Councillors Carolann Davidson, Janis McDonald and Jim Paterson.

There was submitted the Minute of the meeting of this Local Partnership held on 15 November 2022. 
  
DECIDED: That the Minute be approved.

The Partnership recieved a presentation from J Lochans, Finance & Resources, and G Low and M Woods, OneRen, which provided an update on the regeneration of Paisley's cultural facilities.

The presentation provided an overview on the works being carried out to redevelop the Town Hall, Art Centre and Paisley Museum, as well as the establishment of a new Paisley Learning and Culture Hub on the town's High Street. A timeline for works and completion was set out with Town Hall expected to be ready to host The Royal National Mòd in October 2023 and the museum to open to the public in 2024.

A vision for the type of events which could be accommodated at the venues was presented together with details on the marketing strategy and branding for each.

DECIDED: That the content of the presentation be noted.

L McLean, Communities & Housing, provided a verbal update relative to You Decide results on the participatory budgeting exercise across Renfrewshire and detailed the successful projects for the Paisley North, West and Central Local Partnership area.

The initiative gave communities a key role in deciding their priorities for environmental and physical infrastructure improvements to be undertaken throughout Renfrewshire over the next three years via a Community Investment Fund of £1.2 million. This fund was split across 16 local areas and as many projects as possible had been funded until all the money had been allocated. As a result of the engagement initiatives, over 2,700 proposals/ideals were submitted.

The successful projects for You Decide had been announced and information for those in the local area was provided. Where plans were already in place for an idea, some projects had been taken on by council services outside of the campaign or council funding had topped up the project to ensure as many local ideas as possible could be brought to life.

DECIDED: That the information provided be noted.

L McLean, Communities and Housing, gave a presentation on Parks, Play Areas and Green Spaces in the Paisley North, West and Central Local Partnership area.

The Green Spaces Fund fed directly into the COP26 target of protecting communities and natural habitats, financial and practical support was provided to volunteers, to take the next steps in making physical improvements to their communities. Over £2m was awarded to 70 community projects in Renfrewshire over the course of the past three and a half years. The fund had also supported eight asset transfers where groups had purchased or secured long term leases of land for gardening, sport or growing ground activity.

In addition to the Parks, Play Areas and Green Space funding from Renfrewshire Council volunteers and groups was encouraged to secure external funding from local businesses and house builders.

The presentation advised that there was still a balance in the funding pot and that applications which met the criteria and were seeking between £5,000 and £10,000 would be favoured to allow as many groups as possible to benefit.

A summary of the work being undertaken to inform communities of various areas of support which may be available in the local area was provided. Information was also provided on ALISS – A Local Information System for Scotland which enabled people and professionals to find and share information on resources, services, groups and support in their local communities and online.

DECIDED: That the content of the presentation and information provided on support
available, be noted.

S Graham, Chief Executive’s Service, gave a presentation on the Winter Connections Programme and provided information on the network of local places that had received funding to connect people to others in their community through the winter period. He also advised that hosts were asked to sign up to Winter Connections principles, and support was provided to all host organisations including a Winter Connections toolkit, printed materials, information sharing, access to other services such as advice and period products being provided for locations.

A number of facilities in the locality had been made available to connect people in the community, with advice also being offered at these venues around other sources of support which were available to members of the community.

DECIDED: That the content of the presentation be noted.

G Hunter, Lead Officer, provided a verbal update on the representation of local communities' views on reports presented to Policy Boards at Renfrewshire Council.

To provide background to the update, J Wilby, Paisley West & Central Community Council, advised that concerns had been raised previously around reports being presented to the Council's Policy Boards which made no reference to representations made by local community groups resulting in board members taking decisions without being fully furnished with all relevant information.  Direct reference was made to papers which had been considered in relation to Kelvin House and the redevelopment of Causeyside Street.

During the discussion that followed, concerns were also raised around the views of community groups in more affluent areas being seen to carry more weight that those in deprived areas with the seemingly varying levels of scrutiny applied to Community Asset Transfer applications in Ralston and Ferguslie being given as an example.  A member suggested there was a more general issue of Council officials failing to reflect the views of community groups when formally reporting to elected members.

It was noted that consultation around planning applications was set out in the planning legislation and the Community Councils were provided the opportunity submit comments on relevant applications.  It was suggested that the timing of an application and Community Council meetings could, on occasion, have led to reports being presented to a Board before comments had been submitted.

In terms or non-planning board reports, it was noted that a report template was used which had a section for detailing implications on Community/Council Planning which could be used to highlight any relevant comments which had been submitted by local community groups. It was agreed that concerns around the omission of submitted comments would be fed back to senior Council Officers.

DECIDED:

(a) That the content of the update and following discussion be noted; and 

(b) That the concerns raised around the representation of community views on Board papers would be fed back to senior Council Officers.

There was submitted a report by the Chief Executive relative to awards made in the Paisley North, West and Central Local Partnership area to local community and voluntary groups since the last meeting of this Local Partnership held on 15 November 2022. 

Details of awards made from various sources which included: Winter Connections, Community Health and Wellbeing Fund (Engage Renfrewshire), Culture, Heritage and Events Fund and Alcohol and Drugs Recovery Change Fund was provided.

DECIDED:   That the grant awards made to community and voluntary groups in the Paisley North, West and Central Local Partnership area since November 2022 from funding sources other than the Local Partnership be noted.

There was submitted a report by the Chief Executive relative to the timeline and arrangements for the 2023/24 round of applications for Local Partnership funding. 


The report advised that applications to the 2023/24 round of Local Partnership awards would be open from Monday 6 March to Monday 10 April 2023. Updated guidance would be issued to applicants, with opportunities for applicants to attend support sessions to obtain advice and receive answer to queries about the process.  The applications would be processed and be submitted to the May 2023 cycle of Local Partnership meetings for consideration and determination.

DECIDED:  That the timeline for the 2023 round of applications for Local Partnership funding be noted.

There was submitted a report by the Chief Executive relative to the Paisley North, West and Central Local Partnership budget for 2022/23. 
 
The report advised that the Local Partnership provided funding to community groups to undertake projects through a range of grants in terms of the General Grant Fund, Paisley Common Good Fund and, following a participatory budgeting exercise, the Celebrating Renfrewshire Fund. Appendix 1 to the report detailed the funding allocated by the Local Partnership in 2022/23 together with the current budget position, while Appendix 2 detailed feedback received from community groups awarded funding during 2021/22. 
 
DECIDED:  That the budget monitoring and feedback report be noted. 

The next meeting of the Paisley North, West and Central Local Partnership was scheduled to be held on 16 May 2023 at 6.00pm.

DECIDED: Noted.