Changing duties ...

The Council has now agreed to put parks, bins, property maintenance and trading standards into one, Environment Department, and that means a welcome change in my job description. With one department looking after the city, we can expect much greater efficiency and lower costs.

So from the end of the month I will simply be Convener of Housing, and Cllr Bob Duncan will be Convener of Environment. There's plenty to do in Housing, so I won't be twiddling my thumbs. But I'll miss the other departments which have been doing some great work. In the last few days we've announced a graffiti blitz to build on what we've already done all over the city. The vandals keep defacing our buildings, but we're not far behind them and we keep cleaning off their "tags".

We've opened the Riverside Nature Park, which is a brand new park for the city created out of the old Riverside Coup. It's a place to go and see wildlife and take in some spectacular views.

Today along with Shona Robison and Joe Fitzpatrick we launched Child Safety Week, urging people to "Take a Second Look" at their home to ensure unnecessary hazards are removed. And on Friday it's the Solar Cities Conference, which is all about keeping the planet cool and fighting fuel poverty.

I'll also miss the excellent officers in Environmental Services, Waste Management and Dundee Contract Services who have signed up to the doctrine of 'continuous improvement', and as a result are continuously improving the efficiency of their sections.

So I wish Cllr Duncan the best of luck in his new role and I'll concentrate on Housing. I'm confident the officers there will have good news to announce before very long.