Members of the Neighbourhood Services Committee were updated on and discussed the Service Plan at a meeting last night.

The Neighbourhood Services Service Plan has eleven strategic priorities and is responsible for a wide range of functions organised into the service areas of Housing and Communities, Community Safety and Protection, Environment and Construction Services.

Key outcomes which have been achieved, include anti-social behaviour reports for the first 6 months of 2021/22 saw a 17% reduction on both 2018/19 and 2019/20, the percentage of tenancies sustained in Dundee City was the highest in Scotland, with a figure of 96.37% for the year up to the end of September 2021 above the national average of 90.89%.

Similarly, the city’s community centres provided crisis support to communities and support to food larders during the Covid-19 lockdown period, in line with the national guidance at the time. The centres still provide vital resource to communities with residents attending in higher numbers than targeted for. 

Despite the pandemic, the number of young people attending Diversionary Learning Programmes has continued to rise. At the same time, vital Adult Learning support, such as Literacies & ESOL, continued throughout the pandemic and offered one to one support to learners.

The review of Year 2 of the Rapid Rehousing Transition Plan has concluded and the annual progress report has been submitted to Scottish Government and Neighbourhood Services Committee.

The Take Pride in Your City campaign has been reviewed during 2021/22, with a renewed action plan developed and to be taken forward during 2022/24. Similarly, the new MEB Baldovie Energy from Waste (EfW) facility has now been fully commissioned and is operational, a key milestone in ensuring that Dundee now has a long-term residual waste treatment solution in place.

A wide range of waste management actions including route re-development, fleet review and the revised programme for internal waste project have all met pre-defined timescales.

Dundee’s LEZ scheme was also submitted to Transport Scotland and Scottish Ministers in February 2022, and approved in May 2022 before being introduced on schedule on 30th May 2022.

Progress on achieving environmental standards have been recognised through the national Green Flag and Scotland’s Beach Awards.

Neighbourhood services convener, Councillor Heather Anderson, said: “This update shows the breadth and depth of the work carried out across the service and the continued hard work that has been carried out by staff to deliver many vital services to residents during the pandemic.

“Despite the challenges during the pandemic and lockdowns, Community Learning and Development (CLD) staff continued to support learning programmes for adults & young people using a blended approach to delivery under very challenging circumstances.”

She added: “Support from CLD staff and Community Empowerment Teams also led to new Community Collectives being formed in each ward of the city to broaden the base of participation in community planning.

“However, while there are many highlights in this Plan, including sustaining such an impressively high level of tenancies throughout this difficult period, we are also fully aware that there are areas where performance must improve. Recovering from the impact of Covid-19 on key services is now our priority.”