Finance & Resources Service Improvement Plan 2025-26 Mid-Year Monitoring Report
Renfrewshire Council · 20 November 2025
Back to Finance, Resources and Customer Services Policy Board — 20 November 2025 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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1 OFFICIAL ___________________________________________________________________ To: Finance, Resources and Customer Services Policy Board On: 20 November 2025 ___________________________________________________________________ Report by: Director of Finance & Resources ___________________________________________________________________ Heading: Finance & Resources Service Improvement Plan 2025/26 Mid-Year Monitoring Report ___________________________________________________________________ 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 sets out the priorities for the development of the service over a three-year period. 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 priorities are aligned to those set out in the refreshed 2022-27 Council Plan, which was approved by Leadership Board in June 2024. 1.2 This report contains details of Finance & Resources performance and achievements over the period 1 April 2025 to 30 September 2025. The main purpose of the report is to provide: • details of the key achievements of the service over the period; • a progress update on implementing the action plan linked to the 2025-28 Service Improvement Plan; • an assessment of performance in relation to the service scorecard of core performance indicators; and • an overview of priorities for the service over the next six months.
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2 OFFICIAL 1.3 Over the past six months, 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, with local government as a sector continuing to face significant financial challenges. 1.4 More detail of achievements is given in Section 5 but the list below notes some highlights: • Leading on the Council’s Financial Sustainability programme; • Delivery of the annual accounts; • Introducing revised Equality, Diversity and Inclusion and Respect at Work policies as part of our ongoing review of all HR policies; • Preparing for the implementation of new parliamentary boundaries in 2026 and beginning preparations for the delivery of a Scottish Parliamentary election in May 2026; • Supporting the delivery of the Council’s infrastructure investment programme through provision of a range of operational and strategic services; • Continuing our work with economic development colleagues to support and encourage local businesses to bid for public sector contracts, with our latest Meet the Buyer event taking place in October 2025; • 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; • 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; • Delivering the new Purchase to Pay programme, which is scheduled to go live at the end of November 2025; • Implementing our Digital Strategy, including the delivery of workstreams to explore the potential AI to support both back-office functions and service delivery. 2. Recommendations 2.1 It is recommended that the Finance, Resources & Customer Services Policy Board notes: a) the contents of this report; b) the progress to date on delivering the actions contained within the Finance & Resources Service Improvement Plan;
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3 OFFICIAL c) the current performance of the service as measured by the scorecard indicators; d) that an outturn report on the full year performance for 2025/26 will be brought to this Board in June 2026. 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 over the period April-September 2025. Section 5 discusses actions delayed or cancelled and any new actions added to reflect additional priorities identified since the plan was approved. Section 6 provides a narrative on performance and Section 7 summarises the service priorities for the period until March 2026. 3.4 An outturn report detailing full-year performance will be brought before this board in June 2026. 4. Service Achievements April-September 2025 Place 4.1 The Finance and Resources service continues to provide support to programmes across the range of council activity, as well as lead on the work to ensure we continue to be financially sustainable in a challenging economic environment. The service also delivers universal services on behalf of the council, and specific activities are outlined throughout the report. 4.2 Our Legal and Democratic Services team have been preparing for the implementation of new electoral boundaries for the Scottish Parliament, which will take effect for the elections in May 2026. Implementation should be complete by the end of 2025.
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4 OFFICIAL Economy 4.3 Procurement continue to work closely with Economic Development on supporting local businesses to bid for public sector contracts. The team took part in a Renfrewshire Chamber of Commerce networking event in June, attended a national Meet the Buyer event also in June, and, with partners, hosted another Renfrewshire Meet the Buyer event in October. The teams have also collaborating on providing sector-specific webinars aligning with contract framework renewals. Fair 4.4 Progress has been made by the Digital team to streamline the process of the Digi Zone roll out. An onboarding pathway and on board toolkit is being finalised to ensure a smooth process when organisations join the programme. This includes creation of FAQ template for future Digi Zone organisations, an online application pathway, application evaluation process and hosting of Digi Zone assets. 4.5 In response to feedback from the Employee Engagement Survey and actions identified through the Cultural Assurance Model, the Council has developed a new Employee Suggestion Scheme to encourage innovation, engagement, and continuous improvement. The survey also highlighted opportunities to strengthen awareness of the Council Plan and decision-making processes, and to further enhance wellbeing support. This includes Safer Gambling awareness delivered in partnership with RCA Trust, with additional training for Mental Health First Aiders via an iLearn module to ensure informed support. A Council- wide action plan and service-specific plans have been developed, supported by employee engagement forums, with actions progressing in line with agreed timelines. Members will receive the first annual progress report on these actions in February 2026. Green 4.6 The service does not currently have specific actions aligned to the Green theme but continues to support delivery of this Council priority through strategic and operational support for Net Zero, including ensuring climate considerations are a key element in our procurement processes. Living Our Values 4.7 The People and OD team are continuing their review of HR policies. Most recently, they have presented a revised Equality, Diversity and Inclusion policy and a revised Respect at Work for approval; these were both approved by the Finance, Resources and Customer Service Policy Board in September 2025.
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5 OFFICIAL Employee wellbeing continues to be a priority and the team are supporting the delivery of RenTalks as well as providing forums on particular topics such as our Monthly Menopause Forum and our newly-established Care-Experienced Staff Network. 4.8 The service is committed to the work of The Promise and more staff are training as Promise Keepers. Our People and OD team are strengthening our recruitment practice in regard to care-experienced people, and the Council will now guarantee interviews to care-experienced applicants who meet the essential criteria for a role. 4.9 The new Purchase to Pay programme is designed to streamline payments and deliver a more efficient process and significant reduction in the level of manual processing required. Phase 1 is due to go live on 24 November 2025 as User Acceptance testing for Requisition and Approver tasks was completed 15 August 2025 and Invoicing UAT concluded 26 September 2025. Preparation for Go Live and the launch of the new system is underway. This includes the launch of training for Approvers and Requisitioners across the council as well as data preparation and loading. Regular communications are being provided to senior management, requisitioners, suppliers and the wider staff group. 4.10 We are continuing to implement our Customer Strategy and deliver improvements which make it easier for customers to contact the Council. Additional services are being made available online and new services continue to be developed using the Scottish approach to service design, and work is underway to create training to enhance the customer service skills of our staff. Our Digital Customer Adviser Millie is typically able to provide a response to around one-third on enquiries without the customer having to be passed to a service team. 4.11 The Digital Strategy was approved in April 2025 and is a prioritised programme of work following six key delivery themes. This is being monitored by the Digital Board where issues, risks and barriers will be managed and resolved to ensure timeous delivery of key initiatives such as development of artificial intelligence (AI). 4.12 Data management, development and skills continues to be a key focus for our services. The Data Advisory Group has identified the need for training across a variety of different services. General technical and data input skills in ICT are being reviewed whilst in People and OD a skills audit has been cascaded to staff to identify specific skill gaps. In Finance services the understanding of Power BI is being reviewed and some further investigation is taking place in Business services and Legal and Democratic Services. Following this process appropriate training has been identified to bridge any knowledge gaps and upskill staff. As part of this programme a specific Data Analysis and Management training has been developed to be available to services through the Data Advisory Group.
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6 OFFICIAL 4.13 Following a review of the leadership development programmes delivered in partnership with SOLACE and our in-house CMI-accredited pathways, feedback from participants has informed the next stage of our leadership development journey. A new programme is now being designed to support leaders at every level, from frontline supervisors to the Chief Executive. This refreshed approach will be needs-based, practical, and flexible, supported by a suite of resources and self- directed learning tools that allow participants to learn at their own pace while focusing on strategic priorities. The proposed model will be presented to the Corporate Management Team in the coming weeks, with a view to piloting and rolling out the programme in early 2026. 4.14 We have continued to achieve success through recent accreditations, awards and nominations. Members will recall we were awarded the highest accreditation by Carer Positive as an ‘exemplary employer’ recognising enhanced paid leave provisions and offering bespoke support provision, using the ‘Carer Passport’ tool and the Carers Connected Forum. We achieved recognition as finalists for the Carers UK awards held on 16th October 2025 in the Transformational Employer category. This award recognises a Transformational Employer who is an ambassador for carers internally and embeds the lived experience of carers in everything that they do. We are proud to be an accredited Breastfeeding Friendly Scotland Employer. To create an inclusive and supportive environment, we launched a dedicated Breastfeeding Friendly Scotland course on our iLearn platform. In collaboration with our NHS Scotland partners, we developed new training and guidance to help managers and colleagues provide the best possible support for women who are breastfeeding. To provide ongoing peer support, we established the Supporting Menopause Forum, similar to the network available for working carers. Our forum, ‘Let’s Pause’, launched in April 2025, offers monthly virtual sessions where colleagues can connect and share experiences in a supportive, relaxed, and friendly setting. 4.15 The Council also achieved national recognition at the APSE Service Awards in September 2025, winning the prestigious ‘Council of the Year in Service Delivery’ award; while the Council’s procurement team secured the Procurement Transformation Initiative Award at the GO Awards Scotland for their work on the housing sensors project. 5 Areas where actions have been delayed or cancelled 5.1 Due dates have been amended for four actions under Living our Values; these all relate to data. The work done to date on these actions has identified further issues to be explored and due dates have been flexed to accommodate the additional work, as follows:
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7 OFFICIAL • Align service data activities with Digital Strategy objective: Data is a critical asset and ensure visibility of data activities at Directorate SMT – due date has changed from 31 August 2025 to 30 November 2025; • Identify data skills gaps , e.g. data input, data analysis and address in alignment with the People Strategy – due date changed from 31 October 2025 to 30 November 2025 • Ensure data owners are aware of responsibilities, and align with Data Catalogue – due date changed from 31 October 2025 to 31 December 2025 • Further define data analysis requirements to improve decision-making and build capabilities locally within services where required – due date changed from 31 August 2025 to 30 November 2025. 6. Progress against performance measures 6.1 Finance & Resources have 29 performance indicators in its current scorecard. Of these, 19 are reported quarterly and 10 are reported annually. The attached scorecard contains data for either the last three years or the last four quarters (up to Quarter 2 of 2025/26) as appropriate. Commentary on recent performance is also provided. 6.2 Of the 29 indicators, 2 are data only and have no target, 13 are meeting or exceeding their target, 5 are narrowly missing target, and 6 are more than 10% off target. 6.3 Performance continues to be strong in relation to the processing of housing benefit applications and change of circumstance applications, both of which are exceeding their target. New applications currently take just over 17 days to complete, against a target of 28 days, and change of circumstances take an average of 4 days to complete, against a target of 10 days. 6.4 Performance also remains good in relation to processing Crisis Grants and Community Care Grants, both of which provide vital support to residents in need. Crisis Grant applications are consistently processed within two days, with the majority dealt with in one day. Our target for processing Community Care Grants is 15 days but the team are currently averaging only 8 days per application. 6.5 The service is meeting its targets for responding to complaints and Freedom of Information requests. In the first half of the year, the service received just over 400 frontline complaints, just over 100 investigation complaints, and over 200 FOI requests.
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8 OFFICIAL 6.6 The percentage of non-domestic rates income collected in the year to date is slightly higher than the target set whilst the percentage of council tax income collected is slightly lower. The service continues to work hard to maximise income recovery using all available approaches. 6.7 Absence rates for the service are higher than the target for Q2 – 2.51 days lost per FTE against a target of 1.9. There was a particular increase in Musculo-skeletal related absence in Q2. 6.8 This year all services started reporting on completion rates for the corporate induction, mandatory training, and Personal Development Plans, and the Finance and Resources Service Improvement Plan also includes indicators tracking these at the council-wide level. The completion of Personal Development Plans is an annual indicator and so data will not be reported until the outturn report in June 2026. There is considerable variation across services. The figure for corporate induction does not currently capture face-to-face inductions, only the mandatory elements from iLearn rather than other activity such as Toolbox Talks. Work is underway to ensure this can be captured on Business World and this should improve completions within the 30 day target. In Finance and Resources 95% of staff have completed all mandatory iLearn courses and managers receive automated notifications of expired or incomplete courses within their team. The overall Council completion rate is impacted by lower rates in larger services, and work is ongoing within services to address the issue. 7. Priorities over the next six months 7.1 The Council’s programme of financial sustainability work and transformation will continue to be a priority for all services in the next six months and beyond. The preparation of the 2026/27 budget will be informed by the Scottish Government’s draft budget scheduled for 13 January 2026. This involves professional advice and support from FAR service teams including Finance, the Programme Management Unit and People and Organisational Development. 7.2 The roll-out of P2P will be a priority for the remainder of the year, with go-live scheduled for the end of November. 7.3 The full implementation of the boundary review will be a priority for Q3 and thereafter the service will be working on the delivery of Scottish Parliamentary elections in 2026.
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9 OFFICIAL 7.4 Cyber-security remains a major concern for all local authorities, and the risk of a successful attack remains high. The Council will continue to strengthen its approach to cyber security, having recently undertaken recruitment to provide additional expertise in this area. Implications of the Report 1. Financial – This report notes the financial challenges facing the local authority and the work that will be undertaken by the service to manage this. 2. HR & Organisational Development – The action plan details several new and updated pieces of work being progressed by the People & OD team. 3. Community/Council Planning – Service Improvement Plans reflect the contribution of each service to the Council and Community Plans. 4. Legal – As detailed in the report. 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. 7. Equality & Human Rights – This report has not been assessed because it is for noting . Any actions arising from the report will be assessed and the impact assessments made available. 8. Health & Safety – The report provides an update on some of the work of the People and OD team to support employee health and wellbeing. 9. Procurement – The report details some of the priority actions being progressed by the procurement team. 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
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10 OFFICIAL 13. Children’s Rights – this report is for noting and has no direct implications on children’s rights. 14. Climate Change – The service will contribute to the Council’s Plan for Net Zero through initiatives such as the Green Print Strategy and sustainable procurement practices as well as through the provision of strategic and business support for other council services. ___________________________________________________________________ List of Background Papers: None ___________________________________________________________________
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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 -26 Six-monthly progress update November 2025
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Title can go here • Click to edit Master text styles • Second level • Third level • Fourth level • Fifth level Welcome to our six-monthly update • This update reflects on the first six months 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, andhighlight 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 which are reported quarterly.
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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 Procurement continue to work closely with colleagues in Economic Development to support local businesses who are interested in bidding for Council contracts. They have delivered a number of events and webinars for potential suppliers including another of our Meet the Buyer sessions in October 2025. Since 2023, our Contract Standing Orders have included guidance that, wherever possible, 75% of suppliers invited for Quick Quotes should be Renfrewshire- based. Officers are preparing for the implementation of new electoral boundaries following the Scottish Parliamentary boundary review. Preparations are also underway for the delivery of Scottish Parliamentary elections next May.
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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 New housing benefit applications processed in average 17.2 days and changes in 4.03 days Community Care Grants processed in 8 days against target of 15 days We have 22 Digizones operating across Renfrewshire, including a mobile service from the Skoobmobile. Our Digizones offer up to four kinds of support: digital skills support, internet access, digital devices, and signposting to where you can get online. To help us build on the success of this approach, which has been recognised as national good practice, we are creating toolkits to help more organisations apply and get set up.
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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 90% of frontline complaints received answered within five days Average of 4.44 days to pay invoices to small and medium size businesses Average of 2.06 days lost per employee due to sickness absence The Council’s Purchase to Pay (P2P) programme aims to modernise the way we purchase goods and services and create greater efficiency by automating many manual processes. The P2P team are currently supporting officers across the Council with training and testing ahead of the system going live in November 2025. As part of our commitment to The Promise, we will now guarantee an interview for care- experienced job applicants who meet the essential criteria for our posts. We’ve also established our Care-Experienced Staff Network and are working to grow membership of the group.
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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 November 2025
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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 March 2026 Paisley Town Hall, Paisley Learning & Cultural Hub and Paisley Arts Centre are all complete and operational. Paisley Museum is expected to move from Practical Completion of the building during 2025 to an intense exhibition fit out and operational readiness process. Support delivery of the Council’s financial sustainability work 31 March 2027 The aim of this target is that the Council is able to maintain a balanced budget by 31 March 2027 within the context of a challenging financial environment. This has so far been achieved for 2025/26, the first of the five financial years in scope. Delivering strong universal services to all Renfrewshire citizens 31 March 2027 The Service continues to deliver services in relation to the Scottish Welfare Fund (SWF). Processing of SWF remains within target. It also continues the process of awarding 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 Boundaries Scotland submitted their report with their final recommendations to the Scottish Parliament Ministers on 30 April. The Scottish Parliament have approved the revised boundaries set out in that report. The final step in the process is approval by the Privy Council which is due in October 2025. It is anticipated that Electoral Registration colleagues across Scotland (including the ERO at the Renfrewshire Valuation Joint Board) will publish revised electoral registers on the new boundaries on 1 December 2025. A report was approved at full Council on 25 September 2025 agreeing a revised Polling Plan based on the revised boundaries. Once the December register is published officers will import the details to the Council’s election management system which will complete the implementation process.”
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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 The next Renfrewshire Anchor Meet the Buyer event will take place on 30th October 2025. This event is in collaboration with NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and the University of the West of Scotland. Engagement with previous attendees and local Renfrewshire businesses took place during this quarter to shape the event ensuring it meets the needs and interests of local companies. These events aim to support local businesses in accessing public sector contract opportunities and to strengthen the local supply chain. The Procurement Team, supported by the Supplier Development Programme (SDP), hosted two ‘Talking Tender’ webinars to support the renewal of the Early Learning & Childcare Flexible Framework. The first session was held on the afternoon of 17 September 2025, with 32 SMEs registered to attend, the second event took place that evening with 14 SMEs registered to attend. These efforts are part of ongoing work to engage local suppliers during the early stages of new framework and contract development. Supplier engagement was also undertaken with the newly appointed AMIDS South contractor to discuss their commitment to creating opportunities within the local business supply chain. During this quarter, the Corporate Procurement Team issued 9 PINs for upcoming procurements. This initiative aims to boost the number of local suppliers bidding for Council contracts. In line with Contract Standing Orders (CSOs), a minimum of 75% of suppliers invited to CPU Quick Quotes must be based in Renfrewshire, where possible. Similarly, new guidance for purchases under £25,000 recommends that at least 75% of invited suppliers (to the three quote process) be local to 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 – 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 Onboarding pathway / toolkit being finalised, which includes creation of FAQ template for future DigiZone orgs, online application pathway, application evaluation process and hosting DigiZone assets. Particular focus over coming months on gathering Qualitative insights to support quantitative data. Digital Lifelines funding application not being progressed at this time however there may be potential of future funding becoming available and opportunity to re-apply. Criteria for future DigiZones being considered.
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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 The Workforce Planning Group continues to advance the priorities set out in the People Strategy, implementing recommendations from the Best Value audit. The group is working closely with the Head of People & OD to shape strategic approaches to workforce planning and organisational development, identifying new priority areas for the next five years. A biannual People Metrics report was presented to the FARS Board on 13 February 2025 for noting and monitoring. A subsequent report on 12 June 2025 introduced a broader and more comprehensive set of People Metrics for the same purpose. The next biannual report will be submitted to the Board on 20 November 2025. Work is underway to develop the new People Strategy for (2027–2032), which will be shaped around four strategic outcomes that support long-term financial sustainability: • Healthy and Performing • Enabled and Engaged • Empowered and Sustainable • Adaptable and Resilient Engagement with Directors, Heads of Service, and service leaders will begin in early 2026 to review the draft strategy, agree key priorities, and provide feedback on implementation themes. This work will be fully aligned with the vision and strategic priorities of the new Council Plan, scheduled for implementation in 2027. A progress update on the current People Strategy will be presented to Members of the FARS Board on 20 November 2025. Deliver the Purchase to Pay programme which will streamline payments and deliver a more efficient process 31 December 2025 Launch of P2P Phase 1 and the Business World ERP. The go-live of P2P Phase 1 has been confirmed as 24 November 2025. User Acceptance Testing (UAT) for Requisition and Approver tasks was completed 15 Aug and Invoicing UAT concluded 26 Sept. Deliver the Internal Audit Plan for 2025/26. 31 March 2026 Progress for Qtr 2 was reported as 38.2% against a target of 41%; this is due to temporary reduced capacity in the team.
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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 Implement the new Customer Strategy. 31 March 2029 Improvements are ongoing to how customers contact the council, with the new Website in place, additional services available online and Millie continuing to provide telephone support for calls to the contact centre. New services continue to be developed using the Scottish approach to service design and work is under way to create training that will increase the customer service skills of our staff. Ongoing work continues to support our communities to develop their digital skills. Implement the new Digital Strategy. 30 April 2030 A programme of work has now been created and is monitored by the Digital Board which meets on a regular basis. There are opportunities for new initiatives (e.g. AI) to add to this 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 Further discussion with FARS SMT and FARS DAG reps has concluded to investigate potential dashboards for: • Debt recovery • Customer Services: Performance • Absence Stats Some further potential opportunities still being investigated – due date has been amended to November 2025. Next steps will be separate action to develop solutions. Identify data skills gaps , e.g. data input, data analysis and address in alignment with the People Strategy. 30 November 2025 Various gaps noted by DAG reps across FARS: • Technical and data input skills in ICT - being addressed. • People/OD - skills audit being cascaded to staff, and other skills gaps identified and addressed through restructure. • Finance - Power BI skills gaps to address standard processes being reviewed, file naming conventions, annual gen ledger consistency. Some further investigation required on skills gaps in Business Services and Legal & Dem Services. Appropriate training being identified and due date has been amended to November 2025.
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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 Ensure data owners are aware of responsibilities and align with Data Catalogue. 31 December 2025 Data Catalogue updates still being addressed to ensure it is up to date. The due date has been amended to December 2025. Review data quality in key line of business systems and develop improvement plan in alignment with organisational priorities. 31 December 2025 Some system review has been discussed, e.g. ERP data quality issues - further solutions being investigated (e.g. position data updates by managers). Further define data analysis requirements to improve decision-making and build capabilities locally within services where required. 31 December 2025 Data Analysis & Management training being developed and available to services through the DAG. This will be offered at next DAG. Further follow up specifically in Finance on previous Power BI training and adoption, therefore due date has been amended to December 2025. Adopt standard dashboards in our ERP as business-as-usual. 31 December 2025 The ERP Team continue to add these and update the relevant teams where they believe there is a benefit to the service having an overview of the data or workflow process. Please note that many of these are created by the ERP Team, using their own knowledge and expertise to support Core Teams and others. Rarely do the ERP teams receive specifications, requests, or amendments for workspaces/dashboards, and this is an area that is being worked on with the likes of the DAG group. This data is, and should be, important to the organisation, services and partners that have data or processes within the ERP. • Cyber Security Workspace (now including Information Classification ilearn mandatory course) • Workforce planning Workspace • Scotland Excel (partner org) HR Workspace • School Management Workspace including flexible working and vacant position detail. • Finance Structure Manager Workspace • Finance Structure Accountants Workspace CPU Workspace - Approver and Requisitioner Mandatory Course Attendance, Requisition/PO workflow monitoring, etc. Support the next phase of the long-term Transformation and Change Programme, ‘Reshaping Renfrewshire’, including development of the Transformation Board 31 March 2027 The aim of this action is that the Council is able to maintain a balanced budget over the medium term within the context of a challenging financial environment. This has so far been achieved for 2025/26, the first of the five 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 2026 Earlier this year, the People & OD Team completed training on the role of Promise Keepers and committed to embedding #KeepingThePromise within updated HR and OD policies and processes. This reinforces our pledge to ensure care-experienced employees are fully supported and that this commitment is consistently applied. On 29 July 2025, the Promise Ambassador secured approval from CMT to guarantee interviews for care-experienced candidates who meet the essential criteria. This initiative is designed to remove barriers and promote fairness. Work is now underway with the Recruitment Team to update MyJobScotland and Talentlink, and a new field will be added to Businessworld ERP to track and monitor the impact of this approach.
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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 Short term trend Long term trend 2022/23 2023/24 2024/25 Explanation of performance Value Target Value Target Value Target FINSUS1 Total useable reserves as a % of council annual budgeted revenue 49.2% Data only 43.2% Data only * Data only The Council planned the use of earmarked reserves to fund the budgeted deficit in 2023/24. A similar % is likely to continue into 24/25. *This is an LGBF indicator and data for 2024/25 is not yet available. FINSUS2 Uncommitted General Fund Balance as a % of council annual budgeted net revenue 2.2% Data only 2.06% Data only * Data only Minor reduction due to use of the Uncommitted Balance to fund emergency charity donations. *This is an LGBF indicator and data for 2024/25 is not yet available. FINSUS3 Ratio of Financing Costs to Net Revenue Stream - General Fund 3% 3.47% 3.13% 3.47% * 3.47% Marginal increase due to the impact of interest rates over the year; expected to continue over the next 12 months. *This is an LGBF indicator and data for 2024/25 is not yet available. FINSUS4 Ratio of Financing Costs to Net Revenue Stream - Housing Revenue Account 32.5% 28.59% 27.7% 28.59% * 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. * This is an LGBF indicator and data for 2024/25 is not yet available.
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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 Short term trend Long term trend 2022/23 2023/24 2024/25 Explanation of performance Value Target Value Target Value Target FINSUS5 Actual outturn as a percentage of budgeted expenditure 101.7% 100% 100.5% 100% * 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. The council is expected to overspend again in 24/25 owing to HSCP pressures. Final data for 2024/25 is not yet available.
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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 Short term trend Long term trend 2022/23 2023/24 2024/25 Explanation of performance Value Target Value Targe t Value Targe t % of procurement spend spent on local enterprises 19.3% 23% 20.2% 23% * 21% In the period 2023-2024 Renfrewshire Council recorded direct spend of £56.4 million with businesses based Locally. This accounted for 19.58% of the Council’s total spend. A further 59.38% of our spend was with businesses located in bordering local authorities (Glasgow, Inverclyde, North Ayrshire, East Renfrewshire and West Dunbartonshire). The update to our Standing Orders Relating to Contracts in June 2023 included increasing the threshold for the use of Quick Quote for Works contracts up to £500,000 with a requirement that where possible, a minimum of 75% local businesses should be invited to quote. Increasing direct spend with local businesses is a key element of Community Wealth Building and the use of public procurement to facilitate or support such generation, circulation and retention of wealth locally is a measure set out in the new Community Wealth Building Bill (as introduced on 25th March 2025). In addition, the Corporate Procurement team and Economic Development are working closely to encourage more local businesses to participate in market engagement for the development of future council frameworks and to bid for work on frameworks due for renewal. Work is ongoing to identify ways to support services to identity and invite quotes from local businesses for Quick Quotes and updates to the new Purchase to Pay system will create opportunity for better recording of local suppliers and help to identify potential opportunities to increase local engagement with certain areas of spend where appropriate.
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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 Short term trend Long term trend 2023/24 2024/25 Q1 2025/26 Q2 2025/26 Explanation of performance Value Target 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 16.24 24 17.2 24 Processing speed for New Claims was well within target for Qtr 2 of 2025/26. Time taken for processing change of circumstance housing benefit applications up until the posting of notification of outcome of the application (cumulative) 8.1 10 4.3 10 4.4 10 4.03 10 Change of Circumstances processing was well within target for Qtr 2 of 2025/26 and has improved on previous quarter. Average speed of processing a Crisis Grant (Scottish Welfare Fund) in days 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 The service continues to meet the target for processing Crisis Grants.
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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 Short term trend Long term trend 2023/24 2024/25 Q1 2025/26 Q2 2025/26 Explanation of performance Value Target Value Target Value Target Value Target Average speed of processing a Community Care Grant (Scottish Welfare Fund) in days 10 15 10 15 9 15 8 15 The service continues to process Community Care Grants within the target; 8 days with a target of 15.
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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 Short term trend Long term trend 2023/24 2024/25 Q1 2025/26 Q2 2025/26 Explanation of performance Value Target Value Target Value Target Value Target Print volume – number of pages printed by council services New indicator for 2025/26 New indicator * * * * *Baseline information is being established.
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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 Short term trend Long term trend 2023/24 2024/25 Q1 2025/26 Q2 2025/26 Explanation of performance Value Target Value Target Value Target Value Target Cost of collecting council tax per chargeable dwelling £8.00 £11.50 £7.77 £11.50 Not measured for quarters This indicator reports on the cost of collecting Council Tax per chargeable dwelling. For 2024/25, the total cost of collecting Council Tax for Renfrewshire Council is £714,305 The number of eligible dwellings in 2024/25 is 91937. Cost per dwelling is therefore £7.77. This is a decrease on the prior year, owing to vacancies and efficiencies in the teams involved in Council Tax Collection. This has been partially offset with an increase in Postage Costs and Commission based Debt Recovery. The number of dwellings has increased by 0.46% compared to last year. 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% 32.73% 32.76% 59.26% 60.27% At the end of Q2 Council Tax collection was up 0.07% on the 2024/25 position. The service continues to maximise collection through timeous recovery activity using all tools at its disposal, including working with our recovery agents.
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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 Short term trend Long term trend 2023/24 2024/25 Q1 2025/26 Q2 2025/26 Explanation of performance Value Target Value Target Value Target Value Target Percentage of income due from Council Tax for prior years (cumulative position to date) 97.19% 97.27% 97.12% 97.27% 96.28% 97.27% 97.01% 97.27% Collection at the end of Q2 is down slightly on Q2 of 2024/25 (0.06%). 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% 22.28% 20.17% 54.53% 51.4% Collection at the end of Q2 was down by 1.93% on the equivalent position for Q2 2024/25. Analysis is ongoing to establish if this shortfall has been caused by a timing issue with some larger payments. F&R Front Line complaints (Cumulative) 86.6% 85% 91.9% 85% 93.9% 85% 90% 85% The service dealt with 183 frontline complaints in Q1 and 124 in Q2. Performance is based on issuing a response within 5 days and target was exceeded in both quarters. Total % of investigation (Stage 2) complaints responded to within targets by Finance & Resources (cumulative to date) 94% 85% 97% 85% 98% 85% 91% 85% The service dealt with 50 investigation complaints in Q1 and 56 in Q2. Performance is based on issuing a response within 20 days and has exceeded the target in both quarters.
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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 Short term trend Long term trend 2023/24 2024/25 Q1 2025/26 Q2 2025/26 Explanation of performance Value Target Value Target Value Target Value Target Number of invoices paid within 30 days of receipt, as a percentage of all invoices paid council wide (cumulative) 96.82% 96% 97.83% 96% 95.2% 96% * 96% At the end of Qtr 1 a total of 65,448 invoices were received of which 62,308 were processed within 30 days (95.20%). Performance is marginally behind target this period, but it is expected to improve over the reporting year. *Q2 data not yet available Average days Small and Medium sized businesses invoices paid 7.5 28 5.27 28 4.44 28 * 28 At the end of Qtr 1 (01/04/25 - 30/06/25) 29,530 SME invoices were received of which 28,855 were processed within 28 days (97.71%) with the average days to process an invoice reported at 4.44 days. Target has been achieved for this reporting quarter. *Q2 data not yet available Average number of work days lost through sickness absence per employee (F&R) (FTE) 8.9 8.5 8.96 8.5 2.06 2 2.51 1.9 Absence has increased this quarter, with a larger number of Musculo-skeletal cases this quarter. Performance is behind target. % of Finance and Resources FOI requests completed within timescale 95% 100% 96% 100% 96% 90% 92% 90% During Qtr 2 2025/26, Finance & Resources dealt with 106 single service FOIs of which 97 were completed within timescale. During the summer, availability of colleagues who can provide input into requests tends to be impacted and this may have a knock-on effect to our ability to progress requests within the statutory timescale.
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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 Short term trend Long term trend 2023/24 2024/25 Q1 2025/26 Q2 2025/26 Explanation of performance Value Target Value Target Value Target Value Target Percentage of Audit Plan completed (cumulative 92% 95% 93.6% 90% 17.6% 18% 38.2% 41% Progress for Qtr 2 was reported as 38.2%, just slightly below 41% target. This is due to a vacancy within the team impacting on capacity. Percentage of new FAR staff completing corporate induction within 30 days of start date New for 2025/26 67% 100% 36% 100% This is a new indicator and currently reflects only staff who completed all nine iLearn modules within 30 days of starting. Completions beyond the 30-day period are not included. Face-to-face induction is also excluded at present, but work is underway to capture and record this on BW ERP, which will increase the reported completion rate. In Q1, there were 12 new starts, and in Q2, 22 new starts. Managers and employees have been reminded to complete induction training as soon as possible. Local service inductions are carried out from the first day of employment. Percentage of FAR staff who have completed all mandatory training New for 2025/26 94% 100% 95% 100% Performance targets for mandatory training are reviewed monthly by the Services SMT. Business World alerts are in place to prompt managers and employees, reinforcing the importance of completing training on time. Percentage of FAR staff who have participated in a Personal Development 1 to 1 discussion within the last year New for 2025/26 New for 2025/26 Not measured for quarters This is an annual indicator and data will be available at the end of 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 – Living our values Indicator Current Status Short term trend Long term trend 2023/24 2024/25 Q1 2025/26 Q2 2025/26 Explanation of performance Value Target Value Target Value Target Value Target Percentage of new Council staff completing corporate induction within 30 days of start date New for 2025/26 12% 100% 14% 100% This is a new indicator and currently reflects only staff who completed all nine iLearn modules within 30 days of starting. Completions beyond the 30-day period are not included. Face-to-face induction is also excluded at present; however, work is underway to capture and record this on BW ERP, which will result in a higher reported completion rate. There were 191 new starts in Q1 and 311 in Q2. Managers and employees have been reminded to complete induction training as soon as possible. Local service inductions are delivered from the first day of employment. There has been some improvement between Q1 and Q2. Percentage of Council staff who have completed all mandatory training New for 2025/26 59% 100% 71% 100% The percentage of employees completing mandatory training has shown consistent month-on-month growth, driven by regular oversight from the Council’s CMT and individual Services SMTs. Efforts will continue to improve completion rates, supported by Business World alerts that remind managers and employees of the importance of timely training. Q2 has saw a modest improvement from Q1. Percentage of Council staff who have participated in a Personal Development 1 to 1 discussion within the last year New for 2025/26 New for 2025/26 Not measured for quarters This is an annual indicator and data will be available at the end of 2025/26. Percentage of Data Advisory Group meetings with attendance from FAR staff New for 2025/26 80% 100% 100% 100% All FARS services have been represented at the DAG in Q2.
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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 Six-monthly progress update November 2025 For more information, please contact: policycefar@renfrewshire.gov.uk