Community Planning Six-Monthly 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: Community Planning Six-Monthly Update ___________________________________________________________________ 1. Summary 1.1 This report is the six-monthly update of recent activity of Renfrewshire Community Planning Partnership, covering the period from October 2024 to March 2025. It was agreed at Leadership Board in September 2022 that update reports would be provided every six months and would also include an update on progress being made in developing the seven Local Partnerships. The previous update report was approved at the meeting of the Leadership Board held on 18 September 2024. 1.2 Two meetings of the Renfrewshire Community Planning Partnership Executive Group have taken place during the period October 2024-March 2025, on 18 November 2024 and 27 January 2025. These meetings have focused on reviewing the performance of community planning partners in improving outcomes and reducing inequalities on the agreed priorities and identifying action to progress this further. Section 4 provides further information on issues addressed by the Community Planning Partnership Executive Group over the last six months. 1.3 Local Partnerships are an integral part of the structure of Renfrewshire Community Planning Partnership. Since the last six-monthly report on development of the Local Partnerships to the Leadership Board, there have been two rounds of Local Partnership meetings. These took place in November/December 2024 and February 2025. The meetings focused on finalising and agreeing the local priorities for each of the Local Partnerships and receiving presentations on issues that Local Partnerships can become involved in. 1.4 A key development in Local Partnership working was the appointment of a Local Partnerships Development Officer, who took up post in October 2024. This post will provide additional capacity to develop the work of Local Partnerships, such as
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developing the agreed local priorities into action plans and supporting community groups to work together towards these priorities. 1.5 Applications from community groups for Local Partnership funding for 2025/26 were invited from 10 February to 13 March 2025 and will be considered at meetings of the seven Local Partnerships between 22 April and 7 May 2025. Guidance for community groups was revised to incorporate the revised local priorities agreed by the Local Partnerships during 2024. 2. Recommendations 2.1 It is recommended that members of the Board: • note progress being made to improve outcomes and reduce inequalities across the priorities of Renfrewshire Community Planning Partnership • note steps taken to develop Local Partnership working 3. Background 3.1 This paper represents the regular 6 monthly update submitted to the Leadership Board for consideration on wider community partnership developments. This includes both the work of Renfrewshire Community Planning Partnership Executive Group and the development of the Local Partnerships, which are part of the community planning structure. 3.2 Community planning is a statutory duty placed on Councils in Scotland and defined community planning partners under the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015. These public, private and third sector bodies are required to collaborate in Community Planning Partnerships. There are 32 Community Planning Partnerships in Scotland, one for each Council area. The broad aims of community planning activity are to improve outcomes for people and communities and to reduce inequalities in those outcomes. 3.3 Partners are also required to develop and jointly progress a Local Outcomes Improvement Plan. In Renfrewshire this is referred to as our local Community Plan, a ten year plan spanning 2017-2027. At the mid term point of the plan in 2022, partners agreed that a refresh exercise should be undertaken. This was felt to be timely due to the impact of the COVID pandemic and also the cost of living crisis emerging at that time. 3.4 The vision set out within the Community Plan has remained: Working together to make Renfrewshire a fairer, more inclusive place where all our people, communities and businesses thrive. 3.5 The four priorities of the Community Plan have also been retained - that Renfrewshire is Thriving, Well, Safe and Fair. The refresh carried out in 2022 identified three main areas of focus for collaborative working through the Community Planning Partnership. These are: • Supporting low income families • Tackling health inequalities • Addressing the climate emergency
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3.6 Within each area of focus, three or four action areas have been identified to drive improvement. 3.7 Community Planning Partnerships are required to produce and publish each year an Annual Report. The Annual Report sets out performance against priorities identified by each Community Planning Partnership and reports on action taken to improve outcomes. 4. Community Planning Partnership Executive Group 4.1 Renfrewshire Community Planning Partnership Executive Group met on 18 November 2024 and 27 January 2025. The key issues discussed were as follows: • Renfrewshire Community Planning Partnership Annual Report 2023/24 – The Annual Report set out highlights of activity during 2023/24 that address the three areas of focus of Supporting Low-Income Families, Tackling Health Inequalities and Addressing The Climate Emergency. The Annual Report also contained a new performance framework reporting performance against a set of core indicators. • Annual Horizon Scanning Workshop – The Executive Group held a horizon scanning workshop, based on a presentation of the latest demographic data for Renfrewshire, followed by a discussion of the implications of this. The workshop focused on population change, migration, demographic structure of Renfrewshire’s population, household size and tenure and economic activity/non-activity. • Renfrewshire Community Learning and Development Partnership Plan 2024- 27 – The Executive Group considered the Community Learning and Development Plan, setting out a partnership approach to delivering lifelong learning in Renfrewshire during 2024-27. The Plan sets out an action plan with four priorities, which in turn support the Renfrewshire Community Planning Partnership priorities. The four Community Learning and Development priorities are to provide a programme of high-quality lifelong learning, build strong and connected communities, deliver opportunities to reduce barriers and tackle inequalities and strengthen the Community Learning and Development Partnership. Renfrewshire’s newly established partnership governance arrangements for Community Learning and Development will report into the CPP Executive Group, as well as the Council’s Communities and Housing Policy Board. • Physical Activity For Health Framework – The Executive Group considered Scotland’s National Framework For Physical Activity, which includes everyday activity, active recreation and sport. The strategic outcomes of the strategy cover provision of physical activity opportunities in health and social care, communications to encourage activity, opportunities for sport targeted at people and communities with low participation rates and provision of physical activity in the workplace. Renfrewshire’s Sports Strategy is being reviewed by One Ren in response to the National Framework For Physical Activity.
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• Specialist Public Health System Offer – a presentation was made to the Executive Group regarding data and analytical support being offered to Community Planning Partnerships by Public Health Scotland. 4.2 A special meeting of the Community Planning Partnership Executive Group is currently being scheduled for late April, to facilitate a discussion with the Fairer Renfrewshire Lived Experience Panel. The Panel have been commissioned by Renfrewshire HSCP to explore the findings of the local health and wellbeing survey and to make recommendations to partners on what their priorities should be in response. 4.3 At its next scheduled meeting, partners will also be asked to consider Renfrewshire’s Local Child Poverty Action report and some of the initial findings of the community needs assessment work which is being undertaken in Gallowhill. 5. Local Partnership Review – 2024 Development Programme 5.1 A key element in delivering the objective of strengthening Local Partnerships has been achieved by the appointment of a Local Partnership Development Officer, who took up post in October 2024. The new postholder provides the capacity for closer engagement with community groups to discuss funding applications and track progress of funded activity and also develop actions plans based around priorities. This was a key element of the Local Plans, Local Priorities and Local Voices programme to be progressed. 5.2 Each of the seven Local Partnerships have now reviewed and agreed revised local priorities during the October 2024- March 2025 period. The revised set of priorities for the Local Partnerships are set out here What the priorities are for each Local Partnership - Renfrewshire Website. 5.3 In response to requests to move forward the dates of the meetings to decide initial Local Partnership grant awards, which in 2024 were held in May/June, the equivalent meetings in 2025 have been scheduled to take place between 22 April and 7 May 2025. This will enable earlier consideration of grants relating to activity taking place during summer 2025. 5.4 Following agreement of the revised priorities, new guidance has been developed for applicants to the 2025/26 Local Partnership funding round and communicated across a range of media. Applications for Local Partnership funding for 2025/26 was opened on 10 February 2025 with a deadline for consideration at the April/May 2025 meetings of Local Partnerships. 5.5 The Local Partnership Development Officer has provided additional capacity to work more closely with applicants for funding, both during the application process itself and after award decisions are made. This should result in stronger relationships developing between officers and community groups involved in the process and
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greater awareness of the outcomes that Local Partnerships are delivering for communities. Implications of the Report 1. Financial – no direct financial implications 2. HR & Organisational Development – none. 3. Community/Council Planning – set out in the content of this report 4. Legal - none. 5. Property/Assets – none. 6. Information Technology – none. 7. Equality and Human Rights – community planning and Local Partnership work contributes towards the community planning outcomes for people and reducing inequalities 8. Health and Safety – none. 9. Procurement – none. 10. Risk – progressing community planning working contributes to mitigating against the risk of poorer outcomes and increasing inequalities for people within Renfrewshire. 11. Privacy Impact – none. 12. COSLA Policy Position – COSLA is supportive of community planning as an approach to delivering outcome improvement and narrowing of inequalities in Scotland . 13. Children’s Rights – the three areas of focus identified in the refreshed community plan – Supporting Low Income Families; Tackling Health Inequalities; and Addressing The Climate Emergency – contribute to setting policy direction that supports progress in delivering Children’s Rights. 14. Climate Risk – the Renfrewshire Community Plan was refreshed in 2022 and one of its three areas of focus is Addressing The Climate Emergency. The Annual Report sets out actions being taken and tracks performance against outcomes. Author: Stuart Graham, Community Partnerships Manager, Chief Executive’s Service, 0141 487 1509