Glasgow’s assisted gardens maintenance scheme provides basic garden maintenance for some 17,000 citizens. The service is designed to help elderly and disabled people.

In previous years the service was supplied directly from the Council’s Land and Environmental Services department but this year the service was transferred to Glasgow Regeneration Agency with the hope of providing workplace and training opportunities to young people and offering the prospect of full time job opportunities.

However since the service transferred the number of complaints has steadily risen with constituents complaining of having received either no service or a very limited and poor quality service.

I recently met with managers from Land and Environmental Services (LES) to raise the level of complaints and the failure of the Regeneration Agency to deal with constituent complaints. A full debate on the issue was held at our Full Council meeting and the city’s Labour administration have now indicated that additional staff and management support will be provided. They have also indicated that the season will be extended into October in order to ensure that constituents receive some kind of service.

I fully support the aim of creating training opportunities for young people but I think it’s clear that Glasgow Regeneration Agency and LES were poorly prepared for the new scheme. The reasons behind the problems will be subject to scrutiny by Councillors as will the future delivery.

Nearly 300 constituents in Maryhill Kelvin receive this service and I’m determined to ensure that there is a dramatic improvement in the quality of the service for the start of the New Year.

Who is eligible for this service?

This service is available to residents of Glasgow who meet the following criteria:

• The householder is a registered Council Tax Payer
• The householder is over 70 years of age
• The householder has a medical condition that prevents them from maintaining the garden
• There are no able bodied persons between the ages of 16 and 69 in the household

What service is provided? 

• 13 cuts per year
• 3 hedge cuts per year