Finance and Resources Service Impovement Plan Outturn Report 2025-26
Renfrewshire Council · 11 June 2026
Back to Finance, Resources and Customer Services Policy Board — 11 June 2026 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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PUBLIC ___________________________________________________________________ To: Finance, Resources and Customer Services Policy Board On: 11 June 2026 ___________________________________________________________________ Report by: Director of Finance and Resources ___________________________________________________________________ Heading: Finance and Resources Service Improvement Plan Outturn Report 2025/26 ___________________________________________________________________ 1. Summary 1.1 The Finance & Resources Service Improvement Plan 2025-28 was approved by the Finance, Resources & Customer Services Policy Board in June 2025. The plan set out the priorities for the development of the service over a three year period. These priorities are aligned to those set out in the 2022-27 Council Plan. The Service Improvement Plan sets out the actions which will ensure continuous improvement across the service and the performance indicators which ensure the impact can be measured. These reflect the priority themes of the Council Plan and the refreshed Community Plan. 1.2 This report provides a summary of the Finance & Resources service’s performance against the actions and performance indicators agreed within the Service Improvement Plan for 2025-28. An outturn report is included as an appendix to this report. 1.3 An updated Service Improvement Plan for 2025-28 is being presented to this Board for approval, aligned to the priorities of the Council Plan. 1.4 Over the past year, the service has made good progress in delivering positive outcomes for Renfrewshire and its residents. This is within an operating context that remains complex and fast-moving.
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PUBLIC Economic conditions are currently changing rapidly and both households and organisations are experiencing cost pressures and supply issues, and this is unlikely to change in the near future. 1.5 More detail of achievements is given in Section 4 but the list below notes some highlights: • Leading on the Council’s Financial Sustainability programme; • Delivery of the annual accounts and supporting the work of external audit; • Continuing the revising of HR policies using friendly, inclusive language and tone; • Ongoing work to support residents with the cost-of-living through the administration of grant support, signposting to benefits and related entitlements, and through the work of Advice Works; • Work to deliver on the Council’s Plan for Net Zero through initiatives such as the Green Print Strategy; • Continuing the work with Council colleagues and partners, the procurement service delivered a Meet the Buyers Renfrewshire event, supporting local businesses to bid for public sector contracts; • Completing the boundary review for electoral wards and preparing for the delivery of the 2026 Scottish Parliamentary elections; • Implementing our new Purchase to Pay system, which will reduce manual invoice processing and speed up payments to suppliers; • Developing and enhancing technological solutions that support access to services, such as our digital assistant which is now able to deal with 39% of incoming calls and provide quick answers to simple queries from residents; • Launching a guaranteed interview scheme for care-experienced people who meet the essential criteria for any roles they apply for; • Continuing to provide a range of strategic and operational support to other Council services to support the delivery of financial sustainability programmes, the Plan for Net Zero, large scale infrastructure projects and strong universal services. 2. Recommendations 2.1 It is recommended that the Finance, Resources and Customer Services Policy Board: a) Note the contents of this report; b) Note the progress to date on delivering the actions contained within the Finance & Resources Service Improvement Plan;
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PUBLIC c) Note the current performance of the service as measured by the scorecard indicators. 3. Background 3.1 Our Service Improvement Plans are a clear statement of the outcomes each service wants to achieve, the actions it will take to achieve this, and the performance measures it will use to monitor progress and measure success. Updates on the actions and performance measures are included as an appendix to this report. 3.2 Service Improvement Plans fit within the wider framework provided by the Council Plan and the Community Plan. They allow elected members to have oversight of developments within the service and to consider and develop policy options which reflect customer need and resource availability. 3.3 Section 4 of this report gives details of service activity and achievements in 2025/26, Section 5 covers actions which are delayed or cancelled and section 6 provides a narrative on performance. 3.4 In line with our approach of refreshing Service Improvement Plans annually to ensure they still reflect our organisational priorities, an updated Plan covering the period 2026 to 2029 is also being presented to this Policy Board. 4. Key achievements in 2025/26 4.1 As well as strategic initiatives and customer-facing work, Finance & Resources delivers support services to all other parts of the council including: • Payroll; • Support with recruitment; • Training and organisational development; • ICT Servicedesk; • Provision of ICT equipment; • Invoicing and Payments; • Administrative, committee and elected member support; • Project and programme management; • Health and Safety advice and support; • Legal and Information Governance advice; • Financial management and financial services; • Internal audit • Risk management.
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PUBLIC 4.2 Specific achievements in relation to the Service Improvement Plan are highlighted below. Place 4.3 The service continues to support delivery of the Council’s Cultural Infrastructure programme with Paisley Town Hall, Paisley Learning & Cultural Hub and Paisley Arts Centre all complete and operational. Paisley Museum construction is complete and the fit-out phase is underway to establish operational readiness for a 2026/27 opening. 4.4 In 2025/26 the Director of Finance and Resources highlighted the continuing financial challenges the Council faces over the medium term, and that services will need to continue to change to reflect this constrained financial environment. A balanced budget was agreed for both 2025/26 and 2026/27, with no requirement to utilise reserve balances to fund core expenditure. 4.5 Legal and Democratic Services successfully completed the implementation of the Scottish Parliamentary boundary review with a polling plan for the Scottish Parliamentary elections in May 2026 having been prepared on the basis of the new boundaries. 4.6 The service continues to deliver strong universal services to all Renfrewshire citizens in relation to the Scottish Welfare Fund (SWF) as well as the processing of Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs) to customers to mitigate the bedroom tax as well as Financial Hardship and customers affected by the Benefit Cap. Economy 4.7 The Procurement and Economic Development teams continue to work together to support local businesses to bid for Council contracts and related work. A draft Local Supply Chain Engagement Strategy has been developed and aims to strengthen engagement with Renfrewshire’s SME community, increase local supplier participation in public procurement, improve supplier awareness, capability and readiness for public sector opportunities, and enhance visibility of future contracting activity. The Procurement team also worked in partnership with the Housing Regeneration Service on the You Decide programme, engaging directly with local Renfrewshire suppliers for under-£25,000 requirements.
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PUBLIC Fair 4.8 Finance and Resources has supported thousands of Renfrewshire families with cost-of-living pressures during 2025/26. This includes the continued award of Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs) to mitigate the impact of the bedroom tax, as well as DHPs to support customers experiencing financial hardship and those affected by the Benefit Cap. The service also continues to deliver the Scottish Welfare Fund (SWF), processing new housing benefit applications alongside crisis and community care grants, all within agreed timescales. 4.9 The Digital, Transformation and Customer Services team has completed development of a toolkit for launching DigiZones. This included a stress test and mock exercise carried out between February and March 2026, with learning from these exercises used to strengthen the overall approach. Plans are underway to extend DigiZones into three Alcohol and Drugs Partnership venues, working in collaboration with Renfrewshire Alcohol and Drugs Partnership. Living our Values 4.10 The P2P programme has completed the transition of purchasing functionality into business as usual, with ongoing user engagement continuing to address any issues. Work is underway to review Council PCard processes, alongside the development of management information dashboards within the Business World system. Initial work has also been completed to map future phases of the programme, with further engagement planned to confirm timelines and resource requirements. 4.11 Implementation of the Customer Strategy continues, with use of the Council’s MyAccount service remaining high at over 125,000 registered users. The Digital Advisor continues to handle simple transactional queries, answering over 348,000 calls and responding to 39% of all enquiries, freeing customer contact centre capacity for more complex and sensitive cases. 4.12 Significant progress has been made in delivering the Digital Strategy, including validation of the AI business case with senior officer input across all services and Finance Business Partners. The business case, representing a major medium-term digital transformation opportunity, was approved by Leadership Board in April 2026. Progress has also continued across other priorities, including Digital Inclusion, completion of the DigiZones evaluation, and work to establish a data-led baseline of digital skills across the Council. The Data Advisory Group continues to meet, focusing on data management, analysis and skills, and is expected to support any future AI-related work.
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PUBLIC 4.13 The People and OD team continue to engage and consult with services on the four strategic outcomes of the new People Strategy, which will align to the key priorities of the new Council Plan along with continuing to gather insights and views from across the workforce via established Employee Engagement forums. Improving Outcomes for Children and Young People 4.14 The Corporate Management Team approved a guarantee of interview for care-experienced candidates who meet the essential criteria, now embedded in the Council’s Recruitment Policy. In support of #KeepThePromise, a Care Experienced Staff Network has also been established to support and share experiences. These actions demonstrate the Council’s commitment to supporting care-experienced people into work. 5. Actions which have been delayed or cancelled 5.1 No actions were delayed or cancelled during 2025/26. 6. Progress against performance measures 6.1 Finance and Resources measured 31 performance indicators as part of the 2025/28 Service Improvement Plan. Of these, 20 are collected quarterly and 11 are annual. 6.2 In 2025/26, 14 indicators met or exceeded their targets, five narrowly missed the target, and five did not meet the target. A further five indicators are reported as data-only measures, while two indicators are currently unavailable due to the absence of a centralised reporting mechanism. 6.3 The measure of procurement spend on local suppliers is part of the Local Government Benchmarking Framework. Updates are provided by the Improvement Service and data for 2025/26 will not be available until December 2026. 2024/25 demonstrated improved performance and target was achieved for the reporting year. A programme of work continues to support local suppliers, but external factors and our duty to achieve best value for the Council impact this measure.
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PUBLIC 6.4 The processing of housing benefits applications is once again exceeding target with the current average reported as 18.71, well within the target time of 24 days. Change of circumstances applications is also performing well with an average of 4.19 days against a target time of 10 days. 6.5 The processing of crisis grants was reported as 1 day against a target of a two-day turnaround, and the processing of Scottish Welfare Fund applications is currently averaging 9 days against a target time of 15 days. Both indicators are a further improvement over the same period for 2024/25. 6.6 Complaints response times exceed targets – 91.1% of frontline complaints were dealt with within 5 days and 90.7% of investigation complaints within 20 days. Both indicators have a target of 85%. 6.7 Invoice processing for small and medium sized businesses continues to be an area of strong performance, with these dealt with in 5.53 days, on average; this is against a target of 28 days. Invoice processing indicator has exceeded its target of 96.5% of all invoices to be processed with 30 days. Performance for 2025/26 was 97.77%, with the service receiving over 330,000 invoices - an increase of 60,000 invoices compared to 2024/25. 6.8 The print volume performance indicator is now being reported following the roll-out of new devices across the corporate and learning estate. Usage over the year was just over 20,000,000 pages printed, with 16.2m printed by schools, 3.5m by corporate users and just over 300,000 pages printed by members of the public (e.g. in libraries). Reducing overall print volumes remains a key focus for the next reporting year. 6.9 Three indicators which narrowly missed their target relate to council income – two to the collection of council tax and one to the collection on non-domestic rates. The cost-of-living crisis is likely to have impacted on the collection of council tax, which is slightly behind target at 94.66% collected against a target of 95% for this year. This will also have impacted collection rates for monies owing from previous years. The collection of non-domestic rates is improving but still short of the 98% target, with 97.29% collected in 2025/26, and improvement of 0.07% from the previous year. 6.10 Absence levels across the service remain slightly above target. Extensive work has been done during 2025/26 to look at absence processes and policy and the supports offered to both staff and managers. Reducing absence levels will be a key focus in 2026/27.
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PUBLIC 6.11 New service and council wide indicators have been introduced to provide assurance on workforce development and engagement, focusing on corporate induction, mandatory training, and personal development. At present, the recording processes only capture the completion of online training and so the figures do not accurately represent the entire workforce though mechanisms are being developed to ensure face to face inductions are captured in future reporting. While 1:1 personal development discussions already take place across the service, there is currently no centralised mechanism to support reporting. To address this, new training and guidance will be rolled out in 2026, alongside the introduction of forms within Business World to enable centralised reporting on compliance with staff 1:1 performance and development discussions. Implications of the Report 1. Financial - The Service Improvement Plan highlights resourcing pressures arising from increasing demand for services and the current financial environment. Finance & Resources will lead on work relating to financial stability and sustainability. 2. HR & Organisational Development – No direct implications but the report notes work ongoing by the People and OD team. 3. Community/Council Planning – the report details a range of activities which reflect local council and community planning themes. 4. Legal – No direct implications but the report notes work delivered by Legal and Democratic Services. 5. Property/Assets - None 6. Information Technology – Digital resources are now key to the delivery of services and strategies are in place to manage this. The report notes progress on delivery of work in this area. 7. Equality & Human Rights - The recommendations contained within this report do not require an impact assessment as the report is for noting only. 8. Health & Safety –none 9. Procurement – There are no direct implications but the report updates on progress for actions impacting procurement.
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PUBLIC 10. Risk – Risks related to the delivery and management of services are regularly monitored and included in Renfrewshire Council’s Corporate and Strategic Risk Registers. 11. Privacy Impact - none 12. COSLA Policy Position – none. 13. Children’s Rights – this report is for noting and has no direct implications on children’s rights. 14. Climate Risk – There are no direct implications but the report updates on progress on actions to tackle the climate risk. List of Background Papers: None ___________________________________________________________________ Author: Pamela McDonald, Policy Officer, pamela.mcdonald@renfrewshire.gov.uk
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Title can go here • Click to edit Master text styles • Second level • Third level • Fourth level • Fifth level Finance and Resources Service Improvement Plan 2025 –28 Outturn Report 2025/26
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Title can go here • Click to edit Master text styles • Second level • Third level • Fourth level • Fifth level Outturn Report 2025/26 • This outturn report details progress on delivery of our Service Improvement Plan, highlighting areas where we are already making progress and some areas we want to focus on more, perhaps because performance isn’t moving in the direction we anticipated or because of other pressures or factors that makes this even more of a priority for us. • The following pages shine a spotlight on some great projects or practice, and highlight areas where we’d like to improve or develop further. At a service level, there is a stronger focus on some of the Council Plan Strategic Outcomes than other. Towards the end of this document, you’ll find a full update against all the actions and performance indicators we use to measure progress. • We report on 29 performance indicators, 10 which are reported annually and 19 reported quarterly. In this report, annual data is provided for 2023/24, 2024/25 and 2025/26 to show recent trends.
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Title can go here • Click to edit Master text styles • Second level • Third level • Fourth level • Fifth level Place and Economy Growing spend with local suppliers is central to Community Wealth Building and is supported by the new Community Wealth Building Act. Corporate Procurement is working with colleagues in Economic Development to increase local business involvement in market engagement and upcoming framework opportunities. A draft Local Supply Chain Engagement Strategy is being developed to strengthen local engagement. In addition to this, over 6,000 suppliers have been cleansed and reclassified through the P2P Programme, improving identification of local, SME and third-sector suppliers and supporting increased local participation where appropriate
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Title can go here • Click to edit Master text styles • Second level • Third level • Fourth level • Fifth level Fair and Green A key element of our Green Print strategy is now in place following the roll-out of new devices across the corporate and learning estate. The next phase is underway, focusing on driving culture changes to minimise usage, carbon footprint and costs. During 2025/26 20 million pages were printed, of this 16.2 million were printed in schools, 3.5 million by corporate users and just over 300,000 by members of the public for example in Libraries. Reducing the overall usage further will be a priority for 2026/27. Average time to process a Crisis Grant application is 1 day Average time to process a new housing benefit application is 18.71 days
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Title can go here • Click to edit Master text styles • Second level • Third level • Fourth level • Fifth level Living our Values The P2P programme completed the transition of purchasing functionality into business as usual with ongoing user engagement to resolve issues. Work is underway to review the council PCard processes along with development of management information dashboards within the Business World System. Initial work has been completed on mapping out future phases of the programme, with further engagement planned to confirm timelines and resource requirements. 94.66% of Council Tax due in 2025/26 has been collected 91.1% of frontline complaints were responded to within five days The average time to pay invoices to small and medium sized businesses was 5.53 days
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Title can go here • Click to edit Master text styles • Second level • Third level • Fourth level • Fifth level Actions and indicators Full list FAR SIP 2025/26
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Title can go here • Click to edit Master text styles • Second level • Third level • Fourth level • Fifth level Delivering the Council Plan – Place What we will do Due Date Status Progress update Support delivery of the Council’s infrastructure investment programme 31 December 2026 Paisley Town Hall, Paisley Learning & Cultural Hub and Paisley Arts Centre are all complete and operational. Paisley Museum construction is complete and the fit-out phase is underway to establish operational readiness for a 2026/27 opening. Support delivery of the Council’s financial sustainability work 31 March 2028 The aim of this target is that the Council is able to maintain a balanced budget by 31 March 2028 within the context of a challenging financial environment. This has so far been achieved for 2025/26, the first of the three financial years in scope. Delivering strong universal services to all Renfrewshire citizens 31 March 2027 The Service delivered in relation to the Scottish Welfare Fund (SWF) within target. It also processed Discretionary Housing Payments to customers to mitigate the bedroom tax as well processing DHPs for Financial Hardship and customers affected by the Benefit Cap. Implementing the Scottish Parliamentary boundary review 31 March 2026 All work following the Boundary review is complete with a polling plan for the Scottish Parliamentary elections in May having been prepared on the basis of the new boundaries. Deliver Renfrewshire’s strategic capital investment programmes, including cultural, infrastructure, housing and school estate, and maximise the long-term benefits for our communities 31 March 2029 As reported to the Finance, Resources and Customer Services Policy Board the capital programme is in line to break-even in 2025/26. At 9 January 2026, 68% of the General Services capital budget and 58% of the HRA capital budget had been spent. A new 10-year capital investment plan was approved by the Council on 26 February 2026.
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Title can go here • Click to edit Master text styles • Second level • Third level • Fourth level • Fifth level Delivering the Council Plan – Economy What we will do Due Date Status Progress update Actively engage with Renfrewshire suppliers to increase the percentage of procurement spend 31 March 2026 Initial development work commenced for the next Anchor Meet the Buyer event, which is anticipated to take place in quarter 3 (2026/27) as well as preparations to support and present at the upcoming Chambers Business to Business event in May 2026. An initial draft Local Supply Chain Engagement Strategy has been developed and is being finalised. The strategy aims to strengthen engagement with Renfrewshire’s SME community, increase local supplier participation in public procurement, improve supplier awareness, capability and readiness for public sector opportunities, and enhance visibility of future contracting activity. A programme of online and in- person engagement events is being considered for 2026/27 to support delivery of the strategy. Procurement routes continue to be considered for all requirements and opportunities taken where possible to maximise local participation. The Team issued 16 PINs for upcoming procurements and completed one Quick Quote with 100% Renfrewshire suppliers invited to bid, and a further two with 75% Renfrewshire suppliers invited to bid. The team engaged with the Supplier Development Programme and promoted the Transportation Framework opportunity on SDP website contract opportunities section and included in their newsletter, as well as contacted all bus and taxi operators licensed by Renfrewshire Council directly. The team have worked in partnership with the Housing Regeneration Service on the You Decide programme, engaging directly with local Renfrewshire suppliers for under-£25,000 requirements. The procurement team continue to liaise with colleagues in Economic Development for support in identifying local suppliers with an interest in forthcoming opportunities.
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Title can go here • Click to edit Master text styles • Second level • Third level • Fourth level • Fifth level Delivering the Council Plan – Fair What we will do Due Date Status Progress update Use learning from early implementer phase of DigiZones to expand coverage across Renfrewshire supporting our citizens and communities to get online. 31 March 2026 The DigiZones onboarding toolkit has now been completed. A stress test and mock exercise were carried out between February and March 2026, and the learning from this has been used to strengthen the overall approach. The DigiZones Early Implementer Phase Evaluation Report has been finalised. Publication is currently on hold and will take place after the Election. Content is currently being added to the DigiZones SharePoint site, and work is underway to provide access for members of the DigiZones Sub Group. A scoring and weighting framework has been agreed to support the fair and consistent assessment of any new DigiZones applications. A new round of Digital Lifelines funding has been agreed, and a funding application is being developed. This includes plans to extend DigiZones into three Alcohol and Drugs Partnership (ADP) venues, working in partnership with Renfrewshire Alcohol and Drugs Partnership. In addition, elected members have approved funding within the 2026/27 budget to support the expansion of DigiZones across Renfrewshire.
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Title can go here • Click to edit Master text styles • Second level • Third level • Fourth level • Fifth level Delivering the Council Plan – Living our values What we will do Due Date Status Progress update Deliver a refreshed approach to workforce planning and workforce innovation. 30 June 2026 Progress continues with planning approaches to engage and consult with services on the four draft strategic outcomes of the new People Strategy, which will now be implemented, following members approval, mid-2027. This will align to the key priorities of the new Council Plan. A survey will be conducted early 2026 to gauge and understand how services’ workforce planning and organisational development needs can be met, whilst navigating current and future financial sustainability challenges. We continue to gather insights and views from across the workforce, via our established Employee Engagement forums. As these approaches evolve, they will become an integral part of how we listen and involve our workforce in shaping the future of our organisation. Benchmarking and development of the 4 strategic outcomes has informed the main content of the survey to go to key stakeholders. This will be conducted imminently, following which the year 1 and 2 priority actions of the People Strategy will be identified. Deliver the Purchase to Pay programme which will streamline payments and deliver a more efficient process 31 December 2025 P2P activity has focused on completing the transition over to the BAU management of the new Business World System. This has included regular engagement with ERP Team to resolve any identified issues / bugs within the system and support and communicate with users of the system. In addition, activity has been undertaken to commence a review of the council PCard processes with all existing processes mapped out and development sessions planned for next quarter. Draft management information dashboards have been developed within Business World which will be finalised next quarter. Initial work has been completed on mapping out future phases of the programme with further engagement required to establish final timeline and resource requirements. Deliver the Internal Audit Plan for 2025/26. 31 March 2026 Our completion of the Audit Plan was 90.1% against a target of 90%. Contingency time and overtime helped the team achieve target despite some short-term capacity issues.. Some non operational tasks including some developmental work and staff training were temporarily de-prioritised and these will be progressed during 2026/27. Arrangements are ongoing to implement the approved new team structure. Implement the new Customer Strategy. 31 March 2029 Use of the Council’s Myaccount service remains high, with over 125,000 registered users now on the platform and the Digital Advisor continues to respond well to simple, transactional customer queries. Since it was implemented, it has answered over 348,000 calls and provided a response to 39% of all calls, freeing up resources in the customer contact centre to focus on more complex and sensitive enquiries.
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Title can go here • Click to edit Master text styles • Second level • Third level • Fourth level • Fifth level Delivering the Council Plan – Living our values Due Date Status Progress update Implement the new Digital Strategy 30 April 2030 Since the last update in Jan 2026, there has been significant work undertaken on validating the AI business case with input from senior officers from across all services including Finance Business Partners. The business case is now complete and has been reviewed and approved by the Corporate Management Team. The business case represents one of the most significant digital transformation opportunities for the Council over the medium term. A report was approved at Leadership Board in April 2026. Progress continues within the other key themes of the Digital Strategy including Digital Inclusion and the preparation of an evaluation report on DigiZones and using data to support and evidence a baseline of digital skills across the council. The Data Advisory Group (DAG) continue to meet with a focus on data management, data analysis and data skills. It is anticipated that DAG priorities will be to support any future AI programme of work. Align service data activities with Digital Strategy objective: Data is a critical asset and ensure visibility of data activities at Directorate SMT 30 November 2025 From DAG discussions with SMT and DAG reps, the following data dashboards will be further investigated/developed for presentation at FARS SMT: FOI/SARS Performance, Debt Recovery, Absence Stats/Monitoring & Customer Services Performance Further SIP actions will be developed to track progress of solutions development. Identify data skills gaps , e.g. data input, data analysis and address in alignment with the People Strategy 30 November 2025 DAG reps across FARS have identified a range of skills gaps to be addressed. Appropriate training will be made available through the DAG to appropriate staff covering: Power BI/MS Fabric data platform administration, Data Management & Analysis, Further Power BI user training and opportunities in Finance and Data Compliance team in HR: appropriate training/upskilling Ensure data owners are aware of responsibilities, and align with Data Catalogue 31 July 2026 Limited progress on additional updates to the Data Catalogue has led to rethink of approach using IAR entries as start point and direct liaison with DAG reps to align service data sets with IAR entries. This approach will ensure consistency and connection between IAR and Data Catalogue and be better longer term. Core DAG team are assisting DAG reps to complete their relevant entries, however this will take longer than originally expected, hence target date extended (original due date 31 Dec 25). Review data quality in key line of business systems and develop improvement plan in alignment with organisational priorities 31 December 2025 A number of areas for improvement of data quality across FARS have been identified in Granicus, ERP, Active Directory and generally with addressing in systems across the Council. The DAG will work with the relevant DAG reps on data quality improvement solutions. Further SIP actions will be developed to track progress of the solutions development and implementation. Further define data analysis requirements to improve decision-making and build capabilities locally within services where required 31 December 2025 Initial training/awareness session on Data Analysis & Management is complete. Ongoing liaison now with DAG reps to address specific gaps etc. This will be managed as BAU through the DAG. Power BI upskilling in Finance being addressed in action FR.SIP.25.05.07.
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Title can go here • Click to edit Master text styles • Second level • Third level • Fourth level • Fifth level Delivering the Council Plan – Living our values What we will do Due Date Status Progress update Adopt standard dashboards in our ERP as business-as-usual. 31 December 2025 A number of dashboards have been created within the ERP. The DAG will continue to give the ERP team a forum to highlight potential uses of data and dashboards and give services a forum to seek dashboarding solutions etc as BAU Implement the next phase of transformation through the actions arising from the Council’s financial sustainability and improvement workstreams and the new Reshaping Renfrewshire programme 31 March 2028 The aim of this action is that the Council is able to maintain a balanced budget by 31 March 2028 within the context of a challenging financial environment. This has so far been achieved for 2025/26, the first of the three financial years in scope. The Transformation Board has met 7 times and considered updates and progress on a wide range of projects and programmes, providing advice and guidance as required.
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Title can go here • Click to edit Master text styles • Second level • Third level • Fourth level • Fifth level Delivering the Council Plan –Children and Young People What we will do Due Date Status Progress update Contribute to the Council’s commitment to The Promise for all care experienced people 31 March 2029 The Corporate Management Team approved guaranteeing an interview to any care-experienced candidate who meets the essential criteria for the role they are applying for. This has recently been incorporated within the Council’s Recruitment Policy. As part of the commitment to#KeepThePromise, the Council has created a Care Experienced Staff Network. This group is for those who are Care Experienced both directly and indirectly, who work in Renfrewshire, where group members can input and share learned experiences and advice. These are ways the Council is demonstrating our commitment to supporting care experienced people into work.
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Title can go here • Click to edit Master text styles • Second level • Third level • Fourth level • Fifth level Delivering the Council Plan – Place Indicator Current Status 2023/24 2024/25 2025/26 Explanation of performance Value Target Value Target Value Target FINSUS1 Total useable reserves as a % of council annual budgeted revenue 43.2% Data Only 41.7% Data Only N/A Data Only The Council planned the use of earmarked reserves to fund the budgeted deficit in 2023/24. FINSUS2 Uncommitted General Fund Balance as a % of council annual budgeted net revenue 2.2% Data Only 1.9% Data Only N/A Data Only Minor reduction due to use of the Uncommitted Balance to fund emergency charity donations. FINSUS3 Ratio of Financing Costs to Net Revenue Stream - General Fund 3.13% 3.47% 2.9% 3.47% N/A 3.47% Marginal increase due to the impact of interest rates over the year; expected to continue over the next 12 months. FINSUS4 Ratio of Financing Costs to Net Revenue Stream - Housing Revenue Account 27.7% 28.59% 22.7% 28.59% N/A 28.59% Principal loan repayments from the HRA loans fund was also lower in 2023-24 due to older debt being fully paid off in 2022-23. FINSUS5 Actual outturn as a percentage of budgeted expenditure 100.59% 100% 100% 100% N/A 100% Indicator over 100 here shows an overspend against budget. In 23/24 this was due to a number of inflationary factors, including pay and fuel, and increased cost of children’s residential care. FINSUS6 Reliance on Reserves as a % of Net expenditure 0.5% Data Only 0.9% Data Only N/A Data Only This figure is derived from the use of reserves in-year divided by the Net Expenditure on a Funding basis as reported in the Local Financial Returns. In 2024/25, the Council exceeded the national average due to a Council Tax freeze, which limited income-raising powers and led to an increased reliance on reserves (£4.324m) in- year.
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Title can go here • Click to edit Master text styles • Second level • Third level • Fourth level • Fifth level Delivering the Council Plan – Economy Indicator Current Status 2023/24 2024/25 2025/26 Explanation of performance Value Target Value Target Value Target % of procurement spend spent on local enterprises 20.15% 23% 22% 21% N/A 21% Growing direct spend with local suppliers is a core principle of Community Wealth Building. The use of public procurement to help generate, circulate and retain wealth within the local economy is explicitly recognised in the new Community Wealth Building Bill, introduced on 25 March 2025. To support this, the Corporate Procurement team is working in partnership with Economic Development to increase local business involvement in market engagement activity, including participation in the development of future council frameworks and bidding for contracts on frameworks approaching renewal. Development of a draft Local Supply Chain Engagement Strategy underway to identify how the Council can improve engagement with local businesses and services can be better supported to identify and invite local businesses to submit bids. Through the P2P Programme, a cleanse of over 6000 suppliers on the Business World system has been undertaken with updated categorisations added such as ‘local supplier’, SME, ‘third sector’ which will improve the recording of local suppliers and help highlight opportunities, where appropriate, to increase local engagement across specific areas. The 2025/26 figure will not be available until the second half of 2026.
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Title can go here • Click to edit Master text styles • Second level • Third level • Fourth level • Fifth level Delivering the Council Plan – Fair Indicator Current Status 2023/24 2024/25 2025/26 Explanation of performance Value Target Value Target Value Target Time taken for processing new housing benefit applications up until the posting of notification of outcome of the application (cumulative) 18.99 24 17.93 24 18.71 24 Processing speed for New Claims was well within target for 2025/26. Time taken for processing change of circumstance housing benefit applications up until the posting of notification of outcome of the application (cumulative) 8.08 10 4.3 10 4.19 10 Processing of Changes of Circumstance was well within target for 2025/26. Average speed of processing a Crisis Grant (Scottish Welfare Fund) in days 2 2 2 2 1 2 The service continues to meet the target for processing Crisis Grants. Average days to process during 2025/26 was within the 2 day target. Average speed of processing a Community Care Grant (Scottish Welfare Fund) in days 10 15 10 15 9 15 Processing speed for Community Care Grants was well within target for 2025/26.
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Title can go here • Click to edit Master text styles • Second level • Third level • Fourth level • Fifth level Delivering the Council Plan – Green Indicator Current Status 2023/24 2024/25 2025/26 Explanation of performance Value Target Value Target Value Target Print volume – number of pages printed by council services NEW INDICATOR 20,072,369 Data only Usage in 2025/26 was just over 20,000,000 pages and the aim is to reduce this next year. A breakdown of figures has shown that 16.2m pages were printed by schools, with 3.5m printed by corporate users and just over 300,000 by members of the public (e.g. in libraries).
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Title can go here • Click to edit Master text styles • Second level • Third level • Fourth level • Fifth level Delivering the Council Plan – Living our values Indicator Current Status 2023/24 2024/25 2025/26 Explanation of performance Value Target Value Target Value Target Cost of collecting council tax per chargeable dwelling 8 11.5 7.77 11.5 N/A 9.5 The 2025/26 figure will not be available until the second half of 2026. Percentage of Council Tax due in the year, collected by the end of the year (cumulative position to date) 94.28% 96% 94.49% 96% 94.66 95% Council Tax collection for 2025/26 was up by 0.17% on the 2024/25 position. Recovery of Council Tax remains challenging with continued pressure on many household budgets. The service will continue to maximise collection through timeous recovery activity and utilising all tools at its disposal, including working with our recovery agents. Collection performance may be relatively static until the cost of living crisis eases. Percentage of income due from Council Tax for prior years (cumulative position to date) 97.19% 97.27% 97.12% 97.27% 97.08% 97.15% Prior years' collection at the end of 2025/26 is down slightly on that for 2024/25 (- 0.04%). Follow up continues to be run each month and prior year collection is monitored. Percentage of Non Domestic Rates due in the year, collected by the end of the year (cumulative to date) 96.95% 98% 97.22% 98% 97.29% 98% Business rates collection levels for 2025/26 are up by 0.07% from the 2024/25 position.
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Title can go here • Click to edit Master text styles • Second level • Third level • Fourth level • Fifth level Delivering the Council Plan – Living our values Indicator Current Status 2023/24 2024/25 2025/26 Explanation of performance Value Target Value Target Value Target F&R Front Line complaints (Cumulative) 86.6% 85% 91.9% 85% 91.1% 85% 530 frontline complaints were received in total in 2025/26 with 483 of these completed within the five-day timescale. Total % of investigation (Stage 2) complaints responded to within targets by Finance & Resources (cumulative to date) 94% 85% 97.16% 85% 90.7% 85% 182 investigation complaints were received in total in 2025/26 with 165 of these completed within the twenty-day timescale. Number of invoices paid within 30 days of receipt, as a % of all invoices paid council wide (cumulative) 96.82% 96% 97.83% 96% 97.77% 96.5% During 2025/26 a total of 334,516 invoices were received of which 327,043 were processed within 30 days. Performance has met target for the reporting year. Average days Small and Medium sized businesses invoices paid 7.5 28 5.27 28 5.53 28 At the end of 2025/26 (01/04/25 – 15/04/26) 107,588 SME invoices were received of which 103,827 were processed within 28 days with the average days to process an invoice reported at 5.53 days. The team’s strong performance throughout the reporting year has ensured that target has been exceeded.
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Title can go here • Click to edit Master text styles • Second level • Third level • Fourth level • Fifth level Delivering the Council Plan – Living our values Indicator Current Status 2023/24 2024/25 2025/26 Explanation of performance Value Target Value Target Value Target % of Finance and Resources FOI requests completed within timescale 89.6% 100% 93% 100% 95% 90% During 2025/26, there were 405 single service FOIs dealt with by FAR of which 383 were completed within timescale (95%). Target has been achieved for this reporting period. Percentage of Audit Plan completed (cumulative) 92% 95% 93.6% 90% 90.1% 90% Our completion of the Audit Plan was 90.1% against a target of 90%. Contingency time and overtime helped the team achieve target despite some short-term capacity issues.. Some non operational tasks including some developmental work and staff training were temporarily de-prioritised and these will be progressed during 2026/27. Arrangements are ongoing to implement the approved new team structure. Percentage of Data Advisory Group meetings with attendance from all FAR reps NEW INDICATOR 87.5% 100% One service area was not represented at 1 out of 2 meetings within this period. All other services represented at both meetings.
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Title can go here • Click to edit Master text styles • Second level • Third level • Fourth level • Fifth level Delivering the Council Plan – Living our values Indicator Current Status 2023/24 2024/25 2025/26 Explanation of performance Value Target Value Target Value Target Average number of work days lost through sickness absence per employee (F&R) (FTE) 8.9 8.5 8.96 8.5 9.11 8.5 Sickness absence has remained broadly stable in 2025/26 compared to the previous financial year, with a small increase in total work days lost. Year-on-year absence levels reflect a combination of offsetting movements across sickness categories. Reductions in psychological, respiratory and cancer related absence have been largely offset by increases in musculoskeletal and stomach and bowel related absence during the year. Managers continue to be supported by People & OD through established absence case management processes. Employees have access to Occupational Health services and the Time for Talking counselling service where appropriate. Within the Performance Board Absence Project, 4 corporately agreed workstreams are in progress to help improve the Council’s absence performance. A revised training module with guidance for managers will be implemented in early spring 2026. Through ongoing support and effective, timeous caseload management, improvement is anticipated as preventative and support measures continue to be embedded.
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Title can go here • Click to edit Master text styles • Second level • Third level • Fourth level • Fifth level Delivering the Council Plan – Living our values Indicator Current Status 2023/24 2024/25 2025/26 Explanation of performance Value Target Value Target Value Target Percentage of new Council staff completing corporate induction within 30 days of start date NEW INDICATOR 16% 100% Over the coming months this module will be made mandatory for all staff with regular Business World alerts set up to remind staff to complete this training with reminders escalated to managers. Like mandatory training, induction content has been converted into toolbox talks for delivery to frontline staff. It is anticipated that completion rates will increase significantly. Percentage of Council staff who have participated in a Personal Development 1 to 1 discussion within the last year Not available NEW INDICATOR N/A 100% Whilst we acknowledge that 1:1 personal development discussions already happen across services, there is no central way to enable reporting on this currently. Therefore, to support the reporting of this new performance indicator, new training and guidance on how to apply this policy is scheduled to be rolled out during the first quarter 2026. Alongside this, forms will be created within Business World to allow the Council to report centrally on staff 1:1 performance and development compliance.
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Title can go here • Click to edit Master text styles • Second level • Third level • Fourth level • Fifth level Delivering the Council Plan – Living our values Indicator Current Status 2023/24 2024/25 2025/26 Explanation of performance Value Target Value Target Value Target Percentage of Council staff who have completed all mandatory training NEW INDICATOR 85% 100% Mandatory training completion has continued to rise through 2025, despite the addition of new courses such as Information Classification, Prevent Duty: Awareness, Risk Management and the P2P Approver/Requisitioner modules. This improvement reflects sustained CMT focus, regular comms as well as the new Business World reminders, which have helped users proactively stay on top of their mandatory course requirements. Strong and sustained improvement levels remain consistent with the previous quarter. Although the 100% target was not achieved, overall progress across the year was positive, particularly given the expansion of mandatory training requirements during the overall period, including Information Classification, Prevent Duty: Awareness, Risk Management, and P2P Approver/Requisitioner training. The introduction of these courses increased the overall completion requirement for staff and temporarily widened the compliance gap as employees worked to complete new modules. Regular reports are provided to the Council’s Corporate Management Team and Senior Management Teams across the Council for scrutiny and support.
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Title can go here • Click to edit Master text styles • Second level • Third level • Fourth level • Fifth level Delivering the Council Plan – Living our values Indicator Current Status 2023/24 2024/25 2025/26 Explanation of performance Value Target Value Target Value Target Percentage of new FAR staff completing corporate induction within 30 days of start date NEW INDICATOR 48% 100% Over the coming months this module will be made mandatory for all FARS staff with regular Business World alerts set up to remind staff to complete this training with reminders escalated to managers. Monthly reports will be provided to the Service SMT for scrutiny and support. It is anticipated that completion rates will increase significantly. Percentage of FAR staff who have participated in a Personal Development 1 to 1 discussion within the last year Not available NEW INDICATOR N/A 100% Whilst we acknowledge that 1:1 personal development discussions already happen across FARS, there is no central way to enable reporting on this currently. Therefore, to support the reporting of this new performance indicator, new training and guidance on how to apply this policy is scheduled to be rolled out during the first quarter 2026. Alongside this, forms will be created within Business World to allow the Council to report centrally on staff 1:1 performance and development compliance.
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Title can go here • Click to edit Master text styles • Second level • Third level • Fourth level • Fifth level Delivering the Council Plan – Living our values Indicator Current Status 2023/24 2024/25 2025/26 Explanation of performance Value Target Value Target Value Target Gender pay gap (%) 0.44 Data Only -0.52 Data Only N/A Data Only As at 31 March 2025, the Council’s mean gender pay gap stands at -0.52%. This figure is based on and follows the standard methodology of comparing the mean hourly pay of males and females, excluding overtime payments. Average hourly rate (Male): £21.25 Average hourly rate (Female): £21.36 Gender Pay Gap: -0.52% Percentage of FAR staff who have completed all mandatory training NEW INDICATOR 99% 100% Mandatory course completions have remained steadily high within FARs with close to 100% completion, despite the introduction of additional mandatory courses throughout the year. Performance targets are reviewed by SMT and Business World alerts are in place to help employees stay on top of their learning requirements. Performance against the mandatory training completion indicator within FARS remained consistently high throughout 2025/26, with near- full compliance achieved across all four quarters. While the 100% target was narrowly missed, overall performance demonstrates a strong culture of compliance and effective management oversight within the service.
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Title can go here • Click to edit Master text styles • Second level • Third level • Fourth level • Fifth level Finance and Resources Service Improvement Plan 2025 - 28 Outturn Report June 2026 For more information, please contact: policycefar@renfrewshire.gov.uk