3 - Fairer Renfrewshire Update
Renfrewshire Council · 22 February 2023
Back to Leadership Board — 22 February 2023 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: 22 February 2023 ___________________________________________________________________ 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 currently on the local response to the cost-of-living crisis. 1.2 This paper provides an overview of work being undertaken to date, with specific updates provided on the Winter Connections programme and participation and engagement being undertaken as part of the programme. 1.3 Information is also provided in relation to two requests for information received at Leadership Board in relation to the estimated cost of extending breakfast club provision to all primary and secondary schools in Renfrewshire and in relation to active schools provision and educational attainment. 1.4 There is a significant level of ongoing work and activity under the Fairer Renfrewshire banner, with priorities for the Fairer Renfrewshire programme over the coming quarter including the: • Development of the poverty and participation test of change, working alongside the newly established lived experience panel to develop recommendations and the shape of future work • Delivery of the remaining Winter Connections programme, and associated evaluation of the programme
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• Continuing the evaluation of projects within Tackling Poverty Programme and exploring future options with services around required priorities going forward. • Commencing a ‘deep dive’ data exercise around child poverty as a Community Planning Partnership, focussing on the six priority family groups. • Developing the Fair Food Renfrewshire partnership, using the Sustainable Food Places toolkit. 1.5 Future updates will be provided to the Leadership Board on these activities, as well as any emerging developments, within the next report to board. ___________________________________________________________________ 2. Recommendations 2.1 It is recommended that elected members: • Note the content of the report; • Note the funding awarded to 37 activities through the Winter Connection Funding, through delegated authority provided to the Director of Communities and Housing as outlined at Appendix 1; • Approve £34,500 funding to continue to enhance capacity within the Improving the Cancer Journey service as detailed at Section 4. ___________________________________________________________________ 3. Background 3.1 As elected members will be aware through previous updates to the Leadership Board, the Council is in the process of developing and delivering a new Fairer Renfrewshire Programme. This brings together all previous programmes that have been developed to tackle the inequalities that exist across Renfrewshire’s communities, including those relating to poverty, alcohol and drugs and COVID recovery, and has an immediate focus on the local response to the deepening cost-of-living crisis. 3.2 The Fairer Renfrewshire Sub-Committee continues to meet to provide oversight of all related activities being undertaken, with the latest meeting being held on 1 February 2023. A Fairer Renfrewshire Officer Group has also been established which currently meets on a monthly basis and is chaired by the Head of Policy and Commissioning. 3.3 This paper provides an overview of the activities that have been progressed through the Programme since the last update to board, and also seeks to
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provide an update on national and local policy developments which continue to impact the local response. Current context 3.4 On 1 February 2023, the Fairer Renfrewshire Sub-committee considered a cost-of-living update report which provided an overview of recent statistics and research in relation to the cost-of-living crisis. Key points to highlight to the Board include: • UK inflation has risen sharply over the past year from 0.5% in February 2021 to its current rate of 10.7% in November 2022 – a slight decrease from the rate of 11.1% in October 22. Annual food inflation, however, jumped to 13.3% in December, up from 12.4% in November, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC). This was the highest monthly rate since collection of this data began in 2005. • For families and individuals in work, the effects of rising inflation on household budgets is further reflected in its impact on real earnings. Statistics indicate that whilst nominal median PAYE earnings grew 5.3% over the year to September 2022, they fell 4.4% in real terms once adjusted for inflation; the eighth consecutive month of decline • The decision to uprate benefits by 10.1% next spring should see the average household on Universal Credit £65.49 better off a month. However, around half of all households on Universal Credit are subject to deductions, which Citizens Advice Scotland estimate at around £62 per month on average. An estimated 188,300 households in Scotland are subject to deductions and would likely see only a proportion of the 10.1% uprating as a result due to the deduction system for Universal Credit. • Fuel prices have fallen recently, with average petrol prices in January 23 below £1.50 for the first time since Russia invaded Ukraine last February. This is a reduction from the record high of 191.53 a litre in early July 2022. • Figures from the Bank of England show that in November 2022, credit card debt rose to its highest level since 2004. Individuals borrowed an additional £1.5bn in all forms of consumer credit, of which £1.2bn was on credit cards. This figure coincides with the beginning of the Christmas shopping period and rising energy bills and shows a jump from October’s figure of £700m in unsecured borrowing. • The Bank of England base rate is currently 4%, the rate has been increased multiple times in 2022, and is forecast to rise further in 2023. • According to Citizens Advice, more than a quarter of current mortgage holders wouldn't be able to afford their monthly repayments if they increased by £100 a month and nearly half (45%) would be unable to make their payments if they rose by £250 a month.
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3.5 In terms of recent research undertaken, the Fairer Renfrewshire Sub- Committee considered some of the following key findings and the potential impact in Renfrewshire: • On 14 December 2022 the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) published research around Costs of Living for Winter 2022/23. They found that it is households on the very lowest incomes who are struggling the most, with three quarters of those in the bottom 20% of incomes going without food or other basic essentials like clothing or toiletries. People on Universal Credit, private renters and young adults are all highlighted as seeing rising and worrying levels of hardship. • In November 2022 Citizens Advice Scotland published a report on Complex Debt, ‘An Analysis of Living Standards in Complex Debt Cases’. This found that the cost of living - through rising costs and static or reduced incomes – has increased the number of people with a negative disposable income whereas those with a disposable income are being significantly squeezed and while the overall debt levels have not changed, people are taking longer to pay off their debts. • On 6th December 2022, Public Health Scotland published their report ‘Population health impacts of the rising cost of living in Scotland - A rapid health impact assessment’. This Health Impact Assessment (HIA) identified that falling real incomes could have adverse effects on individuals and households such as stress on family and relationships, impacts on child development, mental distress and many other aspects. Many of these will affect health and health inequalities in the short term, but they are also likely to reduce population resilience and increase health inequalities in the longer term. The report noted longer-term responses to inflation including austerity measures and economic recession would bring further impacts on health, with low-income populations most affected, including homeless people and other populations at high risk of poverty. Disabled people, older people, children and rural populations are more likely to be affected by increased prices and many of the adverse impacts. In the survey, 18% of adults reported that the rising cost of living had a very negative impact on their mental health. • Households on low incomes who are ineligible for means tested benefits are amongst the groups identified by the Poverty and Inequality Commission and their Experts by Experience Panel, as missing out, or receiving limited support under the UK government's Cost of Living Support Package and other local supports. Locally, anecdotal evidence from partners and a range of Council services have also identified this group as facing particular difficulty as they pay full housing costs, Council Tax and do not receive supports linked to these benefits such as Free School Meals or Clothing Grants. • According to the Scottish Government, there could be around 10,000 households in Scotland who are above the threshold to qualify for Universal
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Credit, so narrowly miss out on qualifying for the £650 Cost of Living payment for low-income households. This ‘cliff-edge’ for those just above the threshold for Universal Credit means they will have to tackle typical energy bills of £3,000 when the Energy Price Guarantee rises in April 2023, on their own, while families with similar but slightly lower earnings receive £900 additional financial help. Energy Support 3.6 Although UK Government support with energy bills will continue until at least March 2024, this will be scaled back. Currently, a typical dual-fuel household pays £2,500 a year under the Energy Price Guarantee introduced in October 2022, however from April 2023 this increases to £3,000 a year until 31 March 2024. • The UK Government has also announced that the £400 payment paid to all homes in winter 2022/23 will not be extended. Instead, support will be provided only for those in particular circumstances: o A one-off payment of £900 to households in receipt of means tested benefits, such as Universal Credit and Child Tax Credits. This will be paid in three instalments in spring 2023, autumn 2023 and spring 2024. o A one-off payment of £300 for pensioner households in winter 2023/24. o An additional £150 for those on disability benefits, such as Attendance Allowance and Scottish Disability Benefits paid in summer 2023. This can be paid on top of either of the other payments where appropriate. 3.7 This means that those who have low incomes, but are not in any of the categories above will not receive extra support to pay fuel bills on top of the Energy Price Guarantee. There are however some positive emerging signs in energy markets that costs may begin to reduce in the coming months, inline with wholesale costs and as supply conditions improve. 3.8 Evidence shows that a large share of households do not utilise the support provided by the UK government. The Post Office, the UK's biggest voucher processor, said that only 60% of those eligible had redeemed the £400 energy support vouchers, which are valid for 90 days. 3.9 Charities such as Citizens Advice, National Energy Action and StepChange are also calling for more safeguards for consumers in relation to prepayment meters, with increasing numbers of people being switched to prepayment meters by suppliers, if they are struggling to pay bills.
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3.10 In Renfrewshire, the Energy Management Unit (EMU) has seen a rise in numbers of people being switched to prepay especially if they have smart meters. EMU has found that although clients are usually lettered first to make them aware that they are about to become prepay customers, this has not always been the case. They also find that although clients are calling their power company in the first instance for help to arrange a payment plan, they may be offered little help. 3.11 Analysis from the Scottish Household Conditions Survey indicated that Renfrewshire has approximately 10,000 households with prepayment meters, and 47.4% of fuel poor households have prepayment meters currently. This is higher than the Scottish average (31.9%), as well as a number of neighbouring authorities. As households with prepayment meters are impacted the most by the rise in energy prices, and have the risk of self- disconnection, work is underway to explore this data in more detail to understand the local context. ___________________________________________________________________ 4. Update on local response to cost-of-living crisis 4.1 In the last update provided to the Leadership Board on 30 November 2022, elected members were provided with an overview of the key activities that had been undertaken in the period. Winter Connections 4.2 The development of the Winter Connections Programme has been a key focus for officers in December and January. As elected members will be aware £70,000 of funding was allocated from the Fairer Renfrewshire Programme to support the delivery of Winter Connections activities, with an additional £10,000 funding allocated to OneRen to deliver activities. A Winter Connections funding process was developed at pace, with approvals being made from October 2022. 4.3 The programme offers an extensive and varied programme of activities across Renfrewshire, hosted by community groups. These are largely running until March 2023. Hosts are asked to sign up to Winter Connections principles, and support has been provided to all host organisations including a Winter Connections toolkit, printed materials, information sharing, access to other services such as advice, period products provided for locations
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4.4 Examples of Winter Connections activities include (full list is available at www.renfrewshire.gov.uk/Winter-Connections): • Piece n Music club for adults in Erskine • ‘Off the hook’ crochet class in Howwood • Bookbug and lunch in Johnstone Castle • Jam Jar Movies in Johnstone • Saturday night kids club in Paisley • Open Mic and Make – Zine making in Paisley • Eat Share Care Café in Renfrew • Seniors Bingo in Spateston • Move it or lose it exercise class in Langbank • Dads Group in Linwood • Intergenerational Music Café in Paisley • 10 week IT programme in Paisley • Wake Up Warm up exercise class for older adults in Johnstone • Social and digital Café in Renfrew 4.5 As part of the programme, One Ren are also delivering a wide selection of fun and free activities across the library network, with additional activities focussed in areas where there are fewer community led Winter Connections activities. Drop-in activities including jigsaws, board games and craft tables, as well as tutor-led crafting, film nights and additional family activities such as Bookbug sessions. Tea and coffee is also available in all locations. 4.6 Work is also underway to trial targeted advice provision from some library locations as part of the programme and within selected community venues where footfall is likely to be larger. Below is a summary of the current arrangements, with a view to building on this where demand exists.
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4.7 Starting the week commencing 30th January, an Advice Works income advisor will be present each week up until the end of March: • Every Monday at Linwood Library in Tweedie Hall from 10.45am-12.45pm • Every Tuesday at Johnstone Library in Johnstone Town Hall from 2pm-4pm • Every Friday at Renfrew Library from 2pm-4pm 4.8 Also starting the week commencing 30th January, an Advice Works income advisor will be present each period for a trial period of 4 weeks at: • Every Thursday at the Tannahill Centre, Ferguslie Park, Paisley from 10am-12noon – this is when the Community Market is open. Continued presence will be reviewed if there is demand, as there is already an established outreach at the GP surgery next door. 4.9 It should be noted there is also a dedicated advice worker from Renfrewshire Citizens Advice Bureau working with ROAR to support older clients and funded by Independent Age, who will be attending the ROAR led Winter Connections activities in Paisley and Johnstone. 4.10 Officer have also been working alongside Winter Connections venues to discuss advice provision and make ad hoc arrangements as required. This has including connecting organisations working with families with young children to Social Security Scotland for information sessions and training events. 4.11 Promotion of the programme and all linked activities has been a core focus, with a partnership Winter Connections identity developed. Information on Winter Connections is available on the Council website, which includes a searchable map function. Activities are widely promoted through social media, and printed materials have been widely distributed across all towns and villages across Renfrewshire. As at end December 2022, social media content has reached 63,936 accounts, and 3,733 people had visited the Winter Connections webpages. 4.12 Elected members will recall that authority was provided to the Director of Communities and Housing to approve Winter Connections grant funding applications, following assessment by an officer panel. 37 funding applications have been recommended to date, totalling a value of £68,850. Full detail of all funding awards and unsuccessful applications made to date is provided at Appendix 1. 4.13 The funding is now almost fully exhausted, with the remainder being used to target gaps within specific communities. Work is also ongoing to evaluate the success of the programme, and to identify opportunities to build on the collaboration with local groups and organisations beyond the Winter period.
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Improving the Cancer Journey 4.14 The Improving the Cancer Journey service has been delivered in partnership with Macmillan for over 3 years in Renfrewshire. A core principle of the approach that is used by the service, is to work with each person in a holistic way following a cancer diagnosis, linking the person and their family/carers to advice and support. 4.15 Macmillan have always been keen that the principles of the service be adopted to support as many people in Renfrewshire as possible, including those with long term conditions. As part of the social renewal programme, partners identified the requirement to target those experiencing health inequalities in Renfrewshire which may have been exacerbated by the pandemic. Funding of £38,000, was approved by Leadership Board to support the service meet increased demand and activity during 2021, including supporting people with long term conditions. In 2022, over 500 people were supported by the service, and working with Advice Works, the service has helped people affected by cancer to access additional income of over £1.5m since its inception. 4.16 It is recommended that further funding of £34,500 is allocated to continue to provide this additional capacity within the service to end December 2023. Macmillan have indicated that national funding may be available to support the continued delivery of the service post 2023, with positive recent discussions having been held in relation to this matter. Participation and engagement 4.17 Further to updates provided at both Leadership Board and Fairer Renfrewshire Sub-Committee, progress continues to develop lived experience models locally, particularly the development of a panel of people with lived experience of poverty to inform the Council’s policy and practice. 4.18 A diverse panel of over 12 people has now been recruited, and the work of the Panel is now underway. The Panel have met formally four times, but also meet in-between panel meetings to develop the work. The panel are also working with a community artist to create a record of their experience. 4.19 The Panel will continue to meet throughout early 2023, and it is hoped there will be opportunities to bring the Panel together with the Fairer Renfrewshire Sub-Committee to discuss the Panel’s deliberations and recommendations in March 2023. Work will also be undertaken to evaluate the process to explore how these types of participation processes can inform our work on an ongoing basis and become an established part of how we work.
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___________________________________________________________________ 5. Tackling Poverty 5.1 The Tackling Poverty Programme is now in the final year of its five year programme, with this portfolio now continuing as part of Fairer Renfrewshire programme as the umbrella successor programme. 5.2 There are eight projects currently running as part of the Tackling Poverty Programme, and most of these now represent ongoing service delivery, or additionality to existing services. All projects within the Tackling Poverty Programme are currently being evaluated in order to inform the future direction of this work. The first phase of this evaluation will focus on Energy Advocacy, Breakfast Clubs, Families First and Street Stuff, followed by Peer Health, Cost of the School Day, Skoobmobile and Healthier Wealthier Children in the second phase. 5.3 A paper will be brought to Leadership Board in April 2023 setting out proposed funding allocation for 2023-24. Any projects continuing as part of Fairer Renfrewshire will need to be reviewed and updated to sharpen focus as a poverty intervention and alignment to wider programme, including impact measurement and reporting. ___________________________________________________________________ 6. Breakfast service 6.1 At a previous meeting of the board, Cllr Ann-Dowling requested that officers provide a cost estimate for breakfast club provision to be extended across all primary and secondaries in Renfrewshire. 6.2 At present breakfast club provision is provided in a number of Renfrewshire’s primaries and is funded and operated through different arrangements. There are currently no supervised services within Secondary Schools, however, breakfast items are available for purchase at this time 6.3 Current breakfast club provision is as follows: • 9 School and Environment & Infrastructure run breakfast services • 9 Tackling Poverty funded breakfast services • 7 school only run services • 10 Out of School Care services • 2 Breakfast Services by PPP provider (Amey)
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6.4 The cost of provision directly provided by Renfrewshire Council is is currently £288k (including £138k funding from Tackling Poverty). It should be noted that these services are currently discretionary and are supported by temporary funding. 6.5 In terms of estimating the cost of extending breakfast provision across the full primary and secondary estate, an initial desktop exercise has been undertaken to assess potential costs per establishment based on a standardised model of provision. The outline specification includes factors such staffing, food costs etc, and allows for 75 pupils per school on average to access a service. Given the high level nature of this exercise, consideration has not be given to any potential impact on provision currently operated by out of school providers who run breakfast clubs or within PPP schools where breakfasts are sold. 6.6 Based on the desktop exercise, the estimated cost for introducing and running breakfast services across all Renfrewshire schools is estimated to be in the region of at least £1.7m per year. Some of the costs could be offset by charging a consistent fee across Renfrewshire. 6.7 It should be noted that this a high level estimate only at this stage, and a much more detailed exercise would required to be undertaken to fully cost this model. The estimated cost would be recurring on an annual basis, and to fund this level of provision would therefore require savings of at least £1.7m per annum to be delivered elsewhere within the Council’s core budget. 6.8 As noted in Section 5 above, work is undergoing to evaluate current breakfast club activity supported by the Tackling Poverty programme. There are also a range of cost pressures being experienced in terms of the delivery of existing provision that are currently being managed. 7. Active school provision 7.1 At the Leadership Board on 14 September 2022, members approved proposals for Renfrewshire Council to enter into a new four year partnership agreement with Sportsscotland in relation to the provision of the Active Schools service, with funding also agreed at that time. 7.2 At that time, a request was made by Cllr Gillian Graham for further information to be provided to members of the Board in relation to the links between educational attainment and Active Schools provision.
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7.3 The Active Schools service for Renfrewshire, managed by OneRen, provides free activity sessions for young people to take part in a variety of different sports in their local communities. The Active Schools programme provides additional structured physical activity during school hours, at play times and lunch times, as well as before and after school. The number of activity sessions and distinct participants continues to increase year-on-year. 7.4 The Active Schools service plays an important role in all schools across Renfrewshire to increase activity levels and provide a wide and varied sport and physical activity programme to encourage pupils to engage with sport for life. Guidance on physical activity for children recommends at least 7 hours per week. 7.5 It is widely recognised that there are a number of factors which impact upon the educational attainment of children and young people, and in Renfrewshire, partners have built on existing approaches to support children and young people to achieve better outcomes. 7.6 Cambridge University’s research from May 2021 stated: “The attainment gap is a really complex problem, but we know that some of it is linked to less-advantaged children having poor self-regulation skills early in childhood,” Vasilopoulos said. “Physical activities that help them to do things like focus on a task or maintain attention could be part of the way to bridge that gap.” “In general, the findings indicate that activities which influence emotional control – such as games that involve co-operation, or encourage children to take responsibility for their actions – could be particularly important during early childhood, while those which shape behavioural control may be more important later on. The authors also suggest that schools could build links with sports clubs to create targeted programmes for children experiencing early disadvantage.” 7.7 In 2018 Renfrewshire was the first local authority area in Scotland to pioneer a comprehensive annual pupil activity survey which focused on three key areas: pupil activity levels using the Government scale of 1hr per day activity; to gauge pupil interest in different sports and activities to support the design of programmes that maximise activity; and to understand levels of swimming ability. One of the significant success indicators of the survey has been its return rate – c.60% pre-pandemic and c.45% since. 7.8 One Ren work with schools to use the pupil survey to categorise the young people using a traffic light system to enable staff to prioritise interventions and ensure what is offered matches the suggestions from the pupils themselves. The traffic light system is for internal use only with pupils identified as red completing 0-3hrs of activity, amber as 3-7hrs of activity and 7+ hours of
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activity as green. This allows the Active Schools team to continue to encourage wider participation across all levels of activity and is complemented by a person-centred approach for those who need more support to access sport at an entry level. 7.9 An example of this can be seen within the high schools where additional external funding has been granted to provide shared sportswear. This allows those who struggle to access because they don’t have the right kit, the ability to borrow and return clothing to allow them to take part in various sporting opportunities and become more active. 7.10 In 22/23, the Active Schools pupil activity survey received a completed return rate of 45.6% with a total of 11,084 forms returned. From this return 3,627 (33%) were Identified as Red, 5,165 (47%) Amber and 2,292 (21%) Green. 7.11 Data from the Active Schools Survey demonstrates that there is a correlation between physical activity levels and attainment. The correlation likely exists through the relationship between deprivation, which impacts both physical activity levels and attainment. This link therefore presents a correlation between physical activity and attainment. Going forward this intervention will aim to improve health and wellbeing which may consequently have an impact on attainment. 7.12 The 22/23 survey returns highlighted that children and young people reported that the following sports were most preferred/popular: • Football - 1423 • Swimming - 753 • Gymnastics - 588 • Basketball - 493 • Dance - 418 7.12 Since the pandemic, Active Schools, in partnership with headteachers, have employed 13 Health & Wellbeing assistants. These roles complement the Active Schools team by adding additional opportunities during the curriculum to target extra support or different ways of learning for inactive pupils or pupils identified by school staff who may need additional time or support to engage in sport or physical activity sessions. They also act as sports promoters across all pupils to further encourage pupils to engage in the Active Schools extracurricular and community club opportunities. These posts have been in place since August 2021. 7.13 Going forward, the Active Schools programme will: • Continue to maximise the operational budget to provide as many opportunities as we can for young people to participate in free sport and physical activities in school after school and in the community. • Identify inactive young people and their families so that targeted work can be offered to support the desire and need for change. • Track and report on the interventions made and the outcomes achieved.
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• Collate case studies and reports to be included in the high level aims within the Children’s Services Partnership action Plan. • Report to the Children’s Services Partnership Board and the sportscotland board, with the first report due April 2023. ___________________________________________________________________ 8. Next steps 8.1 Priorities for the Fairer Renfrewshire programme over the coming quarter include: • Development of the poverty and participation test of change, working alongside the newly established lived experience panel to develop recommendations and the shape of future work • Delivery of the remaining Winter Connections programme, and associated evaluation of the programme • Continue evaluation of projects within Tackling Poverty Programme and explore future options with services • Commence ‘deep dive’ data exercise around child poverty, focussing on the six priority family groups • Develop the Fair Food Renfrewshire partnership, using the Sustainable Food Places toolkit ___________________________________________________________________ Implications of the Report 1. Financial – paper provides an update on the allocation of £70,000 of Winter Connections Funding that has been allocated, and request approval of £34,500 to support additional service capacity in the Improving Cancer Journey Service. 2. HR & Organisational Development – none 3. Community/Council Planning – the Fairer Renfrewshire is a key partnership programme, which is very closely aligned to the delivery of the priorities agreed within the recently refreshed Community Plan. 4. Legal - none 5. Property/Assets - none 6. Information Technology - none 7. Equality and Human Rights – A key element of the Fairer Renfrewshire programme is to tackle inequality and to ensure services and supports are targeted to support people experiencing financial insecurity and poverty. A core part of our approach is to engage with local groups and communities, and those with lived experience to identify opportunities to reduce these inequalities and barriers to accessing support. 8. Health and Safety - none
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9. Procurement – none 10. Risk – none 11. Privacy Impact – none 12. COSLA Policy Position – none 13. Climate Risk – none ___________________________________________________________________ Author: Laura McIntyre, Head of Policy and Commissioning
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16 Appendix 1 – Winter Connections Application Summary Applications which have been approved Organisation Area Purpose Funding approved Active Communities Johnstone Winter Connections at Station 7 - Funding will support an afterschool social club for local families providing a warm, healthy meal for children with games and activities and an opportunity to learn about healthy food choices. £2,000 Brick Lane Music Academy Paisley Gallowhill Intergenerational Music Café Gallowhill – Participants will enjoy intergenerational music sessions every Tuesday in Gallowhill Community Centre using djembe drums, percussion, singing and ukeleles. The sessions will be accessible to all ages and will be open to all from parents and carers with preschool children to students and older people. £1,992 Brick Lane Music Academy Central Paisley Intergenerational Music Café – 20 weekly intergenerational music cafe sessions in Paisley and Johnstone. £2,000 Erskine Arts Erskine Piece n Music - Funding will support staff to establish a food and music club for adults to reduce social isolation, improve mental health, provide meaningful engagement and develop skills in songcraft and recording techniques. £2,000 Forever Young Renfrewshire Move It or Lose It Exercise Programme – This project will support older adults through an exercise programme that will build up and strengthen their muscles, reducing trips and falls. The programme will run across 10 Sheltered Housing Complexes. £2,000 Friends of Howwood Park Howwood Howwood Community Winter Gatherings – A programme of 10 small events will be held in Midton Bowling Club in Howwood over the winter period for people of all ages, including intergenerational events. There will be a large variety of events including bingo, afternoon tea, movie nights, quiz nights, live entertainment, line dancing and games nights, providing opportunities for people to try new activities. Up to 80 people can attend each event. £2,000 Home-Start Renfrewshire & Inverclyde Central Paisley & Linwood Winter Warmer – extension of 5 group sessions per week in Paisley and Linwood providing families of young children with peer support locally providing a hot meal. £2,000 Howwood Community Council Howwood Howwood Warm Space – a space for people to meet on Tuesday and Friday afternoons within Howwood Village Hall to chat and participate in various activities, such as board games, dominoes, Scrabble, bingo and card games. Warm drinks, soup and sandwiches will be provided. £1,000 Johnstone Castle Learning Centre Johnstone Castle Winter Connections – the Centre will deliver activities on a Tuesday and Thursday evenings and hope to support between 40-50 young people aged 8 to 15 years old. They will also deliver activities on a Friday morning for adults and older people and hope to support 12-20 people. They will offer healthy eating and opportunities for people of all ages to learn new skills and make healthy meals for themselves and their families. £2,000 Kickin’ On Linwood Over 60’s Peer Support Drop In – a drop in for over 60's at their community mental health hub where they can participate in a range of free activities such as music and art, use the gym space and take part in yoga or other exercise classes. £1,900
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17 Kilbarchan Improvement Project Kilbarchan Film afternoons – Kilbarchan Improvement Project will organise musical or film afternoons open to the whole community, and will invite people living with dementia in two local care homes. £1,000 KLAS Care CIC Linwood Films fun and hot chocolate – KLAS, in partnership with Film Hub Scotland and Reel Roots, will be showing films featuring Black Lives one evening per week and on Sunday afternoons. They will provide activities for children and families from ethnically diverse groups with a focus on inclusion, providing opportunities to learn from each other sharing traditional games and stories. Attendees will be provided with homemade soup, hot rolls, teas, coffees and hot chocolate. £2,000 Langbank Village Centre Langbank Langbank Village Centre – restart activities, such as an exercise class, post pandemic to connect people in an area of poor access to other amenities. £2,000 Linwood Community Council Linwood Baptist Church Winter Connection – The Church will offer activities along with hot drinks and food in a welcoming space, encouraging people in the community to come out and meet others and alleviate loneliness and help with mental health and wellbeing. £2,000 Lochwinnoch Community Development Trust Lochwinnoch Lochwinnoch Warm Spaces Network - a Knit and Natter session at the local library over 15 weeks and a crafting session at the Workspace over 17 weeks. £2,000 Our Place Our Families Renfrew Eat Share Care Café –an information sharing café two days per week within Arkleston Community Centre. £2,000 Paisley Methodist Church Central Paisley Saturday Get Together – The Saturday Get Together provides activities, a hot lunch and drinks on a Saturday. Different activities can take place in a suite of halls including games, crafts, Men’s Zone, music and a tea area. There are smaller rooms where people can sit and chat or watch a movie. Participants can access foodbank and clothing donations and volunteering opportunities. £2,000 Paisley St George’s Outreach Centre Glenburn Learning Together Glenburn – the centre will provide a range of activities focussed on digital IT skills, but also including low-cost cooking, sewing, knitting and art. Funding will contribute to laptops, tablets, broadband, tutor, cooking equipment and art materials. £1,875 RAMH Paisley & Renfrew Winter Wellbeing Hubs & Soup Group – RAMH wishes to expand their “Wellbeing Hubs” in Paisley and Renfrew to an open group for adults aged 16 and over dealing with issues around mental health & wellbeing. £1,865 Rays of Hope Elderslie Rays of Hope Winter Project – This cancer support group will open their project to the wider community on a Friday, providing an opportunity to join choir practice, a Pilates class, Knit and Natter, craft sessions and table games. Hot homemade soup with crusty bread will be provided at lunch time, with tea and coffee throughout the day. Non-members will also be able to access the psychotherapist and hand and arm massage. £2,000 Renfrewshire Access Panel Ferguslie People Connecting – RAP would like to provide tablet/computer training for disabled individuals to connect with services and with each other and will work with other groups, such as Renfrewshire Head Injuries and the Disability Resource Centre in Paisley. They aim to provide a safe space for people to connect and enjoy a hot lunch. £2,000 Renfrewshire Rainbow Buddies Johnstone Castle Johnstone Castle Toddlers – Funding would support additional free toddler, Bookbug and lunch sessions per week to expand the current programme. £1,701 Renfrewshire Rainbow Buddies Houston Winter Warmer Toddlers Crafts and Bookbug – to deliver activities for 0-5 year olds and their parents / carers in Houston and Killellan Kirk along with a hot lunch. £1,000
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18 Renfrewshire Remode Paisley Gallowhill Stitching for Change – Remode will run after school creative workshops for young people aged 10-12 and 13-17 in Gallowhill Community Centre. Workshops will focus on textile, collage and printing workshops and will deliver practical, hands on and fun activities to create work inspired by climate change. £2,000 Renfrewshire Remode Central Paisley Open Mic and Make Projects – This is a youth-led programme with 16–24-year-olds interested in climate change and sustainable fashion. They will contribute to the content and design of a Zine learning about photography, artwork, journalism and poetry while managing a mini budget. £2,000 Renfrew Trinity Church of Scotland Renfrew Tea & Toast – The Church is seeking a small amount of funding to run a pilot project on Saturday mornings from 8.30am to 10am providing free tea, coffee and toast from 21st January to 25th March. Attendees will have access to books, jigsaws and board games and the project will develop further activities in consultation with the community. £672 Renfrew YMCA Renfrew Coffee and Catch Up – This project’s aim is to reduce social isolation and increase digital inclusion by bringing people together in a social café to learn IT skills. £2,000 ROAR (Well Connected) Paisley Sherwood Greenlaw Talk over toast & tea – This is a 20-week project run by ROAR, aiming to reduce isolation and loneliness, by offering different activities such as knitting, arts, book groups and digital learning in an intergenerational environment. £2,000 ROAR Johnstone Jam Jar Picture House - The Picture House aims to improve wellbeing throughout the community by offering everyone the opportunity to come together to watch a film and connect with a hot drink. £2,000 Shopmobility Paisley & District Central Paisley Bringing History to Life – Participants can enjoy a presentation of local history from a local historian from Paisley Darkside Historical Walking Tours and their assistant dressed in historical costumes, while enjoying a cup of tea/coffee and cupcake/biscuit. A lunch will also be provided, and attendees can find out about the Shopmobility service and equipment. £1,937 STAR Project Shortroods Paisley STAR’s Winter Connections – Funding will support additional activities two days per week providing attendees, games and crafts along with access to hot food. £1,988 St Mark’s Oldhall Church Paisley East Social Activity Drop In – The Church will provide space on a Wednesday afternoon for people to connect and take part in crafts, music sessions and board games and use the venue’s facilities including pool table and table football. Free tea, coffee, cakes, soup and toasted/ sandwiches will be available as well as the opportunity to learn food/ hospitality skills from volunteer staff. £2,000 St Mirren FC Charitable Foundation Paisley Winter Buddies - Delivering a Winter Response Programme from January until March to invite members of the community to the stadium two nights per week, for two hours per night, to enjoy hot food and drinks, and access warm packs and winter clothing. The project will operate an 'Open Door' policy and welcome self-referrals as well as working with local partners on referrals. There will be a vibrant schedule of events over the course of the 12 weeks with: live music, movie nights, game nights, quiz nights, watching football, walks and talks and guest speakers to keep guests entertained. Partner organisations will be invited to present information on local support services relating to financial advice, hardship payments, local food pantries and food banks and mental health support. £2,000 The Tannahill Centre Paisley (Ferguslie) The Big Cuppa T - A welcoming space within the foyer area of the Tannahill Centre that will provide opportunities for local people to increase their knowledge of support services, reduce their isolation and build a network of friends and other support. A bus will enable volunteers to pick-up and drop off people who are unable to use public transport. Different daily activities will be organised to keep people entertained and will complement existing activities taking place within the Tannahill Centre. This includes a community market run by the Darkwood Crew, a lunch club run by Ferguslie Seniors three days per week, £2,000
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19 providing a free two-course meal for those attending, parent and toddler activities, youth groups, arts and craft activities and advice and information services run by a variety of organisations and agencies. Thorn Athletic Community Trust Johnstone Wake Up, Warm Up – The Trust is based in the Greenend area of Johnstone where there is a lack of facilities and services. The project will provide a 45-minute easy exercise class twice a week for older adults to help them kickstart their day positively and health and wellbeing. The class will be suitable for all levels of fitness and provides an opportunity to meet new people and build relationships and friendships. A hot drink and biscuits will be provided afterwards along with signposting to other groups and support. £1,920 Twist and Hit Cheerleaders Paisley Kids Club - KEEP SAFE IN RENFREWSHIRE – Provision of a Saturday evening Kids Club for young people up to 18 years of age to drop in and participate in a range of activities including physical sports, arts & grafts, games consoles and chill out areas. The project is aimed at young people with nowhere to go outside their home and will offer access to hot drinks and food. The organisation is run by young people with support from coaches and club helpers. £2,000 West End Community Centre Paisley West End Continuing Winter Support and Activities – The Centre provides Health & Wellbeing activities for six days a week, including ROAR’s Lunch Club, craft club, foot care, exercise classes and a men's club. Funding would contribute to hall hire and energy costs to continue these activities over the winter period and to provide a hot drink/snack/meal as part of the programme. The project will also provide support to Ukranian families. £2,000 Applications not successful Organisation Area Funding Requested Purpose Finding Your Feet Paisley £2,000 Cosy Up Thursdays West College Scotland – Ferguslie Learning Centre Paisley £2,000 Ferguslie Learning Connections (FLC) Hillhead Charity Paisley £2,000 Sunshine City Play Session Re:Hope Church Paisley £1,959 Over 60’s Peer Support Drop In Rainbow Turtle and RIG Arts Paisley £3,980.75 Fair Connections Glenvale FC Ferguslie £1,500 Parents’ Connection Inchinnan Development Trust (IDT) Inchinnan £2,000 Teucheen woodland experience St John’s Episcopal Church Johnstone £1,946 Friendly CAF 'n CONNECT at ST Johns Friends of Knockhill Park Renfrew £1,000 Santa Lantern Parade
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20 St Mirren FC Charitable Foundation Paisley £2,000 Festive Friends
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21 Appendix 2 - Further Information Active Schools survey In 22/23, the Active Schools pupil activity survey received a completed return rate of 45.6% with a total of 11,084 forms returned. From this return 3,627 (33%) were Identified as Red, 5,165 (47%) Amber and 2,292 (21%) Green. As graph 1 demonstrates, activity levels between primary and secondary were similar however a greater proportion of secondary pupils are active for more than 7 hours per week. Additional Support Need schools have a significantly higher proportion of pupils within the red category. In 2019 the Active Schools team were able to link with the Children’s Services Attainment team and build a picture of how pupil activity levels can be considered in relation to attainment levels. The latest attainment data indicates that pupils with low levels of activity (under 3 hours) have lower levels of attainment. As the graph below indicates, this is true across both literacy and numeracy attainment. In both curricular areas, there is a 7-percentage point attainment gap between pupils with low and higher levels of activity.
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22 This trend is replicated within the senior phase where pupils with lower activity levels have a lower average total tariff than those with higher activity levels. Over time, we will be able to track the progress within attainment of pupils who have increased their activity levels through the Active Schools programme.