NOTEBOOK by BILL HEANEY
The Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) has announced its finalists for the Excellence Awards 2024, including the bin service.
I am told by the Reporter, now reduced to a digital news platform, which is what The Democrat is but the curmudgeonly council refuses to recognise, is one of three finalists for the ‘service innovation and improvement’ category.
The denizens of Church Street will now be invited to present their project to a panel of judges in August.
But it should be perfectly clear from a quick glance through the council’s own complaints consultation problem Q&A that matters relating to refuse collection are what angers the public more than any other public service deficiency in West Dunbartonshire.
However, it seems the council spin doctors are unfazed by public opinion in much the same way as are their highly paid bosses and elected members.
Winners will be announced at an awards ceremony at COSLA’s Annual Conference and Exhibition on Thursday, September 19 at the Crieff Hydro Hotel in Perthshire.
And it would appear that the spin doctors want to be there accompanied by the Provost, Three Jobs Douglas McAllister, whom they will wheel out for the occasion if he manages to get himself a pass out from the Westminster parliament that day.
A West Dunbartonshire Council spokesperson said: “We are delighted that this important project has been nominated for a COSLA Excellence Award. The chatbot has strengthened existing processes by offering residents a simple platform to report missed bins quickly and easily, while also providing real-time status updates to keep them informed throughout.
“The judging teams have let me know that the calibre of applications this year was extremely high, so I sincerely thank everyone who took the time to put in an application.
“The COSLA Excellence Awards are a highlight of my year and it’s always inspiring to hear so many positive and innovative projects coming from across Scottish local government. In such a challenging time for councils, it cannot be underestimated how much these teams and the services they offer are relied upon by our communities – overcoming increasingly complex challenges every day.“Councils do and achieve more than what is often seen or portrayed – the work of these teams affects every part of our lives, and is often a lifeline for the most vulnerable members of our communities. I hope you’ll join me in celebrating their efforts, and I am looking forward to the winners being announced at our awards ceremony at the COSLA Conference and Exhibition in September.”
The Convention’s spin doctors appear to lay it on even thicker than the council’s. Next thing we hear from them will be that West Dunbartonshire are worthy winners and have been presented with a golden bin which they’ll parade through the High Street and Main Street in an open top bin lorry before hosting a civic reception for themselves in the Municipal Buildings on the proceeds from the brown bin tax.
No shortage of money to run with these endless surveys and mickey mouse self awarded accolades.
It’s a boondangle as such activities are described.
It would frighten the natives if they actually knew how much money is wasted producing this utterly useless rubbish.
I had a good laugh at that headline when I saw it. I’m still wondering if my brown bin going to be large enough for my food waste every fortnight as I refuse to pay the garden tax.