Reshaping Renfrewshire –Transformation and Change Programme – update
Renfrewshire Council · 18 June 2025
Back to Leadership Board — 18 June 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: 18 June 2025 ___________________________________________________________________ Report by: Chief Executive ___________________________________________________________________ Heading: Reshaping Renfrewshire –Transformation and Change Programme – Update ___________________________________________________________________ 1. Summary 1.1 In February 2025, a comprehensive report was presented to Leadership Board giving an overview of transformation activity to date, setting the context, and detailing the fifth phase of Renfrewshire Council’s transformation programme, named Reshaping Renfrewshire. 1.2 The report noted that while Reshaping Renfrewshire would continue to have a focus on the development of the organisation, similar to previous phases, it would also be coupled with a strategically wider, outward-focused perspective to consider Renfrewshire’s geography and communities. 1.3 Key areas of emphasis for Reshaping Renfrewshire include continuing to deliver significant recurring financial savings and or generation of additional income to secure longer-term financial sustainability; harnessing the rapidly changing advancements in digital technology to transform how we deliver services in the future; building upon key strategic partnerships and relationships, collaborating to deliver better outcomes for communities; and continuing to shift the focus of our service provision to prevention to help reduce future need and cost. 1.4 This report represents the first of the regular updates on the progress of the programme. Given the scale of the programme, updates will focus on areas with relevant and substantive progress, where options are being explored and to highlight milestones being reached. Moving beyond the summer period there will be a requirement for greater definition of target savings against key transformation programmes to support the Council’s medium term financial strategy and it is anticipated that this will be incorporated into the updated medium term financial strategy due to be brought to full Council in September 2025.
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________________________________________________________________________ 2. Recommendations 2.1 It is recommended that the Board: • Note the update provided in the report on the progress of key areas within Reshaping Renfrewshire; • Note the officer governance arrangements detailed at section 3.2 • Agree the temporary arrangements proposed for Erskine Library, as detailed in Section 12.5 • Note the work undertaken as part of the Best Value thematic review on transformation; and • Note that regular reports will continue to be brought to the Board at appropriate key junctures as the overall programme is progressed and that there is an expectation to establish greater definition of target saving levels across the transformation programme to support the Council’s medium term financial strategy that is expected to be updated at the September full Council meeting. _________________________________________________________________________ 3. Background 3.1 Reshaping Renfrewshire is the fifth phase of the organisation’s ongoing transformation, to ensure a financially sustainable long-term future, while improving outcomes for our communities. As noted above, this phase will also include a strengthened outward focus which will support the development and delivery of strategies that will reshape how we use our council assets, redesigning the role they serve within our communities; drive long term economic growth and develop our strategic partnerships to support our shared goals; and secure a digital agenda that drives the delivery of large scale savings and also transforms how we work, how we use data to inform our decisions, and improve our service delivery and choice for communities. 3.2 In addition to providing regular updates to Leadership Board, and alongside existing governance supports across strategic programmes, a Transformation Board (officer group) has been established to provide strategic oversight of the next phase of the programme. Chaired by the Director of Finance and Resources, this group has a membership of senior officers across the Council and will review the progress of all projects and programmes across the organisation, explore and manage interdependencies, share learning and support resourcing challenges. 3.3 As previously reported to Leadership Board in February, as part of the new Best Value methodology, Audit Scotland have introduced an annual ‘thematic review’ which applies to all Councils, aligned to the annual audit reporting process and carried out in addition to the rolling programme of ‘full’ Best Value audits.
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3.4 For 2024/25, the theme is ‘Transformation’ and this thematic review is currently being finalised. The Council engaged extensively with our external auditors, Azets, over recent months to provide a wide range of evidence of the Council’s long term approach to transformation, our successful and sustained track record of delivery and our future plans. It is anticipated that the thematic report prepared by Azets will be shared with the Council after the summer and a report will be presented to the Audit, Risk and Scrutiny Board highlighting the key findings and any recommendations. 3.5 As part of the Best Value Audit of Renfrewshire Council which was published earlier this month and will be considered by Council on 25 June, the Accounts Commission recognised Reshaping Renfrewshire as ‘central’ to addressing the Council’s budget challenge. 4. Progress updates – Digital Digital Strategy 4.1 The organisation has made significant progress in recent years to invest in digital technology and services, changing how we work and how our customers interact with us. The new Digital Strategy, which was developed using customer insights and in consultation with senior managers from across the Council, builds on the success and learnings from our previous strategy, and recognises the need for bolder, Council-wide digital transformation. It was approved by Finance, Resources and Customer Services Policy Board in April 2025. 4.2 To ensure the successful delivery of this ambitious next phase, the need for a strengthened corporate approach has been identified. Delivering the desired change will impact all areas of the Council and will drive a coordinated programme of work over the next five years, built around six strategic themes in support of four strategic objectives. It is recognised that five years is a long time, particularly in the digital world, so a review of the strategy will be conducted after year two, to ensure our objectives remain relevant and aligned. 4.3 The four strategic objectives are: • Our employees and residents will be digitally capable and supported in the use of digital solutions • We will achieve corporate transformation with a single coordinated approach that breaks down operational silo • Data will become a critical asset to us and the backbone to our transformation and future decision making • We will be a modern organisation, where our services, people and culture are ready to deliver for the future
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4.4 Achievement of these objectives will be managed through a programme of work built around the following six strategic themes, which have been developed in consultation with senior managers: • Digital Inclusion • Data • Our Technology and Infrastructure • Digitally Enabled Workforce • Leadership and Culture • Digital Public Services 4.5 Following approval of the strategy, in the coming months a prioritised programme of work will be created under each of the six themes. This programme of work will report regularly to the Digital Board, where issues and risks will be surfaced and managed, and any barriers to delivery will be resolved. The Digital Board will continue to report to the Corporate Management Team with regular progress updates to Finance, Resources and Customer Service Policy Board. Data Strategy 4.6 Renfrewshire Council’s Data Strategy Framework, approved in 2023, is a hub/spoke model for data management, recognising the importance of central and consistent governance of data practices, usage and security. It provides the flexibility required for each Council service to develop their own data strategy based on ambitions/requirements, but ensuring these service level plans are aligned with central governance controls. 4.7 The Data Advisory Group (DAG), an officer group, was created to support the adoption of the Data Strategy Framework. It meets quarterly and provides a central governance forum with subject matter experts and individual service representation to collectively support the improvement of data management and exploitation across all services. 4.8 With DAG support, each service has now developed a service strategy and action plan relevant to operational and strategic outcomes, and high-level activities are now embedded into Service Improvement Plans, giving visibility and accountability at Council board level of ongoing data improvement work across all services. 4.9 The DAG also continues to develop central resources to improve data management and sharing opportunities, such as an online data training module, Data Catalogue, Data Principles, Customer Engagement Tracker, central Power BI Governance model, and is a centre of excellence for corporate data requirements and challenges. It has provided clear responsibility for data ownership across the Council and a collective approach to better understand the Council’s data assets and opportunities to share for wider strategic benefit.
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4.10 The DAG will continue to: • Ensure strategic alignment of data activities with the Council’s Digital Strategy. • Identify and improve data skills gaps across services in alignment with the Council’s People Strategy. • Improve data quality in key line of business systems. • Identify data analysis requirements to improve decision making and build capabilities within services. • Push the adoption of data driven dashboards from corporate tools such as the Council’s ERP • Identify cross-service data sharing opportunities and appropriate technology solutions Artificial Intelligence (AI) Overview 4.11 In November 2024 the Council launched ‘Millie’, our AI driven Digital Advisor in customer contact centres. Millie is available 24/7 to answer routine enquiries from customers calling the main contact centre number, providing 24/7 access to customer support and freeing up our Customer Service Advisors during existing operational hours to focus on more complex tasks and provide customers with the personalised support they need. All other service call handling arrangements are unaffected by this change. 4.12 The Millie capability provides each caller with a personal assistant who can provide customer support and assistance in real time, handling frequent questions and routine tasks. It means that for a high volume of calls, customers can get instant answers and access information at any time. Where Millie cannot answer a question, or assesses the customer requires immediate or enhanced support, she will transfer their call to the right service, and a Customer Service Advisor will speak with them as soon as possible. 4.13 Millie is an additional service enhancement that complements the other existing ways residents can contact us, including MyAccount and face-to-face appointments. By the end of the March 2025, Millie had answered 106,576 calls, 34% (36,468) of these calls were successfully handled by Millie and 66% (70,108) were transferred to a CSU adviser. This level of successful handling exceeds initial plans and is expected to continue to improve moving forward as Milli’s capability continues to develop. The team continue to monitor the performance of the digital advisor and make regular changes to improve the overall effectiveness of the service. 4.14 During the implementation of Millie it was recognised that the Council was at the forefront of AI development in Scotland and as part of sourcing suitable partner councils to work with, opportunities have been explored on a wider basis across the UK. In this context, the Council officers have established productive relationships and
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regularly engaged with Derby City Council who have also launched an AI driven Digital Advisor called ‘Darcie’ as part of a wider corporate transformation programme underpinned by AI innovation. In December 2024, Derby City Council announced a corporate wide AI innovation programme as a key part of their overall transformation and financial saving programme. This programme has been underpinned by an AI Transformation Assessment which was undertaken by the council with the help of an external AI partner. An AI Transformation Assessment is designed to support a council to evaluate current AI readiness, identifying opportunities for AI-driven improvements, and developing a structured roadmap for AI adoption. Derby City Council have welcomed establishing a working relationship with the Renfrewshire Council and have been open and highly collaborative in sharing their journey thus far to develop their AI capability. It is envisaged that the working partnership will provide future opportunities to jointly share best practice as well as development capacity to support accelerated adoption by both organisations. 4.15 Based on the success of Millie so far, and learning established from the AI innovation being progressed by Derby City Council (and other authorities across the UK), it is planned to progress an AI Transformation Assessment across the Council over the coming months, and which will involve as a first step commissioning an AI partner via an appropriate procurement route. Through a series of stakeholder engagement, workshops, data analysis, financial validation solution demonstrations and trials, this AI Transformation Assessment will provide the Council with a clearer understanding of how AI solutions can enhance efficiency, reduce costs, and improve service delivery. 4.16 This critical initial assessment stage will support the development of a full business case that is intended to be brought back to a future Board for detailed consideration later in the year. The business case will provide a clear understanding of the scale of opportunity and the key priorities for building on the success of Millie and progressing the Council’s sector leading development of AI capability. It is envisaged that this business case is likely to set out the most significant digital transformation opportunity for the Council over the medium term to support the delivery of both financial savings but critically delivery of better services and outcomes but also improved ways of working as an organisation and better supporting our workforce. Digital Experience 4.16 The Digital Experience (DXP) programme is transforming how Renfrewshire Council delivers services and information online. By focusing on user needs, accessibility and modern technology, it’s making it easier for residents to access services such as council tax, benefits and waste collection. This work is helping to reduce avoidable contact, improve satisfaction, and create a more inclusive and efficient experience for both residents and staff. 4.17 The programme centres on three main developments: a new Renfrewshire.gov.uk website, a modernised staff intranet, and better communication through email, text and WhatsApp. The first phase of the new website is expected to launch in June 2025 and will cover the most high-demand sections. Designed with mobile device users in mind, the site will be easy to use, accessible to all, and written in plain language. As the main source of information, it will support better service delivery across all channels,
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including letters, calls and AI-powered systems that are increasingly being used in everyday life by citizens. 4.18 In addition, a new communications platform has recently been introduced, integrating fully with the new website to improve functionality and reduce costs. Planning for a new intranet is also underway and which is set to launch in 2026. It will use the same design and technology as the public website to ensure consistency, accessibility and value for money across the council’s digital information and services. Delivery of the new intranet will be a critical enabler to support a range of anticipated opportunities for improved internal working across the Council that are expected to be identified through the AI assessment process, which again highlights the critical inter-dependency between a high-quality internet and intranet sites which will enable some of the potential benefits offered by developing AI capability. Green Print 4.19 The Green Print project has made significant progress over the last 2 years, completing a comprehensive case for change and business case. The business case informed the Invitation to Tender for a new Managed Print Service which secured Canon as the Council’s new supplier with a 35% reduction in printer fleet rolled out in 2024. This drop in the number of printers being leased over a 4-to-6-year period will as a result support significant savings over the lifetime of the contract. 4.20 Since January 2024, the Council has been working with Canon to plan the roll out of the new printer estate, aligning with the replacement of the old Xerox printers. This required extensive planning and testing of kit prior to deployment. The project team successfully removed 950 old printers and deployed 555 new printers over 100 corporate sites, including the school estate and public buildings such as libraries. 4.21 The project has been extremely successful due to the project approach taken, effective involvement of key stakeholders from the outset and excellent partnership working with our suppliers – Canon and Xerox. The team are continuing to closely monitor the current print volumes for each location/department for both the Canon devices as well as the current print jobs that are being sent to our in-house print service (Document Solution Centre). 4.22 Other notable work includes: • a move to recycled paper, which will reduce paper costs and impact on the environment • working with colleagues in Member Services and with our Elected Members to review the process for the printing and delivery of Council board papers. Meetings have been taking place to understand each Member’s requirement and to agree how we can help reduce costs and contribute to Net Zero. Purchase to Pay and Scotland Excel Project 4.23 Purchase to Pay (P2P) is the set of processes that covers the activities of requesting, purchasing, receiving, paying and accounting for goods, services and works. The P2P programme is designing and implementing a new P2P model through the Council’s existing Business World ERP platform, coupled with enhancements in technology,
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analytics and workflow which will deliver improved processes, controls, and compliance within all areas of the P2P cycle. As part of the first phase of the programme the Council will decommission its use of PECOS and launch a new Business World Procurement Module at the end of September. 4.24 At the same time, the Council has engaged Scotland Excel to undertake a programme of spending reviews service with a view to driving out new procurement savings. These could arise from a change to, or rationalisation of, products or suppliers, or in some cases a fundamental reconsideration of need. As reflected in the last transformation report, Renfrewshire Council is recognised through the independent local authority procurement assessment process undertaken by Scotland Excel across all councils, to be a sector leading advanced authority across all assessment criteria. In this context, opportunities to secure further savings from procurement activities will be more limited than that achieved in the past. Nevertheless, the programme being progressed in partnership with Scotland Excel is expected to identify potentially a wide range of smaller opportunities which cumulatively will support a material contribution to the Council’s wider savings programme. Housing Innovations Project 4.25 The Housing Innovations Project (HIP) is replacing the current housing management system OHMS with the new system NEC Housing. This will provide a new streamlined system and integrate several separate existing systems into one. 4.26 Phase 1 is planned to go live by May 2026 with Phase 2 planned to go live in July 2027. Phase 2 of the project will focus on bringing the assets and repairs services, and homelessness into the new system and allow for greater use of customer online services, the Internet of Things (sensor technology) and better use of data analytics, all of which will in particular provide opportunity for significant transformation. Smart Social Housing 4.27 Separately but linked, is the Smart Social Housing (SSH) project which sets out an ambition to develop a business case opportunity that would support the deployment of free market leading fibre broadband connectivity and smart sensor assets into the Council’s social housing units. As well as delivering a digital benefit to all tenants and helping to significantly address inequality in access to digital and on-line services, the project would provide the foundation to support the accelerated delivery of strategic priorities and outcomes for the Council, the Health and Social Care Partnership, and potentially wider partners including the NHS who are seeking to progress major service redesigns such as Hospital at Home which is highly reliant on high quality connectivity. This would be a first-of-type project in the UK, highly innovative that seeks to build on and leverage the benefits of the existing digital infrastructure investments delivered by the Council across Renfrewshire, achieved primarily through the private investment in connectivity infrastructure attracted by the Council’s innovative Connectivity as a Service (CaaS) framework. 4.28 In developing the project, the Council has established a strategic partnership with Commsworld through their CaaS framework. The premise on which the business case for the project is being developed, is investment in the connectivity and environment sensors at-scale into 10,000 social homes would be self-financed through enabling
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significant improvements that would support the pro-active management and maintenance of the housing stock, as well as support the HSCP and wider NHS partners to deliver digital led redesign of services which are critical to unlock financial savings. As well as providing high quality digital connectivity at no cost to tenants, the investment would fundamentally deliver the foundation for deploying needs-led digital solutions into social homes to keep people safe, well, and socially connected. 4.29 The SSH solution is intentionally focused on targeting addressing poverty and inequalities: “Digital exclusion can have a severe impact on people’s lives. For public service reform to be effective it needs to make sure that digitalisation leaves no one behind.” (Audit Scotland, ‘Tackling Digital Exclusion’, August 2024). The SSH model is underpinned with a foundational investment in at-scale connectivity, with follow-on invest to save cases (e.g. Housing, HSCP, NHS etc.) developed around a portfolio of in-the-home digital solutions that can be deployed as part of an initial level of services with future phases / services gradually added to grow the scale of benefits, and grow the scale of improvements in services and associated financial savings. 4.30 The current focus is on testing the feasibility of an invest to save case (V2) based on a go live bundle of super-fast broadband connectivity and Internet of Things environment sensors, to allow the Council to consider an associated business case on options to progress and invest or not at this stage. The development of the invest to save case (V1) was originally funded by Glasgow City Region who had secured investment from the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) to develop a range of business cases including Smart Social Housing and Net Zero. Since the development of the original invest to save case (V1), Renfrewshire Council has broadened the engagement with wider stakeholders (e.g. HSCP) to identify wider benefits (V2) from the proposed SSH investment. It is envisaged that a full business case will be brought back to the Board in the second half of this year, which will set out the opportunity, options and potential case to progress. Digital Inclusion 4.31 A critical consideration when progressing the digital transformation workstream is to ensure progress doesn’t exclude our communities and all citizens can benefit from the options available and opportunities emerging. Renfrewshire Council has a strong track record of advancing digital inclusion, with work highlighted as national best practice. As outlined below, significant progress has been made in advancing digital inclusion across Renfrewshire, with key activities, partnerships, and outcomes helping to ensure all residents have the skills, access, and support needed to participate fully in a digital society. 4.32 The Citizens Voice Forum continues to collaborate with Core Group and sub-group members to progress key digital inclusion priorities: DigiZones (Q4 2024/25) • 100,056 visits recorded • 236 training sessions delivered • 208.5 hours of Digital Champion support provided • 14 devices loaned via the Device Lending Library
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• 8,732 public devices accessed onsite • 10,748 public Wi-Fi sessions logged Digital Champions Programme (Q4 2024/25) • 196 learners supported • 120 Digital Champion sessions delivered • New sessions launched at Bishopton Library, supported by a new volunteer • 29 SIM cards issued at drop-ins to support connectivity • 5 new volunteers recruited (total now 19) • 245.5 hours of support delivered year-to-date • Two new drop-ins launching soon in Ferguslie and Renfrew Library, led by trained library supervisors Device Recycling • Pachedu has nominated two team members to lead development of a community- led device recycling project, supported by Council officers. • Site visits to Scottish device recycling organisations underway to explore: o Recycling processes and procedures o Space and resource requirements o Suitable device types DigiRen • Ongoing cross-sector collaboration through regular meetings • DigiRen Directory launched to showcase local and national digital inclusion resources • Partnering with SCVO to baseline digital skills across DigiRen members via the Essential Digital Skills Survey • Planning underway for DigiKnowVember – a month-long programme of digital inclusion events in November, led by a newly formed steering group 5. Progress update - Connected Communities 5.1 Connected Communities is a transformative programme of work, fundamentally shifting how the organisation works with our communities, strengthening relationships, and making it easier for local people to access the support they need from different services, significantly aligned with the principles of early intervention and prevention. The workstream has been split into two phases. 5.2 Phase 1 has involved the development of a new Connected Communities function within the Policy and Partnerships service. This brings together the corporate focus on community capacity, local partnerships, voice and influence and community investment. This is progressing well, with the new service structure agreed and communicated. The Connected Communities Management Team have been recruited and in place and recruitment processes are being progressed for the rest of the new service are due to be completed over the course of the summer, completing the Phase 1 stage. 5.3 Phase 2 is a Council wide change programme to explore the opportunities for strengthening relationships between the Council and communities. Alongside financial savings, the programme will deliver change in the Council’s relationship with
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communities and partners and between staff; promote community empowerment, participation and capacity; improve connections; make better use of all resources; make every contact count; and identify opportunities to support early intervention and prevention through integrated advice and support. 5.4 Phase 2 has now commenced with project governance established and 3 key priority workstreams have been identified: • Developing early help models of advice and support • Developing placed based approaches in terms of service delivery and development • Progressing our making every contact count programme, and strengthening the way in which the Council engages with local people and communities Updates on the progress made through the Phase 2 work programme will be provided to future board cycles. 6. Progress update - Consultation and Engagement 6.1 A new Consultation and Engagement Strategy was approved by Leadership Board in February 2025 and sets out standards and guidance for planning, conducting and learning from public engagement. It is intended to support greater consistency in the approach to public engagement, to promote data-sharing across the Council, and to help build trust with communities and other stakeholders. 6.2 An officer group is being established which will provide strategic oversight, advice and guidance, and review new Council consultation and engagement activity. Work is also underway to develop a framework to monitor the effectiveness of community engagement and an action has been added to the Council Plan Performance Framework to reflect this. Updates will be provided to the Leadership Board on a six- monthly basis. 6.3 The introduction of a Resident Survey in 2025 supports a pilot approach as part of the Council’s commitment to improving our dialogue with our residents and communities. The results of the survey will be used to help inform council budget setting and decisions for 2026/27 and provide a greater understanding of our residents’ needs and priorities. It will also establish a baseline of current perceptions. A technical partner has been commissioned to undertake the research on behalf of Council. 6.4 A comprehensive, robust survey has been carried out by telephone with a representative sample of Renfrewshire residents. A supplementary online version of the survey was also made available. Paper copies were available to complete in libraries. Translations and other accessible formats were also provided on request. 6.5 Follow-up focus groups will be organised to explore any significant quantitative findings. Members of the public will be recruited from the telephone or online survey to participate in each group, and experienced moderators will facilitate each group. 6.6 Following data analysis, the survey findings will be reported to the Leadership Board later this year. Summary findings will also be published on the Council website and promoted via Council owned channels (newsletters and social media).
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7. Progress update - Learning Estate Strategy 7.1 The Learning Estate Strategy report, presented at the Education and Children’s Services Policy Board last month, introduced a Business Case development framework. This framework aligns with industry best practices outlined in the HM Treasury Green Book and is designed to assess viable options for the 13 priority education establishments in Renfrewshire, along with their associated timescales. To support this, in February 2025, the Council approved a recurring budget of £2.5 million as an initial contribution to unlock up to £170million over future years for this major investment programme. 7.2 Work continues on site to deliver the new Paisley Grammar School Community Campus, with completion remaining on track for the summer of 2026. A contractor is now in place and working in partnership with the Council and a wider design team to progress the detailed design of the extended Park Mains High School. The new primary school in Dargavel has been officially designated Thistle Primary School, following a vote conducted among pupils. Civil engineering works have been progressing on site for several weeks, initiating the foundational preparations required to support the structural load of the future building. These works are scheduled to continue throughout the summer, concurrent with the completion of the final detailed design phase. 8. Progress update - Strategic Property Review 8.1 This workstream is ongoing and is interlinked to the work of the Learning Estate Strategy, the HSCP Sustainable Futures Programme and to the OneRen review reported in more detail to Leadership Board through a separate report on the agenda. 8.2 In May 2025, the Infrastructure, Land and Environment Policy Board agreed the sale of Montrose Care home to a care home provider, to continue its use as a care home. The Community Asset Transfer (CAT) Sub-Committee have continued to make determinations on Council property and land with a CAT application being approved by Board for the Beechwood Community Centre to continue its use as a community facility. 8.3 The Renfrewshire Valuation Joint Board and OneRen Museum team have relocated into Renfrewshire House following the sale of the Robertson Centre being concluded, with an engineering company relocating to use as their new headquarters in Paisley. 8.4 As part of the Strategic Property Review workstream, work continues on collecting appropriate data and looking at suitable themes to allow strategic decisions to be made, where possible, in relation to the wider Council portfolio of buildings. 9. Progress update - Roads 9.1 The roads programme consists of 53 carriageway resurfacing schemes and 31 footway resurfacing schemes, with a number of strategic schemes which will be undertaken in this programme. 9.2 As part of this year’s programme there will be delivery of the first phase of the roundabout programme, with the aim of enhancing the infrastructure and visual appeal of roundabout infrastructure across Renfrewshire, with an initial 21 roundabouts
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programmed for works over this financial year, as detailed in the Infrastructure, Land and Environment Policy Board papers in May. 9.3 Total roads investment this year is £8.5million, with almost £400,000 planned investments associated with the roundabout infrastructure. 10. Progress update - Net Zero 10.1 The previous transformation update report of February 2025 set out the Council’s short to medium term position in Renfrewshire will focus on ‘Heat and Fleet’ to transform the approach to the provision of clean energy and sustainable travel in Renfrewshire. 10.2 This approach was confirmed at the May 2025 Planning and Climate Change Policy Board where a 3-year programme of activity was highlighted with planned investment in year 1 of upwards of £1million in the areas below: • Investment in Building Management Systems (BMS) Installation and upgrade of BMS across the estate to maximise energy efficiency to drive efficiencies within utility usage and have a positive impact on the Council’s emissions. • Solar PV (Photovoltaic) Expansion Extension of Solar PV Array across 15 existing public buildings and installing a new system at St Fillan's Primary School to deliver a reduction in the Council’s emissions. • Implementation of air reduction technology across 68 properties to reduce maintenance of heating systems and increase energy efficiency across public buildings. • Progressing a feasibility study to identify opportunities and benefits of a potential largescale windfarm in Renfrewshire to bring benefits including renewable and clean energy, cost-effectiveness and land use. • Progressing a feasibility study into an Investment Grade Business Case to deliver a large-scale solar farm on Linwood Moss former landfill site. • Electric Vehicle (EV) Fleet Expansion through purchase of additional EVs to expand the Council’s existing EV fleet and associated investment in fleet charging infrastructure as well as continuing the support the City Region approach to public charging infrastructure to ensure our fleet and travel behaviours are as sustainable as they can be. 11. Progress update - Workforce 11.1 Significant foundation work over the past two years has been undertaken to develop a suite of proposals to modernise workforce terms and conditions, including ongoing engagement with trade unions and services, data and cost analysis and benchmarking exercises with other local authorities and public bodies where appropriate. 11.2 Earlier this month a detailed interim update paper was reported to Finance, Resources and Customer Services Policy Board to provide a progress update and outline the next steps. Work on an equalities impact assessment continues and engagement is also ongoing with trade unions to allow them to ballot their members at the appropriate point
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in the process. It is anticipated a report will be taken to the September meeting of the Policy Board to outline recommendations for agreement on public holidays. 12. Progress update – Review of Cultural & Leisure Services Commissioned through OneRen 12.1 As previously reported to the Board, officers are currently working with OneRen to undertake a strategic review of current commissioning arrangements for cultural and leisure services. Three key workstreams have been identified: • Workstream 1 - Community and Leisure • Workstream 2 - Culture and Libraries • Workstream 3 - Finance and Governance 12.2 As specified in the February report, the review is being informed and guided by the following principles: • Services should be specified in a way that supports the Council’s agreed priorities, along with a new suite of performance measures. • Services should be sustainable and affordable. • The Council and OneRen will work with communities to ensure that leisure and culture services are planned and delivered in a fair and consistent way. In line with the principles of the Council’s Strategic Property Review, there is a presumption for the co-location of services wherever possible, and services will be delivered from flexible, sustainable, well-designed, and high-quality spaces. 12.3 Much of the initial focus of each workstream has been on establishing key information relating to the activities of OneRen and associated Council services, to establish an agreed baseline position for all OneRen services and facilities, including the financial performance of OneRen, and business plan delivery assessments for OneRen cultural and commercial services. In addition, work is also progressing to detail utilisation and demand for services and the consequential impact on property/facility occupancy and condition. 12.4 Consideration of this data will inform the development of options for future service provision across services commissioned from OneRen which will be presented to a future Board meeting. 12.5 While this work is progressing, a pressing decision that has emerged in relation to library provision within Erskine. The lease for Erskine Library expires in May 2026 and the landlord has indicated that they would not be willing to extend the current lease beyond that date. There is therefore a requirement to consider options to reprovision the service beyond this date and this will be considered as part of this wider commissioning exercise and underpinned by the principle of seeking to co-locate services where possible. It is however acknowledged that given the timescale involved in terms of the lease ending there is a requirement to put on place short term reprovision arrangements whilst the wider commissioning exercise and options appraisal progresses. In this context, a suitable temporary building, currently located
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at Renfrew Sports Centre is available and can be relocated to space available at Erskine Sports Centre. The relocation to this site can be easily accommodated due to all necessary utility connections being available from previous temporary buildings at the location. Ongoing costs can be accommodated from the savings in lease payments, and the floor space available is similar to that utilised in the current premises which will ensure that current service arrangements can be maintained. 12.6 The move to a temporary building at the sports centre will ensure there is no loss of provision in Erskine when the current lease expires, and it enables the Council to consider a longer term options and solution within the context of the outcomes of the wider service and property reviews currently underway. Elected members will be aware that a similar modular building was sited at the Lagoon Centre, prior to the opening of the new Paisley Central Library, and operated very successfully and the learning and operational experience from that arrangement would be applied in this instance. 12.7 The temporary relocation of current provision from Erskine Library will also provide a valuable opportunity for OneRen and the Council to work together with the community to identify opportunities to strengthen the links between library provision and wider Council and partner services, including in relation to adult and family learning, youth work and activities which support wider community health and wellbeing. An equality impact assessment will be developed in relation to this proposal. 13. National developments 13.1 The Council continues to engage with the national transformation programme being progressed by SOLACE and the Improvement Service. In addition to the various workstreams being progressed, officers will also engage with specific projects including in relation to collaborative procurement opportunities relating to fleet, waste and digital. This work is currently at a relatively early stage of development and more significant updates will be expected to be provided at future board cycles. 14. Next steps 14.1 Alongside the regular updates for each individual workstream to the relevant Policy Boards, overview progress updates on the Reshaping Renfrewshire programme will continue to be reported to Leadership Board alongside the financial reporting to Council and Finance, Resources and Customer Services Policy Board. 14.2 Following the Best Value thematic review on transformation, any relevant actions will be added to the Corporate Improvement Plan, with progress also reported regularly to Leadership Board. _________________________________________________________________________ Implications of the Report 1. Financial – the transformation programme will continue to play a key role in supporting the Council’s financial sustainability. The one-off costs associated with the temporary library installation at Erskine will be met from the Service Modernisation and Reform Fund. 2. HR & Organisational Development – none.
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3. Community/Council Planning – the transformation programme focuses resources on the delivery of priority outcomes as outlined in the Council Plan. 4. Legal - none 5. Property/Assets – section 8 of the report provides an update on the Strategic Property Review which supports the effective us of Council properties. Section 12 of the report outlines a proposal in relation to a temporary solution for provision of library services in Erskine. 6. Information Technology – section 4 notes a number of progress updates related to the Digital and ICT agenda. 7. Equality and Human Rights – there are no negative impacts on equality groups or potential for infringement of individuals’ human rights arising from the recommendations contained in the report. The report notes an EQIA is being undertaken on the terms and conditions workstream and will be progressed in relation to the proposed temporary library provision options being recommended in relation to Erskine Library as set out in 8. Health and Safety - none 9. Procurement – section 4 includes an update on the P2P and Scotland Excel projects as part of the overall transformation programme. 10. Risk – the transformation programme is a key element of mitigating the medium-term financial challenge for the Council. 11. Privacy Impact – none 12. COSLA Policy Position – none 13. Climate Risk – section 10 of the report provides an update in relation to Net Zero. 14. Children’s Rights – section 7 provides an update on the Learning Estate Strategy which will directly impact children and young people. When considering any future school provision, the impact this will have on children is a key consideration, and any work will be based around the direct needs of children to allow their education experience to thrive. Author: Pauline Moss, Strategy, Policy and Insight Manager