Councillor Shaw, Chair, presided.

The Chair intimated that this meeting of the Local Partnership would be recorded and that the recording would be available to watch on the Council's website.

There were no declarations of interest or transparency statements intimated prior to the commencement of the meeting.

There was submitted the Minute of the meeting of this Local Partnership held on14 December 2023.

DECIDED: That the Minute be approved.

There was submitted a report by the Chief Executive relative to the funds allocated by this Local Partnership in 2023/24 and the current budget position.

DECIDED: That the report be noted.

There was submitted a report by the Chief Executive relative to the review of Local Partnerships and the launch of the 2024 Development Programme.

The report intimated that Local Partnerships had been established during 2019 and it had been anticipated that these would be reviewed after a period of 12 months, however due to COVID and wider resource pressures, the review had been postponed until September 2023. A consultation and engagement process to inform the next phase of the development of Local Partnerships commenced, with a key focus on building on existing strengths and identifying further opportunities for the Partnerships to grow.

The report advised that the consultation findings had been presented to the meeting of the Council’s Leadership Board held on 6 December 2023 with a further report submitted to the meeting of the Leadership Board held on 21 February 2024 when it was agreed (a) that the launch of a new campaign to relaunch the Local Partnerships, which would be implemented from the end of February 2024, be noted; (b) that the refreshed Local Partnership Guidance for 2024 be approved and; (c) that it be noted that future updates on Local Partnerships would be provided as part of the six-monthly reports on community planning provided to the Leadership Board.

DECIDED: 

(a) That the launch of the new campaign to relaunch the Local Partnerships from end February 2024 be noted; and

(b) That the refreshed Local Partnership Guidance for 2024 be noted.

The term of office for Community Representatives ended at this point in the meeting and the Chair thanked everyone for their participation in the Local Partnership and for the work done locally.

In accordance with Standing Order 13.2, the Local Partnership resolved to exclude the press and public from the meeting during consideration of the following item of business as it was likely that the nature of the proceedings, if members of the press were present, could lead to the disclosure of confidential information.

There was submitted an amended report by the Chief Executive inviting standing members of the Local Partnership to agree the appointment of community representatives to vacant positions within the Local Partnership.

The report intimated that Local Partnerships comprised of an equal number of elected members from Renfrewshire Council and community representatives. Following the review of Local Partnerships in autumn/winter 2023/24, the community representative positions now required to be refreshed and applications had been invited form current and new community representatives. 

The report advised that this Local Partnership had 15 standing members, being those elected members from Renfrewshire Council representing the Partnership area, as detailed in paragraph 3.3 of the report; that there were seven spaces for community representatives and that active community councils were automatically allocated one of these spaces and paragraph 3.4 of the report detailed the one active community council in the Partnership area being allocated a space; and that there were six spaces remaining to be filled by community representatives and paragraph 3.7 of the report provided information in relation to the four applications received. 

The report detailed the criteria developed to support members on the appointment of community representatives.

DECIDED: That Stuart Wild, Renfrew Victoria Youth Football Club; Tom Johnston, Renfrew Football Club; Cairinne MacDonald, Renfrew YMCA; Kerry Russell, Renfrew Development Trust; Blair Ross, Renfrew Town Sea Scout Group; and representatives of Renfrew and Trinity High Schools (joint members) be allocated a community representative space on Renfrew Local Partnership.

DECIDED: That it be noted that meetings of this Local Partnership would be held at 6.00 pm on 16 May, 4 September and 4 December 2024. It was further noted that future grant-focussed meetings would take place in late April/early May.