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

There was submitted a joint Revenue and Capital Budget Monitoring report by the Chief Executive and Director of Finance & Resources for the period 1 April to 21 June 2024. 

The report stated that the projected Revenue outturn as at 31 March 2025 for all services reporting to this Policy Board was a £0.066 million underspend while the projected Capital outturn position was a break-even position. Summaries were provided over the relevant services in the tables within the report, together with further analysis. Budget adjustments previously authorised by the Chief Executive were outlined in paragraph 6.2 of the report for homologation by the Policy Board, while paragraph 6.3 of the report advised of budget adjustments reflecting changes to superannuation rates for employers which were for noting and paragraph 6.4 of the report detailed proposed budget adjustments for approval.

DECIDED:

(a) That the projected Revenue outturn position, an underspend of £0.066 million, be noted;   

(b) That the projected Capital outturn position, breakeven, be noted;

(c) That the budget adjustment detailed in paragraph 6.2 of the report be homologated; 

(d) That the budget adjustment detailed in paragraph 6.3 of the report be noted; and

(e) That the proposed budget adjustment detailed in paragraph 6.4 of the report be approved.

 

 

There was submitted a report by the Chief Executive relative to progress made in terms of the creation of a Conservation and Heritage Grants Scheme for property owners in and around the centres of Renfrewshire’s villages. 

The report provided an update on the creation of a £0.250 million conservation and heritage grants scheme for property owners in and around the centres of Renfrewshire’s villages.  The scheme was available across the 11 Renfrewshire villages which previously benefited from the Villages Investment Fund with the application process for the scheme following a similar model to the online process successfully established for the Retail Improvement Scheme, with applications scored on a range of criteria which assessed impact, quality and deliverability. Nearly 50 applications had been received, with a geographical spread across Renfrewshire’s villages. To date, 19 grants had been approved, totalling over £186,000.

DECIDED:

(a) That the progress made, to date, in respect of the number of applications received for the scheme be noted;   

(d) That, should any of the current allocation remain unspent, a second round of the Scheme be approved; and 

(e) That the Head of Economy & Development be authorised to seek sources of funding for future rounds of the Scheme.

There was submitted a report by the Chief Executive relative to delivery of the DFN Project SEARCH Renfrewshire during 2023/24. 

The report advised that the Council’s Economic Development service (Invest in Renfrewshire), working in partnership with Glasgow Clyde College, had successfully delivered DFN Project SEARCH Renfrewshire since 2015. The DFN Project SEARCH Renfrewshire supported 12 interns each year, each of whom had a learning disability, autism spectrum condition or both. Interns were provided with intensive work experience, as well as academic and employability support, to move towards a job outcome. The local job outcome rates were consistently positive when compared with the national job achievement figures for this priority group. The report provided a progress update in respect of 2023/24, confirmed continued delivery of the programme into 2024/25 and referenced the 10-year anniversary of the programme.

DECIDED: That the content of the report and continuation of funding into 2024/25 be noted.

There was submitted a report by the Chief Executive relative to delivery of the Greater Renfrewshire and Inverclyde (GRI) Community Led Local Development (CLLD) Programme 2023/24 that had been introduced by the Scottish Government in 2023/24.

The report intimated that the GRI programme covered the rural areas of Renfrewshire, East Renfrewshire and Inverclyde, supporting community groups and organisations to deliver projects that provided local benefit and tackle challenges identified in the GRI Local Action Group (LAG) Community Led Vision (CLV).  A LAG comprising representatives from community council/groups, third sector, businesses, residents, the three local authorities and wider stakeholders developed the CLV actions and took funding decisions. The report provided an update on delivery of the GRI CLLD programme 2023/24 outlining the proposed approach for delivery during 2024/25, agreed with the LAG and partner local authorities, East Renfrewshire and Inverclyde, to meet CLLD requirements.

The report advised that the Scottish Government had offered an initial tranche of funding of up to £150,347.90 to Renfrewshire Council as the accountable body for the GRI LAG to deliver CLLD programme requirements to 31 March 2025. The grant offer had been accepted by the Council. GRI LAG had decided to utilise the allocated funding through delivery of a Revenue Grants Scheme with funding of between £5,000 - £10,000 available for successful applicants. A Capital Grants Scheme was also available with funding of between £10,000 - £25,000 for successful applicants. LAG funding was allocated through a competitive application process. Eligibility to bid was open to any community led project which advanced LAG and Scottish Government priorities and supported communities in the designated LAG areas.

DECIDED: 

(a) That the range and depth of rural based projects funded and successfully delivered during 2023/24 be noted; 

(b) That the offer from Scottish Government to award £150,347.90 to the Greater Renfrewshire and Inverclyde area for the delivery of the Community Led Local Development programme 2024/25 be noted; 

(c) That it be agreed that Renfrewshire Council continue to act as lead partner and accountable body for the Greater Renfrewshire and Inverclyde area; and 

(d) That the continuation of the present delegated authority to the Head of Economy & Development for the delivery of the programme requirements be agreed.

There was submitted a report by the Chief Executive relative to the childminding recruitment and retention programme, to be delivered by the Scottish Childminding Association (SCMA) with funding from the Scottish Government, to address the decline in recent years, within the childminding workforce.

Childminding was considered a popular and high-quality form of childcare provision and the Scottish Government and SCMA hoped to increase the number of childminders across Scotland by 1,000. The scheme launched on 5 June 2024, with the aim of addressing the recent decline in the childminding workforce, would run for three years and be funded by the Scottish Government,

The report detailed the broad principles of the funding, highlighted that the Renfrewshire area would be in the first wave of areas to benefit and outlined the proposed approach for Renfrewshire.

DECIDED:

(a) That it be noted that the progress and impact of the Scottish Government’s Programme for Scotland’s Childminding Future would be reported to the Renfrewshire Local Employability Partnership; and

(b) That the content of the report be noted.

There was submitted a report by the Chief Executive relative to current local and national employability issues.

The report stated that employability played an essential role in delivering both Scottish and local government’s aims of tackling poverty, promoting inclusion and social justice, and creating a fair and prosperous Scotland. It was also a key component of the National Strategy for Economic Transformation, contributing to delivery of the vision for a strong economy where good, secure, and well-paid jobs and growing businesses drove a significant reduction in poverty and child poverty. Collectively, Scottish, and local government aimed to build an employability system that tackled inequalities in Scotland’s labour market by creating a more responsive, joined up and aligned employability system that met the needs of employers and local labour market and helped people of all ages achieve their potential. 

The No One Left Behind initiative promoted a strengthened partnership approach where Scottish and local government worked together with public, private and third sector organisations to identify local needs and deliver a mixed economy of provision.  Local authorities acted as lead accountable bodies for funding, with funding being used by Local Employability Partnerships to design and deliver services that met the needs of people and labour markets in their area.

It had been reported to the meeting of this Policy Board held on 28 May 2024 that the Council had accepted a partial Scottish Government grant award of £546,000 under the banner of No One Left Behind and that a further funding allocation for the balance of funds and a separate award through the General Revenue Grant was anticipated. The report advised that a revised grant offer of £2,182,000 had now been received by the Council, comprising (a) All-Age Employability Support and (b) Tackling Child Poverty, on which both activity and spend required to be reported separately. The allocations for each part of the overall grant fund were outlined within a table in the report.  

A summary of performance of the project during 2023/24 was provided, together with proposals for the Renfrewshire Employability Week initiative to be held between 2 and 6 September 2024.

DECIDED; 

(a) That the acceptance, by the Director of Finance & Resources, of Scottish Government grant of £2,182,000 awarded for the 2024/25 period under the banner of No One Left Behind and the plans for the year ahead be noted; 

(b) That the full grant claim against the 2023/24 grant offer and the outcomes achieved be noted; and 

(c) That the plans for Employability Week in Renfrewshire be noted.

There was submitted a joint report by the Chief Executive and City Deal and Infrastructure Programme Director relative to progress made in terms of the Advanced Manufacturing Innovation District Scotland (AMIDS) and AMIDS South Project.

The foundations of the AMIDS vision had commenced when the Glasgow City Region City Deal Infrastructure Fund had enabled the Council to progress the Glasgow Airport Investment Area (GAIA) project which provided the enabling infrastructure for the AMIDS Netherton Campus.

The report reminded members that the National Manufacturing Institute Scotland’s (NMIS) flagship facility had opened at AMIDS during June 2023, and acted as a magnet to support advanced manufacturing, engineering and associated technology businesses of all sizes. It was anticipated that innovative research and design would help them to become more productive, tap into emerging markets, embrace new technologies and achieve net-zero targets.   Reference was made within the report to the appointment of the Development Partner, Tarras Park Properties Limited (TPPL), to form a joint venture partnership with Renfrewshire Council and to progress the AMIDS to the next stage. It was stated that progress had been made by TPPL to attract interest from suitable advanced manufacturing facilities and occupiers, supporting the Council’s ambitious vision to deliver long term economic growth and high-quality jobs.  The NMIS building accommodated the NMIS Manufacturing Skills Academy, Digital Factory, and publicly accessible collaboration hub.  In addition, it was stated that adjacent to NMIS the Medicine Manufacturing Innovation Centre was bringing world leading science and technology expertise to help accelerate state of the art solutions to challenges in medicines development and manufacturing. An extension to the facility would create the Oligonucleotides Manufacturing Innovation Centre of Excellence (OMICE). It was noted that construction works were programmed to commence on site during October 2024.

The AMIDS South project comprised a new transport link from Paisley town centre to AMIDS and Glasgow Airport, together with a new link from Shortroods to Renfrew Road, crossing the White Cart via a new bridge. The Project included cycling, walking and vehicle infrastructure as well as sustainable drainage and landscape works. It was also highlighted that the Outline Business Case (OBC) for the AMIDS South project had been approved at the meeting of the Leadership Board held on 16 June 2021. Design activities were now completed and the procurement exercise to appoint a contractor was underway.

DECIDED:

(a) That the progress of AMIDS towards establishing a world class advanced manufacturing cluster delivering long term economic benefits to Renfrewshire be noted; and 

(b) That the progress with the AMIDS South Project be noted.