Draft Community Learning and Development Partnership Plan 2024-2027
Renfrewshire Council · 20 August 2024
Back to Communities and Housing Policy Board — 20 August 2024 and its agenda
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___________________________________________________________________ To: Communities and Housing Policy Board On: 20 August 2024 ___________________________________________________________________ Report by: Chief Executive ___________________________________________________________________ Heading: Draft Community Learning and Development Partnership Plan 2024-2027 ___________________________________________________________________ 1. Summary 1.1 Local authorities in Scotland have a statutory duty to consult on and publish a plan every three years setting out how they will co-ordinate the provision of Community Learning and Development (CLD) activities across their area. The next suite of plans are due to be prepared in 2024, and in Renfrewshire the draft plan must be published before mid September 2024. 1.2 In May 2024, members received an update on the recent follow up inspection of community learning and development, with the inspection team making specific recommendations requiring the Council to strengthen its approach to developing and implementing the local Community Learning and Development Plan. This included the need to review and strengthen partnership governance arrangements to ensure that the plan was owned by all partners and that progress was reviewed on a regular basis by all partners. 1.3 This report provides information on the new governance arrangements recently established for CLD in Renfrewshire and the partnership work that is being undertaken to consider local needs and identify shared priorities for ensuring community learning and development activities achieve the best possible outcomes in Renfrewshire. This process has informed the development of an initial draft CLD Partnership Plan for 2024-2027 which is attached as Appendix 1 to this report. Given the feedback from the inspection team it is proposed that we undertake a final stage of consultation to allow for
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any stakeholders that have a view on the Plan to participate in the final stages of its development. The consultation period will allow the partnership to gather final information that must be included within the strategy, including scoping additional or “unmet” needs and allow partners to consider the recommendations from the recent national review of community learning and development, and incorporate actions as appropriate within the plan itself. 1.4 The finalised strategy will be submitted to the board for approval in October 2024. 2. Recommendations 2.1 It is recommended that members of the Communities and Housing Policy Board: • Note the draft plan included at Appendix 1; • Agree that the draft plan now proceed to the final consultation stage involving wider stakeholders; • Note that the final plan will be presented to this Board for approval in October 2024. 3. Background 3.1 Under the Requirements for Community Learning and Development (Scotland) Regulations 2013, local authorities in Scotland are required to consult on and publish a plan every three years which sets out how the local authority will co-ordinate provision of CLD across the area, what will be provided by the local authority and by partners, and any unmet CLD needs within the period of the plan. Each three year plan should be based on an assessment of need which has included consultation and engagement with service users and communities as well as analysis of data. There is an expectation of regular review of evidence to assess the impact of CLD activity and inform future planning. 3.2 The requirements also place an obligation on local authorities to ensure that: communities have access to the CLD support they need; that communities are enabled to express their needs for CLD provision and; that Community Planning Partnerships, local authorities and public service providers more generally respond appropriately to the expectations set out by CLD Strategic Guidance. 3.3 CLD delivery in Scotland was recently subject to a national review, and findings published in July 2024. The review covered the skills and career pathways of the CLD workforce; the impact of provision on learners; how data
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is collected and used to ensure the best possible outcomes for learners; the alignment of CLD with post-16 education and included a three-month period of consultation with stakeholders. 3.4 The review makes 20 recommendations for CLD governance and delivery in Scotland. A number of these are for the Scottish Government to act upon, including the recommendations on governance, on the policy narrative around lifelong learning and on the strategic intent for CLD. There are potential implications for local government, including on: • Where CLD services sit within local authority structures; • English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) provision; • Funding allocations; • Staff and volunteer membership of the CLD Standards Council; • A shared framework for tracking performance. 3.5 Since April 2023, CLD within Renfrewshire Council sits within the Chief Executive’s service under the Head of Policy and Partnerships. This has aligned the Council’s CLD service more closely with Community Planning Structures and has improved awareness of the council-led elements of provision across that wider partnership. 3.6 In February 2024, HM Inspectors undertook a community learning and development progress visit, as part of a schedule of visits to all Scottish local authorities. The visit focused on partnership working in CLD, particularly the effectiveness of CLD partners to self-evaluation and planning for improvement, and on progress made against identified priorities in the CLD Plan. The findings were reported to this Board in May 2024. 3.7 The inspection highlighted operational strengths such as the contribution of Street Stuff to reducing anti-social behaviour; the strong volunteering culture; effective safeguarding processes; success in removing barriers to participation in learning through a number of projects; and the role of Renfrewshire Youth Voice in helping young people have a say in issues affecting them. However, inspectors also found that the CLD strategy was focused on the delivery of council-led activity and needed to be wider in focus and ambition. They highlighted that partners were not sufficiently involved in the development of the strategy and there was no strategic partnership group in place. The strategy did not have a performance framework which could be used to measure progress. 4. Governance arrangements for Community Learning and Development in Renfrewshire
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4.1 In order to strengthen partnership working across CLD provision, we have established two new governance groups. The CLD Partnership Executive Group provides collective strategic leadership and is co-chaired by the Chief Executive of Engage Renfrewshire and Community Development Manager within the Council. This group had its first meeting in May 2024 and will work on establishing arrangements for representing learner and citizen voice within our governance, on enhancing our information sharing and maximising opportunities for joint working. The Executive Group has met three times so far. 4.2 A Partnership Forum has also been established. This group has a larger membership drawn from a range of public and third sector organisations. It is intended that this group will do much to facilitate the joint working and information sharing that is so important for service delivery. It will also act as a sounding board for new ideas, and feedback from this group is relayed to the Partnership Executive. As the governance arrangements embed, we will consider how best to formalise the link between the two groups. The Partnership Forum has met twice so far, with the next meeting scheduled for the end of August. 5. Draft Community Learning and Development Plan 2024-2027 5.1 An initial draft of the Community Learning and Development Plan for 2024- 2027 is included as Appendix 1 to this report. The Strategy is aligned to the themes set out in Renfrewshire’s Community Plan: thriving, well, fair, and safe. Both the Partnership Executive Group and the Partnership Forum have been engaged during the development of the priorities and the plan. 5.2 In developing the priorities, publicly available data was used to supplement locally gathered information to inform needs. Engagement with people who take part in CLD activity highlighted what is important to them. For adults, personal and social development, health and wellbeing and being active in the community were priorities. For young people, climate change, mental health, poverty and personal safety were priorities. 5.3 The Fairer Renfrewshire programme recognises the significant inequalities that exist across Renfrewshire’s communities. The CLD Partnership Plan needs to recognise these priorities, and partners agreed that there was a requirement to target specific groups that face wider barriers to engagement and participation. There is also a need for the plan to be flexible and to respond to emerging needs as our communities evolve, and the consultation will allow us to gain further views on how best to achieve this.
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5.4 We recognise the importance of the voice of partners, learners and service users in identifying local needs and priorities, and informing the shape of local provision. It is also important that regular and meaningful engagement with our stakeholders takes place on an ongoing basis. 5.5 Based on engagement activity and on consideration of data about Renfrewshire undertaken to date, 12 initial priorities have been identified, aligned to the four Community Plan themes. 5.6 Our CLD Thriving priorities are: • Supporting communities to engage and participate in community regeneration; • Helping citizens develop skills for work and life; • Contributing to Community Wealth Building in Renfrewshire; • Providing opportunities for volunteering. 5.7 Our CLD Well priorities are: • Create and support opportunities for citizens to make positive connections within and across communities; • Help build cultural capacity by facilitating and increasing access to arts and cultural opportunities; • Promote and facilitate access to nature, green spaces and outdoor activities. 5.8 Our CLD Fair priorities are: • Promoting equity and equality in access to learning opportunities; • Providing mechanisms for citizens to contribute to decision-making; • Delivering targeted support to address disadvantage in our communities. 5.9 Our CLD Safe priorities are: • Providing safe spaces for the delivery of CLD activity; • Giving people the skills to help them make safe and informed choices. 5.10 The plan has a fifth theme, which is about Strengthening our Partnership. This allows us to identify how we will develop our governance arrangements, how we will monitor delivery of the strategy, and how we will support and develop our workforce. 6. Next Steps 6.1 It is intended that the draft Partnership Plan at Appendix 1 be issued for consultation with the CLD community, to include our service users. That exercise will then inform the final version, which will be brought to this board
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in October 2024 for approval. As part of the process, we will also develop an action plan to provide more detail of delivery, and a performance scorecard to support the tracking of progress. __________________________________________________________________ Implications of the Report 1. Financial – none, though the recent national review includes recommendations relating to CLD funding. 2. HR & Organisational Development – the draft plan includes activity relating to staff development; the national review referred to in the report makes a recommendation about staff and volunteers and their registration with the CLD Standards Council. 3. Community/Council Planning – the priorities identified in the draft plan are aligned to the four Community Plan themes and will support delivery of the Community Plan. 4. Legal – the report sets out how the Council is complying with its statutory duties in relation to CLD provision. 5. Property/Assets – none 6. Information Technology – none, though digital skills remain an important element of CLD provision. 7. Equality & Human Rights – an EQIA is being developed as part of the development of the Partnership Plan. 8. Health & Safety – none 9. Procurement – none 10. Risk – any CLD activity arising from the draft strategy will be appropriately risk assessed. 11. Privacy Impact – none 12. COSLA Policy Position – n/a 13. Climate Risk- the draft strategy includes activity intended to mitigate climate impacts and raise awareness of climate change and the importance of biodiversity.
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14. Children’s Rights: CLD activity in Renfrewshire supports and promotes the participation of children in decision-making and takes a rights-based approach. _______________________________________________________ List of Background Papers: none
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COMMUNITY LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT IN RENFREWSHIRE 2024-2027 PLAN “Working together to ensure our communities, people and families living in Renfrewshire have the capacity, support, resilience and opportunities they need to thrive”
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What is Community Learning and Development? Community Learning and Development (CLD) is an approach to lifelong learning with an aim of empowering people and communities to take part in, and help shape, their own learning and development at all stages of life and in ways that suit a person’s needs. The identification of local priorities and the delivery of activity to meet those priorities should be an inclusive and collaborative process involving stakeholders including learners, young people, community members, community volunteers, local authorities, voluntary and charity sector organisations, educational institutions, and other organisations across the public and third sectors. The key principles of Community Learning and Development practice are: • Inclusion and equality • Empowerment • Partnership and collaboration • Lifelong learning • Participation and engagement • Inclusive learning • Assets-based approach Under the Requirements for Community Learning and Development (Scotland) Regulations 2013, local authorities in Scotland are required to consult on and publish a plan every three years which sets out how the local authority will co-ordinate provision of CLD across the area, what will be provided by the local authority and by partners, and any unmet CLD needs within the period of the plan. Each three year plan should be based on an assessment of need which has included consultation and engagement with service users and communities as well as analysis of data. There is an expectation of regular review of evidence to assess the impact of CLD activity and inform future planning, The requirements also place an obligation on local authorities to ensure that: communities have access to the CLD support they need; that communities are enabled to express their needs for CLD provision and; that Community Planning Partnerships, local authorities and public service providers more generally respond appropriately to the expectations set out by CLD Strategic Guidance. HM Inspectors conducted an inspection visit in Renfrewshire during February 2024 with a strong focus on leadership, governance, performance and outcomes. Whilst the inspection team highlighted positive areas of practice in terms of delivery, a number of recommendations were made in relation to partnership working, governance arrangements and planning. The refreshed CLD Plan for 2024-2027 seeks to respond
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positively to these recommendations, with the plan being developed jointly with local partners. It is also recognised in our shared priorities and action plan, that we will continue to build and strengthen this work as we go forward. CLD delivery in Scotland was recently subject to a national review, commissioned by the Minister for Further and Higher Education and Veterans in 2023 and published in July 2024. This is part of a programme of reviews across education and skills provision. The review will cover the skills and career pathways of the CLD workforce; the impact of provision on learners; how data is collected and used to ensure the best possible outcomes for learners; the alignment of CLD with post-16 education. An online consultation ran between January and March 2024 and is being supplemented with face-to-face consultation and evidence gathering with learners, potential learners, partners and other key stakeholders. The review makes 20 recommendations for CLD governance and delivery in Scotland. A number of these are for the Scottish Government to act upon, including the recommendations on governance, on the policy narrative around lifelong learning and on the strategic intent for CLD.
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Our Policy Context In developing this plan, we have aligned it to the legislative requirements governing CLD and to national and local strategies which have similar or complementary aims. The diagram below sets out some of the key policies we have aligned to. Legislative Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015 UNCRC (Incorporation) (Scotland) Act 2024 Requirements for Community Learning and Development (Scotland) Regulations 2013 Fairer Scotland Duty National National Youth Work Strategy 2023-2028 The Case for Change: Adult Learning Strategy 2022-2027 National Improvement Framework Community Wealth Building Local Renfrewshire Community Plan 2017-2027 Renfrewshire Children's Services Partnership Plan 2023-2026 Renfrewshire Council Council Plan 2022-2027 Renfrewshire's Plan for Net Zero Shaping our Future: Renfrewshire Health and Social Care Partnership Strategic Plan 2022-2025
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CLD in Renfrewshire: an overview Community Learning and Development activity across Renfrewshire broadly falls into three categories – youth services, adult and family learning, and building community capacity. Renfrewshire Council allocates a budget each year for the direct delivery of CLD activity; in 2024/25 this budget is just over £1.6m. Additional funding supports community empowerment and community capacity building, such as the work undertaken by Engage Renfrewshire (the local third sector interface), the funding for Local Partnerships, our Sustainable Communities Fund and our participatory budgeting programmes You Decide and Celebrating Renfrewshire. Youth Services: targeted and universal services •community-based youth work •youth voice •accredited programmes •volunteering opportunities •tackling poverty Adult and Family Learning: working with adults, families, schools and communities •digital learning •personal development •skills for work •family learning •adult literacy and numeracy •English for Speakers of Other Languages Building Community Capacity: supporting thriving and cohesive communities •supporting communities to act together on local priorities •accessing green spaces •participatory budgeting •working with Local Area Partnerships
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The Council also commissions or funds projects which directly deliver on CLD priorities, such as the long-running Street Stuff initiative delivered by St Mirren Football Club; and the work to tackle disability-related hate crime led by I Am Me. The Council’s Fairer Renfrewshire programme and Future Paisley programmes have funded a number of third sector projects which contribute to the delivery of CLD priorities. Other funding sources include the UK Government, the Scottish Refugee Council, and the Scottish Funding Council. Key successes in local delivery include work done to improve youth voice, helping adult learners with numeracy and digital skills, work to support jobseekers, ESOL provision, participatory budgeting, and our Environmental Taskforce. Case Study: Caroline’s Adult Learning Journey Caroline has been taking part in Adult Learning groups for over 10 years. She originally sought out support with her literacies so she could help her grandchildren with their learning. Overtime with support from her tutor her goals have shifted and expanded. Caroline has said that thanks to coming to the group she has done things that she “never thought she would be able to learn or do.” For example, driving theory and negative numbers. Through attending the adult literacies group Caroline has built her confidence and has sought out other learning opportunities both within Adult Learning and beyond. She has joined the Talking Heads group in Southend, participated in various college course, including: Understanding Mental Health, Sewing and Knitting. She is now starting a psychology course with the Open University. When asked if the group has been beneficial for her wellbeing, Caroline said it had. Case Study: The Promise Arts and Culture Programme The Promise Arts and Culture Programme (PACP) aims to build social and cultural capital amongst Renfrewshire’s Care Experience young people and Young Carers, ultimately improving outcomes for these disadvantaged and marginalised groups in the short and longer-term.
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Since it’s beginning in March 2022, the Promise arts and Culture programme has brought Care Experience young people from across Renfrewshire to work with artists from different disciplines such as Film Making, Animation, Graffiti and Street Art, Design, Photography and Fashion and Textiles in order to create dynamic creative environments within which Care Experienced could explore their creative voices. The success in engaging Care Experienced young people and Young Carers across Renfrewshire in diverse creative projects has already resulted these young people moving onto the Youth Services project Art Boss. Here these young people will continue to have creative and artistic experiences that respond directly to their needs. Case Study: Friends of Howwood Park After the installation of a new park in Howwood, the Friends of Howwood Park group was set up hoping to make the park more relevant to village life. The group have organised regular fitness classes, an Easter Egg hunt, outdoor bingo, a mini library, a Halloween Scavenger Hunt and a Christmas Tinsel Walk. The group have also taken on ownership of the Pavilion within the park and use it to host a breakfast club, a children’s library, and provide changing facilities and storage for football and other events in the park. Through the Green Spaces, Parks and Villages Investment Fund, the group secured £21,000 to create a large shelter in the park, which now provides a space for park users to meet and socialise regardless of the weather. The group has also received funding for tools which help them keep the park clean and tidy. The Chair of the Friends of Howwood Park said: “The Parks and Villages Investment Fund really has changed the landscape of Howwood Park, offering an exciting experience for users of all ages. Footfall has without a doubt increased; we are all so proud of what we have collectively achieved, especially with the new group looking specifically after the interests of the Park! With our new shelter, and new seating and benches in the village, the Green Spaces and Village Investment Fund has been a great catalyst for bringing our communities together.”
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In Renfrewshire, the Council is leading on the Connected Communities programme. The aim of the programme is to strengthen partnership working with communities and the third sector, to have a locality model where services are closer to their community and are more joined-up. This programme is in its early stages and our CLD plan will be reviewed regularly to ensure it aligns with new approaches.
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Understanding our communities Our changing population Renfrewshire is home to almost 184,000 people, mainly in urban areas but with a number of semi-rural villages too. Our population is projected to keep growing in the next 10 years, particularly those aged 60 and over. We also expect the number of households to increase to over 90,000 by 2028, predominantly driven by an increasing number of single adult or two-adult households without children. Renfrewshire is a place of growing ethnic diversity. We have growing African, Asian and Polish communities in particular. Through national refugee resettlement programmes, we have welcomed new Scots from Syria, Afghanistan and Ukraine amongst other countries. The widening of asylum dispersal across the UK and steady pressures in relation to support for unaccompanied asylum seeking children have also contributed to changes in our local population and its needs. Renfrewshire has areas of high relative deprivation and areas of relative affluence. According to the most recent Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) data (from 2020), 10 areas of Renfrewshire are in the top 5% for income deprivation; 5 of these areas are within Ferguslie, and the others are in Gallowhill and Hillington, Linwood South, Paisley North East, Johnstone South East and Renfrew West. The SIMD data measures domains other than income, and indicated that the main deprivation issues in Renfrewshire at that time were health, employment and housing. Poverty and the cost of living Child poverty remains a concern in Renfrewshire, with 20.4% of children in households with relatively low income in 2022/23. The most recently published figures on child poverty show that in Renfrewshire the rate of child poverty after housing costs is 20.4%, an increase of 2.4% since 2019/20. This figure is slightly less than the Scottish average of 21.3%. The figure is not consistent across Wards, however, with Renfrew South and Gallowhill having the highest rate at 36.4.% and Bishopton, Bridge of Weir and Langbank the lowest at 9%. There have been particularly sharp increases in some areas; Gallowhill’s child poverty rate had been 26.8% in 2021 whilst in Paisley Northwest the rate rose from 22.9% in 2021 to 33.5% in 2023 and in Johnstone South and Elderslie it rose from 14.5% in 2021 to 21.6% in 2023. There continues to be a poverty-related gap in terms of attainment in literacy and numeracy. The gap is measured in terms of the percentage of pupils meeting specified levels at key stages – P1, P4, P7 and S3 - or on the highest level of attainment at the point of leaving school. In Renfrewshire, the literacy gap in 2022/23 got wider as pupils
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progressed through primary school so that by P7,60.3% of pupils in the most deprived 20% of areas met the required literacy standard compared with 86.7% in the least deprived 20% of areas. The gap did reduce by S3 but widens again by the time pupils leave school. The gap for numeracy is smaller than for literacy until pupils reach S3. This persists into senior phase; with stay-on rates lower for pupils from more deprived areas, there are fewer sitting exams at Levels 5 and 6. Food prices rose by 23.9% between March 2022 and March 2024. The rising cost of essentials has been cited as the main reason for accessing food vouchers from Renfrewshire Foodbank in 2023/24. At the same time, private rental prices in Renfrewshire have risen, with the average private rent in March 2024 being £742 per month, up 10.9% from £669 in March 2023. The number of people accessing Advice Works for support increased by 7.8% to just over 10,700. In common with many areas across Scotland, there are growing numbers of people presenting as homeless, and challenges in having enough suitable housing stock to meet the rising level of demand. In the period February to April 2024, homeless applications in Renfrewshire included 17 from young people aged 16-18, and 44 households with children. Our local economy The latest Renfrewshire Economic Profile notes that Renfrewshire is performing well when compared to regional and national data on some key economic indicators including employment, qualifications and earnings. The average weekly income for Renfrewshire residents rose to £715.70 in 2022/23. This is higher than the Scottish average but slightly lower than the average for Glasgow City Region. However, the average weekly wage for people who work in Renfrewshire is £645.70, around 10% lower. Renfrewshire has a higher than average proportion of workers in low-paid sectors – 34.9% of workers are in these industries, compared with 29.2% in Scotland as a whole. The three largest employment sectors are retail, business administration and manufacturing. Data for 2023/24 from NOMIS indicated that there were 26,200 economically inactive people in Renfrewshire. Within that group, 6,200 (23.7%) were retired, 6,100 (23.3%) were students and 8,300 (30.9%) had a long term illness. NOMIS data shows that Renfrewshire’s benefits claimants includes 1,100 lone parents, 1,980 carers and 1,280 people with a disability; all groups who face additional barriers to accessing economic activity and other opportunities.
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Health and Wellbeing The 2022/23 Adult Health and Wellbeing Survey carried out by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde provides a wealth of data on physical, mental and social needs of people in Renfrewshire. The survey found a sharp increase in the number of people who had a limiting condition or illness – 33% of those surveyed, up from 19% when the survey was last carried out in 2017/18. The proportion of people reporting feeling lonely or isolated also rose sharply since the previous survey, with 18% reporting that they felt isolated from family and friends, compared with 7% in the 2017/18 survey. The figure rises to 24% in the most deprived communities. There is no particular age group more affected than others, but people with a limiting condition or illness were more likely to feel isolated. Across Renfrewshire, one in six people live alone, but this rises with age; 28% of people aged 65-74 and 48% of people aged 75 and over live alone. The survey asked people about their community – whether they felt it was a place where people supported each other, whether they felt they could generally trust people, and whether there was someone they felt they could count on for help if needed. There were clear differences in views in more deprived areas; whilst 79% of respondents overall felt that their neighbourhood was a place where people looked out for one another, this fell to 58% in the most deprived areas. The level of formal volunteering is on a par with the Scottish average, with 22% of Renfrewshire respondents saying that had done some formal volunteering in the past 12 months. The survey found that 24% of respondents did not think their income was adequate, with this being more pronounced for people aged 45-54% (36%), people with a limiting condition (35%) and people in the 15% most deprived areas (38%). This was a position that had worsened since the previous survey in 2017/18, when 15.9% did not feel their income was adequate. Respondents were also asked about whether they often or occasionally had difficulty meeting specific expenses; 36% of people had some difficulty in meeting the cost of food and/or energy at some time. Again, this was more pronounced for people aged 45-54 (45%), people with a limiting condition (55%) and people living in the 15% most deprived areas (50%). Renfrewshire has a higher than average number of carers; an estimated 24% of residents have a regular caring commitment. The 55-64 age group are most likely to have caring responsibilities, and women are more likely than men to be carers.
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Our adult learners The findings of the latest Adult and Family Learning Survey, carried out at the start of 2024 by Renfrewshire Council, provided insight into what would interest current and potential learners, and what barriers to accessing adult and family learning may be. Almost half of respondents were interested in personal and social development, with health and wellbeing activity, confidence building, creative activities and being active in the community all featuring strongly. Our learners identified these as their top three areas of interest for each of our areas of work: Our young people Consultation with young people is a key part of the work that the Council’s Youth Services team do, and views have been gathered multiple times over the past year including through Welcome to Your Vote, Celebrating Renfrewshire and work in schools. This engagement work has highlighted climate change, the cost of living, poverty and mental health as priorities for young people. Topics relating to personal safety were also raised; this included concerns about drug and alcohol use, vaping, and gender based violence. Not feeling safe in the community was also highlighted more generally and this covered issues such as younger children being afraid of large groups of young people congregating in public places, bullying and sexual harassment, and a perception that streetlighting and CCTV could be improved. Personal and Social Development • Health and wellbeing • Arts, crafts and upcycling • Confidence building Adult Literacies • Helping children with homework • Driving Theory Test • Writing Digital Skills • Using the internet safely • Social media • Job seeking
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Youth Survey 2024: Top 5 activities requested by respondents Our new partnership and governance arrangements, which are set out later in this plan, will help further develop our approach to ongoing assessment of need through strengthened sharing of information. We will be creating capacity within the Council, as part of our Connected Communities service, to co-ordinate this. Renfrewshire is committed to keeping The Promise and listen to the voices and needs of our care-experienced community. Community Learning and Development have established mechanisms for ensuring that their voice is heard. Scotland has entered year 4 of this 10-year programme of change with strong evidence of activity across Renfrewshire to #KeepThePromise with significant developments underway and more planned. The delivery of The Promise in Renfrewshire requires a strongly committed multi-agency partnership working approach and demonstration of a collective understanding, commitment, and activity in relation to The Promise across all the partners. Community Learning and Development recognises our key role to deliver on The Promise and are a key active partner in Keeping The Promise in Renfrewshire. Delivering The Promise in Renfrewshire is part of a wider vision on improving outcomes for Children and Young People who are more likely to face poorer outcomes because of experience of child poverty, other inequalities, trauma and adversity. The Promise approach in Renfrewshire is clearly aligned with significant other policy areas and part of a wider ambition that Renfrewshire’s children and young people are happy, healthy, safe and thriving. The Promise aligned policy areas include United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, Getting it right for every child, National Trauma Transformation Programme and wider equalities strategies and legislation. We make every effort as Community Learning and Development professionals to adopt a loving, nurturing approach that encourages a culture where our service users are empowered to ask us about any aspect of our services. Central to our approach to The Promise and our wider policy development work is actively listening to our Children, Young People and Families. In all our Community Learning and Development activity we are ambitious for our Care Experienced children and The Promise is a key priority for us to ensure children who are Care Experienced have all they need to thrive, while recognising that they may experience unique challenges. Sports Activities Trips and Experiences Outdoor Activities Youth Groups Arts and Creative Activity
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Our shared priorities Our shared priorities are aligned on Renfrewshire’s four Community Planning themes – Fair, Well, Thriving and Safe and on the three focus areas identified within that Community Plan Below, we set out what these mean in relation to CLD and what our focus will be in the next three years. Renfrewshire is Thriving In our Community Plan, Thriving is about inclusive and sustainable growth. For CLD then, thriving is about skills for life and work, supporting activity that is linked to community wealth building and sustainability, and promoting community regeneration. We also know there are people in our communities who face barriers to economic activity, whether that’s because they are caring for children or another adult, because of their own health needs, or because they feel they don’t have the right mix of skills for the work they would be interested in. Our learners have told us that they are interested in personal and social development, and want to be active in their communities. We know that more than one in five people in Renfrewshire have undertaken some volunteering in the past. We also know that there are examples across Renfrewshire of people coming together and working to make their community a great place to live.
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Our CLD Thriving priorities are: • Supporting communities to engage and participate in community regeneration • Helping citizens develop skills for work and life, enhancing employability for all ages • Contributing to Community Wealth Building in Renfrewshire • Providing opportunities for volunteering Renfrewshire is Well In our Community Plan, Well is about supporting the wellness and resilience of our citizens and communities. For CLD, it is about supporting communities to be well through offering opportunities to connect with others and to engage in activities which contribute to positive health and wellbeing. We know the damaging impact on health and wellbeing of isolation and loneliness. We also know there are physical and mental benefits from being outside, from enjoying green spaces, and from taking part in creative activities. Our CLD Well priorities are: • Create and support opportunities for citizens to make positive connections within and across communities; • Help build cultural capacity by facilitating and increasing access to arts and cultural opportunities; • Promote and facilitate access to nature, green spaces and outdoor activities. Renfrewshire is Fair In our Community Plan, Fair is about addressing the inequalities which limit life chances. For CLD, this is about working with citizens and communities to try and deliver equity and equality in accessing opportunities to learn, strengthening citizen voice by empowering and enabling people to contribute to decision-making, and providing targeted support where needed to support those who experience inequality and disadvantage. We know that poverty still impacts educational attainment, and that this can impact on opportunities throughout life. We know that some groups face greater barriers in accessing learning and other opportunities, and this could be about health needs, about poverty, about being care-experienced, or about being perceived by others as different. In recent years, we have welcomed growing numbers of New Scots to Renfrewshire, and recognise the challenges that come with moving to a new country.
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Our CLD Fair priorities are: • Promoting equity and equality by removing barriers to accessing learning opportunities, including for care experienced people, people with a disability, people with a hearing impairment and New Scots; • Providing mechanisms for citizens to contribute to decision-making; • Delivering targeted support to address disadvantage in our communities; • Involving and empowering our local communities to help shape and develop our CLD priorities and activities. Renfrewshire is Safe In our Community Plan, Safe is about protecting vulnerable people, and working together to minimise the risk of harm. For CLD, it is about ensuring our spaces feel safe and welcoming in terms of our physical spaces but also in terms of our culture and ethos. It is also about equipping people with the skills that will support them to make safe and informed choices whether that is about online safety, sharing public protection messages or interventions relating to anti-social behaviour. We know there are groups of people who can find it more challenging to access learning, family activities and community activism because of their own past experiences, their current needs or concerns about how others may treat them. We want the spaces we use for CLD activity to be open, accessible and welcoming to all. People have told us that they don’t always feel safe in their community, and we will continue to work with partners to tackle this, whether through practical efforts or by challenging negative perceptions about some of our communities. We also know that communities can include online communities, and we want to give people the tools to feel safe in that environment too. We also know that young people in Renfrewshire have concerns about their own personal safety, and that this is about feeling safe in the community as well as understanding the consequences and risks of alcohol, drugs, vaping and other behaviours. Our CLD Safe priorities are: • Providing safe, welcoming spaces for the delivery of CLD activity, making them accessible, stigma-free and trauma-informed; • Giving people the skills to help them make safe and informed choices; • Exploring options for outreach work that engages with young people who may
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become involved in high-risk behaviors. Strengthening our partnership As well as our four Community Plan themes, we have added a fifth theme which is about strengthening our partnership working in relation to Community Learning and Development. Stronger partnerships will allow us to maximise opportunities to make a difference, to enhance our information sharing, reduce duplication and help us make the best use of our resources. It will help with identifying unmet need and gaps in provision and target resources in a joined-up way. We have recently established a CLD Partnership Executive Group to provide collective strategic leadership, and a Partnership Forum to facilitate information sharing and delivery of joint priorities. As these are new governance structures, there will be a strong focus in Year 1 of this plan in developing these groups and ensuring that the right mechanisms are in place to deliver community learning and development activity as a true partnership. This will include agreeing how we represent learner and citizen voice within our governance structures, and how our third sector and community partners are best represented on the Executive Group. We will also agree a communications approach and establish arrangements for enhanced information sharing and joint working. We consider workforce development to be a key component in strong partnership working. As we embed our governance arrangements, we will look for opportunities to share learning and development opportunities. By amplifying the voices of partners, learners and citizens within our governance structures, we will also create development opportunities for staff and volunteers looking to work in different ways.
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Monitoring this Plan The Plan will be monitored by the Partnership Executive Group. The Partnership Executive will consider progress on a quarterly basis, and updates will be provided to Renfrewshire Council’s Communities and Housing Policy Board every six months. These updates will contain both progress on actions within the plan’s delivery plan and the latest available data for the agreed performance indicators.