Piero Pieraccini, Paisley Development Trust; Andrew Ramsay, Paisley East & Whitehaugh Community Council; and S McDonald, Active Communities.

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

There was submitted the Minute of the meeting of this Local Partnership held on 16 June 2021.

DECIDED: That the Minute be approved.

The Chief Executive ROAR Connections for Life provided a verbal update relative to the project being undertaken by ROAR Connections for Life /Renfrewshire Health & Social Care Partnership within the local Partnership area in respect of loneliness and social isolation.

It was highlighted that the Local Partnership had previously agreed that Social Connections was a key priority for the Partnership. During the update members were provided with definitions of loneliness and isolation, made aware of the impact of these experiences and advised of the principal reasons for establishment of the project at this time. The role and priorities of the Project Worker posts were outlined in detail. A summary of activities undertaken and planned were provided.

The opportunity was taken to to introduce the two new Connectedness Project workers, Lesley Drummond and Gillian Thomson, to members of the Local Partnership and to disseminate their contact details.

DECIDED: That the update be noted.

G Hannah, Infrastructure, Transportation & Change Manager (Renfrewshire Council) gave a presentation relative to the Community Investment Fund, a participatory budgeting initiative, via which £1.2 million of Roads Capital Investment Programme funding had been made available, over a 3-year period, for local residents to suggest and then determine.

The You Decide initiative, would act as the process by which local communities would determine which potential projects would be prioritised and progressed.  The process provided local communities with a key-role in the decision-making process and the Council with a better understanding of community priorities.

A summary of the scope of the Fund was provided, together with details of the next stages of the process and the anticipated timescales involved.
The presentation outlined the community engagement undertaken to date. It was highlighted that key community sites had been used, including supermarkets, libraries, leisure centres to undertake the Roadshows to ensure inclusiveness. Details of the marketing strategy undertaken in respect of the engagement process were also provided.  It was noted that the creation of a specific Council webpage had also provided an opportunity to submit ideas for projects. The Local Partnership was informed that to date 96 project ideas had been received across the Paisley East area and examples of the nature of projects proposed was provided.

DECIDED: That the presentation be noted.

S Miller (Engage Renfrewshire) made a short presentation relative to the Communities, Health and Wellbeing Fund.

The Local Partnership was advised that nationally £15 million had been made available to provide significant investment into community support for adults, building on the children and young people’s community wellbeing supports currently being rolled out across Scotland via the Communities, Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund. The Fund would be locally focused, work with local partners and strong connections with community groups. The allocation for Renfrewshire was £509,542. A summary of the Fund aims and the criteria for funding was provided. Engage Renfrewshire was the point of contact for enquiries, applications, delivery of grant monies and monitoring. It was planned that the 2021/22 funding would be fully allocated by the end of the financial year. It was highlighted during the presentation that an appropriate ‘light touch’ application process would be adopted to facilitate access to the fund, that proposed grant awards would range between £10,000 and under and larger grants, of around £50,000. In addition, it was noted that there was potential for the award of smaller amounts to non-constituted groups. The local application processes would be open by 30th November 2021.

DECIDED: That the content of the presentation be noted.

There was submitted a report by the Chief Executive relative to the funding allocated by the Paisley East Local Partnership to local community groups to undertake projects during 2021/22.

The report advised that the 2021/22 budget allocated from the General Fund, the Paisley Common Good Fund and monies carried forward from 2020/21 of £68,142.95 for this Local Partnership had been awarded to local groups. An appendix to the report detailed the distribution of funds made at the meeting of the Local Partnership held on 16 June 2021.

In addition, it was highlighted that funding of £24,095 had been available for projects to benefit young people through the Celebrating Renfrewshire Fund.  The results of awards made through the Celebrating Renfrewshire participatory budgeting process from the Paisley East budget would be circulated to members of the Local Partnership when available.

DECIDED:  That the report be noted.

There was submitted a report by the Chief Executive relative to the proposed adoption of an agreed process to assist the future allocation of Local Partnership budget.

The report indicated that during discussion regarding the allocation of grant funding at the meeting of this Local Partnership held on 16 June 2021, it had been proposed that, in future, a process be agreed for allocating the Local Partnership budget prior to the meeting. This proposed course of action, which involved convening a pre-budget allocation workshop, would enable members of the Local Partnership to explore options for taking budget decisions and have clear agreement on a structured process for discussion. In addition, it would enable members to agree the criteria that they wished to apply to the decision-making process and identify options for dealing with any excess in the value of applications in excess of the available funds. It was noted that in the case of other Local Partnerships, the convening of a pre-budget allocation workshop facilitated looking at options to set a maximum award to organisations and an appropriate percentage figure to apply to any approach to pro rata applications.  As part of the process, Council officers also contacted applicants and discussed what impact these financial options would have on the proposed project, thereby providing the Local Partnership with better information to make decisions. It was highlighted that Paisley East Local Partnership would have flexibility to choose its own options to discuss. 

DECIDED:

(a) That it be agreed that a budget workshop meeting be held, prior to the main 2022/23 grant allocation Local Partnership meeting to consider, discuss and agree a process to guide discussion at the Local Partnership meeting; and

(b) That the date and time of the budget workshop meeting be communicated to members of Paisley East Local Partnership following the receipt and processing of applications for 2022/23 funding.