October 2021

27 October - GMB Industrial Action During COP26

Staff will be aware that the GMB union has notified the council of their intention to organise strike action among their members employed in Glasgow's cleansing service from November 1 to November 8.

This follows a ballot of GMB members working in Glasgow's cleansing service in response to the national pay negotiations currently on-going between trade unions and COSLA, the representative body for all local authorities in Scotland.

Further negotiations are scheduled to take place between COSLA and trade unions prior to November 1 to determine pay for all council-employed staff across Scotland. Glasgow City Council is not involved in these negotiations and at this stage no other strike action in any other local authority area has been confirmed.

We have urged the GMB to reconsider the timing of their strike action, which will take place during the COP 26 conference and at a time when the city will already face a wide range of challenges. We believe this strike action will have a disproportionate and unfair local impact on Glasgow in pursuit of a national campaign.

We remain hopeful that an agreement that satisfies all parties can be found, but we must also prepare for the prospect that strike action goes ahead as indicated. This action has the potential to affect all aspects of the city's cleansing service, including household refuse collections and street cleansing work such as emptying public bins and clearing fly-tipping.

Officers are working on contingency plans with the aim of providing services to protect public health where ever possible. How householders manage their waste during this time can also help to minimise the impact of any loss of service.

Further information is available on how to do this through our questions and answers section.

27 October 2021 - New Executive Director of Education appointed

Mr Douglas Hutchison, currently Depute Chief Executive and Director of People at South Ayrshire Council, has been appointed as the council's new Executive Director of Education and will take over the responsibilities from Maureen McKenna OBE when she retires at the end of December after 14 years of service.

Douglas will take up the post of Executive Director of Education in January 2020. Read more here.

27 October - Virtual afternoon tea for centenarian service users went down a treat

Glasgow City Health and Social Care Partnership's home care service hosted a 'virtual afternoon tea' this month for service users aged 100 years and over.

Gordon Bryan, Head of Care Services said "Our annual event usually takes place at Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, but it was put on hold last year due to Covid restrictions. It's important to recognise our centenarianservice users and their contribution to the city, so we were determined to deliver the event this year. We decided to adopt a more cautious approach given the vulnerabilities of our service users, so our home carers hosted the tea parties in the service users' homes.

"Service users participated and enjoyed entertainment from singer Lynsey Harrison which played on an iPad. They also watched special messages from the Lord Provost and GCHSCP's Chief Officer, Susanne Millar.

"An afternoon tea including cakes, scones and sandwiches was delivered to the service user's home for them to enjoy with their home carer. Friends and family members were also invited to join the celebration."

Service User, Reene said "I was delighted to take part in the services first ever 'virtual' afternoon tea party. The food was delicious, and the entertainment was fabulous."

Reene's granddaughter Mandi said "Our family really appreciates the effort the service went to in order to deliver the event this year. My Nana thoroughly enjoyed herself as did her guests- they all had such a lovely time!"

Reene pictured front right with L-R neighbour Janet, sister May and daughter June

27 October - Glasgow achieves 'Food for Life Served Here' Bronze Award

The council has successfully achieved a 'Food for Life Served Here Bronze Award' for our work to get fresh, local and sustainable food onto the plates of young people in our schools - 34,000 meals are served daily in 130 primaries and seven Additional Support Needs schools.

The 'Food for Life Served Here Award' is a nationally recognised mark of food quality for school meals accredited by Soil Association Scotland. 

As Scotland's largest local authority, making sure that healthier and more sustainable food reaches school plates is no mean feat, but our catering teams fully embrace the challenge.

Achieving Bronze standard means all meals must be free from trans fats, sweeteners and additives, use free-range eggs, higher welfare meat and ingredients from sustainable and ethical sources. In addition, 75% of dishes served must be freshly prepared from unprocessed ingredients.

Mairi Baker, Head Teacher, Cadder Primary School, said:"As a head teacher I have a passion for very high standards in my school and part of that is what happens during lunch time.  It's a sociable and wonderful event for the children to enjoy together and isn't it fantastic that the food being put in front of them is healthy and from sustainable sources - and the children are able to enjoy so many different experiences. Having access to a healthy school lunch makes a huge difference to their day." 

Around 34,000 award-winning nutritious school meals are now served daily by our catering teams across 137 schools/education establishments in the city. The improvements made to school meals are being widely praised given the complexity of the city's food system.  

Angela Jones, Catering Manager, Cadder Primary, said: "I enjoy cooking and introducing the different menus to the children, and with the help of my catering staff and teachers encouraging the children to eat more fruit and veg - they're a lot healthier.

"Freshly prepared meals are so important, they give the children a good balanced diet and can enhance the immune system which is important for the challenges we're facing in today's life."

Stephen Sawers, Head of Catering and Facilities Management, Financial Services -who led the council's application, said: "For our catering staff who do a brilliant job every day, I know that achieving this award means a lot to them and it's great to see them receiving the recognition for all their hard work."

More information

Find out more here: http://www.goglasgow.org.uk/News/View/81

27 October - Love Glasgow This Christmas

Glasgow Loves Christmas will return in 2021 in the run-up to the festive period attracting people to visit the city for entertainment and shopping and support Glasgow businesses.

A festive visitor campaign will encourage people to "Love Glasgow This Christmas" by coming to the city and safely enjoying the vibrant culture, nightlife, entertainment and retail Glasgow has to offer; supporting local firms during the crucial festive period.

The spectacular illumination of Glasgow's City Chambers takes place again and new lighting programmes are being added at Buchanan Galleries and Glasgow Royal Concert Hall on Sauchiehall Street and at the Buck's Head Building at the St Enoch Centre on Argyle Street.

The building lighting, which starts at all three buildings on 1 December and runs until 2 Jan 2022, was a hugely popular element of Glasgow Loves Christmas in 2020.

George Square and the City Centre will again be home to the Christmas Tree, festive lights, and the Nativity.

20 October - Public Holidays 2022

The Scottish Government has announced an additional public holiday in 2022 to celebrate the Queen's Platinum Jubilee. 

It has been agreed that the council will change the public holidays schedule for 2022 to match those announced by the Scottish Government. 

• The late May Monday holiday (originally scheduled for Monday 30 May) has been moved to Thursday 2 June; and
• Friday 3 June 2022 has been declared an additional public holiday to mark the Queens Jubilee and allow an extended break.

Any employee required to work designated public holidays will be paid in accordance with the terms and conditions attached to their post.

As in previous years, services may, by local agreement, vary when these days are observed to meet the needs of the service.  In this case, services should consult with the appropriate trade unions at an early stage.

2022 Public Holidays

20 October - Sign up for now for new management workshops

Organisational Development invite staff to attend a series of autumn / winter workshops:

Introduction to Project Management

Tuesday 9 November 2021, 9.30am to 12.30pm

Projects are how we deliver change, improve our service and increase operational effectiveness.

This virtual workshop will introduce new and aspiring project managers to the theoretical principles of project management, develop your understanding of the project lifecycle and planning process and explore what it means to be an effective project and people manager.

Who can attend?

This workshop is open to all Council Family staff, but will be of particular interest to people who have little to no project management experience, new managers or people who are looking to refresh their knowledge.

This event will be held on Microsoft Teams

Sign up now

Managing Remote Teams

Monday 15 November 2021, 9:30am to 4.30pm

Thursday 25 November 2021, 9:30am to 4.30pm

This course will be delivered by the City of Glasgow College and will cover:

• How to inspire your remote teams, bringing out the best in every team member.

• Overcome the barriers and isolation that working remotely can cause.

• Develop a remote team that works collaboratively.

• Increase your team's performance though clear goal setting and communication.

• Develop trusting relationships that ensure the team work towards common goals.

This event will be held on Microsoft Teams

This workshop is open to all Council Family staff, but will be of particular interest to people who manage a hybrid or remote team.

Sign up now

To book your place on the workshop email Organisational Development (on Outlook).

Motivating your Team

Tuesday 7 December 2021, 9.30am to 12.30pm

Wednesday 8 December 2021, 9.30am to 12.30pm

This course will be delivered by the City of Glasgow College and will help participants to:

• Develop an understanding of motivation

• Raise awareness of what motivates us and why

• Develop strategies on how to motivate your team whilst working in a hybrid environment

• How to identify and overcome signs of demotivation within teams and individuals

This event will be held on Microsoft Teams

Who can attend?

This workshop is open to all Council Family staff, but will be of particular interest to people who manage a hybrid or remote team.

Sign up now

To book your place on the workshop email Organisational Development (on Outlook).

20 October - Digital Leadership - New Ways of Working - one hour workshop with external speaker, Martyn Wallace

Wednesday 10 November 2021, 9.30am to 10.30am

Organisational Development and Strategic Innovation invite staff to attend the latest New Ways Of Working workshop with Martyn Wallace, Chief Digital Officer - Digital Office for Scottish Local Government.

Martyn leads the Digital Office for Scottish Local Government which was set up in October 2016 to look at creating, delivering and accelerating innovative digital solutions to help Scottish councils with the challenge of balancing their budgets whilst still delivering critical front-line services.

Martyn will discuss his own experiences of working in digital innovation, the challenges facing the public sector, the benefits of exploring new digital solutions and the need for digital leadership at every level.

There will be the opportunity for questions and discussion at the end of the event.

This event will be held on Microsoft Teams

Who can attend?

This workshop is open to all Council Family staff, but will be of particular interest to managers who are keen to innovate processes and embed new digital solutions in their service areas.

Sign up now

To book your place on the workshop complete the workshop registration form

20 October - SPFO Winner of CCLA/Room151 Impact Awards

Strathclyde Pension Fund was the overall winner in the CCLA/Room 151 Impact Award in the Financial category, Impact Investment. The award recognises SPFOs Direct Investment Portfolio (DIP), introduced in 2009 to address the financial crash and a "crippling shortage" of bank loans to smaller companies.

The inaugural CCLA/Room151 Impact Awards showcased the best of UK local government finance teams and their efforts to serve communities and the environment. The award winners were all revealed in a virtual awards ceremony.

Strathclyde Direct Investment Portfolio (DIP)

The DIP, Strathclyde's impact investment portfolio, turned ten in 2020, rising from an initial capacity of £300m and its first investment of £5m, to a net asset value today of £1.3 billion with investments between £20m to £100m.

It recorded impressive portfolio performance, with achievements including £1.6bn of capital made across 49 separate investments, generating returns of 7.1% annually. In 2020, DIP projects produced clean energy for 222,644 homes, with 149,426 tonnes p.a. of CO2 emissions avoided through renewable investments such as wind, hydro, solar, anaerobic digestion and community power

The judges were impressed by Strathclyde DIP's bold, well-focused strategy that started small then grew - an ideal model for others to follow. They commented on courageous leadership to bring investment decisions in-house and remarked that the council was 10 years ahead of time in terms of its leadership on ESG - Environment, Social and Governance.

Judges commented that "Strathclyde was very solid on measurable outcomes and the way it put ESG at the heart of decisions on investment. It demonstrated a very strong range of impacts, over a long period, which it described well in its submission."

Peter Hugh Smith, chief executive of CCLA said: "It never ceases to amaze me quite how much of what we take for granted in our day-to-day lives is because councils do what they do."

Richard McIndoe, Director, Strathclyde Pension Fund, said:"DIP was our own creation and we've worked very hard to develop it to its current position. We're really proud of the very positive environmental and social impacts it has achieved - and it's particularly pleasing to have been externally recognised with this award." 

More information

For more information on theCCLA/Room151 Impact Awards go to

https://www.room151.co.uk/treasury/impact-awards-the-winners-are-revealed/

20 October - Glasgow Hate Crime Awareness Week is taking place from 18-22 October

This campaign encourages activity to educate and raise awareness of the harm and devastation hate crime can cause, whilst encouraging victims and witnesses to speak out and report these incidents. 

A hate crime is any crime motivated by prejudice or hate against a person on the basis of their race, age, religion, sexual orientation, disability, transgender identity, or variations in sex characteristics. 

The council is committed to working in partnership with an array of organisations to raise awareness of Hate Crime in the city by co-ordinating Glasgow Hate Crime Awareness Week.

A number of activities are taking place across the city to mark HCAW. Glasgow schools participated in a competition to come up with a slogan based on this year's theme - community cohesion. The aim of which was to encourage collaboration and creativity to promote an anti-discriminatory ethos in our school communities.

Furthermore, media apprentices from Glasgow Kelvin College participated in a multi-media project which involved the students researching hate crime and creating mixed-media content for council channels to support HCAW as part of their college course. This content will form part of a social media drive highlighting one of the key messages of this year's campaign - 'Glasgow is our city and it is no place for hate'. This will be published across the council's social media platforms throughout the week.

School winners announced

Primary and secondary schools across the city were tasked with creating a slogan that represents the theme of this year's competition - community cohesion.

This year's shortlisted entries for the primary school category, chosen by our panel of judges, were:

• Imanuel, P7a at St. Roch's Primary School - 'Challenge. Report. Change.'
• Tariq, P7b at St. Bridget's Primary School - 'Where there is hate, there is always room for love.'
• Mollie, P7 at Thornwood Primary School - 'No hate, there's no debate.'

Members of the public were invited to vote for the winner which was announced on Monday 18 October, marking the first day of HCAW.

• The primary school winner is Tariq from St Bridget's Primary School for his slogan: 'Where there is hate, there is always room for love'

• The secondary school winner is an S2 pupil from St Pauls RC High School for their slogan: 'There's always time to report the crime'

Both delivered important messages and won £250 for their school.

More information

Read our media release about Glasgow's Hate Crime Week here

For further information on hate crime and how to report it, please click here.

20 October - Let's Grow Together - creating opportunities for people to grow their own food

The Food Growing team at Neighbourhoods, Regeneration and Sustainability (NRS) took a step nearer to achieving their objective of creating a 'food growing' site in each of city's 23 electoral wards.

The project is part of our Food Growing Strategy and will contribute to making Glasgow one of the most sustainable cities in Europe.

Food growing sites will include community gardens, orchards, foraging hedgerows and other formats of food growing.

In September, the team launched the latest project -Growchapel Community Allotment Gardens in (GCAG) in Drumchapel. The site provides 25 growing plots and 10 raised beds which have been allocated to local residents who had expressed an interest and Drumchapel based organisations who had were keen deliver horticultural therapies for their client groups through the site.

The idea for GCAG came from local police officers, NRS neighbourhood staff and elected members in 2019 - they wanted to create activities to help people move on from involvement in anti-social behaviour.

Sandy Paterson, Assistant Manager (Food Growing) NRS said: "The project grew quickly and gained support from a wide range of community groups, local schools and third sector organisations that focus on health and well-being.

"An area of underused land in Drumchapel was identified and a community consultation delivered by NRS staff in collaboration with the steering group was held that indicated strong, local support for the concept of a community garden.

"The area has been fenced off and work to build paths, a drainage system, a polytunnel and other features all completed. With winter approaching, the growers can begin to prepare for seeding and planting in Spring.

"Plans are being developed to offer food growing training workshops and other aspects of community learning and development."

Sandy added: "This has been a real partnership approach involving a number of NRS teams including Neighbourhood Liaison Officers, Landscape Design and Parks Development, Parks Operations working with Connecting Nature Horizon 2020, local organisations and the Third Sector. The success of this project provides a template for future site development.

"We'll continue to work closely with the NRS Neighbourhood Liaison Teams, Corporate Asset Management, Planning Officers, Economic Development, the Chief Executive's Department and People Make Glasgow Communities teams to identify sites for possible development. These include areas within parks, disused sports pitches, expanded allotment sites, within the grounds of community facilities, or derelict sites."

Sandy concluded: "Having access to locally grown food can help ensure more cheap, fresh nutritious produce is consumed in the city and also supports our efforts to reduce the city's carbon footprint.

"Food growing also benefits individuals and the communities they live in; it encourages people to spend more time outdoors tending to their plots which in turn helps to improve physical and mental health and wellbeing and gives people a sense of real satisfaction."

The team now look forward launching the purpose-built allotment site in Sighthill, expansion plans around several existing allotments at Yoker, Westthorn, Hamiltonhill - and starting the process to develop underused sports pitches in Greenfield Park using the model used to develop Growchapel.

More information

Find out more about the NRS Food Growing Strategy here

https://www.glasgow.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=23744

Find out more about Growchapel here

https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/4bf761ca6a954ed2aaf1996bf40e2bee

20 October - Glasgow Transport Strategy - help shape our transport policies over the next 10 years

You are invited to comment on Part one of the council's new Glasgow Transport Strategy, a Draft Policy Framework.

The council (through the Transport Strategy team at Neighbourhoods, Regeneration and Sustainability) is running a six week public and stakeholder consultation which ends on 26 November, 2021.

Deborah Paton, Group Manager (Connectivity Plan), NRS said: "The Draft Policy Framework sets out a series of policies and related actions on transport to help us meet our goals up to 2030. These relate to the contribution of transport to our 2030 net zero carbon goal, an inclusive city, economic success and putting people and place at the heart of our decision making.

"The Policy Framework will influence our decision-making on transport over the next 10 years. It also sets out where we need to work collaboratively with other organisations to make positive change happen.

"We'd like to hear from as many people as possible and council staff are encouraged to have their say - and to encourage friends and family to get involved. The aim of the consultation is to help make the Policy Framework as strong and inclusive as possible."

Your views matter - please take time to have your say

The consultation will run until 26 November, 2021.

You can read both the Full and Easy Read Policy Framework at www.glasgow.gov.uk/transportstrategy (including link to the survey)

You can access the survey here

https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/GCC_GTS_Draft/

13 October - New Glasgow Loves Local gift card

Glasgow is soon to have its own local gift card in a milestone move encouraging people across the city to back local businesses.

Businesses across Glasgow urged to sign up as Scottish Government-backed scheme to keep spending local for longer is promoted across the city.

The council is backing the rollout of the new 'Scotland Loves Local' Gift Card, which is supported by Scottish Government - powering the region's economic fight back from the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Economic Development team in the Chief Executive's Department have been working with partners to launch the initiative.

Ewan Eccleston, Economic Development Manager said: "Supporting local businesses in the city will play a vital part of the city's economic recovery from the pandemic. The Gift Card is a quick and efficient way to encourage spend and drive sales growth in our local economies.

"This is a welcome initiative to help the high street and the wider city economy. I would encourage any businesses in Glasgow interested in this scheme to sign up."

The significant show of support for local businesses across Glasgow is being delivered by Scotland's Towns Partnership (STP) - the organisation spearheading the Scotland Loves Local Campaign. The Gift Card scheme is a partnership with Perth-based fintech specialist Miconex.

STP and Miconex are working with the council to launch the regional gift card, with the first year of costs being met by the Scottish Government as part of its £10 million of support for Scotland Loves Local. There are no registration costs for businesses. Payments are processed as part of the Mastercard network.

Supported by the Scottish Government and others, Scotland Loves Local is the campaign urging people to think local first by spending in businesses and attractions around them - evoking the strong community spirit witnessed at the peak of the coronavirus crisis.

The Glasgow Gift Card is one of 32 Gift Cards, unique to each region of Scotland, and can only be spent in businesses located in the region.

More information

For more information about the Scotland Loves Local Gift Card - including how to sign up - visit www.lovelocal.scot/giftcard.

13 October - Hate Crime Awareness Week, 18 to 24 October

The council family is again committed to raising awareness of hate crime, by supporting Hate Crime Awareness Week (HCAW), from 18 to 24 October, 2021.

A hate crime is any crime motivated by prejudice or hate against a person because of their race, religion, sexual orientation, disability or transgender identity. 

This year the campaign has a focus on 'community cohesion' with Glasgow schools taking part in a school motto competition on the topic. We asked communities across Glasgow and partners to film a short piece "This is our City and it's No Place for Hate" - look out for this in our social media feed which also contains content produced by Glasgow Kelvin College students for us - take a look.

To further raise awareness, adverts will appear on Capitol, Go Radio, Radio Awaz and Sunny Govan throughout the week, with a social media campaign promoting respect and safety for all communities in the city.

Ann Fehilly, Group Manager said: "Glaswegians are being asked to play their part in living up to our reputation as a friendly city, by eradicating hate crime. The week-long awareness campaign urges people across Glasgow to show that our city is no place for hate." 

Glasgow was the first city in Scotland to mark HCAW. In 2015, the city took up the campaign to encourage activity to address hate crime and to educate and raise awareness of the harm and devastation it causes.  Now in its seventh year, HCAW encourages the public - victims and witnesses - to speak out and report hate crime incidents.

More information

Information on hate crime, how to report it and where, is available here

13 October - SPF - a successful signatory to the UK Stewardship Code

The Strathclyde Pension Fund has become a successful signatory of the UK Stewardship Code 2021 - recognised globally as a best-practice benchmark in investment stewardship.

The SPO is one of only 23 asset owner signatories - one third of applicants were unsuccessful.

The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) publishes a list of successful signatories to the UK Stewardship Code. The Code is a voluntary set of principles that sets high expectations for how investors, and those that support them, invest and manage money on behalf of UK savers and pensioners, and how this leads to sustainable benefits for the economy, the environment and society.

Organisations listed are required to report every year to the FRC on their application of the Code. Reports are assessed by the FRC and organisations that meet the reporting expectations are accepted as signatories - all signatories have to annually update and submit their report to remain on the list.

Richard McIndoe, Director, Strathclyde Pension Fund, said: "The FRC's assessment of organisations is rigorous and doesn't allow any greenwashing - making unsubstantiated or misleading claims about the sustainability characteristics and benefits of an investment product. Their latest version of the Code raised the bar on stewardship to be a lot higher than previous editions. So being a successful signatory is a fantastic endorsement of all the responsible investment activity we carry out on behalf of the Fund's 260,000 members and 160 employers."

More information

To find out more about the Strathclyde Pension Office, visit https://www.spfo.org.uk/

13 October - Headteacher shaves her head for charity

Tina MacDonald, headteacher at Notre Dame primary, took the brave decision to shave her head for The Beatson charity in honour of her mum Sadie Kelly.

Tina lost her dad to dementia and her mum to lung cancer within five months of one another - and in her first year in post at Notre Dame primary.

Tina involved the whole school community in fundraising activities and with the support of staff and pupils they have already raised thousands of pounds for the Glasgow cancer centre.

Every class got involved in their own fundraising endeavours including cake sales, pyjama runs in the Botanics, talent shows, dance-a-thons and many more challenges.

Tina had her head shaved in front of the entire school on Thursday 23 September when the whole school wore yellow, the Beatson's colour, and gathered in the playground to watch Tina lose her hair.

Tina's head was shaved by Melissa Gellan who works in the Notre Dame office as well as owning a barbers - so it was truly a whole school effort

Tina said: "The kids, their parents and staff have been brilliant. My husband took a bit more persuading though!"

Tina added: "People say this is brave but my mum lost all her hair going through treatment and she found that very hard - that was brave.

"I am overwhelmed by the amount of money we have raised so far. Our parents have been really, really generous but it's all because it's the Beatson. Everyone either knows someone who has used it or has used it themselves.

"I wanted to involve the school as we have lost a couple of parents to cancer in recent years and have others going through cancer just now."

Previous charity challenges undertaken by Tina include skydives and zip slides. Tina raised money for Alzheimers UK after her dad died in January 2019 from dementia. Her mum died just months later in June that year from lung cancer.

How to support Tina's fundraising efforts

To donate to the cause see: https:www//tinyurl.com/macje9ay

Photograph: courtesy of Herald and Times Group

6 October - Hybrid working pilot update: office occupancy

On 9 August our hybrid working pilot launched to support our plans for a phased return to the office, for staff who have predominantly been working from home.

Our approach to hybrid working - a blend of both home and office working - was implemented on a phased approach with restricted capacity in our buildings at around 30%. At that stage our plans were to consider an increase to capacity at the end of September with a further review in December. This approach indicates our measured and managed return to office working, pioritising service requirements and staff wellbeing needs whilst at the same time aligning with the government ongoing guidance of continuing to work from home where this is possible.

An analysis of our current office occupancy levels across the city centre indicates that we are sitting at just under 15% occupancy rate. This, together with staff feedback from our recent 'future ways of working survey', and continuing Scottish Government guidance, has confirmed that there is no immediate requirement to increase our capacity at this present time for our overall estate.

Our desk capacity will therefore continue to be restricted overall at a level of 30% but this will be reviewed regularly between now and December and of course there is the opportunity for accommodation to be re-allocated to ensure that priority business needs are met. Whilst the overall capacity of 30% is being retained, this does not prevent individual areas who have clear business requirements to exceed this figure from doing so and further information on how this can be achieved is detailed below.

Space allocation

If you are a manager who feels that your local operational activity is being constrained due to the lack of available office accommodation, or that you need more space to meet business needs or for the health and wellbeing needs of your team then you should:

• highlight this to your Head of Service who will then look across your service with the Senior Management Team to understand if any spare office capacity exists within your business area.
• if there is no additional space in your service area, then your Service head can liaise with Corporate Asset Management team, by eamailing FMA Accommodation (on Outlook) to request any space not being used by another area

The Corporate Asset Management team hold detailed information on capacity and usage and will prioritise accommodation to those areas of the business that need it most.

Distancing arrangements

Although the government removed indoor physical distancing from Monday 9 August - in line with our phased approach, we are advising staff to stay at least one metre apartwhilst in and moving around our offices and using other facilities.

Some indications have been received that 30% capacity is restricting team collaboration and training which are key benefits of workplace attendance in the hybrid model. If you are a manager who wishes to explore adjusting the desk plan to provide greater capacity in a safe way, then you must contact Corporate Asset Management who will support you with this change. It is very important that you do not change accommodation or increase capacity without contacting FMA Accommodation (on Outlook) - this will ensure that Property, ICT and cleaning arrangements can be in place prior to any change.

You will continue to see signage in key areas to show the maximum number of staff who can be in a certain area, for example, in a lift, to encourage everyone to keep their distance.

Other mitigations, such as the supply of desk cleaning materials and the provision of hand sanitizer will also remain in place in our buildings. There is also enhanced cleaning with day cleaners on duty who have radios to allow them to respond to any specific issues that arise.

Please remember that you should continue to wear a face covering indoors (unless exempt) in all communal areas and when you're moving around our offices.

More information on hybrid working at:

• Phased return and hybrid working - managers' support - Glasgow City Council
• Phased return and hybrid working FAQs - Glasgow City Council

6 October -  New approach to tackly fly tipping

Neighbourhoods Regeneration and Sustainability Services has launched a new 'Days of Action' approach to fly tipping enforcement, that highlights environmental crime scenes at hotspot locations in the city.

Eileen Marshall, Divisional Director said: "The new enforcement strategy is based on a coordinated approach between NRS teams including environmental health, community enforcement and neighbourhood liaiso and will complement existing enforcement work by environmental health officers.

"The approach will be carefully monitored over an initial eight weeks to gauge its effectiveness. This will help to determine how resources can be deployed for maximum impact."

More information

Further details and information can be found in the council news page

6 October - It's make or break - TEDx annual conference about climate change

On Thursday 7 October, TEDxGlasgow's annual conference is back - from 3pm until 8pm.

The event features a fantastic line-up of speakers who will share their thoughts on creating positive change to an intimate audience at The Engine Works,23-25 Lochburn Road, Glasgow, G20 9AE.

This year's theme, Make or Break, recognises United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres statement that 2021 is a 'make or break' year to confront the global climate emergency.

Throughout the afternoon, six speakers will give a profoundly personalised TEDx talk on the solutions that can help save our planet and how, together, we can create a legacy beyond COP26. 

How to join/ find out more

If you would like to join us and experience this pivotal event that will help to transform ideas into action, tickets are available at https://www.tedxglasgow.com/mainevent

TEDx Glasgow Programme

Arrival and networking, 3pm to 3.55pm

Session One, 4pm to 5.15pm

Event Welcome

Speakers: Jarvis Smith, Charmian Love, Greg Jackson

Climate Action Initiative

Speaker Q&A

Session Two, 5.55pm to 7.20pm

Speakers: John Elkington, Fiona Morgan, Adam Dorr

Speaker Q&A

Post-event networking, 7.20pm to 8pm

6 October - Challenge Poverty - don't jump to judge

This week, from 4 to 10 October, is Challenge Poverty Week. Around the world, events will take place to:

• Highlight the reality of poverty and challenge the stereotypes
• Showcase the solutions to poverty
• Increase public support for action to solve poverty

Gerry Quinn, Poverty Leadership Panel Manager, Chief Executive's Department said: "We have real challenges in Glasgow that were exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic. However, by working with partner organisations, community groups and listening to the voices of those with lived experience, we are determined to overcome these challenges and to build a more equal and just society for our citizens.

"One of the hardest things for those who are struggling financially is coping with the attitude of others towards them and the often-perceived stigma of applying for benefits and support."

Don't jump to judge

Challenge Poverty Week is an opportunity for you to raise your voice against poverty and show what is being done to tackle poverty across Scotland.

This week, pause for thought and consider how we think about and treat our fellow citizens who are on low income or on benefit. Let's treat our fellow citizens with respect 'Don't jump to judge.'

Watch the video

In the following short film John Sherry, Head of the Transformation and Financial Inclusion Team, discusses the challenges our citizens and their families face and what you can do in your role as a council employee.

More information

• Find out more at www.challengepoverty.net
• Find out more about Glasgow's Poverty-Leadership-Panel
• Take the People Make Glasgow Fairer course on GOLD