Councillor Glen, Chair, presided.

Councillor R Glen; M Crearie; A Morrison; R Cooper (all Renfrewshire Council); B Davidson, Renfrewshire Chamber of Commerce; S Graham, Engage; S Clocherty, Health & Social Care Partnership; A Dick, West College Scotland; and M Dunn University of the West of Scotland.

D Amos; Y Farquhar and C MacDonald (all Renfrewshire Council).

The Convener intimated that he proposed to alter the order of business to facilitate the conduct of the meeting by considering item 6 of the agenda after item 2.

Councillor Glen opened the meeting by welcoming Meg Dunn, External Engagement Business Partner from UWS, and Alasdair Morrison, Head of Regeneration, Renfrewshire Council to the meeting.

Prior to consideration of the following item of business S Graham left the meeting.

I McLean, Forum for Empowering Communities; R Nimmo, Glasgow Airport; J Downie, Police Scotland; H Cunningham, Health & Social Care Partnership; K Sharp, Scottish Enterprise; M Gilligan, Skills Development Scotland; J Binning, Strathclyde Partnership for Transport.

There were no declarations of interest intimated prior to commencement of the meeting.

There was submitted the Minute of the meeting of the Jobs & the Economy Thematic Board held on 16 June, 2015.

DECIDED:  That the Minute be approved.

The Rolling Action Log was submitted for approval.

J&E.27.03.13(2.3iii) AND J&E.09.01.14(6) - DISCUSSION ON OVERLAPPING THEMES WITH C&YP TB

M Crearie advised that she had met with P MacLeod, Director of Children’s Services and Lead Officer for Children & Young People Thematic Board and it was agreed that the first hour of the next meeting of the Children & Young People Thematic Board to be held on 12 November, 2015 should involve a group of Members from the Jobs & the Economy Thematic Board to discuss overlapping themes. The Clerk took a note of Members who were interested in attending the meeting and she advised that she would send a calendar invitation to those Members 

J&E.12.03.15(6) - IIQ

It was noted that meetings were ongoing.

DECIDED:

(a) That it be agreed that a group of members representing the Jobs & the Economy Thematic Board meet with the Children & Young People Thematic Board at its next meeting to be held on 12 November, 2015 to discuss overlapping themes; and

(b) That the rolling action log be noted.

D Amos delivered a presentation setting out proposals to deliver the recommendations made by the Tackling Poverty Commission as set out in the Council’s Action Plan. Renfrewshire Council had committed £6M towards the delivery of the Action Plan. Both the Scottish Government and national media were taking a keen interest in progress to deliver positive outcomes.

The presentation gave the background to the development of the strategy and the launch of the report; outlined the timeline that was being followed; highlighted the key messages of the strategy and the priorities; summarised the key principles; and drew special attention to five specific projects relating to the Jobs & the Economy theme.

DECIDED:

(a) To thank David for his presentation; and

(b) To note the presentation.

R Cooper delivered a presentation updating members on the Annual Employability Awards and Conference which took place in the Normandy Hotel, Renfrew on 17 and 18 June, 2015.

The Awards ceremony recognised the achievements of many unemployed people who had secured work over the last 2 years. The event also highlighted the depth of partnership in Renfrewshire with a number of CPP partners presenting the awards and speaking on the night.

The annual Employability Conference took place on 18 June, 2015 and the conference programme included tackling inequalities and key developments; building on developing Scotland’s young workforce; local information/communications on employability; and maximising opportunities from planned Renfrewshire Developments.

DECIDED

(a) To thank Ruth for her presentation; and

(b) To note the presentation.

A report was submitted by R Cooper, Development & Housing Services, Renfrewshire Council which provided an update on the Working Matters labour market programme being delivered through Invest in Renfrewshire as part of the Glasgow and Clyde Valley City Deal. This was the first of the employability programmes to be delivered through City Deal.

The report advised that the programme commenced in August and would run for a period of three years. Participants to the programme were ESA claimants who had completed two years on the Work Matters Programme and had not achieved a sustainable outcome.

DECIDED

(a) That the roll out of the Working Matters programme in August 2015 be noted; and

(b) That it be agreed that further updates on progress would be submitted to the Board.

R Cooper delivered a presentation relating to InCube, the new business incubator for creative retail businesses. She advised that all InCube businesses won their places against stiff competition and were receiving a broad mix of support, training and advice from industry experts with a package of support worth more than £11,000 which included funding and support. The incubator gave young businesses a worry-free environment in which they could concentrate on developing their products, services and markets.

She advised that a shop would shortly open up in Gilmour Street which would sell the products of the young businesses and the shop would also run as a retail academy.

DECIDED:

(a) To thank Ruth for her presentation; and

(b) To note the presentation.

There was submitted a report by B Davidson relative to an evaluation of the Voyager Project.

The report advised that the Voyager Project was a cross partner international themed initiative focused on students conducting international research for local business; working with 4 key partners – Scottish Enterprise (SE), the University of the West of Scotland (UWS), Renfrewshire Chamber of Commerce and Renfrewshire Council (Invest in Renfrewshire).

Overall, all partners, students, mentors & clients believed that Voyager was a success and the report recommended that the project be continued and expanded in the future.

DECIDED:  That the report be noted.

A verbal update was given by Bob Davidson, Chief Executive of Renfrewshire Chamber of Commerce on the activities of the Chamber.

He advised that applications were due to close for the annual business awards of Renfrewshire Chamber of Commerce, the ROCCO awards. A new category had been established called “Renfrewshire’s Favourite Business” which would be sponsored by the Paisley Daily Express and the timeline for this award would be different from the rest.

It was noted that the Chamber's next lunch would take place on Thursday 24 September 2015 at Ingliston Country Club and the speaker was Tom Stewart, the Chair of Paisley First (the BID - Business Improvement District).

Renfrewshire Chamber of Commerce had become the first Chamber in Scotland to be accredited with Investors in People Gold. He intimated that the Chamber was delighted to receive this award.

Renfrewshire Chamber of Commerce and Renfrewshire Council were working together on a STEM fortnight which would take place between Tuesday 29 September and Friday 9 October, 2015. They were looking to provide as many STEM related opportunities as possible for pupils to enter into Renfrewshire businesses that were involved in Science, Technology, Engineering or Maths.

The Young Enterprise Scotland Company Programme was launched at West College Scotland on 2 September, 2015. The programme was an opportunity for S5 and S6 pupils to learn real entrepreneurial skills in a safe but competitive environment.

DECIDED: That the verbal update be noted.

There was submitted a report by R Cooper, Economic Development Manager relative to potential funding sources and delivery of a single employer offer to companies.

The report advised that the new model was broadly similar to the model being developed through Renfrewshire Council and it had been incorporated into a wider Renfrewshire Recruitment Incentive for the next three years.

DECIDED

(a) That the report the noted; and

(b) That updates on the project would be submitted to a future meeting of the Board.

There was submitted a newsletter by Economic Development which provided an overview of employment activity and economic development in Renfrewshire at the end of July 2015.

The newsletter illustrated the Renfrewshire labour market position and advised how Renfrewshire fared in comparison to the rest of the country. It also included a brief summary of the progress made to date by the Council’s Invest in Renfrewshire Programme and Business Gateway Programme and provided information on wider economic development activity across Renfrewshire.

DECIDED: That the newsletter be noted.