1 22/23 Q2 22/23 Q3 22/23 Q4 22/23 Sickness Absence Days per Employee - cumulative (All employees) 4.61 1.35 2.10 3.86 5.62 Q4 21/22 Q1 22/23 Q2 22/23 Q3 22/23 Q4 22/23 Teacher Sickness absence days 11.22 3.25 5.92 9.51 13.20 Q4 21/22 Q1 22/23 Q2 22/23 Q3 22/23 Q4 22/23 Local Government employees Sickness absence days 2.52% 2.57% 2.84% 3.58% 2.86% Q4 21/22 Q1 22/23 Q2 22/23 Q3 22/23 Q4 22/23 Gender pay gap between average hourly rate of pay for male and female(all employees) Scottish average 21/22 (3.51%) Page 49 of 258
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Finance The grant settlement for 2022/23 means a further real terms reduction in core funding. The reliance on one off funding sources to balance the 2022/23 budget combined with the challenging outlook for local government funding adversely impacts on the Council‘s financial sustainability and will result in the need to cut services in 2023/24 and beyond. The Council has robust and effective financial management arrangements Key highlights • Presentation to Council of a full suite of financial monitoring reports for Quarter 3 to promote sound financial governance. • Development of a detailed Medium Term Financial Strategy with particular focus on 23/24 base budget and Local Government Finance Settlement. • The finance team continue to provide in-depth financial input to key revenue and capital projects embedded in the Medium Term Financial Strategy. Areas for improvement: Council approved the 2023/24 budget at its meeting on 21 February 2023. Delivery is reliant on a combination of savings and service reductions and includes the use of retrospective service concession savings and earmarked covid recovery reserves. Whilst the 2023/24 budget is agreed, the challenge remains to reach ongoing financial sustainability. Cost and income projections for future years will be embedded in the Council’s Strategic Blueprint which contains a range of transformation themes to drive towards a position of financial sustainability. Close working continues with the Business Transformation Steering Group to respond to the challenge. Inflation, as well as rising energy costs, are affecting the construction industry in Scotland. The UK is currently experiencing unprecedented adverse market conditions, leading to significant rises in tender prices for a wide range of materials. There is evidence that inflation of between 10% and 15% beyond BCIS predictions is affecting projects. The pandemic has also accelerated financial challenges, and the growth from being the fastest growing local authority in Scotland places significant pressure on Midlothian to be able to deliver services to its citizens. In response to all of these pressures, a range of reprioritisation activity is taking place, with a revised Capital Plan being considered by the cross party Business Transformation Steering Group, and options to review what and how services are delivered as part of the savings measures to reduce the funding gap. Sustainable Holistic Modern Preventative 108% 146% 127% 92% 91% Q4 21/22 Q1 22/23 Q2 22/23 Q3 22/23 Q4 22/23 In year recovery of overpayments-% of all Housing benefit overpayments identified Target (80%) 14% 5% 9% 4% 5% Q4 21/22 Q1 22/23 Q2 22/23 Q3 22/23 Q4 22/23 All recovery overpayments-as a % of all HB overpayment debt Annual Target (20%) 95% 94% 94.9% 94.9% 94.4% Q4 21/22 Q1 22/23 Q2 22/23 Q3 22/23 Q4 22/23 % of invoices sampled and paid within 30 days - Corporate Solutions Target (95%) Page 50 of 258
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Procurement Best Value is evidenced Council Wide in the procurement of goods and services Effective contract and supplier management across the whole of the procurement journey Key highlights • Work continues on the development of the SME/Procurement strategy. The team have reviewed and streamlined the non- competitive action process, the request for procurement and developed a non-regulated procurement process and new contract database. The team are working to implement a review of the procurement arrangement across the Council including continuing to explore options for joint working with neighbouring councils, populating and maintenance of the new contract database. • The team continues to utilise framework agreements with Scotland Excel and Procurement for Housing (amongst others) which not only provides an easier route to market but also delivers value for money. • A range of high value/complex contracts continue to be awarded and key activities include overhaul of Contract Database and City Deal participation. A follow up review of upcoming expiring contracts within Health and Social Care began in Q2 and is in early stages. The review will look for opportunities to extend services, and consolidate opportunities for efficiency. • Progress being made for consultation on a new procurement structure, designed to increase the capacity and capability in this area. • The Annual Procurement Report 2021/22 was presented to Council in December 2022. Areas of improvement Work will continue to progress on the Procurement priorities: Review and reshape the procurement service, implement learning from the Scotland excel review and in partnership with Economic Development and stakeholders continue to ensure business community benefits in the supply chain to maximise opportunities for local people. Holistic Sustainable Hub and Spoke One size fits one 15.44% 14.68% 16.81% 13.78% 18/19 19/20 20/21 21/22 % of procurement spent on local enterprises (LGBF) Scottish average 21/22 (29.88%) Page 51 of 258
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7 01. Progress in delivery of strategic outcomes 21/22: Midlothian Single Plan Priority Reducing the gap in learning outcomes Priority 1: Attainment and Achievement 1.1 Improve attainment within the Broad General Education (BGE) stages: Trend Data & Target 2017 2018 2019 2021 2022 Ave. (17-19) Target Pr Literacy 62.25% 74.68% 72.76% 65.75% 68.20% 68.86% 71.5% Pr Numeracy 71.14% 79.63% 77.77% 72.80% 76.05% 75.34% 72.0% S3 Literacy 76.73% 80.25% 86.80% 80.70% 69.90% 88.0% S3 Numeracy 88.81% 87.68% 89.56% 88.50% 88.68% 90.5% Key Actions Q4 – Completed activity Q1 23/24 – Planned activity 1.1.1 Develop and implement a raising attainment strategy - Draft strategy co-created with working group of school leaders and performance officer All HT's aware of Midlothian's focus on raising attainment and schools monitoring progress towards achievement of stretch aims. Data shows increase in attainment for targeted schools. - All primary schools (and IWBS) are engaging with new numeracy frameworks and 95% of primaries (and all Secondary English PTs in 6 secondaries) engaging with writing frameworks including increased moderation activity at ASG level and 70% of primary schools represented in Authority literacy QAMSO action group. - Recovery team CLPL the most subscribed to in the Professional Learning Academy (outwith NQT specific events) with 100% positive feedback forms which include identified actions or future intended learning. - All schools now have access to the data dashboard which will enable analysis of trends in attendance and attainment across Midlothian and inform priorities and planning. - School SIRs include evidence of approaches taken and progress made towards stretch aims. - School SIPs and PEF plans for 2023-24 reflect strategy. - Plan for professional learning established in consultation with schools and networks and informed by analysis of SQR, attainment data and PEF reporting. - Analysis of SQR reveals effective moderation taking place in all schools/ASGs and plans in place to continue to build capacity and activity in session 2022/23. 1.1.2 Develop a full range of curriculum frameworks. - Professional Learning Offer in place to support engagement with literacy and numeracy progressions. All primary schools have had initial roll-out visit, with over 450 staff trained in refreshed progressions. All schools highly engaged in training sessions and overall feedback has been extremely positive (gathered through feedback forms and site feedback) Ongoing positive collaboration with Education Scotland with enquiries from Local Authorities across Scotland regarding accessing resource. - Refreshed assessment framework launched in January to all schools to support assessment and moderation through the phases and improve quality of teacher judgement - Pilot trial of digital consolidation sheets to support retrieval practices in Numeracy which supports learning and attainment - All settings have plans in place for full implementation of Midlothian progression pathways. - - All schools using Literacy and Numeracy Frameworks to support planning, teaching and assessment. Visit 2 will give information on use of frameworks - Finalised suite of wider curricular frameworks launched with all schools and settings for use from 2023/24. - Moderation activity planned for session 2023/24 utilising Literacy, Numeracy and QAMSO Networks and Midlothian Frameworks. 1.1.3 Revise Midlothian’s Learning, Teaching and Assessment policy. - Professional Learning Offer for school leaders on strategic leadership of elements of LTA Policy - Themes from Visit 2 (Focus 2.3) support with LA Self evaluation of strengths and areas for improvement to inform the development of the LTA Policy. - Final LTA Policy agreed for all school engagement during session 2023/24 - QA Processes and analysis of schools SQR reveal an increasing percentage of schools rated as good/very good for key Quality Indicators. - Consultation with school leaders and networks to inform professional learning offer for session 2023/24. Page 59 of 258
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8 1.1.4 Develop and pilot an effective tracking and monitoring system, incorporating development of stretch aims. - Final phase of evaluation of the new system in primary schools underway, with review and consultation with working group and schools involved. - Revisions being made to the process and tools to support school improvement. The minor changes to the approach are being reviewed with the schools and technical issues are being worked through. before full implementation in all primary schools next quarter. - Training programme on the system being planned and scheduled with all schools. - Full implementation of final tracking system in all schools. - Training programme on the system to be planned by ASG and data coaches to take forward ownership within the school. 1.1.5 Support schools and settings to make best use of digital tools to enrich, enhance and improve learning, teaching and assessment - Review short term targets with schools and settings against agreed measures and evaluate progress. Co-create short term targets (Jan-June) - Pilot Third and Fourth levels of Digital Literacy Framework through secondary school working group - Launch Google Workspace Skills for P7-S2 pupils to establish a benchmark standard of fluency using Workspace by end of BGE - Review Professional Learning offer and plan for next steps - Build engagement with EquatiO through Secondary Maths subject lead network - Evaluate impact of implemented changes and use this to inform next steps - Review and evaluate impact of Digital Literacy Framework - Finalise app library offer for 23/24 and associated training offer - Survey pupils, families and staff to understand to identify changes in attitude, proficiency and use of digital tools to enrich, enhance and improve learning, teaching and assessment - Plan and host launch event for Midlothian’s Apple Regional Training Centre, showcasing the work of our schools and settings and learning from others - Managed transition of all devices and reallocation of school leavers’ devices 1.2 Improve attainment within the senior phase by maximising opportunities through curriculum planning, consortium arrangements and partnership delivery, including addressing the ASN Senior Phase Gap Trend Data & Targets for School Leavers 2018 2019 2020 2021 Ave. Target Lit & Num SCQF Level 4 88.93% 89.45% 90.48% 89.85% 89.93% TBC Lit & Num SCQF Level 5 66.33% 63.76% 65.12% 66.36% 65.08% TBC 1+ @ Level 4 97.23% 96.67% 97.17% 95.44% 96.84% 96.0% 1+ @ Level 5 85.49% 86.01% 84.43% 84.72% 85.56% 86.0% 1+ @ Level 6 60.58% 56.08% 60.62% 59.98% 59.19% 60.0% 5@ Lv 5 60.58% 58.37% 63.45% 63.17% 60.86% 65.0% 3@ Lv 6 46.62% 42.89% 49.94% 47.66% 46.09% 50.0% 5@ Lv 6 32.56% 30.05% 36.94% 33.98% 32.33% 35.0% Key Actions Q4 – Completed activity Q1 23/24 – Planned activity 1.2.1 Develop and implement a raising attainment strategy - Attainment Visits and Secondary HT meetings support school engagement with strategy. All HT's aware of Midlothian's focus on raising attainment and schools monitoring progress towards achievement of stretch aims. All Secondary English PTs in 6 secondaries) engaging with writing frameworks including increased moderation activity at ASG level - Secondary School Improvement Reports include evidence of approaches taken and progress made towards stretch aims. - School SIPs for 2023-24 reflect strategy. 1.2.2 Review the Senior Phase curriculum offer and pathways into positive sustained destinations. - Collaborative Enquiry curriculum plan in place and shared with school leaders to inform developments for 23-27 - Outline proposal shared with Secondary HTs. Agreement sought at meetings in June to agree alignment. This alignment will allow us the framework to build improved partnership working with the FE/HE sectors and develop a FA Schools based model. All for 24/25 implementation - DEC bid with East Lothian agreed, this will support an improved engineering pathway - School 23/24 SIPs reflect this approach - Development of Digital Senior Phase offer; new School College Partnership model agreed; development of schools based Level 6 FA model 1.2.3 Review and develop approaches that will allow secondary schools to implement reduced class contact time, in - Confirm for each secondary school an action plan that supports the transition to the agreed approach from August 2024. - Work with Business Executive colleagues to ensure that our DSM model and allocations support the implementation of approaches from August 2024. - No progress based on above, await further necessary detail from Scottish Government - School 23/24 SIPs reflect this approach - Actions dependent on detail from Scottish Government Page 60 of 258
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9 line with SG policy, for teachers from August 2024 1.2.4 Revise Midlothian’s Learning, Teaching and Assessment policy - Professional Learning Offer for school leaders on strategic leadership of elements of LTA Policy - Themes identified as part of Visit 2 activity (Focus 2.3) support ongoing LA Self evaluation of strengths and areas for improvement to inform the final Policy. - Ongoing stakeholder engagement to inform final policy. - Final LTA Policy agreed for all school engagement during session 2023/24 - Consultation with school leaders and networks to inform professional learning offer for session 2023/24 1.2.5 Develop and pilot an effective tracking and monitoring system, incorporating development of stretch aims. - Final phase of evaluation of the new system in primaries, with work ongain to enage with secondary schools. Review and consultation with working group and schools involved with pilot planned for secondary’s in next quarter. - Any significant or minor changes to the approach have been made before full implementation in all schools next quarter. - Training programme on the system to be planned and scheduled with all schools. - Full implementation of final tracking system in all schools. - Training programme on the system to be planned by ASG and data champions to take forward ownership within the school. 1.2.6 Support schools and settings to make best use of digital tools to enrich, enhance and improve learning, teaching and assessment - Implement innovation project work- Supporting Music Technology in the Senior Phase - Implement innovation project work- Supporting Computing Science Qualifications in the Senior Phase - Continued work on iPad Creativity Apps in the Secondary Classroom - Continued work on Future Classroom - Further development on Data Science Across the Curriculum - Review impact of all Senior Phase innovation project work, evaluate progress, plan next steps - Managed transition of all devices and reallocation of school leavers’ devices - Further development on Data Science Across the Curriculum 1.3 Reduce the attainment gap between the most and least deprived children, including care-experienced children. Trend Data & Targets 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 Ave. Target Pr Literacy – GAP FSM vs. No FSM 22.47% 29.35% NC 32.24% 26.83% 28.17% a 22% Pr Numeracy – GAP FSM vs. No FSM 20.69% 22.69% NC 27.98% 24.29% 23.82% a 20% S3 Literacy – GAP FSM vs. No FSM 22.57% 22.83% NC NC 28.88% 22.94% b 17% S3 Numeracy – GAP FSM vs. No FSM 12.04% 21.27% NC NC 22.19% 16.35% b 17% 1+ @ Level 4 – GAP FSM vs. No FSM 4.9% 2.0% 3.2% 0.9% 3.4% 2.5% 1+ @ Level 5 – GAP FSM vs. No FSM 23.6% 25.2% 19.8% 23.1% 22.9% 19% 1+ @ Level 6 – GAP FSM vs. No FSM 30.7% 32.0% 35.0% 41.4% 32.6% 30% a Ave. is calculated from 2017-2021; b Ave. is calculated from 2017-2019 NC – not collected Page 61 of 258
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10 Key Actions Q4 – Completed activity Q1 23/24 – Planned activity 1.3.1 Build quality and capacity within schools to improve outcomes for all disadvantaged children and young people, in partnership with our Education Scotland Attainment Advisor. - Schools continue to monitor the impact of interventions and universal offer on reducing the attainment gap. Visit 1 and 2, support for schools identified through Capacity/Risk Register ongoing. - Tri-annual report with data analysis focus complete - All schools now have access to the data dashboard which will enable and analysis of trends and gaps to inform priorities and planning. - Summary report to capture the impact of interventions and universal offer on reducing the attainment gap. 1.3.2 Robust plans for PEF implemented and evaluated across all schools. - Schools evaluation of impact of PEF plans ongoing and evaluations discussed with HTs prior to end of year school quality & improvement report (SQIP) being finalised - Survey completed to detail school use of therapeutic services. Procurement framework being developed in relation to therapeutic services offer - Revised PEF plan being developed and draft shared with school leaders. - Analysis of PEF spend and AA discussions with targeted schools. - Schools evaluate impact of PEF plans in end of year school quality & improvement report (SQIP) 1.3.3 Improve availability, accuracy and use of complex and intersectional data to target support more effectively. - Monitor and review the impact of the system within and throughout the schools. Any significant or minor changes to the approach to be made before full implementation in all schools next quarter. (align with 1.1.4 and 1.2.4) - Training programme on the system to be continued with all schools. - Use of Progress & Achievement module for all primary schools to ensure robust tracking of predictions, will continue to be trialled. Schools inputting information for discussion with QIMs in January. - Full implementation of final analytical dashboard to align with tracking system in all schools. - Training programme on the system to be planned by ASG and data champions to take forward ownership within the school. 1.4 Improved outcomes for vulnerable children and young people, and for those experiencing barriers to learning Trend Data & Targets 2018 2019 2020 2021 Ave. Target Pr Literacy - LAC/ASN Pupilsa 55.58% 53.26% NC 43.66% 47.61%a 53% Pr Numeracy - LAC/ASN Pupilsa 61.48% 58.64% NC 52.18% 55.42% a 58% S3 Literacy - LAC/ASN Pupilsa 68.66% 87.67% NC NC 78.17% b 78% S3 Numeracy - LAC/ASN Pupilsa 72.64% 68.32% NC NC 72.77% b 72% 1+ @ Level 4 - LAC/ASN Pupilsa 91.79% 91.21% 92.95% 89.34% 91.32% 91% 1+ @ Level 5 - LAC/ASN Pupilsa 63.43% 69.23% 69.80% 67.44% 67.47% 69% 1+ @ Level 6 - LAC/ASN Pupilsa 32.09% 32.60% 43.96% 39.77% 37.10% 40% a This contains pupils that are either LAC or ASN. Note that due to the small numbers in these categories the % can fluctuate quite significantly. NC – not collected Key Actions Q4 – Completed activity Q1 23/24 – Planned activity 1.4.1 Embed The Promise across the education service - Care experienced data dashboard now created to track and monitor attainment and attendance. - Schools are embedding relationship/trauma based practice - Draft managing exclusion policy created ensuring no formal or informal exclusions of care experienced young people occur - Midlothian’s parent and carer survey reports that parents/carers feel involved in the decision making process when planning the educational outcomes for a CYP - Midlothian’s pupil survey reports an increase in the % of learners reporting that they receive the right support at the right time - New exclusion policy to be implemented August 2023. 1.4.2 Improve availability, accuracy and use of complex and intersectional data to identify the attainment gaps for young people with additional support needs and other barriers to learning. - School leaders use the intersectional data to produce an annual school equalities report within SQuIP and set out what action they will take in the year ahead to reduce equalities issues. - All schools to use the tracking and monitoring system to understand and target interventions to young people Page 62 of 258
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11 1.4.3 Pilot resource guidance: ‘Identifying, Assessing and Providing for Additional Support Needs’. - Inclusion Framework, inclusion policy and updated paperwork and guidance has been drafted. - Consultation process for the policies and framework. - Pilot phase with the paperwork to gain feedback, ensuring new processes are ready for launch in August 2023. 1.4.4 Establish an Education Resource Group to ensure a timely multi-agency response to assessing and providing for young people’s additional support needs. - N-P1 request for support transition panel and all children placed within local areas where possible and appropriate. - ERG process has highlighted high levels of unmet needs relating to social, emotional and behavioural needs. Scoping activity underway to learn from national best practice. - QI visits have focused on the assessment of need and response to providing support - Staff survey to measure the effectiveness of the new procedure and measure impact on the CYP 1.4.5 Review Support for Learning practice to ensure capacity of workforce, consistency and quality. - QI visits have focused on the SfL practice and meeting learners needs. - Scoping exercise to identify support for learning training to upskill workforce. Midlothian Single Plan Priority Reducing the gap in health outcomes Priority 2: Included, Involved and Engaged: Wellbeing & Equity 2.1 Improve Equity and Inclusion Trend Data & Targets 2018/19 2019/20 2020/21 2021/22 Ave. Target Pr Attendance Rate 94.43% 94.70% 94.04% 95.06% 94.56% 95% Sec Attendance Rate 89.18% 89.20% 89.37% 90.99% 89.69% 91.5% Key Actions Q4 – Completed activity Q1 23/24 – Planned activity 2.1.1 Extend professional learning offer to promote nurturing, trauma-informed practice across schools and settings. - Nurture leads and practitioners from across the directorate have worked on development of framework for Relational Practice to define Midlothian approach, tools and resources. . - Initial scoping activities underway into the supervision and support needs of those staff working with children presenting with significant emotional distress. - Launch the Framework for Relational Practice and professional learning resources and reflection tool for teams. - Participation event to be set up with children and young people to explore what is important to them in relation to relationships and wellbeing. - Shadowing opportunities to follow on from the Reflective Practice Framework completion. Review of learning and identifying needs to inform planning for 2023-24. 2.1.2 Revise Attendance Strategy in partnership with Children’s Services - Revised attendance procedures being shared with relevant stakeholders for feedback. - All schools now have access to a data dashboard that enables analysis of attendance trends and gaps to inform priorities and target support more effectively. - Engagement activity with Head teachers and partners to inform practice, pathways and partnerships to promote attendance and re-engagement. - Procedures to be finalised along with guidance for Children Missing Education, Flexi-schooling and Build up Timetables. - Participation event to be set up with children and young people to explore what is important to them in relation to attendance and what kinds of support are effective. - Pathways to be drafted for children and young people across the spectrum of non-attendance in partnership with stakeholders. 2.1.3 Develop a comprehensive Family Learning Strategy - Strategy agreed and final version will be disseminated. - Development of a central source of information about Family Learning offer in Midlothian. - Undertake consultation with stakeholders about availability and gaps across Midlothian. Revisions made to improve awareness of family learning and engagement in opportunities. Page 63 of 258
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12 2.1.4 Develop ASD Strategy - Set up ASN network to identify issues and priorities and build on inclusive pedagogy and practice. - Inclusive classroom training completed with most PTs and Class teachers of all provisions and enhanced classes. - Data set to be developed to inform needs across the spectrum of neurodiversity. - Neurodiversity strategy group to be set up with a focus on developing understanding of need across Midlothian to inform improvement planning including authority wide ASD strategy. 2.1.5 Mental Health strategy established - In process of developing data set to inform priorities in relation to mental health. - Mapping of services and capacity has been undertaken as well as procurement of therapy by schools. - Allocation of CMHF monies for new year and oversight of counselling service. - Ongoing development of MH strategy with GIRFEC subgroup. - Seek children and young people’s views about what’s working and not working in the support for wellbeing and mental health. Identify children and young people reference group to support strategy development. 2.2 Children have a greater understanding of their rights (UNCRC) and these rights are being met across our establishments Key Actions Q4 – Completed activity Q1 23/24 – Planned activity 2.2.1 Carry out a Children’s Rights Review with CYP and staff across Midlothian, set against the 7 principles of a rights-based approach - Identify and facilitate focus groups of children & young people, families, and stakeholders. - Identify schools in each ASG to review in terms of highlighting good practice and assets to build on within Midlothian. - Hold Parent Conferences and gain views around the long-term aims/vision of taking a rights-based approach in Midlothian, to feed into Children’s Rights Review. - Collate, analyse & evaluate data from reviews. - Create feedback summary from reviews per ASG (including next steps/recommended actions) - Attend ASG meetings to share feedback summaries with HTs. 2.1.2 Develop and implement the Midlothian Children’s Rights strategy across the Directorate, in partnership with Children’s Services & CLLE. - Meet with Steering Group consultation teams to revisit the long term aims and vision as thinking progresses. - Start to hone into where Midlothian would like to be in 5 years’ time. - Create Happy, Safe & Thriving (HST) ASG working groups. - Create terms of reference for HST ASG working groups. - HST ASG working groups to analyse feedback summary and create action plan/next steps for their ASG in terms of professional learning. - Follow-up focus groups about Mental Health & Wellbeing Survey with S4-S6 about exam stress, and S1 transitions, to feed into ASG working groups connected with implementing the Midlothian Children’s Rights Strategy. - HST working groups to implement actions created. Page 64 of 258
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13 Priority 3: Self-improving Systems 3.1 Leaders at all levels work together within an empowered system to improve outcomes for children, young people and families Key Actions Q4 – Completed activity Q1 23/24 – Planned activity 3.1.1 Comprehensive professional learning opportunities to improve quality of leadership at all levels, including leadership of learning. - Phased introduction of Professional learning Academy offers. - Delivery and evaluation of SEIC leadership offer. - Proportionate support for schools to complete their self-evaluation and preparation of the 2023-24 school standard and quality report. - Planning for 2023-24 leadership (HT, DHTs and emergent leader programmes) - Arranging induction and mentoring for new HTs - Surveying school leaders and their teams to identify their professional learning needs for 2023-24 school year. Preparing these professional learning programmes. - (Re) establishing self-sustaining professional networks with support from the Professional Learning Academy. - Filming professional learning resources for the “Anytime Learning” section of the Professional Learning Academy Google site. - Planning in-service day professional learning for teachers, support staff and early years staff groups 3.1.2 Deliver a minimum data set and support data literacy to improve self- evaluation through leadership professional learning and data champions. - Final refinement of data champions network to be established in-line with the full implementation of plan for next session - Data lead for Midlothian attends the SEIC Data & Analysis Network 3- monthly meetings where good practice and support is shared. - End of year evaluation and co-create 2023-24 activities. - Develop programme of training with professional learning academy for 2023-24. 3.2 Children and families participate in, influence and inform how we deliver our services Page 65 of 258
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14 Key Actions Q4 – Completed activity Q1 23/24 – Planned activity 3.2.1 Refresh the Midlothian Parental Involvement and Engagement Strategy. Co-create this with Midlothian parents using the National Community Engagement guide. - Parent focus groups on National discussion, 10 in total both face to face and virtual. - Guidance created to ensure consistent support for PC chairs to carry out their business and meetings/format and consistent approach to parental engagement in recruitment. - Involvement in EYs and Education reform consultation through focus groups. - Parent Conference planned for June. - Parental Engagement Strategy co-created with PC reps group and consultation being carried out with wider stakeholder group. - Parental Involvement and Engagement report co-created with PC reps group and consultation being carried out with wider stakeholder group. - Parental Engagement Strategy and Parental Involvement report shared across locality groups - Creation of PIE steering group and co-creation of action plan. - Use PC Equalities Audit to adjust PC guidance, recruitment & promotional materials. 3.2.2 Learner Engagement Strategy - Learners views and opinions were included in various consultations throughout this session linked to service improvement priorities and National Conversation on Education for Scottish Government. - Learners involved in the recruitment of senior staff leading their school community. - Learners were involved in creating letter of intent in relation to the Period Act and can access free products. - Learner conference planned for June - Learner Engagement Strategy co-created with learner group 3.3 Quality Assurance activities lead to improvements in the quality of education provision across settings and schools Key Actions Q4 – Completed activity Q1 23/24 – Planned activity 3.3.1 Quality Improvement framework in place - Schools and ELC settings implement the QA Framework. - Feedback via EEG on visit 2 activity. - Evaluate the QA Framework with head teachers and centre managers at the end of year. 3.3.2 Programme of quality assurance activities - QA visit 3 provides schools, ELC settings and LA with a clear picture of progress in raising attainment as well as improvement over time. - Final QA programme agreed and in place for future sessions, able to support with provision of clear information regarding capacity for improvement for our schools and ELC settings related to key QIs. Midlothian Single Plan Priority Reducing the gap in economic circumstances Priority 4: Life-Long Learning and Career-Ready Employability 4.1 Children and young people are well prepared for the world of work Key Actions Q4 – Completed activity Q1 23/24 – Planned activity 4.1.1 Analyse opportunity data to inform which careers offer the best opportunities for Midlothian’s CYP over the next 10 years. - Collaborative enquiry complete and the report has been written, with work ongoing to finalise the action Plan. Work to progress on School College Partnership, Foundation Apprenticeships, links through City Deal (University link) and collaboration via digital across schools. - 16+ Data Hub practice paper developed and training for schools being rolled out. - School 23/24 SIPs reflect this approach Page 66 of 258
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15 4.1.2 Embed My World of Work (MWoW) into the curriculum of every school - Collaborative Improvement plan in place with associated Action Plan. - Shared with all senior leaders at HT meeting - Reflected in the Curriculum Framework document and rolled out in relation to agreed timeline 4.1.3 Further develop bespoke Skills Development Scotland tutor and mentoring support for senior phase secondary students - Support remaining schools to provide tutor and mentor support. - Meet with SDS to target support where it is needed. Priority 5: Finance & Resources 5.1 Deliver Best Value through: Key Actions Q4 – Completed activity Q1 23/24 – Planned activity 5.1.1 Learning Estate - Elected members seminar covering the LEIP (Learning Estate investment Plan) projects of Beeslack HS and Penicuik HS. Paper to go to June 2023 Council - Statutory consultation underway for the new Easthouses PS. - Public open help to present the vision for the new Mayfield Campus. - Council agreed to procure modular units for Kings Park, Rosewell, Roslin, Woodburn primary schools’ and Lasswade ASN. - Continue to plan and deliver the agreed Learning Estate priorities. - Provide milestone updates to relevant governance groups. 5.1.2 DSM Review - Complete the DSM consultation. - Continue comms and roll-out of DSM 5.2 Equipped for learning: Key Actions Q4 – Completed activity Q1 23/24 – Planned activity Transformation Devise and deliver Phase Two of the Equipped for Learning project to ensure positive, sustained impact for children and young people - Delivery of workstream actions as detailed in EfL Phase Two project plan - Delivery of workstream actions as detailed in EfL Phase Two project plan - Review of Phase Two and scoping for Phase Three Page 67 of 258
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16 Asset Management Confirm asset management strategy including investigating provision of a device when a pupil leaves school and develop agreed deployment plans then Implement. - Monitor refresh schedule to be developed and implemented. AV refresh schedule to be developed and implemented Storage and Back Up Review/update record management policy, confirm document management approach, tidy data in line with RMP, migrate data to central servers and then decommission old servers; explore back-up solutions for email and drive/workspace, confirm solution and implement. - Centralise storage on centrally managed servers. - Assess volume of storage required on the basis of the outputs of the data cleanse process - Assess options - servers held in high schools on behalf of primaries vs servers held centrally on behalf of all schools - Procure and implement new hardware - Migrate data from existing servers to new servers Security Identify a solution/tools MDM, DLP and Other to prevent data from being copied into a personal app. Investigate & implement CASB, 2FA & Data Classification within Workspace - Identify Security work packages that need third party support / procurement - Identify MDM / DLP tools and solutions to prevent data being copied out of the workspace onto personal apps - Investigate alternative inbuilt controls to overcome MDM risks in non-Windows/Chrome user environments Network and Wifi Develop Network Wi-Fi requirements, develop Network/Wi-Fi forecast model with scenario planning capability to proactively plan capacity. Wholesale update of Wi-Fi Network Audio Visual Define how teachers could/should use Chromebooks and AV for each type of learning setting. Define requirement for AV service offering. - Conduct change management in all schools - Procure all hardware through Scotland ESL Framework - Agree installation plan with chosen supplier - Review support arrangements for software updates - Carry out installation Identity Build a case for change, develop options assessment and business case. Implement simpler corporate wide identity solution to education - Review interim arrangement for managing issues related to accounts and identities - Implement identity solution Support Review support processes, where best placed to sit. Update Service Now to allow Digital Learning access. Confirm Governance process on managing and tracking of assets. - Assess the viability of using Service Now to deliver Digital Learning support functions - Carry out trial run of Service Now for delivery of support functions - Carry out change management for migration to Service Now Potentially migrate Digital Learning support functions to Service Now Page 68 of 258
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17 02. Challenges and Risks 22/23: - Outcome of the Education Reform Consultation and National Care Service Consultation - Uncertainty about how SQA qualifications will be assessed going forward in the future. - The continuing impact of the pandemic on attendance and on post-school destinations - Midlothian Council has a relatively high proportion of funded ELC places delivered by partners in the private and voluntary sectors. As such, any increases in the rate that is paid to funded providers would create additional upward pressure on the early year’s budget for 2022/23. - Rate of demographic growth on the learning estate - A full refresh of school roll projections and capacities has been undertaken to assess current and future demand. This work will inform and shape the Learning Estate Strategy over the next 5 years. - A number of schools funded through the Scottish Governments Learning Estate Investment Programme are at the briefing and design stages. There are council and developer funded projects being undertaken also. An elected member’s seminar was held to present an update of the Beeslack CHS and Penicuik HS projects. - The Roll Projection data will be checked and refreshed on a 6 month basis to ensure we have provided sufficient capacity in each catchment. There are a number of schools with imminent capacity breaches. - A programme of Suitability Surveys will be conducted in 2023 to ensure our Core Facts data is reflective of the current situation. - The Place Directorate are planning on conducting Condition Surveys in all schools assets. - Increase in the number of children and young people with additional support requiring more specialist provision will require robust monitoring to ensure staffing and specialist facilities meets level of needs - There are a number of Scottish Government consultations, on issues such as school uniform and physical restraint, that are ongoing which may result in change in education policies for this coming session and beyond. - There is a financial challenge to deliver statutory services given the current budget gap. - Due to the current financial climate there may be an impact on services as a result of the cost of living and increase in poverty. Page 69 of 258
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1 Place Performance Report 2022-23 Place is where people, location and resources combine to create a sense of identity and purpose. The Place service ambition is to deliver joined-up, collaborative, and participative approaches to services, land and buildings, across all sectors within a place, enabling better outcomes for everyone and increased opportunities for people and communities to shape their own lives. Achievements 2022-23 In response to the 2021/22 Planning Performance Framework submission, the Scottish Government RAG rating feedback report (December 2022) on the 15 performance markers which form the basis of the assessment of the Council’s Planning Service, for the first time rated all 15 markers ‘green’ giving no cause for concern. None were rated as ‘amber’ which are areas of identified improvement or ‘red’, this being used to indicate where some specific attention is required. This was reported to Planning Committee at its meeting of February 2023. Following the adoption of the National Planning Framework No.4, the Service has formally commenced its review of the Council’s adopted spatial strategy, the Midlothian Local Development Plan – the first phase consists of engagement with community groups, key agencies, the development industry, local residents and elected members. The Council has adopted a Planning Enforcement Charter which sets out the Council’s policy and approach on enforcing planning control and addressing breaches of planning legislation. Throughout 2022/23 the Planning Committee has determined to grant planning permission for a number of strategic developments which contribute towards the Council’s planning, economic and environmental objectives, and include: • The erection of 24 business (Class 4) units, spread across 5 blocks with a total floor space of 4257 sqm; a drive-through coffee shop; with associated car parking, access roads and drainage infrastructure; and an application for planning permission in principle for a further three Class 4 plots all situated on land to the south of Sheriffhall roundabout; • The erection of a retail food store of 1878sqm floor space (Class 1), formation of access roads, car parking, and associated works on land at the junction of the A701 and Pentland Road, Old Pentland, Loanhead; • The erection of a food retail store and associated works off Edinburgh Road, Penicuik; • The erection of 100 dwellinghouses and associated works on the ‘Doctor’s Field’, Rosewell; • The erection of 430 dwellinghouses at land at Cauldcoats, Danderhall; • The erection of 96 dwellinghouses at land at Newbyres, River Gore Road, Gorebridge; • Planning permission in principle for up to 926 dwellinghouses and associated works on land south of Mayfield and east of Newtongrange; and • The erection of a new Easthouses Primary School. The Council has adopted Conservation Area Character Appraisals and Management Plans for the Eskbank and Ironmills Conservation Area and the Newtongrange Conservation Area and Supplementary Guidance for Low Density Rural Housing. Item 5.5 Page 71 of 258
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2 With regard the Council’s Economic Development and Business Gateway Service, the primary achievements have been: • Grant funds to support local businesses to the value of £2,980,428 were processed and issued between March 2020 and September 2022 from the Scottish Government Covid recovery funds; • Administering and continuing to process the Community Wealth Building and Green Transition funds (approximately £304,922); • Over 50 businesses have signed up to The Midlothian Carbon Pledge. • Launched the refreshed Inward Investment Prospectus highlighting Midlothian for business investment; • Launch of the first Economic Development quarterly newsletter setting out the opportunities for businesses and social enterprises; and • Supported 14 social enterprise projects with four of them already started trading, including the Energy Training Academy Community Interest Company; • Shared Prosperity Fund Investment Plan approved and programmes commenced. Midlothian Council’s Decarbonisation Project is the first step in retrofitting our existing stock to help reach our goal of Net Zero. Within this Building Maintenance project, we have installed 165 domestic properties with Solar Photo-Voltaic panels complete with Battery storage. This provides the householder with 4.8KW of generated electricity free of charge. Within this project, we are also dealing with the hard to heat properties that are experiencing large increases in Fuel costs due to not having access to Mains Gas. Midlothian Council are retro fitting these houses with a “Fabric First” approach which includes floor, wall and loft insulation and new energy efficient windows and doors. In addition to this, we have fitted the same PV panels and battery storage as above as well as new Air Source Heat Pumps. All these measures ensure that these houses will need no further improvements as we move to becoming Net Zero. Across Protective Services: • The Food Law Interventions programme by Environmental Health completed 100% of the inspections planned at the highest risk premises and 97% of the high risk premises in Priority 2 having undertaken a total of 321 food inspections • 2022-2023 Phase 1 implementation of the Food Standards Scotland (FSS) new Official Controls Verification (OCV) interventions at approved premises within Midlothian. During the year the method and recording procedures of these interventions was developed in accordance with national guidance and all of our highest risk approved premises; manufacturing meat products and dairy products, were inspected or audited at least twice within the year. • Trading standards Team were involved in the monitoring of the Avian flu outbreak (principally amongst seabirds) and in conjunction with colleagues in the Safety, Risk and Resilience team ensured appropriate local guidance was available to Council and public • As a result of active involvement or advice by the Trading Standards Service, refunds of at least £30,635 were attained by members of the public. Page 72 of 258
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3 • Trading Standards staff conducted a number of partnership operations including with Police Scotland targeting underage sales of nicotine products and Scottish Fire and Rescue Service regards the regulation of premises selling fireworks. Trading standards successfully seized a significant quantity of disposable vapes said to have 3,500 puffs each all vastly exceeded the 2ml nicotine content permitted in the UK. • As part of a Scotland-wide project, TS signed up 5 self-storage businesses to comply with a Code of Practice to prevent the storage of counterfeit goods and awarded the relevant certification. • Short-term Let Licensing in terms of The Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 (Licensing of Short- term Lets) Order 2022 was introduced and this required creation of a short-term let licensing policy, specialist software to administer applications and procedures for the inspection of properties and the processing of applications. The first applications have been received and licences issued to those compliant. It is expected that we will receive 200 – 250 others by 1 October 2023. • As part of the approved Environmental Crime Strategy the policy and procedure to deal with abandoned vehicles was developed and implemented following transfer of this area of enforcement to the Team in July 2022. 127 requests for service were actioned with vehicles being removed where the law allowed • The expertise in relation to Contaminated Land continued to be utilised throughout the year by both internal and external stakeholders including Development Control and Building Standards with 305 reviews being completed in the year directly contributing to The Midlothian Council position as the fastest growing local authority area in Scotland • The team fulfilled our obligations with regards to the development and launch of the National Dog Control Database which is now providing better quality information to enforcement agencies, including Police Scotland, regards dogs considered to be out of control. • The regulatory control of private sector housing remained a focus for the team in 2022/23 and in addition to housing disrepair matters and the registration of residential private sector landlords the team undertook unplanned work regards Homes for Ukraine Visitors inspecting in excess of 70 properties to ensure safe standards for all guests and hosts. • The Authority continued with the recovery phase of the coronavirus pandemic and were supported by Health and Safety Advisors, The Contingency Planning officer and others across the Service. The Local Test Site in Dalkeith run by Mitie on behalf of the UK Government was successfully decommissioned • Appointed the Health, Safety & Resilience Manager in January 2023 which will improve performance through ongoing work to implement the health and safety management system, risk management system, civil contingency, business continuity policies and processes, Public Safety at events and provision of the Council’s Licensing function and contributing to the key aim that individuals and communities in Midlothian will be able to lead healthier, safer, greener and successful lives by 2030 • The appointment of the Public Safety and Resilience Officer has resulted in robust engagement and encouragement in relation to event planning in Midlothian through the Safety Advice Group • Implementation of Operation Unicorn following the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II • The Licensing service has commenced review to enable the making, receipt and processing of digital applications Page 73 of 258
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4 Housing Services continues to work to achieve as much affordable housing as possible to reduce the waiting time for housing applicants in need. • Midlothian Council has increased its council properties to 7121 properties (108 new builds); • We purchased 22 open market properties; • We let 1029 properties to the waiting list; • Social Landlords asked us for waiting list applicants details for 222 addresses (113 affordable new homes); • We progressed 59 mutual exchanges between tenants. The Service let 376 rooms/properties to those in need of temporary accommodation who are homeless. This includes supportive housing services tailored to meet the needs of individuals and families experiencing homelessness including those with mental health, substance misuse, trauma, life skills training and ongoing case management. Housing continue to work in close partnership with our partners in health and social care to ensure those who are most vulnerable are supported. The Service is actively looking to reduce the time people spend in homelessness, having reduced this to 58 weeks to close a homelessness case in 2023, compared to 106 weeks in 2022. Homelessness prevention assists around 20 households with advice and assistance about homelessness prevention per week. This is rental assistance advice, financial awareness advice and mediation. WithYOU our tenancy and hostel managing supplier has become a trusted partner and is distributing the £44,000 LACER funding to our vulnerable tenants. Housing Services commissioned Changeworks to provide a Warm and Well programme between November 2021 and October 2023. The target is to assist 290 tenants to tackle poverty issues. To date this has resulted in savings of £50,884.48 for our tenants. Housing is in the process of working with our procurement department around commissioning a Young Persons support service for two years around sustaining tenancies and prevention of Homelessness Across Neighbourhood Services, Road Services delivered £4.5m of works to improve both the main road and pavement network along with residential streets. A further £1m has been spent converting street lights to modern LED bulbs to reduce both electricity consumption and carbon emissions. The service delivered investment in a new road planer, pot hole machine and drain gulley cleaning vehicle. Council approved a consultation on introduction of 20mph zones across the county to further improve road safety and work continues on a bid to reduce traffic bottlenecks to improve bus timings and efficiency. The team put in some hard shifts to keep Midlothian moving during the winter snow and ice. The Active Travel team funded by Smarter Choices Smarter Places grant delivered a range of cycle training initiatives with school children and school streets safety improvement plans. Four projects to improve active travel safety and infrastructure such as paths are underway funded by a Cycling Walking Safer Streets grant. Page 74 of 258
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5 Fleet and Travel Services kept the council fleet on the road delivering key services and safely transported thousands of children daily to school. Waste Services re-opened a reuse cabin at Stobhill Recycling Centre for the collection of items suitable to be used for children's "learning through play." To assist with circular economy work one of the contractors awarded the following community benefits. Loanhead Bike Refurbishment Project: £750 to purchase spares to repair bikes for reuse, as well as bike maintenance activities. The Glencorse Centre, Penicuik £750 for a Sew Far So Good project to support local residents to mend and repair clothes. PlayBase, Dalkeith £500 to support operating the bric-a-brac reuse cabin at Stobhill Recycling Centre. Six compactor bins have been installed in a trial. Land Services installed new play areas at both Danderhall and Kingspark Nurseries along with the planting of bamboo and willow. Four Queen’s Platinum Jubilee trees were planted at Roslin Park, Viewbank Park, Arnisiton Park and Pathhead Park. A pump track was installed at North Middleton and Waterfall Park play area has been refurbished using Scottish Government grant funding. The Ranger Service organised Midlothian Outdoor Festival which attracted 1072 visitors taking part in walks, talks and activities throughout the county. Partnership funding was secured from Scottish Water for a Ranger post for Gladhouse reservoir. Green flags were awarded to Vogrie Country Park and Memorial Park Loanhead. A petanque court was installed at Newtongrange Park and the team supported 17 community galas. Environmental Midlothian Council was one of the first local authorities to sign Scotland’s Climate Change Declaration, publicly acknowledging the challenges and opportunities that climate change brings with a commitment to make the Council’s activities net zero carbon by 2030. Work continues to implement the Council’s Climate Change Strategy and focus continues within Place services to achieve future emissions targets. The ambitious strategy sets out how we will reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, encourage and work with others in our community to mitigate and adapt to changing climate. The strategy incorporates an action plan with a number of initiatives and ongoing programmes which together are helping to reduce our emissions and carbon footprint. The annual progress report on Climate Change was presented to Cabinet at its meeting of 18 October 2022. Economic Development continues to promote the Midlothian Business Green Pledge. This year 50 businesses committed to the Pledge, which is now a prerequisite for any businesses looking to secure grant support from the Local Authority Covid Economic Recovery (LACER) Green fund. Economic Development worked with pledgers to identify the best platform for group sharing. Through the LinkedIn group, pledgers are starting to share their experiences and the team continue to share a mix of green information from partners on learning opportunities, support and funding. The Scottish Government’s Heat in Buildings Strategy (2021) sets out its aims and objectives for achieving net zero emissions within the entire building stock in Scotland by 2045, including addressing poor energy efficiency as a driver of fuel poverty. As part of this Strategy, Local Heat & Energy Efficiency Strategies (LHEES) will set out the long-term plan for decarbonising heat in buildings and improving energy efficiency across an entire local authority area. The Strategies will draw on a standardised methodology to: Page 75 of 258
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6 Set out how each section of the building stock needs to change to meet national objectives, including achieving zero greenhouse gas emissions in the building sector, and the removal of poor energy efficiency as a driver of fuel poverty; • identify strategic heat decarbonisation zones, and set out the principal measures for reducing buildings emissions within each zone; and • prioritise areas for delivery, against national and local priorities. In conjunction with consultants, Midlothian are now at Stage 4 of the methodology and are currently reviewing the findings and in discussion with key stakeholders regarding the confirmation of data, and identification, review and potential priorities. Work continues with Midlothian Energy to develop business case options for addressing building fabric and energy decarbonisation of the existing estate. The site has been secured for the new Midlothian Energy Centre at Millerhill, as a key step in the delivery of District Heating at Shawfair. The energy services agreement with Shawfair LLP received shareholders consent in December allowing closure of the deal to supply and manage heat distribution for Shawfair. The conclusions of the heat offtake agreement at Millerhill waste and recycling plant allowed the signing of the design and build and operating and management agreements for the energy centre and undertaking of the installation of the distribution network. Contractors are now appointed and work progressing with groundworks. The annual Capital Works Programme for carriageway resurfacing combined with the Residential streets programme continues to make good progress this quarter with 20.10km of carriageway resurfaced over this year (2.89% of the total road network) with our annual target of resurfacing 2.2% of the total road network being exceeded. In addition, 7.26km of footways were resurfaced this year (1.02%), exceeding our annual target of 0.6%. In addition, there has been significant capital investment in modern road maintenance equipment including a road planer to remove the surface of roads, specialist rollers, road tar hot box and mobile welfare facilities for staff. The purchase of a JBC Pothole Pro (PHP) will play a key part in recovering our road and footpath network going forward. Successful procurement of new contracts for both lighting capital and traffic signal maintenance will deliver best value for the service. Due to late procurement of these contracts this year, funding has been diverted to the delivery of 1,796 new LED lanterns, anticipated to be completed in May. As a result, 136 lighting column replacements were installed this quarter with a further 403 units expected to complete in July. This year we ran a consultation on our Electric Vehicle charging network to gather feedback on providing accessibility, reliability and affordability of a charging network across the Midlothian area. The consultation will shape our Electric Vehicle Infrastructure strategy and expansion plan in 2023. A business case has been developed and considers the expected future increase in EVs and associated need for additional chargers throughout Midlothian. It also sets out possible funding options and what the future EV charging network could look like. Work continues in Waste Services on an options Appraisal with Zero Waste Scotland to consider how waste/recycling might be collected in the future considering the Household Waste Charter, and the impacts of both the planned Deposit Return Scheme and Extended Producer Responsibility. Planning is on- going regarding the potential impacts on the service, particularly the kerbside glass collection service. Page 76 of 258
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7 Target containers returned to retailers or reverse vending points will mean less is collected in kerbside glass boxes and blue bins which will affect our recycling rates. The Garden waste service re-started on the 13th of March with 13,463 customer already signed up to the service (14,707 customers at same time point in 2022). As part of Scottish Government capital spend on play improvements, 20 play areas have been upgraded mainly consisting of replacing old and worn equipment. Play areas at Danderhall and King’s Park Nursery were completed this year with new play equipment and planting. Waterfall Park refurbishment is now complete and North Middleton Pump Track Pump track completed and is being well used by the community. Other works in progression include Burnbrae Primary School, Penicuik Park and Millerhill Park. The Countryside Ranger Service continues to engage with communities and volunteers on various initiatives such as the Midlothian Outdoor Festival, attracting 1,072 visitors taking part in walks, talks and activities throughout the county. Tree survey work was completed on Penicuik to Dalkeith walkway, Springfield Mill and Straiton pond. In addition, the ranger service secured partnership funding with Scottish Water for a ranger post at Gladhouse reservoir and delivery of equipment as part of the Scottish Government Nature Restoration Fund for biodiversity which will be utilised for maintenance of grassland and wild flower meadows. Extensive biodiversity works were completed to restore 2 ponds at Vogrie and Straiton. A new pond was created on the Penicuik to Dalkeith walkway. Green flags were awarded to Vogrie Country Park and Loanhead Memorial Park. This year 5,604 volunteer hours were spent in countryside sites ensuring an attractive, safe and welcoming environment for all to enjoy. Overall grounds maintenance standards have been good this year. Working towards Midlothian’s aim to be Carbon Neutral by 2030, Land Services purchased additional battery powered small plant and machinery and a large charging unit which records and reports on carbon savings made. In Q2 the operation of Pellenc battery operated equipment resulted in a 334.8kg reduction in Co2 emissions and also provided an equivalent saving of £223.00 in fuel costs. Public Health and Environmental Protection implemented the short-term let licensing scheme within the time scales prescribed by Scottish Government. To date only a handful of applications have been received but plans are in place to proactively contact known short-term let hosts early this year to remind them of the deadline for their license application and publicise the scheme further on our social media platforms. This quarter, software was implemented which is now integrated with the Council’s website allowing hosts to apply and administer their application by 1st of October 2023. Air Quality Progress Reports for 2020-21 and 2021-22 were submitted to Scottish Government on 31st October 2022 for appraisal. Our Air Quality monitoring programme which had been suspended due to resourcing issues has been successfully restarted. Work has now began on the 2022-23 report. An Abandoned Vehicle Procedure, introduced during 2022, continues to be refined this quarter but is working well. Officers are having a lot of success in contacting owners early in the process prior to having to go to formal notice by affixing ‘awareness’ notices at their first visit to the vehicle which encourages the owners to contact us. This allows the owner to informally deal with the issue before moving to formal notice. In addition, DVLA access that been achieved this quarter for searches of keeper details for vehicles Page 77 of 258
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8 reported to the authority as being abandoned. This is resource which can now be used for other authorised uses within our jurisdiction such as fly tipping and littering. Economy & Regeneration Midlothian Council’s Economic Renewal Strategy sets out our ambitious approach to managing the transition from lockdown and planning for the longer term challenges the local economy will face. The strategy aims to mitigate the adverse economic impact on the local economy from COVID-19. Key aims are to protect jobs and aid business recovery using a place based partnership approach that maximises the opportunities developing from the pandemic. Taking this partnership approach, the strategy will foster entrepreneurship, upskilling and training, addressing gaps in the market and changing the way business is done to better align this to customer behaviour. Alongside support for agriculture, tourism and the leisure and hospitality sectors, the council will also promote local jobs and self-employment opportunities, particularly for young people, to give them the necessary skills and support they need to benefit from economic recovery. A report on EU-Exit impacts and the economy was presented to Council in October and work is ongoing with Ekosgen which will inform the refresh of the Economic Strategy to be presented for approval to Council in Q1 2023/24. The Business Gateway team continue to promote localised procurement with clients, encouraging registration with the Supplier Development Programme and Public Contract Scotland (PCS). We actively encourage businesses to register with the Supplier Development Programme which provides access to free training and support in all aspects of public sector tendering to improve the tender readiness of local suppliers. Working with our Procurement Team, we identify upcoming procurement opportunities, promoting local procurement opportunities via our digital channels and for those that we know suit a specific business we contact the client directly. Support via the teams Procurement Mentor is available to clients via the Business Gateway Adviser. We also proactively identify regional and national opportunities that suit our client base on PCS. Events, mainly those by the Supplier Development Programme, are also shared with local businesses and across our social media channels to support local businesses to become “tender ready”. A Meet the Buyer event was held at Newtongrange Mining Museum on 29th March regarding Midlothian Council’s upcoming building/roofing framework and was attended by Economic Development, Business Gateway, Procurement and the Building Maintenance Service. The event was attended by 24 people from businesses in the local area. Without requesting feedback we received very positive responses from attendees, more meet the buyer events are planned in support of the Local Procurement Strategy and the transition to a wellbeing economy. The Business Gateway service continue to promote the social enterprise model to clients where their plans, objectives and values align to the model. Contributing to Community Wealth Building objectives, the team continue to support the projects from Social Enterprise Conversation sessions as they develop. The “Newtongrange Development Trust and a Social Entrepreneur” session was held last quarter and two Social Enterprise Conversations were held in Bonnyrigg and Roslin (and surrounding areas) this quarter. Projects being supported from these sessions include: Page 78 of 258
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9 • A start up social entrepreneur now accessing business support to take forward their idea. • Existing business owner starting a new venture and considering social enterprise. • Existing charity exploring income generation. • One participant signed up to join Wellbeing Business Association. Each of these projects will become income generating social enterprises and are presently working with the Business Gateway team on legal structure, identification of revenue streams, local and national referrals/introductions with connections made to existing social enterprises where a collaborative opportunity is identified. In addition, two Expert Help Programmes (HR Support & Financial Management) launched on 28th February 2023. The Expert Help programme provides consultancy support in specialised areas to businesses in Midlothian. 6 clients have been referred to each programme. The Locate in Midlothian website continues to be a valuable tool for employability opportunities and employment support with 37 property enquires received via the site during Q4. All enquirers were contacted by Business Gateway advisors to offer wider support. In total the team have received 138 enquires this year. The Locate in Midlothian website received 10,095 visits from 1st of April to 10th of November 22. (It should be noted that website visits for the remainder of the year cannot be reported on at present due to a switch in software, reporting issues are being progressed with the developer). Each social media channel is targeting different audiences and each is performing well in terms of audience growth and interaction with 1,880 ‘Business Gateway Midlothian’ followers and 1,676 ‘Locate in Midlothian’ followers across Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin. The level of Business start-ups has increased from 6 in Q2 to 63 in Q4, most of these had accessed pre- start support in 2021/22 and some from earlier this financial year. This reflects the continued and focused activity of our dedicated Start Up Adviser and broader economic trends including: • Part time work sufficient before but not during cost of living crisis. • Developing “side hustles” in order to create additional income to cover gaps in earnings, whilst remaining in employment. • Redundancies or threat of job loss motivating clients to investigate self-employment. The total number Business start-ups this year was 118. This should realise a forecasted creation of 142 jobs, with quarter 4 jobs forecasted to be 74. The Local Authority Covid Economic Recovery Fund (known as LACER) provides grants to support businesses, social enterprises and tourism in Midlothian. Funding allocation has been spilt across the following areas: • Social Enterprise Start and Grow fund with £8,000 awarded • Tourism, Culture & Heritage Officer £43,859 – recruitment has commenced • Tourism Support £10,000 – now allocated • Green Transition Fund with £113,983 awarded • Business Associations £15,000 – funding not yet drawn however emerging business associations in Penicuik and Gorebridge with theme of Green Trades, Wellbeing and Food/Drink. Page 79 of 258
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10 We have continued to maximise opportunities to support recovery of the tourism sector by supporting the development of the tourism forum’s digital presence and representation on the steering group. The £10,000 grant to the Midlothian Tourism Forum as set out above has allowed the forum to design and build a website to increase membership and interest. This is due to go live in May. The new Economic Strategy planned for 2023 approval will include Tourism, Culture and Heritage. Following the 2021/22 Planning Performance Framework submission to the Scottish Government, the RAG rating feedback report was received in December 2022 and for the first time all 15 performance markers were rated ‘green’ giving no cause for concern. The 15 performance markers form the basis of the assessment of the Council’s Planning Service and as a result no areas were identified for improvement and no indications where some specific attention is required. Following the adoption of the National Planning Framework No.4, the Service has formally commenced its review of the Council’s adopted spatial strategy, the Midlothian Local Development Plan – the first phase consists of engagement with community groups, key agencies, the development industry, local residents and elected members. Housing and homelessness Midlothian Council’s updated Rapid Rehousing Transition Plan (RRTP) sets out key actions for delivery this year and addresses the next phase in transforming the services provided to meet housing need. These activities are crucial to reduce the time spent in temporary accommodation, improving the quality of temporary accommodation provided, continue to deliver Housing First and improve the health and wellbeing of those most vulnerable households. The plan also explains how Midlothian Council will address the next phase of its approach to transforming the services provided to those in housing need by developing initiatives with an emphasis on the prevention of homelessness, tenancy sustainability and early intervention. There continues to be a significant demand placed on homeless and temporary accommodation services. A potential key challenge will be an increase in homelessness as the financial measures put in place to protect households during the pandemic are now withdrawn, alongside the recent increase in energy, food and fuel costs, requiring a comprehensive preventative approach as set out in the Council’s Rapid Rehousing Transition Plan. Homelessness is not inevitable and can often be prevented. Our vision is for everyone to have a safe, warm and affordable home that meets their needs. Working with our partners to prevent homelessness from happening in the first place. With the change in The Homeless Persons (Unsuitable Accommodation) (Scotland) Amendment Order 2020, we have transformed temporary accommodation in Midlothian, so no children will be in a B&B, hotel or hostel accommodation for more than 7 days. On 29 November 2022, the Homeless Persons (Suspension of Referrals between Local Authorities) (Scotland) Order 2022 came into force. This gives people in housing crisis the freedom to settle where they choose with access to the support they need, and aims to help them integrate more fully into the local Page 80 of 258
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11 community and to reduce repeat homelessness. With both of these significant changes to homelessness legislation adding challenges to the service, we have not breached these orders. The number of applicants requiring temporary accommodation has increased this quarter to 162 new cases, reaching a total number of households in temporary accommodation at quarter end of 322. The number of cases provided with advice and assistance, and prevented from homeless was 978 and 333 clients. We continue to promote this service to ensure early successful intervention when possible. There were 4,612 active housing applicants placed on the Common Housing Register at the end of this reporting period. The total number of lets made to the general needs applicants this year was 184 and 291 made to homeless applicants. As a snapshot, on the 31st of March we had allocated 322 rooms/properties for those in need of temporary accommodation. This year we purchased 22 open market properties, and progressed 31 mutual exchanges. This year’s abandoned tenancy rates remain low at 0.08% of our housing stock. Preventative measures and tenancy support have ensured our eviction rates for this year remain low at 0.01% of our stock. Re-let time for permanent properties has decreased to 24 days this quarter compared to 45 days at the start of the year in Q1. The first year review of the Homeless Prevention Forum took place this year. This is a partnership arrangement established 2021, with an aim to reduce children going into homelessness through evictions. Referrals are triggered within Midlothian Council when there is risk of eviction. The new hostel accommodation at Jarnac Court was opened providing both accommodation and support to our applicants. This newly refurbished site has 22 rooms for temporary accommodation for our homeless customers. The Scottish Housing Regulator met with Housing Services to review and discuss our engagement plan surrounding homelessness and health and safety within our tenancies. In addition, the Scottish Housing Network concluded a benchmarking exercise against similar sized Local Authority Housing teams. Both meetings praised our material improvements around housing and homelessness and supported the continuation of engagement going forward. Throughout the year we have worked to better improve communications with our housing applicants and tenants, housing duty telephone lines were moved onto the main council Liberty telephony system allowing call recording and ability to report on call handling performance. New private meeting room spaces were opened in Midlothian House for customer engagement. As part of the Midlothian Council rent consultation which presented options for all tenants and waiting list applications on setting next year’s sent levels, a series of five public meetings were held across various locations in Midlothian which were promoted by staff, social media and text messaging. Work continues as part of the resettlement scheme to support and provide routes for people who may be fleeing conflict from a range of different countries. This includes, Afghan Resettlement Schemes, the Homes for Ukraine Scheme which provides a range of routes for people fleeing the conflict in Ukraine and the Asylum Dispersal Programme through which people seeking asylum are provided with accommodation in specified nations. The main activities this year were, our third Military of Defence sub-let property in Milton Bridge and two small hostels were transformed into large family accommodation in Dalkeith. We Page 81 of 258
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12 have worked with Social Work Children and Families to support with responsibilities around Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children. As part of Midlothian Council’s Tenant Participation and Customer Engagement Strategy, Midlothian undertakes annual surveys to determine the level of tenant satisfaction within Housing services provided by the Council. Survey feedback was received this quarter with 81.5% of council tenants satisfied with services overall during 2022. The next steps will include the delivery of focus groups to gather further feedback on two key themes: • How tenants can work with the Council to assist in the improvement of the repair services, to improve overall customer satisfaction levels. • Further steps can be explored to improve customer satisfaction levels to ensure tenants feel more informed about their services and also have the opportunity to participate in the future development and delivery of these services. This quarter Council approved the repairs and maintenance service standards, this sets out the framework in which our Building Maintenance service will deliver to ensure our Council houses are maintained to a good standard expected by and agreed with our tenants, in line with the Council’s Tenancy Agreement. A common repairs policy was also approved, which aims to ensure a clear and consistent approach to recharging home owners for common repairs. A minimum let standard was introduced on a trial basis in December 2022, using the let standard has reduced turnaround times for void properties. In addition, this quarter the Council approved a Dampness & Condensation Policy, the policy will introduce a uniform and consistent approach to reports of condensation and dampness for our tenants, as well as optimising investment, identifying and tacking issues to improve maintenance. Capital programme As Scotland’s fastest growing local authority area, it is critical to delivery that investment in community infrastructure, such as housing, the learning estate, economic investment and green infrastructure, is in the right place at the right time. This will help our communities to live well, live locally and prosper. How we invest in community infrastructure must also respond to changes in our working and living patterns brought about by the pandemic. Communities need to be able to readily access the services they require. Capital investment is also an opportunity to support our local economy through job creation and skills enhancement, particularly in relation to supporting a transition to a green economy as we invest in sustainable, highly energy efficient buildings. As a growing Council, we have the opportunity to transform parts of Midlothian in a way that reflects how we live now. We will invest in community infrastructure with a focus on place-making, reducing inequalities, improving economic opportunities and improving education and health and wellbeing outcomes. The Capital Investment Strategy brings together many strands of the Council’s activities to build upon our past successes and drive forward innovation in a co-ordinated and achievable manner for the benefit of Midlothian and its citizens. Page 82 of 258
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13 The Capital Investment Strategy sits centrally within the Council’s future planning activities and in doing so has to reflect the demands of Council services to ensure positive outcomes are achieved in the right place, at the right time for the maximum benefit to Midlothian. The extensive capital programme delivers new schools, a record investment in council housing, improved community infrastructure, investment in the local transport network and innovative developments such as the new low carbon heat network in Shawfair. To ensure Midlothian is ‘building back better’, this investment is also creating new jobs, apprenticeship opportunities, opportunities for businesses and communities and families hard-hit by the impact of COVID-19. These new opportunities help lead the way out of the pandemic and towards a better future for Midlothian. The Education Learning Estate Strategy programme has been developed and is subject to regular review meetings with Education and stakeholders to ensure effective monitoring, reporting and delivery of improvement and expansion of the Education estate including Early Years provision. This currently covers approximately 30 projects at various stages of development. Midlothian Council is overseeing a significant housing programme. The total number of new homes from phase 2, 3 and 4 is currently estimated at 1201, comprising of 489 from phase 2 budget and 712 from phase 3 and 4 budgets. Progress continues with 661 homes currently being constructed on site either through commencement of enabling works or main contract works as of November 2022. This includes the largest Passivhaus programme in Scotland, with 189 homes to be built to the exacting Passivhaus standard, in line with Midlothian Council’s Net Zero Housing Design Guide. This ensures exceptionally high levels of energy efficiency and low utility bills for our residents. Growing Council In addition to the financial sustainability challenge referenced earlier, other challenges for Midlothian continue with our recovery out of the pandemic, the cost of living crisis, the growing and ageing population and the increasing demand for services that this brings. Midlothian is projected to have the highest percentage change in population size of all mainland council areas in Scotland. From 2018 to 2028, the population of Midlothian is projected to increase from 91,340 to 103,945. This is an increase of 13.8%, which is in contrast to a projected increase of 1.8% for Scotland as a whole, with a 40.9% increase in older people over 75. In addition, Midlothian has 10 zones which fall into the most deprived areas giving a local share of 8.7% living in the most deprived areas in Scotland. This growth creates the opportunity to meet the housing need with 25% of new homes being built in the affordable housing bracket, in addition to the expansion in Council house building. This construction will directly support employment and will see a steady increase in the value of Council Tax income received over time. The approved Capital Strategy sets out the infrastructure required to meet those demographic pressures and includes the financial contributions Midlothian will make to the Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Region Deal. Encompassing five main themes the City Region Deal will bring significant investment across the regions with total investment of circa £1.3 billion across: Page 83 of 258
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14 • Date Driven Innovation: £751 million • Integrated Regional Employability and Skills: £25 million • Transport: £156 million • Culture: £45 million • Housing: £313 million Through the Data Driven Innovation strand the Deal will leverage existing world-class research institutes and commercialisation facilities in order that Easter Bush becomes a global location of Agritech excellence. The Easter Bush project includes significant investment in transport infrastructure along the A701/2 transport corridor. In addition, by improving on-site infrastructure at Easter Bush and transport infrastructure, The University of Edinburgh expects commercial partners will be able to co-locate at scale to commercialise Agritech breakthroughs. Challenges Over recent years, innovative ways of working have been introduced and services adapted at pace to respond to the needs of our citizens, in particular those experiencing the greatest levels of poverty and inequality. This has resulted in transformation of how the Council works. Our services are continuing to build on this learning moving forward, harnessing the energy, flexibility and creativity demonstrated by our workforce, to embed a culture of continuous improvement and innovation across Place. This year was challenging for Place services as it continues to support post-pandemic recovery, operate a business as usual approach to service delivery and progress a range of transformation projects. Inflation as well as rising energy costs are affecting the construction industry in Scotland and the UK is currently experiencing unprecedented adverse market conditions, leading to significant rises in tender prices for a wide range of materials. There is evidence that inflation of between 10% and 15% beyond BCIS predictions is affecting projects. Whilst measures such as value engineering are partially mitigating cost increase there is a risk that the capital budgets will need to be increased with a resultant impact on the funding strategy. The situation continues to be monitored however it has been necessary to review and prioritise the existing capital plans and also review the 2022/23 service budgets to implement savings measures in the year. Page 84 of 258
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15 Place PI summary 01. Manage budget effectively Priorities Indicator 2021 /22 Q4 2021 /22 Q1 2022 /23 Q2 2022 /23 Q3 2022 /23 Q4 2022 /23 2022/23 Annual Target 22/23 Feeder Data Value Valu e Valu e Valu e Valu e Valu e Valu e Valu e Statu s Note Short Tren d 01. Manage budget effectively Performance against revenue budget £37. 487 m £37. 487 m £38. 889 m £39. 098 m £40. 452 m N/A N/A 22/23: Data not available £38.06 7m 02. Manage stress and absence Priorities Indicator 2021 /22 Q4 2021 /22 Q1 2022 /23 Q2 2022 /23 Q3 2022 /23 Q4 2022 /23 2022/23 Annual Target 22/23 Feeder Data Value Valu e Valu e Valu e Valu e Valu e Valu e Valu e Statu s Note Short Tren d 02. Manage stress and absence Average number of working days lost due to sickness absence (cumulative) 11.0 3 11.0 3 3.04 5.50 9.13 13.3 8 13.3 8 22/23: Data only The average number of working days lost due to sickness absence has increased compared to this time last year. While there is no identifiable trends either in short term or long term absences work continues with each service area to review attendance levels and support those staff who are absent to be able to return to work. Number of days lost 11,816 .16 Number of FTE in service 883.43 03. Process invoices efficiently Priorities Indicator 2021 /22 Q4 2021 /22 Q1 2022 /23 Q2 2022 /23 Q3 2022 /23 Q4 2022 /23 2022/23 Annual Target 22/23 Feeder Data Value Valu e Valu e Valu e Valu e Valu e Valu e Valu e Statu s Note Short Tren d 03. Process invoices efficiently % of invoices paid within 30 days of 89% 89% 91% 88% 84% 78% 78% 22/23: Off Target 90% Number of invoices received 23,795 Page 85 of 258
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16 invoice receipt (cumulative) Number of invoices paid within 30 days (cumulative ) 18,590 04. Improve PI performance Priorities Indicator 2021 /22 Q4 2021 /22 Q1 2022 /23 Q2 2022 /23 Q3 2022 /23 Q4 2022 /23 2022/23 Annual Target 22/23 Feeder Data Value Valu e Valu e Valu e Valu e Valu e Valu e Valu e Statu s Note Short Tren d 04. Improve PI performance % of Service PIs that are on target/ have reached their target. (does not include Corporate PIs) 75.5 1% 75.5 1% 72.9 7% 73.8 1% 74.4 2% 74.4 2% 74.4 2% 22/23: Off Target There are 8 performance indicators off target mainly across the housing, building services and neighbourhood services areas. There are 2 indicators that have no data available yet. More detailed information on these are set out in the indicator commentary note. 90% Number on tgt/complet e or Data Only 32 Total number of PI's 43 05. Control Risk Priorities Indicator 2021 /22 Q4 2021 /22 Q1 2022 /23 Q2 2022 /23 Q3 2022 /23 Q4 2022 /23 2022/23 Annual Target 22/23 Feeder Data Value Valu e Valu e Valu e Valu e Valu e Valu e Valu e Statu s Note Short Tren d 05. Control Risk % of high risks that have been reviewed in the last quarter 100 % 100 % 100 % 100 % 100 % 100 % 100 % 22/23: All risks reviewed. 100% Number of high risks reviewed in the last quarter 3 Number of high risks 3 06. Implement Improvement Plans Priorities Indicator 2021 /22 Q4 2021 /22 Q1 2022 /23 Q2 2022 /23 Q3 2022 /23 Q4 2022 /23 2022/23 Annual Target 22/23 Feeder Data Value Valu e Valu e Valu e Valu e Valu e Valu e Valu e Statu s Note Short Tren d Page 86 of 258
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17 06. Implement Improvement Plans % of internal/external audit actions progressing on target or complete this quarter. 100 % 100 % 100 % 90.7 % 100 % 100 % 22/23: On Target All audit actions reviewed this quarter. 90% Number of internal/ext ernal audit actions on target or complete 51 Number of internal/ext ernal audit actions 51 Page 87 of 258
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18 Place Complaints Indicator Summary Commitment to valuing Complaints 4. Outcomes and Customer Feedback Indicator 2021/ 22 Q4 2021/ 22 Q1 2022/ 23 Q2 2022/ 23 Q3 2022/ 23 Q4 2022/ 23 2022/23 Annua l Target 2022/ 23 Value Value Value Value Value Value Value Status Note Short Trend Number of complaints received (quarterly) 6,064 1,216 1,750 1,552 1,368 1,377 6,047 22/23: Data only Number of complaints closed in the year 5,922 1,147 1,658 1,253 1,096 1,055 5,062 22/23: Data only Number of complaints upheld (quarterly) 4,685 811 878 883 904 819 3,484 22/23: Data only Number of complaints partially upheld (quarterly) 168 109 124 92 174 227 617 22/23: Data only Number of complaints not upheld (quarterly) 128 19 12 21 6 4 43 22/23: Data only Number of complaints Resolved (quarterly) 936 206 632 14 12 5 663 22/23: Data only Average time in working days to respond to complaints at stage 1 3.14 2.48 2.47 2.41 1.97 1.42 2.13 22/23: On Target 5 Average time in working days to respond to complaints at stage 2 28 13 0 19.5 0 0 19.5 22/23: On Target 20 Average time in working days for a full response for escalated complaints 33.5 48.33 35 6.5 20 0 17 22/23: On Target 20 Percentage of complaints at stage 1 complete within 5 working days 87.9% 92.83 % 87.87 % 88.95 % 92.88 % 96.87 % 91.1% 22/23: Off Target This year, the majority of complaints responded to outwith the 5 day target were in relation to Waste services. Given the high volume of complaints for this service average response times still remain low. For quarter 4 the percentage of complaints dealt with within 5 working days was 96.87% meeting target. 95% Percentage of complaints at stage 2 complete within 20 working days 62.5% 100% 100% 50% 100% 100% 50% 22/23: Off Target 2 complaints for stage 2 received this year. 1 of which was responded to outwith 20 working days. 95% Percentage of complaints escalated and complete within 20 working days 33.33 % 0% 0% 100% 100% 100% 75% 22/23: Off Target 4 escalated complaints this year. 1 of which was not responded to within 20 working days. 95% Page 88 of 258
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19 Number of complaints where an extension to the 5 or 20 day target has been authorised (quarterly) 0 1 0 0 1 22/23: Data only Number of Compliments 99 15 25 44 34 42 146 22/23: Data only Page 89 of 258
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20 Place Performance Page 90 of 258
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21 Building Services priorities • Continue to deliver the Building Standards continuous improvement plan which forms part of the nationally adopted performance framework and is submitted to the Scottish Government. • Continue to deliver the additional programmes of work identified by the house condition surveys to maintain the Scottish Housing Quality Standard (SHQS) for the Council's housing stock. • Deliver the Energy Efficiency Standard for Social Housing (EESSH) programme. • Continue to improve the delivery of Building Maintenance Services through the review of mobile working, process improvements, income and productivity. • Implementation of the Local Authority Carbon Management Plan and General Services Capital programme Building Services measures PI Code PI 2021/22 Q4 2021/22 Q1 2022/23 Q2 2022/23 Q3 2022/23 Q4 2022/23 2022/23 Annual Target 2022/23 Value Value Value Value Value Value Value Status Short Trend Note BS.PLACE.P.5. 2b Percentage of the Council's housing stock meeting the 'Modern facilities & services' Scottish Housing Quality Standard criteria 98.4% 98.4% 98.4% 98.4% 98.4% 98.4% 98.4% 22/23: Off Target Work planned to bring the percentage of Council's housing stock that does not meets Scottish Quality Standards criteria back to standard. Access to properties has been an issue this year. 100% HSN3 Corporate Indicator - Percentage of the Council's housing stock meeting the Scottish Housing Quality Standard criteria (LGBF) 77.55% 34.3% 34.3% 34.3% 34.3% 32.28% 32.28% 22/23: Off Target Due to changes in the Energy Efficiency regulations affecting the Scottish Housing Quality Standards (SHQS) criteria, 431 houses have been identified as failing the Energy Efficiency Standard for Social Housing (ESSH). We have reduced these failures to 160 to meet the 2025 targets. However, with 100% Page 91 of 258
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22 PI Code PI 2021/22 Q4 2021/22 Q1 2022/23 Q2 2022/23 Q3 2022/23 Q4 2022/23 2022/23 Annual Target 2022/23 Value Value Value Value Value Value Value Status Short Trend Note the Electrical Installation Condition Reports (EICR’s) now part of the SHQS from the 31st March 2022 we have found that 4923 fail assessment and have 32.28% meeting standard. Tender currently out to address the shortfall of EICR’s Required. 100% of smoke alarms comply with current legislation. Contracts are in process to address the EICRs and 160 properties for EESSH failure. HSN4b Average time taken to complete non-emergency repairs (LGBF) 9.36 days 14.49 days 13.71 days 18.65 days 17.52 days 19.45 days 17.33 days 22/23: Off Target The yearly average taken across all quarters is 17.33 days to complete non- emergency repairs. Q4 saw an increase to 19.45 days from previous quarters due to a number of historic jobs where work had been completed but dates were not recorded in the system. As Building Maintenance Service are undergoing a whole systems service transformation the work streams included for job performance and reporting will be addressed within the programme improvements. 7.00 days PLACE.P.10.2 a Percentage of Building warrant assessments processed within 10 days (rather than nationally adopted target of 20 days), fast tracking applications which 100% 100% 75% 100% 71.43% 100% 100% 22/23: On Target Service provision in the form of site inspections and building warrant application processing remains high. 80% Page 92 of 258
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23 PI Code PI 2021/22 Q4 2021/22 Q1 2022/23 Q2 2022/23 Q3 2022/23 Q4 2022/23 2022/23 Annual Target 2022/23 Value Value Value Value Value Value Value Status Short Trend Note provide economic benefit to the Midlothian area or people living with disabilities circumstances. PLACE.P.17.8 a Measure satisfaction relating to key areas in Building standards including those on delivery, timeliness, information, access and the quality of customer service 96% 96% 94% 96.2% 96.4% 96.4% 96.4% 22/23: On Target 90% PLACE.P.5.2a Percentage of the Council's housing stock meeting the 'Free from serious disrepair' Scottish Housing Quality Standard criteria 98.9% 98.9% 98.9% 98.9% 98.9% 98.9% 98.9% 22/23: Off Target 98.9% of Midlothian Council houses have modern facilities and services which is consistent with last year's figure. Contracts are ongoing this quarter to bring the percentage of Council's housing stock that does not meet SHQS criteria back to target. 100% PLACE.P.5.2c Percentage of the Council's housing stock meeting the 'Healthy, safe & secure' Scottish Housing Quality Standard criteria 34.3% 34.3% 34.3% 34.3% 34.3% 32.28% 32.28% 22/23: Off Target Due to changes in the Energy Efficiency regulations affecting the Scottish Housing Quality Standards (SHQS) criteria, 431 houses have been identified as failing the Energy Efficiency Standard for Social Housing (ESSH). We have reduced these failures to 160 to meet the 2025 targets. However, with the Electrical Installation Condition Reports (EICR’s) now part of the SHQS from the 31st March 2022 we have 100% Page 93 of 258
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24 PI Code PI 2021/22 Q4 2021/22 Q1 2022/23 Q2 2022/23 Q3 2022/23 Q4 2022/23 2022/23 Annual Target 2022/23 Value Value Value Value Value Value Value Status Short Trend Note found that 4923 fail assessment and have 32.28% meeting standard. Tender currently out to address the shortfall of EICR’s Required. 100% of smoke alarms comply with current legislation. Contracts are in process to address the EICRs and 160 properties for EESSH failure. PLACE.P.5.2d Percentage of completed first priority housing repairs within target of 24 hrs 90.67% 93.92% 93.51% 91.6% 94.26% 93.87% 93.31% 22/23: Data only 93.31% average across 22/23. Q4: 93.87%. PLACE.P.5.2e Percentage of completed second priority housing repairs within target of 7 days 88.16% 88.34% 85.96% 87.13% 93.87% 92.99% 89.98% 22/23: Data only 89.98% average for 22/23. Q4: 92.99%. Property and Facilities Management priorities • Develop carbon reduction targets for Council properties and work with energy partners to develop energy efficiency projects, including renewable energy, in support of sustainable low carbon energy targets and district heating schemes. • Support the delivery of the Economic Renewal Strategy through the letting and sale of Property Investment Account properties. • Lead the acquisition and disposal of identified sites in support of Capital and Local Plans, Learning Estate and Housing programmes and the climate change agenda. • Continue to deliver Building Rationalisation and hybrid working. • Maintain compliance and review Health and Nutrition of school meals in accordance with new Scottish Government legislation and continue the assessment of food commodities/products for school meal menus in relation to proposed changes in nutritional regulation. • Increase revenue throughout the commercial sector of catering services. • Continue to provide a catering and facilities service that reacts to, and meets the requirements of, the Early Years expansion programme • Continue to improve the facilities and cleaning services and introduce new cleaning practices and methodologies. Page 94 of 258
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25 Property and Facilities Management measures PI Code PI 2021/22 Q4 2021/22 Q1 2022/23 Q2 2022/23 Q3 2022/23 Q4 2022/23 2022/23 Annual Target 2022/23 Value Value Value Value Value Value Value Status Short Trend Note PLACE 1.1a Number of school meals provided in primary Schools (quarterly) 68,768 59,192 40,626 7,581 30,423 71,429 150,059 22/23: Data only 71,429 paid meals served with 69 days in this quarter, 4 of these were industrial action days. 150,059 paid meals served in the year. PLACE 1.1b Number of school meals provided in Secondary Schools (quarterly) 32,497 26,549 23,428 21,012 55,458 58,219 158,117 22/23: Data only 158,117 Secondary meals served this year. PLACE 1.1c Number of Free school meals provided (Primary) (quarterly) 419,365 173,042 116,176 93,321 182,250 185,883 577,630 22/23: Data only 185,883 meals served with 69 days in this quarter, 4 of these were industrial action days. 577,630 free P1-P5 meals served in the year. PLACE 17.1a Total hours used for cleaning in primary schools (quarterly) 102,265 36,725 24,860 12,430 29,380 48,731.2 5 115,401. 25 22/23: Data only Q4 figure shows 48,371.25 hours used, with 69 days in this quarter. Enhanced cleaning and additional Janitorial services remain in place. Sanitising/fogging of classrooms and schools continues to be carried out, this comes to an end in April 2023. Budgeted weekly hours are 2,105. However we currently use 2,825 hours per week. PLACE 17.1b Total hours used for cleaning in secondary schools (quarterly) 59,078.4 21,216 14,388 7,180.8 16,972.8 22,521.6 61,063.2 22/23: Data only Q4 figure shows 22,521.6 hours used, with 69 days in this quarter. Enhanced cleaning and additional Janitorial Page 95 of 258
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26 PI Code PI 2021/22 Q4 2021/22 Q1 2022/23 Q2 2022/23 Q3 2022/23 Q4 2022/23 2022/23 Annual Target 2022/23 Value Value Value Value Value Value Value Status Short Trend Note services remain in place. Sanitising/fogging of classrooms and schools continues to be carried out. This comes to an end in April 2023. Budgeted weekly hours are 1.392. However, 1,632 hours are used per week. PLACE 17.1c Total hours used for Janitorial services in schools (quarterly) 51,784.1 18,596.5 12,588.4 6,294.2 14,877.2 19,740.9 53,500.7 22/23: Data only Q4 figure shows 19,740.9 hours used, with 69 days in this quarter. Enhanced cleaning and additional Janitorial services remain in place. Sanitising/fogging of classrooms and schools continues to be carried out, this comes to an end in April 2023. Budgeted weekly hours are 1,140. However, 1,430.5 hours are used per week. Page 96 of 258
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27 Housing priorities • Continue to develop the Rapid Rehousing Transition Plan to increase the number of homeless households that obtain permanent accommodation, and halve the average time taken for the Council to complete its homeless duty from 105 weeks to 52 weeks • Develop the Local Housing Strategy 2021/26, the Strategic Housing Investment Plan 2021/22, a Homeless Prevention Strategy and Action Plan and a Tenant Participation Strategy. • Increase the supply of new build affordable housing (including open market purchases) in Midlothian with the new build programme set out in the Strategic Housing Investment Plan 2019/20 – 2023/24. • Implement Midlothian Council’s Allocation Policy • Implement the approach to housing those with complex needs through a ‘Housing First’ model • Promote the reuse of suitable vacant or vacated council buildings to provide a more supportive and productive environment to homeless households and achieve cost efficiencies • Continue to drive forward transformation through the adoption of digital platforms, review of void management to minimise re-let timescales and further development of our tenancy support to improve the sustainability of tenancies • Introduce a new strategy to reduce drug deaths within Midlothian homelessness accommodation • Invest in our workforce through the ongoing development of cross team working to upskill and capacity build and the continued rollout of the Housing Options toolkit and trauma training Housing measures PI Code PI 2021/22 Q4 2021/22 Q1 2022/23 Q2 2022/23 Q3 2022/23 Q4 2022/23 2022/23 Annual Target 2022/23 Value Value Value Value Value Value Value Status Short Trend Note BS.PLACE.P.1 7.1 Length of time (weeks) homeless applicants wait until receiving a permanent housing outcome 85 85 106 121 76 70 70 22/23: On Target The team continues to focus on targeting long term cases where permanent housing options are more challenging due to specific housing needs. 85 BS.PLACE.P.4. 2a Re-let time permanent accommodation properties (calendar days) 46 days 39 days 45 days 36 days 25 days 24 days 33 days 22/23: On Target Re-let times for permanent properties has reduced from 45 days in Q1 to 24 in Q4. 35 days Page 97 of 258
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28 PI Code PI 2021/22 Q4 2021/22 Q1 2022/23 Q2 2022/23 Q3 2022/23 Q4 2022/23 2022/23 Annual Target 2022/23 Value Value Value Value Value Value Value Status Short Trend Note PLACE.P.17.2 Length of time (weeks) homeless applicants spend in temporary accommodation 70 70 88 86 89 62 62 22/23: Off Target Although slightly off target, A continued downward trend in time spent in temporary accommodation with a reduction from Q1 this year to Q4. 60 PLACE.P.19.1 Total applicants on waiting lists (General Needs & Homeless) N/A N/A 4,523 4,596 4,628 4,612 4,612 22/23: Data only 4,007 General Needs applicants and 605 Homeless applicants. PLACE.P.19.2 Total number of lets N/A N/A 96 112 114 149 475 22/23: Data only The cumulative total is 475 lets, of which 184 were made to General Need's applicants and 291 to Homeless applicants. PLACE.P.19.3 Number of clients accessing homelessness advice & assistance N/A N/A 232 211 226 309 978 22/23: Data only PLACE.P.19.4 Number of clients prevented from homelessness by advice & assistance N/A N/A 89 82 90 123 384 22/23: Data only PLACE.P.4.2b Re-let time temporary accommodation properties (calendar days) 37 41 34 25 31 42 41 22/23: Off Target Average taken across all quarters is 41 days. Q4 figure 42 days, a small number of properties held up due to utilities, scale of repair works required and some delays with the furnishing contractor, this has resulted in an increase in Q3 and Q4. 28 Page 98 of 258
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29 Neighbourhood Services priorities • Continue to progress the capital programme for carriageway and footway renewal and improvement schemes. • Implement new requirements as contained in the new Transport (Scotland) Act 2019 • Improve and expand active travel and public transport for Midlothian residents • Further reduce the Council’s energy consumption by increasing the use of LED street lighting • Transform service delivery through the adoption of digital and mobile platforms • Contribute to the development of the National Transport Strategy • Continue with preparations for the publication of the second Flood Risk Management Plan • Manage the parking enforcement contract and parking restrictions/charges to maximise access and safety and produce efficiencies • Support the delivery of the Climate Change strategy and explore options for additional funding for Electric Vehicles and Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure • Promote the use of environmentally friendly, low- emission vehicles. • Continue to progress actions to reach the Scottish government targets to recycle 70% of all waste by 2025 • Ensure waste disposal contracts priorities maximum recycling, that waste services consider the climate impact of the service, seeking opportunities to limit the climate impact of the services approach to service delivery. • Reduce customer complaints for waste services • Seek new income streams for Vogrie Country Park and develop the Park as a tourist destination to support local businesses. • Continue to design and implement re-design of outdoor facilities through landscape design as part of Early Years Settings expansion programme. • Develop a comprehensive asset database management plan and for all Neighbourhood Services assets • Maintain meadowland areas to create greater diversity and continue to develop areas of bio-diversity and foster community support. • Deliver an allotments and food growing strategy to comply with the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015 and review implications for Core Paths plan in line with the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2016 • Deliver the Open Space strategy • Continue to target key locations within Midlothian for landscape improvements by the design of new parks and other open space sports facilities and play areas, subject to available funding, with an emphasis on inclusive play equipment. • Continue to invest in the workforce across all Neighbourhood Services teams to develop sustainable career pathways and generic working models to grow talent and foster leadership opportunities Page 99 of 258
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30 Neighbourhood Services measures PI Code PI 2021/22 Q4 2021/22 Q1 2022/23 Q2 2022/23 Q3 2022/23 Q4 2022/23 2022/23 Annual Target 2022/23 Value Value Value Value Value Value Value Status Short Trend Note BS.PLACE.01 Number of environmental awards e.g. Green flags 1 1 0 2 2 2 2 22/23: Complete Green flags secured for Vogrie Country Park and Memorial Park Loanhead. 2 BS.PLACE.P.1 5.1c Percentage of all street light repairs completed within 7 days (cumulative) 100% 100% 100% 93% 99.7% 95.25% 98.74% 22/23: On Target 90% BS.PLACE.P.1 5.3a Percentage of Council fleet which is 'Green' (cumulative) 8.2% 8.2% 8.2% 8.2% 8.2% 8.2% 8.2% 22/23: On Target 8% BS.PLACE.P.1 5.6a Percentage of waste going to landfill per calendar year (quarterly) 12.3% 12.3% 10.4% 12.1% 12.2% N/A N/A 22/23: Data not available until Q1. Landfill waste is rejected material from dry mixed recycling and food waste plus ash from incineration of residual waste. No waste/recycling is sent to landfill without pre-treatment. 15.0% PLACE.P.14.2f % of the footpath network resurfaced (cumulative) 0.54% 0.54% 0.12% 0.27% 0.43% 1.02% 1.02% 22/23: On Target 7.26km of footways resurfaced to end Q4, under combined programmes of annual Capital Works and Residential Streets. 0.6% PLACE.P.15.1 a Total savings in street lighting carbon emissions (cumulative) 1256 Tonnes 1256 Tonnes 183 Tonnes 394 Tonnes 751 Tonnes 1075 Tonnes 1075 Tonnes 22/23: Data only Reduced Carbon saving caused by Emission factor being reduced per KWH. ENV6 Percentage of total household waste that is recycled (LGBF) 47.5% 47.5% 51.9% 48.2% 43.7% N/A N/A 22/23: Data not available until Q1 2022 Recycling rate expected to be 47.4%. Last quarters recycling rate was 47.5%. 54.0% PLACE.P.13.1 a Number of volunteer hours in countryside sites 4,821 4,821 1,716 2,736 4,212 5,604 5,604 22/23: Off Target Although off target, groups and events have increased from last year and considerably higher 6,000 Page 100 of 258
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31 PI Code PI 2021/22 Q4 2021/22 Q1 2022/23 Q2 2022/23 Q3 2022/23 Q4 2022/23 2022/23 Annual Target 2022/23 Value Value Value Value Value Value Value Status Short Trend Note from 20/21 as we start to build back our volunteer numbers to pre-covid figures. It should be noted that the secondment of one of our three Rangers has impacted our overall target for the year. 5,604 volunteer hours have been spent in countryside sites this year ensuring those sites are attractive, safe and welcoming for all to enjoy. PLACE.P.14.2 e % of total road network resurfaced (cumulative) 2.05% 2.05% 0.34% 1.38% 2.2% 2.89% 2.89% 22/23: On Target 20.10km of carriageway resurfaced to the end of Q4 under the combined programmes of annual Capital Works and Residential Streets Programmes. 2.2% PLACE.P.15.1 b Number of lighting columns replaced (cumulative) 702 702 0 0 5 136 136 22/23: Off Target Successful procurement of new contracts for both lighting capital and traffic signal maintenance will deliver best value for the service. Due to late procurement of these contract this year, funding has been diverted to the delivery of 1,796 new LED lanterns, anticipated to be complete in May. As a result, 136 lighting column replacements were installed this quarter with a further 403 units expected to be complete in July. 131 Page 101 of 258
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32 PI Code PI 2021/22 Q4 2021/22 Q1 2022/23 Q2 2022/23 Q3 2022/23 Q4 2022/23 2022/23 Annual Target 2022/23 Value Value Value Value Value Value Value Status Short Trend Note PLACE.P.20.1 Percentage of household waste used to generate heat and electric (Energy from Waste) N/A 41.5% 35.7% 38.6% 39.2% N/A N/A 22/23: Data not available until Q1. Incineration waste includes grey bin (black bag) waste, plus fine and non-recyclable waste collected in the bulky waste at the two HW recycling centres, as well as non-target materials placed in the blue recycling bins. Planning and Economy priorities • Continue to work on achieving the aims sets out in the Planning Performance Framework (PPF) • Continue to embed the Climate Change Strategy and deliver against the action plan • Determine 80% of planning applications within target (2 months for a local application and 4 months for a major application) • Implementation of year 3 of a 5 year Penicuik Heritage project which delivers public realm improvements and investment in heritage assets in the town centre • Draft and adopt supplementary guidance on the ‘Quality of Place’ which will be used as a tool to enhance place-making within Midlothian • Draft and adopt supplementary guidance on ‘Developer Contributions’ which will be used as a tool to secure financial contributions towards infrastructure to meet the demands arising from new development. • Implementing the statutory requirements of the new Planning Act 2019 which places additional burdens onto the Planning Service • Deliver on the objectives identified in the Strategy for Growth 2020-25 • Maintain and grow the client reach of Business Gateway services in Midlothian and continue to develop Locate in Midlothian • Complete allocation and drawdown of final LEADER funding to eligible projects and lobby for continuum funding for Midlothian’s rural areas • Complete drawdown of Town Centre Capital Funds to applicants and continue to position the government for future funding opportunities and retain a focus on town centres as identified by the Strategy for Growth 2020-25, to commence the Townscape heritage (TH) and Conservation Area Regeneration Scheme (CARS) at Penicuik, and implement the provisions of the master plan at Newtongrange. • Continue to work with partners to tackle the strategic local transport issues at Easter Bush to enable further unconstrained planned development Page 102 of 258
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33 Planning and Economy measures PI Code PI 2021/22 Q4 2021/22 Q1 2022/23 Q2 2022/23 Q3 2022/23 Q4 2022/23 2022/23 Annual Target 2022/23 Value Value Value Value Value Value Value Status Short Trend Note ECON5a Number of New Business Start Ups (LGBF) 124 38 23 6 26 63 118 22/23: Data only The level of Business start-ups has increased from 6 in Q2 to 63 in Q4, most of these had accessed pre-start support in 2021/22 and some from earlier this financial year. The total number Business start-ups this year was 118. This should realise a forecasted creation of 142 jobs, with quarter 4 jobs forecasted to be 74. PLACE.P.17.9 a Determine 80% of planning applications within target (2 months for a local application and 4 months for a major application). 80% 80% 66% 80% 85% 85% 85% 22/23: On Target 85% of planning applications have been determined within target (*as of February 2023 – data not yet available for March 2023). 80% Page 103 of 258
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34 Protective Services priorities • Continue to support the Council’s response to the pandemic and recovery programme • Continue to deliver the Council's regulatory functions with respect to food hygiene and standards regulations. • Deliver the Scottish Government's Clean Air for Scotland (CAFS) objectives including the review and assessment of air quality in Midlothian to take into account of exposure in proximity to schools located near busy roads. • Continue to deliver the statutory duty to identify and secure remediation of contaminated and review contaminated land strategy. • Continue to manage the CO2 gas ingress to properties in Gorebridge. • Seek to enable disabled persons to continue to live an independent life through the provision of disabled adaptation grants for private sector properties. • Protect and develop safe communities through risk assessment and improvement of sub-standard private water supplies. • Protect and contribute to the enhancement of the environment regarding dog control activities and develop a commercial dog walkers registration scheme for Midlothian. • Regulate Health and Safety across Midlothian through the investigation of workplace accidents • Restart a programme of test purchase for under-age goods • Continue to identify and respond to incidents of rogue trading. • Conduct a programme of inspections to businesses identified as of high and medium-risk including at least 20% of tobacco retailers. • Continue to support managers to manage health and safety as effectively and efficiently as possible • Ensure that the current management arrangements achieve the correct level of Health and Safety compliance and support services to address any shortfalls • Continue to develop the health and safety culture maturity within the organisation and promote the use of the Health and Safety Audits • Increase appropriate involvement and expertise in emergency planning and business continuity management Council wide • Implement a robust business continuity management system and business continuity approach Protective Services measures PI Code PI 2021/22 Q1 2022/23 Q2 2022/23 Q3 2022/23 Q4 2022/23 2022/23 Value Value Value Value Value Value Status Short Trend Note PROSERVICE S.1.1 Number of food law service requests/complaints received (includes food safety and food standards) N/A 146 116 88 95 445 22/23: Data only PROSERVICE S.1.2 Number of food law service requests/complaints responded to (includes food safety and food standards) N/A 142 110 88 94 434 22/23: Data only PROSERVICE S.1.3 Number of Food law interventions carried out (Food Hygiene/Food Standards) N/A 72 59 107 117 355 22/23: Data only Page 104 of 258
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35 PI Code PI 2021/22 Q1 2022/23 Q2 2022/23 Q3 2022/23 Q4 2022/23 2022/23 Value Value Value Value Value Value Status Short Trend Note PROSERVICE S.1.13 Number of Public Health Complaints received N/A N/A N/A 273 300 1,304 22/23: Data only 1304 complaints received across the year. PROSERVICE S.1.14 Number of Public Health complaints responded to N/A N/A N/A 243 280 N/A 22/23: Annual data not available New indicator was added to the Place Service plan mid-year. Although we can report on the total number of public health complaints received for the year, we are unable to report on the total number responded to for the first part of year. Reporting will be reviewed in Q1. PROSERVICE S.2.1 Number of consumer complaints received N/A 72 82 75 58 287 22/23: Data only PROSERVICE S.2.2 Number of consumer complaints responded to N/A 72 82 75 58 287 22/23: Data only 100% of consumer complaints responded to this year. Page 105 of 258
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36 Place External Audit Actions External Audit - Annual Audit Report to Members and the Controller of Audit - year ended 31 March 2022 Code Action Due Date Icon Progress Comment & Planned Improvement Action EA.2022.01 The valuation methodology adopted by the Council’s internal valuers should be subject to review to ensure it remains in line with best practice. This should include a review of the quality review arrangements in place to reduce errors in valuations. 31-May-2023 50% Q4 22/23: In progress Policies and procedures will be reviewed following new External Audit appointment. EA.2022.08 The Council must review whether current actions are sufficient to meet its 2030 target. This should include an assessment of the level of future investment required. 31-May-2023 80% Q4 22/23: In progress This action will be progressed when the Council’s adopted Climate Change Strategy is reviewed in 2023. Page 106 of 258
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37 Place Balanced Scorecard Indicators PI Code Performance Indicator 2021/22 Q1 2022/23 Q2 2022/23 Q3 2022/23 2022/23 Annual Target 2022/23 Value Value Value Value Value Status Short Trend Note BS.PLACE.01 Number of environmental awards e.g. Green flags 1 0 2 2 2 22/23: Complete Green flags secured for Vogrie Country Park and Memorial Park Loanhead. 2 BS.PLACE.P.15.1c Percentage of all street light repairs completed within 7 days (cumulative) 100% 100% 93% 99.7% 98.74% 22/23: On Target 90% BS.PLACE.P.15.3a Percentage of Council fleet which is 'Green' (cumulative) 8.2% 8.2% 8.2% 8.2% 8.2% 22/23: On Target 8% BS.PLACE.P.15.6a Percentage of waste going to landfill per calendar year (quarterly) 12.3% 10.4% 12.1% 12.2% N/A 22/23: Data not available until Q1. Landfill waste is rejected material from dry mixed recycling and food waste plus ash from incineration of residual waste. No waste/recycling is sent to landfill without pre- treatment. 15.0% BS.PLACE.P.4.2a Re-let time permanent accommodation properties (calendar days) 46 days 45 days 36 days 25 days 33 days 22/23: On Target Re-let times for permanent properties has reduced from 45 days in Q1 to 24 in Q4. 35 days Page 107 of 258
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Building Services Continue to deliver the Building Standards continuous improvement plan which forms part of the nationally adopted performance framework and is submitted to the Scottish Government. Continue to deliver the additional programmes of work identified by the house condition surveys to maintain Scottish Housing Quality Standard for the Councils housing stock. Deliver the Energy Efficiency Standard for Social Housing (EESSH) programme. Continue to improve the delivery of Building Maintenance services through the review of mobile working, process improvements, income and productivity. Implementation of the Local Authority Carbon Management Plan and General Services Capital programme. Key highlights Building Standards continues to provide a high level of customer satisfaction against an increasing demand by co-ordinating working arrangements with partners, monitoring performance, identifying any dips, publishing information on this together with any remedial action, identifying customer needs and ensuring appropriate resources are available to meet those needs. In December, 2022 the Building Standards service was awarded its full re-appointment period by the Scottish Government. This re-appointment period is from 1 May 2023 until 30 April 2029. In relation to our ambitious affordable housing programme, Phase 1, now complete, provided 864 additional houses within Midlothian. The total number of new homes from phase 2, 3 and 4 is currently estimated at 1201, comprising of 489 from phase 2 budget and 712 from phase 3 and 4 budgets. Progress continues with 661 homes currently being constructed on site either through commencement of enabling works or main contract works as of November 2022. This includes the largest Passivhaus programme in Scotland, with 189 homes to be built to the exacting Passivhaus standard, in line with Midlothian Council’s Net Zero Housing Design Guide. This ensures exceptionally high levels of energy efficiency and low utility bills for our residents. Grant Funding of £696,497 for 2022/23 Energy Efficiency was awarded this year and contracts have been awarded for the extension of the Cameron Crescent and Ladywood areas of Midlothian. Two contracts for a combined total of £1.6m for roughcasting of social housing have been awarded and are ongoing in the Dalkeith and Newtongrange areas. This quarter Council approved the repairs and maintenance service standards, this sets out the framework in which our Building Maintenance Service will deliver to ensure our Council houses are maintained to a good standard expected by and agreed with our tenants, in line with the Council’s Tenancy Agreement. A common repairs policy was also approved, which aims to ensure a clear and consistent approach to recharging home owners for common repairs. A minimum let standard was introduced on a trial basis in December 2022, using the let standard has reduced turnaround times for void properties. Areas of improvement: Due to changes in the Energy Efficiency regulations affecting the Scottish Housing Quality Standards (SHQS) criteria, 431 houses have been identified as failing the Energy Efficiency Standard for Social Housing (EESSH). We have reduced these failures to 160 to meet the 2025 targets. However, with the Electrical Installation Condition Reports (EICR’s) now part of the SHQS from the 31st March 2022 we have found that 4733 fail assessment and have 32.28% meeting standard. It should be noted that 100% of smoke alarms comply with current legislation. Contracts are in process to address the EICRs and 160 properties for EESSH failure. Holistic Modern Sustainable Preventative 93.92%93.51% 91.60% 94.3% 93.87% Q4 21/22 Q1 22/23 Q2 22/23 Q3 22/23 Q4 22/23 % of completed first priority repairs within target of 24hrs 96% 94% 96.2% 96.4% 96.4% Q4 21/22 Q1 22/23 Q2 22/23 Q3 22/23 Q4 22/23 Satisfaction % relating to key areas in Building standards including those on delivery, timeliness, information, access and the quality of customer service Target (90%) 98.9% 98.9% 98.9% 98.9% 98.9% Q4 21/22 Q1 22/23 Q2 22/23 Q3 22/23 Q4 22/23 % of the Councils housing stock meeting the 'Free from serious disrepair' Scottish Housing Quality Standard criteria Target (100%) 88.34% 85.96%87.13% 93.87% 92.99% Q4 21/22 Q1 22/23 Q2 22/23 Q3 22/23 Q4 22/23 % of completed second priority repairs within target of 7 days Page 110 of 258
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Property and Facilities Management Develop carbon reduction targets for Council properties and support of sustainable low carbon energy targets and district heating schemes. Support the delivery of the Economic Renewal Strategy through the letting and sale of Property Investment Account properties. Lead the acquisition and disposal of identified sites in Capital and Local Plans, Learning Estate and Housing programmes and the climate change agenda. Continue to deliver Building Rationalisation and hybrid working. Maintain compliance and review Health and Nutrition of school meals in accordance with new Scottish Government legislation. Increase revenue throughput the commercial sector of catering services. Continue to provide a catering and facilities service that reacts to, and meets the requirements of the Early Years expansion programme. Continue to improve the facilities and cleaning services by introducing new cleaning practices and methodologies. Asset based 36,725 24,860 12,430 29,380 48,731 Q4 21/22 Q1 22/23 Q2 22/23 Q3 22/23 Q4 22/23 Total hours used for cleaning in primary schools 21,216 14,388 7,180 16,972 22,521 Q4 21/22 Q1 22/23 Q2 22/23 Q3 22/23 Q4 22/23 Total hours used for cleaning in secondary schools 18,596 12,588 6,294 14,877 19,740 Q4 21/22 Q1 22/23 Q2 22/23 Q3 22/23 Q4 22/23 Total hours used for Janitorial services in schools Key highlights The Local Heat and Energy Efficiency Strategies (LHEES) aims to establish local authority plans for improving the energy efficiency of buildings and decarbonising heat. LHEES is currently being piloted under the Energy Efficiency Scotland Programme. In conjunction with consultants, Midlothian are now at Stage 4 of the methodology and are currently reviewing the findings and in discussion with key stakeholders regarding the confirmation of data, and identification, review and potential priorities. Work continues with Midlothian Energy to develop business case options for addressing building fabric and energy decarbonisation of the existing estate. The planned site has been secured for the new Midlothian Energy Centre at Millerhill, as a key step in the delivery of District Heating at Shawfair. The energy services agreement with Shawfair LLP received shareholders consent in December, 2022 allowing closure of the deal to supply and manage heat distribution for Shawfair. The conclusions of the heat offtake agreement at Millerhill waste and recycling plant allowed the signing of the design and build and operating and management agreements for the energy centre and undertaking of the installation of the distribution network. Contractors are now appointed and work progressing with groundworks. Asset management: Approval and sign off the appointment of framework surveyors to undertake non housing stock Condition Surveys. Janitorial, Cleaning & Catering: A total of 577,630 free primary school meals were provided this year. Cleaning Services continue to provide enhanced cleaning, fogging, touchpoint cleaning and additional Janitorial support across all Council Buildings. Areas for improvement: International instability are impacting on energy prices and Midlothian current reliance on Carbon based fuel and lack of historical investment in alternative energy sources makes us potentially vulnerable to increasing and fluctuation prices. Current framework contract agreements are currently protecting the Council from significant increases. We continue to monitor usage but this will be an ongoing challenge, with the need to also invest in fabric improvements and Net Zero also presenting a corresponding technical, financial and resource challenge. Page 111 of 258
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Housing Increase the number of homeless households that obtain permanent accommodation, and half the average time taken to complete homeless duty from 105 weeks to 52 weeks. Implement Midlothian Council’s Allocation Policy. Implement the approach to housing those with complex needs through a ‘Housing First’ model. Review void management to minimise re-let timescales and further development of our tenancy support to improve the sustainability of tenancies. Introduce a new strategy to reduce drug deaths within Midlothian homelessness accommodation. Key highlights There were 4,612 active housing applicants placed on the Common Housing Register at the end of this reporting period. The total number of lets made to the general needs applicants this year was 184 and 291 made to homeless applicants. As a snapshot, on the 31st of March we had allocated 322 rooms/properties for those in need of temporary accommodation. This year we purchased 22 open market properties, and progressed 31 mutual exchanges. This years abandoned tenancy rates remain low at 0.08% of our housing stock. Preventative measures and tenancy support have ensured our eviction rates for this year remain low at 0.01% of our stock. Re-let time for permanent properties has decreased to 24 days this quarter compared to 45 days at the start of the year in Q1. The length of time homeless applicants waited until receiving a permanent housing outcome has decreased to 70 weeks from 106 weeks in Q1. With the change in The Homeless Persons (Unsuitable Accommodation) (Scotland) Amendment Order 2020, we have transformed temporary accommodation in Midlothian, so no children will be in a B&B, hotel or hostel accommodation for more than 7 days. On 29 November 2022, the Homeless Persons (Suspension of Referrals between Local Authorities) (Scotland) Order 2022 came into force. This gives people in housing crisis the freedom to settle where they choose with access to the support they need, and aims to help them integrate more fully into the local community and to reduce repeat homelessness. With both of these significant changes to homelessness legislation adding challenges to the service, we have not breached these orders. The new hostel accommodation at Jarnac Court was opened providing both accommodation and support to our applicants. This newly refurbished site has 22 rooms for temporary accommodation for our homeless customers. The Scottish Housing Regulator met with Housing Services to review and discuss our engagement plan surrounding homelessness and health and safety within our tenancies. In addition, the Scottish Housing Network concluded a benchmarking exercise against similar sized Local Authority Housing teams. Both meetings praised our material improvements around housing and homelessness and supported the continuation of engagement going forward. Work continues as part of the resettlement schemes to support and provide routes for people who may be fleeing conflict from a range of different countries. Holistic Modern Hub and Spoke One size fits one 232 211 226 309 Q1 22/23 Q2 22/23 Q3 22/23 Q4 22/23 Number of clients accessing homelessness advice and assistance 96 112 114 149 Q1 22/23 Q2 22/23 Q3 22/23 Q4 22/23 Total number of housing lets 39 45 36 25 24 Q4 21/22 Q1 22/23 Q2 22/23 Q3 22/23 Q4 22/23 Re-let time permanent accommodation properties (calendar days) Target (35 days) 85 106 121 76 70 Q4 21/22 Q1 22/23 Q2 22/23 Q3 22/23 Q4 22/23 Length of time (weeks) homeless applicants wait until receiving a permanent housing outcome Target (85 weeks) Page 112 of 258
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Neighbourhood Services Transform service delivery through the adoption of digital and mobile platforms. Improve and expand active travel and public transport for Midlothian residents. Continue to progress actions to reach the Scottish Government targets to recycle 70% of all waste. Develop a comprehensive asset database management plan for all Neighbourhood Services assets. Continue to invest in the workplace across all Neighbourhood Services teams to develop sustainable career pathways and generic working model to grow talent and foster leadership opportunities. Key highlights The annual Capital Works Programme for carriageway resurfacing combined with the Residential streets programme continues to make good progress this quarter with 20.10km of carriageway resurfaced over this year (2.89% of the total road network) with our annual target of resurfacing 2.2% of the total road network being exceeded. In addition, 7.26km of footways were resurfaced this year (1.02%), exceeding our annual target of 0.6%. In addition, there has been significant capital investment in modern road maintenance equipment including a road planer to remove the surface of roads, specialist rollers, road tar hot box and mobile welfare facilities for staff. The purchase of a JBC Pothole Pro (PHP) will play a key part in recovering our road and footpath network going forward. Successful procurement of new contracts for both lighting capital and traffic signal maintenance will deliver best value for the service. Due to late procurement of these contract this year, funding has been diverted to the delivery of 1,796 new LED lanterns, anticipated to be complete in May. As a result, 136 lighting column replacements were installed this quarter with a further 403 units expected to be complete in July. Work continues in Waste Services on an options Appraisal with Zero Waste Scotland to consider how waste/recycling might be collected in the future considering the Household Waste Charter, and the impacts of both the planned Deposit Return Scheme and Extended Producer Responsibility. Planning is on-going regarding the potential impacts on the service, particularly the kerbside glass collection service. Target containers returned to retailers or reverse vending points will mean less in collected in kerbside glass boxes and blue bins which will affect our recycling rates. As part of Scottish Government capital spend on play improvements, 20 play areas have been upgraded mainly consisting of replacing old and worn equipment. Play areas at Danderhall and Kings Park Nursery were completed this year with new play equipment and planting. Waterfall park refurbishment is now complete and North Middleton Pump Track Pump track completed and is being well used by community. Other works in progression include Burnbrae Primary, Penicuik Park, Millerhill Park. The Countryside Ranger Service continues to engage with communities and volunteers on various initiatives such as the Midlothian Outdoor Festival, attracting 1,072 visitors taking part in walks, talks and activities throughout the county. Tree survey work was completed on Penicuik to Dalkeith walkway, Springfield Mill and Straiton pond. In addition, the ranger service secured partnership funding with Scottish Water for a ranger post at Gladhouse reservoir and delivery of equipment as part of the Scottish Government Nature Restoration Fund for biodiversity which will be utilised for maintenance of grassland and wild flower meadows. Extensive biodiversity works were completed to restore 2 ponds at Vogrie and Straiton ponds. A new pond was created on the Penicuik to Dalkeith walkway. Green flags were awarded to Vogrie Country Park and Loanhead Memorial Park. This year 5,604 volunteer hours were spent in countryside sites ensuring an attractive, safe and welcoming environment for all to enjoy. Holistic Sustainable Preventative One size fits one 47.5% 51.9% 48.2% 43.7% Q4 21/22 Q1 22/23 Q2 22/23 Q3 22/23 % of total household waste that is recycled (Tonnes) Target (54%) 702 0 0 5 136 Q4 21/22 Q1 22/23 Q2 22/23 Q3 22/23 Q4 22/23 Number of lighting columns replaced (cumulative) Annual Target (131) 0.54% 0.12% 0.27% 0.43% 1.02% Q4 21/22 Q1 22/23 Q2 22/23 Q3 22/23 Q4 22/23 % of the footpath network resurfaced Annual Target (0.60%) 2.05% 0.34% 1.38% 2.20% 2.89% Q4 21/22 Q1 22/23 Q2 22/23 Q3 22/23 Q4 22/23 % of the road network resurfaced (cumulative) Revised Annual Target (2.2%) Page 113 of 258
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Planning and Economy Achieve the aims set out in the Planning Performance Framework (PPF) Continue to embed the Climate Change Strategy and deliver against the action plan. Implement year 3 of a 5 year Penicuik Heritage project which delivers public realm improvements and investment in heritage assets in the town centre Draft and adopt supplementary guidance on the ‘Quality of Place’ which will be used as a tool to enhance place-making within Midlothian Draft and adopt supplementary guidance on ‘Developer Contributions’ which will be used as a tool to secure financial contributions towards infrastructure to meet the demands arising from new development Implement the statutory requirements of the new Planning Act 2019 which places additional burdens onto the Planning Service Deliver on the objectives identified in the Strategy for Growth 2020-25 Maintain and grow the client reach of Business Gate way services in Midlothian and continue to develop locate in Midlothian Key highlights The Business Gateway team continue to promote localised procurement with clients, encouraging registration with the Supplier Development Programme and Public Contract Scotland (PCS). The team also continue to promote the social enterprise model to clients where their plans, objectives and values align to the model. Contributing to Community Wealth Building objectives, the team continue to support the projects from Social Enterprise Conversation sessions as they develop. The “Newtongrange Development Trust and a Social Entrepreneur” session was held last quarter and two Social Enterprise Conversations were held in Bonnyrigg and Roslin (and surrounding areas) this quarter. The level of Business start-ups has increased from 6 in Q2 to 63 in Q4, most of these had accessed pre-start support in 2021/22 and some from earlier this financial year. This reflects the continued and focused activity of our dedicated Start Up Adviser and broader economic trends including: • Part time work sufficient before but not during cost of living crisis. • Developing “side hustles” in order to create additional income to cover gaps in earnings, whilst remaining in employment. • Redundancies or threat of job loss motivating clients to investigate self-employment. The total number Business start-ups this year was 118. This should realise a forecasted creation of 142 jobs, with quarter 4 jobs forecasted to be 74. Following the 2021/22 Planning Performance Framework submission to the Scottish Government, the RAG rating feedback report was received in December 2022 and for the first time all 15 performance markers were rated ‘green’ giving no cause for concern. The 15 performance markers form the basis of the assessment of the Council’s Planning Service and as a result no areas were identified for improvement and no indications where some specific attention is required. Following the adoption of the National Planning Framework No.4, the Service has formally commenced its review of the Council’s adopted spatial strategy, the Midlothian Local Development Plan – the first phase consists of engagement with community groups, key agencies, the development industry, local residents and elected members. Sustainable Preventative Holistic Hub and Spoke 38 23 6 26 63 Q4 21/22 Q1 22/23 Q2 22/23 Q3 22/23 Q4 22/23 Number of new Business start ups (LGBF) 80% 66% 80% 85% 85% Q4 21/22 Q1 22/23 Q2 22/23 Q3 22/23 Q4 22/23 Determine 80% of planning applications within target (2 months for a local application and 4 months for a major application) Target (80%) Locate in Midlothian website: 10,095visits (1st of April to 10th to November). 1,880 ‘Business Gateway Midlothian’ followers and 1,676 ‘Locate in Midlothian’ followers across Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin. Page 114 of 258
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g Protective Services Continue to deliver the Council’s regulatory functions with respect to food hygiene and standards regulations Regulate Health and Safety across Midlothian through the investigation of workplace accidents Restart a programme of test purchase for under-age goods Implement a robust business continuity management system and business continuity approach Continue to identify and respond to incidents of rogue trading Key highlights Public Health and Environmental Protection implemented the short-term let licensing scheme within the time scales prescribed by Scottish Government. To date only a handful of applications have been received but plans are in place to proactively contact known short-term let hosts early this year to remind them of the deadline for their license application and publicise the scheme further on our social media platforms. This quarter, software was implemented which is now integrated with the Council’s website allowing hosts to apply and administer their application by 1st of October 2023. Air Quality Progress Reports for 2020-21 and 2021-22 were submitted to Scottish Government on 31st October 2022 for appraisal. Our Air Quality monitoring programme which had been suspended due to resourcing issues has been successfully restarted. Work has now began on the 2022-23 report. An Abandoned Vehicle Procedure, introduced during 2022, continues to be refined this quarter but is working well. Officers are having a lot of success in contacting owners early in the process prior to having to go to formal notice by affixing ‘awareness’ notices at their first visit to the vehicle which encourages the owners to contact us. This allows the owner to informally deal with the issue before moving to formal notice. In addition, DVLA access that been achieved this quarter for searches of keeper details for vehicles reported to the authority as being abandoned. This resource can now be used for other authorised uses within our jurisdiction such as fly tipping and littering. The Protective Services Business Regulation team hosted a number of visitors who were keen to better understand our roles in food safety and public health, building relationships for effective joint working. This included deputy CEO of Food Standards Scotland and a Clinical Fellow from the Health Protection Team. In addition, the Business Regulation Team has been working with an Environmental Health contractor to carry out our lowest risk food premises inspections.This has allowed the team to progress the backlog of food inspections after all inspection work ceased due to COVID restrictions. Holistic Preventative Hub and Spoke One size fits one Please see report below for all Protective Service measures as part of reporting to the Police and Fire Board. Performance indicators marked with * are part of our Place service plans and quarterly performance reporting. Page 115 of 258
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5 6 4 2 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Q1 22/23 Q2 22/23 Q3 22/23 Q4 22/23 Number of Business Workplace Health and Safety proactive inspections 1 0 1 0 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 Q1 22/23 Q2 22/23 Q3 22/23 Q4 22/23 Number of Business Workplace Health and Safety Improvement notices served 1 6 7 3 0 2 4 6 8 10 Q1 22/23 Q2 22/23 Q3 22/23 Q4 22/23 Number of Business Workplace Health and Safety accident investigations 2 1 0 1 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 Q1 22/23 Q2 22/23 Q3 22/23 Q4 22/23 Number of Business Workplace Health and Safety Prohibition notices served 64 74 64 74 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 Q3 22/23 Q4 22/23 Number of liquor licences applied for granted 6 15 5 15 0 5 10 15 20 Q3 22/23 Q4 22/23 Number of public entertainment licences applied for granted Licensing Workplace Health and Safety Protective Services - Police and Fire Board Quarter 4 report Other civic licences applied for during Q4: 2 Market Operator’s Licence 2 Tattoo Licences 2 Window Cleaning Licences 7 Street Trader Licences 0 Public Indoor Sport Licence 2 Second Hand Licences 2 Second Hand Car Dealer Licences Page 116 of 258
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273 300 243 280 0 100 200 300 400 Q3 22/23 Q4 22/23 Number of Public Health complaints received responded to 30 73 4 10 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 Q3 22/23 Q4 22/23 Number of Abandoned Vehicles reported notices served 2 1 0 1 2 3 Q3 22/23 Q4 22/23 Number of Abandoned Vehicles which have been removed for destruction Public Health 35 23 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 Q3 22/23 Q4 22/23 Number of Planning Application consultations received 1 Environmental Protection Abatement notice was served 1 private water supply inspection took place this quarter 58 Licensing visits took place 5 private water supply samples were obtained in Q4 Page 117 of 258
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Civil Contingencies and events Multi-agency Exercises, Training and Presentations: Team Members Participated in: • Exercise JANUS 23 – Notification exercise relating to a Torness Off-Site Emergency. This type of exercise occurs on an annual basis. • Scottish Risk Assessment Challenge Workshop 3, Pandemic, Emerging Infectious Disease, Failure of the National Electricity Transmission System, ie major power outage. • Exercise SAFE STEEPLE, Counter Terrorism exercise involving participants from the Lothian and Borders CONTEST Group and Lothian and Borders Local Resilience Partnership – plus additional, some senior, representatives from partner organisations, including Midlothian Council. Team was also involved in the planning for this exercise. • Exercise MIGHTY OAK, national exercise to examine impacts and mitigations in relation to a National Power Outage. Midlothian Council participated in discussions involving the three Local Resilience Partnership within the East of Scotland Regional Resilience Partnership area. • Familiarisation sessions on the use of Airwave handsets, utilising the Interoperability Bronze handsets held by Police Scotland. • A number of briefing sessions on the Protect Duty/Martyn’s Law, UK legislation currently being developed. A Draft Bill is expected to be put before Parliament in spring 2023. • An ongoing series of briefing/training sessions offered by the Met Office. • Resilient Communities virtual conference facilitated by Scottish Government. • “Show and Tell” sessions facilitated by the EoS RRP Coordination Team and consisting of bite-sizes presentations covering a range of resilience topics. Team facilitated: • Total of 2 attendees on the Feb 23 multi-agency Crisis Management Course organised by the EoS RRP (attendance was expected to be higher but there were a number of withdrawals and changes of preference). More nominations have been submitted for the period Apr – Dec 23 so will be included in future reports. Returns to Scottish Government/Eos RRP/Lothian and Borders LRP (and others), including: • Assistance with information for COVID-19 Inquiries Plans and Procedures: Plans updated and issued: • Emergency Contacts Directory Plans updated and awaiting approval: • Major Accident Hazard Pipelines • Torness Off-site Emergency plan – summary document for Midlothian Council Plans in progress: • Op UNICORN updating in respect of new Monarch. This will tie in with national guidance, when issued. Midlothian Emergency Plan (generic document outlining response structures, roles and responsibilities, links to multi-agency arrangements). Business Continuity Plans • The development of these plans are the responsibility of individual services as they are closest to the work and can better assess needs and practicalities, but ongoing engagement and assistance will be given by the Health, Safety & Resilience Team. To encourage BC plan development a process of initial engagement with responsible managers is currently being finalised. • A report is being drafted for CMT in respect of a range of measures to enhance the organisation’s preparedness for emergency response. Page 118 of 258
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Public events Ongoing, routine representation at/participation in: • Local Resilience Partnership meetings – core group and sub groups. • Local Resilience Partnership special work streams – Severe Weather Framework, National Power Outages Framework, Mass Fatalities Framework • Lothian and Borders CONTEST group • COSLA “All Council” EU-Exit meetings • Internal meetings requiring a Contingency Planning presence, including Care for People, Estates Management, internal CONTEST Group, Safety Advisory Group, Business Continuity. • Local Authority Resilience Group Scotland (LARGS) networking meetings. Ongoing monitoring of events and/or live incidents – disseminating information internally and liaison with external organisations as required. To note: Following attendance at meetings, seminars, presentations, training sessions, a summary of all pertinent information is shared to senior managers and other colleagues as appropriate and invitations to shared where the subject might be direct interest to other services/partners. 25 23 43 62 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 Q1 22/23 Q2 22/23 Q3 22/23 Q4 22/23 Number of planned public event notifications received 37 19 15 28 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 Q1 22/23 Q2 22/23 Q3 22/23 Q4 22/23 Number of planned public events presented at the Safety Advisory Group Page 119 of 258
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3 1 4 0 0 1 2 3 4 5 Q1 22/23 Q2 22/23 Q3 22/23 Q4 22/23 Number of Food Hygiene Improvement notices served 4 1 2 1 0 1 2 3 4 5 Q1 22/23 Q2 22/23 Q3 22/23 Q4 22/23 Number of Food Law Remedial Action notices served 146 116 88 95 142 110 88 94 0 50 100 150 200 Q1 22/23 Q2 22/23 Q3 22/23 Q4 22/23 Number of Food Law service requests/complaints (food safety and food standards) received responded to 72 59 107 117 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 Q1 22/23 Q2 22/23 Q3 22/23 Q4 22/23 Number of Food Law interventions carried out (food hygiene and food standards) 23 17 22 30 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 Q1 22/23 Q2 22/23 Q3 22/23 Q4 22/23 Number of Food Law written warnings (letters/reports provided that contains serious/significant contravention or numerous contraventions) Food Hygiene and Standards Any other Food Hygiene and standard notices served: No Notices served in Quarter 4 93% of Food Law interventions were completed in line with the Food Service Plan in Q4 13 Food/non-food Samples were taken in Q4 Page 120 of 258
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72 82 75 58 72 82 75 58 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 Q1 22/23 Q2 22/23 Q3 22/23 Q4 22/23 Number of consumer complaints received responded to 33 41 42 28 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 Q1 22/23 Q2 22/23 Q3 22/23 Q4 22/23 Number of intelligence logs received 0 1 1 1 0 1 2 Q1 22/23 Q2 22/23 Q3 22/23 Q4 22/23 Number of reports to Procurator Fiscal 36 44 34 62 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 Q1 22/23 Q2 22/23 Q3 22/23 Q4 22/23 Number of inspections/interventions Trading Standards *Performance indicator forms part of our Place service plan and quarterly performance reporting. Trading Standards Campaigns/Joint working/Initiative details: 1. 135 disposable vapes said to have 3,500 puffs each were seized from two shops. They all vastly exceeded the 2ml nicotine content permitted in the UK. All small shops in Midlothian received a letter from Trading Standards advising of this problem which also identified 10 brand codes of Elf bars which had to be removed from sale. 2. As part of a Scotland-wide project, Trading Standards signed up, and provided certificates to, 5 self-storage businesses who will comply with a Code of Practice to prevent the storage of counterfeit goods. 3. Continued to contact residents, 17 this quarter, who have responded to scams according to historic information supplied by the National Scams Team. Page 121 of 258
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1 Balanced Scorecard Indicators 2022-2023 This section of the Council report is presented using the Balanced Scorecard approach. The four Balanced Scorecard perspectives and key areas of focus are shown in the following table and the associated key indicators that follow are drawn from across the Councils services. Customer/Stakeholder Financial Health • Improving outcomes for children, young people and their families • Ensuring Midlothian is a safe place to live, work and grow up in • Creating opportunities for all and reducing inequalities • Growing the local economy and supporting businesses • Responding to growing demand for Housing and Adult Social Care services • Maintaining financial sustainability and maximising funding sources • Making optimal use of available resources • Reducing costs and eliminating waste Internal Processes Learning and Growth • Improving and aligning processes, services and infrastructure • Developing employee knowledge, skills and abilities • Improving engagement and collaboration • Developing a high performing workforce Each of the perspectives shown above are supported by a number of key measures and indicators which ensure that the Balanced Scorecard informs ongoing performance reporting and helps to identify areas for further improvement. The strategy map below provides an at a glance summary of the key performance indicators identified for the Single Midlothian Plan and under each of the perspective headings of the Balanced Scorecard. Detailed performance data is available in the quarterly service performance reports. Item 5.6 Page 123 of 258
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2 Single Midlothian Plan - Key Indicators Individuals and communities have improved health and learning outcomes PI Description 2017/ 18 2018/ 19 2019/ 20 2020/ 21 2021 /22 2022/23 Value Value Value Value Value Value Target Status Return to working operational capacity provision for Ageing Well, volunteering and participation by April 2023. 739 21,446 21,427 3,895 18,394 24,056 20,000 No of referrals to VOCAL 526 400 The number of people who participated in Level 1 trauma training 269 90 359 400 The number of people who participated in Level 2 trauma training 107 40 Annual number of CAMHS referrals 591 774 643 520 747 No data yet Sustain Participation Measure at 1% above national average 1.3% 1% 1% Track number of qualifications for adults through NOMIS 74% Data only CLD Strategic Plan Actions are on target which will contribute to Covid-19 recovery and engagement Yes Yes CLD Strategic Plan Actions are on target which will contribute to Improving social interaction, health, wellbeing and poverty Yes Yes CLD Strategic Plan Actions are on target which will contribute to Pathways to learning, personal development and employment Yes Yes Page 124 of 258
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3 PI Description 2017/ 18 2018/ 19 2019/ 20 2020/ 21 2021 /22 2022/23 Value Value Value Value Value Value Target Status CLD Strategic Plan Actions are on target which will contribute to Digital and resilient communities of the future No Yes CLD Strategic Plan Actions are on target which will contribute to Midlothian being carbon neutral by 2030 No Yes CLD Strategic Plan Actions are on target which will contribute to Enhancing our workforce and volunteer skills Yes Yes Review draft IOM plan of action for whole system approach to Type 2 Diabetes and agree priorities N/A Yes Yes No child or household living in poverty PI Description 2017/ 18 2018/ 19 2019/ 20 2020/ 21 2021/ 22 2022/23 Value Value Value Value Value Value Targe t Status Midlothian Citizen Advice Bureaux (CABs) will generate an income maximization of £625k per quarter £3,704, 161 £3,352, 380 £4,401, 850 £3,055, 703 £5,703, 704 No data yet Number securing employment through participation in employability programmes (Target: NOLB - ; PES - ; YPG - ; LTU – 20 places; IFS - 6) 367 Data only Reduce the number of adults aged 16 to 64 economically inactive in Midlothian - Tracking Only 19.4% 19.4% 22.9% Relative to Scotland, Midlothian can demonstrate a 1% reduction in child poverty. Currently the Scottish Average is 22% and Midlothian is 22.5% 22.5% 22.5% 25% 23.9% No data yet Significant progress is made towards net zero carbon emissions by 2030 PI Description 2022/23 Value Target Status Review of the range of extant carbon calculation methodologies and tools in use in government, academia and the private sector undertaken (to note this indicator forms part of a three year plan) Yes Yes Climate Emergency group partners liaise with Midlothian Council Education service and other relevant bodies (to note this indicator forms part of a three year plan) Yes Yes Climate Emergency group partners help take forward the Midlothian allotment and food growing strategy (to note this indicator forms part of a three year plan) No Yes Page 125 of 258
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4 Customer Perspective - Adult, Health and Care 1. Adult Health and Care Performance Indicator 2017/18 2018/19 2019/20 2020/21 2021/22 2022/23 Value Value Value Value Value Value Target Status Number of individuals referred through the Safe and Together approach. 7 4 4 5 4 Reduce the number of emergency admissions for people aged 75+ (RIE & WGH) 2,393 2,266 2,693 2,409 2,489 N/A Data only Total number of completed Adult Carer Support plans (cumulative) 665 1,623 2,010 808 Data only Number of individuals accessing the Midlothian Access Point 949 1,092 911 605 1,446 1,361 600 Number of Health & Social Care staff who have participated in face to face or on-line training 1,741 1,595 979 1,171 1,021 1,082 Data only Decrease the percentage of falls which result in a hospital admission for clients aged 65+ 3.8% 7% 4.4% 3.77% 2.32% 2.05% 6% Maintain at zero the number of patients delayed in hospital for more than 2 weeks at census date 16 20 1 4 10 6 0 Percentage of people aged 65 and over with long-term care needs receiving personal care at home (LGBF) 68.04% 50.4% 52.54% 53.6% 58.93% N/A Data only Page 126 of 258
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5 Customer Perspective - Community Safety 2. Community Safety Performance Indicator 2017/18 2018/19 2019/20 2020/21 2021/22 2022/23 Value Value Value Value Value Value Target Status % of satisfactory complete Community Payback Orders 67% 68% 61.8% 78% 73.4% 70% 80% Percentage of all street light repairs completed within 7 days (cumulative) 90.6% 100% 80.5% 94% 100% 98.74% 90% Page 127 of 258
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6 Customer Perspective - GIRFEC 3. Getting it Right for Every Midlothian Child Performance Indicator 2017/18 2018/19 2019/20 2020/21 2021/22 2022/23 Value Value Value Value Value Value Target Status Number of outcome focused assessments undertaken (cumulative) 1,006 1,241 1,478 1,045 1,339 1,329 Data only Number of referrals to the duty service (cumulative) 4,893 5,519 5,930 6,043 8,287 9,016 Data only Number of foster carers going through prep groups on a quarterly basis (cumulative) 53 23 28 27 24 14 Data only Number of new foster carers approved (cumulative) 5 5 1 2 3 1 Data only Number of foster carers de-registered quarterly (cumulative) 3 4 2 5 5 4 Data only Number of permanence LAAC Reviews happening quarterly (cumulative) 16 37 29 23 10 27 Data only Number of children matched in quarter – (average months from perm LAAC to matching panel) (cumulative) 12 6 7 2 8 4 Data only Number of places taken at residential houses - capacity 12 10 7 12 12 12 10 Data only The number of children living in kinship care 66 53 70 61 61 59 Data only The number of children living in foster care 86 63 68 65 65 61 Data only Number of Midlothian children on the Child Protection Register 36 51 53 36 38 43 Data only Page 128 of 258
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7 Performance Indicator 2017/18 2018/19 2019/20 2020/21 2021/22 2022/23 Value Value Value Value Value Value Target Status Rate per 1,000 population of Midlothian children on the Child Protection Register in relation to the Scottish average 2.2 3 3 2 2.1 2.4 Data only % of Child Protection plans which have integrated chronology 94% 96% 99% 93% 79% 94% Data only Rate per 1,000 of Midlothian Looked After Children AT HOME in comparison with the Scottish average 3.7 4.2 3.1 1.6 1.5 1.3 Data only Rate per 1,000 of Midlothian Looked After and Accommodated Children in comparison with the Scottish average 9.4 7 7.9 7.3 7 6.7 Data only The number of looked after children and young people not in residential placed outwith Midlothian 24 16 13 9 11 8 Data only The number of looked after children and young people placed in Residential School outwith Midlothian 8 6 4 3 2 2 Data only The number of young people who are allocated/engage with Through Care and After Care service 90 65 56 51 64 64 Data only Child Protection: % of Core Group meetings held within a 8 week period. 100% 99% 98% 100% 98% 99% 100% Child Protection: % of Core Group meetings held within 15 days for Initial 93% 87% 79% 89% 86% 89% 100% Improve Primary School attendance 94.5% 94.86% 94.04% 95.06% 92.25% 93.03% 95% Improve Secondary School Attendance 89.4% 89.34% 89.34% 90.97% 87.36% 87.11% 91.5% Reduce exclusions in Primary schools (Rate per 1,000) 74 94 8.44 6.16 3.04 3.03 15 Reduce exclusions in Secondary schools (Rate per 1,000) 299 210 14.8 13.7 20.2 22.6 15 Number of Children looked after away from home 181 150 140 140 Data only Percentage of Midlothian Care Experienced school leavers progressing to positive destinations 72.73% 62.5% 92.31% 80.95% 88% 90% 85.96% Page 129 of 258
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8 Customer Perspective - Improving Opportunities for Midlothian 4. Improving Opportunities for Midlothian Performance Indicator 2017/18 2018/19 2019/20 2020/21 2021/22 2022/23 Value Value Value Value Value Value Target Status Amount of household income gained by the Welfare Rights Team (accumulative) £3,408,15 1 £4,407,37 3 £4,411,10 5 £4,226,84 8 £4,320,09 0 £3,912,83 7 £2,250,00 0 Midlothian Citizen Advice Bureaux (CABs) will generate an income maximization of £625k per quarter £3,704,16 1 £3,352,38 0 £4,401,85 0 £3,055,70 3 £5,703,70 4 £5,119,20 9 £2,500,00 0 % of those leaving school secure a positive destination 94.35% 93.81% 94.47% 95.44% 95.5% 95% Number of Midlothian Active Choices (MAC) attendees during quarter (quarterly) 9,263 11,433 1,997 1,287 1,255 Data only Number of activities offered by Ageing Well to 50+ age groups (quarterly) 23 15 15 19 45 54 15 Tone zone retention rate (quarterly) 49.25% 53.5% 55% 52% 74% 68% 55% Percentage of Unemployed People Assisted into work from Council (LGBF) 6.71% 25.47% 14.25% 12.94% 16.17% LGBF data not available yet Data only Page 130 of 258
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9 Customer Perspective - Sustainable Growth and Housing 5. Sustainable Growth Performance Indicator 2017/18 2018/19 2019/20 2020/21 2021/22 2022/23 Value Value Value Value Value Value Target Status Number of environmental awards e.g. Green flags 5 2 2 1 1 2 2 Percentage of Council fleet which is 'Green' (cumulative) 5.41% 5.34% 8.2% 8.4% 8.2% 8.2% 8% Percentage of waste going to landfill per calendar year (quarterly) 40.9% 24.6% 11.5% 11.5% 12.3% Data not available yet 15.0% Re-let time permanent accommodation properties (calendar days) 50 days 49 days 54 days 46 days 46 days 33 days 35 days Percentage of the Council's housing stock meeting the 'Modern facilities & services' Scottish Housing Quality Standard criteria 100% 100% 98.4% 98.4% 98.4% 98.4% 100% Number of New Business Start Ups (LGBF) 202 153 149 74 124 118 Data only Street Cleanliness Score (LGBF) 95.98% 91.3% 93.91% 85.45% 89.1% LGBF data not available yet Percentage of total household waste that is recycled (LGBF) 51.6% 58.2% 50.8% 47.3% 47.5% LGBF data not available yet 54.0% Corporate Indicator - Percentage of the Council's housing stock meeting the Scottish Housing Quality Standard criteria (LGBF) 96.05% 96.13% 94.3% 98.12% 77.55% 32.28% 100% % of total road network resurfaced (cumulative) 1.3% 1.67% 0.85% 0.54% 2.05% 2.89% 2.2% Page 131 of 258
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10 Financial Health Perspective Short Name 2017/18 2018/19 2019/20 2020/21 2021/22 2022/23 Value Value Value Value Value Value Target Status Performance against revenue budget £202.932 m £203.596 m £206.362 m £226.262 m £240.921 m £270.274 m Corporate Indicator - Primary Education - Cost per pupil (LGBF) £5,627.8 7 £5,885.8 3 £5,779.0 1 £6,002.6 4 £6,299.7 0 Data only LGBF Annual Data – LGBF Data is circulated annually by the Improvement Service. 22/23 data will be available in Q4 23/24. Corporate Indicator - Secondary Education - Cost per pupil (LGBF) £7,629.5 6 £7,491.3 0 £7,049.9 9 £7,204.3 5 £7,703.6 2 Corporate Indicator - Pre- Primary Education - Cost per pupil (LGBF) £4,721.5 7 £5,144.0 0 £7,551.3 6 £10,243. 85 £9,891.0 0 Corporate Indicator - The Gross Cost of "Children Looked After" in Residential Based Services per Child per Week (LGBF) £4,105.3 1 £3,877.2 9 £4,268.2 2 £6,890.5 3 Corporate Indicator - The Gross Cost of "Children Looked After" in a Community Setting per Child per Week (LGBF) £373.37 £354.16 £362.23 £498.43 Corporate Indicator - Central Support services as a % of Total Gross expenditure (LGBF) 4.45% 4.27% 4.09% 3.8% 3.79% Corporate Indicator - Cost of collecting council tax per dwelling (LGBF) £10.17 £7.79 £6.43 £6.29 £8.54 Corporate Indicator - Percentage of invoices sampled and paid within 30 days (LGBF) 93.1% 91.1% 89.6% 92.3% 93.1% 90.0% 95.0% Corporate Indicator - Net cost of waste collection per premise (annual) (LGBF) £81.71 £73.57 £53.55 £71.16 £60.45 Data only LGBF Annual Data – LGBF Data is circulated annually by the Improvement Service. 22/23 data will be available in Q4 23/24. Corporate Indicator - Net cost of waste disposal per premise (annual) (LGBF) £93.44 £93.16 £57.16 £34.91 £53.53 Corporate Indicator - Net cost of street cleaning per 1,000 population (LGBF) £12,975. 91 £12,984. 45 £11,356. 26 £14,020. 40 £11,744. 82 Corporate Indicator - Cost of maintenance per kilometre of roads (LGBF) £9,029.0 0 £12,594. 00 £8,879.0 0 £7,559.0 0 £8,815.0 0 Corporate Indicator - Cost of Trading Standards, Money Advice & Citizen Advice per 1000 population (LGBF) £5,405.7 1 £5,193.0 0 £4,925.0 0 £6,357.0 0 £5,691.0 0 Corporate Indicator - Cost of environmental health per 1,000 population. (LGBF) £12,432. 01 £9,135.0 0 £8,779.0 0 £8,979.0 0 £15,682. 00 Corporate Indicator - Older Persons Home Care Costs per Hour (Over 65) (LGBF) £40.53 £37.62 £20.57 £26.12 £27.88 Corporate Indicator - Self Directed Support (Direct Payments + Managed Personalised Budgets) spend on adults 18+ as a % of total social work spend on adults 18+ (LGBF) 4.75% 4.49% 5.06% 4.32% 4.41% Corporate Indicator - The Net Cost of Residential Care Services per Older Adult (+65) per Week (LGBF) £621.35 £611.36 £593.65 £603.71 £654.56 Page 132 of 258
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11 Learning and Growth Perspective Short Name 2017/18 2018/19 2019/20 2020/21 2021/22 2022/23 Value Value Value Value Value Value Target Status Percentage of employees who are performing as 'Outstanding' in their individual performance framework 6.7% 6.31% 7.01% 9.67% 9.2% 7.27% Data only Percentage of employees who are performing as 'High' in their individual performance framework 25.55% 26.79% 20.27% 24.18% 22.81% 20.57% Data only Percentage of employees who are performing as 'Good Overall' in their individual performance framework 39.9% 47.68% 50.06% 54.18% 46.86% 52.17% Data only Percentage of employees who are performing as 'Below Standard' in their individual performance framework with appropriate improvement plans in place 0.59% 0.85% 0.25% 0.77% 0.56% 0.54% Data only Percentage of staff turnover (including teachers) 10.3% 10.38% 9.22% 5.9% 9.5% 10.36% Data only Corporate Indicator - The Percentage of council employees in top 5% of earners that are women (LGBF) 49.0% 49.2% 51.0% 55.1% 55.0% 56.9% 50.0% Corporate Indicator - The gender pay gap between average hourly rate of pay for male and female - all council employees (LGBF) 2.32% 3.94% 3.06% 2.7% 2.52% 2.86% Data only LGBF Corporate Indicator - Sickness Absence Days per Employee (All employees) 7.5 8.55 9.7 7.26 9.33 11.04 Data only LGBF Corporate Indicator - Teachers Sickness Absence Days (LGBF) 4.59 days 5.15 days 5.80 days 3.47 days 4.61 days 5.62 days Data only LGBF Corporate Indicator - Local Government Employees (except teachers) sickness absence days (LGBF) 8.59 days 9.86 days 11.19 days 8.76 days 11.22 days 13.20 days Data only LGBF Page 133 of 258
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12 Internal Processes Perspective Short Name 2017/18 2018/19 2019/20 2020/21 2021/22 2022/23 Value Value Value Value Value Value Target Status % of internal/external audit actions progressing on target. 95.4% 91.67% 100% 85% % of high risks that have been reviewed in the last quarter 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%` 100% Corporate Indicator - Percentage of adults satisfied with libraries (LGBF) 66% 69.07% 62.4% 64.07% Data only LGBF Annual Data – LGBF Data is circulated annually by the Improvement Service. 22/23 data will be available in Q4 23/24. Corporate Indicator - Percentage of adults satisfied with parks and open spaces (LGBF) 78.67% 84.67% 81.33% 83% Corporate Indicator - Percentage of adults satisfied with leisure facilities (LGBF) 74.33% 70.87% 63.2% 60.2% Corporate Indicator - Percentage of Adults satisfied with local schools (LGBF) 78.67% 74.63% 69.3% 64.63% Corporate Indicator - Percentage of Adults satisfied with refuse collection (LGBF) 89.67% 87.1% 83.1% 80.1% N/A Corporate Indicator - Percentage of adults satisfied with street cleaning (LGBF) 71.33% 67.97% 62.3% 58.63% N/A Total number of complaints received (quarterly) 7,337 6,450 6,459 Data only Percentage of complaints at stage 1 complete within 5 working days 91.32% 87.7% 90.67% 95% Percentage of complaints at stage 2 complete within 20 working days 78.57% 70.21% 77.55% 95% Page 134 of 258
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1 Midlothian Council Report 2022/23 Progress Against Strategic Outcomes Individuals and communities in Midlothian will be able to lead healthier, safer, greener and successful lives by 2030. No child or household need live in poverty. Midlothian will be a Great Green Place to Grow by achieving our net zero carbon ambitions. We are focussing on our new Single Midlothian Plan to reduce the impact of poverty on our most vulnerable. Midlothian's Child Poverty report 2020 set out Midlothian's commitment to eradicating child poverty by 2030. The three drivers for achieving this are: • reduce the cost of living • increase income from employment • and increase income from social security and benefits in kind We are also committed to improving health outcomes by working with partners to develop and maintain services close to home that support the needs of local people The Climate Emergency Group's values are to get to net zero equitably, taking into account different people and communities’ capacities and abilities to get there. Scotland's national target is to be Net Zero by 2045. Following the motion to Council in 2019, in January 2020 the Community Planning Partnership (CPP) agreed to make meeting the Climate Emergency target of 'Reducing Midlothian Carbon emissions to net zero by 2030' a priority in its shared partnership work. Whilst a full update for the performance for each of the Council’s Service areas is published separately, this report reflects an overview of the key service updates, against the thematic areas of the Single Midlothian Plan. From 1st July 2022,the Community Planning Partnership identified our outcomes which are: • Individuals and communities have improved health and learning outcomes • No child or household living in poverty • Significant progress is made towards net zero carbon emissions by 2030 Single Midlothian Plan Themes in 2022/23 Adult, Health and Care - Achievements Responding to growing demand for adult social care and health services Our Vision: People in Midlothian are enabled to lead longer and healthier lives. Our Values: Right support, right time, right place. Midlothian Integration Joint Board plan and direct the services that are delivered by Midlothian Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP). The HSCP is a partnership between NHS Lothian and Midlothian Council and is responsible for services that help Midlothian residents to live well and get support when they need it. This includes all community health and social care services for adults in Midlothian and some hospital based services such as Accident and Emergency. In order to meet the legal requirements of the Public Bodies (Joint Working) (Scotland) Act 2014, the HSCP was required to develop, consult on, and publish a new 3 year Strategic Plan in 2022. The new Strategic Plan for 2022-25 was published in April 2022 HSCP COVID-19 Response: The Health and Social Care Partnership, its partners and the communities it services continued to be impacted by the ongoing effects of the COVID19 pandemic. A recent spike in infections over the winter months coupled with Influenza cases has caused significant pressure on our workforce due to absences. The Health and Social Care Partnership has maintained delivery of services and continues to work with its partners to Item 5.7 Page 135 of 258
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2 ensure resources are being managed and deployed to cover staff absences where needed. The partnership continue to deliver the vaccination programme across sites in Midlothian. Midlothian Community Hospital have seen a return in face-to-face outpatient clinics. More recently, guidance around PPE has been further relaxed and there has been an indication from the World Health Organisation (WHO) that, “with great hope”, the pandemic is at an end. Mental Health: We have successfully made a significant impact on our waiting list from 60 individual's waiting for MHO report to current waiting list being 18. We continue to monitor the demand and waiting list monthly and are hopeful that we will be able to maintain a minimal waiting list Community Safety – Achievements Ensuring Midlothian is a safe place to live, work and grow up in Justice: The Justice Team have continued to deliver a range of interventions that fulfil our statutory requirements, despite managing a number of vacancies throughout the year. This has included making progress to implement the national outcomes outlined in the Scottish Government’s Vision for Justice in Scotland. To ensure that we are able to provide early interventions at the Court stage we continue to liaise with colleagues locally and nationally to enable us to offer and provide a range of bail services to those resident in Midlothian. Substance Misuse Key services based in Number 11 in Dalkeith continued to provide services including outreach treatment, injecting equipment provision (IEP), Naloxone, and information/advice. Currently, there are challenges with recruitment. However, the Midlothian Substance Use Service continues to support and treat those individuals who are most at risk. This includes the provision of Buvidal (an injectable form of Buprenorphine). Getting it Right for Every Midlothian Child - Achievements Improving outcomes for children, young people and their families All children, young people, adults and communities in Midlothian are supported to be the best they can be. This will be achieved through a nurturing, respectful and collaborative approach that promotes wellbeing, equity, inclusion and lifelong learning. The Getting It Right for Every Child Board (GIRFEC) is one of the main drivers for the effective delivery of services to children. The GIRFEC Plan also known as the Integrated Children’s Service Plan 2020-2023, is a statutory 3 year plan devised by the local authority and health. The plan develops key outcomes and priority actions which are designed to improve the lives of children, young people and families. The GIRFEC outcomes for the final year of the 3 year plan for 2022-23 are: 1. More children and young people are safe, healthy and resilient 2. More children and young people receive timely and effective mental health support when they need it 3. Inequalities in learning are reduced 4 key areas for improvement have been identified. Priority 1 - Attainment and Achievement Priority 2 - Included, Engaged and Involved: Wellbeing and Equity Priority 3 - Self-Improving Systems Priority 4 - Lifelong Learning and Employability These key areas will continue to be analysed and improvements will be evidenced throughout the next year. Improving Opportunities Midlothian - Achievements Creating opportunities for all and reducing inequalities Customer Services Strategy The Customer Service Strategy defines the key drivers that will enable Midlothian Council to deliver a high level of service to our communities. It outlines the commitment to provide choice to the customer in the way services are accessed and provided. This includes innovation, partnership working and optimising the use of technology within resource constraints. The strategy will help us to change the way we deliver services utilising the latest technologies and linking to national frameworks. As one of the fastest growing areas in Scotland, the Council cannot support more customers using the current resources, systems and processes. This means that the adoption of digital and automated processes will be key to Page 136 of 258
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3 continuing to provide a seamless customer journey, satisfying enquiries at the first point of contact and meeting increased demand. Customer self-service and new automated processes can help deliver some key services without customers dealing directly with a member of staff and could truly transform the way the Council deliver services. Increasing the pace of digital transformation, particularly in front-facing customer services, will be a corporate priority. Sustainable Growth - Achievements Growing the local economy by supporting business growth and responding to growing demand for housing in a sustainable environment “Place is where people, location and resources combine to create a sense of identity and purpose. The Place service ambition is to deliver joined-up, collaborative, and participative approaches to services, land and buildings, across all sectors within a place, enabling better outcomes for everyone and increased opportunities for people and communities to shape their own lives.” Over recent years, innovative ways of working have been introduced and services adapted at pace to respond to the needs of our citizens, in particular those experiencing the greatest levels of poverty and inequality. This has resulted in a complete transformation of how the Council works. Our services are continuing to build on this learning moving forward, harnessing the energy, flexibility and creativity demonstrated by our workforce, to embed a culture of continuous improvement and innovation Hub and Spoke, one of Midlothian’s key drivers for change, will see a Locality approach to service delivery adopted, developed in conjunction with community planning partners. The opportunity to review and redesign services that the pandemic has provided will result in a more efficient and effective operation of sites within local communities. This will improve service delivery, and ensure better outcomes for local communities. The continued rollout of enhanced ICT capabilities will strengthen cross service working, produce resource efficiencies and support the localisation of services. Environmental Midlothian Council was one of the first local authorities to sign Scotland’s Climate Change Declaration, publicly acknowledging the challenges and opportunities that climate change brings with a commitment to make the Council’s activities net zero carbon by 2030. Work continues to implement the Council’s Climate Change Strategy and focus continues within Place services to achieve future emissions targets. The ambitious strategy sets out how we will reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, encourage and work with others in our community to mitigate and adapt to changing climate. The strategy incorporates an action plan with a number of initiatives and ongoing programmes which together are helping to reduce our emissions and carbon footprint. Economic and Regeneration Midlothian Council’s Economic Renewal Strategy sets out our ambitious approach to managing the transition from lockdown and planning for the longer term challenges the local economy will face. The strategy aims to mitigate the adverse economic impact on the local economy from COVID-19. Key aims are to protect jobs and aid business recovery using a place based partnership approach that maximises the opportunities developing from the pandemic. Taking this partnership approach, the strategy will foster entrepreneurship, upskilling and training, addressing gaps in the market and changing the way business is done to better align this to customer behaviour. Alongside support for agriculture, tourism and the leisure and hospitality sectors, the council will also promote local jobs and self-employment opportunities, particularly for young people, to give them the necessary skills and support they need to benefit from economic recovery. A report on EU-Exit impacts and the economy was presented to Council in October and work is ongoing with Ekosgen which will inform the refresh of the Economic Strategy to be presented for approval to Council in June 2023. Procurement - The procurement function has a central role in supporting the Council to achieve its strategic priorities within a constrained financial envelope. Procurement allows the Council to repurpose its spending power to drive our key strategic priorities and to secure the best possible value and outcomes for Midlothian. Effective procurement can maximise the value of every pound spent in terms of jobs, skills and supply chain opportunities in the local community. We will aim to address economic, social and environmental considerations at all stages of the procurement cycle within the rules of open, fair and transparent competition. Capital Programme: As Scotland’s fastest growing local authority area, it is critical to delivery that investment in community infrastructure, such as housing, the learning estate, economic investment and green infrastructure, is in the right place at the right time. This will help our communities to live well, live locally and prosper. How we invest in community infrastructure must also respond to changes in our working and living patterns brought about by the pandemic. Communities need to be able to readily access the services they require. Capital investment Page 137 of 258
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4 is also an opportunity to support our local economy through job creation and skills enhancement, particularly in relation to supporting a transition to a green economy as we invest in sustainable, highly energy efficient buildings. As a growing Council, we have the opportunity to transform parts of Midlothian in a way that reflects how we live now. We will invest in community infrastructure with a focus on place-making, reducing inequalities, improving economic opportunities and improving education and health and wellbeing outcomes. The Capital Investment Strategy brings together many strands of the Council’s activities to build upon our past successes and drive forward innovation in a co-ordinated and achievable manner for the benefit of Midlothian and its citizens. The Capital Investment Strategy sits centrally within the Council’s future planning activities and in doing so has to reflect the demands of Council services to ensure positive outcomes are achieved in the right place, at the right time for the maximum benefit to Midlothian. The extensive capital programme delivers new schools, a record investment in council housing, improved community infrastructure, investment in the local transport network and innovative developments such as the new low carbon heat network in Shawfair. To ensure Midlothian is ‘building back better’, this investment is also creating new jobs, apprenticeship opportunities, opportunities for businesses and communities and families hard-hit by the impact of COVID-19. These new opportunities help lead the way out of the pandemic and towards a better future for Midlothian. The Education Learning Estate Strategy programme has been developed and is subject to regular review meetings with Education and stakeholders to ensure effective monitoring, reporting and delivery of improvement and expansion of the Education estate including Early Years provision. This currently covers approximately 30 projects at various stages of development. Midlothian Council is overseeing a significant housing programme. Phase 1, now complete, provided 864 additional houses within Midlothian. The total number of new homes from phase 2, 3 and 4 is currently estimated at 1201, comprising of 489 from phase 2 budget and 712 from phase 3 and 4 budgets. Progress continues with 661 homes currently being constructed on site either through commencement of enabling works or main contract works as of November 2022. This includes the largest Passivhaus programme in Scotland, with 189 homes to be built to the exacting Passivhaus standard, in line with Midlothian Council’s Net Zero Housing Design Guide. This ensures exceptionally high levels of energy efficiency and low utility bills for our residents. Digital Strategy and Digital Learning Strategy Supported by the appointment of SOCITIM Advisory (Society for innovation, technology and modernisation) as a strategic partner and led by the Digital First Board, work progressed to deliver an ambitious new digital strategy, Digital Midlothian 2021-2023, “Empowering People, Enabling Growth”. Aimed at improving the way services are delivered to Midlothian citizens, the strategy sets out how local outcomes will be improved by delivering digital services to digitally Housing and homelessness Midlothian Council’s updated Rapid Rehousing Transition Plan (RRTP) sets out key actions for delivery this year and addresses the next phase in transforming the services provided to meet housing need. These activities are crucial to reduce the time spent in temporary accommodation, improving the quality of temporary accommodation provided, continue to deliver Housing First and improve the health and wellbeing of those most vulnerable households. The plan also explains how Midlothian Council will address the next phase of its approach to transforming the services provided to those in housing need by developing initiatives with an emphasis on the prevention of homelessness, tenancy sustainability and early intervention. There continues to be a significant demand placed on homeless and temporary accommodation services. A potential key challenge will be an increase in homelessness as the financial measures put in place to protect households during the pandemic are now withdrawn, alongside the recent increase in energy, food and fuel costs, requiring a comprehensive preventative approach as set out in the Council’s Rapid Rehousing Transition Plan. Homelessness is not inevitable and can often be prevented. Our vision is for everyone to have a safe, warm and affordable home that meets their needs. Working with our partners to prevent homelessness from happening in the first place. . With the change in The Homeless Persons (Unsuitable Accommodation) (Scotland) Amendment Order 2020, we have transformed temporary accommodation in Midlothian, so no children will be in a B&B, hotel or hostel accommodation for more than 7 days. The Homeless Persons (Suspension of Referrals between Local Authorities) (Scotland) Order 2022 came into force in the last year. This gives people in housing crisis the freedom to settle where they choose with access to the support they need, and aims to help them integrate more fully into the local community and to reduce repeat homelessness. With both of these significant changes to homelessness legislation adding challenges to the service, we have not breached these orders. Page 138 of 258
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5 The first year review of the Homeless Prevention Forum took place this year. This is a partnership arrangement established 2021, with an aim to reduce children going into homelessness through evictions. Referrals are triggered within Midlothian Council when there is risk of eviction. The new hostel accommodation at Jarnac Court was opened providing both accommodation and support to our applicants. This newly refurbished site has 22 rooms for temporary accommodation for our homeless customers. The Scottish Housing Regulator met with Housing Services to review and discuss our engagement plan surrounding homelessness and health and safety within our tenancies. In addition, the Scottish Housing Network concluded a benchmarking exercise against similar sized Local Authority Housing teams. Both meetings praised our material improvements around housing and homelessness and supported the continuation of engagement going forward. Throughout the year we have worked to better improve communications with our housing applicants and tenants, housing duty telephone lines were moved onto the main council Liberty telephony system allowing call recording and ability to report on call handling performance. New private meeting room spaces were opened in Midlothian House for customer engagement. As part of the Midlothian Council rent consultation which presented options for all tenants and waiting list applications on setting next year’s sent levels, a series of five public meetings were held across various locations in Midlothian which were promoted by staff, social media and text messaging. Work continues as part of the resettlement scheme to support and provide routes for people who may be fleeing conflict from a range of different countries. This includes, Afghan Resettlement Schemes, the Homes for Ukraine Scheme which provides a range of routes for people fleeing the conflict in Ukraine and the Asylum Dispersal Programme through which people seeking asylum are provided with accommodation in specified nations. The main activities this year were, our third Military of Defence sub-let property in Milton Bridge and two small hostels were transformed into large family accommodation in Dalkeith. We have worked with Social Work Children and Families to support with responsibilities around Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children. Challenges and Risks Financial position: Council approved the 2023/24 budget at its meeting on 21 February 2023. Delivery is reliant on a combination of savings and service reductions and includes the use of retrospective service concession savings and earmarked Covid recovery reserves. Whilst the 2023/24 budget is agreed, the challenge remains to reach ongoing financial sustainability. Cost and income projections for future years will be embedded in the Council’s Strategic Blueprint which contains a range of transformation themes to drive towards a position of financial sustainability. Close working continues with the Business Transformation Steering Group to respond to the challenge. Economic pressures: Inflation, as well as rising energy costs, are affecting the construction industry in Scotland. The UK is currently experiencing unprecedented adverse market conditions, leading to significant rises in tender prices for a wide range of materials. There is evidence that inflation of between 10% and 15% beyond BCIS predictions is affecting projects. The pandemic has also accelerated financial challenges, and the growth from being the fastest growing local authority in Scotland places significant pressure on Midlothian to be able to deliver services to its citizens. In response to all of these pressures, a range of reprioritisation activity is taking place, with a revised Capital Plan being considered by the cross- party Business Transformation Steering Group, and options to review what and how services are delivered as part of the savings measures to reduce the funding gap. National Care Service: The estimated funding gap for the next three financial years does not include the associated costs of the Scottish Government’s National Care Services (Scotland) Bill. If enacted, the bill would have fundamental implications for the community and for Local Government itself. The wide reaching changes in the bill aim to deliver a National Care Service by the end of the parliamentary term, which will impact on all aspects of the work of the Corporate Solutions team, including financial implications, in both revenue and capital, our asset base, our workforce, governance and legal arrangements and our digital infrastructure and platforms. It will require an immediate focus for the foreseeable future and this will inevitably have implications for other priority work at a time of continued resource constraint. Cost of Living Crisis: Midlothian’s citizens are facing significant financial challenges. The impact on households is already being noted across the UK with 93% of adults reporting an increase in their cost of living in March 2023 Page 139 of 258
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6 (Office for National Statistics; Francis-Devine et al, 2022). The UK is currently facing an unprecedented wave of increasing prices, bills and tax challenges. The 41 year high inflation rate of 10.4% is the main driver of the cost of living crisis which has outstripped wage and benefit increases. The price rises will impact low-income households hardest as a larger proportion of their costs are on energy and food. The Resolution Foundation estimates that absolute poverty is set to rise in the short-run, from 17.2% in 2021-22 to 18.3% in 2023/24 (or an additional 800,000 people in poverty). As our citizens feel the impact of the Cost of Living Crisis, they will seek additional support from public services; in particular local authorities. To respond to this emerging crisis, the Council established a Cost of Living Task Force last year, which is chaired by the Council Leader and meets regularly to coordinate mitigating activities. The Council established four ‘Warm and Well’ hubs in the Lasswade, Newbattle, Danderhall and Loanhead libraries, as safe and warm spaces that all Midlothian citizens can access. The hubs provide free hot food and drinks, the opportunity to socialise with others and access free wifi to work, study, as well as enjoy books, jigsaws and games. Page 140 of 258
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Cabinet 30 May 2023 Item No. Title Inspection of Cherry Road Resource Centre Report by: Nick Clater, Head of Adult Services, Health and Social Care Report for Decision 1 Recommendations Cabinet is requested to 1. To note the outcome of the inspection of Cherry Road Resource Centre by the Care Inspectorate. 2 Purpose of Report/Executive Summary This report advises of 1. The outcome of the inspection of Cherry Road Resource Centre 2. The actions that are being progressed as a result of the centre Date: 10/5/23 Report Contact: Nick Clater Item 5.8 Page 143 of 258
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2 3 Background 3.1 Inspection Cherry Road Resource Centre is a Day Service, operated by Midlothian Council that provides support for adults with Learning Disabilities. It caters for individuals with complex learning disabilities and physical disabilities in addition to their Learning Disability. In March 2023 the Care Inspectorate conducted and announced a short notice inspection of Cherry Road Resource Centre. A copy of the report is contained in Appendix B of this report. 3.2 Grades Following the inspection the Care Inspectorate awarded the following grades. • How well do we support people's wellbeing? 4 – Good • How good is our leadership? 4 – Good • How good is our setting? 3 – Adequate • How well is our care and support planned? 5 – Very Good The Inspection report noted strengths in the following areas: • Positive outcomes were being experienced by people using the service. • There was a high level of staff consistency, resulting in meaningful working relationships being established. • People's care plans were of a very good quality and person centred to their individual needs. The table below lists previous grades for Cherry Road Resource Centre. It should be noted that these grades are assessed against a different evaluation framework. Date Care and Support Environment Staffing Management and Leadership 01 Aug 2018 6 - Excellent (I) Not Assessed Not Assessed 5 - Very Good (I) 16 Jul 2015 4 - Good (I) 4 - Good (I) 5 - Very Good (I) 5 - Very Good (I) 22 Aug 2012 4 - Good (I) 5 - Very Good (I) 4 - Good (I) 4 - Good (I) 03 Aug 2011 3 - Adequate (I) 4 - Good (I) Not Assessed Not Assessed 03 Sep 2010 4 - Good (I) 3 - Adequate (I) Not Assessed Not Assessed 12 Oct 2009 3 - Adequate (I) 3 - Adequate (I) 4 - Good (I) 4 - Good (I) Page 144 of 258
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3 Date Care and Support Environment Staffing Management and Leadership 04 Dec 2008 4 - Good (I) 3 - Adequate (I) 3 - Adequate (I) 4 - Good (I) 3.2 Areas for Improvement The report identifies 2 areas for improvement and makes one requirement in relation to the Environment. The first area for improvement was in relation to inconsistent use of Personal Protective Equipment PPE in relation to infection control including COVID-19. The second area for improvement was in relation to the concerns the Care Inspectorate hade in relation to mealtime experience. It was however recognised that this observation was made on an occasions where typical mealtime dynamics where not observed due to the programme of activities on the day of the inspection. A requirement was made in relation to the environment of the centre with a requirement to develop an improvement plan for the centre including improvements in the following areas: • the flooring of bathrooms and communal areas; • door frames to support cleaning and provide a pleasant environment of people; • ensuring surfaces, (including kitchen worktops), are easy to wipe clean using appropriate cleaning • products; • the redecoration of areas to improve the appearance and provide high quality facilities; and • ongoing upkeep of the premises. 3.3 Actions Being Progressed The following actions are being progressed to address the areas for improvement identified in the inspection report: • Subsequent to the inspection staff training has been completed in relation to use of PPE. In addition since the report was published further guidance has been released in relation to the use of PPE which will negate its use in all except a small number of specific circumstances Page 145 of 258
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4 • Arrangements for mealtimes have been reviewed in consultation with service users and their families. Adjustments have been made in relation to individuals where these changes were compatible to their support needs. In relation to the requirements to improve the environment the following actions have been progressed: • Action plan for the care Inspector has been completed highlighting the list full list of repairs and upgrades required as requested. The priority areas identified and an update on action taken and any works currently completed. • E forms action plan completed for discussion with the inspector • Liaising with maintenance managers regarding organising the priority floor repairs in the toilet/changing spaces areas 4 Report Implications (Resource, Digital and Risk) 4.1 Resource There will be some resource implications in relation the environment improvements. 4.2 Digital There are no digital implications related to this paper. 4.3 Risk There is a reputational risk to Midlothian Health and Social Care Partnership in relation the standard of care and support it is providing being affected by the quality of the environment although it should be stressed that the quality of care was rated Very Good. 4.4 Ensuring Equalities (if required a separate IIA must be completed) The provision of day services by Cherry Road Resource Centre addresses inequalities experienced by people with Learning Disabilities. 4.4 Additional Report Implications Page 146 of 258
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5 There are no additional report implications at present. Appendices Appendix A – Additional Report Implications Appendix B – Background information/Links Page 147 of 258
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6 APPENDIX A – Report Implications A.1 Key Priorities within the Single Midlothian Plan Health and Social Care - Increase number of people who report feeling connected to others. A.2 Key Drivers for Change Key drivers addressed in this report: Holistic Working Hub and Spoke Modern Sustainable Transformational Preventative Asset-based Continuous Improvement One size fits one None of the above A.3 Key Delivery Streams Key delivery streams addressed in this report: One Council Working with you, for you Preventative and Sustainable Efficient and Modern Innovative and Ambitious None of the above A.4 Delivering Best Value The report does not directly impact on Delivering Best Value A.5 Involving Communities and Other Stakeholders Subsequent to the inspection there has been consultation with users of the service and their families in relation to the arrangements for mealtimes. A.6 Impact on Performance and Outcomes This report highlight a number of actions that will improve performance and the outcomes of people using the service. A.7 Adopting a Preventative Approach Not applicable A.8 Supporting Sustainable Development Page 148 of 258
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7 Not applicable Page 149 of 258
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8 APPENDIX B Inspection Report Cherry Road Inspection Report_Ma Page 150 of 258
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Cabinet Tuesday 30 May 2023 Item No Follow up Inspection of Burnbrae Primary School Report by Michelle Strong, Chief Education Operating Officer, Children, Young People and Partnerships 1 Purpose of Report The report outlines the outcome of the above inspection as carried out by Education Scotland in January 2023. 2 Background 2.1 In March 2020, HM Inspectors published a letter on Burnbrae Primary School and Nursery Class. The letter set out a number of areas for improvement which were agreed with the school and Midlothian Council. HM Inspectors returned to the school to look at how it had continued to improve its work, and published another letter in February 2022. In January 2023 HM Inspectors visited the school again. The report is now published on the Education Scotland website and is available from this link. 2.2 Education Scotland is responsible for inspecting education settings throughout Scotland. As this was a follow up inspection the focus was on areas for development from the original inspection. • Improve strategic leadership of quality improvement across the school. Ensure systems for tracking and monitoring children’s progress lead to a shared understanding of standards and ultimately raised attainment. • Improve consistency in the quality of learning and teaching. Develop a framework for assessment and use assessment information to inform planning for learning to ensure children’s progress. 2.3 The inspection team found the following strengths in the school’s work. The headteacher has had a relentless focus on improvement. Supported well by the depute headteachers and principal teachers, she is developing a culture of learning across the whole school. Together, senior leaders now provide much clearer strategic leadership and direction to support school improvement. In doing so, the senior leadership team have established clear expectations for all staff. The headteacher is working with local authority representatives to develop and pilot a system to track and monitor children’s progress in learning. In most classes across the nursery and school, children experience positive relationships with staff and peers. Staff should continue to embed nurturing approaches across all areas of the school. Senior leaders and staff have developed a relationships policy that outlines their expectations for children across the school. Item 5.9 Page 151 of 258
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Teachers have taken positive steps to develop the Burnbrae learning, teaching and assessment policy. This sets out clear, shared expectations about the key features of quality learning and teaching. Senior leaders have worked well to ensure that a whole-school assessment strategy is now in place. Staff gather assessment information which helps to identify children who may require additional support or challenge in their learning. Across both the social and complex needs (SCN) provision and the complex needs (CN) provision, staff work well together to meet the needs of most children. Effective leadership supports staff to provide appropriate learning activities that are largely based around developing children’s skills for life. Children in the SCN and CN provisions learn in an appropriate range of environments, both inside and out, including visits to local amenities to enrich their experiences. Staff in the nursery continue to make considerable progress since the original inspection. Across the nursery, almost all children are engaged and interested in learning. They enjoy positive and respectful relationships with other children and adults. Overall, practitioners use skilful questioning to enrich and extend children’s learning. There is a strong sense of teamwork across the whole nursery setting. Practitioners in the nursery have improved how they plan and assess children’s learning. Planning approaches take good account of children’s needs and particular interests. Practitioners make good use of digital tools to record children’s achievements. Over the last session, staff at P1 have collaborated well with colleagues from the nursery to improve interactions, experiences and spaces in the P1 classes. Helpfully, members of the nursery staff team work closely with P1 classes to provide ongoing support for children and reciprocal learning opportunities. 2.4 The following areas for improvement were identified and the local authority will provide a report on progress within one year of this inspection. Senior leaders now need to work with staff to ensure all teachers carry out their responsibilities in line with expected national standards. It is now important for all staff to work together, taking a more active role in delivering school improvement priorities. This will help to achieve long term, sustainable change and improved outcomes for children. The headteacher and senior leaders should continue to work closely with the whole school community to secure continuous improvement. In doing so, senior leaders will communicate effectively the work of the school, engaging all stakeholders in a variety of ways. They will ensure successes are celebrated more widely. Senior leaders should continue to monitor children’s progress closely to ensure that new approaches to planning and assessment have a positive impact on children’s attainment. Senior leaders need to ensure that all teachers maximise opportunities to plan together, with a focus on improving further the experiences and outcomes of all children. Teachers need to continue to develop their use of assessment information to plan learning experiences which provide an appropriate level of challenge for all children and support them to make the best possible progress. Staff in the social and complex needs (SCN) provision and the complex needs (CN) provision need to develop children’s literacy and numeracy skills in real life contexts. Page 152 of 258
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In the nursery there is scope for the team to develop further ways in which practitioners share practice with each other to secure greater consistency in high quality learning across the setting. As planned, staff now need to work with colleagues at P2 and beyond to ensure children build on their very positive experiences at the early level. 2.5 Conclusion The school has made progress since the original inspection, especially to practice in the provision classes, across early years and in P1. The local authority will now provide a report on progress within one year of this inspection. This report will inform any decision made by Education Scotland regarding further engagement. 3 Report Implications 3.1 Resource There are no financial and human resource implications associated with this report. 3.2 Risk Education Scotland’s team of Inspectors visit a sample of education settings every year to find out how they are performing. A report is published which informs parents about the key strengths of the setting and its capacity for further improvement. Following the publication of the report further visits may be made to the setting, by the Education Authority to assist improvement and monitor progress. Monitoring, review and evaluation of progress by central officers in the Education Team is the control measure in place to reduce the risk of failure of settings to demonstrate their capacity to improve. 3.3 Single Midlothian Plan and Business Transformation Themes addressed in this report: Community safety Adult health, care and housing Getting it right for every Midlothian child Improving opportunities in Midlothian Sustainable growth Business transformation and Best Value None of the above 3.4 Impact on Performance and Outcomes The setting will continue to improve its work in line with the school improvement plan and central officers in the Education Team will continue to challenge and support the setting in relation to developing and implementing a range of quality improvement strategies. 3.5 Adopting a Preventative Approach The Education (Scotland) Bill aims to take preventative action in order to close the attainment versus deprivation gap by implementing key policies and programmes which are designed to target support to children and young people from disadvantaged communities. Midlothian is highly committed to closing the poverty related attainment gap. 3.6 Involving Communities and Other Stakeholders A link to the published report has been made available to Elected Members, parents of children currently attending Danderhall Primary School and other interested parties. Page 153 of 258
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3.7 Ensuring Equalities The School Improvement Plan will be screened for equalities implications. 3.8 Supporting Sustainable Development The School Improvement Plan allows for sustainable development and improvement. 3.9 IT Issues There are no IT implications. Page 154 of 258
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4 Recommendations Cabinet is asked to: (i) Note the content of the inspection follow through report. (ii) Pass this report to the Performance, Review and Scrutiny Committee for its consideration. (iii) Congratulate the pupils, parents and staff connected with Burnbrae Primary School on the key strengths highlighted in the report. 15 May 2023 Report Contact: Julie Fox, Quality Improvement Manager E-mail: julie.fox@midlothian.gov.uk Background Papers: Inspection Report (attached). Page 155 of 258
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1 | Burnbrae Primary School and Nursery Class, Midlothian Council, 5546621 © Crown Copyright 28 March 2023 Dear Parent/Carer In March 2020, HM Inspectors published a letter on Burnbrae Primary School and Nursery Class. The letter set out a number of areas for improvement which we agreed with the school and Midlothian Council. We subsequently returned to the school to look at how it had continued to improve its work, and published another letter in February 2022. Recently, as you may know, we visited the school again. During our visit, we talked to children and worked closely with the headteacher and staff. We heard from the headteacher and other staff about the steps the school has taken to improve. We looked at particular areas that had been identified in the original inspection. As a result, we were able to find out about the progress the school has made and how well this is supporting children’s learning and achievements. This letter sets out what we found. Improve strategic leadership of quality improvement across the school. Ensure systems for tracking and monitoring children’s progress lead to a shared understanding of standards and ultimately raised attainment. The headteacher has had a relentless focus on improvement. Supported well by the depute headteachers and principal teachers, she is developing a culture of learning across the whole school. Together, senior leaders now provide much clearer strategic leadership and direction to support school improvement. In doing so, the senior leadership team have established clear expectations for all staff. They now need to work with staff to ensure all teachers carry out their responsibilities in line with expected national standards. Staff across the school are taking opportunities to lead and contribute to school improvement. For example, teachers and practitioners are leading developments in literacy, numeracy, health and wellbeing, digital technologies and learning through play at P1. It is now important for all staff to work together, taking a more active role in delivering school improvement priorities. This will help to achieve long term, sustainable change and improved outcomes for children. The headteacher and senior leaders should continue to work closely with the whole school community to secure continuous improvement. In doing so, senior leaders will communicate effectively the work of the school, engaging all stakeholders in a variety of ways. They will ensure successes are celebrated more widely. Across both the social and complex needs (SCN) provision and the complex needs (CN) provision, staff work well together to meet the needs of most children. Effective leadership supports staff to provide appropriate learning activities, that are largely based around developing children’s skills for life. Teachers monitor closely and review regularly each child’s progress in literacy, numeracy and health and wellbeing. Staff use national guidance appropriately to track and measure the progress of individual children. Staff in the nursery continue to make considerable progress since the original inspection. Across the nursery, almost all children are engaged and interested in learning. They enjoy positive and respectful relationships with other children and adults. Overall, practitioners use skilful questioning to enrich and extend children’s learning. There is a strong sense of teamwork across the whole nursery setting. Practitioners are reflective and regularly share practice with each other to help drive forward important improvements. They benefit from the Item 5.9 Page 157 of 258
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2 | Burnbrae Primary School and Nursery Class, Midlothian Council, 5546621 © Crown Copyright well measured support and guidance they receive from the principal teacher and senior leaders. Staff continue to develop their approaches to self-evaluation. They make good use of local and national guidance to help inform and shape improvements. There is scope for the team to develop further ways in which practitioners share practice with each other to secure greater consistency in high quality learning across the setting. The headteacher is working with local authority representatives to develop and pilot a system to track and monitor children’s progress in learning. Senior leaders meet with teachers three times a year to discuss the information they have gathered on children’s progress. This helps them identify children who may require additional support or challenge in their learning. All teachers have regular opportunities to plan together with stage partners to improve the consistency of children’s learning experiences. This is helping the majority of teachers to develop a shared understanding of expected national standards. As a result of these improvements, these teachers are in a better position to recognise and address gaps in children’s learning. This supports children in their classes to make better progress. Now all teachers need to develop their practice together, to support all children to make better progress and raise attainment across the curriculum. It will be important for senior leaders to monitor children’s progress closely to ensure that new approaches to planning and assessment have a positive impact on children’s attainment. Improve consistency in the quality of learning and teaching. Develop a framework for assessment and use assessment information to inform planning for learning to ensure children’s progress. In most classes across the nursery and school, children experience positive relationships with staff and peers. Staff should continue to embed nurturing approaches across all areas of the school. Senior leaders and staff have developed a relationships policy that outlines their expectations for children across the school. Staff should support children to understand how key elements of this policy link to the school values, children’s rights and learning about diversity. This will help to develop further an inclusive and respectful environment within all classes and across the whole school community. Teachers have taken positive steps to develop the Burnbrae learning, teaching and assessment policy. This sets out clear, shared expectations about the key features of quality learning and teaching. Most teachers welcome the clarity and direction that this policy provides. There are early indications that new approaches by teachers are leading to improvements in children’s enjoyment and engagement in lessons. Most teachers plan collaboratively across levels to improve the consistency and quality of children’s learning experiences. This is beginning to support staff to have a better understanding of how well children progress in learning across the school. Senior leaders need to ensure that all teachers maximise these opportunities to plan together, with a focus on improving further the experiences and outcomes of all children. In most classes, teachers use digital technology well to support and enhance children’s learning. Most children enjoy opportunities to learn in shared spaces indoors and outdoors and welcome opportunities to work collaboratively on group tasks and projects. Staff working with P2 upwards could develop further their use of shared indoor spaces to maximise children’s learning experiences. In most lessons, teachers provide children with regular feedback on their learning. In a few lessons, teachers’ feedback identifies what children have Page 158 of 258
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3 | Burnbrae Primary School and Nursery Class, Midlothian Council, 5546621 © Crown Copyright done well and provides clear next steps for individual learners. Senior leaders have correctly identified the need for staff to continue to improve the quality and consistency of feedback. This should help all learners understand what they need to do to make progress in their learning. Senior leaders have worked well to ensure that a whole-school assessment strategy is now in place. Staff gather assessment information which helps to identify children who may require additional support or challenge in their learning. However, this does not always provide learning at an appropriate level for all children. In the majority of lessons, learning is targeted to different groups of learners. Teachers need to continue to develop their use of assessment information to plan learning experiences which provide an appropriate level of challenge for all children and support them to make the best possible progress. Children in the SCN and CN provisions learn in an appropriate range of environments, both inside and out, including visits to local amenities to enrich their experiences. Children are encouraged to recognise their ‘zones of regulation’ and are supported well to make decisions based on their feelings. There is scope for staff to develop children’s literacy and numeracy skills in real life contexts. Staff teach core skills of reading, writing and listening through an approach that involves many transitions for children in a short period of time. Staff should now review the impact of this approach to ensure that these many changes do not have an unintended impact children’s learning. Practitioners in the nursery have improved how they plan and assess children’s learning. Planning approaches take good account of children’s needs and particular interests. Practitioners make good use of digital tools to record children’s achievements. In addition, they have maintained paper-based profiles as they recognise that many children prefer this method to revisit prior learning. Children’s learning journals demonstrate a helpful picture of their progress across the curriculum. The team identify individual learning priorities for children in their pre-school year. They should now extend this practice to include the younger children. Over the last session, staff at P1 have collaborated well with colleagues from the nursery to improve interactions, experiences and spaces in the P1 classes. Helpfully, members of the nursery staff team work closely with P1 classes to provide ongoing support for children and reciprocal learning opportunities. Staff at P1 appreciate and benefit greatly from their nursery colleagues’ expertise. Together, they have created physical spaces both indoors and outside which enable children to learn in rich and exciting play contexts. As a result, all children are fully engaged in learning through play. Staff have established an effective balance between child-led and adult-led learning experiences. This is enabling children to make good progress in their learning. Staff are developing effective approaches to assess and gather key information about children’s progress. As planned, staff now need to work with colleagues at P2 and beyond to ensure children build on their very positive experiences at the early level. Page 159 of 258
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4 | Burnbrae Primary School and Nursery Class, Midlothian Council, 5546621 © Crown Copyright What happens next? The school has made progress since the original inspection, especially to practice in the provision classes, across early years and in P1. We will ask for a report from the local authority on progress within one year of this inspection. This report will inform any decision made by Education Scotland regarding further engagement. When such a decision is made, we will write to you again detailing the improvements the school has made and outlining any further action, agreed with Midlothian Council that we intend to take. Susie Smith HM Inspector Page 160 of 258
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Cabinet Tuesday 30 May 2023 Item No Inspection of Danderhall Primary School Report by Michelle Strong, Chief Education Operating Officer, Children, Young People and Partnerships 1 Purpose of Report The report outlines the outcome of the above inspection as carried out by Education Scotland which was communicated in their report of April 2023. 2 Background 2.1 In February 2023, a team of inspectors from Education Scotland visited Danderhall Primary School. The report was published on 24 April 2023, is now published on the Education Scotland website and is available from this link. 2.2 Education Scotland is responsible for inspecting education settings throughout Scotland. They do so using core quality indicators; QI 1.3 Leadership of Change QI 2.3 Learning, teaching and assessment QI 3.1 Ensuring wellbeing, equality and inclusion QI 3.2 Raising attainment and achievement 2.3 The inspection team found the following strengths in the school’s work. Confident and articulate children across the school and provision who are enthusiastic about their learning. They are keen and able to have a greater role in leadership across the school. The impact of the new senior leadership team. They have improved staff confidence and are implementing approaches that are beginning to improve children’s attainment. Staff work together effectively and support each other well. They recognise the positive impact of recent changes and are keen to continue to improve the school. 2.4 The following areas for improvement were identified and discussed with the acting headteacher and a representative from Midlothian Council. The senior leadership team and staff should continue to develop approaches to evaluate the quality of the school’s work to identify what needs to improve. As they do so, they should involve parents, children and other partners to ensure changes lead to improvements. Staff should improve learning, teaching and assessment to ensure the needs of all children are being met. Teaching staff should provide experiences for children that are creative, motivating and enjoyable. The senior leadership team and staff should continue to raise attainment in literacy and numeracy. They should support children to develop skills and achieve success in a range of learning contexts. All staff should work together to develop a curriculum to support children to have a better understanding of their own wellbeing and social and emotional needs. Item 5.10 Page 161 of 258
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2.5 Conclusion Education Scotland are confident that the school has the capacity to continue to improve and so we will make no more visits in connection with this inspection. Midlothian Council will inform parents/carers about the school’s progress as part of its arrangements for reporting on the quality of its schools. 3 Report Implications 3.1 Resource There are no financial and human resource implications associated with this report. 3.2 Risk Education Scotland’s team of Inspectors visit a sample of education settings every year to find out how they are performing. A report is published which informs parents about the key strengths of the setting and its capacity for further improvement. Following the publication of the report further visits may be made to the setting, by the Education Authority to assist improvement and monitor progress. Monitoring, review and evaluation of progress by central officers in the Education Team is the control measure in place to reduce the risk of failure of settings to demonstrate their capacity to improve. 3.3 Single Midlothian Plan and Business Transformation Themes addressed in this report: Community safety Adult health, care and housing Getting it right for every Midlothian child Improving opportunities in Midlothian Sustainable growth Business transformation and Best Value None of the above 3.4 Impact on Performance and Outcomes The setting will continue to improve its work in line with the school improvement plan and central officers in the Education Team will continue to challenge and support the setting in relation to developing and implementing a range of quality improvement strategies. 3.5 Adopting a Preventative Approach The Education (Scotland) Bill aims to take preventative action in order to close the attainment versus deprivation gap by implementing key policies and programmes which are designed to target support to children and young people from disadvantaged communities. Midlothian is highly committed to closing the poverty related attainment gap. 3.6 Involving Communities and Other Stakeholders A link to the published report has been made available to Elected Members, parents of children currently attending Danderhall Primary School and other interested parties. 3.7 Ensuring Equalities The School Improvement Plan will be screened for equalities implications. 3.8 Supporting Sustainable Development The School Improvement Plan allows for sustainable development and improvement. Page 162 of 258
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3.9 IT Issues There are no IT implications. 4 Recommendations Cabinet is asked to: (i) Note the content of the inspection report. (ii) Pass this report to the Performance, Review and Scrutiny Committee for its consideration. (iii) Congratulate the pupils, parents and staff connected with Danderhall Primary School on the key strengths highlighted in the report. 9 May 2023 Report Contact: Julie Fox, Quality Improvement Manager E-mail: julie.fox@midlothian.gov.uk Background Papers: Inspection Report (attached). Page 163 of 258
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1 | Danderhall Primary School, Midlothian Council, 5543126 © Crown Copyright 25 April 2023 Dear Parent/Carer In February 2023, a team of inspectors from Education Scotland visited Danderhall Primary School. During our visit, we talked to parents/carers and children and worked closely with the acting headteacher and staff. The inspection team found the following strengths in the school’s work. • Confident and articulate children across the school and provision who are enthusiastic about their learning. They are keen and able to have a greater role in leadership across the school. • The impact of the new senior leadership team. They have improved staff confidence and are implementing approaches that are beginning to improve children’s attainment. • Staff work together effectively and support each other well. They recognise the positive impact of recent changes and are keen to continue to improve the school. The following areas for improvement were identified and discussed with the acting headteacher and a representative from Midlothian Council. • The senior leadership team and staff should continue to develop approaches to evaluate the quality of the school’s work to identify what needs to improve. As they do so, they should involve parents, children and other partners to ensure changes lead to improvements. • Staff should improve learning, teaching and assessment to ensure the needs of all children are being met. Teaching staff should provide experiences for children that are creative, motivating and enjoyable. • The senior leadership team and staff should continue to raise attainment in literacy and numeracy. They should support children to develop skills and achieve success in a range of learning contexts. • All staff should work together to develop a curriculum to support children to have a better understanding of their own wellbeing and social and emotional needs. Item 5.10 Page 165 of 258
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2 | Danderhall Primary School, Midlothian Council, 5543126 © Crown Copyright We gathered evidence to enable us to evaluate the school’s work using four quality indicators from How good is our school? (4th edition). Quality indicators help schools, local authorities and inspectors to judge what is working well and what needs to be improved. Following the inspection of each school, the Scottish Government gathers details of our evaluations to keep track of how well Scottish schools are doing. Here are Education Scotland’s evaluations for Danderhall Primary School Quality indicators Evaluation Leadership of change satisfactory Learning, teaching and assessment satisfactory Ensuring wellbeing, equality and inclusion satisfactory Raising attainment and achievement satisfactory Descriptions of the evaluations are available from: How good is our school? (4th edition), Appendix 3: The six-point scale A more detailed document called Summarised Inspection Findings (SIF) will be available on the Education Scotland website at: Reports page | Inspection reports | Education Scotland What happens next? We are confident that the school has the capacity to continue to improve and so we will make no more visits in connection with this inspection. Midlothian Council will inform parents/carers about the school’s progress as part of its arrangements for reporting on the quality of its schools. Monica Reilly HM Inspector Page 166 of 258
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Cabinet Tuesday 30 May 2023 Item No Inspection of Sacred Heart Primary School Report by Michelle Strong, Chief Education Operating Officer, Children, Young People and Partnerships. 1 Purpose of Report The report outlines the outcome of the above inspection as carried out by Education Scotland which was communicated in their letter of May 2023. 2 Background 2.1 In February 2023, a team of inspectors from Education Scotland visited Sacred Heart Primary School. The report was published on 9 May 2023, and is available on the Education Scotland website at https://education.gov.scot/education-scotland/inspection- reports/reports-page//?id=4266 2.2 Education Scotland is responsible for inspecting education settings throughout Scotland. They do so using core quality indicators; QI 1.3 Leadership of Change QI 2.3 Learning, teaching and assessment QI 3.1 Ensuring wellbeing, equality and inclusion QI 3.2 Raising attainment and achievement 2.3 The inspection team found the following strengths in the school’s work. Confident and articulate children across the school and provision who are enthusiastic. Steps taken by the acting headteacher to refocus the work of the school on raising attainment and improving learning and teaching. Children who behave well and are pleasant, articulate and keen to learn. They respond well to the Sacred Heart awards at assembly. The nurturing approach of practitioners in the nursery. The nursery team support children to feel secure, confident and increasingly independent in their learning. 2.4 The following areas for improvement were identified and discussed with the acting headteacher and a representative from Midlothian Council. Staff should work together to ensure all children experience high quality learning and teaching. In doing so, staff should improve the planning of learning, teaching and assessment and ensure all children receive their entitlement to a broad curriculum. Teachers should continue to work together to raise attainment. They should increase their understanding of national expectations about what children can achieve across all areas of the curriculum. Staff should improve approaches to how they monitor children’s progress in learning. They should use information on children’s progress more effectively to raise attainment and improve how children’s needs are met across the school and nursery. Staff should improve the quality of learning through play across the early level. Item 5.11 Page 167 of 258
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2.5 Conclusion As a result of the inspection findings Education Scotland thinks that the school needs additional support and more time to make necessary improvements. They will liaise with Midlothian Council regarding the school’s capacity to improve and will return to carry out a further inspection of the school within one year of the publication of the inspection letter. 3 Report Implications 3.1 Resource There are no financial and human resource implications associated with this report. 3.2 Risk Education Scotland’s team of Inspectors visit a sample of education settings every year to find out how they are performing. A report is published which informs parents about the key strengths of the setting and its capacity for further improvement. Following the publication of the report further visits may be made to the setting, by the Education Authority to assist improvement and monitor progress. Monitoring, review and evaluation of progress by central officers in the Education Team is the control measure in place to reduce the risk of failure of settings to demonstrate their capacity to improve. 3.3 Single Midlothian Plan and Business Transformation Themes addressed in this report: Community safety Adult health, care and housing Getting it right for every Midlothian child Improving opportunities in Midlothian Sustainable growth Business transformation and Best Value None of the above 3.4 Impact on Performance and Outcomes The setting will continue to improve its work in line with the school improvement plan and central officers in the Education Team will continue to challenge and support the setting in relation to developing and implementing a range of quality improvement strategies. 3.5 Adopting a Preventative Approach The Education (Scotland) Bill aims to take preventative action in order to close the attainment versus deprivation gap by implementing key policies and programmes which are designed to target support to children and young people from disadvantaged communities. Midlothian is highly committed to closing the poverty related attainment gap. 3.6 Involving Communities and Other Stakeholders A link to the published report has been made available to Elected Members, parents of children currently attending Danderhall Primary School and other interested parties. 3.7 Ensuring Equalities The School Improvement Plan will be screened for equalities implications. 3.8 Supporting Sustainable Development The School Improvement Plan allows for sustainable development and improvement. Page 168 of 258
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3.9 IT Issues There are no IT implications. 4 Recommendations Cabinet is asked to: (i) Note the content of the inspection report. (ii) Pass this report to the Performance, Review and Scrutiny Committee for its consideration. 9 May 2023 Report Contact: Julie Fox, Quality Improvement Manager E-mail: julie.fox@midlothian.gov.uk Background Papers: Inspection Report (attached). Page 169 of 258
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1 | Sacred Heart Primary School and Nursery Class, Midlothian Council, 5545323 © Crown Copyright 9 May 2023 Dear Parent/Carer In February 2023, a team of inspectors from Education Scotland visited Sacred Heart Primary School and Nursery Class. During our visit, we talked to parents/carers and children and worked closely with the headteacher and staff. The inspection team found the following strengths in the school’s work. • Steps taken by the acting headteacher to refocus the work of the school on raising attainment and improving learning and teaching. • Children who behave well and are pleasant, articulate and keen to learn. They respond well to the Sacred Heart awards at assembly. • The nurturing approach of practitioners in the nursery. The nursery team support children to feel secure, confident and increasingly independent in their learning. The following areas for improvement were identified and discussed with the headteacher and a representative from Midlothian Council. • Staff should work together to ensure all children experience high quality learning and teaching. In doing so, staff should improve the planning of learning, teaching and assessment and ensure all children receive their entitlement to a broad curriculum. • Teachers should continue to work together to raise attainment. They should increase their understanding of national expectations about what children can achieve across all areas of the curriculum. • Staff should improve approaches to how they monitor children’s progress in learning. They should use information on children’s progress more effectively to raise attainment and improve how children’s needs are met across the school and nursery. • Staff should improve the quality of learning through play across the early level. Item 5.11 Page 171 of 258
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2 | Sacred Heart Primary School and Nursery Class, Midlothian Council, 5545323 © Crown Copyright We gathered evidence to enable us to evaluate the school’s work using four quality indicators from How good is our school? (4th edition) and How good is our early learning and childcare?. Quality indicators help schools, local authorities and inspectors to judge what is working well and what needs to be improved. Following the inspection of each school, the Scottish Government gathers details of our evaluations to keep track of how well Scottish schools are doing. Here are Education Scotland’s evaluations for Sacred Heart Primary School and Nursery Class Quality indicators for the primary stages Evaluation Leadership of change weak Learning, teaching and assessment weak Ensuring wellbeing, equality and inclusion weak Raising attainment and achievement weak Descriptions of the evaluations are available from: How good is our school? (4th edition), Appendix 3: The six-point scale Quality indicators for the nursery class Evaluation Leadership of change satisfactory Learning, teaching and assessment satisfactory Ensuring wellbeing, equality and inclusion satisfactory Securing children’s progress satisfactory Descriptions of the evaluations are available from: How good is our early learning and childcare? Appendix 1: The six-point scale A more detailed document called Summarised Inspection Findings (SIF) will be available on the Education Scotland website at: Reports page | Inspection reports | Education Scotland Page 172 of 258
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3 | Sacred Heart Primary School and Nursery Class, Midlothian Council, 5545323 © Crown Copyright What happens next? As a result of our inspection findings we think that the school needs additional support and more time to make necessary improvements. We will liaise with Midlothian Council regarding the school’s capacity to improve. We will return to carry out a further inspection of the school within one year of the publication of this letter. We will discuss with Midlothian Council the details of this inspection. When we return to inspect the school we will write to you as parents/carers informing you of the progress the school has made. Sadie Cushley HM Inspector Page 173 of 258
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Cabinet Tuesday 30 May 2023 Protective Services, Environmental Health Food Service Plan 2023/24 Report by Chief Officer- Place Report for Approval 1 Recommendations It is recommended that Cabinet: i) note the Review of Performance of the Environmental Health Food Service for period 2022/23 ii) note the likely impact of the current staffing position regards the inability to successfully recruit due the national shortage of EHOs, iii) note the proposal by Food Standards Scotland for work towards a new model of food law delivery in Scotland, namely ‘Scottish Authorities Food Enforcement Rebuild’ (SAFER) and agreement by SoLACE and Midlothian Council Corporate Management Team to endorse the participation of Environmental Health colleagues in this work and the related temporary relaxations that can be introduced on a risk basis to create the capacity for this work, and iv) approve the Environmental Health Food Service Plan 2023/24. 2 Purpose of Report/Executive Summary The purpose of this report is to advise Cabinet of the obligation upon the Council to document and implement a Food Service Plan; and to seek approval of the Protective Services Environmental Health Food Service Plan for 2023/24. Date 12 May 2023 Report Contact: Gail McElroy Tel No: 0131 271 3342 gail.mcelroy@midlothian.gov.uk Item 5.12 Page 175 of 258
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2 3 Background: Food Service Plan 3.1 Food Standards Scotland (FSS) is responsible for all strategic and policy aspects of food standards, food safety and feed safety in Scotland. The Food Standards Agency (FSA) Framework Agreement on Official Feed and Food Controls provides Food Standards Scotland with a mechanism for implementing its powers under the Food Standards Act to influence and oversee local authority enforcement activity. It also defines a Local Authority’s responsibilities in delivering the food enforcement service. 3.2 The Framework Agreement states that the Council has a duty to provide an up to date food service plan and stipulates that “To help to ensure local transparency and accountability, and to show their contribution to the authority’s corporate plan, feed and food service plans and performance reviews should be approved at the relevant level established for that local authority, whether that is Member, Member forum, or suitably delegated senior officer level.” Food Standards Scotland and Local Authorities seek to work in partnership to discharge their duties and to incorporate • Food Standards Scotland’s Regulatory Strategy, and • The Scottish Government’s approach to Better Regulation as set out in the Scottish Regulators’ Strategic Code of Practice. 3.3 Food Service Plan 2023/24 The consistent application of controls by Local Authorities is essential in terms of the wellbeing of consumers, food businesses and the wider economy. The Code underpins the necessary confidence of consumers and food businesses that all food purchased or traded in Scotland is manufactured, described and handled to consistent standards, irrespective of its origin. The obligations that apply to the delivery of official controls by local authorities includes ensuring: a. the effectiveness and appropriateness of Official Controls. b. that controls are applied at an appropriate risk-based frequency. c. that they have a sufficient number of suitably qualified and experienced competent staff and adequate facilities and equipment to carry out their duties properly. d. that staff are free from conflicts of interest. e. that they have access to an adequate laboratory capacity and capability for testing. Local Authorities are required to have approved Service Plans that set out how and at what level food controls will be provided, in accordance Page 176 of 258
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3 with the Framework Agreement on Official Feed and Food Controls and the Interventions Food Law Code of Practice (Scotland) 2019. The Food Service Plan 2022/23 details how these obligations are being met and pursued within Midlothian. The draft Food Service Plan 2023/24 is attached at Appendix A. 3.4 Scottish Authorities Food Enforcement Rebuild (SAFER) In compliance with the Food Law Code of Practice Midlothian Council Food Service will prioritise central government initiatives, based on risk assessment and where resources allow. With the pressures facing Scottish Food Authorities, FSS has proposed, Scottish Authorities Food Enforcement Rebuild (SAFER), a collaborative approach to implement a new model of Food Law delivery in Scotland. This will be a comprehensive overhaul of the way in which the Food Service operates. It has been intimated that work will begin in Q3/Q4 of 2023 and will be a significant project, involving considerable officer time. Given the scale of the work proposed, when this project is initiated, it is anticipated that the Food Service will be unable to complete the 2023/24 Food Service Plan in its entirety. A temporary relaxation of the current food enforcement regime will be required. To ensure the safety of food provided in Midlothian, the Food Service will continue to prioritise planned interventions of the highest risk food businesses; approved premises, priority 1 and 2 category premises and serious food related incidents. Although the work to develop and later deliver SAFER will pose a short term reduction in food law enforcement in lower risk premises, it will ensure a more robust long term solution designed to protect individuals and communities in Midlothian which will enable them to lead healthier and safer lives. A recent meeting of SoLACE agreed to endorse the participation of Environmental Health colleagues across Scotland in this work and the related temporary relaxations that can be introduced on a risk basis to create the capacity for this work. The matter has also been considered and is supported by Midlothian Council Corporate Management Team FSS have advised that the main focus of the performance and monitoring audit for this year will be to verify and validate the implementation of any specific direction given by FSS. 3.5 Review of the previous plan Section 6 of the Framework Agreement states that The Food Authority should review and set out information on the previous year’s performance against that service plan. The Review of Service performance against the 2022/ 2023 Food Service Plan is attached at Appendix B. Page 177 of 258
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4 4 Report Implications (Resource, Digital and Risk) 4.1 Resource This is detailed within the Service Plan 2023/24 4.2 Digital There are no digital implications identified at this time. 4.3 Risk Section 1 of the Food Law Code of Practice (Scotland) requires the statutory obligations be brought to the attention of local authority officials and / or elected member bodies responsible for agreeing budgets or other service arrangements relevant to the delivery of official controls. Environmental Health is a statutory function and the Food Service Plan is produced in pursuance of this function. Failure to produce and implement a food service plan leaves the local authority open to both the challenge of failing in its statutory duty and increased reputational risk. 4.4 Ensuring Equalities (if required a separate IIA must be completed) There are no known equality issues arising from the provisions of this annual plan. 4.4 Additional Report Implications (See Appendix C) See Appendix C Appendices Appendix A – Food Service Plan 2023/24 Appendix B – Review of service performance against the 2022/ 2023 Food Service Plan Appendix C - Additional Report Implications Appendix D - Background information/Links Page 178 of 258
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5 APPENDIX C – Report Implications C.1 Key Priorities within the Single Midlothian Plan In terms of the key priorities of Midlothian Council the delivery of the food enforcement role as detailed in the Food Service Plan 2023/24 significantly contributes to reducing the gap in health outcomes. This is achieved by ensuring the safety of food and reducing the gap in economic circumstances by ensuring consistent and appropriate enforcement on all aspects of the industry engaged with. C.2 Key Drivers for Change Key drivers addressed in this report: Holistic Working Hub and Spoke Modern Sustainable Transformational Preventative Asset-based Continuous Improvement One size fits one None of the above C.3 Key Delivery Streams Key delivery streams addressed in this report: One Council Working with you, for you Preventative and Sustainable Efficient and Modern Innovative and Ambitious None of the above C.4 Delivering Best Value This report relates to the delivery of statutory obligations. C.5 Involving Communities and Other Stakeholders The Midlothian Council Food Service Plan is a requirement produced in accordance with Food Standards Scotland guidance to ensure delivery of the Council’s statutory obligations. Page 179 of 258
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6 APPENDIX D Background Papers/Resource Links Food Standards Agency Framework Agreement on Official Feed and Food Controls by Local Authorities Interventions Food Law Code of Practice (Scotland) 2019 | Food Standards Scotland Page 180 of 258
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Midlothian Council Food Service Plan 2023-2024 Midlothian Food Service Plan 23/24 Page 1 of 28 Food Service Plan 2023-2024 Summary Food Standards Scotland (FSS) require each local Food Authority to produce a periodic plan showing how it will meet the duty of the Authority to regulate and enforce food law in its area. This plan is produced following the Framework Agreement on Official Feed and Food Controls by Local Authorities, issued by Food Standards Agency (FSA). The coronavirus pandemic caused the cessation of almost all routine on-site food inspection work from March 2020. This Food Service Plan is a continuation of the restart of the Food Law Intervention Programme, which began in April 2022. This plan covers the Protective Services, Business Regulation Team’s food related activities, planned from April 2023 – March 2024. It has been prepared using risk rating data held for each food premises on our Management Information System and following the Local Authority Recovery Process Guidance produced by Food Standards Scotland and Scottish Food Enforcement Liaison Committee (SFELC). With 982 registered food premises within Midlothian, the Business Regulation Food and Safety Team will require to carry out around 300 inspections each year for the next 3 years to stay on target and meet the expectations of Food Standards Scotland. Within this Food Service Plan, between April 2023 to March 2024, 355 registered food businesses would receive a food law intervention. In addition, Midlothian has 11 approved food manufacturers that require significant staff resource to ensure we meet the required standards through a new method of Official Control Verification. As these businesses are seen as our highest risk, the Business Regulation Food and Safety Team will be focusing on delivering these official controls. However, Midlothian Council Food Service has committed to fully engaging with Food Standards Scotland’s SAFER project to develop a new approach to food law delivery in Scotland that is fit for the future. Until we receive guidance about this project the Food Service must continue with their planned food law intervention programme. When the SAFER project is initiated, the Food Service will be unable to complete this Food Service Plan in its’ entirety. Using the FSS Local Authority Resource Calculation Guidance, dated August 2022, it is estimated that 3.7 FTE qualified food officers would be required to deliver the full range of food law-related activities for this year. The Food Service currently has 2.9 FTE for food activities. As at 1 April 2023 the team has a 1 FTE vacancy. There is also currently 1 FTE on maternity leave, planning to return January 2024, this post is covered by an agency EHO who will cease at the end August 2023. If we manage to fill the vacant post as hoped, in September 2023, we will still have a 1 FTE vacancy until January 2024 due to maternity leave. Item 5.12 Page 181 of 258
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Midlothian Council Food Service Plan 2023-2024 Midlothian Food Service Plan 23/24 Page 2 of 28 Even at full complement with all posts filled, the Business Regulation, Food and Safety Team will have a 0.5 FTE shortfall between the calculated FTE required and the establishment FTE. This shortfall will mean the Service is highly unlikely to fulfil all our statutory duties. Through this period of uncertainty, with ongoing staff vacancies and our commitment to the SAFER project, the Food Service will continue to prioritise our highest risk premises. All planned official controls at our approved premises will be prioritised. All Group 1, Group 2 Band D & E and Group 3 Band D & E food businesses will be inspected within the required timescales. Requests for service that are deemed to be significant/serious will be investigated. Introduction Retained EU law sets out the obligations that apply to the delivery of Official Food Controls by Local Authorities (also known as Food Authorities), ensuring: - The effectiveness and appropriateness of Official Controls, - That controls are applied at appropriate risk-based frequency, - That they have a sufficient number of suitable qualified and experienced, competent staff and adequate facilities and equipment to carry out their duties properly, - That staff are free from conflicts of interest. Local Authorities must have regard to Codes of Practice issued by Ministers on the execution and enforcement of the applicable food laws; and regulations and orders made under it. Food Standards Scotland oversees that Local Authorities have in place arrangements for the delivery of the required Official Food Controls. This Service Plan is also developed in line with the draft Administration and Service Planning, Food Law Code Practice (Scotland) 2020, provided by FSS. The coronavirus pandemic caused all planned food law intervention work to cease on 20 March 2020 when the Council moved into Category 1 responder mode. Environmental Health Officers (EHO’s) were classed as key workers and ceased normal duties to concentrate work on public health control measures. The requirements of the Health Protection (Coronavirus)(Restrictions)(Scotland) Regulations 2020, which were regulated by local authorities, have been removed. Officers are no longer dealing with COVID-19 related requests. However, Food Service EHO’s would be expected to provide assistance again if needed. It is not possible to predict if and when that may happen. Food Service Officers resumed unannounced inspections, in accordance with the Interventions Food Law Code of Practice (Scotland), in April 2022. Since then the Food Service Plans have been prepared following the ‘Local Authority Recovery Project, Recovery Process Guidance’ developed by Food Standards Scotland and Scottish Food Enforcement Liaison Committee, issued in December 2020. Page 182 of 258
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Midlothian Council Food Service Plan 2023-2024 Midlothian Food Service Plan 23/24 Page 3 of 28 This guidance set maximum time periods, within which every food business must have a planned intervention. Between April 2022 and March 2026, all food premises in Midlothian have been allocated a scheduled intervention. If the Food Service can stay on track with the proposed restart programme, based on our reset date of April 2022, then all Midlothian food businesses will have had a food law intervention by the end of March 2026. This plan covers the period from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024. 1.1 Service Aims and Objectives The aims of the Food Service, delivered by the Business Regulation Team within Protective Services, are to: - To protect public health by ensuring that food produced and/or consumed in Midlothian, is safe to eat and is described accurately to the consumer, - Carry out the statutory duties required of Midlothian Council as a Food Authority. Objectives, to; - Complete the food law interventions programme planned for April 2023- March 2024, - Carry out approved premises interventions following the Official Control Verification (OCV) framework, - Undertake a programme of food sampling from manufacturing premises in Midlothian, - Contribute to national sampling surveys set by Food Standards Scotland, - Investigation food related requests for service, - Investigate instances of food and water borne diseases within Midlothian in a co- ordinated approach with the relevant Health Authorities. - Respond appropriately to relevant food alerts as required by Food Standards Scotland, - Ensure all Authorised Officers receive a minimum of 10 hours food related training to maintain competency. 1.2 Link to corporate objectives and plans Midlothian Council has developed a Single Midlothian Plan with a stated vision that; Page 183 of 258
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Midlothian Council Food Service Plan 2023-2024 Midlothian Food Service Plan 23/24 Page 4 of 28 • Individuals and communities in Midlothian will be able to lead healthier, safer, greener and successful lives by 2030. • No child or household need live in poverty. • Midlothian will be a Great Green Place to Grow by achieving our net zero carbon ambitions. Annex 1 shows the mapping of Food Service activity to the Single Midlothian Plan outcomes. Food Authorities have a duty under the Regulatory Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 to contribute to sustainable economic growth. Food Service Officers have regard to the principles of Better Regulation helping businesses to comply and grow sustainably, outlined in the Scottish Regulators’ Strategic Code of Practice. This is in line with the Single Midlothian Plan. However, exceptions are in place where this would be inconsistent with the execution of their function to protect public health. 2. Background 2.1 Profile of Local Authority Midlothian Council is located to the south of Scotland’s capital city Edinburgh and serves a growing population of about 93,150. Midlothian is now pro rata, the fastest expanding area of Scotland for population growth and housing development, with a projected population increase to 103,945 by 2028, an increase of 13.8%. This is compared to 1.8% increase for Scotland as a whole. This brings with it consequent pressures on council services. Reference: National Records of Scotland -Midlothian Council Area Profile (nrscotland.gov.uk) The Council is one of the smallest in Scotland covering a geographical area of 354km2. It shares its borders with East Lothian, City of Edinburgh and Scottish Borders. The main centres of population are currently around Dalkeith, Bonnyrigg and Penicuik with much of the area rural in nature with small towns and villages. 2.2 Organisational Structure An organisational review of Protective Services was completed in 2022. The new organisational structure is seen in Figure 1 and shows the current full time equivalent (FTE) within the Business Regulation Team, as at 1 April 2023. The Senior Manager Protective Services has been in post since October 2021. The post of Team Manager Business Regulation was created with responsibility for regulatory compliance within Midlothian. From April 2023 this incorporates the Food and Safety Team and Trading Standards Team. The appointed person started in March 2022 and has taken on the role of Lead Food Officer for Midlothian Council. A Principal Officer supports the Team Manager and Enforcement Officers. The Principal Officer within Food and Safety has been in post since March 2023. The Business Regulation Team has allocated Business Support, 0.4 FTE is dedicated to food related administration. Page 184 of 258
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Midlothian Council Food Service Plan 2023-2024 Midlothian Food Service Plan 23/24 Page 5 of 28 Senior Manager Protective Services Team Manager Public Health & Environmental Protection Team Manager Business Regulation FTE 1 Environmental Health Officer FTE 1 Environmental Warden Food and Safety Team Public Health & Environmental ProtectionTeam Environmental Health Officer FTE 1 Environmental Health Officer FTE 1 Environmental Health Officer Environmental Health Officer Environmental Health Officer (VACANT) Environmental Warden Senior Enforcement Officer Senior Enforcement Officer Trading Standards Team Protective Services Organisational Structure Business Services 2.8 FTE April 2023 Lead Officer Food Environmental Health Officer Environmental Health Officer 1 FTE ( VACANT ) Chief Officer Place Executive Director PlaceChief Executive Principal Environmental Health Officer FTE 1 Principal Environmental Health Officer (VACANT) Principal Trading Standards Officer FTE 1 Business Services Manager Team Manager Health, Safety & Resilience Business Support Figure 1. Organisational Structure of Place with current Business Regulation Team Full Time Equivalent (FTE) as at April 2023. 2.3 Scope of the Food Service The Food Service is delivered by the Business Regulation Team of the Environmental Health Service, part of Protective Services in the Place Directorate. The Service is based at Fairfield House, 8 Lothian Road, Dalkeith, EH22 3AA - Tel. 0131 271 3559, email: foodandsafety@midlothian.gov.uk. The Service generally operates during Midlothian Council office hours, 9-5pm Monday to Thursday and 9-3.45pm Friday. However, a certain amount of inspection and reactive work is done out with these hours in order to access businesses that open in the early mornings, evenings or at weekends or to respond to public health concerns. Outwith core hours, contact for emergency purposes is on an ad-hoc “whom-failing” basis via the Midlothian Contact Centre - Telephone number 0131 663 7211. The organisational structure, lines of responsibility and establishment of the Environmental Health Service are shown in Figure 1 above. The range of food activities involved in regulating businesses in Midlothian include; • Regular interventions with food business to check compliance with food law including safety, hygiene, food composition and labelling. • Approval of our highest risk businesses handling products of animal origin. Page 185 of 258
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Midlothian Council Food Service Plan 2023-2024 Midlothian Food Service Plan 23/24 Page 6 of 28 • Licensing of certain premises i.e. mobile street traders • Sampling of food to check on hygiene, composition and labelling. • Investigation of complaints from the public about food, food labelling and food premises. • Investigation of food related cases of infectious diseases. • Detection and investigation of food related fraud and food crime. • Enforcement of the legislation in relation to the above activities. • Providing advice and assistance to new or existing food business operators and to the public. • Scrutiny of planning and building warrant applications relating to matters of food safety The Food and Safety team is also responsible for; • Enforcement of Health and Safety legislation in many workplaces in the Midlothian area, including the investigation of workplace accidents and incidents in those premises, • Environmental Health Officers contribute to the Council’s Safety Advisory Group providing advice to event organisers, • Enforcement of the Public Health (Scotland) Act and in partnership with NHS Lothian, the investigation and control of certain infectious diseases and other public health concerns, • Licensing and regulation of residential caravan sites, certain activities covered by Civic Government licencing and zoos. Enforcement Officers are authorised by the Council to enter premises, inspect and take samples, serve legal notices and make reports to the Procurator Fiscal. Any formal action taken is in line with our Food Enforcement Policy. City of Edinburgh, Scientific Services are appointed by Midlothian Council to provide services of examination and analysis of samples. 2.4 Demands on Food Service Service User Profile As of 1 April 2023, 982 food business were registered and operating in Midlothian. From 2005 – 2023 there had been a net year on year rise in food businesses, see figure 2. The rate of increase has slowed since the pandemic. Within the year from April 2022 to March 2023, 112 food businesses ceased trading and 77 new food businesses registered. Page 186 of 258
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Midlothian Council Food Service Plan 2023-2024 Midlothian Food Service Plan 23/24 Page 7 of 28 Figure 2 Number of food businesses registered with Midlothian Council from 2005 – 2023 The majority of the food premises in the area are small to medium enterprises. Most of these businesses rely on regular contact from the Business Regulation Team for advice and guidance on the legal requirements for food and safety. There are 11 premises located in the area approved for the manufacture and supply of high risk products of animal origin to other food businesses and potentially national and international markets. A small number of food businesses export to non-EU countries. Changes to Enforcement Practice The Interventions Food Law Code on Practice (Scotland) introduced the new Food Law Rating System (FLRS) in April 2019 and changed the way in which food businesses are risk rated after an inspection. The risk rating of each food business will still determine the frequency at which it is inspected. However, all food businesses are now assessed on a wider range of aspects of food law covering hygiene, composition, labelling requirements and the risk of fraud. This new risk assessment scheme is expected to result in increased frequency of inspections for the higher risk businesses. Businesses deemed to be of the highest risk at their programmed inspection, due to serious non- compliance, will receive intensive interventions, with further full inspections within 1 month and 3 months. FSS Local Authority Recovery Process Guidance sets out 6 risk-based priorities from highest to lowest risk (see Annex 2). The Food Service will monitor and report on the highest risk of these, i.e. Priority 1 and Priority 2 at the end of the 12 month plan. The Food Service will also monitor the progress, quarterly by the cumulative percentage of planned food premises inspections achieved in each month, for all priority categories. 500 600 700 800 900 1000 1100 1200 2005 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 Number of premises Year Number of food premises at 31st March 2005 - 2023 Page 187 of 258
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Midlothian Council Food Service Plan 2023-2024 Midlothian Food Service Plan 23/24 Page 8 of 28 These changes have required updates to the Management Information System used by the Food Service (UNIform - IDOX) to cope with this and there will be a transitional period as food businesses are moved from one assessment regime to another. It is anticipated that all food businesses will be risk rated under the new FLRS system within 48 months of restarting the Food Law Intervention Programme. The Interventions Code does not apply to food establishments at the level of Primary Production or Approval. The way in which Official Controls are applied to approved premises has changed with more frequent, in depth interventions now required. Each premises will require numerous visits within an annual cycle. A significant amount of officer time is needed to continue the implementation of this new process, with 2 officers required for each of these interventions. At present there are 11 approved premises within Midlothian, with a further business requiring assessment. Future Demands Regulation of businesses is regularly changing and with it the demands on ensuring compliance. Midlothian Council Food Service will prioritise any national or local driven outcomes, including compliance with new legislation or improved compliance with existing legislation. The acceptance of this will be risk based and will take account of any additional burden and/or additional resource required. A consultation on the provision of mandatory calorie information within the ‘out-of-home’ sector is ongoing. This is being considered to help reduce diet-related health inequalities. As Food Service Officers are already visiting food premises on a regular basis and enforcing existing food law they are seen by Scottish Government as best placed to provide support and guidance to business to fulfil this requirement. This will need further time resource to ensure officers are trained and competent before then spending time with businesses to help them apply any new legislation. A pilot of whole systems approach to Type II diabetes prevention in Mayfield and Easthouses is planned to begin in 2023. This aims to improve access to healthy food. It is planned for Food Officers to engage with targeted food businesses to promote the use of Menucal, an online tool to help reduce the number of calories offered in ‘out-of- home’ foods. Central Government Initiatives Midlothian Council Food Service will prioritise central government initiatives in compliance with the Food Law Code of Practice, based on risk assessment and where resources allow. With the pressures facing Scottish Food Authorities, FSS has proposed SAFER, Scottish Authorities Food Enforcement Rebuild, a collaborative approach to implement a new model of Food Law delivery in Scotland. This will be a comprehensive overhaul of the way in which the Food Service operates. Midlothian Council Food Service will participate in central government initiatives proposed by Food Standards Scotland in regard to SAFER. Page 188 of 258
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Midlothian Council Food Service Plan 2023-2024 Midlothian Food Service Plan 23/24 Page 9 of 28 It has been intimated that this work will begin in Q3/Q4 of 2023 and will be a significant project, involving considerable officer time. Given the scale of the work proposed, when this project is initiated, it is anticipated that the Food Service will be unable to complete this Food Service Plan in its entirety. A temporary relaxation of the current food enforcement regime will be required. To ensure the safety of food provided in Midlothian, the Food Service will continue to prioritise planned interventions of the highest risk food businesses; approved premises, priority 1 and 2 category premises and serious food related incidents. Although this work will pose a short term reduction in food law enforcement in lower risk premises and cases, it will ensure a more robust long term solution designed to protect individuals and communities in Midlothian which will enable them to lead healthier and safer lives. FSS have advised that the main focus of the performance and monitoring audit for this year will be to verify and validate the implementation of any specific direction given by FSS. There was agreement at the meeting of SoLACE on 16 December 2022 to endorse the participation of Environmental Health colleagues in this work and the related temporary relaxations that can be introduced on a risk basis to create the capacity for this work. 2.5 Enforcement Policy The Authority has a documented Food Enforcement Policy which was approved by Council on 8 March 2022. It will be due to be reviewed in April 2024. This sets out how the Food Service will deal with non-compliance with food law and how we intervene to bring businesses back into compliance. Authorised Officers make enforcement decisions in line with Midlothian Council’s Food Enforcement Policy. 3. Service Delivery 3.1 Interventions at Food Business Establishments This plan covers the period from 1 April 2023 until 31 March 2024. The Food Service plans to carry out 355 interventions at Midlothian food business to assess their compliance with food law. This includes planned interventions at premises; risk rated under the Food Law Rating Scheme (FLRS), those classed as ‘missed’ during the Coronavirus pandemic and newly registered food businesses. Table 1 shows the breakdown of the number of interventions planned in each priority category. Planned Food Interventions April 2023 – March 2024 Priority Category Number of planned interventions Highest Risk Premises Priority 1 10 Page 189 of 258
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Midlothian Council Food Service Plan 2023-2024 Midlothian Food Service Plan 23/24 Page 10 of 28 High Risk Priority 2 37 Medium Risk Priority 3, 4 and 5 291 Lowest Risk Priority 6 17 Total 355 Table 1, Breakdown of Priority Category and Number of Interventions Planned Priority categories are set with proposed timescales (see Annex 2) by which premises in each category must receive an intervention. Rescheduled dates have been set, within Midlothian Council’s Management Information System, for any premises that ‘missed’ their inspection, to ensure they receive a planned intervention within proposed timescales. If the programme remains on track and the current vacancy filled to provide a full complement of staff all the food businesses (registered with Midlothian Council by April 2022) are scheduled to have had a food law intervention by end March 2026. Prior to the Coronavirus pandemic the Food Service had good quality, up to date risk ratings for the majority of the food businesses in Midlothian. In the second year of the restart, from 1 April 2023 - 31 March 2024, the Food Service will again prioritise the known highest risk food businesses that operate within Midlothian. This includes priority 1 and priority 2 category businesses. At 01 April 2023 there are 47 of these businesses in these categories that will receive a planned intervention in 2023/24. It is anticipated that the number of unplanned interventions will increase throughout this year due to the identification of serious non-compliances, as evidenced in year 2022 – 2023. These non-compliant businesses will thereafter need to receive ‘intensive’ interventions at specified intervals, namely within 1 month of the initial inspection followed by another full inspection after 3 months. The worst, highest risk premises will have an additional intervention after another 6 months. It is impossible to predict at present how many premises this may relate to. In year 1 the number of food businesses with serious failures doubled from that originally planned, thought to be due to a decline in standards as a result of the legacy of the pandemic coupled with the increased cost of living. Priority 3, 4 and 5 category businesses have been allocated an intervention date within the proposed time periods set out in the FSS recovery guidance. These are spread evenly throughout 12, 18, 24, 36 and 48 months in line with the guidance. Within the current years plan, 291 medium risk premises (priority 3, 4 and 5) would receive an intervention. Priority 6 category businesses are the lowest risk, they include small retailers selling pre-packed foods and childminders and home caterers preparing and selling low-risk Page 190 of 258
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Midlothian Council Food Service Plan 2023-2024 Midlothian Food Service Plan 23/24 Page 11 of 28 ambient foods. If resources allow and staff levels increase, due to a successful recruitment campaign, interventions at these lowest risk businesses would be initiated. As previously shown, the number of new food businesses registering with Midlothian Council is increasing year on year. All newly registered food businesses require a full inspection to allow them to be risk rated under the new system. The Food Service plan allocates resource to inspect 20 higher risk (Group 1 & 2) and 25 lower risk (Group 3) businesses within the year. Depending on the type of food business, officer resource to bring them in line with regulatory compliance can be significant. In the last 6 months Food Officers have been supporting new manufacturing establishments, an application for a new approved premises and food producers using complex processes. Approved premises who supply products of animal origin are classified as Midlothian Council’s highest risk food establishments. Year 2023 – 2024 will see Midlothian Food Service implement phase 2 of the OCV process. This will include detailed review of businesses documented procedures and the introduction of reality check inspections and focused audits. The Food Service will prioritise these planned interventions over other planned work. All approved premises will receive interventions in line with the Official Control Verification (OCV) Guidance, produced by FSS. This is a methodical approach of auditing the highest risk food businesses to secure high level public health protection and protects the reputation of Scottish food businesses. Implementation of this new process significantly increases the time spent on Official Controls at approved establishments. Utilising the FSS provided resource calculator it has been estimated that 92 days of officer’s time will need to be allocated to these 11 premises, this year alone. Midlothian Food Service will move to phase 3 of the process in 2024-2025. The organisational structure of Business Regulation provides 5.5 FTE officer positions within the Food and Safety team, including management. Currently 4.5 FTE positions are filled within this team and there is 1 FTE vacancy. For the team to fulfill all the food law requirements placed upon them within this current year’s plan they would require an (estimated) additional 0.8 FTE. This would be covered by recruitment into the vacant post. Mindful of the national shortage of Environmental Health Officers Midlothian Council Environmental Health have adopted “a grow our own” approach and are currently supporting a Student EHO through their professional training. It is anticipated that they will complete their training and sit the REHIS Professional Diploma, to qualify as an EHO, in September 2023. Post professional qualification a period of work experience is required before any new officer can be fully authorised. 3.2 Food Complaints and Requests for Service A proportion of the Service’s work relates to dealing with requests for service about food related matters. The team receives approximately 450 service requests each year, of which about 50% are food related. Page 191 of 258
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Midlothian Council Food Service Plan 2023-2024 Midlothian Food Service Plan 23/24 Page 12 of 28 Food service requests include; • Complaints about food that people have bought or consumed e.g. foreign bodies in food or alleged food poisoning, • Complaints about food premises which appear to be being run unhygienically, • Requests for advice about starting food businesses, legal requirements, food hygiene training, labelling or the layout and fittings of proposed premises, • Applications for Certificates of Compliance and Licensing of mobile food street traders, • Scrutinising planning applications and building warrants received by the Council relating to food premises and offering advice to applicants regarding premises layout, fittings etc., • Investigating cases and outbreaks of infectious disease, in partnership with NHS Lothian, associated with the consumption of food or water, • Responding to intelligence concerning food incidents or food fraud from Food Standards Scotland and other local authorities, instigating food alerts for action, product recalls and allergy alerts. All service requests, where we have a statutory function, must receive a response to determine the extent to which further action is needed. Therefore, this work must take priority over planned inspection work. Response times are specified for some reactive work. For requests of service received Authorised Officers should make first contact within 5 working days. It has been agreed with NHS Lothian that cases of gastrointestinal infection should be contacted within 2 days of notification, more serious cases of typhoid/paratyphoid, E.coli O157/STEC, Cholera 01, Shigella Dysenteries, Listeria, Legionella and Non-Sonnei Shigellas should be contacted on the day of notification. Mandatory health and safety investigations take priority and would be initiated on the day of notification. This would include fatalities or multiple serious injuries in a workplace. Some requests may result in significant amounts of work being required to resolve them. For example, a complaint about an unhygienic premises which leads to enforcement action and a subsequent report to the Crown Office Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) ; a new food manufacturer requiring significant research into the processes involved; a fatal or serious workplace accident; a major infection control or public health incident. 3.3 Home Authority Midlothian Council has agreed to act as Home Authority to a large food manufacturer with the Head Office and decision making base in Bonnyrigg and as such expects to receive communication from Local Authorities. Where Home Authority agreements exist with other UK local authorities the Food Service will liaise with those authorities where appropriate in investigation food safety or food standards matters. Page 192 of 258
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Midlothian Council Food Service Plan 2023-2024 Midlothian Food Service Plan 23/24 Page 13 of 28 3.4 Advice to Businesses The Food Service provides advice freely to Midlothian businesses. Advice and guidance is given during routine food law interventions and in response to service requests from food businesses. Where new legislation and associated guidance has been produced, the Food Service may plan a targeted intervention to advise affected businesses. For example, In October 2021 changes were introduced to the labelling requirements of food pre-packed for direct sale – that is packed on the premises for sale to walk in customers. This followed a number of deaths across the country involving allergic reactions to food constituents and high profile coverage in the UK media. This is a significant change for businesses such as takeaways and sandwich shops. A targeted email was sent out to 371 businesses in Midlothian that would be affected by this change. Social media posts were sent out on the Midlothian Council twitter feed and the Midlothian Council website was updated to include these changes. 3.5 Food Sampling The sampling of food is an integral part of the work of the Food Service. The sampling plan can cover local outlets, approved premises, manufacturers and also nationally organised campaigns. Unplanned food samples are taken for investigatory purposes often relating to food complaints from members of the public. On average 235 food samples are taken each year for examination or analysis. Food sample examination involves assessing the microbiology of both ingredients and final products. It can give an indication of the conditions under which it is produced and the levels of hygiene controls during processing and handling both in the environment of the premises and the practices of the people producing it. Food sample analysis can determine; what a food is made of, whether the ingredients meet legal requirements e.g. % meat or fruit, if foodstuffs are contaminated or adulterated and if labelled or described accurately. Food samples are submitted to Edinburgh Scientific Services who employ the Authority’s appointed Food Examiner, Public Analyst and Agricultural Analyst. The Food Service does not have a dedicated Food Sampling Officer. Authorised Officers from the Business Regulation team take samples from approved premises, see table 2, and manufacturers during food law interventions and purchase samples as part of the national survey. Annual Sampling from Approved Premises Food Sampled Samples for Microbiological Examination Samples for Analysis Processed Milk 8 8 Cream 2 2 Meat Products 6 6 Pizzas and Ready Made Meals 6 6 Page 193 of 258
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Midlothian Council Food Service Plan 2023-2024 Midlothian Food Service Plan 23/24 Page 14 of 28 Table 2 – Annual Sampling Plan for Approved Premises in Midlothian The Food Service participates in sampling surveys organised by Food Standards Scotland, Lothian and Borders Food Liaison Group and the Scottish Food Enforcement Liaison Committee (SFELC). These sampling programmes and priorities aim to identify trends in the food supply where intelligence data suggests more information is required or a problem may already exist. Sampling is carried out by Local Authority Authorised Officers across Scotland and the results collated centrally. This work is resourced by FSS and is coordinated by SFELC in collaboration with the Public Analyst. The Food Service is awaiting the FSS funded Local Authority National Sampling Programme for 2023 – 2024. An example sampling survey for Midlothian Council can be seen in Annex 3. 3.6 Control and Investigation of Outbreaks and Food Related Infectious Disease Authorised Officers of the Business Regulation Team investigate cases of infectious gastrointestinal illness. The policy is agreed between NHS Lothian Health Protection Team (HPT) and Environmental Health services of the local authorities, City of Edinburgh Council, West Lothian, East Lothian and Midlothian Councils. The standard procedures for the investigation and management of sporadic cases and incidents of gastrointestinal infection are set out in the ‘Sporadic GI Policy’, updated December 2022. On average Midlothian Food Service receive approximately 22 reported cases of infectious disease per year. The Service has an agreed ‘Major Outbreak Plan for Lothian’ with NHS Lothian which confirms agreed procedures for the investigation and control of disease outbreak situations. The Joint Health Protection Plan for the Lothian area has been developed with multiple agencies and is an important document which acts as a reference point for assisting in the investigation and control of public health outbreaks and incidents. Authorised Officers work with the Director of Public Health and Consultants in Public Health Medicine to determine control measures to manage the outbreak. 3.7 Food Law Incidents Food incidents are events where there are concerns about actual or suspected threats to safety, quality or integrity of food that could require intervention to protect consumers’ interests. They are dealt with in accordance with the procedures detailed in the Food Law Code of Practice (Scotland). The Food Service acts in partnership with FSS during food incidents. Responding to ‘Food Alerts for Action’ where food, produced and distributed regionally or nationally, Haggis/Savoury Puddings 6 6 Dairy products 4 4 Fish 2 2 Total 34 34 Page 194 of 258
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Midlothian Council Food Service Plan 2023-2024 Midlothian Food Service Plan 23/24 Page 15 of 28 may need to be removed from sale by businesses in Midlothian. The majority of incidents notified to the Food Service by FSS are Food Alerts for Information, providing details on product recalls and allergy alerts. 3.8 Liaison with other Organisations The Food Service meets at quarterly intervals with representatives of other local authority food enforcement teams at the Lothian and Borders Food Liaison Group. The group is also attended by representatives from Food Standards Scotland and the Public Analyst. Local liaison groups support the work of the national Scottish Food Enforcement Liaison Committee (SFELC). The Scottish Food Enforcement Liaison Committee supports the work of FSS by providing information and expert advice in relation to food law enforcement. SFELC contributes to the development and implementation of FSS strategies and policies. It also provides a forum for the discussion of relevant topics, sharing best practice guidance, initiating surveys or projects. Regular liaison meetings also take place with NHS Lothian’s Health Protection Team and Scottish Water on matters of public health including infection control. (A similar liaison group arrangement exists with attendance by the Health and Safety Executive) 3.9 EU Exit Following the UK exit from the EU at the end of 2019 existing EU law relating to food enforcement, which comprised the majority of food safety legislation, was relabelled as “Retained EU Legislation”. At present, this continues in place with minor variations in Scottish legislation so that there is continuity. This retained Food Law and the obligations it places in the local authority remain matters devolved to the Scottish Parliament. However, the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill introduced by the UK Government in September 2022 is currently going through parliament and could ‘sunset’ all Retained EU Food Law by end December 2023. The outcome of this is yet unknown. Unlike other food authorities Midlothian has not been impacted by the export related consequences of the UK becoming a “third country” in relation to the EU. For local authority areas which host businesses dealing in fish and fish products for export the demand for the signing of export health certificates by Environmental Health Officers has been considerable. However, it is possible that the inspection of imported food could become a requirement where the increased requirement for regulatory food safety checks are deferred to inland authorities rather than dealt with at the point of entry e.g. a sea or airport. This was due to start in July 2022 but has been delayed to the end of 2023. 3.10 Food Law promotional work, and other non-Official Controls interventions. Staffing levels and increased demands on the Food Service have meant that the Food Page 195 of 258
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Midlothian Council Food Service Plan 2023-2024 Midlothian Food Service Plan 23/24 Page 16 of 28 Service must prioritise the statutory requirements. Much of the promotional work, including education, awareness campaigns etc. are now limited. However, if staffing levels improve to full complement the Food Service would look to restarting some food safety promotional activities. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) determine priority areas for Local Authorities to target interventions that improve health, safety and welfare within workplaces. As part of these targeted interventions the Business Regulation Team plan awareness raising campaigns targeted at Midlothian’s highest risk businesses. Increasing compliance in one area e.g., Health &Safety can often have a positive impact in other areas including food safety. 3.11 Food Crime and Fraudulent Activities Food Fraud is a dishonest act or omission, relating to the sale or preparation of food, which is intended for personal gain or to cause loss to another party. Food Crime (serious Food Fraud) is considered to be serious or complex fraud or serious and dishonest regulatory non-compliance in relation to food, drink and animal feed. The Scottish Food Crime and Incidents Unit (SFCIU) exists within FSS to prevent, investigate and detect fraud and deliberate non-compliance within the food and animal food chain. The Food Service cooperate with and will inform SFCIU at the earliest opportunity of any suspicions they have regarding Food Crime or Food Fraud. There is an anticipated increase in food crime and fraudulent activities as a result of our exit from the EU. 4. Finance and Staffing 4.1 Financial Allocation Indicative financial allocation for the Food and Safety Team within Business Regulation for all aspects of work. The budget for the provision of scientific services includes all sampling and services provided to the Environmental Health Service and other services within Midlothian Council. Direct Staffing costs 275,673 Inspection Services equipment and maintenance costs 4163 Provision for scientific services 41,615 Transport costs 1624 Total 323,075 4.2 Staffing Allocation Historically, the fulfilment of the annual food safety plan has required a minimum of 3.5 full time staff (FTE) working on food enforcement out of a team complement of six (based on data from 2008 to 2018). In 2018, Council financial saving requirements Page 196 of 258
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Midlothian Council Food Service Plan 2023-2024 Midlothian Food Service Plan 23/24 Page 17 of 28 made of Environmental Health resulted in a 33% reduction in the number of officers in the Food Service. The risks that could arise from this reduction were brought to Members attention in the reports presented in June 2018 and June 2019. In 2022 a reorganisation of the Service Area, to Protective Services under Place Directorate, was agreed and initiated. At the inception of this new service Business Regulation, Food and Safety Team comprised of 6 FTE, including a Team Manager and Principal Officer. At this time, 4.5 officers were in post and there was 1.5 FTE vacancies. From April 2023 the Trading Standards Team now sits within Business Regulation. This has effectively reduced the FTE for the Food and Safety Team to 5.5 FTE. It is projected that to manage and achieve the full range of food law interventions, within this annual plan, would take 3.7 FTE Authorised Officers working on food related matters alone. At the time of creating this plan there is a shortfall of 0.8 FTE for food related matters. Due to the recent changes in the way the Food Service carries out their Official Controls at all food establishments, the time required to fulfil these requirements will need to be reviewed at the end of each year. A time measurement exercise is being carried out at present, coordinated by FSS, to provide a more accurate estimate of staffing resource needed. It is predicted that the required FTE for food activities will increase. In addition to conducting planned work the Business Regulation Team must maintain capability to deal with matters which are not food safety related but require a priority response. The pandemic has been an extreme example. Existing staffing levels have meant there is no “spare” capacity for such contingencies and time has to be taken from food inspection work to deal with serious health and safety accidents, public health or environmental incidents, preparing prosecution reports, implementing changes to legal requirements and updating operational procedures. Taking account of all the requirements placed on the Business Regulation, Food and Safety Team and the current vacancy, at present there is a shortfall of 1.5 FTE Authorised Officers to complete the plan in its entirety. The proposed new structure only allows for recruitment of 1 FTE EHO. The current vacant EHO position in the Business Regulation Team was previously advertised but there were no suitable candidates. The Environmental Health profession suffers from a succession crisis and recruitment of suitably qualified staff is an issue for all local authorities in Scotland. There is a plan for another recruitment exercise with the hope to bring the Business Regulation Team up to full complement. At present Midlothian Council is supporting a student EHO through their practical training with the anticipation that they will achieve their Professional Diploma as an EHO by September 2023. With a longer term view, Midlothian Council will continue to support student EHO’s where possible. Page 197 of 258
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Midlothian Council Food Service Plan 2023-2024 Midlothian Food Service Plan 23/24 Page 18 of 28 It should also be noted that the directing of available resources to food law intervention work has meant that health and safety interventions, arguably as important for wellbeing, have been increasingly sacrificed. Lower risk food premises inspections may cease altogether. No non-statutory food related activities, are carried out. 4.3 Staff Development The Food Law Code of Practice requires that all Authorised Food Officers obtain at least 10 hours of update training in food related matters during the year to maintain their competency. Use is made of on-line courses, many of them free through FSS. Regular training courses are organised through Royal Environmental Health Institute for Scotland (REHIS) and Scottish Food Safety Officers Association, for a small fee. Research by officers in matters that are unfamiliar to them is also considered Continuous Professional Development. Compliance with this matter will be achieved. At present the Business Regulation Team have a training budget of £1250 for 2023- 2024. Regular Food and Safety team meetings will be organised throughout the year 2023- 2024, on a bi-weekly basis were possible. These help to impart relevant updates and aid consistency during discussions. Food Service staff are subject to the Council’s appraisal process – Making Performance Matter. This sets and monitors individual performance targets and identifies training and development needs. 5 Monitoring 5.1 Quality assessment and internal monitoring The Service relies on the professional skills of its authorised officers for the delivery of the service plan. In order to maintain the quality of the work we do, we; • Continually review our operational procedures to improve our service delivery and to take into account legislative and procedural changes. • Evaluate the consistency of our inspections through activities such as accompanied inspections by senior inspectors, team meetings and review of inspection reports to ensure consistency in the work of the Service. • Ensure that Officers appointed as food inspectors complete at least 10 hours food related training each year as part of the maintaining of their competency. • Are subject to periodic independent audit by Food Standards Scotland. • Survey businesses that have been inspected to find out what they thought of the experience. • Report the performance of a number of our planned objectives to elected members at regular intervals. Page 198 of 258
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Midlothian Council Food Service Plan 2023-2024 Midlothian Food Service Plan 23/24 Page 19 of 28 6 Review 6.1 Review against the Service Plan The Food Service Plan will be reviewed annually. 6.2 Areas of Improvement Any areas identified as requiring action will be detailed as part of the audit and review process. These will be addressed by the Protective Services Manager and the Team Manager Business Regulation as part of the review process and action taken shall range from immediate action to inclusion in the Operational Plan for future years. Currently in 2023-2024, the Food Service plan to make the following improvements; - Food Service Policies and Procedures will be reviewed in line with new/updated Codes of Practice and Guidance provided by FSS. This will be on a priority basis based on risk. - With the review of procedures, potential efficiencies will be considered to reduce Food Officers administrative burdens - A new procedure of recording Official Controls carried out at Approved Premises will be implemented. - A new system, Enterprise for Uniform, will be set up on our Management Information System (MIS) to help Food Officers manage their workload and prioritise effectively. Page 199 of 258
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Midlothian Council Food Service Plan 2023-2024 Midlothian Food Service Plan 23/24 Page 20 of 28 Annex 1: Mapping of Food Service activity to the Single Midlothian Plan outcome Single Plan Outcome Food Service activity Individuals and communities in Mid- lothian will be able to lead healthier, safer, greener and successful lives by 2030. No child or house- hold need live in poverty Midlothian will be a Great Green Place to Grow by achiev- ing our net zero carbon ambitions. The regular inspection of food premises for food hygiene and food standards ✓ The sampling of food and animal feedstuffs to check on microbiological quality and composition ✓ Investigation of food related cases of infectious diseases ✓ Investigation of food related fraud ✓ ✓ Investigation of complaints from the public about food, food labelling and food premises. ✓ Enforcement of the legislation in relation to the above activities ✓ ✓ Providing advice and assistance to new or existing food business operators and to the public. ✓ ✓ ✓ Page 200 of 258
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Midlothian Council Food Service Plan 2023-2024 Midlothian Food Service Plan 23/24 Page 21 of 28 Annex 2 - FSS Priority Category for Food Law Intervention Restart Annex 5 Food Hygiene Annex 5 Food Standards FLRS Approved Premises Priority 1 a) All Group 1 premises follow- ing the timescales in the Interven- tions Food Law CoP, b) Group 2 and 3 Band Es deal with within 1 month of start date. c) Spread all Group 1 Unrated businesses throughout a 6- month period. LAs which have already imple- mented OCV – continue/restart the programme and schedule each premises within 12-month period. LAs which have not implemented OCV – start the implementation of OCV for Approved Premises and spread evenly over 12-month period. Priority 2 Category As spread over 6 months. Food Standards only premises Category As spread over 6 months. (a) Group 2 and 3 Band Ds spread over a 6-month period. (b) Spread all Group 2 Unrated businesses throughout a 12- month period. Priority 3 Category Bs spread evenly over 18-month period. Category As spread through- out 12 months. (a) Group 2, Band C over 18 months and Group 3 Band C over 36 months. (b) Spread all Group 3 Unrated businesses throughout a 24- month period. (c) Priority 4 Category Cs spread over 24 months. Category Bs that are Category Es for Food Hygiene spread over 24- month period. Group 2 Band B over 24 months and Group 3 Band B over 48 months. Page 201 of 258
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Midlothian Council Food Service Plan 2023-2024 Midlothian Food Service Plan 23/24 Page 22 of 28 Priority 5 Category Ds spread over 36 months Food Standards only Category Bs spread over 36 months. Group 2 Band As over the period of up to 48 months. Priority 6 Category E premises spread over 48 months Food Standards only Category Cs spread over 60 months. Group 3 Band As -decide if they need inspections, if so, spread over 60 months or are no proactive inter- vention. Page 202 of 258
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Midlothian Council Food Service Plan 2023-2024 Midlothian Food Service Plan 23/24 Page 23 of 28 Annex 3 – Example of an FSS Funded Local Authority National Sampling Survey Priority No./ Survey Code Food Type Premises Type Testing parameters Rationale for sampling Additional Information Number of Samples Minimum Pack size Sample Schedule (Q2/Q3/Q4) MICROBIOLOGICAL EXAMINATION 1. FSS222301 Reconstituted frozen raw coated chicken products Retailers Salmonella, generic E.coli Recent outbreak linked to such products, horizon scanning activities indicate issues with imported poultry meat and products • All size retailers (including supermarkets) • Sample frozen coated chicken products, such us nuggets, poppets, poppers, gou- jons, dippers, etc. • Must be reconstituted product, do not sample whole cuts of meat • Do not sample cooked products in- tended for re-heating • 2 • 100g • Q2 2. FSS222302 Soft and semi- soft ripened unpasteurised cheese Retailers, Caterers Listeria monocytogenes detection and enumeration, STEC, generic E.coli Issues continue to be detected through horizon scanning. Continued surveillance to monitor compliance • For retail setting - sampling should be tar- geted at delicatessens, cheesemongers, but can include supermarkets, with focus on cheese counters where possible. • For catering setting - sampling should be targeted at cheeseboards, focusing on un- packed cheeses and cheeseboards • Sampling should focus on soft and semi- soft ripened cheeses, (blue cheeses, sur- face-ripen cheeses, etc.) • 2 • 100g • Q3 3. FSS222303 Soft and semi- soft ripened pasteurised cheese Retailers, Caterers Listeria monocytogenes detection and enumeration, STEC, generic E.coli, Issues continue to be detected through horizon scanning. Continued surveillance to monitor compliance • For retail setting - sampling should be tar- geted at delicatessens, cheesemongers, but can include supermarkets, with focus on cheese counters where possible. • For catering setting - sampling should be targeted at cheeseboards, focusing on un- packed cheeses and cheeseboards • 2 • 100g • Q4 Page 203 of 258
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Midlothian Council Food Service Plan 2023-2024 Midlothian Food Service Plan 23/24 Page 24 of 28 • Sampling should focus on soft and semi- soft ripened cheeses, (blue cheeses, sur- face-ripen cheeses, etc.) 4. FSS222304 Imported ready- to-eat cured meats Retailers Salmonella, Listeria monocytogenes detection and enumeration, generic E. coli Issues continue to be detected through horizon scanning. Gathering data for the PATH-Safe project • Sampling should focus on small retailers, delicatessens • Sampling to include imported RTE cured meat, charcuterie style products, biltong, etc. • 2 • 100g • Q2 5. FSS222305 Imported (non- EU) melon and papaya - whole Retailers Salmonella, generic E. coli Issues detected through horizon scanning. Recent outbreak linked to imported melons Gathering data for the PATH-Safe project • All size retailers • Target whole fruit, any melon variety (but especially Galia and cantaloupe) and papaya imported from non-EU countries • Testing procedure to follow this protocol: 25 g cut-offs from both ends of the fruit (melon/papaya) – the fruit to be then submerged in broth for ~ 30 min and this broth-rinse to be then combined with the 25 g cut-off for incubation of the sample– thus the resulting isolate can come from the end-peels and/or just the surface of the fruit. There was no central fruit flesh used. • 1 • 100g • Q3 6. FSS222306 Imported (non- EU) melon and papaya - pre-cut Retailers Salmonella, Listeria monocytogenes detection and Issues detected through horizon scanning. Recent outbreak linked to imported melons • All size retailers • Sample pre-cut fruit, any melon variety (but especially Galia and cantaloupe) and papaya imported from non-EU countries • 2 • 100g • Q4 Page 204 of 258
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Midlothian Council Food Service Plan 2023-2024 Midlothian Food Service Plan 23/24 Page 25 of 28 enumeration, generic E. coli Gathering data for the PATH-Safe project • Preference for fresh fruit, but frozen can be sampled if required due to availability. Do not sample dried fruit. 7. FSS222307 Flour Manufactu rers Retailers Bake houses STEC, generic E. coli Issues detected through horizon scanning. Gathering data for the PATH-Safe project • All retailers, manufacturers and bake houses/bakeries • 2 • 100g • Q2 8. FSS222308 Soft berries Retailers Generic E. coli Gathering data for the PATH-SAFE project • All size retailers, farmer markets, farm shops. • Sample raspberries, strawberries, blue- berries of both domestic and imported origin • Test samples as received – without wash- ing • 2 • 100g • Q3 9. FSS222309 Salad leaves Retailers Generic E. coli Gathering data for the PATH-SAFE project • Sample bagged or un-bagged products, domestic or imported • Preference for unwashed products, but washed can be sampled if required due to availability; please include in product description when uploading sample • 2 • 100g • Q4 10. FSS222310 Cooked, sliced ham and beef Retailers Generic E. coli Gathering data for the PATH-SAFE project • All size retailers, domestic or imported origin • 2 • 100g • Q2 11. FSS222311 Raw venison sausages and burgers Retailers Generic E. coli Gathering data for the PATH-SAFE project • Sampling should be at both small retail- ers (including butchers) and larger retail- ers including supermarket, to try to in- • 2 • 100g • Q3 Page 205 of 258
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Midlothian Council Food Service Plan 2023-2024 Midlothian Food Service Plan 23/24 Page 26 of 28 clude varied suppliers, but it is under- stood the number of suppliers of these products may be limited 12. FSS222312 Raw lamb mince Retailers Generic E. coli Gathering data for the PATH-SAFE project • All size retailers, including butchers and supermarkets • Domestic or imported samples are ac- ceptable • 2 • 100g • Q4 CHEMICAL ANALYSIS 13. FSS222313 Imported (non- EU) fishery products Importers Retailers Heavy metals (lead, cadmium, mercury) and arsenic Issues detected through horizon scanning • All size retailers, including fish mongers – imported, non-EU products only. • Sampling focus on fresh and frozen prod- uct. Do not sample tinned, canned, smoked or process products • Targeting products such as tuna, sword- fish, squid, bivalve mollusc; farmed prawn and shrimp; when sampling crabs and lobster do not collect whole, live ani- mals. • 2 • 150g • Q2 14. FSS222314 Kombucha Manufactu rers Retailers Caterers Alcohol content Issues detected through horizon scanning • Sampling targeted to smaller producers, independent shops, but can also sample at larger retailers and catering establish- ments • 2 • 500ml • Q3 15. FSS222315 Fish/shellfish oil based supplements Retailers Heavy metals (lead, cadmium, mercury, arsenic) and FAME Issues detected through horizon scanning • All fish (or shellfish if applicable) oil sup- plements, such as cod liver oil, in either liquid or capsule/tablet form • All size retailers • 2 • 150g • Q4 Page 206 of 258
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Midlothian Council Food Service Plan 2023-2024 Midlothian Food Service Plan 23/24 Page 27 of 28 AUTHENTICITY TESTING 16. FSS222316 Battered, breaded fin-fish products Retailers Fish Speciation To check that labelling of species is accurate and detect substitution with alternative species. • All size retailers. • Sampling targeted to fin-fish products with clear specification of species on the label to allow for assessment of compli- ance. • Do not sample shellfish products (e.g. do not sample scampi ) • Samples should be tested for presence of other fish species • 2 • 150g • Q2 ALLERGEN TESTING 17. FSS222317 Pre-packed for direct sale (PPDS) products Retailers and caterers Milk, Gluten, Almond and Cashew Previous failures and to assess compliance with new legislation covering PPDS products • Sample products with no indication of the presence of the allergens being tested (i.e. do not sample products specifically labelled “gluten-free”, we are looking to sample products with no allergen men- tioned and test for its presence) • Target “on-the-go” foods (sandwiches, salads, baked goods), the products that the PPDS legislation was intended for • 1 • 200g • Q3 Page 207 of 258
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Midlothian Council Food Service Plan 2023-2024 Midlothian Food Service Plan 23/24 Page 28 of 28 Page 208 of 258
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Appendix B GM April 2023 Page 1 of 11 Midlothian Council Food Law Enforcement Review of Service Performance against the Food Service Plan 2022 - 2023 Food Standards Scotland (FSS) require each local Food Authority to produce a periodic review of the authority’s annual plan showing how it met the duty of the Authority to regulate and enforce food law in its area. The coronavirus pandemic caused the cessation of almost all routine on-site food inspection work from March 2020 onwards. This review covers the period from 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2023, the first year of the food law interventions programme restart post pandemic lockdown. 1.0 Introduction 1.1 The role of the food service is to ensure that food businesses protect the public of Midlothian from harm that might arise from food – be that food borne infection, lack of labelling of allergens, fraud or contamination. We do this by regular interventions and inspections of businesses, taking samples of food, through providing advice and by investigating complaints and concerns. Food Officers have enforcement powers to compel compliance with the law and to report those committing an offence to the Crown Office Procurator Fiscal Service. The customer base for our inspection, sampling and other regulatory activity is all of the food businesses operating in Midlothian. 1.2 The Administration and Service Planning Code of Practice issued by Food Standards Scotland, requires food authorities to report on the performance of their Food Service each year. 1.3 This review reports on the activity of the Food Service within the Protective Services, Business Regulation Team during the financial year 2022-23. 1.4 During the year of this plan the Business Regulation Food and Safety Team had a vacancy of 1.5 FTE, equalling 25% of our workforce. In addition one member of the team went on long term absence in February 2023. 1.5 External contractors were contracted to carry out low risk food law interventions between October 2022 and March 2023 with all inspection work completed by experienced and qualified Environmental Health Officers. 1.6 The national shortage of qualified EHOs is currently an issue for all local authorities in Scotland and is of major concern to the profession. To help alleviate this, Midlothian Council adopted a “grow our own” policy and has been supporting a student EHO through the required practical training and final year of their Environmental Health degree. It is anticipated that the candidate is ready to present for their professional qualification exams in September 2023 to gain the REHIS Diploma in Environmental Health and thereafter practice as an EHO. A second graduate EHO was also being supported by Midlothian Council to complete their practical training however they have resigned and will shortly leave Midlothian Council. Item 5.12 Page 209 of 258
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Appendix B GM April 2023 Page 2 of 11 2.0 Food Business profile 2.1 As of 31 March 2023 there were 982 registered food businesses in Midlothian. The number of food businesses in Midlothian continues to grow although this has slowed since the Coronavirus pandemic (Figure 1). Of note is that for the last 3 years, 26% of the growth in food business numbers has come from domestic based operations – mostly small scale baking. Between April 2022 and March 2023, 77 new food businesses registered and112 food businesses ceased trading. Figure 1 – Number of Food Business Registered in Midlothian by Year 2.2 Although food business operators are supposed to notify the authority when they cease trading few do. Information about changes in ownership is gathered from new registrations of existing premises where the Food Business Operator (FBO) changes or when officers visit. 3.0 Performance against service plan objectives Objective 1: Complete Programmed Food law Interventions 3.1 In the year 2022- 2023 the Food Service planned to inspect 290 food businesses to assess their compliance with food safety law (hygiene and food standards). The Service completed 100% of the inspections planned at the highest risk premises and 97% of the high risk premises in Priority 2. 500 600 700 800 900 1000 1100 1200 2005 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 Number of premises Year Number of food premises at 31st March 2005 - 2023 Page 210 of 258
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Appendix B GM April 2023 Page 3 of 11 One of those businesses missed in Priority 2 was a seasonal businesses that was not operational and was rescheduled for a more appropriate time. 3.2 During the year the Food Service completed 321 food inspections, for a breakdown see table 1. The additional inspections were due to new food businesses, either registering or being identified by officers, or where intensive interventions were required to improve compliance at businesses with serious or significant non-compliances. 3.3 Within this first year of the restart programme, 32 food premises were found to have serious or significant non-compliances with 16 enforcement notices being issued for the most serious contraventions. These premises required intensive intervention with 2 or more inspections carried out to support and encourage each business to improve compliance. The poor standards found in these premises is thought to be due to a decline in standards as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic. Several of these were food businesses taken over or started by persons with little or no knowledge and understanding of food safety. This is also coupled with the negative impact of the increased cost of living. After Food Officers intensive intervention with these premises, 81% were subsequently risk rated as generally compliant with only minor non- compliances. 3.4 During visits Food Officers found 34 food premises had ceased trading. 3.5 The increased number of inspections achieved within this year was only possible due to the work of external contractors supporting the Food Service by carrying out low risk food inspections. Food Interventions April 2022 – March 2023 Priority Category Number of planned interventions Number (%) Achieved Against Plan Additional Interventions Achieved Total Number of Interventions completed Highest Risk Premises - Priority 1 10 10 (100%) +11 21 High Risk - Priority 2 69 67 (97%) +21 88 Medium/Low Risk - Priority 3, 4 and 5 211 185 (88%) / 185 Lowest Risk Premises - Priority 6 (not included in programme) +27 27 Total 290 262 (90%) +59 321 Table 1 - Food Interventions April 2022 – March 2023 Page 211 of 258
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Appendix B GM April 2023 Page 4 of 11 Objective 2: Approved Premises Intervention 3.6 Year 2022-2023 was the first year, Phase 1, of implementing Food Standards Scotland (FSS) new Official Controls Verification (OCV) interventions at approved premises within Midlothian. During the year the method and recording of these interventions has been developed using the ‘OCV Implementation Guide’ provided by FSS and Scottish Food Enforcement Liaison Committee (SFELC). 3.7 A fact finding visit was made to the Food Service at East Lothian Council, who were part of the FSS pilot project, to understand how they had implemented this new approach. It was clear that a considerable amount of time was required to get this new approach started. 3.8 All of our highest risk approved premises; manufacturing meat products and dairy products, were inspected or audited at least twice within the year. Food safety management systems were requested from business, including Hazard Analysis Critical Controls (HACCP) to begin research and assessment of the complex processes involved. As an example, Food Officers carried out 3 interventions at a milk processing plant and 5 interventions at a meat products manufacturer, each of these visits requires 2 officers. The majority of the lower risk, cold stores and an egg packing centre, received at least 1 intervention and documentation was requested to allow assessment to begin for Phase 2. 3.9 Due to the additional intensive food law interventions and other conflicting work activities, which took priority and required enforcement resources to be diverted, not all the planned OCV interventions were achieved in full. For example a serious health and safety accident required investigation and resulting in a report to the COPFS. 3.10 The new method for Approved Premises Intervention will continue to be developed within the coming year, 2023-2024, and priority will be given to delivering the planned OCV interventions. It is predicted that additional time will need to be allocated to these high risk premises in future years as we continue to implement this. Objectives 3 and 4: Complete Sampling from Manufacturing Premises in Midlothian and National Sampling Plans 3.11 During the year 86 food samples were taken, see figure 2. A total of 71 official control samples were taken from manufacturing premises and for Food Standards Scotland Sampling Survey. Page 212 of 258
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Appendix B GM April 2023 Page 5 of 11 Figure 2 – Number and Types of samples taken 2022- 2023 3.12 About 15% of the samples taken have been reported as “failures”, see table 2 for examples. Labelling/Compositional Contraventions Rapeseed Oil Nutritional labelling values/units incorrect Pickled vegetable products Not marked with name of the food. Abbreviation of ‘GF’ used for gluten free. Meat Products Ingredients not labelled correctly, allergen not emphasised in ingredients list, nutritional information not correct, high levels of salt, sulphur dioxide above permitted levels. Prepacked Filled Roll Produce defined as pre-packed for direct sale not labelled with complete ingredients list in descending weight, ingredients containing allergens not highlighted. Contamination Complaints Foreign object in chicken fillet Metal contamination similar to a pin that links a watch strap or conveyor belt. Microbiological Contamination Boiled rice from a takeaway High aerobic colony count indicating poor quality and / or lack of temperature control. Wheat flour Presence of shiga toxin gene. Indication of possible presence of STEC organisms in the food. Note it is anticipated this organism would be killed during normal cooking processes Table 2 - Examples of sample ‘failures’ April 2022 – March 2023 3.13 At the time of review, the results of 8 composition and labelling samples had not yet been received from Edinburgh Scientific Services. 46 21 37 Samples Taken 2022 - 2023 CHEM FCONT GLUTEN MICRO Page 213 of 258
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Appendix B GM April 2023 Page 6 of 11 Objective 5: Commence Investigation of Food Related Requests for Service within Target Working Days 3.14 The Food and Safety Team received 515 service requests during the year, of which 445 (86%) related to food related matters. Table 2 shows the breakdown of the types of request received. These are received from Midlothian residents, businesses and other council departments. 3.15 The Food Service was able to respond to 84% of food related service requests from Midlothian residents and businesses within the target response time of 5 working days. 3.16 An average year – over the last 10 years, generates approximately 430 service requests received by the team. This year was a significant increase with almost 20% more requests received. In addition, team numbers were reduced due to vacancies and consequently the work was spread across fewer FTE staff. The restart of the planned interventions took priority and has shown that standards in food premises have reduced, requiring increased numbers of interventions by officers to get businesses back into a state of compliance. Table 2: Service Requests dealt with by Food and Safety Team 2022-23 Type of Service Request Number received alcohol Food certificate s50 5 alcohol licence occasional 1 alleged food fraud 1 alleged food poisoning 24 Building Standards Consultation 4 Caravan/Camping Sites 4 contact from other LA about our premises 2 Dog Fouling 2 employee workplace complaint 2 Engineers inspection defects report 2 Export certification 31 Food Alert for ACTION 1 Food Alert for info PRIN AA 2 food business registration 13 food complaint other 37 foreign body contamination 6 Freedom of Info Request 2 Health and safety advice 22 labelling/composition 12 pests present/infestation 6 Planning consultation 14 Poor hygiene/practices 16 Private Rented Housing 2 public building water quality 1 Page 214 of 258
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Appendix B GM April 2023 Page 7 of 11 public complaint about workplace 6 public enquiry 1 Public Entertainments Licence 57 Request for food law advice 71 Safety Advisory Group 104 Skin piercing licence 17 Smoking on premises 1 street trader food certificate s39 15 Street Traders Licence 5 temp public entertainment licence 1 Temporary Market Operators Licence 7 Use by/best before 2 waste storage arrangements 14 Zoo licence 2 Total 515 3.17 The statistics demonstrate that there has been an increase in workload associated with the Safety Advisory Group (SAG). This multidisciplinary group considers applications from event organisers and offers advice on public safety at events. The aim is to help organisers with the planning and management of an event and to ensure cooperation and coordination between all relevant agencies. In addition the service also received 17 reports of accidents in workplaces. The majority could be dealt with by a single intervention, but others required visits and further investigation. A serious incident resulting in a significant injury, required a report to the Crown Office Procurator Fiscal Service and a second serious accident investigation remains ongoing at present. Objective 6: Investigate Food and Water Borne Disease in Co-ordination with Health Authorities 3.18 Between April 2022 and March 2023, 30 notifications of food related illness were received from the Health Protection Team at NHS Lothian, see figure 3. This is above the average for Midlothian Food Service who on average receive approximately 22 reported cases of infectious disease per year. Despite the 30% increase in reported cases there were no identified food related outbreaks. Page 215 of 258
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Appendix B GM April 2023 Page 8 of 11 Figure 3 – Number of Infectious Disease Notifications between April 2022 – March 2023 Objective 7: Respond to Food Alerts by Food Standard Scotland 3.19 A number of Food Alerts for Action and Food Alert for Information were received throughout the year. These varied in terms of significance and included; • In April 2022 the Food Service were advised by FSS that there had been shortages in the sunflower oil supply chain due to the situation in Ukraine. This required contact to be made with one of our largest food manufacturers to discuss the options available and reduce the impact on them and their consumers due to labelling and composition issues. • In May 2022 Midlothian Council Food Service were alerted of a product recall due to the possible presence of salmonella in chocolate products. FSS request the assistance of the Food Service to raise awareness of this in small retail businesses within the area. Correspondence was sent to 92 identified businesses with information and a customer notice to display at their premises. Follow up visits were made at 21 premises, 5 of which had already removed the product from sale and 1 removed the product on the instruction of the Food Officer at the time of the visit. • An Allergy Alert, due to an undeclared allergen on the label of a product manufactured in Midlothian, was initiated by Midlothian Council Food Service, in conjunction with Food Standards Scotland. This matter was, identified during a routine inspection. In conjunction the food business initiated a product recall and made contact with allergy organisations to raise awareness of the issue. 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Total Total Page 216 of 258
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Appendix B GM April 2023 Page 9 of 11 Objective 8: Ensure all Authorised Officers Receive a Minimum of 10 hours Food Related Competency Training 3.20 All Food Officers has been given the opportunity to gain 10 hours of food related training. This includes for example, research on new emerging topics or complex processes and new learning at food liaison groups. 4.0 Enforcement Activity 4.1 The enforcement activity required during 2022 - 2023 is summarised in Table 3. The previously reported increase in intensive interventions, due to poor and unsatisfactory standards found at food premises, has seen an increase in enforcement activity required. Table 3 - Type and Number of Enforcement Actions taken April 2022 – March 2023 4.2 Remedial Action Notices were served on businesses for serious cross contamination issues, lack of hot water and significant pest issues. These notices were for serious issues that required to be resolved immediately. Hygiene Improvement Notices requiring improvement within defined timescales were generally served on structural issues, e.g. damaged flooring or lack of adequate hand wash facilities, or for failure to have adequate systems in place to ensure food safety. 4.3 Significant enforcement action was required when a resident alerted Environmental Health to a serious infestation of rats affecting their property. On investigation it was discovered that the operator of the food business below had not contracted any professional pest control services and was unable to cope with the infestation. They had closed the premises with the Enforcement Activity 19-20 20-21 21-22 22-23 Remedial Action Notices 2 1 2 8 Food Detention Notices 0 0 0 0 Hygiene Improvement Notices 1 2 5 8 Emergency Hygiene Prohibition Notices 0 0 0 0 Voluntary Closures 0 0 0 1 Written Warnings re hygiene or standards contraventions 109 1 50 92 Reports to the Procurator Fiscal Service 0 0 0 1 Food surrenders or seizures 0 0 1 1 Page 217 of 258
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Appendix B GM April 2023 Page 10 of 11 remaining food left inside, allowing the rats to continue to enter the premises and feast on the foodstuff with no disturbance. The state of the premises was shocking, see photographs below. Animal carcases, rat droppings, and gnawed/contaminated food were found, requiring immediate action to prevent potentially contaminated food and food packaging leaving the premises. A large amount of contaminated food and food packaging was removed from the premises, with the help of Midlothian Waste Services, in agreement with the Food Business Operator. The required improvements were made to the premises. It no longer operates as a food business. 4.4 A prosecution report was finalised after thorough investigation and communication with the Procurator Fiscal Service over several years. A member of the public had had a severe anaphylactic reaction to a meal prepared by a Midlothian food business, which had been specifically requested to contain ‘no nuts’ and was found to contain peanuts. Unfortunately despite best efforts in gathering evidence and preparing the case it was dismissed from court when the injured party failed to appear as a witness. 5 The Food Hygiene Information Scheme (FHIS) 5.1 The Food Hygiene Information Scheme (FHIS) remains in operation across Scotland. This Scheme allows consumers to view the outcome of the assessment made of any business in the scheme, when it was last inspected by the Food Service. Businesses can choose to display a certificate at the premises and consumers can check the rating for any premises covered by the scheme on the Food Standards Agency website at http://www.food.gov.uk/scotland/. Businesses are awarded either a “Pass” certificate or an “Improvement Required” rating. Page 218 of 258
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Appendix B GM April 2023 Page 11 of 11 5.2 In previous years Midlothian has had an overall PASS rate of around 88%. The ratings for all the 601 relevant, Midlothian food business, at the end of March 2023, show a 73% PASS rate, illustrated in Figure 4. At present due to the ‘missed’ inspections some data contributing to this calculation is historic. For comparison, the FHIS ratings for this year alone are also presented in Figure 4, again showing the significant reduction in standards, with only 64% of Midlothian food businesses achieving a PASS rating. The number of food businesses Awaiting Inspection has increased. Figure 4 – Food Hygiene Information Scheme Ratings 2023 83, 14% 77, 13% 441, 73% FHIS Ratings of all relevant Midlothain Food Businesses as at March 2023 Awaiting Inspection Improvement Required Pass 20% 16%64% FHIS Ratings of Midlothian Food Businesses inspected 2022 - 2023 Awaiting Inspection Improvement Required Pass Page 219 of 258
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Cabinet 30 May 2023 Waste Services – Proposed application for external funding to facilitate the introduction of kerbside collections of textiles and small electrical appliances Report by Derek Oliver, Chief Officer Place Report for Decision 1 Recommendations Cabinet is recommended to: i. note the content of this report in conjunction with the proposed application to the Scottish Government / Zero Waste Scotland’s Recycling Improvement Fund, and to ii. approve submission of the funding application in Appendix B as attached. 2 Purpose of Report/Executive Summary The purpose of this report is for members approval to submit a funding application to the Recycling Improvement Fund for the capital costs associated with the proposed introduction of a kerbside collection of textiles, small electrical appliances and batteries. Date: 15 May 2023 Report contact: Kevin Anderson, Executive Director – Place kevin.anderson@midlothian.gov.uk Item 5.13 Page 221 of 258
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2 3. Background 3.1 The Scottish Government announced in September 2020 a £70 million fund to improve local authority waste and recycling collection infrastructure. The Recycling Improvement Fund (RIF) has been administered by Zero Waste Scotland since April 2021. 3.2 Midlothian Council has already successfully secured £150k funding from this source as £30k was awarded in 2022 to allow Waste Services to introduce “in-cab” technology to improve both the efficiency of running the service and improve the service provided to customers. To operate the hardware funded, a cloud based software solution is required to provide the required functionality. Consultants from SOCITM (society for innovation, technology and modernisation) are looking at digital delivery. The delay in implementing that project may be viewed unfavourably during the evaluation and Zero Waste Scotland may seek reassurances that this is moving forward before agreeing additional funding. 3.3 £120k was awarded in 2023/24 for an additional food waste collection vehicle and kerbside caddies to allow all households in Midlothian to receive a weekly collection of food waste. This service, currently expected to be operational from Q2 2023/24, will allow a further 2,600 households, predominantly in rural areas, to recycle their food waste and is predicted to divert an additional 96 tonnes per annum for recycling. 3.4 As Zero Waste Scotland are keen to support new opportunities for the collection of problematic materials and identified high carbon impact materials, such as waste electronic equipment and textiles, Waste Services propose to make a further application to the Recycling Improvement Fund for the capital costs associated with introducing kerbside collections of textiles, small electrical appliances and batteries. 4. Proposed new service 4.1 Households will be asked to present textiles and small electrical appliances in a plastic crate/box next to their food waste caddy. Their existing kerbside glass box can be used for this purpose. 4.2 The storage compartment behind the crew-cab on our six food waste collection vehicles will be retrofitted to accommodate a half-pallet box into which materials will be collected by existing collection crews. On return to the depot, the pallet box will be removed using a forklift truck, by existing members of staff, and the material bulked in the adjoining Household Waste Recycling Centre’s Waste Electric and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) skip for small appliances for onward movement by our Producer Compliance Scheme. Page 222 of 258
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3 Textiles will be removed from the pallet box and bulked for contractor collection. 4.3 If the funding application is successful, it is proposed the service is introduced to all households from October 2023. 4.4 Recycling Performance improvement in each year as the proposed new service is expected to divert from the residual waste stream: • Between 76 and 110 tonnes of small electrical appliances • Between 280 and 660 tonnes of textiles • Around 3 tonnes of batteries 5 Report Implications 5.1 Resource Capital £96,992.90 will be requested from the Recycling Improvement Fund for: • a forklift with a 360-degree fork rotator • retrofitting the existing storage space • pallet boxes • battery collection boxes • kerbside boxes Revenue £22,030 has been requested from the Material Focus Electrical Recycling Fund to assist with the cost of promoting the service. Communication plan delivery costs including lamppost banner advertising, teaser postcards and an informational leaflet for householders. Internal staff time in procurement and tendering exercises, route planning, design and delivery of communication activities, staff training, staffing of vehicle, vehicle servicing, maintenance and fuel, financial administration, waste data collection and reporting, customer liaison etc are expected to be funded from existing Council staff and revenue resources. An income of between £20,300 and £66,000 may be achieved from the sale of textiles. Page 223 of 258
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4 A saving of between £31,860 and £69,840 in residual waste disposal costs could be achieved as “black bag” waste is instead diverted for recycling. 5.2 Risk Failure to transform recycling collection services could expose the Council to reputational and financial risk. 5.3 Digital The implementation of new recycling collection services is expected to be supported by the introduction of a Digital Depot system and the use of “in-cab” digital devices. 5.4 Single Midlothian Plan and Business Transformation Themes addressed in this report: Community safety Adult health, care and housing Getting it right for every Midlothian child Improving opportunities in Midlothian Sustainable growth Business transformation and Best Value None of the above 5.5 Impact on Performance and Outcomes Introducing new recycling collection services is intended to improve the resource efficiency of the waste service. 5.6 Ensuring Equalities Waste collection services affect all households in Midlothian. As such the subject of this report does not have a significant detrimental impact on equality. There is a positive impact on the environment and economy. Appendices Appendix A – Additional Report Implications Appendix B – Background information/Links Page 224 of 258
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5 APPENDIX A – Report Implications A.1 Key Priorities within the Single Midlothian Plan A.2 Key Drivers for Change Key drivers addressed in this report: Holistic Working Hub and Spoke Modern Sustainable Transformational Preventative Asset-based Continuous Improvement One size fits one None of the above A.3 Key Delivery Streams Key delivery streams addressed in this report: One Council Working with you, for you Preventative and Sustainable Efficient and Modern Innovative and Ambitious None of the above A.4 Delivering Best Value The report does not directly impact on Delivering Best Value A.5 Involving Communities and Other Stakeholders In a customer consultation held in 2021, when asked “What additional materials would you like us to collect at the kerbside?”, 57% of respondents said textiles, 58% of respondents said household batteries and 63% of respondents said small electrical items. A.6 Impact on Performance and Outcomes Introducing new recycling services is expected to have a positive impact on recycling diversion. A.7 Adopting a Preventative Approach The proposed new recycling collection services prioritise resource use, fuel and fleet efficiency and an associated reduction in carbon. A.8 Supporting Sustainable Development Page 225 of 258
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6 An increase in material collected for reuse and recycling is expected to be achieved by the scheme. APPENDIX B Zero Waste Scotland Recycling Improvement Fund (RIF) Application Form – Proposed kerbside collection of textiles and small electrical appliances. Page 226 of 258
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1 Zero Waste Scotland Recycling Improvement Fund (RIF) Application Form April 2022 Item 5.13 Page 227 of 258
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2 APPLICATION FORM Zero Waste Scotland Recycling Improvement Fund IMPORTANT NOTES Please ensure that you read the Guidance Document in full prior to completing this application form. Please use the Guidance Document alongside this Application form to ensure that the required information is being provided correctly. Please complete all sections of this form electronically, altering the size of the boxes and the position of the page breaks as necessary, whilst taking account of any word / character number limits. Incomplete applications will not be assessed. Should you need to continue any section on additional sheets, please indicate the relevant section reference on each sheet. Appendices to support your application should be attached as required and referenced within the main body of the application form. SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS Please email one electronic copy of your application together with all supporting evidence to RecyclingSupport@zerowastescotland.org.uk For administration use Application number Date received Page 228 of 258
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3 Contents Section 1: Local Authority Details ....................................................................................... 4 Section 2: Project Details .................................................................................................. 5 2.1 Project summary ............................................................................................ 5 2.2 Detailed project information ............................................................................. 6 Section 3: Project Financing ............................................................................................ 21 Section 4: Supporting & Supplementary Information .......................................................... 26 Section 5: Confidentiality and Declaration ......................................................................... 30 Confidentiality and Privacy .............................................................................................. 30 Declaration ..................................................................................................................... 30 Section 6: Application Form checklist ............................................................................... 31 Page 229 of 258
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4 Section 1: Local Authority Details Please insert the name of your Zero Waste Scotland contact. 1.1 Name of Local Authority Midlothian Council 1.2 Address of Local Authority Midlothian House Buccleuch Street Dalkeith EH22 1DN 1.3 Contact details Name and job title of person dealing with this application. Clare Neely Waste Services Manager - Strategy (acting) Tel No.: 0131 561 5332 Mobile: 07795 333510 E-mail address: clare.neely@midlothian.gov.uk Address: Waste Services Stobhill Depot Newtongrange EH22 4NU 1.4 If this proposal is a joint bid with multiple local authorities and/or third sector or commercial partners, please provide legal names, addresses and lead contact name of any partners. This is not a joint proposal. Page 230 of 258
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5 Section 2: Project Details 2.1 Project summary - please provide a summary of the proposed project (500-word limit). Midlothian is a semi-rural Council area less than 10 miles south of Edinburgh city centre. We are one of the smallest Council areas in mainland Scotland, but the fastest growing. Waste is a growth area for Midlothian Council, both in terms of the amount that is to be collected due to increasing house numbers in the area, but also in terms of wider public awareness and concern over what happens to materials separated for recycling. Midlothian Council currently provides a wide range of waste management and recycling services: The kerbside collection service for individual properties currently comprises: • A 240L grey bin for residual waste collected fortnightly • A 360L blue bin for dry mixed recycling collected fortnightly • A 45L kerbside box for glass bottles and jars collected fortnightly • A 21L silver caddy for food waste collected weekly • Communal residual and recycling waste bins are offered at flatted properties • A chargeable special uplift service is available for the collection of bulky household items. • Two Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs) offer facilities to accept a wide range of additional materials for recycling. We have recently completed an Options Appraisal with ZWS and Eunomia to determine how best we can transition our services to meet the recommendations in the Household Waste Charter. This is likely to include a reduction in residual waste capacity and a move to twin stream collections of recycling. To “accelerate progress towards 2025 waste and recycling targets and Scotland’s net-zero carbon commitment” Midlothian Council proposes introducing new fortnightly kerbside collections of: • Textiles • Small electrical appliances • Household batteries Funding is requested for a forklift with a 360-degree fork rotator and pallet boxes to enable these additional materials to be collected alongside kerbside collections of food waste utilising the storage compartment behind the crew-cab on the food waste collection vehicles. This space will be retrofitted to accommodate a pallet box into which materials will be collected from the kerbside. On return to the depot, the pallet box will be removed using a forklift truck and the material bulked in the adjoining HWRC’s WEEE skip for small appliances for onward movement by our PCS. Textiles will be removed from the pallet box and bulked for contractor collection. Although there is an intention to transition waste and recycling collection services to meet the recommendations in the Household Waste Charter, at this time the timescales to do so have not been set. Implementing this project now, rather than part of a large service change, allows us to increase the range of materials customers are able to recycle at the kerbside making it easier to justify that residual waste capacity can be reduced in the future. Promotion of the service can be used as an opportunity to remind customers of the wide range of materials that can be recycled at the kerbside, the HWRCs and via local community enterprises. The service is anticipated to divert an additional 563 tonnes of material per annum from the residual waste stream and deliver a 2,862 tonne CO2e carbon saving. Page 231 of 258
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6 2.2 Detailed project information - please detail how the project meets the aims and objectives of the Fund and creates additional benefits. Please read through the whole section and Guidance Document before completing, to avoid duplication of information. 2.2.1 Increased recycling – please provide the predicted tonnage increases in recycling for your authority; also describe the impacts of this increased tonnage on residual waste disposal (movement between waste streams). (Assessment Criteria – Impact and Transformation & Evidence Led) Please adapt the table to suit your project’s needs. Example 1. Material Stream: Small electrical appliances Movement between streams: Small electrical appliances to be diverted from residual waste stream due to the introduction of kerbside collection of this material. Projected Increase Change (tpa): 76 – 110 (average of 93) Methodology: See calculations in Appendix 1a. Evidence: Residual tonnage baseline. Average of 3 years from 2019-2022 (excluding 2020). Use of Waste Composition Analysis data. Example 2. Material Stream: Household batteries Movement between streams: Batteries to be diverted from residual waste stream due to the introduction of kerbside collection of this material. Some diversion from existing retailer in- store and HWRC collection services is to be expected. Projected Increase Change (tpa): 2.33 – 3.10 Methodology: See calculations in Appendix 1b. Evidence: Residual tonnage baseline. Average of 3 years from 2019-2022 (excluding 2020). Use of Waste Composition Analysis data. Increase in re-use – please provide details of items targeted and include the predictions of tonnages of increase in reuse and / or recycling from reuse activities and the reduction in residual waste disposal from this activity. Please adapt the table to suit your project’s needs. Example 1. Material Stream: Textiles Movement between streams: Textiles to be diverted from residual waste stream due to the introduction of kerbside collection of this material. Although some diversion from existing charitable sector, community textile banks and HWRC collection services is to be expected, the tonnages below are based on the textiles still remaining within grey bin which this project intends to capture in addition to existing services. Project monitoring is expected to show an increase in overall textile tonnage collected – from all services. Page 232 of 258
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7 Projected Increase Change (tpa): 280 - 660 (average of 470) Methodology: See calculations in Appendix 2. Evidence: Residual tonnage baseline. Average of 3 years from 2019-2022 (excluding 2020). Use of Waste Composition Analysis data. Contamination figures from incumbent processor. 2.2.2 Impact on overall waste arisings, from proposed recycling, re-use and disposal improvement measures - please provide a summary of predicted changes in arisings. Figures provided are based on 2022 baseline. The recycling tonnage reported in the table below includes kerbside collected dry mixed recycling, glass, garden waste and food waste. • Kerbside collected tonnages of PET plastic bottles, drink cans and glass are expected to fall following the introduction of the Deposit Return Scheme from March 2024. These tonnages have not been reflected in the table below. • Kerbside tonnages of food waste are expected to rise as the service is offered to an additional 2,600 predominantly rural properties - previously excluded from this service - during 2023. These tonnages have not been reflected in the table below, however this project is predicted to divert an additional 96 tonnes of food waste for recycling per annum. For future performance, the average of the expected tonnages of the new materials streams have been used. Please adapt the below table contained within the application form to suit your project needs. Current performance Performance following RIF project implementation Kerbside collections Tonnes p/a % full year Tonnes p/a % full year Residual waste 17,260 57 16,694 55 Recycling 12,978 43 13,074 43 Re-use 0 0 470 2 Totals 30,238 100 30,238 100 2.2.3 Improvements to material quality – please explain how this project will improve the quality of collected and treated materials for end markets. (Assessment Criteria – Impact and Transformation & Evidence Led) Small WEEE Promotional / instructional information on the items suitable / not suitable to be collected as part of this service will be provided to customers at the commencement of the proposed service via the Council website and, subject to funding, via an informational leaflet. Customers will be requested to present material un-bagged with any cables or wires wrapped around the appliance within a plastic box / their kerbside glass box placed for collection adjacent to their food waste caddy to aid visibility for collection crews. Items expected to be collected include: mobile phones, disposal vapes, electric toothbrushes, battery operated toys and musical instruments, hi-fi units, hand-held vacuums and small kitchen electrical items up to the size of a 4-slice toaster / small microwave. Customers will be directed to take items larger than microwave size to their local Recycling Centre. The kerbside box has an internal measurement of approx. 350mm x 530mm and pallet box has a width limit of 600mm. Items unsuitable for recycling / collection as part of this service will be rejected at source with an informational postcard left for customers. Page 233 of 258
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8 Household batteries Promotional / instructional information on the items suitable / not suitable to be collected as part of this service will be provided to customers at the commencement of the proposed service via the Council website and, subject to funding, via an informational leaflet. Customers will be asked to present their batteries for collection in a clear, sealed sandwich bag / freezer bag (or equivalent) within a plastic box / their kerbside glass box to aid visibility for collection crews. Button batteries, A, B, C and D batteries, 9V batteries and mobile phone batteries will be collected. The battery box has dimensions of approx. 150mm x 200mm x 50mm. Items unsuitable for recycling, or collection as part of this service will be rejected at source. We do not intend to collect volt batteries such as car batteries or power tool batteries. Customers will be directed to take these to their local Recycling Centre. An informational postcard can be left when rejecting items. Textiles Promotional / instructional information on the items suitable / not suitable to be collected as part of this service will be provided to customers at the commencement of the proposed service with the specific requirement that only clean textiles are suitable for reuse / recycling. Information will be provided via the Council website and, subject to funding, an informational leaflet. Items expected to be collected include clean clothes, shoes, bags, belts, bedding, towels and curtains. We will not collect soiled items, pillows, cushions or duvets or pet beds/bedding. An informational postcard can be left when rejecting items. Customers will be requested to present textiles securely tied in a plastic carrier bag to reduce quality issues associated with textiles collected at the kerbside in inclement weather. Bags should be presented within a plastic box / their kerbside glass box placed adjacent to their food waste caddy to aid visibility for collection crews and to encourage residents to recycle “little and often” rather than undertake one-off “wardrobe clear-outs”. The kerbside box has an internal measurement of approx. 350mm x 530mm and pallet box has a width limit of 600mm. As we expect this service to supplement, rather than replace, existing local charitable sector reuse projects, overall quality is expected to be low, with low grade textiles unsuitable for reuse instead being used in the manufacture of cushion stuffing, sound proofing, carpets/ underlay, or industrial cleaning cloths. In line with other Local Authorities, in 2022, around 20% by weight of textiles collected in Midlothian from Recycling Points and rag bag scheme were rejected. It is likely a similar percentage could be applied to textiles collected as part of this service. 2.2.4 Carbon Savings – please provide details of your estimation of carbon savings, in terms of tonnes CO2 equivalence, and how these are to be achieved. (Assessment Criteria – Impact and Transformation & Evidence Led) Please adapt this table to suit your project needs. Activity / Material Category Projected Carbon Savings (tonnes CO2e per annum) Source / Methodology Textiles -2,840 Zero Waste Scotland Carbon Metric Assume collect average of upper and lower projected values = 470 tonnes. Currently incinerated at 216 kgCO2e per tonne. If reused/recycled a carbon saving of -2,840kgCO2e could be achieved Page 234 of 258
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9 Small WEEE -22 Zero Waste Scotland Carbon Metric Assume collect average of upper and lower projected values = 93 tonnes. Currently incinerated at 41 kgCO2e per tonne. If reused/recycled a carbon saving of -22kgCO2e could be achieved TOTAL CO2e Savings: -2,862 CO2e per annum Please see Appendix 2. 2.2.5 Policy Alignment - in this section please set out how this project aligns with the following: The Household Recycling Charter and Code of Practice; the transition towards a Circular Economy; the drive towards Net-Zero commitments; and other Scottish Government & Local Government Policies (for example, the national Deposit Return Scheme, the Climate Emergency and Extended Producer Responsibility). Household Recycling Charter and Code of Practice Midlothian Council became a voluntary signatory to the Charter in May 2016 and in so doing, made a commitment to transform kerbside collection services to align with best practice, once capital funding became available. Waste Services have recently undertaken a detailed options appraisal with Zero Waste Scotland / Eunomia to identify how best this should be done. It is expected a report on the options will be presented to the Council’s Business Transformation Steering Group for a decision on our future kerbside waste and recycling collection services in Q1 2023/24. Removing additional waste from the residual stream helps support customers with a move to reduced capacity for non-recyclable residual waste. The transition towards a Circular Economy Offering households a kerbside collection of textiles supports the move from a "take, make and dispose" model to one where materials are kept in use. Alternative local collection services, such as school uniform swap-shops and winter coat/jacket banks will continue to be promoted to help ensure good quality clothes remain in Midlothian to support householders in need at a local level – reducing “waste miles” Climate Emergency and the drive towards Net-Zero commitments Midlothian Council was one of the first local authorities to sign Scotland's Climate Change Declaration, publicly acknowledging the challenges and opportunities that climate change brings. In December 2019, Midlothian Council passed a motion declaring a ‘climate emergency’. This includes a commitment to make the Council’s activities net-zero carbon by 2030. This project proposal demonstrates a clear case for improving diversion of valuable material away from disposal, with identified carbon efficiency savings. Deposit Return Scheme The additional materials proposed for collection do not fall under the scope of the DRS and this project is not affected by the recently announced extension to the planned implementation date of this scheme. Extended Producer Responsibilities The additional materials proposed for collection do not fall under the scope of the EPR regulations. Circular Economy Route Map The proposed improvement to kerbside services align with the following: • Package 1: Promoting responsible consumption, production and reuse – providing reuse services will help deliver the national reuse target and improve the reuse experience for consumers. • Package 3: Improve recycling services to households, including textiles and hazardous materials (small WEEE and batteries). Page 235 of 258
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10 2.2.6 Other added-value aspects of the project (if relevant) – for instance, please provide details of how the project provides or increases social and environmental benefits. (Assessment Criterion – Strategic and Collaborative) Introducing additional kerbside recycling collection services will allow us to: • Improve kerbside collections of recycling to address the Waste Targets Route Map. • Offer new opportunities for the collection of problematic materials and identified high carbon impact materials, such as WEEE and textiles. • Improve the capture and quality of recyclable materials at the kerbside • Offer services which maximise yield and capture of high-quality materials for re-processing There is customer demand for more kerbside collections. From a customer consultation held in 2021, when asked “What additional materials would you like us to collect at the kerbside?”, 57% of respondents said textiles, 58% of respondents said household batteries and 63% of respondents said small electrical items. At the present time, customers must visit a charity shop or use a neighbourhood textiles recycling bank to recycle clothes and shoes. They must visit a HWRC to recycle small electrical appliances. Due to the small size of these materials there is an obvious temptation for customers to dispose of these items in their residual waste bin. By offering a kerbside collection of these materials, the opportunity to recycle more of their household waste removes opens up to those who would experience barriers in travelling to a HWRC. This service also aims to address misconceptions that clothes unsuitable for reuse cannot be collected for recycling as “rags”. Wider of promotion of the service will raise awareness of other local textile reuse services such as winter clothes banks. Midlothian Council’s procurement strategy has a social theme to place citizens at the heart of everything we do. Our social value themes will enable us to maximise the opportunities for economic, social and environmental considerations to be addressed at all stages of the commissioning and procurement cycle. In all our procurements, we will seek to maximise social value, tailored as appropriate and proportionate for each contract to ensure compliance with our legal obligations. As textiles and small WEEE must be presented for collection in a plastic box / kerbside box adjacent to a kerbside food waste caddy to ensure collection (to enhance visibility of items for our collection staff) an increase in participation in the kerbside food waste collection service could be seen, potentially alongside an increase in glass presentation at the kerbside. Midlothian Council intends to continue to collect glass separately at the kerbside following the introduction of the DRS, albeit likely at a reduced collection frequency. As with food waste, as customers start to separate textiles for recycling they may start to consider the volumes they actually have available for recycling and make steps to start making more sustainable purchasing decisions to reduce the amount of clothes they buy. 2.2.7 Partnership and collaboration potential – please describe what consideration has been given to the potential for partnership or collaborative working, with local authority, private or third sector partners. (Assessment Criterion – Strategic and Collaborative) Existing textiles reuse schemes such as school uniform swap shops and winter clothes banks will continue to be promoted with publicity around the introduction of a kerbside collection of textiles expected to increase awareness of these initiatives and increase donations of suitable items. A competitive tender will be undertaken to contract a textile reprocessor to take the kerbside collected textiles for reuse/recycling. Electrical items and batteries will be bulked for collection by our incumbent WEEE producer compliance scheme. Page 236 of 258
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11 Revenue funding has been requested from the Materials Focus Electricals Recycling Fund to cover some of the costs associated with the publicity and promotion of the service. This fund excludes procurement of major capital assets. 2.3 Project approvals, permissions and consents. Please read through the whole section and accompanying Guidance Document before completing, to avoid duplication of information. 2.3.1 Member approval - if member, or other board or executive level, approval is required for the project, please provide details. (Assessment Criterion – Acceptability) Members would welcome new services that allow residents to recycle additional materials at the kerbside. Members were informed of this proposal via a Business Transformation Steering Group meeting on 24 April 2023 and will obtain formal Cabinet approval on 30th May 2023. The funding application was approved by the Council’s Corporate Management Team on 10th May 2023. 2.3.2 Planning permission – please provide high-level details of planning applications and other permissions required for this project. (Assessment Criterion – Acceptability) There are no planning permissions associated with this proposal. 2.3.3 SEPA waste management licences/other regulatory consents etc. – please provide high-level details of any new licences or approvals, or amendments to licences, that are required for the project. (Assessment Criterion – Acceptability) Kerbside collected electricals, batteries and textiles will be bulked at Stobhill Waste Transfer Station, SEPA Licence number WML/L/1023218. No amendment to the current licence or site working plan is required. WEEE and batteries will be collected by our Producer Compliance Scheme operator. Household batteries are sent to GP Batteries, Glasgow - facility licence WMX/W/0037009. Small WEEE is collected by ValPak and delivered to Shore Recycling, Perth – facility licence PPC/A/1035205 Please note that due to the recent fire, the Shore Recycling facility is not currently able to accept WEEE and in the interim small WEEE is being collected / processed by WEEE Scotland. Page 237 of 258
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12 2.4 Project timeline and monitoring plans - please complete the project timetable, communications planning template and the delivery and project monitoring table, so we have a clear understanding of the implementation schedule. Please read through the whole section and accompanying Guidance Document before completing, to avoid duplication of information. 2.4.1 Project timetable Please adapt the following template to detail the timelines of the project. (Assessment Criterion – Feasibility) For communications planning template, please see Section 2.4.2. Page 238 of 258
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13 2023/24 2024/25 2025/26 2026/27 Activity Sub activity Start End Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Submission to ZWS April 23 April 23 ZWS Board decision May 23 May 23 Decision reported back to Midlothian Council June 23 June 23 Contracts signed June 23 June 23 Forklift Specification June 23 June 23 Procurement June 23 June 23 Delivery Sept 23 Sept 23 Vehicle retrofit Aug 23 Aug 23 Tender for textile processing July 23 Sept 23 Pallet box Procurement Sept 23 Sept 23 Delivery Sept 23 Sept 23 Staff training Sept 23 Sept 23 Service commencement Oct 23 ongoing Performance monitoring Oct 23 Monthly and then annually Q1 – April – June / Q2 – July – September / Q3 – October – December / Q4 - January – March Page 239 of 258
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14 2.4.1.1 Flexibility - if there is limited or no prospect of project implementation flexibility, please provide details of all key issues and critical timings. The project has a high degree of flexibility. It is currently proposed that the new kerbside collection service for textiles and small WEEE is introduced from October 2023. All six food waste collection vehicles are due for delivery at the end of April. As one of these vehicles has been funded from the Recycling Improvement Fund, the necessary time will be taken to prioritise the introduction of kerbside food waste collection services in rural areas before this new project is implemented. There is expected to be a 10-week lead time for delivery of the forklift truck. 2.4.1.2 Procurement and supply – please explain the market engagement that has been undertaken, such that it provides reassurance that the project is foreseeably deliverable within the timescales - for instance asset production timelines and supply chain availability and security. Forklift An “off the shelf” model is being procured and we do not envisage any issues with supply. A lead-time of 10-12 weeks from date of order is expected. Pallet boxes An “off the shelf” item is being procured and we do not envisage any issues with supply. Battery box A bespoke box, albeit used by other Local Authorities offering a multi-stream weekly kerbside recycling collection service, is being procured and we do not envisage any issues with supply. Kerbside box This will be procured through the Scotland Excel framework. A lead-time of 8-10 weeks from date of order is expected. Vehicle retro-fitting A local mechanical engineering company will be contracted to undertake this work. This is expected to be completed by end September. Textiles A competitive tender exercise will be undertaken for the processing of the textiles once we are confident the project can proceed as planned. Without this in place, textiles can be uplifted by the incumbent supplier of our textile bank collection service. Page 240 of 258
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15 WEEE collection / communication A decision on funding for communication activities associated with the new kerbside collection of small WEEE from Materials Focus is expected at the end of May 23. Without this, limited funds are available to promote the new services, and promotional activities will be limited to social media activities and lamppost banner advertising – reducing the impact of the new services. 2.4.2 Supporting communications and proposed activity Please adapt the following template to detail the outline communications plan that supports the project’s implementation. N.B The communications budget in to be set out in section 3.3 of the Application. (Assessment Criterion – Feasibility) Please restrict text fields to 250 words maximum Background – identify where you are • a summary of communications approaches used/delivered in the last two years • details of any gaps highlighted in your current or past communications activities that need to be addressed • Midlothian Council primarily uses the Council’s website to communicate with customers. • This is supported by social media activity to increase customer engagement. • The local radio, Black Diamond FM, is also used for promotional activities. • Use of printed materials, including kerbside collection calendars, is limited and provided primarily to new occupants and at times of service change. • Printed materials has included lamppost advertising at key points around the area, and direct mail postcard mailings to all residents. • Advertising panels are utilised on the side of RCVs. • The dedicated email address, recycling@midlothian.gov.uk and recycling landing pages on the Council website are provided on all printed materials. • The dedicated email address is used to respond to specific requests for information from customers. • Our Community Waste Officer is able to undertake public outreach through community events and educational settings. • The Council’s Contact Centre are able to answer generic queries on recycling activities from the general public. • Addressed mailings have been used when collection issues need to be addressed in specific areas. • The collection crews, and Recycling Centre staff, are the public face of the service and are able to answer general queries from the public. • Customer email addresses are used to communicate with customers of our chargeable garden waste collection service where specific permission for this activity has been requested from, and approval given, from customers. • Printed communications follow Zero Waste Scotland brand guidelines. Page 241 of 258
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16 Situation analysis – establish where you want to be Communication aims and objectives • The aims of communication activities are to ensure customers are aware of their new service collecting small electrical appliances, household batteries and textiles alongside existing kerbside food waste collections. • Household communication of the proposed new service will be undertaken in a timely manner at key points of the service change, making best use of available budgets. Funding has been requested from Materials Focus for communication activities. • Messages will follow Zero Waste Scotland guidelines and be simple, resonate with a wide audience and provide clear calls to action. • The overall objective is that customers will be clear on: o the nature of the change o what exactly the changes are o what materials can/cannot be recycled as part of the new service o key dates relating to the start of the proposed service change • The communications plan will be deemed successful if customers are aware of the proposed service change. This will be measured via number of customer queries received through the Contact Centre, social media and requests for information via the recycling@ email address, as well as recycling presentation. Impact on other services • Offering kerbside collections of textiles may divert textiles from existing collection methods including charity shops as well as existing textile banks. Communication activities will highlight and promote the continued use of local winter jacket/coat collection services and school uniform swap-shops to keep these clothes available to those in need within Midlothian. • Offering kerbside collections of household batteries may divert batteries from existing retailer take-back points. • Offering kerbside collections of small electrical appliances may divert small electrical appliances from this stream at the Recycling Centres. • Activities will take place to determine the likely impact on existing trade waste collection services and whether the proposed service ought to be offered to local businesses (eg: electrical retailers) Communication planning – establish how you are going to get there Target audiences • Householders / service users: - Households with individual recycling containers - Households with shared recycling containers • Internal audiences: - Collection crews and supervisors, - Customer contact centre staff Page 242 of 258
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17 - Library staff - Elected members - Corporate communications team members - School eco-committee members - Equalities Engagement Team • External groups/stakeholders: - Community councils - Social housing managers - Carers • Hard to reach groups: - Children and Young People • Media groups: - Black Diamond FM Messaging and strategic approach • Types of key messages: - service launch - getting it right - recycle more/waste less • Tone of voice to be used: - instructional - collective action - positive message • Your overall approach to communications, what you need to communicate: - Introduction of new service to collect additional materials - Key dates - How to participate - How to present items for recycling - Items accepted / not accepted - What happens to your recycling • Form that communication will take: - Social media plan and managed responses - Press release Page 243 of 258
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18 - Website information and FAQs - Lamppost advertising - Staff newsletter - Correspondence with Community contacts - Councillor Briefing Notes - Staff training - Subject to securing additional funding, the following activities will also take place: - Direct mail “Your new service” teaser postcard - Vehicle decals - Direct mail “Your new service” informational leaflet and collection calendar - Year one reminder direct mail postcard “remember you can recycle” • Roles and responsibilities for delivering the communications: - Waste Services produce communications plan in conjunction with ZWS staff - Waste Services produce communications copy with internal graphic design staff. - Drafts approved internally by Head of Services - Press releases approved internally by Head of Services • Use of branding - The service will adopt the use of the Recycle for Scotland branding for all design materials. Waste Services works with our internal graphic designer who is familiar with the branding guidelines. The service will access the ZWS image bank as required. - Corporate brand guidelines will be followed, including the appropriate use of the “oak leaf” logo. - If funding for communication materials is secured from Material Focus, material will include their logo and HypnoCat branding. Page 244 of 258
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19 Promotional activity timeline 2023 2024/25 Activity Sub activity Start End Jun e July Aug Sept Oct Nov Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Community group engagement activities Councillor briefing note Aug 23 Oct 23 Website information Aug 23 Ongoin g Teaser postcard Design and print June 23 July 23 Booking of Door2Door mailing with Royal Mail June 23 June 23 Delivery Aug 23 Aug 23 Lamppost banners. 60 sites across Midlothian. Design and print Aug 23 Aug 23 Installation Sept 23 Sept 23 Removal Oct 23 Oct 23 Press release Sept 23 Sept 23 Your new service leaflet Design and print July 23 Aug 23 Booking of mailing with Royal Mail July 23 July 23 Delivery Sept 23 Sept 23 Social media activity Aug 23 ongoing Staff newsletter Sept 23 Sept 23 Educational postcard When rejecting items Oct 23 ongoing One year anniversary reminder postcard. Design and print Aug 24 Sept 24 Page 245 of 258
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20 Booking of Door2Door mailing with Royal Mail Aug 24 Aug 24 Delivery Oct 24 Oct 24 2.4.3 Project Monitoring Template - please use the table below to set out how you intend to monitor the project’s outputs against the predicted outcomes. (Assessment criterion – Impact & Transformation / Evidence Led) Predicted Outcomes Baseline monitoring data that outcomes will be benchmarked against Post implementation monitoring used to assess outcome realisation Milestone (when available) Frequency WEEE and batteries Increase in materials collected for recycling (weight / tonnage) Previous years collected tonnage of WEEE and batteries Calculation of current years collected tonnage of WEEE and batteries February post implementation Annually (Feb) in line with WasteDataFlow submission Textiles increase in material diverted to reuse (weight / tonnage) Previous years collected tonnage of textiles Calculation of current years collected tonnage of textiles February post implementation Annually (Feb) in line with WasteDataFlow submission Page 246 of 258
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21 Section 3: Project Financing This section covers the financing of the project, including local authority funding, partner funding and the funding requested from the RIF. It includes questions regarding longer term project viability and the supporting revenue costs. In all responses, please reference any delivery partners that may be involved in the project and any financial contributions they are making. Please read through the whole section and accompanying Guidance Document before completing, to avoid duplication of information. 3.1 Additionality – in this section please detail how the RIF contributes to the financial deliverability of the project. 3.1.1 Please provide details of why RIF funding is required to enable the project to proceed as planned. Please also provide information on other funding sources that have been investigated, whether this has been successful or not, and the amount/s secured from each funding source. (Assessment Criterion – Additionality) Due to ongoing pressures on the Council budget, without funding Midlothian Council does not have the necessary capital resources to procure a forklift or to retrofit the six food waste collection vehicles to allow us to undertake the project proposed. 3.1.2 Please explain what would happen if RIF funding was not secured in the short, medium and longer term, or if the amount you are offered is less than the amount you have requested. (Assessment Criterion – Additionality) As Midlothian Council does not have the capital budget to finance the procurement of the items requested, the project would not go ahead as proposed. 3.1.3 Please describe in detail, if relevant, how the project expects to generate any income or savings. (Assessment Criterion – Feasibility) a) please explain how the income/savings will be generated - There is currently no income received from the recycling of WEEE or textiles, and no cost to the Council in facilitating these collection services. As part of this project, textile reprocessors will be invited to tender for the textiles unsuitable for reuse collected as part of the kerbside collection service. There may be an income available for this stream. - Any reduction in residual waste will reduce the costs associated with the processing (EfW) of this material ie: black bag waste collected in grey wheeled bin. b) please specify where the income/saving is expected to come from (i.e. who will pay?) - A price per tonne could be paid for receipt of kerbside collected textiles. This would be paid by the winning contractor of any competitive tendering process. - A saving may be expected in the waste disposal budget. c) please quantify the income/saving you are expecting in a simple forecast; and - The MRW price range of textile bank collected textiles in March 2023 was £145-200 / tonne. As this project intends to collect “rags” not suitable for reuse, a price in the region of half of these values is more likely to be paid. Page 247 of 258
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22 As detailed in section 2.2.1 a diversion of between 280 - 660 tonnes of textiles may be achieved. 280 tonnes x £72.5/t = £20,300 per annum 660 tonnes x £100/t = £66,000 per annum An income of between £20,300 and £66,000 may be achieved. - Between 74 and 116 tonnes of small WEEE could be collected per annum. Along with the textiles, this gives a potential diversion tonnage of between 354 and 776 tonnes. At an approximate cost of £90/t for disposal, a disposal saving between £31,860 and £69,840 could be achieved in addition to the estimated income above. d) please explain whether the income/saving is incorporated within the on-going revenue costs of the scheme, and, if so, please provide details. - Any income received or disposal saving realised will not be retained by Waste Services and incorporated into the on-going revenue costs of the scheme. Midlothian Council will use any income received for wider Council budget setting purposes. 3.2 Capital and other one-off project costs funded by the RIF – please outline the RIF funding required for the project. Please refer to the Guidance Document for items that are within scope of the Fund. Please add lines and number sequentially as required. (Assessment Criterion – Feasibility) Note: Q2 – Capital items expected to be procured in Q2 (July-August-September) for service commencement from Q3 – October 2023. Item no. Year and quarter of planned expenditure Capital costs Item description Cost (excl. VAT) £ C1 2023/24 Q2 2.5 ton LPG forklift with 360 degree fork rotator Supplier quote £30,500. 10% contingency added. £33,550.00 C2 2023/24 Q2 Retro-fit storage space on existing food waste vehicles including installation of new door. A cost in the region of £5,000 per vehicle x 6 vehicles is expected. 10% contingency added. £33,000.00 C3 2023/24 Q2 Heavy-duty SL pallet container with runner base and solid sides with load capacity of 500kg. L800mm, W600mm, H520mm. £168 x 9 including three spare £1,512 (discount applied for quantity ordered) including delivery. 10% contingency added. £1,663.20 C4 2023/24 Q2 Bespoke lockable metal battery box with chute aperture. Purchase price £205. 10% contingency added. Nine, including three space, to be procured. £2,029.50 C5 2023/24 Q2 1.5 of full load (4,554 units) of 44L kerbside box @ £5.34 plus 10% contingency. £26,750.20 Total capital costs £96,992.90 Page 248 of 258
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23 3.3 Capital and other one-off project costs, not funded by the RIF - use the table below to outline the one- off implementation costs associated with the project. Please add lines and number sequentially as required. (Assessment Criterion – Feasibility) Item no./ Year and quarter of planned Expenditure Item description Budget Secured Cost (excl. VAT) £ R1 2023/24 Q2 and Q3 Communication plan delivery costs, including lamppost banner advertising, teaser postcards informational leaflet. Maximum project funding of £0.50 per hh of £22,030 requested from Material Focus. If funding is not successful, a reduced communications campaign will take place. Requested from Materials Focus. Decision due end May 2023. £22,030 R2 Ongoing LA staff time in preparing funding bids, procurement and tendering exercises, route planning, design and delivery of communication activities, staff training, staffing of vehicle, vehicle servicing, maintenance and fuel, financial administration, waste data collection and reporting, customer liaison. From existing Council staff and revenue resources £0 Total project support and development costs £22,030 3.4 Value for money, budgets and on-going costs - in this section please provide detailed information on how the above costs were arrived at and how the on-going costs will be managed. 3.4.1 Overall value for money – please describe the process you went through to determine that the project achieves value for money. (Assessment Criteria – Impact and Transformation) A desktop research exercise into how textiles and small WEEE could be collected at the kerbside took place with vehicle manufactures invited to provide additional information. • Retro-fitting existing vehicles with cages was considered but rejected due to concerns relating to vehicle and pedestrian safety concerns if the manufactured safety bars were altered. • Our preferred option would be a multi-compartment dedicated kerbside collection vehicle for glass, small WEEE, batteries and textiles. Unfortunately the market does not have a suitably small vehicle available for this purpose. • Multi-stillage vehicles were considered, but these were not deemed suitable, from a noise nuisance perspective, if textiles and small WEEE were collected alongside glass. Capacity issues were also a concern. To avoid a “separate pass” in collecting small WEEE and textiles, one of our existing vehicles would have to be utilised, and the storage space behind the crew-cab of the food waste vehicles was considered potentially suitable. Whilst it could be relatively easy to “load” this space with small WEEE and textiles, unloading it would be more problematic, especially due to the Health and Safety implications associated with the risk of sharps injuries from the manual handling of broken WEEE. Page 249 of 258
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24 To address this issue, it is proposed that small WEEE and textiles are collected in the vehicle in a pallet box. This allows small WEEE to be mechanically unloaded. To allow textiles, batteries and small electrical appliances to be collected at the kerbside without the need for a “separate pass”, the one-off capital costs of retrofitting our existing food waste vehicles for this purpose, plus the capital costs of pallet boxes and a forklift truck to allow the material to be unloaded from the vehicle demonstrate that the project achieves value for money. To aid visibility for collection crews, as well as address concerns over litter, flytipping and potentially anti-social behaviour, customers will be requested to present textiles, small WEEE and batteries adjacent to their food waste caddy within a plastic box. Their existing kerbside glass box is considered suitable for this purpose, especially with collection frequencies for glass packaging expected to reduce following the introduction of the DRS. Funding is requested for a small supply of boxes (10% of 44,061 households) to assist residents who do not currently have a plastic box suitable for this purpose – or who are not currently participating in the kerbside glass collection service. These will be available on request, and their provision advertised in communication material associated with the publicity of the service. Funding for a secure metal container to collect batteries is also requested. On-going revenue costs will be funded from existing Waste Services budgets. 3.4.2 Costs, procurement and value for money - for each line of project costs in section 3.2, please explain, in the table below a) how the costs have been estimated; b) how the item(s) will be procured; and c) what measures will be taken to ensure value for money when procuring. (Assessment Criterion – Feasibility) Item no. Explanation for cost, procurement and value for money C1 a) Supplier quote b) The Project Officer will raise a request for a Purchase Order (PO) to our incumbent supplier. Once the request is authorised by a senior officer, a PO will be generated and passed to the supplier. When goods are received, this is recorded and allows the invoice to be receipted against the PO and payment to be made – in line with standard Council financial regulations. c) The forklift will be procured in line with Council procurement rules and financial regulations to show transparency and provide best value for money. C2 a) A local mechanical engineering company was invited to suggest possible and best options for retrofitting the cabinet behind the crew cab on the food waste vehicle. Due to the timescale between vehicle delivery and the deadline for this application, there has been limited time for the supplier to produce a detailed specification and costing for the work involved however, based on initial conversations, the retrofitting costs per vehicle are expected to be in the region of £5,000 ea. b) The Project Officer will raise a request for a Purchase Order (PO). Once the request is authorised by a senior officer, a PO will be generated and passed to the supplier. When goods are received, this is recorded and allows the invoice to be receipted against the PO and payment to be made – in line with standard Council financial regulations. c) Mechanical engineering work will be procured in line with Council procurement rules and financial regulations to show transparency and provide best value for money. C3 a) Market analysis. b) Following market research of the options available, a sample box has already been procured and will be tested to ensure it is suitable for the project. An online purchase of the project funded boxes will be made by The Project Officer with an invoice requested from the supplier. Upon receipt of delivery the invoice will passed for payment – in line with standard Council financial regulations for one-off purchases at this value. c) Pallet boxes will be procured in line with Council procurement rules and financial regulations to show transparency and provide best value for money. Page 250 of 258
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25 C4 a) Supplier quote. Following market research of the options available, the manufacturer of a multi-stream kerbside sort vehicle was approached regarding provision of a dedicated box for the collection of batteries. Midlothian has investigated use of this particular model being used for this purpose in a neighbouring authority. b) The Project Officer will raise a request for a Purchase Order (PO). Once the request is authorised by a senior officer, a PO will be generated and passed to the supplier. When goods are received, this is recorded and allows the invoice to be receipted against the PO and payment to be made – in line with standard Council financial regulations. c) Battery boxes will be procured in line with Council procurement rules and financial regulations to show transparency and provide best value for money. C5 a) Scotland Excel framework b) The Project Officer will raise a request for a Purchase Order (PO). Once the request is authorised by a senior officer, a PO will be generated and passed to the supplier. When goods are received, this is recorded and allows the invoice to be receipted against the PO and payment to be made – in line with standard Council financial regulations. c) The kerbside boxes will be procured in line with Council procurement rules and financial regulations to show transparency and provide best value for money. 3.4.3 Cost increases - please provide information on how you will manage any cost increases above your estimates, for the assets applied for. (Assessment Criterion – Feasibility) Prices will be confirmed with suppliers before orders are placed. A 10% contingency has been added to the supplier quotes received. 3.4.4 On-going revenue costs – please provide an overview of the implications of ongoing revenue costs resulting from implementation of the proposed project and provide confirmation that the authority has gained approval, or is seeking approval, for any new revenue costs. (Assessment Criterion – Feasibility) • Staffing: included in existing waste collection service staffing budget • Overheads: included in existing waste / recycling collection service budget • Vehicles: included in existing waste collection service budget • Travel and fuel: included in existing waste collection service budget • Promotion, advertising and media: From Year 1, included in existing waste collection service budget • Reporting and project management: included in existing waste / recycling collection services staffing budget 3.4.5 Asset allocation and depreciation – please provide details of how existing assets are to be used to deliver the project, if applicable, and how the applied for assets, funded through the RIF, will complement or replace these existing assets and why. (Assessment Criterion – Feasibility) The storage compartment of six existing food waste collection vehicles will be retro-fitted to allow for the kerbside collection of small WEEE and textiles. These vehicles have a 7-year replacement timeframe. In normal use, the new cabinet is expected to have a similar lifetime. The forklift truck would be supplied with 2 year/2000 hour warranty. From this time, repairs and maintenance would be carried out utilising existing Waste Services budgets. The fuel for this vehicle will also be covered by existing budgets. Nine “off the shelf” 600mm x 800mm pallet boxes will be procured. They have a 5-year quality guarantee. Lifespan is unknown at this time and will depend on use / misuse by forklift operators. Midlothian Council estimates a replacement rate of 10% per annum for kerbside containers due to loss, theft or damage. Page 251 of 258
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26 Section 4: Supporting & Supplementary Information 4.1 Please provide supplementary information in this section to support your application. Please ensure that you read the Guidance Document before doing so. Attachments: Forklift Email from supplier detailing costs and lead time. Pallet box Online shopping basket detailing costs. Battery box Email for supplier detailing costs. Page 252 of 258
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27 Appendix 1a: Tonnage calculations – Small WEEE and batteries Small WEEE 2022 2021 2020 2019 3 year average Number of households 44,061 43,238 42,655 39,733 Residual waste tonnage 17,260 18,166 22,215 19,967 19,402 Based on 2015 waste composition analysis of residual waste: % of small WEEE in residual waste 0.65% kg/hh/year 3.1 Capture rate 80% 70% 60% Calculation details Tonnage yield 110 96 82 kg/hh/yr x no hh 2022 x capture rate % of residual waste stream 101 88 76 % in residual waste x 3 year average weight x capture rate Batteries Based on 2015 waste composition analysis of residual waste: % of batteries in residual waste 0.02% Capture rate 80% 70% 60% Calculation details 3.10 2.72 2.33 % in residual waste x 3 year average weight x capture rate Page 253 of 258
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28 Appendix 1a: Tonnage calculations – Textiles Number of households 44,061 % of textiles in residual waste (from WCA) 3.38% 3-year average residual tonnage 19,402 Potential textile tonnage in residual waste 655.8 Contamination 20% 80% capture 525 373 70% capture 459 327 60% capture 393 280 Estimated kg/hh/yr (from WCA) 23.4 Estimated tonnage of textiles (kg/hh/yr x no hh) 1,031 Contamination 20% 80% capture 825 660 70% capture 722 577 60% capture 619 495 Page 254 of 258
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29 Appendix 2: Carbon calculator Material type (WSR) Carbon factor for Household waste RECYCLED (kgCO2eq per tonne of material) Additional household material RECYCLED (tonnes) Carbon factor for Household waste INCINERATED (kgCO2eq per tonne of material) Additional household material diverted from INCINERATION (tonnes) Total carbon impact of household diversion (tCO2e) Batteries and accumulators wastes -579 2 2 -1 Discarded equipment (excluding discarded vehicles, batteries and accumulators wastes) -181 93 41 93 -21 Textile wastes -5,828 470 216 470 -2,841 TOTAL 565 565 -2,862.5 Page 255 of 258
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30 Section 5: Confidentiality and Declaration Confidentiality and Privacy Please note that Zero Waste Scotland is required to share your application with the Recycling Improvement Fund Board (Scottish Government, Zero Waste Scotland SOLACE, SEPA and COSLA) to enable the application to be assessed and to facilitate management of the fund. By completing this form, you permit the sharing of information for this purpose. Information that you provide to Zero Waste Scotland will be treated in the strictest of confidence and in line with all information regulations, except when we are required to disclose data by law or applicable regulatory requirement, including any disclosure required under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 and/or any code or applicable data agreement relating to disclosure and access to information held by public bodies. Zero Waste Scotland is committed to protecting and respecting your privacy. Our privacy policy http://www.zerowastescotland.org.uk/content/privacy-policy explains how we collect and process your personal information for funding and support applications. If you have any requests concerning your personal information or any queries with regard to our processing practices, please contact us at data@zerowastescotland.org.uk . All information provided to ZWS will held for the statutory period of 6 years. You may unsubscribe from and request to no longer receive product and service information from us at any time by emailing communications@zerowastescotland.org.uk . Declaration I declare that: The information given on this form and in any other documentation is accurate to the best of my knowledge. I understand that, where any materially misleading statements (whether deliberate or accidental) are given at any stage during the application process, or where any material information is knowingly withheld, this could (at the discretion of Zero Waste Scotland) render my application invalid and any funds received by us will be liable for repayment. I confirm that my organisation will take all reasonable precautions to ensure that any funding received will not be misused or misappropriated in any way. In the event of a fraud, I understand that Zero Waste Scotland may take legal action to recover any misappropriated funds. I confirm that the project would not proceed in the absence of this grant. I agree that the information supplied on this form, including individual contact information, will be used to chart the success of the project and for Zero Waste Scotland monitoring purposes. To be signed by a Senior Manager with relevant delegated authority (for example Chief Officer) Signed: Print Name: Derek Oliver Position: Chief Officer - Place Contact email address and phone number: 0131 271 3418 derek.oliver@midlothian.gov.uk Date: 26 April 2023 Page 256 of 258
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31 Section 6: Application Form checklist Please take a few minutes before you submit your application to run through this checklist. Application sections / requirements Completed / Included (Check as appropriate) Application and Guidance Document read in full R Application scoped and developed with ZWS Recycling Partner R Completed local authority details (Section 1) R Provided a short (500-word maximum) project summary (2.1) R Completed the detailed project information sections (2.2.1 – 2.2.8) – including detailed methodology and workings R Project approvals, permissions and consents completed (2.3.1 – 2.3.3) R Project timetable template completed (2.4.1) R Outline communications plan completed (2.4.2) R Project monitoring template completed (2.4.3) R All finance section questions answered (3.1, 3.2 & 3.5) R Capital and other one-off project costs funded by the RIF (3.3) R Capital and other one-ff project costs not funded by the RIF (3.4) R Supplementary information (4.1) R Confirmation that the Application confidentiality and declaration section has been read and understood (Section 5) R Application signed by senior manager with relevant authority R Completed application submitted with approval from ZWS Recycling Partner R Page 257 of 258
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