Councillor Andrew Morrison (East Renfrewshire Council) and Councillor Graeme Clark (Renfrewshire Council).

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 Joint Board held on 14 November 2025.  

DECIDED: That the Minute be approved.

There was submitted a revenue budget monitoring report by the Treasurer in respect of the Joint Board for the period to 9 January 2026. The report intimated that at the end of period 10, the Joint Board had a year-to-date underspend against budget of £142,000 and was projected to underspend by £128,000 against budget by the end of the financial year, as detailed in section 4 of the report. Section 3 of the report provided detail on the three budget adjustments since the start of the financial year.

DECIDED: That the report be noted.

There was submitted a report by the Treasurer presenting the Revenue Estimates for the Joint Board, including the requisition of constituent authorities for the financial year 2026/27 and indicative planning figures for 2027/28 and 2028/29, as detailed in Appendix 1 to the report. 

The report intimated that the Scottish Budget statement delivered on 13 January 2026 announced a local government settlement for a single financial year only, adding some uncertainty to the medium-term financial outlook. It was recognised that local government in Scotland was facing a significantly challenging financial position and could face further contraction in the provision of revenue grant from the Scottish Government. In this context, the Joint Board would continue to seek cost reductions, as it had done this year, to ensure financial sustainability. 

The report provided information on the assumptions that the budget had been based on; the position in relation to the Strathclyde Pension Fund; the financial overview for the Joint Board; member authority requisitions; and reserves.

DECIDED: 

(a) That the 2026/27 Revenue Estimates, as detailed in Appendix 1 to the report, be approved; 

(b) That the recommendations with regards requisitions for constituent authorities, as outlined in section 7 of the report, be approved;

(c) That the proposed use of reserves be approved; 

(d) That it be agreed that the Assessor & Electoral Registration Officer make arrangements to resource the new burden related to the introduction of two new council tax bands, as outlined in section 6 of the report; and  
 
(e) That the indicative estimates for 2027/28 and 2028/29 be noted.

There was submitted a report by the Treasurer relative to the Annual Audit Plan 2025/26 for the Joint Board which outlined Azets timescales and planned audit activity for the audit of the current financial year, a copy of which was appended to the report. 

The Audit Plan outlined the approach to the audit of the Joint Board’s 2025/26 Annual Accounts; the responsibilities of the Joint Board and Azets; the assessment of key challenges and risks; and the approach and timetable for completion of the audit. The report advised that the statutory deadline for the approval of the audited accounts was 30 September 2026; that the Annual Audit Report was planned to be reported to the meeting of this Joint Board scheduled to be held on 18 September 2026; and that the proposed audit fee was indicated at £12,254 for the current financial year. 

DECIDED: 

(a) That the Annual Audit Plan 2025/26 be noted; and 

(b) That the proposed audit fee for 2025/26 of £12,254 be approved.

Under reference to item 3 of the Minute of the meeting of this Joint Board held on 14 November 2025, there was submitted a report by the Assessor & Electoral Registration Officer providing updates on Electoral Registration, legislation and electoral events.

The report provided updates since the last meeting of the Joint Board in relation to the 2025 Canvass; elections; the Elections Act 2022; the UK Government publication ‘Restoring trust in our democracy: our strategy for modern and secure elections’; the Scottish Elections (Representation and Reform) Act; and the Absent Voting (Elections in Scotland and Wales) Act.

DECIDED: That the contents of the report be noted.

There was submitted a report by the Assistant Assessor & Electoral Registration Officer relative to the Joint Board’s Corporate Risk Register, a copy of which was appended to the report. The report intimated that the Corporate Risk Register had been reviewed in line with the Joint Board’s agreed review cycle and that the risks had been evaluated in line with the Joint Board’s Risk Management Strategy. The evaluation of each risk shown reflected the significance of each risk’s impact and the likelihood of occurrence combined with the mitigations and controls identified by the Management Team. 

DECIDED: That the contents of the report be noted.

Under reference to item 4 of the Minute of the meeting of this Joint Board held on 14 November 2025, there was submitted a report by the Assistant Assessor & Electoral Registration Officer providing an update to the ongoing reporting of performance for the period 1 April to 31 December 2025.

The report advised that the time taken to enter new houses into the Valuation (Council Tax) List met both the target of 95% within three months and 97% within six months, by achieving 97.88% and 98.73% respectively; that the average number of days taken to add a house in each constituent authority area in the reporting period was 32.31 days, exceeding the target of 38 days; that 431 properties had been deleted from the Valuation (Council Tax) List in the reporting period; and that the time taken to make statutory amendments to the Valuation Roll, excluding appeal settlements and amendments to the prescribed entries, exceeded both the target of 60% to be actioned within three months and 75% to be actioned within six months, by achieving 75% and 90.30% respectively.

The report intimated that the current levels of performance were unlikely to be sustained throughout the last three months of the rating calendar as the Valuation Team would also be discharging the Assessor’s statutory duty of providing the final revaluation values to the three constituent billing authorities by 15 March 2026.

DECIDED: That the contents of the report be noted. 

Under reference to item 5 of the Minute of the meeting of this Joint Board held on 14 November 2025, there was submitted a report by the Assistant Assessor & Electoral Registration Officer relative to the 2023 Revaluation and Running Roll proposals and appeals and the disposal of the 2017 Revaluation and Running Roll appeals.

DECIDED: That the contents of the report be noted.

Under reference to item 6 of the Minute of the meeting of this Joint Board held on 14 November 2025, there was submitted a report by the Assessor & Electoral Registration Officer relative to the progress made in carrying out a revaluation of approximately 14,600 non-domestic subjects within the Valuation Rolls of East Renfrewshire, Inverclyde and Renfrewshire. The next revaluation of all non-domestic property would come into effect on 1 April 2026. 

The report intimated that the final Revaluation Roll would be made on 15 March 2026 with paper Revaluation Notices being issued during the last week of March, giving ratepayers from 1 April 2026 until 31 July 2026 to make a Proposal to the Assessor should they be unhappy with the net annual value of their property.

DECIDED: That the report be noted.

There was submitted a report by the Assessor & Electoral Registration Officer providing updates in relation to staffing, property, Council Tax and the targeted revaluation of high value property bands. 

In relation to staffing, the report advised that Shona Arrighi had been recruited to the post of Principal Administration Manager; that the process to recruit to the vacant Clerical Assistant posts was ongoing; and that one the trainees, Hannah Finlayson had completed her training journey to becoming a Chartered Surveyor.

In relation to property, the report advised that the adaptation works required for the new office had still to take place.

In relation to Council Tax, the report advised that the Scottish Government and CoSLA joint consultation into the future of Council Tax closed on 30 January 2026 and that it was expected that the consultation responses would be published in the coming weeks.

The report intimated that discussions were ongoing with the Scottish Government on the details of the proposal to introduce two new Council Tax bands by April 2028 for the most expensive properties in Scotland, those worth over £1 million on an up-to-date valuation. This additional burden would not be able to be resourced by the current staffing levels with the Valuation Joint Board and the report noted that when details of the requirement and funding allocation were known, the Assessor & Electoral Registration Officer would make arrangements to carry out the new burden and report this to the next meeting of the Joint Board.

DECIDED: That the report be noted.

DECIDED: That it be noted that the next meeting of the Joint Board would be held at 11.00 am on 22 May 2026 in the offices of Renfrewshire Council.