Councillors Paterson and Shaw declared a non-financial connection in relation to the award of grant funding to the Exchange Young People's Theatre (PACE). 

Councillor Nicolson declared an interest in item 10 of the agenda as he was a Director of Paisley Museum Reimagined Limited.  He indicated that he would remain in the meeting and take part in any discussion or voting thereon.

There was submitted a joint report by the Chief Executive, Director of Finance & Resources and the Chief Finance Officer, Renfrewshire Health & Social Care Partnership relative to the projected revenue and capital outturn position as at 31 March 2022 across all services reporting to this Board.  For financial year 2021/22, the projected outturn position was split into core and Covid-19 related variances to outline the impact of the pandemic on service finances.

The revenue budget monitoring report identified a projected annual underspend of £0.333 million and the capital budget monitoring report indicated movement in the approved capital programme for the year for the Chief Executive's Service and for Leisure Services of £10.899 million and £0.754 million respectively.

DECIDED:

(a) That the projected revenue outturn position as detailed in Table 1 of the report be noted;

(b) That the projected capital outturn position as detailed in Table 2 of the report be noted; and

(c) That the budget adjustments detailed at sections 4 and 6 of the report be noted.

There was submitted the Minute of the Meeting of the Climate Change Sub-committee held on 9 February 2022.

DECIDED: That the Minute, as appended hereto, be approved.

There was submitted a report by the Chief Executive relative to an update on the Council's activities on climate change, and specifically its progress in terms of meeting the target of achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2030.

The report provided updates on the Renfrewshire Climate Panel; Youth Services programme of work with young people, including legacy projects as part of the Scottish Government's COP26 Youth Climate Programme; Renfrewshire's Net Zero Network; development of Renfrewshire's first net zero plan; and the launch of the Council's Community Climate Fund on 31 January 2022 and which was open for applications until 14 March 2022.

The report also provided an update on progress achieved by projects funded through the Climate Change Action Fund and indicated that two further proposals had been developed by services with funding of £45,000 being requested this cycle, a charity shop gift card pilot and a Renfrewshire sustainable procurement programme.

It was proposed that a child-friendly version of the report be prepared.  This was agreed

DECIDED:

(a) That the progress achieved in relation to the Council's response to the climate emergency be noted; 

(b) That the proposals to allocate £45,000 of the Climate Change Action Fund to support the two initiatives outlined in section 5 of the report be agreed; and

(c) That a child-friendly version of the report be prepared.

There was submitted a report by the Chief Executive relative to progress with actions in the Council's social renewal plan (the Plan) which was approved in March 2021.  

The report indicated that officers were working with partners to progress all actions in the Plan, with a specific focus on income, poverty and financial insecurity and provided details of proposals to allocate additional funding of £848,000 received from the Scottish Government in response to a local needs assessment.

The report highlighted that in addition to these newer streams of funding, work had continued in Renfrewshire to deliver the Tackling Poverty Programme and outlined the funding required to support existing initiatives.

The report also outlined the next steps for social renewal including a repeated Public Services Panel Survey; the Get Heard programme; working with the Corra Foundation and Participatory City Foundation to explore the feasibility of a Participatory Scotland pilot in Renfrewshire; a refresh of the Community and Council plans and distribution of external funding.

DECIDED:

(a) That the work undertaken to progress the social renewal plan in Renfrewshire be noted;

(b)  That the allocation of £848,000 Scottish Government funding to support individuals and families in need in Renfrewshire through the routes outlined in section 5 of the report be noted;

(c) That the allocation of a Tackling Poverty Programme budget for 2022/23 as detailed in section 6 of the report be approved; and

(d) That the plan to revisit the Covid community impact assessment in 2022, including another Public Services Panel exercise to gather views of the Renfrewshire public on the effects of the continuing pandemic be noted.

Under reference to item 11 of the Minute of the meeting of the Leadership Board held on 1 December 2021, there was submitted a report by the Chief Executive relative to the development of a new Strategic Plan by the Renfrewshire Integration Joint Board, the consultation period for which ended on 31 January 2022.

The report intimated that the draft Strategic Plan had been reviewed by officers and a summary of key observations and suggestions for improvement was provided at section 4 of the report.  The report noted that overall the Strategic Plan had been assessed as being a well written document, which provided a good overview of the current and future operating context for the delivery of health and social care services in Renfrewshire.

DECIDED: That the content of the report which would be submitted to Renfrewshire Health and Social Care Partnership as the Council's formal response to the draft Strategic Plan be agreed.

There was submitted a report by the Interim Chief Officer, Renfrewshire Health & Social Care Partnership which provided an overview of activity and performance of those services managed through the Health & Social Care Partnership, using the most up to date information available.  Whilst regular reporting in relation to these services was provided to the Integration Joint Board (IJB) it had been agreed that regular updates would also be provided to this Board.

The report intimated that the list of functions that must be delegated by the Council to the IJB was set out in the Public Bodies (Joint Working) (Prescribed Local Authority Functions etc) (Scotland) Regulations 2014, these included social work services for adults and older people; services and support for adults with physical and learning disabilities;  mental health, drug and alcohol services; adult protection and domestic abuse; carers' support services; community care assessment teams; care home, adult placement, day, occupational therapy and health improvement services; aspects of housing support services; respite provision and reablement services, equipment and telecare.  The report provided information on key activities undertaken over the previous six months in relation to these delegated services.

The report also referred to the response to the Covid-19 pandemic including the Omicron variant which placed increasing pressure on services.

DECIDED:

(a) That the contents of the report updating activity and performance of adult social work services delegated to the IJB be noted; and

(b) That it be noted that the annual monitoring report would be presented to this Board at its meeting to be held on 14 September 2022.

There was submitted a report by the Chief Executive relative to progress made to date in connection with the Paisley Townscape Heritage/Conservation Regeneration Scheme 2 (TH.CARS2) and seeking approval to award a third-party grant, subject to approval by the funders National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF) and Historic Environment Scotland (HES), for external works to the former Liberal Club, 32 High Street, Paisley.

The report also referred to confirmation from HES that the CARS project end date would be extended to  31 March 2023 and that a project end date of 30 June 2023 had been requested from NHLF.

DECIDED:

(a) That the progress of the TH.CARS2 project be noted;

(b) That the award of a third-party TH.CARS2 grant be approved, subject to assessment of the full grant application and subsequent approval by NLHF and HES, for external building repair works to the former Liberal Club, 32 High Street, Paisley be approved; and

(c) That the proposed extension to the TH.CARS2 project be noted.

There was submitted a report by the Chief Executive relative to the award of Scottish Government Regeneration Capital Grant Funding of £800,000 to the Exchange Young People's Theatre (PACE).  

The report intimated that in December 2021 the Scottish Government had announced 19 projects around Scotland that had been successful in securing £800,000 Regeneration Capital Grant Fund investment for financial year 2022/23.  Of the Renfrewshire projects submitted PACE had been awarded funding to extend cultural provision and creative learning work with children and young people in Renfrewshire with a particular focus on those deprived of cultural engagement or who were disadvantaged in other ways.

A formal offer of grant would be made by the Scottish Government to the Council and when received required to be accepted formally.  A deadline would normally be given and as this might fall outwith standard Board cycles, the report sought delegated authority for the Director of Finance & Resources to accept the grant when offered.

DECIDED: That authority be delegated to the Director of Finance & Resources to accept the expected formal grant offer from the Scottish Government Regeneration Capital Grant Fund of £800,000 for the Exchange Young People's Theatre project.

There was submitted a report by the Chief Executive relative to the 2022 Events Programme which provided the schedule of Council events programmed for 2022 and outlined measures to protect delivery should restrictions to live events once again be introduced as part of Covid-19 outbreak management.  The report also provided an overview of a new two-year event strategy to 2024 and the performance of Council events delivered within Scottish Government Covid-19 guidelines in 2021.

DECIDED: That the report be noted.

There was submitted a report by the Chief Executive relative to progress of Paisley Museum Capital Appeal, delivered by Paisley Museum Reimagined (PMR) Limited and the impact of Covid-19 on major gift solicitation.  In addition, the report provided an update on changes made to the Board of Trustees.  

It was noted that PMR Limited was an independent company, established by the Council in 2019 to drive the capital appeal for Paisley Museum and to create a revenue income stream for the museum on reopening.  The report highlighted that to date £864,000 had been secured and pledged for the capital appeal and that the success of applications to Trusts and Foundations had been positive. The report set out the next steps for the appeal, including the planning process for the public campaign in 2022 with a view to going live six months ahead of the museum re-opening.

DECIDED: That the report be noted.

There was submitted a report by the Chief Executive relative to Renfrewshire Leisure's, now trading as OneRen, Annual Report.

The report intimated that OneRen had published its annual review of 2020/21 which highlighted the contribution that the organisation made to the achievement of the Council and Community Plans  and National Outcome priorities through the wide range of projects, events and activities that it provided in the local community.  The annual review also outlined the organisation's main achievements, business performance and summary financial statements and formed part of the Council's performance monitoring arrangements.

It was noted that OneRen was currently preparing its annual business plan which would be submitted to the next meeting of this Board and which would outline how the organisation would continue to recover its business through the next stages of the pandemic.  The plan would also highlight OneRen's role in recovery for local communities as well as the next steps in progressing the organisation's transformation programme.

DECIDED:

(a) That Renfrewshire Leisure's annual review of 2020/21 be noted; and

(b) That the update on the development of Renfrewshire Leisure's annual Business Plan for 2022/23 be noted.

There was submitted an invitation to the APSE Social Media Skills conference to be  held on 24/25 February 2022.

It was proposed that up to three elected members be authorised to attend.  This was agreed.

DECIDED: That up to three elected members be authorised to attend.