Fairer Renfrewshire Update
Renfrewshire Council · 23 April 2025
Back to Leadership Board — 23 April 2025 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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_____________________________________________________________________________________ To: Leadership Board On: 23 April 2025 _____________________________________________________________________________________ Report by: Chief Executive _____________________________________________________________________________________ Heading: Fairer Renfrewshire Update _______________________________________________________________________________________ 1. Summary 1.1 The Council and its partners continue to work together to progress the Fairer Renfrewshire Programme, with a strong shared focus on the local response to the cost-of-living crisis and on tackling poverty and inequality across local communities. 1.2 This paper provides: • A summary of the key issues reported to the Fairer Renfrewshire sub-committee on 26 March 2025 including the cost of living update and general programme updates. • An overview of the planned programme for 25/26, including recommendations relating to the award of funding to partner organisations to deliver the programme. 1.3 The programme will continue to be progressed flexibly in order to respond to emerging needs and opportunities as these arise. Priorities for delivery over the next quarter are set out in Section 7 of this report. _______________________________________________________________________________________ 2. Recommendations 2.1 It is recommended that elected members: • Note the content of the report • Agree to allocate £0.585m of Fairer Renfrewshire funding to support the delivery of the 25/26 programme of work outlined at Section 6 of this report. • Agree that in line with section 6 of this report, grant funding is awarded as follows to support the delivery of the 25/26 programme: o £49,000 to Active Communities to deliver a programme of health and wellbeing support across Renfrewshire’s high schools o £50,000 to Renfrewshire Citizens Advice Bureau to support the delivery of the Schools Advice Service for a further year. o £45,000 to Renfrewshire Citizens Advice Bureau to support the delivery of the Welfare Rights Service for a further year
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• Agree that delegated authority to award grant funding in relation to the Summer of Fun programme be provided to the Head of Policy and Partnerships in consultation with the Council Leader, as outlined in section 7 of this report. ______________________________________________________________________________________ 3. Background 3.1 The Fairer Renfrewshire Programme was developed in order to bring together targeted programmes of work being progressed by the Council and its partners to tackle poverty and inequality in Renfrewshire. As the cost of living crisis has developed, the programme has continued to evolve in response, with activities being progressed across the 4 core themes: • Improving financial security • Advancing equality of opportunity • Building community capacity and resilience • Listening to lived experience 3.2 Regular updates on the programme are provided to the Fairer Renfrewshire sub-committee and subsequently to the Leadership Board. 4 Update from the Fairer Renfrewshire sub-committee 4.1 At its meeting on 5 February 2025, the sub-committee considered: • The most recent programme update which provided information on recent statistics and research in relation to the cost-of-living crisis, including the cost of living dashboard developed locally. • Progress updates in relation to advice provision, Winter Connections, Pension Credit take up work, and the Gallowhill Community Needs Assessment. • A presentation on the upcoming requirement for all local authorities to produce Good Food Plans and an update on the work of the local Fair Food Partnership. • A paper outlining proposed priorities for the 25/26 Fairer Renfrewshire work programme. 4.2 Officers gather information from a variety of sources at both a local and national level to inform discussion at the sub-committee. Key statistics and information discussed at its most recent meeting are provided in table 1 below. Table 1 Key national statistics • The rate of inflation in February 2025 is now 2.8% but remains above the target rate of 2% set by the UK Government for the Bank of England. • The Bank of England interest rate was reduced in February to 4.5% from 4.75% in December and the Bank expects to be able to cut rates further. • The Energy Price Cap, originally introduced by Ofgem in January 2019 to set limits on the underlying rates energy suppliers, is currently at £1,738 from the 1 January until 31 March, but will rise by 6.4% to £1,849 in April 25.
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Cost of living research (national) The latest insights into the cost of living from the Office of National Statistics for the period 8 January to 2 February 2024 found: • 21% of adults said they had had to borrow more money or use more credit in the last month compared to a year ago. This is the same as the previously reported figure for December 2024, which was 25%. • 56% reported that costs of living had increased compared with one month ago, while 42% stated it had stayed the same and 2% said it had decreased. This again was consistent with the previously reported figure. • For those who reported an increase, costs of food shopping at 89%, (3% less than December) energy bills at 79% (a 7% increase on December figures) and fuel at 48% (a 7% increase) were the most commonly reported reasons. 16% also reported an increase in rent or mortgage costs and 19% a public transport cost increase. • Almost 4 in 10 people are spending less on food and essentials and 61% are spending less on non-essentials. 39% report using less fuel such as gas or electricity at home. • 28% have seen an increase in rent or mortgage costs in the last 6 months, and 34% are having difficulty meeting these costs. Employment and income • According to the ONS, the Claimant Count in January 2025 (which is taken from JobcentrePlus administration systems) for those claiming unemployment-related benefits in Renfrewshire is 3395 people – 2060 men and 1330 women aged between 16 and 64. This is a reduction from 3,670 in November 2024 and equals 2.9% of the population aged 16-64, a slight reduction on the previous 3% figure. The Scottish figure remains at 3.1% as in November. The Universal Credit rollout, however, affects this figure, which is expected to rise as individuals migrate to Universal Credit. • Information relating to increases in the national minimum wage and national living wage (for those aged 21 and over) from April 2025 was provided to the sub-committee. Food costs / insecurity • At the end of January, the Food Foundation published its ‘Broken Plate’ report, which looks at the trends impacting the UK's food system and the actions needed from policymakers in order to ensure everyone can afford healthy and sustainable food. This year's publication highlights that on average healthier foods are more than twice as expensive per calorie as less healthy foods, as defined by the government’s Nutrient Profile Model, averaging £8.80 per 1,000 kcal compared to £4.30 for less healthy foods with healthier food increasing in price at twice the rate in the past two years. • Furthermore, the report shows that a healthy diet is unaffordable for many people with low incomes. To afford the government-recommended healthy diet, the most deprived fifth of the population would need to spend 45% of their disposable income on food, rising to 70% for those households with children, while with the least deprived fifth of households only need to spend 11%. Housing • According to the ONS, private rental prices in Renfrewshire rose to an average of £793 in January 2025, an increase of £16 per month on the last reported figure of £777 in November 2024 and an annual increase of 8.3% from £733 in January 2024.
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5. Fairer Renfrewshire Programme Update 5.1 Since the last update to Leadership Board in February 2025, a range of activities have continued to be progressed by officers and partners. A summary is provided in the sections below. Fair Food Renfrewshire 5.2 The Fair Food Renfrewshire Steering Group, which met initially in September 2023, has continued to meet on a quarterly basis with the most recent meeting taking place in late March, which covered an update on the Good Food Nation Act and Plan, the work of the Food Support Forum and updates from key partner projects such as the Community Food Framework and Food for Thought. A six-month plan was approved in August by the Steering Group. The focus of the plan is on communications and marketing, re-establishing a Food Support network forum to discuss emergency and community food, and investigating the possibility of increasing access by local food producers to procurement frameworks. 5.3 Further to the establishment of the reformed Food Support Forum, a further meeting took place on 13 February 2025. The meeting was attended by a number of organisations who run pantries and food larders as well as Renfrewshire Foodbank. Topics discussed included how the group can work together to avoid gaps and duplication in provision, ensuring culturally appropriate food is available, and creating meals with emergency mainly tinned provision from the Foodbank. 5.4 An update was provided to the Fairer Renfrewshire Sub-Committee at its recent meeting on Good Food Nation legislation which is being progressed by the Scottish Government. A key aim of the legislation is to provide the foundations for Scotland to be a Good Food Nation, where “people from every walk of life take pride and pleasure in, and benefit from, the food they produce, buy, cook, serve, and eat each day.” 5.5 It is anticipated that the Council will require to have a local Good Food Plan in place by 2027, with the local partnership work in this area leaving the organisation well placed to deliver on this legislative requirement. Community Needs Assessment in Gallowhill 5.6 As previously reported, late in 2023, Renfrewshire HSCP was successful in a funding bid to NHSGGC Public Health to carry out a Community Needs Assessment (CNA) in Gallowhill, recognising the concerning increase in Child Poverty rates in the Gallowhill and Renfrew South Ward. The CNA, being carried out by Active Communities, commenced at the start of July 2024 using the Place Standard Tool and 1,033 responses were submitted as part of this consultation. 5.7 Some of the initial findings from this stage of the process have been discussed across partner organisations, with consideration of how to engage and communicate with local people on the findings, and the opportunities for developing the next phase of this work in Gallowhill. This will be supported by Active Communities through £50,000 of funding previously allocated by the Leadership Board in December 2024. A dedicated community development worker has been appointed to specifically support the development and implementation of actions emerging from the community needs assessment and continue to improve and expand community led activity and infrastructure in the area. Wider work will also be undertaken to develop a place-based approach based on the learning from the CNA.
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School and Family Advice Provision 5.8 Between the 1st of August 2024 and the 5th of March 2025, the School Support Service provided by Renfrewshire Citizen’s Advice Bureau assisted 92 clients. The most popular advice area was benefits, with the most common issues being Universal Credit and Adult Disability Payment. The second most popular advice area was housing, with clients seeking support regarding access to and provision of accommodation, including private sector rented properties. 5.9 Over this period, the School Support Service recorded financial gains totalling £195,403.34 for 54 clients. Most financial gains were achieved from benefit entitlements including Adult Disability Payment, Child Disability Payment, and Universal Credit. A notable trend in service use is that 25 of the 92 clients (over a quarter) identified as having caring responsibilities for a disabled child. By comparison, the Bureau’s overall figure for clients with disabled children during this period was 4.5% 5.10 Up until 7th of March 2025, for quarter 4 of 24/25, Advice Works received 48 referrals for their Family Advice Service and completed 80 cases. For the year, this is a total of 299 referrals and 372 cases closed. The majority of these clients have received a benefit check, with some adult disability payments applications, Scottish Child Payment and Free School Meals and School Clothing Grant applications. The majority of these referrals came from Health Visitor teams, with a number too from Social Work, Education and through self- referral. 5.11 Client Financial Gain for the year to date for Family Advice is £59,428.64, however even in cases where a client speaks to an adviser and there is no financial gain made, the client benefits from the reassurance of a benefit check and meeting with Advice Works opens discussion on all financial matters that may be worrying the client, such as debts and budgeting. Pension credit 5.12 As previously reported to the board, officers have undertaken a programme of work alongside partners to increase uptake of Pension Credit, alongside any other eligible benefits specifically for older people. DWP data on Pension Credit applications and awards was released in late February, but this data is only available nationally and not at a local level. From this data, we can see there has been an 81% increase in applications and 64% increase in awards between July 2024 and February 2025. There are still a number of outstanding Pension Credit claims from this period, which means this is not the final position for this period. 5.13 Locally, between Advice Works and RCAB, 613 pension age households have been assisted with queries, income maximisation, benefit applications and debt/housing advice within Q3 of 2024/25. The client financial gain is over £1.1m from the advice and support provided, and this figure will be expected to rise as and when decisions are made on benefit claims. Further pop-up benefit take-up events are being arranged for April to be held in various locations across Renfrewshire.
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Lived Experience Panel 5.14 Elected Members have been given a number of updates relating to work of the Fairer Renfrewshire Panel. From the end of October, for 5 weeks, the Fairer Renfrewshire Panel worked on a piece of commissioned work for Renfrewshire HSCP, where they considered the outcomes of the NHSGGC Public Health and Wellbeing Survey. The Panel are due to present their findings to a special meeting of Renfrewshire’s Community Planning Partnership Executive Group on 28th April 2025. 5.15 As previously reported in December, the Panel heard from the HSCP around their planned work on Cost of the Nursery day, and agreed to be involved in developing and supporting this training which will take place in Early Learning Centres in February/March. A further session took place with HSCP in February around this topic. The Panel are also user testing aspects of the new Council Website on 5 March and held a meeting with the Digital Strategy Delivery Manager on the 12th March. 5.16 STAR Project and a member of the Panel presented to the Child Poverty Peer Support Network in Dundee on 18 March 2025. This meeting had a focus on Lived Experience, and Renfrewshire is one of the 4 local authorities reporting on their work in the area. In addition to the organised sessions to gather Panel input, the Panel took time in February to review their priorities and evaluate their work over the year and will report back to Council officers on these. 6. Fairer Renfrewshire Programme – 25/26 6.1 Officers have been developing a Fairer Renfrewshire programme for 2025/26, reviewing existing programmes of activity across 2024/25, and informed by discussions at the Fairer Renfrewshire Sub-Committee and relevant partnership groups. The proposed programme also reflects the specific commitments agreed as part of the approval of the Council’s budget on 27 March. 6.2 At this meeting it was agreed that £0.450m of additional funding would be allocated to the Fairer Renfrewshire programme to support the following targeted interventions: • A targeted programme of summer activities for children and young people from low- income families, working across Council services and with community groups and third sector organisations across Renfrewshire to ensure that our most vulnerable families are able to access a range of activities and healthy food over the summer period • Continuation of the £50 winter school clothing payment to each school child eligible for school clothing grant • Continuation of the successful Winter Connections Programme. 6.3 It was also agreed that £0.095m would be allocated from existing Fairer Renfrewshire funding to support the Welfare Rights Advocacy service and schools advice support delivered by Renfrewshire Citizens Advice Bureau. 6.4 It is proposed that an additional £0.585m of Fairer Renfrewshire programme funding is allocated to support the delivery of the programme in 2025/26, in addition to the £0.45m allocated by Council. This includes provision for officer resource to deliver the programme and will allow the programme to continue to deliver targeted support across communities in Renfrewshire in line with agreed priorities.
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6.5 Specifically, this additional funding will support the: • Continued provision of a free universal breakfast service in targeted primary schools. The project relieves financial pressure on low-income families, but most importantly, makes sure that children start the school day ready to learn. • Ongoing provision of the Cost of the School Day fund, operating across all primary and secondary schools in Renfrewshire, directly supporting families in a variety of ways including uniforms, food, transport, extra-curricular activities and curricular expenses. • Ongoing delivery of the Peer Health education project in partnership with Active Communities, working with young people in secondary schools across Renfrewshire to identify key health priorities in their school and developing young people to lead their own activities to improve health and wellbeing, with a focus on mental health. • Continued provision of the Skoobmobile, One Ren’s mobile public library service directly to children and families in communities. The programme continues to support the delivery of the Skoobmobile which introduces children to the benefit of reading and play and supports the Council’s ambitions to narrow the literacy attainment gap. • Delivery of the Digital Champions initiative in Renfrewshire, lead by One Ren and supporting wider partnership activities to tackle digital exclusion, which was recognised by Audit Scotland in a national review of digital exclusion. • Contribution of funding to support the Council’s Energy Management Unit, helping people who need support to reduce their energy bills, manage fuel debt and improve the energy efficiency in their homes. • Ongoing delivery of the Family Advice service provided by Advice Works • Provide additional funding to RCAB to supplement core contract funding provided to RCAB in its final year of delivery, in line with the previous decision by Council as part of the budget in February 2024. • Continue to support the Fairer Renfrewshire Lived Experience Panel to provide the voice of local residents with experience of low income on Council policy and service development The funding will also support wider programme and staffing costs required to co-ordinate this programme and to progress the following priorities for 25/26: • Continuing to explore place based approaches to supporting low income households informed by the learning from the community needs assessment in Gallowhill • Mapping the provision of money advice across Renfrewshire and linked forms of support such as energy advice in light of the cost of living crisis. It is proposed that this is further informed by survey and engagement work to assess the ongoing impacts of the cost of living crisis on local households. • Exploration of opportunities and new developments relating to the provision of breakfast club supports across Renfrewshire and nationally to identify best practice and learning • Developing our local Fair Food Renfrewshire Partnership and co-ordinating our first Good Food Plan for Renfrewshire based on anticipated national guidance being launched in 2025. • Undertaking further analysis in relation to the increasing levels of diversity across Renfrewshire’s communities, with a particular focus on considering the supports available to New Scots in Renfrewshire such as ESOL. Renfrewshire Council is also due to develop and set new Equalities Outcomes in 2025, and an action plan in place to support the delivery of these outcomes. • Working with partners to publish our Local Child Poverty Action Report by end of June 2025. 6.7 These priorities were discussed at the Fairer Renfrewshire Sub-Committee on 26 March 2025.
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7 Priorities for the next quarter to June 2025 7.1 Subject to the approval of the 25/26 programme set out in Section 6, officers will work to progress these activities during the next quarter, including establishing necessary contractual or grant agreements with partner organisations. 7.2 A core priority during the next quarter will also be the implementation of arrangements with partners to deliver the Summer of Fun programme, following the allocation of £100,000 of funding to deliver this year’s activities within the Council’s budget. 7.3 It is proposed that the Summer of Fun programme is delivered through the same model utilised in 2024, with 50% of the funding to be directed to deliver holiday camp provision, and the remaining 50% being allocated to support the establishment of a small grants programme which would allow third and community sector partners to deliver local, targeted provision to low-income families across Renfrewshire. 7.4 In order to ensure that local organisations are able to access this funding within the necessary timescales before the summer period, it is proposed that the grants funding programme opens in April 2025, with funding applications being reviewed by a partnership panel. It is proposed that delegated authority is provided to the Head of Policy and Partnerships to consider and award grant funding of up to £3,000 per application, in consultation with the Council Leader. A full report detailing all funding applications and award outcomes will be provided to the Leadership Board. 7.5 In addition to the Summer of Fun programme, officers will also be working with partners over the next quarter to: • Develop and finalised Renfrewshire’s Local Child Poverty Action report • Work with the Lived Experience Panel to review their feedback on the work that is being undertaken with the Council and • Progress the next phase of the Community Needs Assessment process with the community and partners in Gallowhill. 7.6 Updates on these areas of activity will be presented to future meetings of the Leadership Board. Implications of the Report 1. Financial – as outlined in the report it is proposed that £0.585m is allocated from Fairer Renfrewshire to deliver the 25/25 programme. This is additional to the £0.45m agreed by Council as part of its Budget in February 2025. 2. HR & Organisational Development – none 3. Community/Council Planning – This report provides a summary of current partnership activities being progressed through the Fairer Renfrewshire programme, with a key focus on tackling the inequalities that exist in Renfrewshire. 4. Legal - none 5. Property/Assets - none 6. Information Technology - none
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7. Equality and Human Rights – The report provides an overview of key activities undertaken as part of the Fairer Renfrewshire programme, and as such there continues to be a high level of equalities and human rights consideration across this programme – the activities detailed in this report are targeted specifically at advancing equality of opportunity for a number of groups across the Renfrewshire area. 8. Health and Safety - none 9. Procurement – none 10. Risk – none 11. Privacy Impact – none 12. Climate risk – none 13. Children’s rights - the articles within UNCRC underpin the work that is being progressed in Renfrewshire through the Fairer Renfrewshire programme, particularly in relation to rights in relation to aspects such as life, survival and development, food, clothing and a safe home and supporting the best interests of the child and their families. Child poverty and family wellbeing are key local partnership priorities. 14. COSLA Policy Position – none Author: Laura McIntyre, Head of Policy and Partnerships