Dundee’s SNP and Labour group leaders clashed in the city chambers as the result of the council’s annual consumer survey were revealed.
The survey effectively a report card for public services was largely positive, with Dundonians expressing 100% satisfaction with key services such as local schools and social care/social work.
Labour group leader Kevin Keenan, however, said the figures masked issues with council performance and said he was aware of many instances in which residents were unhappy with the service being provided.
Colleagues raised concerns about a downturn in public satisfaction with ease of access to some facilities and with the handling of complaints.
Those comments brought stern words from council leader Ken Guild, who criticised Labour’s “unremitting negativity about a very positive report”.
They also brought SNP councillor Ken Lynn to his feet to defend social work and social care, prompting a three-way shouting match in which Mr Keenan called for improvements.
He was repeatedly told to retake his seat by Mr Guild and chastised for his “boorish behaviour”, which the SNP leader said was so bad it was likely to see him “appear in the morning’s newspapers”.
Further questions from the Labour group brought a promise from council officials to look carefully at areas where there was an apparent downturn in satisfaction.
During the same meeting of the policy and resources committee, councillors agreed to allocate £60,624 from the Dundee Community Regeneration Fund to support the work of a variety of local organisations.
Beneficiaries include the award-winning Yusuf Youth Initiative, which is involved in an increasingly diverse range of projects in the city among them the setting-up of Dundee’s first Muslim Scout group.
It will use the funding in an effort to help young people within the city’s Asian and Muslim communities integrate more easily into city life.
Over eight weeks, the cultural integration project will look to bring the young people together with groups and activities in the Coldside area and break down barriers to participation.
Coldside benefited again as the 20th Dundee Scouts received £1,202 to help with the establishment of a new Scout group at Coldside Church, catering for around 75 young people.
South Road Allotment Association was awarded £2,800 to enable the purchase of an accessible, waterless composting toilet block for the 60 users of the busy allotment.
Dundee Health Living Initiative received £807 to help provide elementary cooking skills courses in Douglas.