Narrowing of the poverty attainment gap, the imminent opening of V&A Dundee, an increase in recycling rates and a reduction in delayed discharges from hospitals are among the highlights of a progress report on the council’s “roadmap” for the city.
The policy and resources committee (Monday August 20) will be presented with a progress report on the council plan 2017-22.
A number of scorecards highlight achievements for the city and show where work is ongoing to make improvements for people across the city.
Council leader John Alexander said: “This is an exciting time for the city and our progress report outlines areas where we are making a difference to people’s lives across Dundee.
“This is a bold and ambitious plan. We are determined to work hard with our partners to make the city a better place for everyone. This is why priorities like cutting fuel poverty and pursuing our fairness agenda are so important.
“We want to ensure that no one is left behind in the development of our city economy.
“This is why education is so important and so I am pleased that the poverty-related attainment gap is closing and that significant improvements are being measured in literacy and numeracy results in P7.
“We are already seeing more opportunities being created in the city, with new jobs and less unemployment.
“In the past week BT has created over 100 new jobs and we are seeing recruitment rising for the headquarters of Social Security Scotland.”
The five year plan covers 2017-2022 and the progress report outlines the way forward over a number of service areas.
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Councillor Alexander added: “I am aware that there are many challenges still to be tackled.
“The city council cannot work alone and I am pleased that our partners in the public, private education and third sectors are playing a major part in these efforts.
“This progress report is only the first staging post in a longer journey and it really gives us inspiration to move forward.”
Dundee City Council
Dundee draws skilled workers from a 60-minute catchment population of 640,000 and has a local population of over 140,000. The availability of a large pool of highly skilled labour is a key feature in the Dundee economy. Flexibility in the labour force is currently more prevalent in Dundee than in Scotland as a whole. All forms of labour market flexibility - part-time, temporary employment, self-employment and shift work - are widely operational within the city. Labour force stability in the city is excellent, enabling companies to plan with confidence. Labour turnover levels are less than 5% and absenteeism averages 2%.