Agenda Pack
North Lanarkshire Council · 12 September 2022
Back to Glasgow and the Clyde Valley Strategic Development Planning Authority Joint Committee — 12 September 2022 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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06/09/2022 Notice of Meeting and Agenda Glasgow & the Clyde Valley Strategic Development Planning Authority Joint Committee. Date Time Venue Monday, 12 September 2022 11:15 Remotely by MS Teams , Membership Councillor Jim Gibbons and Councillor Alan Moir (East Dunbartonshire Council); Councillor Paul Edlin and Councillor Colm Merrick (East Renfrewshire Council); Councillor Kenny McLean and Councillor Ken Andrew (Glasgow City Council); Councillor Chris Curley and Councillor David Wilson (Inverclyde Council); Councillor Tom Fisher and Councillor Allan Stubbs (North Lanarkshire Council); Councillor John McNaughtan and Councillor Jim Paterson (Renfrewshire Council); Councillor Richard Nelson and Councillor Robert Burns (South Lanarkshire Council); and Councillor Lawrence O’Neill and Councillor Gurpreet Singh Johal (West Dunbartonshire Council). Councillor Lawrence O’Neill (Convener); Councillor David Wilson (Vice-Convener). Further Information For further information in relation to this meeting, please either email democratic- services@renfrewshire.gov.uk or telephone 0141 618 7111. MARK CONAGHAN Clerk Page 1 of 20
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06/09/2022 Items of business Apologies Apologies from members. Declarations of Interest Members are asked to declare an interest in any item(s) on the agenda and to provide a brief explanation of the nature of the interest. 1 Minute Minute of meeting of this Joint Committee held on 27 June 2022. 3 - 6 2 Revenue Budget Monitoring Joint report by Treasurer and Strategic Development Plan Manager. 7 - 10 3 Update on Audited Annual Accounts 2021/22 Report by Treasurer. 11 - 12 4 National Planning Framework 4 Verbal update by Strategic Development Plan Manager. 5 Clyde Peatlands Officer - Recruitment Proposal Report by Strategic Development Plan Manager. 13 - 18 6 Arrangements for Future Meetings Report by Clerk. 19 - 20 7 Date of Next Meeting Note that the next meeting of this Joint Committee will be held at 11.15am on 12 December 2022. Page 2 of 20
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Minute of Meeting Glasgow & the Clyde Valley Strategic Development Planning Authority Joint Committee. Date Time Venue Monday, 27 June 2022 11:15 Remotely by MS Teams, Present Councillor Alan Moir (East Dunbartonshire Council); Councillor Paul Edlin and Councillor Colm Merrick (both East Renfrewshire Council); Councillor Kenny McLean and Councillor Ken Andrew (both Glasgow City Council); Councillor David Wilson (Inverclyde Council); Councillor Tom Fisher and Councillor Allan Stubbs (both North Lanarkshire Council); Councillor John McNaughtan (Renfrewshire Council); Councillor Richard Nelson and Councillor Robert Brown (both South Lanarkshire Council); and Councillor Lawrence O’Neill and Councillor Gurpreet Singh Johal (both West Dunbartonshire Council). In Attendance S Tait, Strategic Development Plan Manager (Strategic Development Plan Core Team); A Laurence, Land Planning Technical Officer (East Dunbartonshire Council), J Nicol, Planning & Building Services Manager (East Renfrewshire Council); S Taylor, Principal Planner (Glasgow City Council); S Jamieson, Head of Regeneration and Planning (Inverclyde Council); L Bowden, Planning & Place Manager (North Lanarkshire Council); A Morrison, Head of Economy and Development Services, M Conaghan, Head of Corporate Governance, K Campbell, Assistant Chief Internal Auditor, K Festorazzi, Principal Accountant (Management Accounting) and E Currie and C MacDonald, both Senior Committee Services Officers (all Renfrewshire Council); T Finn, Planning and Building Services Headquarters Manager (South Lanarkshire Council); P Clifford, Planning and Building Standards Manager (West Dunbartonshire Council); and M Ferris, Senior Audit Manager (Audit Scotland). Prior to the start of the meeting the Clerk welcomed members to the first meeting of the Joint Committee following the local government elections in May 2022 and indicated that he would preside prior to the election of the Convener. Item 1 Page 3 of 20
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Apology Councillor Jim Gibbons (East Dunbartonshire Council). Declarations of Interest There were no declarations of interest intimated prior to the commencement of the meeting. 1 Appointment of Convener The Clerk asked for nominations for the post of Convener. Councillor Wilson, seconded by Councillor Moir, moved that Councillor O’Neill be appointed as Convener of the Joint Committee. There being no further nominations it was agreed that Councillor O’Neill be appointed as Convener of the Joint Committee. DECIDED: That Councillor O’Neill be appointed as Convener of the Joint Committee. Chair Councillor O’Neill thereafter took the chair. 2 Appointment of Vice Convener The Clerk asked for nominations for the post of Vice Convener. Councillor O’Neill, seconded by Councillor Johal, moved that Councillor Wilson be appointed as Vice Convener of the Joint Committee. There being no further nominations it was agreed that Councillor Wilson be appointed as Vice Convener of the Joint Committee. DECIDED: That Councillor Wilson be appointed as Vice Convener of the Joint Committee. 3 Members of the Joint Committee There was submitted a report by the Clerk to the Joint Committee detailing the appointment of members to the Joint Committee by the constituent member councils. It was noted that North Lanarkshire Council had appointed Councillor Tom Fisher and Councillor Allan Stubbs to the Joint Committee. DECIDED: That the appointment of members to the Joint Committee by the constituent member councils be noted. 4 Minute There was submitted the Minute of the meeting of this Joint Committee held on 14 March 2022. Page 4 of 20
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DECIDED: That the Minute be approved. 5 Strategic Planning in a City Region Context The Strategic Development Plan Manager gave a presentation on strategic planning in a city region context. The presentation provided an overview of strategic planning in Scotland; and information on the Glasgow City Region; the specifics of the Clydeplan model established in 2009; the Joint Committee’s current role; the new Scottish planning system; the essence of land use planning; the new role for regional planning; the Regional Spatial Strategy (RSS); the Glasgow City Region and Regional Partnership; and provided details of websites where members would find further information in relation to Clydeplan, the current Strategic Development Plan (SDP2), Glasgow City Region and NPF4. DECIDED: That the presentation be noted. 6 Unaudited Annual Accounts 2021/22 There was submitted a joint report by the Treasurer and the Strategic Development Plan Manager relative to the annual accounts for 2021/22, a copy of which was appended to the report. The report intimated that the annual accounts would be submitted to Audit Scotland in advance of the statutory deadline of 30 June 2022. It was noted that the Joint Committee had returned a deficit of £69,764 for the financial year 2021/22 which resulted in an underspend of £85,436 against a planned deficit of £155,200. The report advised that the management commentary within the accounts provided an overview of the Joint Committee’s financial performance during 2021/22 together with the outlook for the future. The report further advised that the unaudited accounts were required to be formally considered by the Joint Committee no later than 31 August with the Annual Governance Statement being formally approved at this time. Once considered, the accounts would be subject to external audit by Audit Scotland by 30 November 2022 and it was noted that the 2021/22 audited annual accounts were scheduled to be submitted to the meeting of the Joint Committee scheduled to be held on 12 September 2022 for approval and signing by the Convener, the Lead Officer, and the Treasurer in accordance with the regulations. DECIDED: (a) That the unaudited annual accounts for 2021/22 be noted; (b) That the Annual Governance Statement be approved; and (c) That the final budget position for 2021/22 be noted. 7 Internal Audit Annual Report 2021/22 There was submitted a report by the Chief Auditor relative to the Internal Audit annual report on the Glasgow and the Clyde Valley Strategic Development Planning Authority for 2021/22. Page 5 of 20
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The report intimated that the Public Sector Internal Audit Standards required that the Chief Auditor prepare an annual report on the internal audit activity’s purpose, authority and responsibility, as well as performance relative to its plan. The report required to also provide an audit opinion on the overall adequacy and effectiveness of the internal control system of the audited body. The annual report for the Glasgow and the Clyde Valley Strategic Development Planning Authority was attached as an appendix to the report and outlined the role of Internal Audit, the performance of the Internal Audit team and the main findings from the internal audit work undertaken in 2021/22 and contained an audit assurance statement. DECIDED: That the Internal Audit annual report for 2021/22 be noted. 8 Timetable of Meetings There was submitted a report by the Clerk relative to dates and arrangements for meetings of the Joint Committee for 2022 to 2027. Following discussion, the Convener proposed that the timetable of meetings be approved; and that the Clerk, in consultation with the Strategic Development Plan Manager and the Convener, investigate the possibility of meetings being ‘in person’ meetings in a central Glasgow location and submit a report to the next meeting of the Joint Committee scheduled to be held on 12 September 2022 relative to arrangements for future meetings. This was agreed. DECIDED: (a) That the timetable of meetings be approved; (b) That the Clerk, in consultation with the Strategic Development Plan Manager and the Convener, investigate the possibility of meetings of the Joint Committee being ‘in- person’ meetings in a central Glasgow location; and (c) That the Clerk be requested to submit a further report to the next meeting of the Joint Committee scheduled to be held on 12 September 2022 relative to arrangements for future meetings. Page 6 of 20
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1 GLASGOW AND THE CLYDE VALLEY STRATEGIC DEVELOPMENT PLANNING AUTHORITY JOINT COMMITTEE To: Joint Committee On: 12 September 2022 ___________________________________________________________________ Report by: The Treasurer and the Strategic Development Plan Manager ___________________________________________________________________ Heading: Revenue Budget Monitoring Report to 19 August 2022 ___________________________________________________________________ 1. Summary 1.1 The forecast position for ClydePlan by 31 March 2023 is a projected £91,266 underspend. This is explained in section 4. ______________________________________________________________ 2 Recommendations 2.1 It is recommended that members consider the report. _____________________________________________________ 3 Budget Adjustments Since Last Report 3.1 There have been no budget adjustments since the start of the financial year. ________________________________________________________________ 4 Budget Performance 4.1 Projected Year End Position £91,266 Underspend Previously Reported N/A The projected underspend in Employee Costs is due to vacancies that have not yet been filled, including two Strategic Planner posts and one Planning Analyst post. There are also savings from long-term sickness whereby the post has not been backfilled. Item 2 Page 7 of 20
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2 The forecast underspend in Property costs is due to current premises arrangements within John Street, Glasgow, but this may be subject to change. A projected year-end underspend in Transfer Payments arises from budget that was approved in the 22/23 estimates for a Sustrans bid and was due to be funded from reserves. The bid was unsuccessful and as such there will be no spend against this area in 22/23, and consequently no corresponding drawdown from reserves. ___________________________________________________________________ Page 8 of 20
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Core Operations Approved
Budget
Year to
Date
Actual
Projected
Full Year
Actual
Projected Full
Year Variance
(Adverse) /
Favourable
£000s £000s £000s £000s
Employee Costs 474 139 431 43
Property Costs 22 1 1 21
Transport Costs 1 0 1 0
Supplies and Services 27 4 30 (2)
Transfer Payments 32 1 3 29
Support Costs 24 1 24 (1)
Gross Expenditure 580 146 489 91
Council Requisitions (547) (273) (547) 0
Other Income (3) 0 (3) 0
Gross Income (550) (273) (550) 0
Drawdown from Reserves 30 (128) (61) 91
Summary of in-year Movement in Reserves £000s
Opening Revenue Reserve at 1 April 2022 (314)
Budgeted Draw on Reserves 30
Projected Year-end variance (91)
Closing Revenue Reserve at 31 March 2023 (375)
% of Operating Income -68.2%
Glossary
Employee Costs: Includes direct employee costs such as salary costs, overtime and indirect employee costs such as training, recruitment advertising
Property Costs: Includes expenses directly related to the running of premises and land, eg rates, rents and leases, utilities, contract cleaning
Transport Costs: Includes all costs associated with the provision, hire or use of transport, including travelling allowances, taxi and car hire costs and staff mileage
Supplies and Services: Includes all supplies and service expenses, such as ICT costs, and administrative costs such as stationery, postages, printing and advertising
Transfer Payments: Includes costs of payments for which no good or services are received in return e.g. Apprenticeship Levy
Support Costs: Includes central support charges e.g. Renfrewshire Council SLA and telephony recharges ('Administration Costs' in approved budget)
REVENUE BUDGET MONITORING STATEMENT 2022/23
1 April to 19 August 2022
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GLASGOW AND THE CLYDE VALLEY STRATEGIC DEVELOPMENT PLANNING AUTHORITY JOINT COMMITTEE ___________________________________________________________________ To: Joint Committee On: 12 September 2022 ___________________________________________________________________ Report by: Treasurer ___________________________________________________________________ Heading: Update on Audited Annual Accounts 2021/22 ___________________________________________________________________ 1. Summary 1.1 The unaudited Annual Accounts for 2021/22 were presented to the Joint Committee on 27 June 2022 and submitted for audit by the statutory deadline of 30 June 2022. 1.2 An extension to the statutory deadline for approval of the audited annual accounts has been provided in Local Government Finance Circular 6/2022, and the ClydePlan audited Annual Accounts 2021/22 are expected to be completed for approval by 24 October 2022. ___________________________________________________________________ 2. Recommendations 2.1 The Joint Committee is asked to: (a) note the revised deadline for the Joint Committee to approve and publish its audited accounts; and (b) note that a special meeting of the Joint Committee will be called on 24 October 2022 to approve the audited accounts. _________________________________________________________ 3. Background 3.1 On 18 May 2022, the Scottish Government published Local Government Finance Circular 6/2022: Extension to Accounts Approval and Publication Dates for 2021-22. Indicating that the Joint Committee must aim to approve the 2021/22 audited accounts for signature no later than 30 November 2022. 3.2 The circular also notes that Audit Scotland, the Council’s appointed auditor, has set a completion date of 31 October for 2021/22 audits, with a view to transitioning back to the statutory deadline of 30 September next year. Item 3 Page 11 of 20
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3.3 The Joint Committee’s appointed auditor, Audit Scotland, has indicated their intention to work towards the 24 October 2022 for completion of audit activity, allowing the audited accounts of the Joint Committee and the associated Annual Audit Report to be authorised and published by this date. ___________________________________________________________________ Implications of the Report 1. Financial – approval of the audited accounts is a key step in evidencing good financial governance and allows the Joint Committee to comply with national financial regulations. 2. HR & Organisational Development – none arising from this report. 3. Community/Council Planning – none arising from this report. 4. Legal – the recommendations in the report will allow the Joint Committee to comply with the relevant regulations governing the annual accounts approval process. 5. Property/Assets – none arising from this report. 6. Information Technology – none arising from this report. 7. Equality & Human Rights – none arising from this report. 8. Health & Safety – none arising from this report. 9. Procurement – none arising from this report. 10. Risk – none arising from this report. 11. Privacy Impact – none arising from this report. 12. Cosla Policy Position – none arising from this report. 13. Climate Risk – none arising from this report. __________________________________________________________________ Author: Alastair MacArthur, Treasurer Page 12 of 20
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Glasgow and the Clyde Valley Strategic Development Planning Authority To: Glasgow and the Clyde Valley Strategic Development Planning Authority Joint Committee On: 12th September 2022 Report by Stuart Tait, Manager Clyde Peatlands Project Officer - Recruitment Proposal 1. Summary 1.1 The purpose of this report is for the Joint Committee to a proposal for the recruitment of a new “Clyde Peatlands” Project Officer as part of the suite of Green Network Blueprint delivery initiatives. 2. Recommendations 2.1 It is recommended that the Joint Committee are asked to consider the report and agree the creation a Clyde Peatlands Project Officer post; the use of Clydeplan reserves to underwrite a year’s extension to the initial contract advertised with funding covered by a Letter of Comfort from Peatland Action (refer Appendix) as per paragraph 5.3; and, that Green Network Partnership directly host the new post via Renfrewshire Council. 3. Context 3.1 The Clyde Peatlands was launched and endorsed at the Glasgow City Region Cabinet meeting in June 2022 as the most recent Green Network Blueprint delivery initiative following on from the Clyde Climate Forest. 3.2 The aim of Clyde Peatlands is to bring about a step change in the scale and rate of peatland restoration across the City Region which would make a significant contribution to the region’s drive for net zero and respond to the ecological crisis by restoring a UK and Scottish priority habitat. Item 5 Page 13 of 20
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3.3 The original intention was to employ two new project officers, one senior Project Officer and a second Project Officer, on a lower grade, who would have a more of a community focus. 3.4 Both posts would be fully funded through NatureScot’s Peatland Action Fund including all on-costs, training, travel, insurance and equipment. This funding is currently secured until March 2024. 3.5 The posts were advertised in June 2022 but unfortunately had an extremely poor response with only one applicant for each with neither meeting the necessary criteria at interview. There are likely to be three main reasons for the poor response. 3.6 Firstly, there is a limited pool of people in the job market with the necessary skills and experience to fully meet the requirements of the job profile. Therefore, any new posts need to be attractive to those people which leads to the other two reasons, length of contract and pay scale. It’s likely that the two-year contract and pay scales offered by Clyde Peatlands simply weren’t competitive enough. 3.7 All the above is disappointing but has allowed for a review of how Clyde Peatlands should be resourced going forward, a proposal for which is set out below. 4. Peatland Officer 4.1 As discussed above any new post will need to be competitive in the marketplace. It was always going to be a difficult ask to get someone with the necessary experience for the lower graded post on circa £23,000, and it’s likely that anyone recruited to that post would need a significant amount of support and capacity building which would be difficult given existing officer capacity. 4.2 Although the senior officer was advertised at a more competitive salary of circa £33,000, when benchmarked against other recently advertised peatland posts it falls short e.g., Cairngorms National Park recently advertised two permanent contracts on a pay scale of up £39,000. 4.3 In discussion with NatureScot’s Peatland Action Team, it was agreed that creating a new higher-grade post benchmarked against the Green Network’s Development Officers (£35,000 - £39,000) was the preferred option. It was felt that with support from the Peatland Action Team and the Green Network, a single experienced officer could deliver against the ambitions of Clyde Peatlands. 5. Contract length 5.1 The Peatland Action Fund is resourced directly by the Scottish Government with funding allocated in two yearly cycles. The current cycle runs until March 2024 meaning that Clyde Peatlands can currently only offer a firm contract up until that point. With the time lost going back through the recruitment process this means that in reality the post would be offered at 18 months, which is likely to be even less attractive than the first time. 5.2 Given the Scottish Government has committed £250 million up to 2030 for peatland restoration, it is a virtual certainty that the next funding cycle from April 2024 to March 2026 will be available to Clyde Peatlands. Peatland Action hope that that would be confirmed as early as October/November this year. Page 14 of 20
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5.3 Peatland Action has indicated that if the money could be found to underwrite a new contract beyond March 2024, then they could provide a written assurance that when the next tranche of Scottish Government funding is released, the money used to underwrite the contract would be taken back off the table and replaced with Peatland Action funding. The Letter of Comfort from NatureScot is set out in the Appendix. 5.4 If money was found to underwrite for a year, this would allow the post to be advertised for an initial contract of around two and half years (October 2022 - March 2025) with an agreement that this would be extended by Peatland Action until March 2026 when their funding is confirmed. 5.5 The cost of underwriting the contract for a year is estimated at £45,000 and the ask is that Clydeplan cover this cost through the utilisation of its reserves. 6. Hosting arrangements 6.1 It is proposed that hosting a new officer directly within the Green Network team and employed through Renfrewshire Council is the preferred option similar to that of the recently appointed Green Network Wetlands and Grassland Development Officer. 6.2 This would also be helpful for synergy in terms of the two posts being located in the same organisation and office and would be a more efficient way of managing the process. Page 15 of 20
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Appendix Glasgow & Clyde Valley Green Network, Room 2.29, 40 John St, Glasgow, G1 1JL 17 August 2022 Dear Ally GLASGOW & CLYDE VALLEY GREEN NETWORK (GCVGN) - PEATLAND ACTION FUNDING At our recent meeting at which we discussed the future funding of Peatland ACTION officer posts within GCVGNP I said I would write to set out our position as it stands. The current Scottish Government/NatureScot budget commitment to the Peatland ACTION Programme means that all posts within the programme are fully supported until 31 March 2024. As you know this means any posts currently advertised can only be offered to that date. We recognise that this limited period may affect candidates thinking of applying for posts. Whilst we cannot formally guarantee any funding beyond March 2024 the context is encouraging. The Scottish Government has pledged a ten-year funding package worth £250 million to support the restoration of 250,000 hectares of degraded peat by 2030. Peatland ACTION is the government’s programme tasked with delivering this target and the government confirms their ongoing commitment to fund the programme on an annual basis. Given this pledge we are confident that support for all posts will go beyond 31 March 2024. Page 16 of 20
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Over the coming months the programme will be discussing the extension of all posts to 31 March 2026 with the Scottish Government and within NatureScot. It is our aim is to confirm this has been secured before the end of this financial year. We cannot, of course, absolutely guarantee this commitment until we formally receive it from Scottish Government/NatureScot. You highlighted the challenge in trying to recruit a new officers given the short contract period on offer. You suggested that the post could be advertised to 31 March 2025 with the local authority underwriting the funding of the post from the 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025 period. This lengthier contract would make it a more attractive to potential candidates. We discussed the possibility that, on confirmation from Scottish Government/NatureScot that that all Peatland ACTION posts would be extended to 31 March 2026, Peatland ACTION would then take responsibility for covering the costs for that same period and the local authority could re-allocate their commitment elsewhere. I have discussed this suggestion with our programme manager and we are content with that approach. We are also content with idea that the number of posts be reduced from two to one but that this single post will retain a community engagement element. We can agree the detail on of this in due course and amend our memorandum of agreement accordingly. We would be happy to discuss any of the above or other related issues with you or a local authority representative if that would be of help. Yours sincerely Barry Barry Dunne Peatland Action Project Manager - Delivery Greystone Park, 55/57 Moffat Road, Dumfries DG1 1NP Pàirc a’ Chùirm Leithe, 55/57 Rathad Mhofad, Dùn Phrìs DG1 1NP 01738 458678 nature.scot NatureScot is the operating name of Scottish Natural Heritage Page 17 of 20
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To: Glasgow and the Clyde Valley Strategic Development Planning Authority Joint Committee On: 12 September 2022 Report by Clerk Meeting Arrangements 1. Summary 1.1 At the meeting of the Joint Committee held on 27 June 2022, members agreed the timetable of meetings for 2022 to 2027 and further agreed that the Clerk, in consultation with the Strategic Development Plan Manager and the Convener, investigate the possibility of meetings being ‘in person’ meetings in a central Glasgow location. The Clerk was requested to submit a report to this meeting of the Joint Committee relative to arrangements for future meetings. 1.2 Prior to the pandemic, the Joint Committee met in a meeting room in Exchange House, 231 George Street, Glasgow and Glasgow City Council has confirmed that this meeting room would be made available for Joint Committee meetings. The meeting room has capacity for 30 people but does not have a hybrid meeting facility to allow members to join remotely, therefore, meetings held in this location would require to be ‘in-person’ meetings only. There would not be an option for members or officers to attend remotely. 2. Recommendation 2.1 That the Joint Committee consider the future arrangements for meetings. Author: Elaine Currie, Senior Committee Services Officer elaine.currie@renfrewshire.gov.uk 0141 618 7111 Item 6 Page 19 of 20
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