There was submitted the Minute of the meeting of the Sub-committee held on 24 January 2024, a copy of which forms the Appendix to this document.

DECIDED: That the Minute be approved.

Under reference to item 1 of the Minute of the meeting of this Policy Board held on 24 January 2024, there was submitted a joint report by the Directors of Finance & Resources and Environment, Housing & Infrastructure relative to the revenue budget for services reporting to this Policy Board as at 5 January 2024.

The report advised that at the meeting of this Policy Board held on 24 January 2024 it was agreed that an expanded financial report would be presented to the next meeting with a detailed analysis of the financial position of the services under its remit. The report set out broad reasons for overspend in subjective budget headings in Appendix 1 to the report, and a more detailed analysis of spend at a service area level was summarised in Appendix 2.

It was noted that the projected revenue outturn as at 31 March 2024 for Infrastructure, Land and Environment was an overspend position of £3.321 million against the revised budget for the year and that the projected capital outturn was a breakeven position.

DECIDED:

(a) That it be noted that the Revenue Budget Monitoring report, set out at Appendix 1 to the report, identified a projected annual overspend of £3.321 million (10.3% of total budget) for Infrastructure, Land and Environment services and that the overall overspend for the services reporting to this Policy Board had increased by £0.161 million since the last reporting period;

(b) That it be noted that the projected costs for this financial year were based on the financial information available at the time of reporting and that the outturn position may vary depending on the operational and market conditions;

(c) That the narrative provided in the report and explanation to the budget position for service areas be noted; and

(d) That it be noted that the forecasted financial overview and overspend position for this Policy Board would be reported to the Finance, Resources & Customer Services Policy Board incorporating the overspend position and that the Council’s overall overspend position would be managed through the Financial Sustainability Fund approved at the meeting of Council held on 2 March 2023.

There was submitted a report by the Director of Environment, Housing & Infrastructure relative to key service activities.

The report provided updates since the previous meeting of this Policy Board held on 24 January 2024 in respect of key areas delivered by services within Environment, Housing & Infrastructure, which were within the remit of this Policy Board, including climate change; Team Up to Clean Up; operation and infrastructure service arrangements; fleets, roads and transportation; neighbourhood services; waste and recycling services; and #YouDecide.

DECIDED: That the content of the report be approved.

There was submitted a report by the Director of Environment, Housing & Infrastructure relative to work undertaken to develop a collaborative approach to expanding the public electric vehicle charging infrastructure (EVCI) network across the eight local authorities in the Glasgow City Region (GCR).

The report summarised the work which had been undertaken to date to support the expansion of the EVCI network across Renfrewshire and the other seven local authorities in the GCR. The seven principles which would guide the collaboration between authorities, as agreed by the GCR Cabinet in August 2023, were set out in the report together with the objectives and anticipated benefits of the collaboration. Also detailed in the report were the next steps and the anticipated financial and legal implications.  

A draft timetable was set out at section 7 of the report and it was highlighted that Transport Scotland had not renewed the Charge Place Scotland contract resulting in the requirement for all local authorities (and other chargepoint owners currently using the system) to put in place an alternative arrangement for the back-office and maintenance of their chargepoints before December 2025.

In terms of the governance arrangements, it was noted in section 8 of the report that key decisions taken by the GCR Cabinet would also need to be approved though the relevant local governance structures of each of the eight authorities. It was further noted that the collaboration would also require an Inter Authority Agreement to be put in place and signed off by all 8 GCR local authorities. In order to allow the project to meet the proposed timeline, it was proposed that the approval of the Inter Authority Agreement; issuing of the tender documents; and approval of the preferred bidder and agreement to enter into a contract be delegated to the Director of Environment, Housing and Infrastructure on behalf of Renfrewshire Council.

DECIDED:

(a) That the content of the report and the collaborative work undertaken to date be noted;

(b) That the participation of the Council in a collaborative procurement to engage a commercial partner through a partnership with all eight local authorities in Glasgow City Region, to deliver the benefits set out in Section 3 of report, be approved;

(c) That the detail at Section 7.2 of the report regarding the proposed cessation of Chargeplace Scotland by the end of 2025 be noted and that it be further noted that the Council would have to have alternative arrangements in place for back-office systems regardless of the delivery model agreed;

(d) That it be agreed in principle to enter into an Inter Authority Agreement (IAA) among the eight local authorities, and delegate the subsequent procurement and commercial decisions relating to the commencement and conclusion of the procurement process to the Director of Environment, Housing & Infrastructure, in line with the approach set out in Section 8 the report; and

(e) That officers be instructed to provide update reports on the progress of the work to this Policy Board as required throughout the development of the project.

There was submitted a report by the Chief Executive relative to the Renfrewshire Allotments Annual Report 2023. The annual report was set out in full at Appendix 1 to the report.

The report set out the Council's statutory duty to provide allotments under the provisions of the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015 (Part 9) along with a number of associated duties, including the requirement for the publication of an annual allotments report. It was noted that there were 381 individual growing plots and a waiting list of 124 people as of December 2023. The number of people on a waiting list had risen by one since the end of 2022 but the ratio between waiting list and plot numbers remained below the statutory requirement of 50 percent. 

DECIDED:

(a) That the Renfrewshire Allotments Annual Report 2023 be approved; and

(b) That it be noted that, subject to Board approval, the report would be published on the Renfrewshire Council website in accordance with statutory requirements.

There was submitted a report by the Chief Executive relative to the proposed extension of the lease of premises at Unit 11, Baltic Business Park, Murray Street, Paisley leased by Renfrewshire Council from landlord Sunflower Industrial Property Nominee Ltd for the purpose of continuing the Community Meals Services. The site was identified in a plan attached as an appendix to the report. 

DECIDED: That the Head of Corporate Governance be authorised to extend the lease of Unit 11, Baltic Business Park, Murray Street, Paisley, currently leased from landlord Sunflower Industrial Property Nominee Ltd, as set out in the plan appended to the report, on the provisional terms and conditions outlined in the report and subject to such other conditions as may be considered necessary to protect the interests of the Council.

There was submitted a report by the Chief Executive relative to the proposed new lease of 37 George Street, Paisley to Mohammad Siddiqui. The site was identified in a plan attached as an appendix to the report.

DECIDED: That a new lease of 37 George Street, Paisley to Mohammad Siddiqui, based on the contents of the report, be approved.

Under reference to item 11 of the Minute of the meeting of this Policy Board held on 15 March 2023, there was submitted a report by the Chief Executive relative to the proposed adjustment of the purchase price calculation in relation to the disposal of land at Broomlands Street, Paisley to J & A Developments Ltd. The site was identified in a plan attached as an appendix to the report.

The report advised that at the meeting of this Policy Board held on 15 March 2023 the
main terms and conditions of the sale of the land at Broomlands Street, Paisley was approved with the price payable for this land being £250,000 plus VAT, subject to the purchaser obtaining planning permission for the development of 60 flats. If planning permission for either more or less than 60 flats was secured, then the purchase price would be adjusted pro-rata on the basis of a rate of £12,500 per flat.

On review, it became apparent that the strict application of this calculation could mean that in the event planning permission was received for 40 flats or less, no price would be payable. This was not an acceptable position for the Council so further discussions with the purchaser had taken place and a provisional agreement was reached with the price to be paid set at one third of the total number of units granted planning permission on both the Council's land plus J & A Developments adjacent site multiplied by £12,500.

DECIDED: That an adjustment to the purchase price calculation in relation to the disposal of land at Broomlands Street, Paisley to J & A Developments Ltd., as detailed in the report, be approved.

There was submitted a report by the Chief Executive relative to the proposed new lease of 19 Stoddard Square, Elderslie to Robert McDonald. The site was identified in a plan attached as an appendix to the report.

DECIDED:  That a new lease of 19 Stoddard Square, Elderslie to Robert McDonald, based on the contents of the report, be approved.

There was submitted a report by the Chief Executive relative to the proposed new lease of Unit 3, Bridgewater Industrial Estate, Erskine to Paul Officer. The site was identified in a plan attached as an appendix to the report.

DECIDED: That a new lease of Unit 3 Bridgewater Industrial Estate, Erskine to Paul Officer, based on the contents of the report, be approved.

There was submitted a report by the Chief Executive relative to the proposed new lease of 14A Thornhill, Johnstone to Anthony Barlow. The site was identified in a plan attached as an appendix to the report.

DECIDED: That a new lease of 14A Thornhill, Johnstone to Anthony Barlow, based on the contents of the report, be approved.

There was submitted a report by the Chief Executive relative to the proposed new lease of Unit H, Floors Street, Johnstone to William Jamieson. The site was identified in a plan attached as an appendix to the report.

DECIDED: That a new lease of Unit H, Floors Street, Johnstone to William Jamieson, based on the contents of the report, be approved.

There was submitted a report by the Chief Executive relative to the proposed new lease of Unit J, Floors Street, Johnstone to Ahmed Ameen. The site was identified in a plan attached as an appendix to the report.

DECIDED: That a new lease of Unit J, Floors Street, Johnstone to Ahmed Ameen based on the contents of the report, be approved.

There was submitted a report by the Chief Executive relative to the proposed extension of the lease of premises at Unit 10, First Floor, Bargarran Centre, Erskine leased by Renfrewshire Council from landlord The Albert Trust for the purpose of providing flexible accommodation for booking by community organisations. The site was identified in a plan attached as an appendix to the report. 

DECIDED: That the Head of Corporate Governance be authorised to extend the lease of Unit 10, Bargarran Centre, on the provisional terms and conditions outlined in the report and subject to such other terms and conditions that may be considered necessary to protect the interests of the Council.