Prior to the commencement of the meeting the Convener intimated that this meeting of the Board would be filmed for live or subsequent broadcast via the Council's internet site.

Councillor Ann-Dowling declared an interest in item 3 for the reason that she was Chair of the Renfrewshire Citizens Advice Bureau. Councillor Ann-Dowling indicated that as she had declared an interest, she would leave the meeting during any discussion and voting on the item.

There was submitted a joint revenue and capital budget monitoring report by the Chief Executive, Director of Finance & Resources and the Chief Finance Officer, Renfrewshire Health & Social Care Partnership relative to the projected capital and revenue outturn positions as at 31 March 2023 for those services reporting to this Board.

It was noted that there was a projected underspend of £0.004 million in the revenue outturn and a breakeven position in respect of the capital outturn.

DECIDED:

(a) That the projected revenue outturn position detailed in Table 1 of the report be noted;

(b) That the projected capital outturn position detailed in Table 2 of the report be noted; and

(c) That the budget adjustments detailed at sections 4 and 6 of the report be noted.

There was submitted the Minute of the meeting of the Fairer Renfrewshire Sub-committee held on 22 March 2023 which forms the Appendix to this Minute.

DECIDED: That the Minute be approved.

There was submitted an update report by the Chief Executive relative to work being undertaken by the Council and its partners to progress the Fairer Renfrewshire Programme.

The report provided a summary of the key headline issues relating to the cost of living crisis locally, and set out the priorities for the Fairer Renfrewshire Programme over the coming quarter.  The report also made recommendations in relation to the allocation of an additional £1.025 million of Council funding for initial investment during 2023/24 focussed on supporting the financial security of people in Renfrewshire. 

In relation to the work of the Alcohol and Drugs Commission, the report also provided an overview of the Recovery Change Fund and set out a recommendation for further resources to extend an existing project funded from this source.  It was noted that a review of the Fund would be undertaken to assess links with other national funding streams and to develop options for the funding going forward.

DECIDED:

(a) That the progress made in relation to key projects within the Fairer Renfrewshire programme be noted;

(b) That £818,812 be allocated to extend the delivery of projects within the Tackling Poverty Programme for 2023/24 as detailed at Section 4 of the report;

(c) That £140,000 be allocated to develop a dedicated family advice team to provide income advice for families with children in Renfrewshire, as detailed at Section 4 of the report; 

(d) That authority be delegated to the Head of Policy & Commissioning to flexibly manage the Council's allocation of £100,000 for holiday activities and food in consultation with the Leader of the Council, as detailed at Section 5 of the report;

(e) That £20,000 be allocated to extend the fuel insecurity pilot for a further six months from April 2023, as detailed at Section 5 of the report; and

(f) That the allocation of £5,012 from the Recovery Change Fund to support the initiative detailed at Section 6 of the report be approved.

There was submitted a report by the Chief Executive relative to proposals for the allocation of grant funding of £360,610 to Engage Renfrewshire for 2023/24.

The report intimated that, together with annual core Scottish Government funding and wider income generation, this grant funding enabled Engage Renfrewshire to provide a range of activities and supports across the area and to operate as Renfrewshire's third sector interface organisation.

The report noted that as required by the Council's grant funding arrangements, a grant support agreement was developed jointly each year by the Council and Engage Renfrewshire setting out the key outcomes to which Engage Renfrewshire would continue to contribute to the delivery.

DECIDED: That grant funding of £360,610 to Engage Renfrewshire be approved to deliver the service outlined within the grant support agreement appended to the report.

There was submitted a report by the Director of Environment, Housing & Infrastructure relative to the refurbishment of tennis courts and development of tennis in Renfrewshire parks.

The report intimated that in October 2021 the UK Government and the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) announced an investment into public park tennis courts for local communities.  The Government was investing £22 million together with a committed spend from the LTA of £8.5 million. 

The report outlined that the Council was working with the LTA in partnership with OneRen to submit a formal bid for funding to refurbish tennis courts in up to three sites within Renfrewshire's estate, namely Robertson Park, Renfrew; Brodie Park, Paisley and Park Road, Johnstone. The report noted that the LTA had advised that Robertson Park and Brodie Park had been prioritised for initial funding and that Park Road, Johnstone would be added if funds became available. As part of the grant funding agreement the LTA required that an approved court booking system was introduced to support the effective use of any refurbished court and that work was undertaken to develop tennis within the Council area and the report proposed that, should the bid be successful, OneRen would lead on booking, coaching programmes and sports development arrangements.  It was also noted that a formal legal agreement with OneRen required to be approved to ensure due diligence with the contract terms and conditions associated with the grant.

DECIDED:

(a) That the work already undertaken to support the bids to the LTA  bid to refurbish tennis courts and develop tennis as a sport in up to three sites within Renfrewshire be noted;

(b) That authority be delegated to the Director of Environment, Housing & Infrastructure 

(i) to determine which, if any, of the three sites were suitable for refurbishment using LTA funding, taking account of the factors set out in paragraph 3.8 of the report;

(ii) in consultation with the Head of Corporate Governance, to enter into funding agreements with the LTA for any of the three sites, on the principle terms and conditions set out in Appendix 1 to the report titled Annex 2; and

(iii) in consultation with the Head of Corporate Governance, to enter into agreements with OneRen in order to meet the requirements of any funding agreements; 

(c) That it be noted that an update report would be presented to this Board which would provide further detail on the funding bid, required governance and capital and revenue costs; and

(d) That it be noted that it was anticipated that a report would be submitted to the OneRen Board on 15 June 2023 seeking approval for the proposed Heads of Terms and agreements between the Council and OneRen.

There was submitted a report by the Chief Executive relative to OneRen's annual Business Plan for 2023/24.  

The report noted that OneRen submitted an annual Business Report to the Council which set out the charity's priorities for the year ahead and outlined how it would deliver the services specified in the Service Agreement.  The business planning process provided the opportunity to assess the context in which the charity was operating and to consider how it was responding to changing community and customer needs.

The report intimated that the implementation of the Business Plan actions and achievement of key priorities would be reviewed on a quarterly basis by the monitoring officer of OneRen, the Council's Head of Policy & Commissioning, to assess compliance with the service agreement and funding arrangement.  The report advised that it was the recommendation of the OneRen monitoring officer that overall the Business Plan met the conditions of the service agreement and progress updates on the delivery of the Plan would be reported to this Board on a six-monthly basis during 2023/24.

DECIDED:

(a) That OneRen's annual Business Plan for 2023/24 as set out in the appendix to the report be agreed; and

(b) That the monitoring arrangements in place for the Head of Policy & Commissioning (OneRen's nominated monitoring officer) to undertake quarterly performance monitoring meetings with OneRen and to provide six-monthly progress reports to this Board be noted.

There was submitted a report by the Director of Environment, Infrastructure & Housing relative to bus partnership funding for Paisley Town Centre.

The report intimated that the 2020 National Transport Strategy set out the delivery of an accessible, modern transport system which would protect the climate and improve the lives of the people of Scotland over the next 20 years.  In support of the Strategy, the Scottish Government committed to providing long-term funding of over £500 million to deliver targeted bus priority measures on local and trunk roads.

The report set out the proposed consultation process that would be undertaken over the coming months with elected members, partners, communities and businesses.  Funding had been provided to identify bus prioritisation measures, as well as how to improve traffic flows and safety at and around four Paisley Town Centre junctions: Mill Street, Incle Street and Glasgow Road; Cotton Street, Gauze Street and Lawn Street; Canal Street and Causeyside Street; and Lonend, Cotton Street and Gordon Street.  It was noted that design proposals had been developed in partnership with Strathclyde Partnership for Transport and with bus operators and were now at the stage that a detailed engagement process could start to be undertaken.

The report highlighted that the spend of the previous award for a project to fund regeneration on Causeyside Street, including a segregated cycle lane and the electric charging infrastructure in Stow Brae car park, due to be spent by the end of September 2023 would not be achieved and it was not proposed to draw down further funding and that further engagement would take place relative to Causeyside Street as part of the Paisley Town Centre junctions engagement process.

DECIDED:

(a) That the stage reached in the development of the bus priority proposals for Paisley Town Centre be noted;

(b) That the consultation and engagement planned with elected members, partners, businesses and the local community be noted and that it be approved that updates be provided for discussion at the relevant policy boards;

(c) That it be noted that the infrastructure proposals were ambitious to support the continued evolution of Renfrewshire's infrastructure to support climate goals, safety and support for public transport across Renfrewshire; and

(d) That the remediation of the Low Carbon Travel and Transport Challenge Funding as set out in section 5 of the report be approved.

There was submitted a report by the Director of Environment, Housing & Infrastructure relative to a review of the Council's public transport provision.

The report intimated that Renfrewshire's public transport provision had broadly taken the same delivery model for at least ten years with commercial bus services serving Renfrewshire's communities supported by Council funding to subsidise parts of bus routes or times/days of routes where the commercial service provision would have ceased.  The report noted that there had been several changes to routes and provision to Renfrewshire's communities over this time, with communities experiencing reduced or altered services, with the latest changes to the bus network taking effect from 1 May 2023.

The report referenced strategic, national, regional and local drivers, congnisance of which required to be taken to shape and influence Renfrewshire's public transport provision in the years ahead.

Councillor Nicolson, seconded by Councillor J Cameron, moved:

(a) That the commencement of the Review of Renfrewshire's Public Transport Provision be noted;

(b) That the first stages of the Review as set out in section 5 of the report be noted; and

(c) That it be agreed that update reports be brought back to this Board.

Councillor Paterson, seconded by Councillor McGurk, moved as a first  amendment:

Add the following

2.4 – As part of the review instructs Officers to engage with the Community Transport Association who have a track record in supporting communities in setting up successful, sustainable not for profit public transport options.

Councillor McMillan, seconded by Councillor Ann-Dowling, moved as second amendment:

In addition to recommendations at 2.

Add the following 

Council calls on the Scottish Government to take decisive action to 

1) Reverse the soon to be implemented cuts to Renfrewshire bus services 

2) Investigate the placing of strict conditions on support to private bus companies 

3) Look at introducing caps on fares to encourage people to use bus services 

4) Move towards bringing local bus services under local authority control 

In terms of Standing Order 27, Councillors Nicolson and J Cameron, being the
mover and seconder of the motion, accepted both amendments as additions to the
motion. The motion, as amended by the two amendments, was agreed unanimously.

DECIDED:

 

(a) That the commencement of the Review of Renfrewshire's Public Transport Provision be noted;

(b) That the first stages of the Review as set out in section 5 of the report be noted;

(c) That it be agreed that update reports be brought back to this Board;

(d) That as part of the review Officers be instructed to engage with the Community Transport Association who had a track record in supporting communities in setting up successful, sustainable not for profit public transport options; and

(e) That Council called on the Scottish Government to take decisive action to 

(i) Reverse the soon to be implemented cuts to Renfrewshire bus services; 

(ii) Investigate the placing of strict conditions on support to private bus companies; 

(iii) Look at introducing caps on fares to encourage people to use bus services; and

(iv) Move towards bringing local bus services under local authority control.