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Meeting Details

Fairer Renfrewshire Sub-committee
16 Aug 2022 - 10:00 to 12:00
  • Documents
  • Attendance
  • Visitors
  • Declarations of Interests

Documents

Agenda

Agenda
Councillors
Standard Items
Hybrid Meeting
Please note that this meeting is scheduled to be held in the Council Chambers.  However, it is a hybrid meeting and arrangements have been made for members to join the meeting remotely should they wish.
Further Information

This is a meeting which is open to members of the public. 

A copy of the agenda and reports for this meeting will be available for inspection prior to the meeting at the Customer Service Centre, Renfrewshire House, Cotton Street, Paisley and online at http://renfrewshire.cmis.uk.com/renfrewshire/CouncilandBoards.aspx

For further information, please email
democratic-services@renfrewshire.gov.uk 

Members of the Press and Public
Members of the press and public wishing to attend the meeting should report to the customer service centre where they will be met and directed to the meeting.
Recording of Meeting

Prior to the commencement of the meeting the Convener intimated that this meeting of the Board would be recorded on teams and this can be viewed using the link below.

https://youtu.be/-Ov5edjP2UY

Section 1 Heading
Section 1
Apologies
Apologies from members.
Declarations of Interest
Members are asked to declare an interest in any item(s) on the agenda and to provide a brief explanation of the nature of the interest.
There were no declarations of interest intimated prior to the commencement of the meeting.
Report by Chief Executive
1
There was submitted a report by the Chief Executive relative to the remit, membership and governance arrangements for the Sub-committee.

The report intimated that at its meeting held on 19 May 2022 Council agreed to establish a Sub-committee of the Leadership Board which would consider matters including social renewal, tackling poverty and the cost of living crisis. The initial remit for the Sub-committee was subsequently agreed by Council at its meeting held on 30 June 2022.

The report set out the Sub-committee’s membership, agreed schedule of meetings and current meeting arrangements. The report requested that consideration be given to the appointment of a Vice-convener and also to the potential to webcast meetings of the Sub-committee. 

Councillor Nicolson, seconded by Councillor McGurk, moved that Councillor Clark be appointed as Vice-convener of the Sub-committee.  This was agreed.
 
DECIDED:

(a) That the remit of the Sub-committee as agreed by Council on 30 June 2022 be noted; 

(b) That Councillor Clark be appointed as Vice-convener for the Sub-committee; and

(c) That it be recommended that future meetings of the Sub-committee be webcast.
Report by Chief Executive
2
There was submitted a report by the Chief Executive relative to an overview of key context and evidence around current pressures on household finances, both in terms of household income and expenditure. 

The report provided an overview of key drivers of household incomes, including employment trends and recent changes relating to social security benefits. It detailed a number of key messages including: the positive recovery of employment rates in Renfrewshire following the Covid-19 pandemic, with the unemployment rate at an all-time low; recognition that many households in work had low or unpredictable incomes due to insecure employment or faced income pressures due to major life events such as having children, separation or ill-health; incomes were not able to keep pace with rising inflationary pressures meaning that household budgets were squeezed in real terms as the amount people could buy with the money they earned and/or received through social security was limited; and there had been a number of changes to social security benefits at a UK, Scottish and local level.
 
The report outlined recent evidence around the rising cost of living, and the significant pressure this extra expenditure puts on household finances including current estimates around the rising cost of domestic energy which would  mean managing household finances would become increasingly challenging, within the context of a wide range of inflationary pressure on essentials;  the impacts of inflation were felt disproportionately in low income households, who spent a higher proportion of their income on essentials such as groceries and fuel; and where people did not have a financial ‘buffer’ such as savings, people needed to consider if and how they might be able to increase their income, reduce spending, or seek other means of financial support. 

The report provided the latest update on child poverty figures for Renfrewshire, indicating that child poverty rates had fallen to 19.5% in 20/21 from 23.1% in 19/20.  An analysis of these statics was included in the report.

DECIDED: That the report be noted.
Presentation by Strategic Partnership & Inequalities Manager 
3
The Strategic Partnership & Inequalities Manager gave a presentation on food and fuel insecurity, a copy of which had been circulated with the agenda.

DECIDEDThat the presentation be noted.
Section 2 Heading
Section 2
Section 3 Heading
Section 3
Section 4 Heading
Section 4
Section 5 Heading
Section 5
Section 6 Heading
Section 6
Section 7 Heading
Section 7
Section 8 Heading
Section 8

Attendance

Name
No other member attendance information has been recorded for the meeting.
NameReason for Sending Apology
Councillor Anne Hannigan 
NameReason for Absence
No absentee information has been recorded for the meeting.

Declarations of Interests

Member NameItem Ref.DetailsNature of DeclarationAction
No declarations of interest have been entered for this meeting.

Visitors

Visitor Information is not yet available for this meeting