August 2020

24 August 2020 - Free Cycle Hire Offer Extended until Spring 2021

Cycling for those every day journeys just got easier, with the news that our free cycle hire offer through the nextbike scheme will continue to be available until next spring.

Since the end of June and for an initial two month period, the first 30 minutes of standard nextbike cycle hire has been at no cost to the hirer. For casual users of the scheme, every rental under 30 minutes duration has been free of charge, and for existing subscribers, this has been extended to the first 60 minutes of any hire. There is no limit on the number of times this offer can be used by a person.

Funded by Smarter Choices Smarter Places, which is Paths for All's programme to increase active and sustainable travel throughout Scotland (grant-funded by Transport Scotland), our free standard cycle hire offer will be extended until March 2021.

Glasgow's cycle hire scheme was launched in 2014, with nextbike currently making available for hire, 800 bikes across 78 city locations.  This level of provision, in addition to the creation of temporary pop-up cycle lanes as part of our Spaces for People programme; combine to increase the accessibility and attractiveness of cycling for everyday journeys, particularly for those new or returning to cycling who may not own a bike.

Cycle hire is proving increasingly popular in the city, with last month's nextbike rental numbers up 12%, compared with July 2019. It is anticipated that extending the free offer for standard bike hire especially as lockdown eases, will contribute further towards an uptake in active travel.

How to access a nextbike

• You can hire a nextbike on a Pay As You Go basis or by subscription. Registration is via app, website or hotline, with full details available on the nextbike website and at docking stations across the city.

More information

• Find out more here about how to hire a nextbike, and for more information about cycling in Glasgow, visit our cycling webpages.

17 August 2020 - Be aware of suspicious emails targeting Glasgow residents

We are aware that fraudsters are currently targeting local citizens with a phishing email regarding Council Tax reductions they may be entitled to.  The emails look like they have been sent from GOV.UK and appear authentic. Our Revenues and Benefits Team have been made aware of this current scam to support and advise residents who may get in touch.
Please be vigilant about emails that you receive.

Check them - Always remember ABC if you are uncertain the email is genuine by:

• Assuming nothing
• Believing no-one
• Check everything

 To help you identify a suspicious email you should check:

• Titles - that offer you money, an incentive, or entice you to click them or open them quickly/urgently without thinking
• Sender - hover your mouse over the sender's contact name to see what actual email address pops up - does it match who you think it was sent from?
• Language - does it contain unusual grammar or phrases or poor spelling?
• Time - was it sent at an odd time? Content - is it asking you to confirm a PIN or password?

Report it - If you think they are suspicious or you are in any doubt about their authenticity please report them to both your line manager and email them to integrity@glasgow.gov.uk. You should delete the email without opening any attachments or clicking on any links. 

17 August 2020 - Update on our Council Family Review

Since 2015 we have completed a number of strategic reviews of our council family operations - to help us continue to deliver efficient and effective best value services back to our citizens. 

Council Family Review activity for 2020/2021

As part of our approach we regularly review our council family operating model to make sure that it remains fit for purpose, takes account of new and emerging issues and continues to deliver best value.

Whilst the longer term impact of Covid-19 may be unknown there are current factors that we need to address as part of our continuous review of our operating model. For example, this includes ongoing activity to look at opportunities highlighted from previous review decisions, service reform activity and our council strategy and action plans.
This next phase in our approach will review how we can improve links and collaborative ways of working between Development and Regeneration Service, Neighbourhoods and Sustainability and Chief Executive's Department. As the review progresses and we look at innovative ways of working and improvements identified as part of our renewal plans and response to Covid-19, other Service areas may become involved.

This review will be led by a team of dedicated officers working closely with Service teams reporting back to the relevant Executive Directors and in consultation with Trade Unions.
Staff will be kept updated on revised operational models as they develop and the revised structure is scheduled for completion at the start of the next financial year 2021 to 2022.

Other review activity

A City Parking review is also currently underway. 

As a result of previous reviews Cordia Services and Community Safety Services were transferred back into the council. This restructuring helped to deliver on our key priorities to meet the needs of our city and key services to our citizens, whilst at the same time delivering more efficient ways of working, reducing duplication and spending.

10 August 2020 - Glasgow is first local authority in Scotland to launch climate emergency training

The council's Sustainability Team have been working in association with Keep Scotland Beautiful, to develop a bespoke Climate Emergency Training course which launches this week.

The course enables learners to find out about the causes of climate change and how it will impact Glasgow as well as the strategies the council might implement to mitigate and adapt to climate change.

Each participant will be awarded with official Carbon Literate accreditation upon successful completion of the course.
Gavin Slater, Head of Sustainability, Neighbourhoods and Sustainability said: "We are the first local authority in Scotland to offer the training, which will initially be undertaken by elected members before being rolled out and offered to the wider council family in October.

"The course is one of the 61 recommendations that were identified to help elected leaders respond to the growing risks of climate change, after the council declared a climate and ecological emergency in May 2019.

"The training will help to establish a common understanding and a common language in relation to addressing the climate emergency.
Gavin added: "Alongside the course we have been working closely with the Service Development and Innovation team and technology company Reshape, to incorporate a brand new carbon management app. This will allow learners to calculate their own carbon footprint making the course bespoke for the user.

"The app also offers support to enable users to reduce their personal impact on climate change and connects them with further resources.

"The app will be piloted along with the course making it a really engaging experience for the user.

"We will provide details in due course, on how staff can sign up to participate in the training when it is rolled out in October."

More information

To find out more about what the council and our partners are doing about climate change, please visit:
• View our Carbon Management Plan
• Find out more about Sustainable Glasgow
• Find out more about our plans to become a Carbon Neutral City
• Find out more about Climate Ready Clyde

3 August 2020 - Supporting staff who are EU citizens - applying to the EU Settlement Scheme

If you're an EU, EEA or Swiss citizen living in the UK by 31 December 2020, and you and your family members want to continue to live in the UK after 30 June 2021, you can apply to the EU Settlement Scheme. The scheme allows you and your family to get the immigration status you need to continue to live, work, study and have access to public services like the NHS - after 30 June 2021. It has been open since 30 March 2019. We encourage those staff who are EU citizens, and eligible to apply to the scheme, to do so today. You can read our staff briefing on the support available to help you with your application and what to do next. It also contains important information regarding the changes to the immigration system taking place from 1 January 2021.

3 August 2020 - Council meetings back on track : remotely with Teams

As restrictions continue, the council is making the most of technology to help keep services running as near normal as possible.

Staff across the council family, and elected members, have been supported with technology, organised by the SIT (Strategic Information and Technology) team in the Chief Executive's Office. The first full Council meeting since the 20 February 2020 took place 'remotely' on Thursday 30 July with 105 people in total joining the session, which was held virtually using Microsoft Teams.

John Lyle, Head of Strategic Information and Technology said: "We've been working hard to support services across the council family to maintain delivery of a wide range of services.  We've been working with staff and with elected members to make sure that everyone was up to speed on Teams and that a successful full-council meeting could take place.

"Over the past six weeks, the SIT team, colleagues from member services and committee services and CGI have been working hard to make sure elected members have the correct devices, and that they were trained in using Microsoft Teams. This has given us a model that can be used in the future as we extend use of Teams across the wider council. Over 2,000 council users and 1.1 million minutes of Microsoft Teams meetings has already been completed."

John added: "We will now take the lessons learned from the session and offer some more dedicated training sessions to those elected members that need it as well as update our best practice guides based on our experience here."

More information

A full rollout of Microsoft Teams is underway as is implementation of a new range of Microsoft tools to help us work differently. More information can be obtained from service area business partners and Microsoft Teams Digital Champions.