Council structure
Communities and Place
Executive Chief Officer (ECO)
Allan Gunn
Executive Chief Officer Communities and Place
Committee(s)
Service roles / main functions
- Waste services (refuse collection, recycling and disposal) and street cleaning.
- Environmental Health and Bereavement Services.
- Maintenance of community spaces – grounds, public conveniences, war memorials, Council fleet and logistics.
- Customer services, service points, registrars.
- City and Ward Management, community planning, community engagement and community asset transfers.
- Poverty reduction, equalities and human rights.
The Communities and Place Service brings functions together that focus on three key public service areas. These are:
- Delivering key services that reach everyone in the Highlands: waste operations (refuse collection, recycling and disposal); waste strategy; environmental health; street cleaning; amenities and grounds maintenance; public conveniences, customer contact/services; registrars; and burials and cremations.
- Working with communities to improve public services locally: city and ward management; community asset transfers; community engagement; participatory budgeting; community learning and development (with Highlife Highland); community planning; place-based approaches; and maintaining war memorials.
- Tackling poverty and inequality and leading on our equalities and human rights duties.
The service also supports all Council operations by providing all fleet, travel arrangements and supplies from our stores.
There are new possibilities emerging from bringing these functions together, for example how Council fleet can support community transport groups to reduce transport poverty. With around 900 staff (620 full time equivalents) and a gross revenue budget of around £53m and net revenue budget of £33m, the Service is open to ideas on improvement and will work with communities in developing new approaches to service delivery.