Leader's Report
Argyll and Bute Council · 24 April 2025
Back to Argyll and Bute Council — 24 April 2025 and its agenda
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ARGYLL AND BUTE COUNCIL COUNCIL 24th April 2025 LEADER’S REPORT 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 The Leader of the Council routinely provides a report outlining their strategic activities for consideration at each meeting of Argyll and Bute Council, except for the annual budget meeting in February. 1.2 This report provides an update on the activities of the council Leader, Cllr Jim Lynch, for the period 8th November 2024 to 10th April 2025. 2. RECOMMENDATIONS 2.1 Members are asked to consider the report. 2.2 Members are asked to note that any reports, briefings or copy correspondence referred to in the report can be requested as appropriate through the Leadership Support Manager, although it should be noted that some confidential reports provided by external organisations such as COSLA may be restricted. 3. LEADER ACTIVITY 8th NOVEMBER 2024 TO 10TH APRIL 2025: 3.1 Rural Growth Deal: My last report to Council opened with an update on the Rural Growth Deal. I am delighted to be able to do the same again and to report that Argyll and Bute’s Deal has now been signed by both Governments, on Monday 10th March 2025. I said on the day, what a great day for Argyll and Bute – it was, and thanks to this unprecedented investment, there will be many more great days in the future as projects get under way and start delivering results.
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Rothesay was the location for this historic occasion – the sheer importance of this transformational investment for Argyll and Bute is well- established, but our Deal is also the final one in Scotland to be signed, so this carries significance also for both the UK and Scottish Governments. We were joined on Bute by representatives from our Rural Growth Deal partner agencies as well as officers from across the Council who have worked tirelessly to ensure we reach this crucial point. My thanks go to everyone who has contributed to developing and nurturing Argyll and Bute’s Growth Deal over the past several years. Each of you has played an invaluable part in making this a reality. Kate Forbes MSP, Deputy First Minister, represented the Scottish Government, and Ian Murray MP, Secretary of State for Scotland, attended to sign on behalf of the UK Government. Both were extremely positive about our Deal, its projects and their potential to deliver results for our communities. Partnership has been the key element throughout our Growth Deal journey – the partnership with both governments, with the agencies who’ll join us as delivery partners, and collaboration between politicians and civil servants. As well as thanking our partners and our officers I want to put on record an acknowledgement of the contributions made by colleagues from across the chamber past and present; the call for a Deal was first made by former leader Dick Walsh and was pressed forward by his successor Aileen Morton. The late Robin Currie signed the Heads of Terms back in
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2021 and was passionate about driving the Deal to fruition. We remember the vital work they each did to help get us to where we are today. This is a ten year programme; while the Deal we have signed sets out a £70m programme, we hope that this will increase and grow over these ten years and will in fact be worth even more to Argyll and Bute. The Deal is a major signal of confidence in Argyll and Bute, and is an investment in its own right but I am clear that it must also be a driver for further investment. What is absolutely certain at this stage is that we will make the very most of each of these ten years, building on our key strengths of adaptability and innovation as well as our proven track record in collaboration. Argyll and Bute has an overarching aim of growing our population and our economy, to see our communities vibrant, thriving and fully embracing all of the opportunities and potential that they offer. This is a significant task and one that absolutely depends on partnership working and investment of the kind that we formalised with the Deal signing. There are barriers to face up to, including the cost and agility required to deliver in the unique geographic context that you’d expect to find in the local authority area with the highest number of inhabited islands, coupled with rural communities and larger towns. We are experienced though in meeting those challenges head-on and working hard to overcome them – that, along with our strong track record in delivering large scale and complex regeneration projects, stands us in good stead to deliver and deliver with strength, not only on local priorities but on national goals and ambitions. The scale of the task is matched by our ambition for Argyll and Bute; by our determination; by our will to succeed; by the importance we place on collaboration; and by our diligence in seeking out investment in our potential. I spoke at the signing of just some of the areas where we have real potential for growth and where Argyll and Bute is pioneering and leading. Take our exploration of using drone transport, a UK first and one which is truly transformational in serving island communities. Add in the vital and arguably world-class standard work on fish health and seaweed/shellfish development which is so important in the aquaculture sector. There is also our approach to the housing emergency, driven by the need to do things differently in a rural and island context where we’re working in ways and with partners who may not have been involved in housing
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before but who can bring in new and innovative solutions that our geography needs. With our Deal signed, we’ve reached a key milestone, but the hard work and the partnership ethos do not, of course, stop now – in many ways they will in fact ramp up as work really strikes up to turn this massive investment and all of its potential into reality and results. Watch this space. 3.2 Community Regeneration funding: In my last report I was able to share that, following representation to the UK Government, we had received confirmation of £20m Community Regeneration Partnership funding from the UK Government (formerly branded as Levelling Up). Members may also have seen an update at the Environment, Development and Infrastructure Committee’s March meeting from the Transformational Projects and Regeneration Team who are working with UK Government civil servants on administration and delivery of this particular investment. UK Government officials have been carrying out explorative work across the area over the past several weeks to identify potential areas for spend which fit the funding programme’s overall aims of delivering local growth. While officers have contributed proposals, decisions will ultimately be made by the UK Government and we expect to hear more by summer. Meantime, if you have not already had a chance to look at it, I would commend the EDI report to you – it contains a helpful summary of the significant investment activity around the area. 3.3 COSLA Activity: I have attended a number of COSLA meetings over this period, including its mini-conference in May. The majority of business is taken in private session, which means I cannot provide too much detail here, but I will be happy to answer any questions or have a discussion with any colleague who is interested to hear more about a particular topic. COSLA Mini Conference and Convention meeting, 28th March 2025: Alongside the scheduled Convention meeting in March was this year’s mini conference, with the theme of ‘Why Local Works’. We had a number of discussion sessions in the morning, including delivery of the Verity House Agreement, net zero, innovating from the ground up and sustainable funding to support health and social care improvement and innovation.
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The afternoon’s Convention meeting included the following agenda items: • Institute for Fiscal Studies presentation on Council Tax • SOLACE/Improvement Service Transformation Programme • COSLA Plan and Annual Report • Verity House Agreement Update • General Power of Competence Consultation • Support for Ukraine • Preparing for and responding to extremism and threats to community cohesion For completeness, I’ve noted below the issues that have been considered at all COSLA Leaders meetings I’ve attended since my last report in November 2024. I’d be happy to provide any specific updates or more detail as required. COSLA Leaders, 29th November 2024: • 16 Days of Action Against Gender Based Violence Campaign • Presentation from Scottish Water • Nationally Enabled Approach to Improvement in Social Care • Budget negotiations • Digital Partnership • Education Psychology Training Programme • Expansion of Free School Meals • Historic Child Abuse Redress Scheme – financial report • Reduction in the working week – report from SJC Working Group • Pay negotiations update • Fiscal Framework • Local Government Finance • Distribution COSLA Special Leaders, 6th December 2024: As is typical of the time of year, an additional Special Leaders meeting had to be called in early December for an update on the Scottish Budget and Local Government Settlement. This meeting also included an update on the Scottish Welfare Fund. COSLA Leaders, 31st January 2025: The first COSLA Leaders meeting of the new year featured another weighty agenda, with the following topics under consideration by Leaders: • National Care Service/Social Care Reform • National Social Work Agency
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• Reduction in Class Contact Time • Additional Support for Learning Funding • Early Learning and Childcare – Real Living Wage and Sustainable Rates • Historical Child Abuse Redress Scheme Annual Report (non financial) • Housing Emergency • Future of Ukraine Schemes • Charter of Rights for People Affected By Substance Use • CELCIS (Centre for Excellence for Children’s Care and Protection) Funding • Pay Claims 2025/26 • Local Government Finance Update • Distribution COSLA Leaders, 28th February 2025: The February meeting featured continued discussion of ongoing issues like National Care Service, Pay Claims, Finance and Distribution. This meeting also included: • Council Tax Reform – Engagement Process • 20% Car Use Reduction • Population Health Framework • Multi Agency Public Protection System (MAPPS) Implementation Visit by COSLA Presidential Team, 7th February 2025: On Friday 7th February we welcomed visitors from the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) to Argyll and Bute. COSLA President, Cllr Shona Morrison (Moray Council) and Vice- President Cllr Steven Heddle (Orkney Islands Council), with Chief Executive Jane O’Donnell, met with myself and Chief Executive Pippa Milne. Depute Leaders Cllr Audrey Forrest and Cllr Ross Moreland were also present.
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It was helpful to welcome Shona, Steven and Jane to meet here in Argyll and Bute for more targeted and focused discussions. I was really encouraged to hear that Argyll and Bute makes an important and positive contribution to COSLA’s work at a national level for and with local government in Scotland. One of the priorities we agreed last year was the importance of speaking up for Argyll and Bute and highlighting our challenges and opportunities wherever we can. This visit was another chance to do just that. 3.4 Highlands and Islands Leaders Group: Ensuring that rural and island communities’ needs and issues are visible and their voices heard is crucial. There are numerous places where we do have an opportunity to set out the rural position and highlight that one-size solutions which may work very well in other areas need reshaped to account for rurality. Having other voices to join with ours is important as we continue to press the rural case with increasing urgency. That is why we have led on reconvening the Highlands and Islands Leaders Group. This group brings together the Leaders and Chief Executives of all Highlands and Islands authorities round the table to identify shared challenges and opportunities and strengthen our voice in raising those and calling for action where we can. Meetings are arranged to coincide with COSLA Leaders meetings and, as has happened previously, we will also meet together to prepare for other sessions like the Convention of the Highlands and Islands and the Highlands and Islands Regional Economic Partnership.
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Although still in the early stages of resuming our work together, we have held a number of meetings already since the inaugural discussion in November last year. I have been clear about the importance I place on speaking up and speaking out for Argyll and Bute and I believe this is another valuable and productive route to do so, as well as providing opportunities to share ideas and best practice with other local authorities who understand rurality and islands issues and the unique challenges of service delivery in that context as well as an increasingly bleak financial climate. 3.5 Council Learning Awards, 22nd November 2024: The eighth annual Learning Awards took place in November last year. Unfortunately I was unable to attend at the last minute, but asked the Provost to pass on my congratulations and my thanks to all staff members. These awards recognise those who, alongside their full time work, study for extra qualifications. The recipients of the benefits are, ultimately, council service users. The dedication of staff who undertake these commitments is second to none. Learning and studying while working at the same time is challenging and demanding. It requires great tenacity and commitment. It demonstrates real dedication to being the best you can be, to doing the best job that you can. For Council employees, that involves delivering vital services of all kinds, every single day and in all kinds of conditions, to local people. The commitment they’ve made to studying and gaining qualifications is therefore a commitment to our communities as well as to themselves and to the Council. The range of qualifications achieved is quite incredible – it is said many times that our people are our biggest asset and examples like this show us why that is true. 3.6 Housing – general update: I continue to meet regularly with senior officers in relation to the housing emergency, alongside specific sessions like the Argyll and Bute Strategic Housing Forum and, of course, highlighting our housing perspective at a national level wherever possible. The Strategic Housing Investment Plan (SHIP) was approved on 21st November. This sets out plans for the delivery of 1,170 affordable homes across Argyll and Bute. Officers are already meeting with Scottish Government officials and Registered Social Landlord (RSL) representatives for discussions on progression of the SHIP.
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The Strategic Housing Forum meeting on 4th December highlighted the planned switch-off of Radio Teleswitch Meters in June this year. This means that people with older meters will have to change to smart meters. The Council’s Communications team has been highlighting this through its online and social media channels so that affected residents know what to do and where to access information. At the Forum meeting we heard from Ofgem and supplier representatives – they have agreed to attend future meetings as all Forum partners have concerns about the potential impact. You can find more information and a guide at Home Energy Scotland's website and please do share this with anyone in your own community who you think may need it. When the Forum met in March, the focus for the day was the Housing Need and Demand (HNDA) process, also featuring the first technical paper on Housing Market Area definitions. In my last report I mentioned that we were recruiting for additional resource to augment our existing Empty Homes team activity. This process has now concluded successfully with the officer starting work in January. This post was funded through the Scottish Government’s Addressing Depopulation Fund and will focus on engaging directly with landlords and other property owners to boost long-term let availability across Argyll and Bute. The Empty Homes team are progressing other property cases which will come back to life as affordable homes and it is particularly encouraging that, at this time, a number of these are on our islands and will provide much-needed accommodation for health and social care staff. There are various other discussions ongoing with RSLs about planned initiatives, which are in early/sensitive stages but which do promise to yield much needed capacity of various forms across the area. I hope to meet with Housing Association Chairs over the next couple of months and look forward to building on the constructive discussions we have at Strategic Housing Forum meetings. Private Sector Housing Grants update: 95 grant approvals for a sum of £689,254 were made between 1st April 2024 and 31 t December 2024. The number of grant applications has decreased by 22% on the same period in the previous year. Grant payments of £751,131 have been made between 1st April 2024 and 31st December 2024. This is an increase of £225,459 on the same period in the previous year. 63 disabled adaptation grants have been received in the period 1st April 2024 to 31st December 2024. This was 12 more than the same period last year.
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Common repair grants have decreased from 54 to 19 over the same period in the previous year. Private Sector Housing Grant funding for CARS Projects: Lochgilphead – applications completed and works on site at final priority building. Helensburgh – applications received for one priority building. Tarbert – discussion is ongoing regarding the priority buildings. Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee visit: We welcomed the above Scottish Parliamentary Committee to Oban on 25th November last year. As we were the first council in Scotland to declare a housing emergency, committee members wanted to find out more about our response. Also involved in the day were representatives from a number of housing delivery organisations. You can read the Committee’s report on the visit here but I have noted below some of the key points we made and some of the asks we set out – tackling this must be a partnership endeavour. • We’re working with a range of partners to increase different types of key worker housing including for health and social care or energy development workforce • We’re taking more of a whole system approach to housing – looking at all tenures as well as social housing • We’re aiming for greater flexibility where we can, for example in planning consents and requirements – but we also need flexibility from other public sector partners • Even though we’re looking at consent flexibility, there needs to be more ‘spades in the ground’ in terms of development actually starting • There’s a need to recognise that rural and island communities need different solutions • Land access remains a key challenge particularly in areas which are ready for growth • Proactivity on homelessness • Long term and continuous approach to housing is needed at a national level • More funding flexibility is needed – for example through the Housing Infrastructure Fund or by considering devolution of funds to councils • More cohesion in terms of housing and planning regulations This was a very positive day with a lot of useful discussion and I would encourage you to look at the full Committee report above.
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3.7 Economic Strategy Action Plan: Our Economic Growth team continue to progress the actions outlined in the Economic Strategy Action Plan. There will be a more detailed update provided for all councillors at a forthcoming Members Seminar and I would encourage you all to attend this – please look out for details coming through. The Highlands and Islands Regional Economic Partnership (HIREP) Regional Economic Strategy was endorsed at November’s Council meeting and the accompanying Delivery Plan with its associated actions is being taken forward by various officer sub-groups of HIREP. 3.8 Community Engagement: When we agreed our Priorities last year, one of the most important commitments for me was the one we made to go out and meet with our communities in the places where they live, to listen to their issues and find out about their priorities. While it’s never possible to deliver everything that communities may want, we are clear about that listening commitment. Along with the Chief Executive, I have now started that programme of engagement. It is called Here To Hear You and so far we have held sessions in Soroba in Oban and on the isle of Coll.
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At both sessions we were delighted to welcome several local people who shared very honest feedback with us and who engaged wholeheartedly in conversation with us. Already, we have come away from those communities with a number of good ideas which are very much worth exploring. Our next sessions will be on Bute and in Dunoon, with arrangements being finalised – and the remainder of the programme this year includes sessions on Islay and Jura, around Cowal, in Helensburgh, Campbeltown, Gigha, and across Oban, Lorn and the Isles area. The logistics take a considerable degree of management and consideration but the web link above will be updated as events are confirmed and by the time of the Council meeting when this report will feature I would hope that we’ll be in a position to share more details about the next events. 3.9 Meeting with Scottish Human Rights Commission: On 24th March, I welcomed Angela O’Hagan, Chair and Luis Felipe Yanes, Legal Policy Officer, from the Scottish Human Rights Commission (SHRC).
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The Commission has recently spent a period of time engaging with communities across the Highlands and islands and has published its findings in a report Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in the Highlands and Islands. There is much in the report that is familiar to us and a number of areas where it may be useful for ourselves and the SHRC to join our voices together in amplifying issues nationally. It reflects what we recognise as key challenges – housing emergency, connectivity, the need to recognise rurality in policy-making, the need for specific rural/island solutions and more. This was a very constructive introductory session and we all agreed that more conversations would be useful in the future. 3.9 And finally…: Last, but certainly not least, is the news that the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race will return to Oban, Scotland’s Town of the Year 2024, in 2026, after its highly successful inaugural visit last summer. When the Clipper crews and yachts were in the area last year, there was an amazing buzz about Oban and we received incredibly positive feedback from the crews, the organisers, and the thousands of visitors. As well as a fantastic sporting spectacle to enjoy, on a more serious note this brought in a boost of around £2m to Oban. It’s testament to the amazing efforts of local businesses and our own officers and partner agencies that this prestigious global event is coming back so soon. However – I think the famously warm Oban welcome from local people also had a lot to do with it. Well done to all involved in bringing the Clipper Race back. 4. CONCLUSION 4.1 This report highlights the activities of the Leader of Argyll and Bute Council for the period 8th November 2024 to 10th April 2025. Councillor Jim Lynch Leader, Argyll and Bute Council 10th April 2025 For further information please contact Aileen McNicol, Leadership Support and Member Services Manager, telephone 01546 604014 or email aileen.mcnicol@argyll-bute.gov.uk