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.

There was submitted a joint revenue and capital budget monitoring report by the Chief Executive, Director of Finance and Resources, and Chief Finance Officer Renfrewshire Health & Social Care Partnership.

The report intimated that the projected revenue outturn as at 15 September 2023 for those services reporting to this Board was an overspend of £3.917 million and the projected capital outturn was a breakeven position against the revised budget for the year.

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 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 15 November 2023 which forms the Appendix to this Minute.

DECIDED: That the Minute be approved.

There was submitted a report by the Chief Executive relative to key projects being progressed through the Fairer Renfrewshire programme, highlighting the key priorities which would be the focus of future activity.

The report provided an update on ongoing projects which were set out in Section 4 including the evaluation of the Summer of Fun programme; Advice Services in Renfrewshire; Digital Inclusion; Winter Connections Programme; School Meal Debt; and the Fairer Renfrewshire Programme.  

There report detailed four key emerging themes which were shared across all elements of the Fairer Renfrewshire programme, improving financial security; advancing equality of opportunity; building community capacity and resilience; and listening to lived experience.

DECIDED:

(a) That the content of the report and the work being undertaken to progress the Fairer Renfrewshire programme be noted;

(b) That the information provided at Appendix 1 of the report on the allocation of Winter Connections Funding by the Head of Policy and Partnerships under delegated authority previously agreed by the Board be noted; and

(c) That the allocation of £6,000 from Fairer Renfrewshire funding, to OneRen to deliver Winter Connections activities across community venues be approved.

There was submitted a report by the Chief Executive relative to the Council’s external auditors, Azets, stand-alone best value thematic report which formed an appendix to the report.

The report advised that the Council’s annual audit process was conducted by external auditors Azets. The Auditor judgements were provided against several core areas set out in the report. The appendix within the Best Value thematic report contained an action plan which was to be progressed by the Council in response to the recommendations made by the external audit team. The action plan contained two actions which related to opportunities to strengthen the prioritisation of Council Plan activities, and related to monitoring arrangements. These would be actioned, and any updates would be provided to elected members through the regular six-monthly update reports on the Council Plan which were provided to this Board.

DECIDED: That the contents of the Best Value Thematic Report provided by the Council’s external auditors as part of the annual audit process be noted.

There was submitted a report by the Chief Executive relative to the new Council Plan approved at the Council held on 29 September 2022 and which  set out five strategic outcomes which the Council would work towards, grouped as Place, Economy, Fair, Green and Living Our Values. Additionally, the Plan outlined a cross-cutting theme of improving outcomes for children and families, which would underpin the delivery of the five strategic outcomes.

The reporting framework for the Council Plan included an action plan and performance scorecard, and was reported to Leadership Board biannually, which ensured actions were adaptable to any emerging national or local changes in circumstance while delivering agreed outcomes. The framework was approved in November 2022 and contained 55 high-level actions to be achieved over the next five years and beyond, and a suite of 39 performance and data indicators, which would allow outcomes to be measured over the life of the Plan, striving for improvement by the end of that period.

The report provided an update on progress made to deliver the Council Plan within quarters 1 and 2 of 2023/24, between 1 April 2023 and 30 September 2023 and a detailed summary of progress against the action plan and key performance indicators was appended to the report.

DECIDED:

(a) That the progress achieved against the strategic outcomes since the previous update in June 2023, as outlined in Appendix 1 of the report, be noted; and

(b) That it be noted that progress reports would continue to be presented to this Board every six months.

There was submitted a report by the Chief Executive relative to the findings arising from the recent consultation exercise to support the further development of Local Partnerships in Renfrewshire.

The report intimated that the consultation exercise had completed in November 2023, and focused on identifying improvements which could be taken forward as part of the next phase of the development of the Partnerships. Section 4 of the report provided an overview of the consultation methodology used, whilst section 5 provided an overview of key findings.

Section 6 of the report set out next steps for this programme of work, and the report proposed that a further report be prepared, outlining recommendations and actions to be agreed to support the launch of the next phase of the development of the Local Partnerships.

The report would be submitted to the Leadership Board to be held on 21 February 2024, and would also include updated grant guidance and governance documents for agreement.

DECIDED:

(a) That the findings of the recent consultation exercise undertaken in relation to the development of Local Partnerships in Renfrewshire be noted;
 
(b) That it be noted that further consultation would continue to be undertaken in relation to the administration of Local Partnership grants ahead of grant guidance to be finalised in February 2024; and

(c) That it be noted that a detailed action plan to launch the next phase of the Local Partnerships would be submitted to the meeting of the Leadership Board to be held on 21 February 2024, alongside updated grant guidance and governance documents.

There was submitted a report by the Chief Executive relative to recent developments in relation to migration and asylum provision in Renfrewshire, including specific updates in relation to support Ukrainian Displaced Persons and unaccompanied asylum-seeking children and young people locally.

The report provided detailed information relative to the asylum dispersal programme in Renfrewshire, and specifically in relation to the streamlined asylum process which was being implemented by the Home Office, which was seeking to expedite decision making across the asylum system. The report intimated that this could have a considerable impact on the provision of local services, particularly housing support and homeless services, and officers were actively working to assess the local impact and to develop options to guide the Council’s local response. This included detailed financial planning to assess the financial implications for the organisation in the short, medium and longer term.

Councillor McMillan requested that he, Councillor N Graham and Councillor Hannigan be involved in discussions with the Chief Executive and Leader relative to any potential service pressures identified within the report over the next three months.  This was agreed



DECIDED:

(a) That the contents of this report be noted;

(b) That it be noted that a detailed report on developing housing and homelessness pressures would be provided to the Communities and Housing Policy Board to be held on 16 January 2024; 

(c) That the Chief Executive be authorised to put in place additional resources to respond to potential service pressures identified within the report over the next three months if these were required, in consultation with the Council Leader; and

(d) That Councillor McMillan, Councillor N Graham and Councillor Hannigan be involved in discussions with the Chief Executive and Leader relative to any potential service pressures identified within the report over the next three months.

There was submitted a report by the Chief Executive relative to the progress of the Paisley Museum Capital Appeal, delivered by charitable trust Paisley Museum Reimagined (PMR) Limited (SC049225).

The report intimated that as of October 2023 a total of £1,557,496 had been raised as part of the Capital Appeal through pledged and confirmed income and the report set out details of fundraising activities undertaken; individual donor overview; support from trusts and foundations; and an update on the corporate appeal.

DECIDED: That the report be noted.

There was submitted a report by the Chief Executive relative to an update on the ongoing evaluation of the Future Paisley Programme and the projects, events and initiatives delivered within the Programme from its inception in 2018 to its completion in April 2024.

The Interim Report, a copy of which was appended to the report, reflected on the progress to date of the suite of interventions comprising Future Paisley, the activities, events and programmes developed around Paisley’s unique and internationally significant story and, which used targeted investment to deliver positive change.

DECIDED:

(a) That the progress being made to evaluate the Future Paisley Programme be noted; 

(b) That it be agreed that a further evaluation report be presented to this Policy Board to be held on 19 June 2024, with a final Programme Review to be published at the end of 2024; and




(c) That it be noted that the programme evaluation would attempt to evidence the benefits of a range of funding programmes, designed to strengthen Renfrewshire’s cultural and creative sectors and which had supported delivery of 363 projects, events and activities across Renfrewshire since 2016.

There was submitted a report by the Chief Executive relative to an update on the sector-specific cultural funding grants which had benefitted 221 different organisations or cultural practitioners across Renfrewshire.

The report intimated that the final rounds of planned cultural funding were being awarded through Cultural, Heritage and Events Fund (CHEF) Round 13 and Cultural Organisations Development Fund (CODF) Round 4 before the Future Paisley Programme drew to a close in April 2024. This would culminate in just under £2.7million having been invested in Renfrewshire’s cultural sector since the first cultural fund was announced in 2016. The funding had resulted in 363 projects, activities and events delivered across Renfrewshire for local people. The report advised that investment in cultural funding was temporary, building local capacity and putting the cultural sector on securer footing, able to access external funding more readily in future years.

DECIDED:

(a) That the level of investment in cultural funding made by Renfrewshire Council since 2016 and its cumulative impact on the cultural sector and the breadth of arts and cultural activity designed for local people be noted; and

(b) That it be noted that CHEF Round 13 and CODF Round 4 marked the final grant programmes supported by Future Paisley and that more work was required to identify appropriate long-term sector support.

There was submitted a report by the Chief Executive relative to the award of Round 13 of the Culture, Heritage, and Events Fund (CHEF) and Round 4 of the Cultural Organisational Development Fund (CODF), approved by the Cultural Recovery and Renewal Fund Panel on November 16. The list of confirmed CODF and CHEF awards were detailed in Appendices 1 and 2 respectively.







DECIDED:

(a) That the Award of CHEF Round 13 and CODF Round 4 to applicants successful in their funding bids following assessment and recommendations to the Cultural Renewal and Recovery Fund Panel Review Panel be noted; and 

(b) That it be noted that this marked the final rounds of cultural funding as part of the Future Paisley Programme.

There was submitted a report by the Chief Executive relative to Renfrewshire’s Tourism Today: Tourism Plan 2024 – 2027 which had been developed in consultation with national and local partners within the tourism and hospitality sectors. The Plan, a copy of which was appended to the report, set out a range of themes and priorities to support the growth of the visitor economy across Renfrewshire over the next three years.

Delivery and the performance of the Plan would be considered by a new Tourism Leadership Group and reported to this Board on a regular basis. Measurement would take place across a range of outcomes, monitored using the Scottish Tourism Economic Activity Monitor model, which was used by many local authorities.

DECIDED:

(a) That the Tourism Plan be approved as a basis to support the growth of the tourism sector across Renfrewshire over the next three years; and

(b) That the proposed creation of a Tourism Leadership Group comprised of stakeholders and operators working in the tourist sector, to oversee and drive delivery of actions identified within the Plan be noted.

There was submitted a report by the Chief Executive relative to the performance of OneRen which provided a summary of the environment in which the organisation was operating within and highlighted key achievements over the last six months, listed under the organisation’s four strategic objectives.

The report also provided national performance indicator data for cultural and leisure services, including indicators on digital engagement. The report advised that OneRen currently reported on approximately 70 operational performance indicators to meet the terms of the services agreement with the Council, five of which were reported nationally on behalf of the Council through the Local Government Benchmarking Framework. However, the report intimated that over the last two years, OneRen’s operating model had adapted and shifted due to the pandemic to meet the changing needs of Renfrewshire communities and this made comparisons of annual performance indicators difficult from 2020/21 onwards. OneRen’s recovery operating model 2022/23 reflected a greater focus on increasing physical attendance at its venues. Therefore, the financial strategy recognised that the charity was not operating at identical capacity to pre-pandemic levels and this was reflected in some of the performance data reported.

DECIDED: That the progress being made by OneRen in the delivery of its Business Plan for 2023/24 be noted.