Agenda Document Pack - Fairer Renfrewshire Sub-committee - 03/09/2025
Renfrewshire Council · 3 September 2025
Back to Fairer Renfrewshire Sub-committee — 3 September 2025 and its agenda
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26/08/2025 Notice of Meeting and Agenda Fairer Renfrewshire Sub-committee Date Time Venue Wednesday, 03 September 2025 10:00 Council Chambers (Renfrewshire), Council Headquarters, Renfrewshire House, Cotton Street, Paisley, PA1 1AN Membership Councillor Jacqueline Cameron (Convener): Councillor Graeme Clark (Depute Convener): Councillor Neill Graham: Councillor Anne Hannigan: Councillor Marie McGurk: Councillor Iain Nicolson: Councillor Andy Steel: Webcasting of Meeting This meeting will be filmed for live or subsequent broadcast via the Council’s internet site – at the start of the meeting the Convener will confirm if all or part of the meeting is being filmed. To find the webcast please navigate to https://renfrewshire.public-i.tv/core/portal/home Hybrid Meeting Please note that this meeting is scheduled to be held in the Council Chambers. However, it is a hybrid meeting and arrangements have been made for members to join the meeting remotely should they wish. Members of the Press and Public Members of the press and public wishing to attend the meeting should report to the customer service centre where they will be met and directed to the meeting. MARK CONAGHAN Head of Corporate Governance
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26/08/2025 Further Information This is a meeting which is open to members of the public. A copy of the agenda and reports for this meeting will be available for inspection prior to the meeting at the Customer Service Centre, Renfrewshire House, Cotton Street, Paisley and online at http://renfrewshire.cmis.uk.com/renfrewshire/CouncilandBoards.aspx For further information, please email democratic-services@renfrewshire.gov.uk
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26/08/2025 Items of business Apologies Apologies from members. Declarations of Interest and Transparency Statements Members are asked to declare an interest or make a transparency statement in any item(s) on the agenda and to provide a brief explanation of the nature of the interest or the transparency statement. 1(a) Cost of Living Update Report by Chief Executive. 1 - 18 1(b) Cost of Living Dashboard Report by Chief Executive. 19 - 36 2 Fairer Renfrewshire Programme Update Report by Chief Executive. 37 - 44 3 Fairer Renfrewshire Panel Self Evaluation Report by Chief Executive. 45 - 86 4 Alcohol & Drugs Programme Update Presentation by Chief Executive. 5 Advancing Equality of Opportunity Workstream Update Presentation by Chief Executive.
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1 ________________________________________________________________________ To: Fairer Renfrewshire Sub-Committee On: 3 September 2025 _____________________________________________________________________ Report by: Chief Executive _____________________________________________________________________ Heading: Cost-of-living Update ________________________________________________________________________ 1. Summary 1.1 At each of the Fairer Renfrewshire Sub-Committee meetings, an overview of key context and evidence around current pressures on household finances, both in terms of household income and expenditure has been provided to members. 1.2 Since the last meeting of the Sub-Committee on 28 May 2025, there have been a number of changes in economic factors including a decrease of 7% in the Energy Price Cap from 1 July 2025, meaning households will pay slightly less for their energy use, while inflation increased to 3.8% in the 12 months to July 2025, up from 3.6% in June and the highest it has been since January 2024. Elected members are asked to note that: • The rate of inflation is standing at 3.8% in July and has been above the target rate of 2% set by the UK Government for the Bank of England since October 2024, when it reached 2.3%. • The inflation rate for food has increased to 4.9%, the highest recorded since February 2024 and remains higher than overall inflation. • The Bank of England interest rate was reduced to 4.00% in August 2025. It had decreased from the previous rate of 4.25%. • The Energy Price Cap, originally introduced by Ofgem in January 2019 to set limits on the underlying rates energy suppliers, is currently set at £ 1720 from 1 July, down from £1,849 for the previous quarter. 1.3 This paper provides an overview of information collated by officers in relation at both a national and local level where available. Item 1(a) Page 1 of 86
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2 2. Recommendations 2.1 It is recommended that members of the Fairer Renfrewshire Sub-Committee note the content of the report. 3. Background 1.1. At the Fairer Renfrewshire Sub-Committee meeting on 28 May 2025 an overview of key context and evidence around current pressures on household finances, both in terms of household income and expenditure, was examined. Although there has been some easing of cost of living long-term, recent and upcoming changes, especially around food inflation and rents mean that many families are still struggling with costs of living. 1.2. The rising costs of essentials hits low-income families hardest as they spend a greater proportion of their disposable income on these. The Resolution Foundation has found that poorer families are most affected by surging food prices as they spend a far greater share of their family budgets on food (14%, compared to 9% for the highest-income households). As a result, the effective inflation rate for the poorest tenth of households is around 2% higher than it is for the richest tenth of households. 1.3. High fuel costs remain an issue for many households. Although the annual energy bill for a household using a typical amount of gas and electricity went down £129 a year to £1,720 from July, this is £152 higher than the price cap set for the same period last year from 1 July to 30 September 2024 (£1,568). 1.4. As was previously reported to elected members, an increasing proportion of households are struggling to pay bills and pay off debts as a result of cost of living increases. A number of recent reports published show increases in the average amount of unsecured debts and arrears owed. Figures from our own advice services also show that debt is an issue for many, with Advice Works reporting an increase in statutory debt management solutions being used by clients, and RCAB an increasing number of households with deficit income, meaning statutory debt solutions may not be viable for them. 1.5. The cost of essentials; food, fuel and housing remain high, and where there are any decreases, such as in fuel costs, these tend to be small, making no significant difference for low income household who are already finding difficulty in managing and paying all their financial obligations. 2. Impacts of cost-of-living crisis Living costs 2.1. The latest insights into the cost of living from the Office of National Statistics for the period 4th to 29th June 2025, found that 86% of those surveyed reported the cost of living as the most important issue facing the UK today and around 3 in 5 adults (59%) reported that their cost of Page 2 of 86
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3 living had increased compared with a month ago. This proportion has decreased since a high in April 2025 (72%) where multiple expenses such as mobile phone contracts, council tax, and water bills increased their annual price. Those reporting that their cost of living has remained the same has increased from 27% to 39% in the same period. Around 1 in 50 (2%) adults said it had decreased in the last month. 2.2. The ONS figures record that the most commonly reported reason given by adults in the latest period for a rise in their cost of living ,remains the price of their food shop (94%), which has been the case since they first asked the question in November 2021. 2.3. The proportion of adults reporting that a reason for their cost-of-living increases was the price of their energy bills (64%) has gradually declined since January 2025 (79%); the current figure is higher than June 2024 (47%) but similar to June 2023 (64%). 2.4. Around 4 in 10 (38%) adults reported that a reason for their cost-of-living increasing was the price of their fuel. This has decreased since February 2025 (52%) after rising steadily since a low in October 2024 (32%). Page 3 of 86
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4 2.5. Further ONS figures show: • Around one in four (24%) adults reported that they had found it very or fairly difficult to get by financially in the past month. This was more likely to be reported by those aged 30 to 49 years (32%) compared with those aged 16 to 29 years (22%), 50 to 69 years (23%), and those aged 70 years and over (12%). • Around one in four (24%) adults said they had borrowed more money or used more credit in the last month when compared with a year ago. This has remained stable over the past three years. • Over one in three (37%) adults reported that they believed they would be unable to save any money in the next 12 months. This has remained stable in the past year. • Around one in three (34%) adults who paid energy bills reported that they found these bills very or somewhat difficult. This has fallen from a peak of almost half (49%) of adults in May 2023. 2.6. The ONS also found that lone parent households were more likely to report taking multiple actions because of cost-of-living increases than households with more than one adult and at least one dependent child including: • Spending less on food shopping and essentials (52%, compared with 39%) • Using less fuel in their home (40%, compared with 28%) • Using credit more than usual (38%, compared with 19%) • Using support from charities including Foodbanks (9%, compared with 2%) 2.7. The JRF Poverty 2025 Report also provides information around costs of living for low income households across the UK. They found households have tried to cut back on a range of costs or tried to increase their incomes in a way to make stretched budgets go further: • 3.3 million low-income families (56%) have reduced their use of appliances to bring down bills • 3.4 million low-income families (59%) have heated their homes less than they needed to, to reduce costs • 2.1 million low-income families (35%) sold their belongings to generate extra income • 1 million low-income families (19%) stopped or reduced pension contributions from their salary to try to meet their costs. 2.8. With regard to savings and debt JRF’s cost of living tracker found that for the households in the bottom 20% of household incomes: • 48% of households held less than £200 in savings, including 14% reporting having no savings at all. Page 4 of 86
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5 • 44% reported being in arrears (being behind on household bills or credit commitments in October 2024), and almost half (47%) of this group were in arrears with 3 or more different bills. • Almost 4 in 10 households (38%) report currently holding a loan or credit that was originally taken out to pay for essential bills like rent, food, energy and council tax. Thirty- seven per cent of this group held a high-cost credit loan (a loan with a payday lender, pawn shop, loan shark or doorstep lender) that had been used to pay those bills. • Taking on these loans hasn’t helped these households to avoid arrears. Three-quarters (75%) of those who used a loan to pay their bills were still in arrears, and 53% of this group were in arrears with 3 or more bills. • These households are also not escaping going without essentials – 92% of those taking out loans to pay for their essentials also reported going without at least one essential in the 6 months prior, such as enough food, a warm home, or adequate clothing for the weather. Energy debt 2.9. Ofgem collect figures around energy debt in the UK, including for those who have a payment agreement for repaying their arrears and those who don’t. The total monetary value for UK domestic energy customer debt and arrears currently stands at £4.15 billion. 2.10. The average level of debt owed by domestic customers in arrears (who did not have a debt repayment arrangement set up) has risen since they started collecting this data in 2012 and the last year has seen substantial increases in average arrears, reaching £1,712 for electricity and £1,482 for gas in Q4 2024 (up by 18% for electricity, and 20% for gas compared to Q1 2024). 2.11. Ofgem attribute the increase in average arrears to higher retail prices and increasingly difficult financial circumstances faced by some households. Page 5 of 86
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6 2.12. The average level of debt for customers with a debt repayment in place rose by 5% for electricity customers (to £740) and also rose by 4% (to £608) for gas customers in Q1 2025 compared to Q1 2024. Ofgem have encouraged suppliers to act quickly to establish debt repayment arrangements. 2.13. The proportion of domestic customers repaying debt to their supplier using a Pre Payment Meter (PPM) has ranged between around 30% and 60% for the last few years. Since Q4 2022 the figure has been above 40%, and during 2024 the number of customers repaying debt through a PPM rose to record levels. In Q1 2025, for electricity customers, this dropped back to 47% compared to 58% in Q1 2024. For gas, the number of customers repaying a debt via a PPM fell to 44% from 56% in Q1 2024. 2.14. Numbers of PPM customers in arrears increased rapidly during the energy crisis, so recent the fall in numbers is bringing this back down to a rate more akin to recent years, although still on the higher side. PPM customers, however, face a huge amount of volatility in energy spending and it’s hard to overstate the seasonal impacts of energy costs on the living standards of PPM customers. Page 6 of 86
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7 Spending – particularly on heating – is highly concentrated during the coldest time of the year, with 78 per cent of heating demand occurring between October and March, and 46 per cent in the first quarter of the year alone. This seasonal spike forces families to either spend a very high proportion of their income to keep warm, or to endure cold living conditions that can bring with them significant health impacts. 2.15. The Resolution Foundation has calculated that the amount of energy that PPM customers need to consume to maintain a reasonable standard of warmth and electricity use will, on average, be more than 30 per cent of their incomes during December, January and February – a figure that falls by close to two-thirds (to around 12 per cent) during the summer. 2.16. The total monetary value for UK domestic energy customer debt and arrears is £4.15 billion Debt in Renfrewshire 2.17. In the last quarter from April to June 2025, Advice Works has seen a noticeable rise in clients undertaking a statutory debt solution. 24 clients applied for bankruptcy, where there were 61 for the last full financial year, and 22 clients accessed a Debt Arrangement Scheme (where interest is frozen and clients arrange payback to all their creditors over an extended period), compared to 57 for the last full year. In all 241 clients received debt advice last quarter for £717,584 of debts. 2.18. Renfrewshire CAB has not noticed a similar upswing in statutory debt solutions but commented that they are seeing many clients with significant debt and no reasonable prospect of repaying, as they are operating on a deficit budget, so for whom statutory debt solutions aren’t viable options. They have seen 374 clients in quarter 1, and have new debt under management this quarter of £667,420. 3. Employment and Wages 3.1. According to the ONS, the Claimant Count in July 2025, which is taken from JobcentrePlus administration systems, for those claiming unemployment-related benefits in Renfrewshire is 3360 people – 2030 men and 1330 women aged between 16 and 64. This is a slight reduction from 3,375 last reported. The Renfrewshire unemployment rate of 2.8 % is less than the Scotland rate (3.1%) 3.2. ONS figures for the UK show that from the period from January to March 2025, annual growth in employees' average earnings for regular earnings (excluding bonuses) was 5.6% and total earnings (including bonuses) was 5.9%. Annual average regular earnings growth was 5.6% for the private sector and 5.5% for the public sector. These increases are all above the rate of inflation, with the annual growth in real terms, adjusted for inflation using the Consumer Prices Index including owner occupiers' housing costs being 1.8% for regular pay and 1.7% for total pay. 3.3. Over the long term, average weekly earnings for both total and regular pay show a steady increase. Average weekly earnings were estimated at £722 for total earnings and £671 for regular earnings in March 2025. 3.4. The most recent local figures are from 2024 and show average weekly earnings of £745 overall in Renfrewshire - £803 for males and £708 for females. More recent figures will be provided when these are available. Page 7 of 86
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8 4. Benefits 4.1. On 17 June 2025, the Scottish Government announced that it would effectively cancel the impact of the two-child benefit cap from 2nd March 2026. The UK-wide policy prevents parents from claiming universal credit or child tax credit for more than two children, with a few exemptions. This negation of the policy will be done via a Two Child Limit Payment which will start to receive applications in March 2026. 4.2. It is estimated that 840 families are affected by the 2 child limit in Renfrewshire, with these households not receiving a child element amount for at least one child. As the policy only applies to children born since 6 April 2017, the number of children potentially affected by it increases each year. 4.3. Currently the child element for second children, and any subsequent children who are eligible (for example through multiple births or non-consensual conception), is £292.81 per month. 4.4. Details of the Payment are yet to be released, however elected members will be updated as more information is provided. 4.5. As previously reported, in the UK Government’s Spring Statement 2025 reform measures for health and disability benefits were announced. These originally proposed reforms, which related to both existing and new claimants of disability benefits were changed to only apply to future claims, and all reform and changes to Personal Independence Payment (PIP) have been halted and will be reconsidered following the outcome of the Timms Review. 4.6. Some changes, however, remain in place for example: • the DWP will continue to introduce a legal ‘right to try’ whereby a claimant can try employment without worrying that it could affect any wider benefit claims • Contributory benefits, such as New Style Job Seekers Allowance and New Style Employment and Support Allowance, will continue to be merged into a new time limited contributory benefit • The UK government has increased the amount it has pledged for employment support for sick and disabled claimants through an increase in the Pathways to Work of £300 million over the next four years 4.7. The picture of changes and how they will affect Scotland is still unclear, and potential impacts on those living in Renfrewshire will be reported as detail becomes available. 5. Inflation, Food Costs and Foodbank use Page 8 of 86
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9 5.1. Inflation is standing at 3.8% in July 2025, up from 3.6% in June. This is the highest inflation has been since January 2024 and has been driven by increased food and fuel prices. Inflation has been above the target rate of 2% set by the UK Government for the Bank of England since October 24, when it reached 2.3%. 5.2. The latest figures show that food and drink inflation jumped to 4.9%, the highest recorded since February 2024, driven by the rising price of cakes, meat, milk, eggs and cheddar cheese. Motor fuel prices fell by 9% in the year to June 2025 compared with a drop of 10.9% in the year to May. Because prices fell by less than a year earlier, this contributes to pushing up the annual inflation rate. The costs of furniture and household goods also made their largest contribution to inflation since December 2023. 5.3. Research by Worldpanel, which follows the shopping habits of 30,000 UK households, shows that on average, UK households spend around £5,283 for a year on groceries currently, but this could increase by £275 due to higher prices unless people change what they buy, for example switching to supermarket own brands. Furthermore, they report that around a fifth of households in the UK are "struggling" with grocery bills, with some of those in a situation where they can’t cut food costs any more. 5.4. The Institute of Grocery Distribution forecasts that retail food inflation is set to peak at 5.1% in late summer 2025, significantly outpacing general inflation. This rise is expected to place further pressure on households, with food prices being the top concern for UK shoppers. They also point to consumers changing habits and purchasing more own label foods. Their Head of Economic and Consumer Insight stated about their most recent research “We identified only 29% of consumers Page 9 of 86
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10 plan to cut back on grocery spending, suggesting many have already tightened their budgets and have little room to cut back further. Instead, shoppers are more likely to look for savings on discretionary purchases like clothing and eating out, underscoring a clear prioritisation of food shopping over other categories.” 5.5. The Renfrewshire Foodbank issued 1,342 vouchers in Quarter 1 of 2025/26, a decrease of 4.1% in comparison with the 1,400 vouchers issued during the same quarter last year. The vouchers covered 1,775 adults and 854 children this year, which was a decrease in the total number receiving assistance compared to the same quarter last year (1,838 adults and 866 children). The number of vouchers this quarter is also slightly less than last quarter when 1,357 vouchers were issued covering 1,792 adults and 917 children. 5.6. The rising costs of essentials remains the most commonly cited factor in the reason for voucher issue in Renfrewshire, at 541 times. This is compared to the second most cited factor, ongoing impact of physical or mental health condition at 195 times. Other unexpected expense has become the third most cited factor, at 170 times. 5.7. Renfrewshire Foodbank splits priority and non-priority debt as reasons for voucher issue. This quarter, were these to be added together, debt as a whole would be the second most cited reason for voucher issue at 282 vouchers. 5.8. The table below shows the number of Vouchers fulfilled per Ward in Quarter 1 2025/26 compared to Quarter 1 last year. Although numbers are still small, the highest percentage rise was within Erskine and Inchinnan Bishopton, Bridge of Weir and Langbank, where 13 vouchers were issued in Quarter 1 this year, compared to 8 last year - an increase of 62.5%. Johnstone North, Kilbarchan, Howwood and Lochwinnoch had the highest numerical rise, from 66 to 103, a rise of 56.1%. The voucher numbers in this particular Ward have been rising steadily over the last year and Officers will work with the Foodbank to establish, if possible, what has driven this increase. Page 10 of 86
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11 6. Interest and Mortgage Rates 6.1. The Bank of England has cut its base interest rate five times in the past year, most recently in August to 4.00%. This reduction was unexpected as economists had said that evidence of lingering high inflation could delay further reductions. The Bank of England has changed its inflation forecast. It now expects inflation to peak at 4% in September. That is twice the Bank's target rate and above the 3.8% rate previously estimated. 6.2. The Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee have stated that if the economic situation in the UK remains stable, they should be able to reduce interest rates further over time, but can’t say precisely when or by how much. The Committee remains focused on squeezing out any existing or emerging persistent inflationary pressures, to return inflation sustainably to its 2% target in the medium term. In their August statement they said "monetary policy is not on a pre-set path" and although the Bank considers the Bank that the future direction is downwards if the facts change, the direction for interest rates could change too. 6.3. Their next decision is due on the 18th September and at that stage they will look at the state of the economy and recent global developments, and what we expect for the coming months. The factors they consider include: • how fast prices are rising • how the UK's economy is growing • how many people are in work 6.4. Markets appear to not be predicting a further rate cut at the next meeting in September, but think cuts in November and December may be more likely. 6.5. Since the base rate was cut to 4.00% the average fixed rate mortgage rate has also decreased. The average two-year deal is now 4.50%, down from the 5.21% last reported and the average five-year deal is now also 4.50% down from 5.12%. As previously reported, however, about 800,000 fixed- rate mortgages, currently with an interest rate of 3% or below, are expected to expire every year, on average, until the end of 2027, so this will still mean an increase in housing costs for those householders. 6.6. For those who have savings, the reduction in interest rates are likely to mean a reduction in interest paid on savings accounts. According to Moneyfacts, the average savings rate is currently 3.5%, which is 0.42% lower than this time last year and is expected to keep falling. The average easy access ISA rate had also fallen by 0.46% over the year. Financial Markets Online also point out that "The combination of rising inflation and falling interest rates will slash the value of people's savings in real terms." Page 11 of 86
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12 7. Housing costs Rental Costs 7.1. According to Zoopla’s Rental Market Report of June 2025, rents have grown 21% in the UK over the last 3 years, compared to 4% for house prices. Their research also shows that Rental supply has increased, with 17% more homes available than a year ago, as homes take slightly longer to rent. There are also signs of increased landlord purchasing activity as borrowing costs fall, however rental supply remains 20% below pre-pandemic levels. While the pace of rent increases has slowed, renters still face strong competition for rented homes, especially those on lower incomes with little hope of being able to buy a home. 7.2. According to the ONS, average rent for Scotland was £999 in June 2025, up 4.4% (£41) from a year earlier. This annual rise was lower than in the 12 months to May 2025 (4.5%) and represents the lowest annual rise for three years. Scotland's annual inflation rate has been generally slowing since the record-high annual rise of 11.7% in August 2023. Zoopla estimates that the rental market remains on track for rental inflation of 3-4% over 2025, however Renfrewshire inflationary rises remain above this average figure. 7.3. In Renfrewshire, private rental prices have continued to rise to an average of £807 across all property sizes in June 2025, an increase of £5 per month on the last reported figure of £802 in March 2025 and an annual increase of 7.9% from £748 in June 2024. Average rents as of March 2025 in Renfrewshire/Inverclyde by how many bedrooms there are in a property were: • One bedroom: £509 (from £504 in March 25) • Two bedrooms: £675 (from £670 in March 25) • Three bedrooms: £871 (from £867 in March 25) • Four or more bedrooms: £1,537 (from £1,533 in March 25) Page 12 of 86
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13 Home ownership 7.4. In general, house prices have continued to rise and ONS figures show that the average cost of a home in Renfrewshire is now £159,000 in May 25, up from £146,000 in May 24, although less than the last reported figure of £165,000 in February 25. This is less than the average house price in Scotland which was £192,000 in May 2025. In the year to May 2025, the average price for detached properties in Renfrewshire rose by 14.9%, while the average price for flats increased by 5.2%. 7.5. For each property type, average prices as of May 2025 in Renfrewshire were: • Detached properties: £367,000 • Semi-detached properties: £216,000 • Terraced properties: £158,000 • Flats and maisonettes: £103,000 7.6. The average price paid by first-time buyers was £129,000, which was higher than the previous year’s figure of £120,000. For homes bought with a mortgage, the average house price was £173,000, again higher than the £159,000 paid in May 2024, although less than the Scottish average of £200,000. 7.7. According to Adzuna, a recruitment agency, the average salary for jobs advertised in Renfrewshire in June 2025 was £37,740. Salaries in Renfrewshire have gone up 20.7% year-on-year, higher than the national annual change of 8.2%, although salaries have fluctuated throughout the year. 8. Changes to Supports for Energy Bills 8.1. On 18 June, the UK Government announced changes to the rules on who qualifies for the Warm Home Discount and increased the level of spend available in Scotland. The changes mean that in Page 13 of 86
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14 Scotland it is estimated that an extra 240,000 families will receive this discount for the first time this winter. 8.2. The payment is applied directly to customers bills, normally by their electricity supplier with those who receive Pension Credit receiving the discount automatically, and all others on low income having to claim from their energy provider. 8.3. The scheme reopens in October 2025. 8.4. Changes have also been announced to the Winter Fuel Payment. All pensioners in Scotland with an income of less than £35,000 will receive the Scottish Pension Age Winter Heating Payments this winter of either £203.40 or £305.10 per household. Pensioner households with no-one aged 80 or over will receive £203.40, rising to £305.10 for households with someone aged 80 or over. 8.5. While all pensioners will receive the payment, if you are a pensioner with a taxable income over £35,000, HMRC will take back your Pension Age Winter Heating Payment automatically through the tax system. 9. Child Poverty statistics UK child poverty 9.1. The Joseph Rowntree Foundation published UK statistics in their recent UK Poverty 2025 Report. The report found that children tend to have higher poverty rates, but this varies between families. For example, in 2022/23, the poverty rate for children in families with 3 or more children was almost twice as high as the poverty rate for children in 1- or 2-child families (45% compared with 22% and 22%). 9.2. Lone-parent families have the highest poverty rate of any family type. Over 2 in 5 children in lone- parent families (44%) were living in poverty in 2022/23, compared with 25% of children in couple families. 9.3. Poverty rates also vary depending on the age of children in the family. Approximately 1 in 3 children in families where the youngest child is aged under 5 (36%) were living in poverty. Meanwhile, around a quarter of children in families where the youngest child is aged 5 to 10 (25%) or between 11 to 15 years old (25%) were living in poverty. Lastly, 3 in 10 children in families where the youngest child is between 16 to 19 years old (31%) were living in poverty. 9.4. The report also highlights the prevalence of in-work poverty. Two-thirds of working-age adults in poverty (68%) in the UK are in a household where at least one adult works, and 43% are in a family with at least one adult working full-time. That most adults in poverty are in a family where at least one adult is in work demonstrates that for many households, work alone is not providing a route out of poverty. For children: Page 14 of 86
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15 • Almost three-quarters (74%) of children in families where no adult is in work are in poverty, however even in families where at least one adult is (but not all adults are) in work the child poverty rate is 50%. • 14% of children in poverty live in families where all adults are in work (note that this includes children in single-parent families where that parent is in work). • 52% of children in poverty are in a family where at least one adult is working full-time. Local statistics 9.5. At the last Sub-Committee meeting new Scotland wide statistics on poverty were reported. Since then, we have received local child poverty statistics which are broken down to Renfrewshire and to Ward level before housing costs are taken into account and to Renfrewshire and Parliamentary constituency after housing costs are taken into account. 9.6. The proportion of children in low-income families in Renfrewshire has been steadily rising since 2014/15 (discounting data for 2020/21 which has significant caveats, due to the coronavirus pandemic). This year’s figures, however, show a slight decrease in rates. The decrease is likely to be at least partially due to Scottish Child Payment income being included for the first time, with 2023/24 being the first full year that Scottish Child Payments were paid to all eligible children under the age of 16. 9.7. For 23/24, the percentage of children in relative low income, before housing costs in Renfrewshire is 15.2%, representing 4,613 children. This is a decrease of 330 children compared to the previous year, when the rate was 16.6%. The rate for Scotland is 16.3%. Not all wards in Renfrewshire saw a reduction in the proportion of children in low-income families, with three wards seeing a slight increase in rate. There continues to be particularly high proportions of children in low-income families in both Paisley North West and Renfrew South and Gallowhill wards, with children living in relative low income rates at 27.5% and 23.9% respectively, although both these wards showed the largest annual decrease in rates compared to last year. Page 15 of 86
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16 9.8. In terms of the after housing costs statistics, there is no ward-level data, with only local authority and UK Parliamentary constituency level data provided. For 2023/24, the percentage of children in relative low income, after housing costs in Renfrewshire is 21.0%, representing 7,241 children. The rate for Scotland is 23.0%. In 2022/23, the rate recorded for Renfrewshire was 24.0% so there has been a 3% decrease in child poverty using this measure. 9.9. The percentages of children in relative low income (after housing costs) between the two Renfrewshire constituencies are almost identical for 2023/24, however Paisley and Renfrewshire South constituency has shown a larger percentage increase compared to 2022/23 (5.2% compared to 3.3% for Paisley and Renfrewshire North). It should be noted that the constituency percentages are higher than the Renfrewshire local authority area percentages and it is likely that this is due to the change in parliamentary constituency boundaries, which no longer match the Local Authority boundary. The after housing costs statistics provide a more accurate picture of how disposable incomes vary in different areas, factoring in housing costs from both the rented (social and private) and mortgaged sectors. Parliamentary constituency/Local Authority Areas 2014/15 2015/16 2016/17 2017/18 2018/19 2019/20 2020/21 2021/22 2022/23 2023/24 Change in % compared to previous year Paisley and Renfrewshire North 20.1% 21.1% 21.2% 23.1% 22.0% 23.7% 20.7% 20.6% 21.3% 24.6% 3.3% Paisley and Renfrewshire South 18.9% 20.3% 21.6% 23.3% 22.7% 23.8% 20.8% 19.1% 19.3% 24.5% 5.2% Renfrewshire 19.3% 20.4% 21.3% 22.8% 21.9% 23.1% 19.5% 23.3% 24.0% 21.0% -3.0% Page 16 of 86
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17 Implications of the Report 1. Financial – There are no financial implications associated with this report, which provides an overview of the position and is for noting. 2. HR & Organisational Development – none 3. Community/Council Planning – This report provides a detailed summary of the current evidence relating to household income and expenditure. Wider poverty related issues are a key element of both the Council and Community Plan and the information included within this report is part of the wider Strategic Needs Assessment for these plans. 4. Legal - none 5. Property/Assets - none 6. Information Technology - none 7. Equality and Human Rights – The report provides an overview of the position around household income and expenditure, and is for noting. As such there are no impacts arising from the recommendation of this paper. It is however important to note that impacts on households explored within this paper are likely to be disproportionately felt by equality groups. 8. Health and Safety - none 9. Procurement – none 10. Risk – none 11. Privacy Impact – none 12. Climate Risk - none 13. Children’s rights – the articles within UNCRC underpin the work that is being progressed in Renfrewshire through the Fairer Renfrewshire programme, particularly in relation to rights in relation to aspects such as life, survival and development, food, clothing and a safe home and supporting the best interests of the child and their families. Child poverty and family wellbeing are key local partnership priorities. 14. COSLA Policy Position – none Author: Diane Dunn, Fairer Renfrewshire Manager, diane.dunn@renfrewshire.gov.uk Page 17 of 86
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Prepared by: Policy and Partnerships tacklingpoverty@renfrewshire.gov.uk Cost of Living Dashboard August 2025 Fairer Renfrewshire Item 1(b) Page 19 of 86
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Cost of Living Dashboard FAIRER RENFREWSHIRE This dashboard has been developed to provide a summary of key indicators relating to how local households might be impacted by the cost-of-living crisis It has four key sections: economy, social security, financial insecurity and housing Each section has an overview with key indicators and their movement from the last period, supported by additional information and graphs showing further analysis and longer-term trends The dashboard is still in development, and feedback is welcome on the information included and its presentation to ensure it is a useful tool Page 20 of 86
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Key statistics - economy OVERVIEW 4.00% 3.8% £19.52 134.30p 4.9% £1,720 • CPI Inflation and food inflation trend has started to increase, with the overall rate possibly peaking in September 2025. • Further reduction in interest rates in August with further cuts less likely in 2025. • Energy price cap reduced, with prepayment meters comparatively cheaper than direct debit. Page 21 of 86
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Inflation The inflation rate inJuly 2025 is 3.8%, up from 3.6% in June. The increase is not consistent across all categories and there are differing fluctuations. The increase in the CPI Rate for June 2025, was largely as a result of higher prices for food and clothing as well as air and rail fares. Food prices rose at a rate of 4.9%, the highest rate since February 2024. Higher costs for key ingredients such as chocolate, butter, coffee, eggs and meat as well as higher energy and labour costs contributed to the increase. Inflation is expected to peak at 4% in September. Interest Rates The Bank of England’s base rate reduced to 4.00% in August 2025, taking the cost of borrowing to the lowest level for more than two years. Interest rate projections are difficult to predict, however many analysts are predicting further rate cuts during 2025 are less likely. Recent price volatility and future price pressures (labour costs and global adverse weather conditions) could lead to further increases in inflation which may dampen the likelihood of the interest rate being cut quickly if inflation rates fluctuate. 0.00 1.00 2.00 3.00 4.00 5.00 6.00 Bank of England Base Rate Changes Page 22 of 86
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Earnings Based on the ONS annual survey of hours and earnings, in 2024 the median hourly pay (excluding overtime) for workers in Renfrewshire is lower compared to that for workers in Scotland, and the rest of Great Britain. It should be noted that the median hourly wage for males in Renfrewshire is less than that for females, however when calculating median gross weekly pay females receive less earnings - £803.40 per week for males compared to £708.60 per week for females. Employment Rate The ONS Labour Force Survey shows the Claimant Count for those claiming benefits 'principally for the reason of being unemployed', which now stands at 3,360. This is based on numbers claiming JSA and Universal Credit. These numbers are based on those aged 16 and over and are not seasonally adjusted. The Renfrewshire unemployment rate has not yet been published for June 2025. The Scotland rate (3.1%) is lower than that of Great Britain (4.1%). £19.52 £19.19 £18.73 £18.97 £19.50 £19.37 £19.53 £18.95 £17.92 £17.00 £17.50 £18.00 £18.50 £19.00 £19.50 £20.00 Renfrewshire Scotland Great Britain Full-time Workers Male Full-time workers Female Full-time workers 0 500 1,000 1,500 2,000 2,500 3,000 3,500 4,000 4,500 Claimant Count Page 23 of 86
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Economic Inactivity The ONS Labour Force Survey also provides details on those aged 16+ that are economically inactive and not seeking work. Between April 2024 to March 2025, of the 26,000 people aged 16-64 that are classed as economically inactive, 86.9% are not looking for employment (either in the long-term or short/medium term). The percentage of economically inactive people aged 16- 64 that want to gain employment (either in long-term or short/medium term) in Renfrewshire (13.1%) is lower than that of the rates in Scotland (17.0%) and Great Britain (19.0%). The Renfrewshire figure could be underestimated due to the sample size. Please note that due to the sample size within Renfrewshire, some categories do not have a reliable estimate (e.g. looking after family/home, temporary sick or other). Student 27% Long-Term Sick 32% Retired 21% Looking after family/home or Other 20% Economically Inactive Page 24 of 86
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Fuel Prices From the UK Government’s weekly fuel price publication, the average UK pump price on 5 August 2025 is 134.30 pence per litre for petrol, and 142.13 pence per litre for diesel. Energy Price Cap The Energy Price Cap sets a limit on the maximum amount suppliers can charge for each unit of gas and electricity used and sets a maximum daily standing charge. That means there is no upper limit to what a user pays, if more energy is used,more is paid. The Energy Price Cap now changes every three months mainly based on average energy wholesale prices in the months leading up to each change. From July 2025 the Energy Price Cap has reduced to £1,720 per year for those on a monthly direct debit, and to £1,672 per year for those with a prepayment meter. The Energy Price Cap from October 2025 is predicted to increase slightly. £0 £500 £1,000 £1,500 £2,000 £2,500 £3,000 £3,500 £4,000 £4,500 Direct Debit Prepayment Page 25 of 86
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Key statistics - social security OVERVIEW 18,160 10,565 4,136 3,727 • Households claiming Universal Credit increasing, this includes new cases and managed migration from tax credits and legacy benefits. • Slight decrease in number of children receiving Scottish Child Payment compared to December 2024. Page 26 of 86
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Universal Credit Households on Universal Credit (UC) continue to rise with 18,160 households in Renfrewshire receiving UC as of March 2025 (provisional figures). Starting in August 2023, the managed migration from tax credits to UC contributed to the rises in the UC caseload, with the legacy tax credit system closing for payments in April 2025. From April 2024, the managed migration process commenced for those claimants still on Income Support, Jobseeker’s Allowance, Housing Benefit and Employment and Support Allowance and should be complete by 2026. In July 2025, the DWP published statistics showing the impact of the two-child limit policy on families in receipt of UC. As of April 2025, in Renfrewshire there were 1,170 households in receipt of UC with 3 or more children. Of these, 840 households are not receiving a child element/amount for at least one child. The current monthly UC child element amount is £292.81 per month (rate from April 2025). 0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000 12000 14000 16000 18000 20000 Number of Renfrewshire Households on UC Page 27 of 86
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Free School Meals and Clothing Grants The 2024/25 Free School Meals and Clothing Grant application process commenced in June 2024 and closed in May 2025. The 2025/26 Free School Meals and Clothing Grant application process commenced at the start of June 2025. The number of applications received between June 2025 (3,267) and July 2025 is down compared to the corresponding period as last year (3,525). The award rate at the end of July 2025 (81.3%) is higher than at the same point last year (72.1%) with less cases outstanding awaiting a decision. This drop could be down to fluctuations in school rolls and eligibility and there could also be less repeat or duplicate applications. Large numbers of Child Tax Credit claimants did not move to UC and therefore could have lost eligibility. 0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000 2021/22 2022/23 2023/24 2024/25 2025/26 Number of FSM/CG Applications Received up to end of July Page 28 of 86
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Key statistics - financial insecurity OVERVIEW 1,342 £1.125m 1,929 2,450 • Foodbank vouchers issued slightly down compared to last quarter, and a decrease compared to the same period last year. • Number of Crisis Grants applications awarded is down compared to the same period last year but spend is up. • Number of people approaching local advice agencies down this period, but wider trend is upward. Page 29 of 86
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More than 3 vouchers needed in the last 6 months In terms of more than 3 vouchers needed in the last 6 months there has been a steady decrease in overall cases. There has been a quarterly increase in Benefit Delays/Sanctions being a specified reason. Foodbank Vouchers Foodbank vouchers issued in Q1 2025/26 (1,342) assisted 854 children and 1,775 adults. 0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600 1800 Foodbank Vouchers Issued by Quarter 0 50 100 150 200 250 Awaiting first benefit payment Benefit delay or sanction Debt Domestic abuse Drug or alcohol dependency Homelessness Long term health condition Long term unemployment No access to financial support due to… Other - low income Other Reason for needing more than 3 vouchers in the last 6 months (2025/26 Cumulative) Page 30 of 86
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Advice Advice Works and Renfrewshire Citizens Advice Bureau (RCAB) continue to support a high level of new clients. The number of clients who received an appointment during Q1 2025/26 is 165 - slightly less compared to the same period in 2024/25. N.B. These figures do not include the number of calls/emails from people looking for signposting information. Debt Under Management Advice Works and Renfrewshire Citizens Advice Bureau continue to deal with a high level of enquiries regarding debt. The combined level of new debt cases under management is shown below, by quarter over the last 4 years. The levels reported in Q1 for 2024/25 look to be outlier figures with Q1 figures for 2025/26 returning to figures closer to 2023/24 and the remainder of 2024/25 figures. - 500 1,000 1,500 2,000 2,500 3,000 3,500 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Combined Advice New Client Cases 2021/22 2022/23 2023/24 2024/25 2025/26 £0.00 £500,000.00 £1,000,000.00 £1,500,000.00 £2,000,000.00 £2,500,000.00 £3,000,000.00 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Debt Under Management 2021/22 2022/23 2023/24 2024/25 2025/26 Page 31 of 86
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Scottish Welfare Fund There have been 2,931 applications for Crisis Grants between April 2025 and July 2025 with £233,768 awarded. This is an average award rate of 66%. Nationwide, the main reasons for a CG not being awarded are “reasons for application do not meet the conditions of award” and “excluded as a result of previous applications”. Generally, awards are restricted to 3 within a 12-month rolling period however discretion can be used. In Renfrewshire, discretion isfrequently exercised. Cost-of-living pressures can result in I higher rate of immediate financial crises for many households as they have less flexibility to manage budgets. Nationwide 52% of Crisis Grant awards are made to single persons, with 22% made to single parents. This suggests single people and single parents, who rely on one income within the household, are financially struggling in terms of income and disproportionately by expenditure due to housing, energy, fuel, and food costs. 0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 Crisis Grant Applications by month Page 32 of 86
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Key statistics - housing OVERVIEW 16,4675,425 317 4,598 • New homeless cases up significantly in Q1 compared to previous year’s Q4, and wider trend is upward. • No real change in the proportions of people reporting why they became homeless or where they are from. • More tenants in rent arrears this period, but a decrease in the value of arrears compared to same period last year. Page 33 of 86
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Council Tenants in arrears As at the end of July 2025, 4,598 current tenants were in rent arrears totaling £2.5m. This figure includes all levels of arrears some of which are caused by Universal Credit payment processes. Staff within Housing Services continue to work with tenants to address rent arrears and provide advice/signpost tenants to support services and agencies where financial difficulties are identified. For the period 1 April 2025 – 31 July 2025, 45 tenants have qualified for Tenant Support Fund assistance with £3,889 awarded. Homeless Cases The Housing and Homeless Advice Service had 317 new cases within Q1 in 2025/26 compared to 244 for the same period in 2024/25 – a 30% increase. There is unprecedented demand for the homeless service with the current caseload the highest on record. All 4 main reasons declared for homelessness have increased: Termination of mortgage due to rent arrears/default on payment is up by 12, Discharge from prison/hospital/care/other institution up by 11, Dispute with household/relationship breakdown (non violent) up by 20, leaving Asylum accommodation up by 14. £0 £500,000 £1,000,000 £1,500,000 £2,000,000 £2,500,000 £3,000,000 £3,500,000 £4,000,000 Current Tenant Arrears 2022/23 2023/24 2024/25 2025/26 221 247 214 250264 261 227 274 244 283 242 246 317 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 New Homeless Cases 2022/23 2023/24 2024/25 2025/26 Page 34 of 86
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Housing CostsAverage Monthly Rent Costs From the Office for National Statistics’ local housing statistics publication in July 2025, figures show average rent changes. These statistics are based predominantly on advertised rents, so do not represent rent changes for existing tenants. Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates are the maximum amount that can be paid for Housing Benefit and Universal Credit (Housing Costs) for those renting from a private landlord. Any shortfall between charged rent and the amount of HB/UC Housing Costs awarded would have to be made up by the tenant, although Discretionary Housing Payments can be awarded to provide support. The 2025/26 rates have been frozen at the Jan 2024 rate. Property Prices and Mortgage Affordability The average price of a home bought with a mortgage in Renfrewshire was £173,000 in May 2025, which was higher than the average of £159,000 in May 2024. The average price paid by first-time buyers was £129,000 up from £120,000 the previous year. Across Scotland, the average price of a home bought with a mortgage was £200,000, up from £187,000 a year earlier. Average house prices for all property types continue to rise. The house prices combined with recent higher rates have driven up the average monthly mortgage repayment amounts. Whilst the Bank of England base interest rate fell in August 2025, it is expected that future rates will decline slowly and over a longer timescale to ensure inflation rates remain at levels consistent with the 2% target. Renfrewshire Monthly LHA Rates March 2025 LHA Rate April 2025 LHA Rate 1 Bedroom Shared £360 £360 1 Bedroom £400 £400 2 Bedroom £525 £525 3 Bedroom £600 £600 4 Bedroom £1,100 £1,100 Average Monthly Rents in Renfrewshire Jun-25 Annual Change in Average Rents 1 Bedroom £509 8.8% 2 Bedroom £675 8.4% 3 Bedroom £871 8.0% 4 or more Bedroom £1,537 5.8% Type of Property Average Price Average Monthly Mortgage Repayment (Assuming 25 year repayment, 5 year fixed initial agreement and 10% deposit Flat £103,000 £489 Terraced £158,000 £751 Semi-detached £216,000 £1,026 Detached £367,000 £1,743 Page 35 of 86
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1 ___________________________________________________________________ To: Fairer Renfrewshire Sub-Committee On: 3 September 2025 ___________________________________________________________________ Report by: Chief Executive ___________________________________________________________________ Heading: Fairer Renfrewshire Programme Update ___________________________________________________________________ 1. Summary 1.1. The Council and partners have a key focus on tackling inequality and improving wellbeing and have longstanding programmes of work and partnership arrangements in place such as the Tackling Poverty Programme and the change programme established in response to the findings of the Renfrewshire Drug and Alcohol Commission. 1.2. At Council on 2 March 2023 members reaffirmed their commitment to the Fairer Renfrewshire programme and outlined several investments including bringing together the current Fairer Renfrewshire funding alongside the Tackling Poverty and Social Renewal reserve funds into a single resource. 1.3. At Council on 27th February 2025, members further reaffirmed their commitment to the Fairer Renfrewshire programme with continued investments in a number of targeted interventions including additional welfare rights and schools advice funding, a targeted programme of summer activities for children and young people from low-income families, another year of the Winter Connections programme in 2025/26, and a further winter school clothing payment in 2025. 1.4. Key priorities for the Fairer Renfrewshire Programme for September – December 2025 are as follows: • Development of our advancement of equality of opportunity programme • Commencement of work on the re-commissioning of external advice contract • Make £50 Winter Clothing Payment to families in receipt of School Clothing Grant • Launch of this year’s Winter Connections programme • Agreement of a plan for the Fair Food Renfrewshire partnership to develop next steps • Develop a Fairer Renfrewshire Action Plan detailing the priorities and programme of work to be undertaken over the next 18-24 months. Item 2 Page 37 of 86
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2 1.5. Work on priorities has continued throughout 2024/25, with this paper containing progress updates at Section 4. 2. Recommendations 2.1 It is recommended that members of the Fairer Renfrewshire Sub-Committee note the report. 3. Background 3.1 As highlighted in Section 1, the Fairer Renfrewshire Programme brings together a number of existing programmes of work focussed on achieving fairness and equity. The programme currently works to deliver against 4 key themes: • Improving financial security • Advancing equality of opportunity • Building community capacity and resilience • Listening to lived experience 4. Fairer Renfrewshire Programme Updates Summer of Fun 4.1 At Leadership Board on 23 April 25, it was agreed that the £100,000 allocated to Summer of Fun in March’s budget be split, with 50% of the funding to be directed to deliver holiday camp provision, and the remaining 50% being allocated to support the establishment of a small grants programme which would allow third and community sector partners to deliver local, targeted provision to low-income families across Renfrewshire. 4.2 To ensure that local organisations were able to access this funding within the necessary timescales before the summer period, the grants funding programme opened at the end of April, and was quickly over-subscribed. Applications were reviewed by a partnership panel, including members from Engage Renfrewshire and Renfrewshire HSCP along with Council officers. Delegated authority had been provided to the Head of Policy and Partnerships to consider and award grant funding of up to £3,000 per application in consultation with the Council Leader with the full £50,000 being allocated. 4.3 In total 20 organisations received funding for activities, which included: o Summer club for families/children o Trips for low-income families who would otherwise be unable to afford them o Art and music activities o Sports and fitness activities Page 38 of 86
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3 4.4 Summer holiday camps were held across 6 locations in Renfrewshire. These were targeted to parents who are in receipt of school clothing grant, with social work staff also able to refer children. This year Mears were also able to refer asylum seeker families to the camps. 4.5 There had been issues with non-attendance in past camps, so prior to the camps being advertised, the Community Learning and Development team worked with the Fairer Renfrewshire Panel on messaging to parents to encourage attendance and design around late attendance and rewards for those attending all camps they had booked. 4.6 The Summer of Fun programme will be evaluated and a report brought to a subsequent Board. Detail of organisations who received funding is at Appendix 1. School Support and Family Advice Service 4.7 Between the 1st of April 2025 and the 30th of June 2025, the School Support Service assisted 52 clients. These clients made a combined 86 individual contacts. The most popular advice area was in relation to benefits, with 65% of clients having benefits related issues. The clients included 26 who were lone parents and 22 disclosed a health condition. 4.8 The School Support Service, during this period, recorded financial gains for 13 clients totalling £58,329. These client financial gains primarily came from successful applications for Universal Credit, Adult Disability Payment, Child Benefit and the Young Carer’s Grant. 4.9 A review of the School Support Service is planned for the start of the new school year to look at what schools are being booked by families seeking advice and what can be done to boost numbers overall, but especially within schools where bookings are low. 4.10 For quarter 1 of 25/26, Advice Works received 110 referrals for their Family Advice Service and completed 119 cases. Most of these clients have received a benefit check, with some Universal Credit, Adult Disability Payment and Council Tax Reduction applications. The majority of these referrals came from Health Visitor teams, with a number too from Social Work and also through self-referral. 4.11 Client Financial Gain for the year to date for Family Advice is £39,732 however even in cases where a client speaks to an adviser and there is no financial gain made, the client benefits from the reassurance of a benefit check and meeting with Advice Works opens discussion on all financial matters that may be worrying the client, such as debts and budgeting. 4.12 With regard to the Child Poverty Priority Groups, Advice Works have seen 60 families within the Family Advice Service so far this year, falling into these categories: Page 39 of 86
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4 4.13 Further promotion of the Family Advice Service is part of the Free School Meal/School Clothing Grant application process, with families who start an application, but find they do not meet the eligibility criteria, encouraged to seek advice. For those who do meet the eligibility criteria and apply, an option is given to request further Advice Works assistance which, when selected, generates an email that includes an appointment referral form and additional signposting information which may be relevant. 4.14 Since June, almost one in four applications (839 emails sent/3392 applications received as of 7 August) has resulted in appointment referrals and signposting emails being sent offering further money and debt advice. 4.15 Officers have also been working with Advice Works and RCAB to develop a pathway to advice for families with children of all ages, with the intention of distributing and promoting this to Education staff and Whole Family Wellbeing teams as well as 3rd sector organisations working with parents and children. Local Child Poverty Action Report 4.16 Renfrewshire’s Local Child Poverty Action Report (LCPAR) was approved by Leadership Board in June 2025. The Report is now awaiting scrutiny and approval by the NHSGGC Public Health and Wellbeing Committee before publication on the Council website. The LCPAR is an annual report describing ongoing and planned action to tackle child poverty at a local level. This is a joint duty on both local authorities and regional health boards, and a statutory requirement of the Child Poverty (Scotland) Act 2017. Lived Experience Panel 4.17 Elected Members have been given a number of updates relating to work of the Fairer Renfrewshire Panel. Since the last Sub-Committee meeting, the Panel has met with Transport to input into the Local Transport Strategy, with a further meeting arranged for late August. They also met with Community Learning and Development to discuss ways to boost attendance at summer holiday camps. Page 40 of 86
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5 4.18 Invest in Renfrewshire also engaged the Panel to help design one of their programmes for parents. The idea for the programme had come from an early discussion between Invest and the Panel, and the Panel were happy to have their ideas and feedback recognised, including around the naming of the programme, grant levels and general design. 4.19 Looking forward, the Panel have met over the summer to make plans and also develop a code of conduct as well as recruit new members, as some members have dropped out due to ill-health and clashes with employment. At the first post-summer session, the Panel will feed back to Officers around priorities and timescales. A further session organised by Invest for Employability Month, and including partners such as DWP and Skills Development Scotland will take place in September. 4.20 The Panel have also carried out a self-evaluation, looking at their impact over the last 2 years and plans and priorities going forward, which is presented to elected members as a separate paper. Community Development in Gallowhill 4.21 As previously reported to the sub-committee, at Leadership Board on 4 December, £50,000 of Fairer Renfrewshire funding was allocated in grant funding to Active Communities to support the continuation of community development activity in Gallowhill following the publication of the earlier Community Needs Assessment which took place in the area. This is intended to provide capacity to support the development and implementation of actions emerging from the community needs assessment and continue to improve and expand community led activity and infrastructure in the area. 4.22 The Community Development Officer (CDO) for Gallowhill started in post on 22 April. They will work between Gallowhill and Active Communities office in Johnstone, and have 3 priorities: • Join up services and support available locally, informed by the community needs assessment • Increase uptake of services and support for low-income families, focussed on targeting priority families • Providing dedicated community development support to improve and expand community led activity and infrastructure in the area. 4.23 The CDO has been engaging with community members, carrying out a weekly Team Up To Clean Up activity in the area working alongside local people. They also support the weekly community sessions which take place in Gallowhill Community Centre each Friday which provide an opportunity for the community to come together over lunch, and have developed and run the summer family activity each week over the school holidays as part of Summer of Fun. 4.24 The CDO has also met with others who are working in the area, such as Circle Recovery Café and OneRen who run family activities in the Centre and other Council services and is looking at how they can work together for maximum effect. Page 41 of 86
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6 4.25 Wider work will also be undertaken to develop a place-based approach based on the learning from the CNA, with a group comprising Council and HSCP officers and Active Communities steering this work. The first meeting of this group took place in July. Fair Food Renfrewshire/Good Food Nation 4.26 The Fair Food Renfrewshire Steering Group, which met initially in September 2023, has continued to meet on a quarterly basis. The next Fair Food Renfrewshire steering group meeting will take place on 10 September, where a new plan will be presented for approval, as well as an update provided on the Food Support Forum and the Good Food Nation work. 4.27 The first Fair Food Renfrewshire work plan was approved in August 2024 by the Steering Group. The focus of that plan was on communications and marketing, re-establishing a Food Support network forum to discuss emergency and community food, and investigating the possibility of increasing access by local food producers to procurement frameworks. In addition to continuing and developing the work of the first plan, the second work plan will cover the work in 2025 onwards including exploring opportunities to apply for external funding and collaborating with Council services to include food growing and reducing food waste within the next phase of the plan for Net Zero. 4.28 The previously mentioned Food Support Forum brings together those organisations within Renfrewshire who provide community and emergency food. The most recent meeting of the group took place on 1 May. The meeting was attended by several organisations who run pantries and food larders as well as by Renfrewshire Foodbank. Previous meetings had identified gaps and issues with regards to community and emergency food support, with the latest meeting focusing on discussing possible solutions. Topics discussed included how the group can work together to enhance food distribution, increase funding options and increase food growing within the community. 4.29 The proposed National Good Food Nation Plan was laid before the Scottish Parliament on 27 June 2025. It sets out over-arching Outcomes; the range of targets and indicators used to gauge progress towards achieving them; and details of food-related policies and initiatives from across the Scottish Government. The Parliament’s Health, Social Care and Sport Committee and Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee plan to undertake scrutiny of the proposed Plan in September 2025. The expectation is that subject to any further amendments, the Plan will be approved and finalised by the end of 2025. 4.30 The national Good Food Nation Plan will be reviewed every 5 years and revised as necessary, with progress reports being published every two years. 4.31 Discussions are continuing around the commencement date for when the statutory duty begins which will require ‘relevant authorities’, that is local authorities and health boards, to publish their own Local Good Food Nation Plans. Relevant authorities are required by the Act to have regard to the national Plan when doing so and the same reporting and revision requirements that apply to the national Plan will also apply to relevant authority Good Food Nation Plans. Page 42 of 86
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7 4.32 Relevant authorities will be required to hold consultations on their Plans prior to publication and whilst the national Plan can and must serve as a guide for relevant authorities, it is for the authorities themselves to determine the Outcomes, measures and policies that are best suited to achieving a Good Food Nation in their particular areas. Details of funding for local authorities and health boards to develop their plans is not expected until February 2026. We will continue to keep elected members updated as work on the Good Food Nation Plans progresses. Fairer Renfrewshire Action Plan 4.33 It is proposed that a wider Fairer Renfrewshire Action Plan is developed which provides a more formal overview of the breadth of the Fairer Renfrewshire programme, as well as priorities and activities to be undertaken over the next 18-24 month period. 4.34 This will be developed throughout Autumn/Winter 2025, and presented to a future board for approval. Implications of the Report 1. Financial – There are no financial implications associated with this report. 2. HR & Organisational Development – none 3. Community/Council Planning – The Fairer Renfrewshire Programme is a key driver in achieving the ‘Fair’ strategic outcome and theme within the Council Plan, and covers a number of the key actions identified in the plan. It also represents a significant partnership programme of work which supports the ‘Fair’ theme within the Community Plan, with dedicated partnership governance being established to ensure alignment between these areas of work. 4. Legal - none 5. Property/Assets - none 6. Information Technology - none 7. Equality and Human Rights – Equality and human rights are a key pillar of this plan, and it is anticipated that the programme will likely advance equality of opportunity. 8. Health and Safety - none 9. Procurement – none 10. Risk – none 11. Privacy Impact – none 12. Climate risk – none Page 43 of 86
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8 13. Children’s rights - the articles within UNCRC underpin the work that is being progressed in Renfrewshire through the Fairer Renfrewshire programme, particularly in relation to rights in relation to aspects such as life, survival and development, food, clothing and a safe home and supporting the best interests of the child and their families. Child poverty and family wellbeing are key local partnership priorities. 14. COSLA Policy Position – none Author: Laura McIntyre, Head of Policy and Partnerships Page 44 of 86
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0 ___________________________________________________________________ To: Fairer Renfrewshire Sub Committee On: 3 September 2025 ___________________________________________________________________ Report by: Chief Executive ___________________________________________________________________ Heading: Fairer Renfrewshire Panel Evaluation ___________________________________________________________________ 1 Summary 1.1 After two years of meeting, the Fairer Renfrewshire Panel took the decision to carry out a self-evaluation. The evaluation has resulted in a Report examining progress and impact of the Panel to date, as well as arrangements to support Panel work and identification of future priorities. 1.2 This Report, which was finalised at the end of April, summarises the discussions and findings of the self-evaluation exercise and is intended to inform the Panel’s future work with the Council’s Fairer Renfrewshire Team, wider Council Services and provide an update to the Fairer Renfrewshire Sub-Committee. 2 Recommendations 2.1 It is recommended that the Sub-Committee: • Notes the content of the Fairer Renfrewshire Panel Self- Evaluation 3 Background Item 3 Page 45 of 86
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1 3.1 Initially supported by Poverty Alliance as a national partner with expertise of models of participation and STAR Project as a local partner, in December 2022, Renfrewshire Council established a Citizens Panel for residents with lived experience of poverty to facilitate meaningful involvement in Council policies and practice that affect their lives. Initially piloted for 6 months, the Panel has been running on an established basis since May 2023, and within the pilot period, made the decision to name themselves the Fairer Renfrewshire Panel. 3.2 The Panel is made up of a diverse group who have experience of disadvantage. Their experiences include being in poverty, disabled, in the care system, New Scots and in in-work poverty. 3.3 After the initial 6-month pilot, Poverty Alliance stepped back from the Panel, and the Panel are now supported by STAR Project and work closely with the Fairer Renfrewshire team, who are responsible for facilitating engagement between Council services and the Panel and providing opportunities for the Panel to influence Council policy and practice. 3.4 The report recognises that the experience of the Panel has been a positive one, and that the Panel has contributed to Council plans and processes, and wider, for example, working with Renfrewshire HSCP on their most recent Health Survey. From a Council point of view varied Council services have welcomed the opportunity to engage with a Panel of Renfrewshire residents with a focus on ensuring the voice of lived experience is included in developments of and changes to services. 4 Overview of Evaluation Report 4.1 The Fairer Renfrewshire Panel Self-Evaluation report was collectively authored by the whole Panel. It evaluates Panel progress and impact and determines priorities for future. The report summarises findings and discussions of the self-evaluation exercise carried out by the Panel. 4.2 Initially the Panel determined four main priorities: • Services supporting young people • Services supporting New Scots • Services supporting people with poor mental health • Housing Transport was subsequently identified as a priority Page 46 of 86
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2 Services Supporting young people 4.3 The Panel have input into a number of areas and influenced services relating to the support of young people up to the age of 18. For example, school meals, Cost of the Nursery Day, Summer of Fun and employability services for young people and individuals with children. 4.4 While the Panel consider they haven’t fully achieved this priority, they recognise that they have had the opportunity to influence some services which provide support for young people, and this remains a priority for the coming year. Services supporting New Scots 4.5 At many meetings with Council services, the Panel have taken the opportunity to question those attending about information provision and services for New Scots and challenges faced by New Scots and especially those with ‘No Recourse to Public Funds’, however consider that they have not been able to achieve their aim of influencing the services provided for New Scots in a more systematic way. 4.6 In the coming year they intend to engage with the newly recruited Senior Policy Officer for Migration, Asylum and Population Change to further this priority. Service Supporting People with Poor Mental Health 4.7 The Panel has had the opportunity to contribute to priority setting by the HSCP through their work on Renfrewshire’s Health and Wellbeing Survey, much of which was concerned with mental health. This work will continue in the coming months. Housing 4.8 The Panel had met with the Council’s Housing team, however consider that an area-wide strategy around housing involving all Registered Social landlords would be beneficial. This is something they will look to pursue in future work. Transport 4.9 The Panel had the opportunity to input to the development of the draft Local Transport Strategy, and held a session with Transport during the consultation period. There is a further session planned and transport remains a priority. 5 Other work and impact Page 47 of 86
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3 5.1 Outwith their own identified priorities, the Panel has also been worked with a number of different Council services. These include Digital Inclusion, Council Tax, Events Strategy, Communications and Marketing, including the development of the Council Website and Invest in Renfrewshire. 5.2 They have also met with the Convener and Depute of the Fairer Renfrewshire Sub-Committee on a number of occasions and members of the Sub-Committee along with members of the Fairer Renfrewshire Officer Group at an event in October 2024. This session examined what could be done to make Renfrewshire Fairer. 5.3 In a separate piece of work, the Panel were commissioned by Renfrewshire HSCP to contribute to the analysis of the results from the NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde 2022/23 adult health and wellbeing survey: Renfrewshire report. An animation was developed around the Panel’s findings. 5.4 The Panel consider that the Council has engaged with them well and their input is regarded as valuable. The Report points to areas of success, such as changes to school meals and Events, however also records that the Panel is keen to extend its influence. 6 Priorities for the year ahead 6.1 Apart from the initial 5 priorities on which work continues, the Panel has identified a number of areas for focus in the coming year such as Community Safety and Local Capacity Building. They are keen to develop a workplan with the Council as well as having a longer-term aim of contributing to the development of a Fairer Renfrewshire plan. 6.2 The Panel also considered their own development needs within the Report and intend to better record progress against priorities which will support further self-evaluation, and will organise relevant training that they consider necessary as well as developing a code of conduct. 6.3 The Panel would like to be more visible within the Council and will explore how they can achieve that with officers from the Fairer Renfrewshire team in the near future. 6.4 The Panel are keen to see the development of a wider Fairer Renfrewshire plan, and officers will work with the panel in the development of the action plan over the coming months. ___________________________________________________________________ Implications of the Report 1. Financial – No implications Page 48 of 86
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4 2. HR & Organisational Development – No implications. 3. Community/Council Planning – The Report highlights the continued activities which support the key priorities set out in the Council and Community Plans to tackle inequality use the voice of lived experience. 4. Legal – No implications 5. Property/Assets – No implications. 6. Information Technology – No implications. 7. Equality & Human Rights - It is anticipated that activities within the Report will have a positive impact on Equality and Human Rights considering the overrepresentation on equality groups within low- income households. 8. Health & Safety – No implications 9. Procurement – No implications 10. Risk – No implications 11. Privacy Impact – No implications. ___________________________________________________________________ Author: Annabelle Armstrong-Walter, Connected Communities Manager. Page 49 of 86
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Fairer Renfrewshire Panel Self-Evaluation April 2025 Page 1 of 34 1. About the Fairer Renfrewshire Panel 2 2. Introduction 3 3. Summary 3 4. Initial Panel Priorities and Progress after two years 4 5. Other Panel Work, Impact and Progress after two years 9 6. Health and Social Care Partnership: Wellbeing Survey 17 7. Planning 18 8. Panel Structure 20 9. Communication 20 10. STAR Project Facilitation 21 11. Council Responsiveness 21 12. Training 23 13. Comparison with similar work elsewhere 23 14. Priorities for the Year Ahead 26 Page 52 of 86
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Fairer Renfrewshire Panel Self-Evaluation April 2025 Page 2 of 34 The Council created the Fairer Renfrewshire Panel with the support of the STAR Project and the Poverty Alliance to provide thematic representation: i.e. lived experience of disadvantage. Our experience includes being: • Adults in poverty, • Children in poverty, • Community Council members, • Consulted without it making a difference, • Dependent on benefits, • Disabled (seen and unseen disabilities), • Discriminated against, • Employees, • In the care system, • In work and in poverty, • Looking after children living in poverty, • Managers, • New Scots, • New to Renfrewshire, and • Voluntary workers. We do not provide representation for geographic areas. We provide experience of disadvantage. Renfrewshire’s Community Planning Partnership’s latest available Annual Report 2022/3 includes as an ‘area for development’: “Develop and support the Fairer Renfrewshire Lived Experience Panel to deliberate on and guide policy and practice”. We have been working with Renfrewshire Council over the last two years to support the ambition of making Renfrewshire a fairer place and ensuring that the voices of lived experience are included in decision making. Page 53 of 86
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Fairer Renfrewshire Panel Self-Evaluation April 2025 Page 3 of 34 This report is collectively authored by the whole panel, based on structured meetings, circulated drafts and comments by WhatsApp and email. It’s a report by all of us, rather than the perspective of any one of us, so we use the convention ‘we’ for the panel. After two years of meeting, we felt that we should evaluate progress and impact and determine priorities for its continuing operation. We asked ourselves about progress to date in terms of the original priorities for work to make Renfrewshire Fairer, about progress to date with work brought to us by the Council and about arrangements to support and organise our work. We then asked ourselves what we feel should be our main priorities and next actions in contributing to work towards making Renfrewshire Fairer. This report summaries the discussions and findings of the self-evaluation exercise and is intended to inform the development of future work with the Fairer Renfrewshire Team and inform the Fairer Renfrewshire sub-committee of the Council’s Leadership Board as well as other groups engaged in work like ours. Within the last two years we have been engaged by Renfrewshire Council and its partners to inform the development of plans, and the experience has been positive, with the Panel working with several Council services and partners such as the Health and Social Care Partnership. Plans we’ve contributed to include events, holiday services for families and young people, the development of school meals and nursery services, council tax collection, digital inclusion services, and Invest in Renfrewshire’s employment support services. We have also been consulted about issues relating to disadvantage in the development of the local transport strategy and have a further meeting arranged in May to scrutinise an early draft of it. Page 54 of 86
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Fairer Renfrewshire Panel Self-Evaluation April 2025 Page 4 of 34 We have contributed to the HSCP’s interpretation of the results of its Health and Wellbeing Survey and consequential consideration of priorities, and in commissioned work, developing an animation and have reported to the Community Planning Partnership Executive Group on our findings. We have had commitments to the development of work to make Renfrewshire fairer made openly at an event involving Council staff, elected representatives and us. Our desire to see the development of an overall Fairer Renfrewshire plan has been noted by the sub-committee and agreed to in principle by the Fairer Renfrewshire team and while we have no timescale for its development, are confident we will be involved in the process. We have supported Renfrewshire Council over the last two years in their priorities, however, feel we have achieved less in four of our five main priorities: housing, services supporting young people, services addressing poor mental health, services supporting New Scots. We will look to focus on those priorities in the coming year. We have identified our own needs for development, and we have agreed this self-evaluation report as encapsulating out contribution to date and commitments to further work. Early on, we determined four main priorities: • Services supporting young people • Services supporting New Scots • Services supporting people with poor mental health • Housing Page 55 of 86
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Fairer Renfrewshire Panel Self-Evaluation April 2025 Page 5 of 34 In subsequent discussion, we saw Transport as a fifth major priority. For each of these priorities we asked ourselves: • What progress have we seen? and, if any, • What difference have we made? We have made the following progress: Despite panel members belonging to older age groups, we regard services for young people - all young people, but particularly in the age of transition to adulthood 12-18 - as a major priority in work to make Renfrewshire fairer. We recognise both the greater impact of earlier support in people’s lives and the reduction in Scotland of youth services and community venues in which to support them. While we haven’t fully achieved this priority, we have had the opportunity to influence some services which provide support for young people, and this has been accepted by the Fairer Renfrewshire team as a priority for the coming year. Invest in Renfrewshire has reviewed and changed aspects of its services because of our input, which was partly based on a ‘mystery shopper’ visit from one of us. The changes made have improved privacy (creating one-to-one spaces for client support) and made the physical space for service delivery more welcoming in appearance and layout. On the Panel’s suggestion, Invest also posted staff profiles on social media to help those considering contacting to make an initial connection with staff. A case study of our work with Invest is section 5.6. Page 56 of 86
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Fairer Renfrewshire Panel Self-Evaluation April 2025 Page 6 of 34 We have met with Council services about school meals and school meal debt and were invited to a session in St James Primary School, where we tried school meals and heard about how menus are devised, and nutritional standards Councils must adhere to. With our input, more vegetarian options have been made available for primary school learners. However, although we also discussed school meal debt, and contributed to the development of the current collection process, we would still like to have more input around Parent Pay and how its accounts are managed for certain groups, e.g. care experienced children and if the debt on the child's account moves with them when they move carers, and further discuss menu improvements at a later date. We were asked by Renfrewshire HSCP to help to shape nursery staff training in ‘Cost of the Nursery Day’ workshops with a view to having a ‘champion’ placed in each nursery to ensure nurseries are mindful of how their policies and practices affect low-income households, e.g. charging for fun days, and can offer support and advice for people in poverty. The design of the ‘Summer of Fun’ programme for 2023 and subsequent years was based partly on the advice we gave about barriers to participation. For example, suggestions around geography and ensuring activities were available to older young people. We were consulted about wider accessibility to events in general and the Halloween celebrations in particular and our experience was incorporated into the service and related accessibility arrangements. Page 57 of 86
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Fairer Renfrewshire Panel Self-Evaluation April 2025 Page 7 of 34 Changes included: • moving the fairground away from the middle area so parents could avoid it; • enlarging the route for the parade to reduce crowding, making it more accessible for parents of young children, older people and people lacking confidence in crowds; and • creating more accessible areas. We identified services supporting New Scots as a key priority for work to make Renfrewshire fairer, recognising that: • lack of familiarity with Scottish and West of Scotland Culture and services is a significant barrier to integration of people arriving from elsewhere, and • language barriers multiply the challenges people face in arriving from elsewhere and becoming part of Renfrewshire’s culture and economy. We noted variances between the level of support provided for some groups, in particular people arriving from Ukraine. We requested the opportunity to speak to the people responsible at local authority level for supporting New Scots to inform and help shape work based on experience within the group of both general disadvantage and specific experience of coming to Renfrewshire from outside Scotland. While at many meetings with Council services, we have questioned those attending about information provision and services for New Scots and challenges faced by New Scots and especially those with ‘No Recourse to Public Funds’, we have not been able to achieve our aim of influencing the services provided for New Scots in a more systematic way. However, we are advised that a new post has been recruited within the Council which will coordinate supports for New Scots, and we will look to engage with the postholder at the earliest opportunity on this panel priority. Page 58 of 86
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Fairer Renfrewshire Panel Self-Evaluation April 2025 Page 8 of 34 We have had the opportunity to contribute to the priorities to be set by the HSCP because of the Health and Wellbeing Survey, much of which was concerned with mental health (see below). This was a recent exercise and while further engagement with the HSCP has been scheduled it is too early to know what impact this may have had. We intend to use the contacts made with the HSCP to further our priority to contribute to mental health service planning. This will form part of our work plan in the coming months. We recognise that without decent housing, health inequalities are made worse, training and employment opportunities are adversely affected, and life expectancy reduced. If there is not a basic level of housing for all in Renfrewshire, there is no fairness. We have recognised that the is no overall housing strategy for Renfrewshire which includes all the twelve or so social housing providers and we’ve requested that the Council (not its housing department) lead the development of such a strategy involving people with experience of barriers to decent housing in which each of the social housing providers is able to identify its own and the others’ contribution to Renfrewshire becoming fairer. While we recognise that the Council has no remit legally to coordinate such a strategy, we consider that having the Council’s support in working with Registered Social landlords in Renfrewshire towards an area-wide strategy would be a significant contribution towards a fairer Renfrewshire, and we will continue to prioritise advocating this is the coming year. In section 13 we discuss learning from Panels who have been in existence longer than us, and this could be an area where we can use their experience in housing to get better engagement, and a mechanism by which we can engage with RSLs more systematically (and , hopefully, with Council support) with the longer term aim of developing a Renfrewshire strategy. Page 59 of 86
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Fairer Renfrewshire Panel Self-Evaluation April 2025 Page 9 of 34 We met with both Council staff involved in the Local Transport Strategy, and consultants at an early stage of the development of the transport strategy for Renfrewshire. We discussed 6 areas: • Active Travel (walking, wheeling and cycling); • Parking; • Public Transport, including Community Transport; • Road Network; • Road safety; and • Communication – of both the strategy and channels available to the public to engage the Council about aspects of transport We were promised as part of this consultation the opportunity to comment on early drafts of the strategy and a meeting has been arranged for 21 May to allow us this opportunity. We have been involved in consultation with different areas of Council work with some examples below. Over the last 2 years we have worked closely with the Fairer Renfrewshire Manager, who has facilitated our contact with Council, and wider, services. In most cases this has been at the request of the service teams we have met with, and we understand from this that the Fairer Renfrewshire Panel is both widely recognised and well received within Renfrewshire Council. We are advised that our input has been used to inform senior management meetings within the Council, and we have seen our feedback used in papers that have gone to the Fairer Renfrewshire Sub-Committee and are aware that an update on our work goes to elected members at each Sub- Committee meeting. We have met with the Convenor and Depute of the Fairer Renfrewshire Sub- Committee, speaking to them in general about the impacts of low income and the cost-of-living crisis and about our work. Page 60 of 86
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Fairer Renfrewshire Panel Self-Evaluation April 2025 Page 10 of 34 We have also met the Fairer Renfrewshire Officers Group at an event in 2024, and details of that event are below at section 7.2. We have built good working relationships with several Council services and have had return visits from many of them, which we believe shows that they value our input. We are advised that services regularly contact the Fairer Renfrewshire Manager to request a ‘visit to the Panel’ and that is reflected in our meeting calendar. Last year we also received our first commissioned piece of work from Renfrewshire HSCP, and that is described at Part 6. We believe that this too reflects the value of the Panel, and we will welcome and seek more in-depth, longer-term pieces of work in future. At the Council’s Leadership- Board meeting of 23 April, the depute council leader Jacqueline Cameron, who is also chair of the Fairer Renfrewshire sub- committee, said at the meeting: “I just wanted to highlight again the work of the lived experience panel. "They really do go from strength to strength and you can see their footprint and their influence in various departments across the council and HSCP. "They've even been visiting national forums to talk about lived experience and how people with lived experience can shape services in a really meaningful way. I'm always really proud of the work that they do and think it's important to highlight that1." The examples of our work below do not reflect all we have done but give a flavour of our work. 1 https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/in-your-area/renfrewshire/extra-585000-dedicated- renfrewshire-council-35106549?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR6Q82N9vr422-inQ0- gcTa0R_Foor6nzU7AHILFjsIT9TT53PG4qGuJNCtoYA_aem_LWkriiw5AziSIsD2zYeHIw#2vlz5iwn8kw udevy9bs7lh8u90gcnwjq9 Page 61 of 86
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Fairer Renfrewshire Panel Self-Evaluation April 2025 Page 11 of 34 We met with both Council Officers and Renfrewshire Citizens Advice Bureau and were consulted about Council Tax collection with a view to the Council team being better able to understand barriers to payment, how best to work in collaboration to support opportunities to develop financial capability and income maximisation to support Council Tax debt repayments. This was part of a Citizens Advice Scotland, Scottish Government funded pilot into providing council tax advice and improving council tax debt collection practices, through engagement and collaborative working with the Local Authorities. Renfrewshire was one of 3 Pilot areas. The Council team also explored with us how best to communicate with residents about issues relating to Council Tax payments and the availability of free advice and support from the Council and its partners. We’ll see any changes in the financial year 2025/6 and the Council Tax team is expected to report back changes arising from our contribution. The Council’s Digital Inclusion team has consulted us about the creation of and support for its digital inclusion services, including the availability of ‘DigiZones’ and the volunteer Digital Champion programme based in libraries. What is described as a ‘high level strategy ’for digital services is at the time of writing on the agenda for adoption by the Council. We have further met with the Digital Strategy Delivery Manager on two occasions and have been promised the opportunity to be involved in the development of the plan to build and deploy digital inclusion support services and other aspects of the strategy. “The Fairer Renfrewshire Panel is a group of inspiring individuals who have helped shape digital inclusion in Renfrewshire. Their voices, insights, and resilience have driven meaningful change, ensuring that digital access is a right, not a privilege. Their leadership is a testament to the power of lived experience in creating a more connected, Page 62 of 86
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Fairer Renfrewshire Panel Self-Evaluation April 2025 Page 12 of 34 inclusive, and empowered community.” James McKee, Digital Inclusion Lead, Renfrewshire Council After the FROG Event (see below) we worked as a focus group with Renfrewshire Council’s Commissioning & Creative Events Lead to support the development of their Events strategy to be inclusive of people facing barriers to participation. This process was part of a wider consultation process delivered by a third party. This work was recognised in the Events Strategy where we can see that the Panel’s contribution has been recognised: From the Wider Context section of the Events Strategy: “Wider policy frameworks for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI), the work of Renfrewshire Health and Social Care Partnership, and Creative Health Quality Framework Principles, support the development of an events strategy that meets the needs of as many people as possible, with an ambition to eliminate barriers to participation and attendance. The establishment of Fairer Renfrewshire and the Lived Experience Panel has provided a forum for continual improvement of approaches to equality and inclusion within events. Accessibility and inclusion must be at the heart of our events delivery, to better meet the needs of local people.” From the Aims and Objectives and Priority Actions: • “Remove barriers to event attendance and increase participation across all our communities • Use the events programme to grow the capacity of our cultural and creative sectors through co-design and co-production • Support our cultural sector to deliver their own diverse events programmes • Continue to work with local groups at the outset of planning to ensure genuine co-design and participation opportunities are maximised Page 63 of 86
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Fairer Renfrewshire Panel Self-Evaluation April 2025 Page 13 of 34 • Work with local communities to support them to design and deliver their own events through the events toolkit and sign posting to funding • Continue to develop and maintain relationships with key cultural and community groups to develop their year-round calendar of events and festivals • Continue to monitor and evaluate all events and learn from feedback, always refining our offer”. We have supported user testing of the new council website and as part of a general consultation provided individual contributions to an exercise providing feedback about structure. However, we feel that across all Fairer Renfrewshire work and priorities a single reliable source of information about services from the council and links to support from partners should be available as part of the Council’s website. We feel that this would be of value to all residents but would also be an invaluable tool for New Scots trying to negotiate pathways to support and opportunities to contribute. While we have yet to see what content is published on the new website, we will use the contacts made with the Corporate Communications Team to support the most useful information to be displayed within the most useful structure. The Renfrewshire Affordable Credit Alliance presented information to us about its work to reduce poverty and was advised on both its communication strategy (advertise support in community location and venues and its support strategy (support community-based organisations to deliver signposting support). Our advice for most services has a common theme of working with agencies who already have not only local reach, but the local trust relationships Page 64 of 86
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Fairer Renfrewshire Panel Self-Evaluation April 2025 Page 14 of 34 needed to effectively engage people who may reasonably regard large agencies and people not known to them with some suspicion. The Panel input was well received. “The insights provided by the Fairer Renfrewshire Panel around debt, borrowing and affordable credit were invaluable for deciding the future direction for Renfrewshire Affordable Credit Alliance. It’s so beneficial to speak to a group with lived experience of poverty to ensure your planned work reflects actual need within local communities.” Yvonne Hughes, RACA As mentioned in part 4, we engaged with Invest in Renfrewshire around their service and the supports they offer. The initial meeting took place in August 2023 at the Russell Institute. The focus of this meeting was to provide feedback to support Invest to improve Reach and Communication with the residents of Renfrewshire. Suggestions made by the Fairer Renfrewshire Panel included • Using different Social Media platforms including Facebook, X and Instagram, • Adding photographs and bios of team members when advertising the support to help the people make connections with staff, • Improve awareness of services with partner agencies, • Community engagement activities, and • Train staff to be trauma informed Invest took forward the Panel suggestions at this initial meeting and have taken actions in the areas suggested. To improve reach: Page 65 of 86
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Fairer Renfrewshire Panel Self-Evaluation April 2025 Page 15 of 34 • Invest have introduced various outreach services in local areas across Renfrewshire, including Bargarran centre in Erskine and Station Seven in Johnstone (see leaflet below) • Invest teams attend partnership meetings to share information on services • Partner organisations are invited to attend Invest team meetings to share information • They developed a partner’s toolkit To improve connections, leaflets for outreach have staff name and photos included, while post have been made on social media with staff bios and photographs. (see leaflet below) Regarding Trauma training, Invest staff and Local Employability Partnership members have access to • Small Change – Big Impact Trauma Informed Practice • Scottish Mental Health First Aid • Understanding Neurodiversity: An Introduction Following the initial meeting a panel member attended Invest as a Mystery Shopper and provided feedback on accessing the services some of the areas for improvement included: • Privacy • Staff members eating lunch in the area where clients are meeting Advisors Changes were then made to The Russell Institute taking this feedback into account • All staff moved to be working from the one floor, with a staff dining area • Privacy booths added to open space for client meetings • 2 x offices converted to training rooms • 1 x office now used for private meeting space In addition, at a further meeting between the Panel and the Invest Manager, the Panel highlighted what they felt was the main issue of people not being able to work until their basic needs were met, and the area where support Page 66 of 86
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Fairer Renfrewshire Panel Self-Evaluation April 2025 Page 16 of 34 was needed being early in any employability journey. This was taken on board, with this feedback informing funding decisions. One of us is now the Renfrewshire Health and Social Care Partnership’s Joint Integration Board Service User Representative, adding links to the Fairer Renfrewshire work as well as the service user perspective the position was designed for. One of us presented to a March 2025 ‘Learning from Experience’ local authorities’ event the lessons required for successful work with lived experience panels. This event was organised by the Improvement Service, and was to an audience of Child Poverty Leads across Scottish Councils. We have shared experience of lived experience panels in various contexts as part of the Poverty Alliance’s network support. This includes a visit from a Northern Irish Panel, who were very interested in our work, and how we were set up. Page 67 of 86
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Fairer Renfrewshire Panel Self-Evaluation April 2025 Page 17 of 34 By far the single biggest formally requested aspect of our work has been to contribute to the Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP) analysis of the results from the Health and Wellbeing Survey for 2024. Our contribution was based on the following themes: • Tackling Stigma, • Need to normalise behaviours, • Person-centred, Holistic Services, • Collaborative working, • Prevention not Crisis, • Keeping Solutions Local rather than parachuting in external services which are not, by their nature, based on the local trust relationships required for effective work, • Changing the Language, • Men’s Health, and • Volunteering. The HSCP had asked for support in determining priorities based on the experience of people at disadvantage and with experience of barriers to services. We informed the HSCP Board of its priorities based on the results of the survey and in accordance with its categories. We told the HSCP that while the survey methodology tried to ensure representation from the local population that without working with focus groups comprised of people with experience of both barriers to support and existing delivery the results would not lead to the depth of understanding of service required to target the most vulnerable people, who suffer the most adverse health and wellbeing consequences of the environment and social structure. “The feedback clarified the collective views, concerns, and suggestions of the Panel members and this will be taken forward to inform the Community Planning Partnership Executive” (from 5 January 2024 Fairer Renfrewshire sub-committee subcommittee meeting). Page 68 of 86
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Fairer Renfrewshire Panel Self-Evaluation April 2025 Page 18 of 34 We have also recommended that the HSCP come back to the panel before they produce their next survey and allow us to develop the questions. While currently there is not one overarching Fairer Renfrewshire Strategy, we have contributed to some strategies which have been developed, or are in the process of development from the viewpoint of ensuring the voice of those with lived experience of poverty were taken into account. We were consulted as part of the development of Renfrewshire’s Events Strategy2 and have been consulted prior to the development of its Local Transport Strategy as well as the Digital Strategy. We look forward to contributing our experience as other strategies are developed, especially around the overall Fairer Renfrewshire agenda. As mentioned earlier, the FROG, as the Officer Group is known, organised an event with us in October 2024. The event was unusual in that its table participants included Panel members, FROG members and cross-party elected representatives (Council Officers and elected representatives to not ordinarily get the opportunity for informal discussion). The event was designed to support work towards overall strategic and operational planning for the work of the Council and its partners in making Renfrewshire Fairer. The event began with presentations from the Fairer Renfrewshire team and us, followed by discussion at tables. 2 https://www.renfrewshire.gov.uk/media/17063/Renfrewshire-Events-Strategy-for-2025-to- 2028/pdf/004247_Events_Strategy_2025_FINAL_WEB.pdf?m=1740587070327 Page 69 of 86
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Fairer Renfrewshire Panel Self-Evaluation April 2025 Page 19 of 34 Participants discussed their visions of what a Fairer Renfrewshire would look like. Importantly, the table participants were asked to consider what next steps they could undertake towards the objective of making Renfrewshire fairer. Because of the number of services involved in the event, the key contributions identified by attendees were varied. Overall, most services stated a desire to start to work or continue working with us to inform their work. Apart from more generally arranging to consult with us, services mentioned involving us in planning campaigns and looking at things like communications as well as helping establish barriers to access and engagement in services as specific actions. Several services made commitments to involve us in developing and implementing plans and strategies, such as developing Renfrewshire’s Food Plan and delivery of the Plan for Net Zero. Commitments made as part of the event could be part of an overall plan to make Renfrewshire fairer. The final ask for table discussions was to determine who else needs to be involved in working to make Renfrewshire Fairer. Apart from Senior managers within the Council and Council Services, the following were identified: • Housing Organisations/Housing Associations (very important) • Community Planning Partners, HSCP, Police, Fire, DWP • Third Sector • Local Partnerships • Other Local Authority Lived Experience Panels • Mental Health Services • Citizens Advice Bureau • Transport Providers We will continue to work with this group of officers, with elected members and seek involvement at an early stage in the development of an overall plan to make Renfrewshire fairer. Page 70 of 86
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Fairer Renfrewshire Panel Self-Evaluation April 2025 Page 20 of 34 We are an unconstituted group and we operate without formal structure – there are no officer positions. Chairing of our own meetings with Council services is conducted by panel members who volunteer or facilitated by Fairer Renfrewshire officers or STAR project staff as felt suitable to the moment. There is no assignment of secretarial roles to anyone. We recognise that this informal approach can have disadvantages, including sometime requiring a reminder to provide a response to external people, including the Fairer Renfrewshire team. We also recognise that there are benefits in its informal, unstructured approach which include a culture of absolute equality between members, a multiplicity of Panel members taking the lead on issues and actions depending on availability and particular interests. Over its two-year life Panel members have expressed our appreciation of the group as ‘family’, which arises partly from the egalitarian, informal approach we have to conducting the work. For now, we regard the benefits of informal arrangements as outweighing the drawbacks. We have discussed this approach a couple of times and have as part of this self-evaluation programme committed to discussing potential assignation of roles to individual members and the adoption of formally constituted or other structures as part of its training programme. While we have agreed to retain our informal approach to our work, we feel that some aspects of communication could be improved, and that an option to be considered is the rotation of the role of secretary to support more effective communication with external agencies. We consider that currently, • communication is clear within our meetings, supplemented by WhatsApp and email: everyone can say what they feel, Page 71 of 86
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Fairer Renfrewshire Panel Self-Evaluation April 2025 Page 21 of 34 • the use of a combination of email and WhatsApp is effective and supports different preferences to enable full contribution by members, • a group secretary role would be useful and would be seen as a service role, not a hierarchical one, • calendar management could be better, and we will explore the use of an online group calendar more to make sure everyone is aware of upcoming meetings and events, • training for the use of information technology to help communication is needed, and this can be supported within the group, • data protection and confidentiality training would help reassure the agencies we engage with and help openness, and • that this should be part of a code of conduct which we should develop in partnership with the Fairer Renfrewshire team and each of us commit to. We discussed arrangements with the STAR project, which provides us with facilitation and support at group and individual level. We consider the STAR Project’s support to be effective and a key aspect of its successes to date. The STAR project provides a meeting space for us, we trust it as a neutral third party to support engagement with the Council. The STAR Project is a key to empowering us as individuals and as a whole to be able to express opinions and communicate them to external agencies, in particular the Council. We feel that the STAR Project is not complacent in its support and is open to change and improvement as needed and has agreed steps which will help improve communication. We considered how responsive it feels the Council has been to its contribution and concluded that it is very department dependent. Page 72 of 86
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Fairer Renfrewshire Panel Self-Evaluation April 2025 Page 22 of 34 The Fairer Renfrewshire team has been responsive to us, and we work closely with the Fairer Renfrewshire Manager and Connected Communities Manager, both to contribute to their work, and to have various departments engage with us. The team developing the Transport strategy have engaged us early in the formation of the strategy and have promised further engagement, which will take place in May. As seen from the case study at section 5.6 The Invest in Renfrewshire team have responded to our input with changes to its services to improve accessibility. The Events team have responded to our input with changes to its services to improve accessibility and communication. The staff leading the wider Renfrewshire Affordable Credit Alliance have responded positively to our suggestions about how better to reach people in need (through community-based agencies). Changes to school meals have been made in response to our input by the schools’ meals service, including provision of more vegetarian options. Changes have been made in response to our input by the Events team in the way in which events have been promoted and alterations have been made to enhance accessibility. The Fairer Renfrewshire team have brought in some services to talk to us about its priories for making Renfrewshire fairer, but we are looking to further our reach over the next few months, engaging, for example, Youth Services and Housing as part of our priorities. The Fairer Renfrewshire team’s promotion of us as a useful input led to significant engagement with the Health and Social Care Partnership based on the results of the Health and Wellbeing Survey, and further engagement is planned. The Housing team appear not to be able to lead on wider strategy which includes all the social housing providers, however we hope to work with the Page 73 of 86
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Fairer Renfrewshire Panel Self-Evaluation April 2025 Page 23 of 34 Fairer Renfrewshire team to gain traction with RSLs in Renfrewshire and ultimately improve local social housing. Actions have been agreed by representatives of Environmental Housing and Infrastructure, digital inclusion services, social work, Engage Renfrewshire, the Partnerships and Inequalities team and One Ren have made commitments because of the officer/elected representative event with us and FROG members. The HSCP has determined to pursue ‘Housing as a Health Issue’ as an existing priority in response to the need for a Renfrewshire strategy to contribute to Renfrewshire being fairer. The Council has engaged well with us, and we feel our input is regarded as valuable by the Council. We feel we are being listened to, however are keen to extend our influence and are keen to contribute to strategic planning around making Renfrewshire Fairer, supporting the identification of objectives for this work and the development of a strategic plan which brings together all the work to make Renfrewshire Fairer. We feel that we should be invited provide representatives to talk to the Fairer Renfrewshire sub-committee, if not actually be members of it. We have considered its knowledge and skill base and has determined that it will seek training in: • information and communication technology • communication skills • consideration of different options for structure; and • committee skills. We have considered the benefits of finding out about other similar work elsewhere and are there lessons we can learn from it. Page 74 of 86
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Fairer Renfrewshire Panel Self-Evaluation April 2025 Page 24 of 34 Dundee has a Fairness Action Plan the objectives for which community planning partners collaborate and for which a report is available for 2023/43. The Fairness Action Plan focusses on the main priorities of: • Work and Wages Reduce • Benefits and Advice • Attainment and Child Poverty • Social Inclusion and Stigma • Health and Inequalities • Housing and Communities From the Dundee Partnership: “The Fairness Leadership Panel is now firmly established as a driving force in the Dundee’s efforts to reduce poverty for children, families, and communities. The Panel is a full and effective collaboration between people with lived experience of the impact of low incomes and representatives of influential bodies and groups in the city. The perspective of 'experts by experience' on the Fairness Leadership Panel is provided by members of Dundee Fighting for Fairness (DFFF). This is a charitable group made up of community members who participated in the Dundee Fairness Commissions. They are supported by Faith in Community Dundee which has detailed expertise in this area and an ongoing relationship with the former community commissioners. The funding required to support and develop DFFF continues to be provided jointly by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and Dundee City Council.”4 Dundee’s work is like ours but has more structure and is based around priorities and work set in partnership with the lived experience group Dundee Fighting for Fairness. 3 https://www.dundeecity.gov.uk/sites/default/files/publications/24_june_lcpar_24_report.pdf 4 https://www.dundeecity.gov.uk/dundee-partnership/fairness Page 75 of 86
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Fairer Renfrewshire Panel Self-Evaluation April 2025 Page 25 of 34 We and the Fairer Renfrewshire team could learn from an exchange of approaches and experience with our counterparts in Dundee. End Poverty Edinburgh is a lived experience group that grew from a Poverty Commission. It “is a group of independent citizens aiming to raise awareness of poverty in Edinburgh, influence decision-making, and hold the city to account. Formed in 2020 during the latter stages of the Edinburgh Poverty Commission - and supported by the Poverty Alliance - End Poverty Edinburgh has three core aims: • Working with the Council, the Edinburgh Partnership and others, from the outset to share their wealth of experience. • Holding those who have the power to account by influencing decision- making and providing advice and guidance. • Working with other groups and organisations working to tackle poverty in the city to lend our support and share their experiences.”5 Edinburgh has an End Poverty in Edinburgh Plan which focusses on the main priorities: • Increasing incomes from work and opportunities to progress • Maximising support from social safety nets • Reducing the Cost of Living • Making it easier to find help We and the Fairer Renfrewshire team could learn from an exchange of approaches and experience with our counterparts in Edinburgh. Renfrewshire Council does not involve its lived experience panel in overall planning and evaluation to make Renfrewshire Fairer but has committed to doing so. 5 https://www.povertyalliance.me/epe/ Page 76 of 86
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Fairer Renfrewshire Panel Self-Evaluation April 2025 Page 26 of 34 Renfrewshire’s Community Plan includes a commitment to fairness and a focus within that on • Ensuring our children get the best possible start in life • Addressing the poverty related attainment gap, and young people can achieve success after school • Identifying people’s needs early, by sharing information and working together • Tackling health inequalities and narrowing the gaps in healthy life expectancy • Reducing drug and alcohol misuse in our communities • Ensure that people currently facing disadvantage get access to opportunities to improve their health, skills, and income. Edinburgh’s plan firmly focusses on poverty. Dundee’s plan is about ‘fairness,’ as is Renfrewshire’s. Like Renfrewshire, the focus is on poverty, but health and housing are also prominent. Edinburgh, Dundee, and Renfrewshire all engage with lived experience panels to inform priorities. Dundee and Edinburgh include lived experience panels in the planning and evaluation processes. Renfrewshire’s Community Plan states some aspirations towards fairness but does not set out the major work and milestones needed towards attaining it, and it was not developed with a lived experience panel, unlike the plans of Edinburgh and Dundee in addressing poverty and unfairness. Self-evaluation is not just an empty exercise but one in which we’re able to consider progress and impact to inform future work. To this end, we have discussed and agreed what we consider priority areas for work to make Renfrewshire fairer, what we know at this stage of council priorities for our Page 77 of 86
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Fairer Renfrewshire Panel Self-Evaluation April 2025 Page 27 of 34 engagement with the Fairer Renfrewshire work, and what we feel should be our own development priorities. These are listed below: Our priorities for work to make Renfrewshire fairer are: While we have not been able to make progress in its aim of lived experience contributing to an all-Renfrewshire strategy for social housing, involving all the social landlords who hold and could potentially build stock in the area, it remains one of our priorities. Without everyone having somewhere to live in reasonable conditions, there is no fairness. We have among our members current experience of living in social and private rented accommodation, of being homeless and of living in substandard accommodation, for example in damp homes. We intend to work with Renfrewshire Council to support better housing across RSLs in Renfrewshire. Despite lack of legal obligation to do so, we would still like to see the Council take a lead on developing with all the RSLs an all- Renfrewshire strategy and plan to develop more and improved social housing. Fairness requires long term investment and the longest-term investment the Council can make is in young people. We have as members parents of young people who have seen, over the years, a deterioration in the extent of services supporting young people. A priority for the coming year is to meet with the Council officers responsible for youth services and youth work strategy and move this work forward as it has been a Panel priority for us for two years Page 78 of 86
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Fairer Renfrewshire Panel Self-Evaluation April 2025 Page 28 of 34 While we are aware that young people are involved in consultation about some aspects of provision for teenagers, we would like to contribute to the development of the Community Learning and Development Plan to support the development of youth services. Many of us have direct experience of mental health challenges, themselves frequently a consequence of poverty, and of the lack of support available to meet needs. The impact of significant mental health challenges is long term and adversely affects the ability to take advantage of potential for economic and social development, which is a fairness issue. While we have been able to comment on the findings of the Health and Social Care Partnership’s Health and Wellbeing Survey, we would like the opportunity to discuss and inform the development of Renfrewshire’s approach to providing support for those with mental health challenges. Our members include people with experience of becoming New Scots and of living and working with New Scots. We recognise the immense barriers to participation in social and economic life in Renfrewshire faced by people from other cultures, often with language barriers which multiply difficulties. We think it a vital aspect of work to make Renfrewshire fairer for all, and we would like to understand and contribute to work which supports people from elsewhere to integrate into Renfrewshire life. We are advised that a new post has been recruited within Renfrewshire council which will have the remit of supporting New Scots and contributing to work to support New Scots to settle in, live in and contribute to Renfrewshire remains one of our highest priorities. Page 79 of 86
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Fairer Renfrewshire Panel Self-Evaluation April 2025 Page 29 of 34 Lack of access to private transport and inadequate public services significantly disadvantages people in poverty and on low incomes, particularly in rural areas, in participation in social and economic life. We have been successful in contributing to the early development of Renfrewshire’s transport strategy, and will soon be able to see an early draft. This remains a high priority for us. As charges for waste collection begin to be imposed and collections reduced, the impact on people on low incomes and without access to private transport is disproportionately high. We would like to the opportunity to understand current strategies and plans and to inform service heads of the impact of changes to services. We recognise that it is the areas most affected by poverty which are mostly likely to be affected by issues such as anti-social behaviour and dog fouling. We would like to understand the Council’s approach to its community safety and neighbourhoods6 work in the context of work to make Renfrewshire fairer. One of the consistent themes of our discussions is the need to effectively communicate the availability of support to people who need it and the Council’s communication strategy is an are which the Council has prioritised for discussion with us. We think that the Council website should signpost to all commonly sought support services. However, whenever a Council or partner service is talking to us about ‘reaching’ people in need to provide support, we have the same message – 6 https://www.renfrewshire.gov.uk/article/2121/Community-safety-and-your-neighbourhood Page 80 of 86
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Fairer Renfrewshire Panel Self-Evaluation April 2025 Page 30 of 34 the question is about information about support reaching people and people being able to reach the support. Our perspective is based on one of our common experiences – if services are to be reachable for people in need who very often have reasonable suspicion of authority based on personal experiences of disadvantage, then information about the support and signposting to it is dependent on working with community-based, rather than area-wide or national organisations. People can best get support through people they already trust, so organisations and services rooted in geographic communities, with local staff and local trust relationships are the best placed to deliver information and signpost support. This requires support for agencies’ capacity to develop services in a manner that develops the local trust relationship which enable people to request support where available. While lack of funding may hinder small voluntary organisations in their development, part time community development training and support should be provided. We would like to understand and contribute to strategies and plans to develop local capacity to enable local reach to support services. We are committed to a fairer Renfrewshire, and we welcome the Council’s commitment in principle to making Renfrewshire fairer. We exist as a group because Renfrewshire Council wants to understand the experience of people who know poverty and other forms of disadvantage when developing services, so that unfairness in the distribution of life chances is not made worse, and in places improved on. Page 81 of 86
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Fairer Renfrewshire Panel Self-Evaluation April 2025 Page 31 of 34 In November 2024, the Fairer Renfrewshire sub-committee considered and noted a report from the Fairer Renfrewshire Officers’ Group which reported that: “The Panel would like to contribute to the development of a draft plan to make Renfrewshire Fairer which: • States the ambition of Renfrewshire Council for a Fairer Renfrewshire; • Outlines the contributions (what, when, who, review date) of Renfrewshire Council’s services towards making Renfrewshire Fairer; • Outlines the major contributions (what, when, who, review date) of Renfrewshire Council’s key partners; • Outlines the contribution (what, when, who, review date) of community-led services towards Renfrewshire being fairer, and the support for the development of community-led services towards this aim; and • Sets out the oversight and accountability arrangements for delivery of the plan. We see this as the sub-committee’s tacit approval of our aspirations to contribute to the development of a strategic plan to make Renfrewshire fairer. Our fairness priorities include services for young people, services for New Scots and capacity building. The Council’s priorities for work with us for a fairer Renfrewshire include digital inclusion. Supporting the development of an area-wide housing strategy to contribute to fairness for Renfrewshire is community capacity building. Developing local agencies’ ability to provide bridges between support and people in need is community capacity building. Including lived experience in the development of a Transport or Events Strategy is community capacity building. Supporting New Scots to settle and be part of Renfrewshire is capacity building. All of the work we’ve been engaged in has involved learning – for us and the people we’ve talked to. The logical place for Fairer Renfrewshire strategy and planning, and the place in which the links between contributions to a fairer Renfrewshire can be Page 82 of 86
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Fairer Renfrewshire Panel Self-Evaluation April 2025 Page 32 of 34 most easily made is as a part of the Community Plan, but we would like to see detail which ‘outlines the contributions (what, when, who, review date’) of the council, partner services and community-led services towards making Renfrewshire Fairer’. It remains a high priority that we push for involvement in an overall plan for the work of the Council and its partners to make Renfrewshire fairer. This evaluation report will help in discussions with the Fairer Renfrewshire team about both our and their priorities. We are currently anticipating further involvement in the transport strategy development, in the development of a communications strategy, further engagement with the Events strategy team and with the digital inclusion team, developing Renfrewshire’s Food Plan and delivery of the Plan for Net Zero. This report is only our contribution towards what we’d like to see as a workplan development with the Fairer Renfrewshire team. We recognise that as a panel, in addition to ordinary involvement with the Fairer Renfrewshire team and their internal partners we have major tasks to complete as well as development needs which include: We will considerably develop our understanding of where we are and where next to focus work with the council through discussion of this report with the Fairer Renfrewshire team and the chair and vice chair of the sub-committee. We will seek to develop a workplan with the Fairer Renfrewshire team to support planning. Page 83 of 86
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Fairer Renfrewshire Panel Self-Evaluation April 2025 Page 33 of 34 We will complete the workplan development by end May 2025. With the Fairer Renfrewshire team, we will develop a Code of Conduct by end May 2025. We will evaluate our progress in developing as a panel in due course and reassess needs. We will conduct another self-evaluation exercise in February 2026. We can and will get better at recording progress against priorities to support self-evaluation in the future. We will develop a format for progress recording and make it available to panel members, the STAR Project and the Fairer Renfrewshire team We will agree and subsequently use a format for progress recording and development by end May 2025. We have confirmed both that we feel the advantages of informal organisation outweigh those of structured hierarchy but will consider alternatives. We will reconsider alternative structures by end August 2025. We are committed to doing our own research as much as is practicable. We have identified needs for skills and knowledge. We will organise training: Page 84 of 86
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Fairer Renfrewshire Panel Self-Evaluation April 2025 Page 34 of 34 • To develop skills in Information and Communication Technology by end May 2025. • To understand Data Protection and Confidentiality issues by beginning May 2025, to inform the development of a Code of Conduct by end May 2025 • We will organise Committee Skills training by end September 2025 • We exchange experiences with other lived experience panels in Scotland during 2025, to inform the next self-evaluation in February 2026. We will seek more engagement in Council buildings rather than always hosting meetings, not least to put Council and partner staff at ease. We will explore with the Fairer Renfrewshire team support for greater visibility in the Council by end May 2025. Fairer Renfrewshire Lived Experience Panel April 2025 Page 85 of 86
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