Glasgow councillors will be updated on Tuesday on work to keep the city's buildings cleaner and freer of graffiti, as the city centre's business improvement district looks to make its Clean Team a longer-term fixture.
A report going before the environment and liveable neighbourhoods committee on 6 October sets out the council's arrangements for repairs, cleansing and graffiti removal, according to Glasgow Live's local democracy reporter.
It follows a motion raised at full council earlier this year, which summarised the city's public realm improvements through the Avenues Programme and wider neighbourhood regeneration, Glasgow Live reports.
Who does what
The council remains responsible for the public services that keep shared spaces safe and working. Glasgow Live lists these as street cleansing, waste management, road and footway maintenance, street lighting and community safety.
The Business Improvement District (BID) is intended to complement those statutory duties rather than replace them, the same report says. Its role is to deliver additional services or initiatives that improve how an area looks and feels, including a rapid response to environmental issues.
The council has been liaising with the BID on how graffiti on buildings is managed, according to Glasgow Live.
In practice, the BID's Clean Team picks up jobs that sit outside existing council services. Let's Go Glasgow describes these as graffiti removal on private buildings, cleaning of bins and street furniture, and work to improve the city's lanes.
Glasgow Live reports that the service adds to what the council already delivers inside the official BID zone, and mentions fly-tipping in lanes, graffiti on private buildings and the removal of stickers.
Businesses that pay the BID levy can log problems through an online helpdesk. Requests are then routed to either the BID or the council, depending on whose responsibility they are, according to Let's Go Glasgow.
From pilot to longer term
The Clean Team began as a pilot in April, delivered by contractor ABM on the BID's behalf. It started with two operatives working seven days a week from 5am to 2pm, Glasgow Chamber of Commerce said at the time.
Following what Glasgow Live describes as a successful pilot, Let's Go Glasgow is now tendering for a longer-term Clean Team resource.
In a statement issued when the pilot launched in April, BID chair Kyron Keogh said: “This pilot is about delivering early, tangible impact. Businesses have made a clear investment commitment through the BID, and our priority is to turn that into visible improvements as quickly as possible.”
Councillor Angus Millar, the council's convener for city centre recovery, said in the same announcement that “a clean and well-maintained city centre is in the interests of businesses, residents and visitors alike”.
He added that the BID's initiative “will complement the Council's services in response to issues raised by the city centre business community”.
What happens next
Progress will be measured. The BID has commissioned a baseline audit, carried out by Keep Scotland Beautiful, which will be repeated to monitor how things change, Glasgow Live reports.
It is not the committee's first look at graffiti this year. An update on a legal graffiti walls pilot was on the agenda at its meeting on 25 August, according to the council's webcast listing.
