14. Participatory Budgeting Tenants Decide Fund
Renfrewshire Council · 13 May 2025
Back to Communities and Housing Policy Board — 13 May 2025 and its agenda
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___________________________________________________________________ To: Communities and Housing Policy Board On: 13 May 2025 ___________________________________________________________________ Report by: Director of Environment, Housing and Infrastructure ___________________________________________________________________ Heading: Participatory Budgeting – “Tenants Decide” Fund ___________________________________________________________________ 1. Summary 1.1 The Housing Revenue Account Budget & Rent Levels 2025/26 to 2027/28 and Housing Capital Investment Plan 2025/26 to 2029/30 report approved by Council on 27th February 2025 included details of £600,000 additional investment that would be used to deliver improvements suggested and voted for by tenants in a similar way to the YouDecide campaign was delivered. 1.2 The YouDecide budget was dedicated to supporting projects that aligned with the strengths, needs, and aspirations of local communities, allowing residents to decide on infrastructure improvements they valued most. 1.3 This report sets out how the Tenants Decide fund will build on the success of the previous You Decide campaign and allow Council tenants to be more involved and help to decide how this fund is spent over the three financial years 2025/26 to 2027/28. ___________________________________________________________________ 2. Recommendations It is recommended that the Communities and Housing Policy Board: 2.1 Note the content of this report. 2.2 Note that a further update will be provided to the next meeting of this Board on the outcome of consultation with the Tenant Scrutiny Panel and the development of the assessment criteria and selection process for the Tenants Decide Fund.
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2.3 Note that an annual update will be provided on the delivery of the Tenants Decide Fund and the projects proposed and approved for implementation each financial year. _________________________________________________________ 3. Background 3.1 It is well known that better community engagement and participation leads to the delivery of more responsive services as well as better outcomes for our communities. The principles of Participatory Budgeting (PB) are about addressing the needs within communities by allowing residents to have their say on how a percentage of a budget should be spent in their local area. 3.2 COSLA and Scottish Government have developed and agreed a framework on which to take forward participatory budgeting. The framework acts as an enabler for active participation of communities in local decision making and it establishes a shared expectation that elected members, senior officers and local communities will go beyond the current arrangements for consultation and engagement. A target of 1% of a local authority budget which has been set using participatory budgeting was agreed, however, this is simply a minimum. 3.3 On 27th February 2025 the Council approved £600,000 additional investment from the housing revenue account to be directed towards a Tenants Decide participatory budgeting programme to be established for Council tenants to decide how this funding from rental income would be spent. 3.4 The £600,000 funding has been split over the three financial years from 2025 to 2028, with £150,000 being made available in Year 1 (2025/26), £250,000 in Year 2 (2026/27) and £200,000 in Year 3 (2027/28). This budget allocation is in addition to other budgets available for routine repairs and maintenance, neighbourhood forum projects and other major investment and regeneration and newbuild programmes of work. 3.5 The principles of Participatory Budgeting (PB) are about addressing the needs within communities. #YouDecide was Renfrewshire Council’s flagship PB programme and was hailed as an exemplary Participatory Budgeting project by Scottish Government because it embodied all the principles of an excellent Participatory Budgeting process. A significant communications and marketing campaign took place to promote #YouDecide and as a result 87% of local people agreed that they had increased knowledge of participatory budgeting, with 81% of local people agreeing it was a good way for the Council to identify projects and allocate funding. 3.6 Learning from the success of #YouDecide and using the knowledge and experience gained through that process, it is proposed to build on this and create an exciting opportunity for Council tenants to have their views heard and to support them to influence expenditure in their own neighbourhoods through the ‘Tenants Decide’ programme.
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4. Tenants Decide Fund Proposals 4.1 An officer working group has been established across Housing Services and the Chief Executives Service to promote, implement and deliver the outcomes of the Tenants Decide Fund as suggested and voted for by tenants. The Tenant Scrutiny Panel will also play a key role in working with officers to develop the communications strategy and assessment criteria for the fund, which may include criterion as follows: Only Renfrewshire Council tenants can make suggestions and vote for improvements within their local housing area. Environmental improvement suggestions can only be considered for this fund where the land is held on the Housing Revenue Account (HRA). There may be scope for wider community projects to be taken forward in mixed tenure areas, where tenants suggest and vote for those proposals. 4.2 The process will be set out in three phases incorporating all Council tenants across each of the four local area housing teams of Johnstone & Villages, Paisley North, Paisley South and Renfrew & Gallowhill. Appendix 1 to this report provides further detail on the localities contained within and managed by each of the local area housing teams. The first phase of Tenants Decide will see Renfrewshire Council tenants invited to share their initial ideas for neighbourhood improvements, such as local infrastructure projects that would enhance environmental surroundings or other interesting or innovative ideas that they feel would be of benefit to themselves and their neighbours. In the next phase, this long list of projects will then be shortlisted against the criteria to be agreed with the Tenant Scrutiny Panel. The third phase will involve tenants being invited to vote on the projects that they would like to see delivered in their neighbourhood. 4.3 A number of improvement suggestions have been gathered from previous consultation events and from tenant conversations with local Housing Officers, this includes a small number of projects that could not be delivered as part of current forum budget but could now be considered as part of the Tenants Decide programme. 4.4 Council tenants will be encouraged to put forward proposals and make decisions on investments for neighbourhood improvements beyond those deliverable at a neighbourhood forum level, within their local areas through participatory budgeting. It is important that tenants feel they can make a difference in the local community by playing an active role in ensuring successful outcomes. Tenants will be asked to be imaginative and innovative when it comes to bringing forward potential projects for consideration and then encouraged to vote for those they would like to see delivered throughout the programme.
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4.5 Each neighbourhood area will have a launch event where tenants will be invited to have their say on what improvements they would like to see in their area. Not only will this give tenants a key role in the decision-making process around improving and enhancing their neighbourhood, it will also give Housing Services a better understanding of our tenants’ priorities. 4.6 Tenants Decide will be rolled out with the assistance of EngagementHQ, an online engagement platform which is available for use Council wide for anyone involved in public engagement activities. The platform can be used for public consultation projects, user and market research and internal staff surveys. The aim of this platform is to involve communities in how we shape and deliver our services. Officers will also work with colleagues across Council services to ensure Council Tenants are at the heart of this project with a highly visible communications and marketing strategy which makes it easy for tenants to engage, provide project suggestions and vote for improvements that they believe are needed in their area. 4.7 To support the expansion of the Housing Services community engagement efforts to deliver the Tenants Decide participatory budgeting project, a new 0.5FTE Development Officer post will be recruited within the Regeneration and Development team at a cost of £0.025m per year which will be met from the agreed budget. 4.8 In consultation with the Tenant Scrutiny Panel, the Tenants Decide assessment criteria and selection process will be fully developed and an update provided to the next meeting of the Policy Board. __________________________________________________________________ Implications of the Report 1. Financial – as detailed within the Report to Council on 27th February 2025 and as detailed below in HR and Organisational Development section. 2. HR & Organisational Development – To promote the benefits and successfully deliver the Tenants Decide Fund including reporting outcomes achieved over the three-year lifespan of this budget, it is proposed that a current part time Development Officer position within the Regeneration and Development Team will be enhanced to a full-time post. 3. Community/Council Planning – Our Renfrewshire is thriving – Listening to Council tenants and delivering environmental enhancements or other similar projects that allow them to better enjoy their areas and surrounding neighbourhoods. Working together to improve outcomes – Participatory Budgeting is a fantastic opportunity for tenants to see where they can be more involved, make recommendations and vote for improved outcomes for the area they represent.
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4. Legal – None. 5. Property/Assets – None. 6. Information Technology – The Tenants Decide fund will utilise existing ICT software such as the Councils website, email and i-text to allow tenants to review projects and vote for those they would like to see being taken forward within their communities. 7. Equality & Human Rights - The recommendations contained within this report have been assessed in relation to their impact on equalities and human rights. No negative impacts on equality groups or potential for infringement of individuals’ human rights have been identified arising from the recommendations contained in the report. If required following implementation, the actual impact of the recommendations and the mitigating actions will be reviewed and monitored, and the results of the assessment will be published on the Council’s website. 8. Health & Safety – All reasonably practical steps will be taken to ensure the health, safety and welfare at work of employees and all other persons who may be affected by the projects taken forward by the Tenants Decide Fund. 9. Procurement – The procurement process for approved works will be progressed depending on the cost parameters and availability of appropriate delivery frameworks, with any substantial large-scale works programmed for delivery later in the 3-year programme. 10. Risk – there is a risk that tenant involvement is low to start with and that ideas take some time to come through to officers for consideration. A full marketing campaign is being established to reduce this risk. 11. Privacy Impact – none. 12. Climate Risk – none. 13. Children’s Rights – none. 14. Cosla Policy Position – The Scottish Government’s Programme for Government contains a commitment that by the end of this Parliamentary term, at least 1% of Local Authority Budgets will be covered by Community Choices budgeting such as that proposed for the “Tenants Decide” Fund. _______________________________________________________ List of Background Papers Council Report, 27th February 2025, Housing Revenue Account Budget & Rent Levels 2025/26 to 2027/28 and Housing Capital Investment Plan 2025/26 to 2029/30.
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Infrastructure, Land & Environment Policy Board, 24th March 2021, Infrastructure & Assets Community Investment Fund. The contact officer within the service is Jennifer Murdoch, Housing Regeneration Manager, 07811 053038, Jennifer.murdoch@renfrewshire.gov.uk ___________________________________________________________________ Author: Jennifer Murdoch, Jennifer.murdoch@renfrewshire.gov.uk
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Participatory Budgeting – “Tenants Decide” Fund Appendix 1 – Local Area Housing Teams Johnstone & Villages Johnstone Centre Johnstone West Johnstone Castle Lochwinnoch Linwood Elderslie Bridge of Weir Houston Kilbarchan Howwood Paisley North Paisley North Paisley East Ferguslie Park Paisley West George Street Hunterhill* Paisley South Paisley South Glenburn Foxbar Lochfield Dykebar Hunterhill* Renfrew & Gallowhill Renfrew Centre Renfrew Townhead Arkleston / Newmains Moorpark Kirklandneuk Inchinnan Bishopton Gallowhill * Paisley North and Paisley South areas both manage properties within the Hunterhill area.