Our Council Plan Year End Progress Reporting

North Ayrshire Council · 24 September 2026
Back to Audit and Scrutiny Committee — 24 September 2026 and its agenda

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NORTH AYRSHIRE COUNCIL 
24 September 2026 
Audit and Scrutiny Committee
Title:   Our Council Plan Year End Progress Reporting
Purpose: To advise the Audit and Scrutiny Committee on progress
in delivering Our Council Plan 2023 to 2028 as at Year
End 2025 to 2026.
Recommendation:  That Audit and Scrutiny:
(a) Notes the Year End Progress Report and Annual
Performance Report. 
(b) Notes the status of the Council’s performance
indicators within the LGBF Analysis of April 2026
Data Release.
(c) Notes the revisions to four Education 2025 to
2026 targets and the revision of 2027 to 2028
targets outlined in section 4 of this report. 
1 Executive Summary
1.1 Our Council Plan Progress Report Year End 2025 to 2026 (Appendix 1)
shows how our council is continuing to progress our priorities in line with
Best Value legislation in the six months ending 31st March 2026.  It is
supported by the Local Government Benchmarking Framework Analysis of
the April 2026 data release (Appendix 3), to show our performance relative
to others and learn from other local authorities.
1.2 When considering the performance indicators, LGBF indicators directly
relating to our Council Plan and accompanying narrative to demonstrate
impact, performance remains strong in many areas.  
1.3 Where challenges are resulting in less positive performance, these are
detailed within the accompanying reports for transparency alongside details
of how this will be addressed and within what timescale.
2 Background
2.1 Under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1992 and Local Government in
Scotland Act 2003 we have a duty to demonstrate Best Value.  To ensure
we support our residents, fulfil our statutory duties and invite scrutiny, we

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actively manage performance and seek to continuously improve our
reporting to make it accessible and engaging.
2.2 The Statutory Performance Information Direction 2024 determines how we
demonstrate Best Value.  It applies to the reporting of activity that has taken
place since 1st April 2025 for approximately three years.  Guidance on the
Direction is being released in stages.  This is being monitored to ensure
continued compliance.
2.3 Audit Scotland Actions
2.4 Best Value Thematic Audits have resulted in a larger Council Plan Progress
Report (Appendix 1).  For example, the inclusion of Workforce and
Transformation updates.
2.5 In September 2025, the Annual Audit Report 2024/25 resulted in a
recommendation relating to Next Steps and criteria to determine whether
an action status is on target.
2.6 Within the Council Plan Progress Reports, Next Steps are indications of
areas of focus for the coming six months, but not specifically actions.  Their
progress is included in the main narrative of the following six-monthly
report.  However, Audit Scotland has recommended these are SMART and
progress is recorded.
2.7 Rather than present progress for each Next Step (which made the report
very complex and not inline with the accessibility required under the
Direction), a general statement to say if they are on target is included. 
Progress is included in the narrative of the report, with only those not
progressing as expected or with a brief update, highlighted in each priority
section (a manage by exception approach).
2.8 The Performance Management Strategy (PMS) details a logical approach
to determining the status of actions and is linked to within the Action
Tracker of Appendix 1.  This ensures where performance has been
affected, even if externally influenced, this is reflected in the status to
ensure any issues can be addressed promptly.  This descriptive level of
detail is innovative as a local authority PMS tends to be a high-level
document.  A link is included above the Action Tracker in Appendix 1 and is
expected to meet the audit requirements.  Training actively encourages the
use of the PMS as a reference document for Senior Managers.

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3 Assessment of Performance
3.1   Performance Indicators
There are 26 performance indicators within our framework. At Year End, the overall
status of the framework is:
Status Year End 2024/25 Year End 2025/26
On Target (Green) 13 (54.2%*) 17 (68%*)
Slightly Adrift of Target
(Amber) 5 (20.8%*) 4 (16%*)
Significantly Adrift of
Target (Red) 6 (25%*) 4 (16%*)
Data Only / Status
Unknown 2 1
(*Of PIs where status is known)
The status of a PI is determined by the following tolerances:
Status Description 
On target 
Slightly adrift of target (typically this represents a variance ≥ 1% and < 5% from
the target). 
Significantly adrift of target (typically this represents a variance ≥ 5% from the
target). 
Data only (PIs only) – this is where a target has intentionally not been set,
usually due to the indicator being a new indicator or where we can only partly
contribute to the outcome. 
Data not available / status unknown - (PIs only) the status is not available either
due to data not being available or no target being set.
(Source:  Our Performance Management Strategy 2023-2028 – October 2025
Refresh)
The details of those adrift of target are below:
CP_37 Average total tariff score of pupils living in SIMD 20% most deprived
areas (Red)
The Average Total Tariff Score of the school leavers from the most SIMD
deprived 20% of Scottish data zones in 2025 was 681 points.  This is a 3.2%
increase on last year and is also above the Average Total Tariff Score of school
leavers from similar SIMD areas in the whole of Scotland (676 points).  Given the
dynamic above it means that the poverty-related attainment gap is smaller than
last year - a small but significant gain in the endeavour to reduce the opportunity
gap between our young people living in the least and the most deprived areas of
North Ayrshire.

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CP_06 Average tariff score: All Leavers (Red)
The Average Total Tariff score for 2025 school leavers published in the March
2026 edition of the national Insight benchmarking tool was 864.4 tariff points. 
This is an increase of 2.8% compared to the previous year.  North Ayrshire
school leavers also outperform the national figures across a range of SIMD
deciles. There is a complex interaction of factors that determine the dynamic of
the Average Total Tariff Score of a school leaver.  North Ayrshire leavers are
offered a wider set of opportunities to choose more qualifications at different
SCQF levels - adding more points to the tariff portfolio of each young learner. 
Wider achievement is increasing in importance without diminishing the value of
academic achievement.
CP_42 Provided floor space of commercial/industrial space within our council
portfolio (sq. ft) (Red)
Performance is 394,684 against a target of 423,077.  Fluctuations across the
portfolio arise as a result of estate management actions, generally disposals to
existing tenants securing their retention in the area and facilitating their business
plans around location security and growth, which directly contributes to our
Community Wealth Building approach.  Specific projects also impact availability,
for example, units within Bridgegate, Irvine are not currently being marketed
while the long-term future of the area is under consideration.  There has also
been a re-baselining of available space following the transition of portfolio
management from the Business Support and Development Service to Property
Management and Investment.  Available space will increase in the coming years
as projects are delivered, for example at Kyle Road, Annickbank and i3.
CP_02 % of council budget directed via participatory methods (Red)
1.27% of council budget has been directed via participatory methods compared
to an ambitious 1.5% target.  Assuming the Scottish Government / COSLA target
remains at 1% for local authorities, this remains 0.3% ahead of the national
target.  The revised target is reflective of current progress and takes into account
the current funding landscape while exceeding national expectations. The
financial value of participatory budgeting is only part of the outcome as it can be
difficult to attach a financial value to the vast benefits of involving our people in
decision making processes and co-designing services alongside them. 
Participatory budgeting remains a key method of engaging our people with
services.
CP_07 % of school leavers entering positive destinations (LGBF) (Amber)
At the end of the 2024 to 2025 academic session, 95.7% of the 1,396 school
leavers identified by Skills Development Scotland for North Ayrshire have moved
on to positive post-school destinations.  As in previous years most school leavers
(72.6%) continue into Further and Higher Education.  This time, the percentage
moving into Higher Education courses (37%) has exceeded those who moved
into Further Education (35.5%) which has only occurred previously during the
pandemic and two post-pandemic years.  Within our LGBF family group we are
currently 3rd below Inverclyde Council (96.4%) and Eilean Siar Council (96.1%). 
This places us 16th in the overall rankings and within the 2nd quartile.

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CP_40 Number of new build housing units reaching completion (all tenures)
(actual not cumulative) (Amber) 
The number of new build housing units reaching completion was 431 against an
annual target of 436.  This is a variance of 1.1%.  This indicator includes wider
private sector development where our council has limited influence over the total
number of completions achieved.  The shortfall of five units reflects delays in
completions across all tenures including within the SHIP programme.
3.1.1 Indicator Amendments and Recommendations
CP_41 Number of empty homes brought back into use (actual)
At Mid-Year 2025 to 2026, a Quarter Two figure of 78 empty homes brought back
into use was reported resulting in an on-target (green) status at that point. 
Following further year end verification, a small number of cases were identified
as having been closed prematurely and the Quarter Two figure has been revised
to 74.  While this amendment affected the position at Mid-Year, overall
performance at Year End exceeded the annual target.  Empty homes remain a
key focus for the service, and additional resources have been secured to
strengthen processes and reduce the likelihood of similar issues in future
reporting.  As a precaution, a review of previous years’ data was undertaken and
no anomalies were identified.  
CP_31 % of total household waste that is recycled (calendar year as per SEPA)
(LGBF)
At Mid-Year, the Quarter Two status for percentage of total household waste that
is recycled was 51.2% and was significantly adrift of target (red).  However,
further data checks have been undertaken and the Quarter Two figure has now
been revised to 56% meaning the Quarter Two status is on target (green).  The
overall figure for 2025 to 2026 (2025 calendar year) is 52.9% against a target of
53% meaning that this indicator remains on target (green).  All figures for 2025 to
2026 (2025 Calendar year) are still subject to verification by SEPA and will be
confirmed in October.
CP_29 Overall carbon emissions (tonnes) (Non-domestic Council estate)
At Mid-Year, the Quarter Two overall carbon emissions (tonnes) (non-domestic
council estate) was 3,313.  This was a provisional figure and has since been
confirmed as 3,030 by the service, which now has all available data to complete
the calculation.  Quarterly targets are intentionally not set for this indicator due to
the dynamics of the data over short time periods, therefore the status remains
unchanged as “data only” for the quarter.  Annual targets are set and are
unaffected by this amendment.
CP_19 Proportion of operational buildings that are suitable for their current use
(LGBF)
The provisional figure for 2024 to 2025 was incorrectly reported as 95.4% rather
than the correct figure of 95.2%.  This has been updated within this report and
the status is unaffected.

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3.2 Actions
There are 47 actions within Our Council Plan, with one reported directly through the
Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP) and excluded from this report.  Of the
remaining 46 actions, 45 are on target (green) and one is slightly adrift of target as
at Year End.
Our Performance Management Strategy details how to determine whether an action
is on target.  This is being used within training to embed a structured approach to
performance management across our council at strategic and operational levels. 
As described in 2.8 above, it is expected to fulfil the Annual Audit 2024 to 2025
recommendation relating to managing action progress effectively.
3.2.1 Actions Adrift of target
CP10 Increase the number of homes in the area through a mix of private and
social developments and bringing empty buildings back in to use (Amber)
This action has been noted as amber due to the linked performance indicator
‘CP_40 Number of new build housing units reaching completion’ not meeting its
target.  As discussed above, the number of new build housing units reaching
completion was 431 against an annual target of 436.  This is a variance of 1.1%. 
This indicator includes wider private sector development where our council has
limited influence over the total number of completions achieved.  The shortfall of
five units reflects delays in completions across all tenures including within the
SHIP programme.
3.3 LGBF Analysis of April 2026 Data Release
The data release shows 20 of our 33 priority indicators are in the top two quartiles,
this includes areas such as ‘Proportion of pupils entering positive destinations’,
‘CO2 emissions area wide per capita’, and ‘Percentage of Unemployed People
Assisted into work from Council Programmes’.
Our short term (most recent one year comparison) is showing an improvement in 24
of our 33 priority indicators, with only seven demonstrating a decline in
performance.  Improved indicators include ‘Proportion of children meeting
developmental milestones’ and ‘Percentage of income due from Council Tax
received by the end of the year’.
3.4 Key Highlights
3.4.1 Wellbeing
• During 2025 to 2026, our Money Matters team helped increase North Ayrshire
residents’ income by more than £20 million.  
• Fairer Futures continued to develop through strong partnership with
communities and the third sector, focusing on building trust, improving access
to support, and embedding lived experience in service design and decision-
making.

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• An independent report highlighted strong progress in Community Wealth
Building through the regional Ayrshire Growth Deal project, supported by £3
million of Scottish Government funding with the programme assisting over
1,000 Ayrshire businesses and expanding opportunities to benefit from public
sector investment. 
• The delivery of the 2024 to 2027 Community Wealth Building Strategy has
continued, with progress monitored across all six Community Wealth Building
pillars.
• North Ayrshire has continued to play a national leadership role through
facilitation of the Scotland-wide Community Wealth Building Practitioners
Network, supporting the sharing of good practice and innovation across
Scotland.
• The Wellbeing Economy Dashboard continues to be developed and used to
strengthen understanding of economic, social and environmental outcomes,
supporting evidence-based decision making and performance monitoring.
• Training and a new child-friendly complaints process were introduced to
embed children’s rights in everyday practice, supporting implementation of
the UNCRC in Scotland.
• The Equal employability service has been further embedded through its move
to Lochshore Park, enhancing support for people with health conditions and
disabilities through improved facilities and opportunities.
• Strong progress has been made in delivering new and affordable homes
through an expanded housing investment programme, increasing targets and
advancing key developments to meet local housing need.  431 homes have
been completed during 2025 to 2026.
• Efforts to reduce empty homes have been strengthened, with 432 properties
brought back into use and continued support offered to owners to increase
housing supply within communities.
• Ongoing investment in existing council homes is improving safety, comfort
and energy efficiency, helping to reduce costs for tenants while informing
long-term housing and sustainability plans.
• Tenant engagement and performance scrutiny remain strong, with high
satisfaction levels and ongoing improvements informed by tenant feedback,
inspections and targeted action plans through to 2028.
3.4.2 Communities and Local Democracy
• In 2025 to 2026, 431 adults and 1,955 of our young people gained recognised
national awards
• Over the year, a total of 489 groups were supported to access external
funding.
• 1,179 volunteering opportunities were participated in during 2025 to 2026.
• Over £600,000 was disbursed to local groups through Community Investment
Funding.

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• Participatory Budgeting funding of over £204,000 attracted strong community
interest, with 324 nominations received and a significant number progressing
across youth, locality and community wealth building projects.
• Proposals from the locality planning review are being implemented across all
six localities following Cabinet approval in May.  This will help strengthen
participation in local democracy.
• The Champions Board Conference brought together care-experienced young
people to share their views, build connections and help shape future activity,
strengthening the council’s commitment to keeping The Promise.
• Over £800,000 of funding has been secured in partnership with the Scottish
Government’s Islands Programme to support key projects on Arran,
enhancing community facilities and infrastructure in line with national
priorities.
3.4.3 Climate Change
• The 7.560MW Nethermains Solar Farm has now moved into the Operation
and Maintenance Phase following the works completion certificate being
issued in January 2026.  
• The 5.344MW Shewalton Solar PV Farm was commissioned on 6 March
2026.  An official opening is expected to take place in the coming months. 
• A tree planting exercise was completed in January with a total of 8,050 trees
planted, over 65,000 to date, further supporting our Tree Planting and Nature
Network strategies. 
• A gas pumping trial was successfully held on the Nethermains site throughout
January - February 2026.  The trials were successful with a decision pending
on whether to proceed with the gas recovery works. 
• Phase Two of the CNI solar project is underway on Cumbrae, supporting 130
homes with renewable energy solutions to reduce carbon emissions and fuel
poverty while delivering wider community benefits.
• Through a sustained programme of targeted investment in initiatives such as
Building Management Systems (BMS), LED lighting upgrades and a range of
energy-efficiency improvements, underpinned by proactive monitoring of
energy use, the council has transformed the performance of its property
portfolio. These measures have delivered reductions in energy consumption,
playing a significant role in lowering carbon emissions and advancing the
council’s commitment to a more sustainable, low-carbon future.
• The Area Based Scheme continues to progress, delivering energy efficiency
improvements and expanding to new areas to help reduce fuel poverty and
support low carbon heating.
• The ECO4 Flex partnership has delivered over £1 million in external funding,
supporting 48 households with energy efficiency improvements and low
carbon heating measures.
• Strong collaboration has supported local suppliers to secure contracts worth
£32 million over the year, reinforcing the council’s commitment to sustaining
the local economy and resilient supply chains.

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• Community engagement is supporting the development of Community
Climate Action Plans, with mapping and digital tools helping residents shape
local priorities and actions.
• Nature-based improvements and biodiversity activity have been strengthened
through partnership working, investment, and community-led projects,
enhancing local environments and supporting conservation across North
Ayrshire.
• Investment in active travel infrastructure, supported by Levelling Up Fund
funding, is improving walking and cycling routes, enhancing accessibility, and
expanding sustainable travel opportunities across North Ayrshire.
• Enhancements to public transport infrastructure have improved accessibility
and reliability, including the installation of real-time information and upgraded
bus stops and shelters.
3.4.4 A Sustainable Council
• North Ayrshire Council’s scheduled Controller of Audit (Section 102) Best
Value report was considered by the Accounts Commission in October and
Council in December.  The findings are extremely positive, highlighting a
culture of continuous improvement, a proactive focus on addressing
inequalities in our communities and stating the council is “an exemplar of how
to do transformation well”.
• Budget engagement activity generated strong community input, with over
1,100 responses helping to shape a £485 million budget, including investment
in renewable energy and measures to reduce child poverty.
• Significant external funding, including over £1.5 million from the Vacant and
Derelict Land Fund, £376,535 for council-led projects and £397,000 for
community groups through UKSPF, alongside £1.5 million for Pride in Place,
is supporting regeneration and community development across North
Ayrshire.
• We have established the Ayrshire Collaborative to explore transformational
working approaches and improve service delivery through the Public Sector
Reform lens.
• Progress continues on property rationalisation, with construction underway on
a new Customer Service Centre and plans in place to consolidate services
into Cunninghame House to support efficiency and regeneration.
• Following the approval of the Generative AI Policy by Cabinet providing clear
guidance for employees, a trial is underway to test additional functionality. 
4 Target Setting
4.1 Target Amendment Proposals - Education
A recommendation to amend the 2025 to 2026 targets was agreed by Cabinet in
September 2025.  Proposed amendments have been made following the
publication of confirmed 2024 to 2025 school leaver attainment data released in
February 2026.

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(The total tariff measure is based on a complex national calculation using leavers’
highest qualifications and attainment data, meaning an interim figure cannot be
accurately calculated locally during the school year.  As a result, only confirmed
annual data which becomes available through the national release in February
2027 can be used to inform targets.  Therefore, adjusting a target at March 2026
during the 2025 to 2026 academic year cannot be based on any internal information
or data more recent than the 2024 to 2025 academic year.)
The proposed targets for Education are as follows:
PI Description
2025 to 2026
Academic
Year Original
Target
2025 to 2026
Academic
Year
Proposed
Target
CP_37 Average total tariff score of pupils living in
SIMD 20% most deprived areas 720 690
CP_06 Average tariff score: All Leavers 910 880
CP_38 Average total tariff for care experienced
Young People 470 480 
4.2 Targets for 2027 to 2028
Targets for 2026 to 2027 were approved by Cabinet on 1 September and are
included in Appendix 1.  It is proposed that 2027 to 2028 targets only be
changed where it is evident our operating environment has changed
substantially since the targets were set during the creation of our Council Plan
Performance Framework in 2023 (published in January 2024).  As a result of
this, it is proposed the following 2027 to 2028 targets are revised: 
Description Existing
2027/28
Target
Proposed
2027/28
Target
Expected
Performance
Trend
Comments
CP_36 Number of residents
participating in community
learning and development
activity work:
20,600 23,500  This target will be re-evaluated
once 2026 to 2027 results are
known and any opportunities for
additional funding which could
increase delivery are confirmed.

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Description Existing
2027/28
Target
Proposed
2027/28
Target
Expected
Performance
Trend
Comments
CP_39b Number of
unemployed people
progressing into
employment as a result of
participation in council
funded or operated activities
550 475  There is a challenging funding
landscape for example the
reduction in revenue resource
as a result of the end of the
Shared Prosperity Fund and
transition to the Local Growth
Fund on a regional basis.  The
amended target aims to
continue the ambition of
2026/27, increasing
employment across North
Ayrshire.
CP_10a % of procurement
spent on local enterprises
27% 28%  Moderate growth in the
percentage is expected over the
medium-term however the
target is limited due to North
Ayrshire having no tier 1
construction contractors. 
Running parallel to this measure
is the actual local spend value
which could be considered more
important than the percentage.
CP_28 Hectares of vacant
and derelict land in North
Ayrshire
1,000 830  The total hectares of vacant and
derelict land is influenced by the
development and management
of land in private ownership as
well as proposals for council
owned sites that are subject to
external funding.  The external
funding landscape is
challenging due to reducing
funding levels within
programmes.  The target of 830
is expected to be achieved by
March 2028 which aligns with
the delivery of the Local
Regeneration Fund projects.
CP_27 Street Cleanliness
Index - % Clean
87% 89%  -
CP_20 Overall percentage
of road network that should
be considered for
maintenance treatment
34.8% 32%  Through targeted additional
investment agreed as part of the
council’s budget setting
decisions over recent years,
aligned to prioritised
maintenance treatments, North
Ayrshire’s road condition
continues to improve.

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Description Existing
2027/28
Target
Proposed
2027/28
Target
Expected
Performance
Trend
Comments
CP_02 % of council budget
directed via participatory
methods
2.5% 1.3%  Assuming the Scottish
Government / COSLA target
remains at 1% for local
authorities, this remains 0.3%
ahead of the national target. 
The revised target is reflective
of current progress and takes
into account reductions in
capital programmes and
external funding while still
exceeding national
expectations.
CP_30 Total installed
capacity of low carbon heat
and electricity generation
across our council’s estate
25,000 32,000  Based on a review of solar PV
installation programmes, it is
proposed the target is amended
to 32,000kW. 
CP_31 Percentage of total
household waste that is
recycled (calendar year as
per SEPA)
57% 53%  Despite relatively strong
performance compared to other
local authorities, the proposed
target is lower to reflect
challenges relating to legislation
and contamination levels. 
Actions have been taken to
improve the separation of Waste
Upholstered Domestic Seating
(WUDS) from within our bulky
waste collection service to help
minimise the impact of the
change in legislation.
Contamination levels within the
purple bin for glass, cans and
plastics have contributed to a
decline in performance. An
increase in the type of wood
being deposited at recycling
centres that is only suitable for
biomass recovery and not for
recycling, is also impacting
performance.

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Description Existing
2027/28
Target
Proposed
2027/28
Target
Expected
Performance
Trend
Comments
CP_47 Gross rent arrears
(all tenants) as at 31 March
each year as a percentage
of rent due for the reporting
year
4.5% 7%  A change in the rent arrears
calculation has resulted in the
proposed target of 7%.  Though
most recent performance is 8%
(2024 to 2025) additional
staffing resources and the
software being acquired for
arrears management will help
achieve this target during 2027
to 2028. 
5 Proposals 
That the Audit and Scrutiny Committee: 
(a) Notes Year End Progress Report and Annual Performance Report.
(b) Notes the status of the council’s performance indicators within the
LGBF Analysis of April 2026 Data Release.
(c) Notes the revisions to four Education 2025 to 2026 targets and the
revision of 2027 to 2028 targets outlined in section 4 of this report.
6 Implications/Socio-economic Duty
Financial
6.1 None.
Human Resources
6.2 None.
Legal
6.3 These reports demonstrate how we meet our statutory duty of Best Value
through compliance with the Statutory Information Direction 2024.
Equality/Socio-economic
6.4 None.
Climate Change and Carbon
6.5 None.
Key Priorities 
6.6 The Council Plan Progress Report outlines how we will actively manage the
delivery of Our Council Plan priorities.
Community Wealth Building
6.7 None.

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Islands Communities Impact Assessment (ICIA)
6.8 None.
United Nations Rights of the Child (UNCRC)
6.9 None.
Consumer Duty
6.10 None.
7 Consultation
7.1 The Executive Leadership Team (ELT) and Cabinet have reviewed and
scrutinised the report prior to consideration by the Audit and Scrutiny
Committee.
Aileen Craig
Head of Service (Democratic) 
For further information please contact Isla Cruickshanks, Senior Manager
(Policy, Performance and Democracy).  Email IslaCruickshanks@north-
ayrshire.gov.uk
Background Papers - None.

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Our Council Plan
Six Monthly
Progress Report
1 October 2025 to
31 March 2026 
Appendix 1

Page 16

Contents
Our Performance at a Glance ................................................................................................. 1
Welcome ................................................................................................................................. 2
Wellbeing ....................................................................................................................... 4
Communities and Local Democracy ............................................................................. 15
Climate Change ............................................................................................................ 26
A Sustainable Council ................................................................................................... 36
Performance Summary ......................................................................................................... 54
Performance Indicators Adrift of Target ....................................................................... 54
Indicator Amendments and Recommendations .......................................................... 55
Actions Adrift of target ................................................................................................. 57
Performance Indicators ........................................................................................................ 58
Action Tracker ....................................................................................................................... 62

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Our Council Plan Progress Update – Year End 2025 to 2026  Page 1 of 67
Our Performance at a Glance
Residents’ income
increased by more
than £20 million
through our Welfare
Advice Services in
2025 to 2026
£800,000 shared in
Arran between three
projects – a youth
centre, island hub and
marine infrastructure
£685,740 awarded to
14 community
projects across North
Ayrshire during 2025
to 2026 
16,279 trees were
planted during the
financial year 2025 to
2026, exceeding our
target
60 people attended
our third annual Older
People’s Voice
Conference 
We are embedding
Children’s Rights in
our everyday decision-
making, supporting
the UNCRC
Over 1,000 local
businesses supported
by our Community
Wealth Building
Programme
We launched our 2026
to 2027 Budget
Consultation and
received 1,125
responses
53 Digital Learning
Sessions delivered
supporting 192 people 
Our Solar Farms are
actively generating
renewable electricity
1,500 pupils took part
in climate change
education during
2025 to 2026
Over 400 employees
attended our A Great
Place to Work event
to learn more about
workplace support

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Our Council Plan Progress Update – Year End 2025 to 2026  Page 2 of 67
Welcome
Welcome to our Year-End Progress Report on our Council Plan 2023 to 2028.  This report
covers the period 1 October 2025 to 31 March 2026.  Our Council Plan is our contract with
our residents and details how we are progressing our four priorities of Wellbeing,
Communities and Local Democracy, Climate Change, and A Sustainable Council: 
Our Vision: A North Ayrshire that is fair for all
Our Mission: Working together to improve the
lives of our people in North Ayrshire
Delivery of our Council Plan is progressing positively with 81% of our indicators where the
status is known either on target or just slightly adrift of target, and 100% of our actions are
on target or just slightly adrift of target.  We regularly compare our performance to other
local authorities with similar demographic traits through the Local Government
Benchmarking Framework (LGBF) and include information on this within our Council Plan
reporting.  There are 33 LGBF indicators that link closely with our Council Plan priorities and
20 of these 33 indicators are in the top two quartiles.  
North Ayrshire Council’s scheduled Controller of Audit (Section 102) Best Value report was
considered by the Accounts Commission in October, with the Commission’s ﬁndings
considered by Council in December.  This report is an overview of all recent Best Value audits
and the ﬁndings are extremely positive, highlighting a culture of continuous improvement, a
proactive focus on addressing inequalities in our communities and stating the council is “an
exemplar of how to do transformation well”.

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Our Council Plan Progress Update – Year End 2025 to 2026  Page 3 of 67
Through our extensive and accessible 2026 to 2027 budget consultation, over 1,200
responses from our residents and community groups were received and helped to shape
priorities across schools, services for young people and wider council services, with targeted
engagement ensuring the voices of our young people and those who are care-experienced
were also heard.  This feedback directly informed the setting of our budget (approved in
February 2026) alongside Equality and Children’s Rights Impact Assessments.
Since the launch of our new Money Smart Team in May 2025, we have helped increase
North Ayrshire residents’ income by more than £20 million by giving debt advice in addition
to supporting individuals and families with their ﬁnances, to ensure they are able to access
and maximise beneﬁts with services.  
A major milestone in our council’s journey to net zero was achieved with the successful
delivery of council-owned solar farms at Nethermains and the former Shewalton landﬁll site.
As the ﬁrst projects of their kind to be owned and operated by a Scottish local authority,
these fully energised sites are already generating renewable electricity while providing a
long-term income stream for our council.  Revenue from the solar farms will be reinvested to
support local services, tackle fuel poverty and enable community-led renewable energy
initiatives.  
During the year, Connected Communities continued to support groups to access funding and
be involved in decision making. Local people decided where small grants participatory
budgeting should be awarded, including speciﬁc grants of up to £2,000 for organisations
with Community Wealth Building aspirations.
To give context to the environment in which we deliver our services, some key measures are
highlighted below: 
Together we will ensure a
North Ayrshire that is fair for all. 
Population of North Ayrshire:
134,010 (2024)
18.0% of our children live in
poverty after housing costs 
(2025)
28% of our households live in
fuel poverty (2022 to 24)
68.1% of working age
population is in employment
(June 2025)
10.9% of people earn less than
the living wage (2025)
Area wide CO2 emissions are
540.1kt CO2E (July 2023)

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Our Council Plan Progress Update – Year End 2025 to 2026 Page 4 of 67
Wellbeing
To transition to a wellbeing economy, delivering prosperity, wellbeing and resilience for local
people.
Key Activities
Money Smart
Our welfare rights and money advice
service helped increase North Ayrshire
residents’ income by more than £20
million over 2025 to 2026. Our Money
Smart team helps individuals and families
with their ﬁnances, oﬀering debt advice
whilst ensuring they are able to access
and maximise beneﬁts. This can involve:
• Completing beneﬁts checks and
conﬁrming entitlement.
• Helping with claims for Universal
Credit and other DWP and Social
Security Scotland beneﬁts.
• Advice and support with debts
including rent and Council Tax arrears.
• Information on housing services.
• Budgeting advice.
Accessing Support
Work is underway to modernise and
simplify how residents access beneﬁts,
making support easier to navigate. This
includes ensuring the ‘No Wrong Door’
approach is embedded across all services,
making sure people get the right help, no
matter how they reach us. Training and
awareness sessions have been expanded
to include colleagues in Education, schools
and third sector organisations to support a
more joined-up response.
A review of progress is also underway to
ensure the approach continues to be as
eﬀective as possible.
Fairer Futures
Fairer Futures has continued to develop,
with communities and third sector
partners helping to shape how services
are designed and delivered. Activity
remains focused on building trust,
strengthening relationships and bringing
services closer to people and our
communities. This includes ongoing
development of community connector
roles and a Community Services Directory
to improve access to support.
The Child Poverty Strategy team led a
workshop at the ‘Collaborating for Impact:
Improving Outcomes for Children, Young
People and Families Conference’, hosted
by Children in Scotland in partnership with
Glasgow City Council. The workshop, co-
designed with Arran CVS, brought
together public and third sector partners
to ensure the ethical inclusion of lived
experiences in policy and service design.
Children and Families Plan
Signiﬁcant progress was made on the
development of a shared Children and
Families Plan bringing together three
statutory duties (our Children’s Services
Plan, Child Poverty Action Plan and UNCRC
commitments) and other responsibilities.
We have been actively working with third
sector interface colleagues ensuring
community voice and sector expertise are
embedded throughout.
In addition, a third sector engagement
event was hosted at Saltcoats Town Hall in
partnership with Children
in Scotland. This
enabled us to
explore how to

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Our Council Plan Progress Update – Year End 2025 to 2026  Page 5 of 67
evaluate progress so far and consider key
strengths and opportunities to improve
how our council works in meaningful
partnership with the third sector.  
Together, these developments are
strengthening collaboration, supporting a
more co-ordinated, community informed
and sustainable approach to reducing
inequality and improving wellbeing.
Family Enterprise Programme
The new Family Enterprise Programme,
developed in partnership with Ayrshire
College and The Ayrshire Community Trust
(TACT) and supported through the Child
Poverty Early Intervention Fund was
launched in March 2026.  Ten parents
participated in curriculum co-design
sessions with Ayrshire College tutors,
helping to shape a 12-week accredited
programme due to begin in April 2026. 
This initiative will provide parents with
accredited entrepreneurial training and
access to small business start-up grants. 
By addressing barriers such as limited
childcare ﬂexibility and opening new
economic opportunities, the programme
aims to increase ﬁnancial security and
contribute to North Ayrshire’s growing
wellbeing economy.  
Smart Data Foundry
We have developed a new analytical
indicator which measures the proportion
of people whose income is made up of
more than 40% beneﬁts, excluding
universal payments, to ensure a more
reliable understanding of need.  A
specialist working group, including a
representative from our Information
Governance team, is preparing to link
internal data sources to the Smart Data
Foundry platform.  This will provide a
richer, more detailed picture of local
circumstances and enable a more accurate
targeting of support.  
Poverty Awareness
Almost 300 employees have completed
our council’s dedicated child poverty e-
learning module earning their Child
Poverty Informed digital badges, with
many committing to participate in ongoing
quarterly sessions.  Face-to-face learning
sessions have also been developed in
partnership with the third sector and are
being rolled out.  Positive feedback has
been received and this engagement with
the training demonstrates a deepening
organisational understanding of the
challenges facing families and our aims to
ensure North Ayrshire is fair for all.
Collaboration for Health Equity in Scotland
(CHES) 
Progress is being made across the three
workstreams of Good Start, Good Jobs
and Good Health, including system
mapping, closer collaboration across
services and partners, and exploring
opportunities to test innovative new ways
of working. 
A workshop at Ardrossan Civic Centre on
23 October 2025, brought together 48
representatives from across the public,
private and third sectors.  It focused on
identifying local good practice in
improving health equity, and what further
action is needed to close the gap between
policy intent and real-world impact. 
Engagement also took place with the
Community Planning Partnership Board in
March 2026 to share progress made in the
local programme and seek further support
from partners to further enable CHES
support to reduce health
inequalities in our
communities.

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Our Council Plan Progress Update – Year End 2025 to 2026  Page 6 of 67
Early Years Admission Policy
Alterations to the Early Years (EY)
admissions policy approved by Cabinet in
October 2025, bring local practice in line
with the wider Scottish approach where
catchment areas do not apply.  In North
Ayrshire, parents can select up to three
council-funded establishments. 
Applications will be assessed using a
revised Priority Banding System which will
come into eﬀect from session 2026 to
2027.
Skills Capacity Building
We are continuing to build capacity in the
leadership skills of middle and senior
educational establishment staﬀ.  The
Raising Attainment Team has continued to
support leadership development across,
EY, Primary and Secondary establishments. 
This has included regular training and
development opportunities for EY
Managers and Senior Leaders, alongside
regular data clinics for EY and school
middle and senior leaders supporting
improved data literacy skills and the use of
data in raising attainment and
achievement, including sessions led by
Head Teachers.  EY, Primary and Secondary
attainment discussions have continued to
provide opportunities for peer support
and challenge.  Networks for Secondary
Senior Leaders and Heads of Faculty
(English and Maths) have also supported
professional learning and development
around shared priorities, literacy and
numeracy.  In addition, Service
Improvement Groups, with participation
across EY, Primary and Secondary sectors
have enabled shared leadership
opportunities in taking forward strategic
priorities including curriculum
development, the use of data and digital
learning.   
The Promise
We have successfully delivered the
Promise Education Award through a pilot
programme involving a targeted group of
secondary schools.  St Matthew's
Academy and Irvine Royal Academy have
achieved Levels 1 and 2 of the award, with
Ardrossan Academy, Kilwinning Academy,
Greenwood Academy and Auchenharvie
Academy actively progressing through the
programme. Building on the positive
impact of the pilot, the next phase will
focus on extending awareness, guidance
and support across additional
establishments and sectors to further
embed The Promise and strengthen
outcomes for care experienced learners.
We are supporting care experienced
learners through joint planning, improved
guidance and the development of a new

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Our Council Plan Progress Update – Year End 2025 to 2026  Page 7 of 67
Service Operating Procedure which will
detail how to deliver the Education Service
consistently and eﬃciently.  During the
last six months, progress has continued in
strengthening support for care
experienced learners through enhanced
partnership working, improved
governance arrangements and the
development of more robust planning and
reporting processes. 
Collaboration between the Education
Service and Health and Social Care
Partnership (HSCP) colleagues has
continued alongside activity in the
National Virtual Head Teacher network,
supporting the development of guidance
on cross-boundary information sharing
and promoting greater consistency of
practice.  The Keeping the Promise Award
programme (above) has continued to be
embedded across participating secondary
schools, while Champion Boards remain
established in all secondary schools,
ensuring that the views and experiences
of care experienced young people
continue to inform service development
and improvement activity. 
Consideration of explicit approaches to
involving care experienced young people
in Service policy development has been
built into the Service Plan.  The Service
Operating Procedure is in ﬁnal draft and
provides a consistent framework for
supporting care experienced learners
across the Education Service, building on
the strengthened partnerships and
systems established during this period.
Winter Warmer Breakfast
From 1 December 2025 to 30 January
2026, a free breakfast was oﬀered to all
North Ayrshire secondary school pupils on
school days through the return of our
Winter Warmer Breakfast Initiative.  The
aim of the initiative was to relieve some of
the ﬁnancial pressure on families at a time
of year when this can be felt the most.  
United Nations Convention on Rights of a
Child (UNCRC) 
In February 2026, the council rolled out
training on Supporting Children’s Rights in
our Work, alongside a new child friendly
complaint handling process and principles. 
The aim is to embed children’s rights in
everyday decision making and supports
the UNCRC (Incorporation) (Scotland) Act
2024, placing children’s rights at the heart
of policy and practice.  
Education Services Ayrshire Growth Deal
Tool
We have continued to raise awareness of
our new tool which supports learners in
career planning that is focused on the
growth areas of the Ayrshire Grown Deal
(AGD). This work supports a key priority
within the Ayrshire Regional Skills
Investment Plan 2022 - 2025.  The tool
supports delivery of the AGD through
awareness-raising among children, young
people and school staﬀ; curriculum and
pathways planning; and ultimately further
study and employment opportunities for
our young people of North Ayrshire.
Community Wealth Building
A new independent report has praised the
strong progress being made through the
AGD funded Community Wealth Building
programme in Ayrshire, highlighting its
growing and positive impact on local
businesses, fair work and inclusive
economic growth.  
The study carried out extensive research,
assessing performance
metrics, holding
extensive
discussions with

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Our Council Plan Progress Update – Year End 2025 to 2026  Page 8 of 67
a range of stakeholders, surveying local
enterprises and carried out a number of
case studies with local ﬁrms who have
been supported by the Community
Wealth Building programme by analysing
the four key pillars:
• Procurement - increasing local spend
by prioritising local suppliers and small
businesses in public and institutional
contracts.
• Promoting local jobs and embedding
fair work across Ayrshire.
• Making better use of assets for
community beneﬁt.
• Promoting inclusive ownership
models.
Supported by £3 million of Scottish
Government funding, the programme has
already supported over 1,000 Ayrshire
business and increased opportunities to
beneﬁt from further public sector
investment.  Described as a ‘pioneering
model’, the approach is helping to keep
wealth within our communities, creating
better jobs, strengthening local economy
and creating a more resilient regional
economy for the future.
Employability
Positive Pathways
Our council is supporting Third Sector
partner, The Ayrshire Community Trust
(TACT), to deliver ‘Positive Pathways’, a
new employability programme residents
get closer to work.  The 12-week initiative
combines personal development, one to
one coaching, E-learning and CV writing
support as well as volunteering
opportunities with local organisations.  
The programme begins with a two-week
STEPS to Excellence course, delivered by
qualiﬁed facilitators to build conﬁdence,
help people recognise their potential and
support those who are long-term
unemployed or facing redundancy to
access training, employment or
volunteering opportunities. 
On completion of the programme,
participants are oﬀered eight-week
Scottish Credit and Qualiﬁcations
Framework courses with Ayrshire College
– an SCQF Level 4 Health and Wellbeing
and SCQF Level 4 Elevate Employability
Award.  Volunteering placements can also
be explored to gain practical, hands-on
experience.  
Modern Apprenticeships
On 24 February, we held a Modern
Apprentice Recruitment Day at Ayrshire
College in Kilwinning focussing on
opportunities across our council services
including Business Administration,
Housing and Youth Work.  The event was
targeted at 16 to 19-year-olds either ready
to leave school or looking at employment
opportunities.  75 of our young people
attended and 10 Modern Apprenticeship
vacancies were ﬁlled.
During Modern Apprenticeship week from
2 March, we celebrated the commitment
and achievements of our learners working
towards their Modern Apprenticeship
qualiﬁcations as well as sharing details of
new opportunities available across North
Ayrshire.  As part of the week’s activities,
the Working North Ayrshire Team, in
partnership with Developing the Young
Workforce, hosted a “Your Next Move”
Youth Recruitment Event at Ayrshire
College’s Kilwinning Campus on 4 March. 
It attracted 250 attendees with 58
stallholders including
employers sharing
information.

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Our Council Plan Progress Update – Year End 2025 to 2026  Page 9 of 67
Specialist Employability Support
We have continued to embed the Equal
employability service following the
opening of its new location at Lochshore
Park, Beith in September. The Equal
programme supports people with long-
term health conditions and disabilities into
work and training as part of our council’s
“Your Next Move, Working North
Ayrshire” programme. Lochshore Park
oﬀers more space and provides outdoor
opportunities and enhanced facilities in
modern surroundings.
Employability Awards
Over 140 nominations were received for
the third annual Employability Awards,
delivered through the Next Move,
Working North Ayrshire programme.  The
awards celebrate the achievements of
trainees, volunteers and modern
apprentices building skills, conﬁdence and
experience on their journey to progress to
the world of work.  Taking place during
Careers Week, the event highlighted the
range of career pathways and support
available across North Ayrshire, marked by
the introduction of a new ‘Career Pathway
Excellence’ award.
Trade Skills Programme 
A new trade skills programme launched to
address local skills shortages in the
construction industry while improving the
conﬁdence, experience and employment
opportunities for our young people.  The
Future Trades Programme, delivered in
partnership with Your Next Move,
Working North Ayrshire programme, CEIS
Ayrshire and supported by The Robertson
Trust, oﬀers hands-on training across a
range of trades including bricklaying,
plastering, plumbing, joinery and painting
and decorating alongside industry
recognised qualiﬁcations and tailored
employability support.  
A total of 24 young people have
successfully taken part and attained their
Construction Skills Certiﬁcation Scheme
(CSCS) with many already progressing to
interviews, work placements and job
opportunities. 
Housing 
Strategic Housing Investment Plan (SHIP)
In early 2026, we continued to make
strong progress in delivering new homes
and improving existing ones across North
Ayrshire.  Working alongside our
Registered Social Landlord partners, we
are delivering aﬀordable housing through
our council’s SHIP.  The SHIP sets out
priorities for housing investment over the
next ﬁve years and explains how these will
be delivered to meet local housing need.
In October 2025, Cabinet approved
proposals to expand the SHIP, increasing
the overall target from 1,643 to 1,666 new
homes.  As part of this decision, the third
phase of the St Michael’s development in
Kilwinning was moved into the main
programme.  This phase will see 46 new
homes built at the former school site,
adding to the 119 homes already
delivered during the ﬁrst two phases.
Two further council-led developments
have also been added to the main SHIP
programme for 2026 to 2031:
• Redburn Grove, Irvine – 16 new homes
as part of the redevelopment of the
Gypsy/Traveller site.
• Guthrie Road, Saltcoats – Seven new
homes following the demolition of an
existing block through
the Estates Based
Regeneration
Programme.

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Our Council Plan Progress Update – Year End 2025 to 2026  Page 10 of 67
Construction is already underway at
several sites, including Ayrshire Central in
Irvine, our council’s largest ever council
house development; the former Garnock
Academy site in Kilbirnie, and the former
King’s Arms Hotel in Irvine.
Sustainable Housing Investment
Alongside new build programmes, we
continue to invest in our existing council
homes to ensure they remain safe,
comfortable, and aﬀordable to live in. 
Sustainability improvements such as
external wall insulation and solar panels
are being installed where appropriate,
helping tenants reduce energy costs and
address fuel poverty.  We are also piloting
a “whole house” retroﬁt approach, which
will help shape future investment
decisions and support our long-term
energy eﬃciency targets.  All investment
decisions are informed by detailed
property condition data and our 30-year
Housing Revenue Account business plan,
ensuring funding is targeted where it is
most needed.
Empty Homes
Reducing the number of empty homes
remains a priority.  As at 31st March, 432
empty properties were brought back into
use, increasing the supply of homes within
local communities.  Our Housing teams
continue to work closely with private
owners, oﬀering advice and support to
help return vacant properties to use. 
Where appropriate, owners of former
housing association homes are also
supported to explore buy-back options.
Tenant Participation
The North Ayrshire Network, our
tenant-led customer group, helps to
challenge performance and support
continuous improvement to ensure our
tenants play a role in shaping how housing
services are delivered.  The group was
involved in reviewing key regulatory
submissions, including the Annual Return
on the Charter and Annual Assurance
Statement, before these were submitted
to the Scottish Housing Regulator.
The Tenant Inspection Panel continues to
review one area of service each year,
focusing on improvements that matter
most to tenants. Findings from the latest
Tenant Satisfaction Survey (TSS),
completed in February 2025 with 1,490
tenants (40.4%), are helping to shape
future service improvements. Overall
satisfaction with North Ayrshire Council’s
Housing Service remains high at 91.8%,
with positive movement across most
areas, indicating improved perceptions of
the service.
Compared with the previous survey,
satisfaction has increased in key areas
including overall service, neighbourhood
management, value for money, quality of
homes and repairs, while ratings for
keeping tenants informed remain strong.
Although satisfaction with opportunities
to participate in decision-making has
dipped slightly, it remains above the
sector average. The survey also
highlighted areas for improvement,
particularly around making homes easier
to heat, strengthening tenant
involvement, and improving awareness of
available support. Action plans are in
place to address these issues, with
delivery planned between 2025 and 2028.
Housing Regeneration Funding
We continue to actively seek external
funding to support housing delivery and
regeneration.  During
2025 to 2026, we
worked with the
Scottish

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Our Council Plan Progress Update – Year End 2025 to 2026  Page 11 of 67
Government and Trust Housing
Association to secure funding to support
housing for key workers on Arran.  The
council has been successful in securing
£1.838m from North Ayrshire Ventures
Trust and a further £1.169m from the
Scottish Government’s Regeneration
Capital Grant Fund towards the over £13m
investment required to regenerate
Bourtreehill Village Centre in Irvine.  The
grant funding will be utilised to develop
three new retail units in the area,
retaining existing retail tenants.  This will
allow the ageing existing retail and
residential accommodation to be replaced
with 35 new homes on the site.  The
existing retail provision has a number of
low demand vacant units which have
remained empty for some time.
Local Housing Strategy
Good progress has been made across our
four overarching outcomes set out in our
Local Housing Strategy:
More Homes at the Heart of Great Places -
Since April 2014, 975 homes have been
completed, including recent developments
at Fitzsimmons Wynd, Ardrossan, St
Mary’s Gardens, Largs, and Longacre
Place, Stanecastle, Irvine which were
developed throughout 2024 to 2025 and
2025 to 2026.
Major projects are underway, including
Ayrshire Central in Irvine, which will
deliver over 200 new homes, and the
former Garnock Academy site in Kilbirnie,
which will provide 50 new council homes.
We also continue to work closely with
private developers.  Since April 2023, this
partnership approach has supported the
delivery of 528 new private sector homes. 
Development is now underway at all ﬁve
sites allocated through Local Development
Plan 2, which together will deliver over
1,000 private homes, alongside other
active sites such as Montgomerie Park,
Irvine, and West Byrehill, Kilwinning.
Aﬀordability and Choice - Strong progress
has been made in improving aﬀordability
and housing choice.  This includes
establishing the Arran Housing Task Force
to better understand local demand,
delivering 123 Housing First tenancies
through the Rapid Rehousing Transition
Plan (considerably ahead of target), and
expanding the council buy-back scheme to
increase the supply of aﬀordable homes.
Aﬀordable Warmth and Zero Emissions -
Signiﬁcant steps are being taken to
support the council’s ambition to reach
net zero carbon emissions by 2030.  New
homes are being built with air source heat
pumps, improved insulation, and solar
panels.
The Area Based Scheme supports private
households by installing energy-eﬃcient
and low-carbon measures in hard-to-treat
areas.  In addition, Energy Smart
emergency support payments have been
provided to residents at risk of fuel debt.
Improving the Quality of Our Homes - The
Estate-Based Regeneration Programme
continues to improve neighbourhoods by
addressing low demand housing,
antisocial behaviour, and environmental
issues.  Improvements include better
parking, paths, fencing, landscaping, and
communal spaces.
Through the Sheltered Housing
Reprovisioning Programme, refurbishment
has recently been completed at Barnett
Court, Saltcoats, and Cheviot Court, Irvine. 
Further works are planned
to start next year at
Vineburgh Court,
Irvine, and Laigh
Court, Beith.

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Our Council Plan Progress Update – Year End 2025 to 2026  Page 12 of 67
Next Steps
All next steps noted within the Mid-Year
Progress report are progressing as
expected and included in the narrative
above.
Next Steps to be achieved by September
2026 or as noted include:
• We will progress detailed planning for
access and beneﬁt services in April
2026, prioritising improvements to the
housing beneﬁt and council tax
reduction application process.
• We will use Smart Data Foundry
insights to routinely inform service
targeting, resource allocation and early
intervention.
• We will work with partners to identify
new opportunities through the Child
Poverty and Early Intervention Fund. 
• We will roll out face-to-face child
poverty learning sessions more widely
and embed learning into induction and
ongoing development.
• We will build on Fairer Futures by
regularly involving parents and young
people in shaping services.
• We will monitor and evaluate the
Family Enterprise Programme.
• We will continue to simplify routes
into ﬁnancial, employability and
wellbeing support through the ‘No
Wrong Door’ approach and
community connectors.
• We will look to extend our Welfare
Rights Oﬃcer posts, recognising the
positive impact of this work on local
families. 
• We will ﬁnalise our joint Children and
Families Plan 2026 to 2029, bringing
together for the ﬁrst time our formal
planning across children’s services,
child poverty and children’s rights by
September 2026. 
• We will use CHES and Community
Planning Partnership structures to
better connect child poverty work with
health, housing and education
priorities.
• We will help to shape national reports
summarising the impacts of CHES to
date and making recommendations to
relevant bodies to further accelerate
progress. 
• We will develop a small set of shared
outcome measures to show how
combined actions are reducing
ﬁnancial pressure and improving
wellbeing for children and families.
• We will develop a new Education
Improvement Plan 2026-29, focusing
on key priorities as identiﬁed with
school staﬀ, children and young
people, and other partners by
September 2026.

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Our Council Plan Progress Update – Year End 2025 to 2026 Page 13 of 67
Case Study - Dirrans Centre, Kilwinning
The Dirrans Centre in Kilwinning, run by the North Ayrshire Health and Social Care
Partnership, provides specialist rehabilitation and reablement support for adults with
physical disabilities, brain injuries, and neurological and long-term conditions. Originally
established in 1996 as a head injury unit, the centre has evolved to meet wider and more
complex needs, supporting people at diﬀerent stages of recovery to rebuild independence,
conﬁdence and quality of life.
Many people supported by the centre face signiﬁcant physical, emotional and social barriers
following illness or injury. Without tailored, compassionate rehabilitation, individuals can
experience isolation, declining mental wellbeing and reduced independence, placing
additional pressure on families and wider public services.
The Dirrans Centre takes a person-centred, strengths-based approach to rehabilitation. Staﬀ
work closely with individuals to support physical recovery, rebuild conﬁdence and promote
independence, while also recognising the importance of emotional wellbeing and social
connection. Services are delivered in partnership with our council and wider health and
social care services, ensuring coordinated and holistic support.
A key strength of the centre is its focus on relationships. Service users consistently describe
the staﬀ and fellow participants as a “soul family”, highlighting the importance of trust,
empathy and belonging in the recovery journey.
Feedback from service users demonstrates positive outcomes,
watch how the programme is making a diﬀerence by clicking on
the image on the right:
Individuals report signiﬁcant improvements in both physical and
mental health, increased independence and renewed purpose.
For some, the support received has been described as transformative, with several people
stating it has changed – or even saved – their life.
Beyond individual outcomes, the centre plays an important role in supporting North
Ayrshire’s ambition to build a wellbeing economy. By helping people regain independence
and conﬁdence, the service contributes to healthier communities, reduced reliance on
long-term care and better life chances for residents.

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Our Council Plan Progress Update – Year End 2025 to 2026  Page 14 of 67
Case Study – Family Centred Wellbeing Service
The North Ayrshire Family Centred Wellbeing Service is helping families access the right
support placing wellbeing, relationships and early intervention at the heart of its approach.
Working closely with schools, health services, communities and third sector partners, the
Service provides coordinated support tailored to the needs of children, young people and
their families. By taking a whole-family approach, the services aims to reduce barriers,
improve wellbeing and help families build conﬁdence, resilience and stronger connections
within their communities
Support ranges from emotional wellbeing and practical advice to help with ﬁnancial
pressures, school attendance and family relationships. Crucially, families are supported in a
way that works or them, ensuring services are accessible, compassionate and focused on
long term positive outcomes.
Partnership working is central to the success of the service. Staﬀ across agencies work
together to identify concerns early and provide joined up support before challenges escalate.
This collaborative model is helping families feel listened to, supported and better connected
to the services available in their local area.
The impact is already being seen across North Ayrshire with families reporting improved
wellbeing, greater conﬁdence and stronger engagement with education and community
support. By focusing on prevention and early help, the Family Centred Wellbeing Service is
helping create more positive futures for children, young people and families.
To learn more about the Family Centred Wellbeing Service and the support available for
children, young people and families, visit the service website: North Ayrshire Family Centred
Wellbeing Service.

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Our Council Plan Progress Update – Year End 2025 to 2026  Page 15 of 67
Communities and Local
Democracy
We will have active, inclusive and resilient communities.
Key Activities
Nationally Recognised Awards
During 2025 to 2026, 431 adults and 1,955
young people gained recognised national
awards and accredited qualiﬁcations. 
Achievement routes included Duke of
Edinburgh Awards, Discovery Awards,
Personal Development Awards in Youth
Work, Youth Achievement Awards,
employability programmes and a range of
accredited learning opportunities
delivered through schools, community
settings and third sector partnerships.
A signiﬁcant contributor to this
achievement was the Duke of Edinburgh's
Award programme, which engaged 1,019
young people during the year.   During
January 2026 to March 2026 alone, 108
awards were achieved and more than 600
young people, families and volunteers
attended the annual presentation event to
celebrate success.
The year's achievements were supported
by strong progression pathways.  Four
Youth Work Modern Apprentices
progressed into positive destinations,
while Discovery Award participants
achieved North Ayrshire's ﬁrst Gold Award
alongside Silver and Bronze Awards. 
These achievements helped participants
build conﬁdence, leadership skills and
employability, while supporting positive
destinations and lifelong participation in
learning.
Community Capacity Building
489 community groups and organisations
were supported to access external funding
during the year, helping attract investment
into North Ayrshire communities and
strengthening community wealth building.
Support included funding advice,
governance development, business
planning, Community Beneﬁt
opportunities, Community Asset Transfer
support and direct assistance with funding
applications.
Community organisations accessed
investment from programmes including
the Community Investment Fund, National
Lottery, Creative Scotland, Community
Beneﬁts, North Ayrshire Ventures (NAVT)
and Community Renewable Energy
Generation Fund (CREGF).  During January
to March 2026:
• £92,214 was invested in community
assets and capacity, including:
o £17,865 for Three Towns Growers
Community Hub
o £20,000 for Ardrossan Outdoor
Bowling Club
o £50,428 for Saltcoats Victoria
Football Club
• £60,000 secured through child poverty
partnership activity
• £19,950 National Lottery investment
supporting older people in Girdle Toll
• £100,000 award supporting the Fairer
Food Network
Alongside direct funding, Community
Beneﬁts activity generated
additional resources for
local groups, including
IT equipment, sports
kits, match funding,
safety equipment,

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Our Council Plan Progress Update – Year End 2025 to 2026  Page 16 of 67
white goods and ﬁnancial donations.  This
support enabled community organisations
to improve facilities, expand services,
employ staﬀ, develop community assets
and deliver locally identiﬁed priorities,
helping to ensure more wealth and
investment remains within North Ayrshire
communities.
Volunteering and Leadership
1,179 volunteering opportunities were
participated in this year, demonstrating
the signiﬁcant contribution volunteers
make to community wellbeing, leadership,
environmental action, sport and active
citizenship across North Ayrshire. 
Opportunities were created through youth
work programmes, community
organisations, Discovery Awards, climate
action projects, Duke of Edinburgh
Awards, community events, Community
Sports Hubs and Active Schools
programmes.  Managed volunteers also
supported delivery in English for Speakers
of Other Languages (ESOL), Core Skills and
youth activities.
Young people played a particularly
important role in volunteering activity. 
Duke of Edinburgh participants completed
volunteering placements across their
communities, while youth forums,
Champions Boards, Young Ambassadors
and Sports Academy pupils contributed to
community action, local democracy and
peer leadership.
During 2025 to 2026, 97% of all Active
Schools activity was delivered by
volunteers.  A total of 141 Sports Academy
pupils volunteered within school and
community sport programmes, 134 Young
Ambassadors undertook leadership
activity, and 394 new Move and Improve
Leaders trained across 19 schools in
January to March 2026.  Active Schools
also delivered 28 events involving 1,724
young people, supported predominantly
by volunteers, while also engaging 5,346
primary pupils, 2,319 secondary pupils
and 44 ASN pupils in extracurricular
activity. 
Funding
£204,159 was available for community
groups to apply for via Participatory
Budgeting.  The total was shared between
the following areas:
• £124,351 to support locality project
applications up to £1,000.
• £30,000 to support Community
Wealth Building applications up to
£2,000.
• £48,808 to support youth project
applications up to £1,000.  
Our Connected Communities Service
received 324 nominations from
community groups and organisations for
consideration.  From these, 78 youth
projects, 158 locality projects and 27
Community Wealth Building Fund projects
were identiﬁed as meeting the necessary
criteria.  The full results can be found
here. 
Links to Community Wealth Building
continue to be demonstrated through the
Community Investment Fund (CIF) and
other grants administered to our
communities, in addition to ongoing work
around strengthening the role of locality
networks and development of locality
'Place Insights'. The delivery of the Test It!
Programme allows us to share
skills across partners and
support enterprising
activity within the
third sector.

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Our Council Plan Progress Update – Year End 2025 to 2026  Page 17 of 67
One locality has now fully utilised its
allocation of CIF and we are working with
them to understand the learning which
can be shared with others who are
nearing the end of their allocations to
ensure a smooth transition. We are also
continuing to identify any external funding
opportunities which can help to support
locality priorities.
‘Elect Her’ Workshop
In November our council ran the ‘Elect
Her’ workshop providing an opportunity
for women in North Ayrshire to get
involved in local democracy.  The event
was targeted at those looking to make a
change in their communities and/or who
wished to put themselves forward as a
councillor.  Held in the Chambers, seven
people attended, enabling informal yet
detailed discussions about the role of a
councillor with Elected Members.
Following the success of this workshop,
our council held another in February for
anyone interested in becoming a
councillor within North Ayrshire. The
workshop aimed to increase participation
in local democracy while educating and
inspiring potential candidates for local
government. A total of 13 people
participated in the event, all sharing a
passion for their community and taking
the opportunity to learn from some of our
councillors in elected oﬃce. 
Care Experienced Champions Board
Conference
Care-experienced young people from
secondary schools across North Ayrshire
came together on Wednesday 26
November 2025 for their ﬁrst ever
Champions Board Conference at Saltcoats
Town Hall.  Following a similar format to
the Joint Cabinet, the conference gave our
young people the chance to explore what
The Promise means in practice, meet and
collaborate with peers, share their views,
and begin shaping their summer
programme for 2026.  The Champions
Board Conference marks an important
step in ensuring our council continues to
take meaningful and practical action to
help North Ayrshire keep The Promise.
Youth Participation Strategy
On 27 January, an event was held at
Saltcoats Town Hall to reﬂect on and learn
from our Youth Participation Strategy.  A
new strategy is being developed and it
was our aim to bring those who work with
our young people including community
partners, senior managers, Education and
Connected Communities teams together
to discuss requirements, developments
and challenges in this area.
Older People’s Voice Conference
Our third annual Older People’s Voice
Conference saw 60 residents take part on
6 March at Redburn Community Centre.
The community event was planned and
hosted by our Council’s Community
Learning and Development team in
partnership with older people across the
six localities.  The conference is a key
component of our Older People’s Voice
Participation Strategy to ensure our older
residents real life experience informs
policy planning.
Attendees enjoyed an afternoon tea
provided by Friends of Redburn and
discussed what has worked well over the
past year.  Our council’s WhatsApp
channel was highlighted as
improving
communication.  It is
being used to share
key service updates
and emergency

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Our Council Plan Progress Update – Year End 2025 to 2026  Page 18 of 67
communications to residents who may not
be on social media but are conﬁdent using
WhatsApp messenger.
Other themes discussed at the annual
meeting included:
• Ensuring older people’s voices are
heard, actioned and respected.
• Helping to shape the work of our
council.
• Addressing inequalities.
• Achievement through
intergenerational learning.
• Community participation.
• Information on elderly grants.
• Health and wellbeing (Including green
health) in localities.
Local groups attended from localities
across North Ayrshire, and these included:
Irvine Seniors’ Forum, Three Towns
Discovery Group, Age Well in West
Kilbride, Kilwinning Vintage Voices and
Watt Gardens Residents’ Group in Dalry.
Community Investment Fund
During the 2025 to 2026 ﬁnancial year, a
total of £685,740 was awarded to
community projects across North Ayrshire
through the Community Investment Fund.
Overall, 14 projects received funding
across the localities. Some of these are:
• Beith Trust in Garnock Valley – funding
was awarded to upgrade the Beith
Astro 3G pitch to ensure its continued
safe use as a key multi-purpose
community facility.
• Impacts Arts in Irvine – for their
Community Canvas project to deliver
co-designed murals that provide
volunteering, skills development and
employment opportunities while
promoting wellbeing and reducing
inequalities.
• PRYDE in Kilwinning – for the
employment of a Community
Development Manager, part-time
community engagement staﬀ and
associated building overheads,
enabling the delivery of a continued
and expanded programme of activities
within the hub.
• Cycling without Age in Largs - to
purchase a second trishaw. This will be
used alongside their existing trishaw
on the promenade, allowing their
volunteer “pilots” to take more people
on trips.
• Craufurd Simson Park in North Coast- a
community-driven initiative to develop
a safe and inclusive playground for
local residents. Group were awarded
50% of the total project costs and are

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Our Council Plan Progress Update – Year End 2025 to 2026  Page 19 of 67
seeking match funding for the
remaining 50%.
• Saltcoats Victoria Football Club - to
support Phase 1 of a planned upgrade
of the facilities at Campbell Park. This
includes a changing room upgrade
involving new modular units which
include changing for two teams,
modern showering facilities and an
oﬃcials’ changing room.
Third Sector
Co-design with third sector partners and
community members remains central. 
Partnerships are translating shared
priorities into early delivery and
investment, with stronger alignment
between prevention, community
wellbeing, employability and social
enterprise activity.
Money Max, a family-centred support
team focused on putting people’s needs
ﬁrst by oﬀering practical guidance,
advocacy and support tailored to
individual circumstances, was achieved
through partnership.  Our work with the
Third Sector Chief Oﬃcers group led to its
co-design and funding through the Child
Poverty and Early Intervention Fund.
This pilot service brings together TACT,
CHAP, Beith Trust, 1st Alliance Community
Bank and Right Options to deliver a
coordinated support across all of their
organisations. The service can help with:
• Reducing debt and improving ﬁnancial
wellbeing.
• Beneﬁt applications, banking options
and savings schemes.
• Building conﬁdence, skills and
opportunities.
• Connecting people with the right
support services.
• Providing a safe, non-judgemental
space for guidance and development. 
Money Max has entered the delivery stage
with staﬀ in post and joint programme
design underway.
Test It! is a new social enterprise
development programme designed and
delivered in partnership with North
Ayrshire’s Third Sector for North Ayrshire’s
Third Sector.  Building on research
undertaken by the Third Sector Chief
Oﬃcers Group, the programme is working
with a small cohort of aspiring community
and voluntary organisations to build skills,
conﬁdence and understanding of social
enterprise within a peer support
framework. Mentoring and workshop
sessions are provided by Beith Trust and
Right Options, centring learning on real
experience of building a successful, locally
owned social enterprise. The ﬁve
successful organisations will receive start
up grants of between £3,000 and £9,500
to launch their idea, in addition to 1:2:1
coaching for organisations with the
potential to develop an early stage idea
further. Workshop delivery begins in April
2026 and the ﬁrst cohort will test their
ideas over the remainder of the year.
Islands
Island Plans
The new ﬁve-year National Islands Plan
was launched on 24 February and is
supported by a £5.75 million package of
investment for island communities to
create jobs, strengthen local economies,
improve infrastructure, enhance
community resilience and
support the transition to
net zero.
The overarching
purpose of the Local

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Our Council Plan Progress Update – Year End 2025 to 2026  Page 20 of 67
Island Plans is to drive sustainable
economic development, build resilience,
support population attraction and
retention and advance our Council Plan
priorities and overall vision of a North
Ayrshire that is fair for all.  
In response to the publication of the
National Islands Plan 2026 to 2031 and
building on the eﬀective and substantial
work to date, it is proposed that the North
Ayrshire Islands Programme progresses
work with island stakeholders, Elected
Members and across council teams to co-
develop refreshed and reﬁned Local Island
Plans.  These will be aligned with our
Council Plan, Community Wealth Building
Strategy, the new National Islands Plan,
the Ayrshire and Highlands and Islands
Regional Economic Strategies and other
relevant policies, strategies and plans.  
Consideration will be given to developing
island investment plans that can be used
as a framework to maximise funding on
the islands.  It is intended they will
identify strategic island and priority capital
and revenue projects seeking external
funding, ensuring there is a co-produced
and co-deﬁned project pipeline to
maximise investment opportunities for the
islands.
Island Investment
In partnership with the Scottish
Government’s Islands Programme, over
£800,000 is being shared over the
following three projects on Arran:
• £382,399 is going towards building a
new youth centre in Lamlash (Arran
Youth Foundations Youth Centre).
• £323,925 will be used to upgrade the
Brodick Hall Island Hub.
• £129,718 will help extend marine
infrastructure at Lochranza.
The programme backs the advancement
or establishment of projects that will help
local communities deliver the National
Islands Plan’s Strategic Objectives.
Community Planning
Our Community Planning team continues
to lead and support CPP and Locality
Partnership meetings, both online and
face-to-face.  They are facilitating the
rollout of the Locality Planning Review
recommendations, working closely with
the Scottish Government and other
national partners on key developing policy
areas, and leading a council-wide review
of community grants.
A Locality Communications working group
has been established to explore how social
media can be used more eﬀectively to
promote the work of the CPP.  This
includes highlighting Locality Partnerships
(LP’s), publicising community events,
sharing success stories, supporting
engagement activities and promoting
available funding opportunities.  
Our CPP is maintaining close collaboration
with our council’s Spatial Planning team
on the development of guidance for Local
Place Plans and the update of Locality
Proﬁles.  To ensure suﬃcient time for this
work to progress and for resulting actions
to be embedded, the refresh of Locality
Plans has been rescheduled to 2026. 
Arts and Cultural Team
We have delivered a Place Partnership
with Creative Scotland which facilitated
new projects and initiatives in North
Ayrshire including two Artist
Residency Projects.  The
Harbour Arts
Centre works actively
to support local
artists and

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Our Council Plan Progress Update – Year End 2025 to 2026  Page 21 of 67
community organisation in the delivery of
art and cultural based events and
activities to the local communities.
English for Speakers of Other Languages
(ESOL)
People from all over the world are
improving their language skills through
our Big Class sessions.  Participants are
allocated a group based on their English
level to join with other learners.  The
programme is supported by our council's
ESOL team, which includes Community
ESOL tutors and volunteer tutors, through
the Connected Communities service.  
Ruslana, from Ukraine, attends the
sessions and said: 
“I like this class because it has helped me
to overcome the barriers in
communication with English-speaking
people.”
“The lessons give me conﬁdence in
speaking and have helped me to gradually
learn new words.  I am starting to
understand English better by ear, and I feel
more comfortable in everyday situations. 
Valentina, also from Ukraine, didn’t study
English at school or university and said the
class has been great for developing her
language abilities due to the constant
support from our council’s tutors.
“My English is getting better and better,
and I would recommend the Big Class to
other people”.

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Our Council Plan Progress Update – Year End 2025 to 2026  Page 22 of 67
Next Steps
All next steps noted within the Mid-Year
Progress report are progressing as
expected and included in the narrative
above or listed below:
We will update the CIF guidance which is
provided to applicants and strengthen the
checklist which assists Locality Oﬃcers
with decision making:  Guidance has been
drafted and will be shared with Locality
Partnerships following the Scottish
Parliamentary Election.
We will continue work with partners
across our council, TSI and KA Leisure to
understand how we can better attract,
support, recognise and retain volunteers
locally and improve the overall volunteer
experience:  We continue to work closely
with partners across our council, the TSI
and KA Leisure to share information and
publicise opportunities in ways which
make it easier for individuals to ﬁnd
volunteering opportunities and
organisations to recruit volunteers.
---
Next Steps to be achieved by the end of
September 2026 unless otherwise stated:
• We will progress the next phase of our
Locality Planning 2.0 programme,
looking to strengthen our locality
networks.
• We will further develop the pipeline of
Community Asset Transfer projects to
increase the number of assets in
community ownership.
• We will work with KA Leisure to
develop the next phase of delivery of
the Wellbeing Alliance.
• Our Community Planning Partnership
will hold two training sessions in 2026
(August and December).  Invitations
will be extended to all partners,
internal colleagues and Locality
Partnership members.
• Locality Plan priority engagement is
ongoing with Plans due to be
considered by Locality Partnerships in
the autumn.
• The Participation Strategy will be
refreshed, supported by the upcoming
work with Scottish Community
Development Centre (SCDC) to build
staﬀ and partner skills in engagement
and consultation by March 2027.
• We will launch engagement on
proposals for a Community Transport
initiative.
• We will refresh and relaunch the
Community Engagement Network
following our shared visioning with
partners.
• We will progress work with island
stakeholders, Elected Members and
across council teams to co-develop
refreshed and reﬁned Local Island
Plans.

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Our Council Plan Progress Update – Year End 2025 to 2026 Page 23 of 67
Case Study – She Shed – Dalry
The She Shed was opened in August 2023 and aimed to provide a supportive space for all
women in the community to gather, share and create. In 2025, to accommodate the
increasing number of attendees, the group moved to the Dalry Scout Hall.
With continued support from locality staﬀ they have been able to form a committee and
become a constituted group with guidance and training oﬀered on a regular basis. This has
allowed them to apply for further participatory budgeting funding as well as from the Dalry
Parish boundary trust to allow them to pay rent, plan activities and purchase resources to
acknowledge the variety of interests of attendees. The She Shed has developed into a
weekly hub for women from across the Garnock Valley who are welcoming and supportive
of each other. They have hosted open days, attended events to promote the project and
welcomed other partners to celebrate occasions with them such as Christmas and Burns
Day.
The She Shed has worked well because there has been a positive impact on the lives of the
people who attend. The women who attend report that they have benefited from attending
the weekly sessions and found an improvement in their wellbeing. This has been achieved
through the commitment of the volunteers from the She Shed and other local partners and
their positive outlook towards partnership working. By collectively sharing information and
access to resources they have been able to develop a community space that promotes the
values and ethos of CLD, a safe and inclusive space for women to come together. At the core
of the work being delivered is women’s welfare regardless of their race, class, sexuality and
age. Their health and wellbeing is always considered and at the forefront when devising
activities and providing information.
The She Shed has made a diﬀerence in the lives of women attending the group by reducing
social isolation and giving them a space to connect with others and learn new skills. As a
result of the She Shed, one member in particular has developed conﬁdence to leave the
house on a regular basis and speak to other people. Another woman now has a day where
she has respite from her caring responsibilities. By attending the Shed she has the space to
take time for herself and relax and recharge. These are just two examples of many where
women’s conﬁdence, health and wellbeing are being improved through community
engagement.

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Our Council Plan Progress Update – Year End 2025 to 2026 Page 24 of 67
Case Study – Community Conversations – Irvine
The purpose of the Community Conversations across the Irvine locality was to engage
residents, community groups and partners in meaningful dialogue to shape action around
four key local priorities:
1. Supporting Skills and Work Opportunities
2. Enhancing Mental Health and Wellbeing
3. Alleviating Poverty
4. Championing Green Health and the Natural Environment
The conversations were structured around the following themes: Poverty; Employability and
Skills; Mental Health and Wellbeing; and Green Health and Open Spaces. In total 454
participants attended Community Conversations between January and March 2026. The
ﬁndings will be used to create a new, inclusive and representative Irvine Locality 2026 to
2027 Action Plan. Engagement sessions included:
• Redburn Community Lunch hosted 84 residents to share food, ideas and
conversations about what matters most in their community.
• Fullarton ConneXions welcomed 55 residents to Café Solace community meal
provision, including four Alcohol and Drugs Partnership community groups alongside
volunteers from Recovery Café in Irvine.
• Volunteer Rooms facilitated 39 participants from a range of community groups,
organisations, colleagues and CPP partners.
• In total 149 of our children and young people took part in youth friendly
conversations across our primary schools and youth groups.
The conversations were aimed to create accessible spaces for people to share lived
experiences, highlight barriers, and contribute project ideas that would directly inform
locality planning and future community development work. By gathering diverse voices from
across Irvine, the programme sought to ensure that community-led insight guided
decision-making and supported more inclusive, place-based approaches.
The Community Conversations worked well because the approach was designed to be
genuinely accessible, inclusive and rooted in the needs of our local people. Holding sessions
in familiar community spaces helped reduce barriers to participation and encouraged
residents to engage more openly. The informal, conversational style created a relaxed
atmosphere where people felt comfortable sharing their views and experiences.
Strong partnership working also contributed signiﬁcantly to the success of the activity. Local
partners (Independent and third sector partners, Health and Social Care Partnership, Police
Scotland, Scottish Fire and Rescue, NHS Ayrshire and Arran and Ayrshire College) helped
promote the sessions, brought additional knowledge of community dynamics, and
supported facilitation - helping to build trust and widen participation. Their
involvement ensured the activity felt collaborative rather than service-led.
A key factor in the success of the activity was the use of the online
platform Consul to collate and present the information gathered.
Consul provided an accessible digital space where community

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Our Council Plan Progress Update – Year End 2025 to 2026  Page 25 of 67
members could review emerging themes, contribute additional comments, and stay
informed about the process at a time and place that suited them. This blended approach -
combining in-person conversations with an online engagement tool - helped widen
participation, especially for individuals who could not attend sessions in person.
As a result of these conversations several key areas of focus were identiﬁed:
Mental health and
reducing poverty
The barrier of
transport Poverty pressures Community spaces
as lifelines
Supporting young
people
Mental health,
trauma and
recovery
Practical skills Green spaces matter  
These sessions were received positively: 
“A meaningful opportunity to have my voice heard.”
“Good chance to share our views with other like-minded partners.”
“Optimistic for the future to drive positive changes.” 
The next stages in the creation of the Irvine Locality Action Plan will involve deﬁning
timelines, partners and expected outcomes, identifying pilots for quick implementation, and
establishing regular community voice forums.  We will ensure lived experience is embedded
in every stage.

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Our Council Plan Progress Update – Year End 2025 to 2026 Page 26 of 67
Climate Change
To achieve net-zero by 2030.
Key Activities
Sustainable Energy
Solar Farms
Both council solar photovoltaics (PV)
developments at Nethermains and the
former Shewalton landﬁll site are fully
energised and generating renewable
electricity.  The solar farms are pioneering
and the ﬁrst to be owned and operated by
a Scottish local authority.  The sites are key
to delivering our council's Sustainable
North Ayrshire Strategy and will earn
income for our council to help sustain
local services by selling the electricity
generated.
Some of the income from the solar farm
will be used to help with community
projects, addressing fuel poverty and
encouraging renewable energy projects at
a local level.
Community Energy Generation
Work is ongoing to identify further
low-carbon energy opportunities,
including potential community ownership
models and collaboration with local
industry to make use of excess heat. The
Community Renewable Energy Generation
Fund continues to be promoted, with nine
community groups supported since
February 2024. 
2030 Woodland: A Tree Planting Strategy
Delivery of North Ayrshire’s 2030
Woodland: A Tree Planting Strategy
remains a priority, with continued support
oﬀered to community groups and ongoing
identiﬁcation of suitable planting sites.
Since 2022 to 2023, 65,305 trees have
been planted across North Ayrshire
through a combination of council-led
projects and community-led initiatives. 
This exceeds the 2025 to 2026 milestone
target of 60,000 trees by 31 March 2026
and places the programme ﬁrmly on
schedule to achieve the overall ambition
of 108,000 trees by 2030.
A signiﬁcant milestone was reached in
February 2026 with the completion of
7,000 trees planted at Annick Valley Park
in Irvine and in March, a new tree-planting
project commenced at Milgarholm Park,
delivered in partnership with local social
enterprise Eadah Enterprises and
environmental charity Woodland Wakeup. 
The project will see 1,600 trees planted
and includes strong community
involvement alongside an on-site
educational programme delivered by
Woodland Wakeup, helping to connect
local people with the environmental
beneﬁts of woodland creation.
North Ayrshire 2030 Woodland Grant
Fund
The 2030 Woodland Grant Fund 2025 to
2026 was launched in October 2025 to
support not-for-proﬁt community groups
and local organisations across North
Ayrshire.  The £25,000 fund was widely
promoted through multiple
communication channels and closed for
applications on 31 January
2026.  Two applications
were received, one has
been approved to
support a
small-scale

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Our Council Plan Progress Update – Year End 2025 to 2026 Page 27 of 67
tree-planting project within a primary
school, while assessment of the second
application is ongoing.
Community Participation
We continue to strengthen community
participation in climate governance
through a series of community climate
conversations held across our localities.  In
addition, the Climate Change Steering
Group maintains active engagement with
internal teams, external stakeholders, and
partners to support informed
decision-making on our journey to net
zero.
Area Based Scheme (ABS)
The ABS continues to make positive
progress, with resident engagement and
energy eﬃciency installations underway
on Cumbrae, Arran and at St Winnings in
Kilwinning.  Measures installed to date
include air source heat pumps, high
heat-retention storage heaters and solar
photovoltaic (PV) systems, supporting
households experiencing fuel poverty.
Engagement has also commenced with
homeowners living in properties in Beith
and Kilbirnie.  These homes have been
identiﬁed as more diﬃcult to treat, and
where feasible the scheme will provide
external wall insulation alongside solar PV
installations.
In addition, for 2025 to 2026, the Scottish
Government conﬁrmed the expansion of
the scheme to additional locations,
enabling further investment in electric
heating upgrades, cavity wall insulation
and solar PV.  The newly approved areas
include Kilbirnie, Beith, Irvine, Largs,
Saltcoats and Stevenston, with early
engagement in these communities
receiving a positive response.
ECO4 Flexibility (ECO4 Flex)
Our partnership with our ECO4
Flex-approved contractor has continued to
deliver improvements to homes across
North Ayrshire since May 2023.  They have
installed more than 167 energy-eﬃciency
and heating measures in 48 households
experiencing low income or vulnerability
to cold.  These works include air source
heat pumps, solar PV panels, loft and
room-in-roof insulation, internal wall
insulation, boiler replacements, ﬁrst-time
central heating systems and thermostatic
radiator valves, securing over £1 million in
external funding.
Carbon Neutral Island (CNI) - Cumbrae
Construction work on Phase Two of the
CNI solar PV and battery storage project is
now underway on Cumbrae.  The aim of
the project is to install solar PV and
battery storage systems on 130 homes in
Millport to reduce carbon emissions and
address fuel poverty by enabling
households to generate and store
renewable energy.  Feedback from the
local community has been encouraging,
and the project is delivering wider
community beneﬁts.  For example, as part
of the contractual commitments, one
supplier will fund the replacement of an
outdated deﬁbrillator in Millport.
Climate Partnerships
Procurement
Through close joint working between
Corporate Procurement and the Business
Support and Development Team, local
suppliers are being encouraged and
supported to tender for
council opportunities. 
This approach has
delivered strong
results as, during

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Our Council Plan Progress Update – Year End 2025 to 2026 Page 28 of 67
the ﬁnal quarter of 2025 to 2026,
contracts worth £490,000 were awarded
to local businesses.  This amounted to £32
million across the ﬁnancial year,
demonstrating our council’s continued
commitment to retaining spend within the
local economy and building resilient local
supply chains. 
Sustainable Growth
The Recovery and Sustainability Project
has continued to deliver strong results,
consistently exceeding agreed targets
during 2025 to 2026.  The programme has
made a signiﬁcant contribution to
economic recovery and environmental
improvement, supporting businesses
while accelerating progress towards net
zero.
Key outcomes delivered during the year
include:
• Five Green Inward Investments within: 
power generation; wind farm supply
chains; and circular economy/Waste. 
This will create over 100 jobs with
further opportunities expected.
• 12 feasibility studies looking at
business adoption of green
technologies or green power with
focus placed on solar energy, hydro
projects, waste and capital equipment.
• 1,212 tons co2e reductions seen
through interventions.  
• Over £500k energy savings.
• 11 businesses supported through
training provision.  
• 147 projected new jobs.  
• £2.4m external funding secured.

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• 118 tonnes of waste diverted from
landﬁll.
• Business investment in six new charge
points.
Reducing Waste Sustainably
Maximising Reuse
Our council supports a circular economy
through partnership working with our
bulky waste reuse provider.  Between 1
April 2025 and 31 March 2026, 944
mattresses (24.3 tonnes) were collected
for reuse, reducing waste.
During the same period, 220 tonnes of
household furniture was collected from
across North Ayrshire and diverted for
reuse.  This activity supported 1,883
households to furnish their homes, while
delivering wider social and economic
beneﬁts by employing 21 staﬀ and two
volunteers.
Policy Development
Oﬃcers continue to work in partnership
with COSLA, SOLACE and the Scottish
Government through a national co-design
approach to shape new circular economy
policy including a revised statutory Code
of Practice for Household Waste Recycling.
This work forms part of Scotland’s
emerging Circular Economy and Waste
Route Map and will directly inform our
council’s future Zero Waste Strategy,
identifying further opportunities to
improve reuse and recycling. 
Recycling Performance
Our household waste recycling
performance remains strong.  Our
provisional recycling rate for Quarter four
(October to December 2025, calendar
year) is 48.2%, exceeding the phased
target of 46%, subject to ﬁnal veriﬁcation
by SEPA in the autumn.
For the 2024 calendar year (ﬁgures
conﬁrmed one year in arrears), North
Ayrshire achieved a 53% household
recycling rate, placing our council 9th out
of 32 Scottish councils through the Local
Government Benchmarking Framework
and well above the national average of
44.3%.  This performance is delivered
while managing one of the highest waste
tonnages among the top-performing
authorities, highlighting both our strong
outcomes and operational scale.
We were recognised with the Most
Improved Performer Award by ASPE in
December (see A Sustainable Council
section below).
Climate Education
During 2025 to 2026, our Energy and
Sustainability Team delivered 58 climate
and energy learning sessions across 21
schools, reaching 1,509 pupils and
supporting practical climate action within
school communities.  
Schools and early years settings continue
to beneﬁt from professional learning
delivered by the Learning for Sustainability
Education Oﬃcer, supporting staﬀ to
develop conﬁdence and practical skills in
outdoor learning and biodiversity.  This
ongoing programme helps strengthen our
children and young people’s connection
with nature and the environment.  Areas
of focus have included improving
biodiversity within school grounds,
exploring renewable energy and applying
outdoor approaches to literacy and
numeracy. 
Within our council
workforce, Carbon
Literacy training was
provided to 26
volunteer Climate

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Champions across our services, with
further engagement planned next year,
including training for Elected Members.
Community Climate Planning
Engagement with local communities
continues to support the development of
Community Climate Action Plans, with
oﬃcers attending community events to
discuss priorities, opportunities and
challenges.  We have been working with
groups across North Ayrshire to help
identify actions for further exploration,
with recent activity focused on
communities in Arran.
To help ensure wider participation, an
access controlled online platform is used
for structured engagement with
community groups. This has been
developed with support from our council’s
Geographic Information System Analytics
Team, enabling residents who are unable
to attend Climate Workshops to share
their views on climate action.
Community Volunteering
All planned sustainability and volunteering
activity was successfully delivered during
quarter four, including litter-picking,
tree-planting and youth engagement.
These activities form a core part of the
Irvine “Community Conversations”
programme.  As a result of this
engagement, the North Ayrshire
Community Planning Partnership has
supported a funding application of
£80,000 to the Scottish Government.  If
approved, this will enable delivery of a
summer roadshow, followed by
engagement sessions with local secondary
schools and partnership working with
community organisations.
Biodiversity Action
In partnership with NatureScot,
Streetscene is delivering nature-based
improvements, including the creation of
naturalised open spaces and wildﬂower
meadows to support wildlife and
pollinators.  Investment through
regeneration funding has enabled the
purchase of specialist equipment to
support habitat management and nature
restoration.  In addition, £27,500 of
regeneration funding is supporting
reconstruction works at Shewalton Pond,
with completion expected by
mid-summer, and 26 biodiversity
enhancement projects led by local
communities are being supported by the
Community Nature Restoration Fund.  
Our Libraries have supported
environmental awareness and reuse
through the delivery of 96 themed
activities, including Seed Library sessions.
Across parks and greenspaces, work
progressed on biodiversity and
conservation, including ranger-led citizen
science events, invasive species control
with volunteers, and ongoing
management of Phytophthora ramorum
(plant disease).  The Fish Pond project,
north of the old formal gardens woodland,
continues to progress at Eglinton Park,
with ﬁnal works expected in 2026 to 2027.  
We continue our partnership working
through the North Ayrshire Biodiversity
Partnership.
Sustainable Travel
Active Travel
Our council has been
awarded funding from
the UK Government’s
Levelling Up Fund
(LUF) to improve

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Our Council Plan Progress Update – Year End 2025 to 2026 Page 31 of 67
active travel opportunities in the i3
Business Park in Irvine.  Existing footways
are being upgraded and new connections
created to provide better opportunities for
people to walk and cycle to and within the
business park.  The upgraded routes will
also add to the network of recreational
routes to the south-east of Irvine.
Some routes within the business park
have experienced vegetation
encroachment.  Path widening and
clearance works will improve safety,
visibility and accessibility for walking and
cycling.  Tree works have commenced on
Long Drive, with further works planned
along the River Irvine path.  Where
required, permissions have been granted
by Scottish Forestry, with replacement
native planting to be delivered in line with
our council’s Tree and Woodland
Management Policy and Tree Planting
Strategy to support biodiversity and
woodland connectivity.  
Other LUF supported Active travel Projects
include Riverside Way (Irvine), Strategic
Investment Route (River Irvine Path), and
Long Drive (Irvine) extensions.
Active Travel Routes – Completed in
Quarter Four:
• Route upgrades in Beith/Kilbirnie and
Largs. 
• Improvements at Blacklands
Recreation Ground. 
• Enhanced sections along Bannoch
Road (Irvine Road to Corsehill,
Kilwinning). 
• Pedestrian improvements between
Auchenharvie Road and Canal Street. 
• Vegetation clearance, new cycle stands
and general route enhancements. 
• Delivery of the Long Drive Active Travel
Route. 
• Completion of Links to Eglinton Phase
2 – Stage 1.
Active Travel Facilities:
Investment in supporting infrastructure
included:
• New e-bike infrastructure on Arran.
• Cycle parking installed at Eglinton Park
Community Garden.
• Additional cycle stands across key
locations.
Planning for Future Routes
Work continues to develop a pipeline of
active travel projects for future delivery
and funding.  This includes accessibility
audits, design and feasibility work for
routes across Arran, the mainland and the
islands, detailed design for National Cycle
Network crossing improvements, and
preparatory works for schemes at
Valeﬁeld Bridge (Kilbirnie) and Putyan
Burn (Dalry).
Public Transport Improvements
Enhancements to public transport
infrastructure during the period included
the installation of Real Time Passenger
Information (RTPI) signs across the North
Coast and Garnock Valley (subject to ﬁnal
trunk road permissions), alongside Bus
Infrastructure Fund improvements such as
replacement shelters, strengthened bus
stops and accessibility reviews on the
Broomlands Busway.
Travel Smart
The Travel Smart
Programme continues
to support behaviour
change by
encouraging greater

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Our Council Plan Progress Update – Year End 2025 to 2026 Page 32 of 67
use of active travel and public transport,
helping to reduce carbon emissions and
promote a more sustainable transport
network.
Key activity this period includes:
• Targeted campaigns, workplace
engagement and community outreach
delivered through the Travel Smart
Programme and the mobile Trinity
Active Travel Hub.
• Guided walks, cycle sessions,
volunteer-led activities and practical
initiatives such as bike maintenance
classes.
• Support for workplaces to develop
tailored travel plans and improve
access to sustainable travel options.
• Promotion of active travel
opportunities through the Trinity Hub
social media channels.
These behaviour-change initiatives
complement our council’s wider
programme of active travel and public
transport infrastructure investment
outlined above.

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Next Steps
All next steps noted within the Mid-Year
Progress report are progressing as
expected and included in the narrative
above.  Next Steps to be achieved by the
end of September 2026 unless otherwise
stated include:
• We will continue to provide strong
leadership, engagement and
education to support our journey to
net zero, including climate education
and training for pupils and staff to
enable practical action on climate
change and biodiversity.
• More homes in priority areas will
benefit from low-carbon heating and
renewable energy, helping to cut
emissions and reduce fuel poverty.
• Community-led climate action and
volunteering will continue to improve
local environments, supported by the
Streetscene Team and partners
through environmental events,
wildflower meadow development,
regular litter picking and
neighbourhood improvement activity.
• Community-led tree planting will
continue in line with the 2030
Woodland Strategy, alongside
exploration of further collaborative
planting opportunities and larger-scale
woodland creation projects at
Montgomerie Park and Bartonholm in
Irvine.  This will support biodiversity,
nature restoration and increased
woodland cover. 
• Delivery of the Recovery and
Sustainability Project will focus on new
accelerator programmes and
increased support for business capital
investment to drive sustainable,
low-carbon growth.
• We will maximise the benefits of our
solar farms by supporting community
projects and developing new local
low-carbon energy opportunities.
• We will await the outcome of our
£80,000 Scottish Government funding
application to enable delivery of a
summer roadshow, followed by school
engagement and partnership activity
with community organisations.

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Our Council Plan Progress Update – Year End 2025 to 2026 Page 34 of 67
Case Study – Solar PV Farms
Introduction
Council declared a climate emergency in June 2019 and committed to achieving net zero
carbon emissions across the council estate by 2030. Scottish Government’s net zero target is
by 2045, therefore our council has a role to play in supporting area-wide emissions to help
achieve the national target.
The Sustainable North Ayrshire Strategy is our council’s route map to net zero, with one of
the actions within the strategy to develop two solar PV farm projects on former council-
owned landﬁll site.
Background
During a budget setting meeting in March 2020, Council allocated funds towards the
development of two solar photovoltaic (PV) farms at Nethermains, Kilwinning and
Shewalton, Irvine.
The solar PV farms were planned to:
• Provide a substantial amount of clean, renewable energy to supply the local
electricity grid.
• Make a further positive contribution toe Council’s climate emergency declaration
commitment to be net zero carbon by 2030.
• Provide a localised economic activity and long-term productive use for the former
landﬁll sites that would be otherwise diﬃcult to develop.
• Provide an annual net income that can be reinvested in North Ayrshire.
This one-oﬀ project was procured as an open tender to maximise competition and value for
money.
The contract commenced on 10 March 2023, and was split into three phases:
• Phase 1 – Design of Nethermains, Kilwinning & Shewalton, Irvine.
• Phase 2 – Build, Operation and Maintenance of Nethermains, Kilwinning.
• Phase 3 – Build, Operation and Maintenance of Shewalton, Irvine.
Current Position
Construction of both solar farms is now complete.
Nethermains solar farm was energised on 19 September 2025 and formally launched on 1
October 2025. The 7.6MW solar aims to produce approximately 7,680MWh of electricity
per year.
The 5MW solar farm at Shewalton was energised on 5 March 2026 and
aims to generate approximately 5,414MWh of electricity per year.

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The energy generated from both sites is monitored remotely, and since energisation, more
than 5,100MWh of electricity (enough to power approximately 2,800 homes for a year) has
been generated.  The sale of the renewable energy from both sites is facilitated by a Power
Purchase Agreement with OVO Energy for the ﬁrst year of operation.
In addition to utilising sites for renewable energy, which would have otherwise been left
vacant, biodiversity enhancements have been possible through consultation with NatureScot
and aligning with our council’s Tree Planting and Nature Network strategies.  On
Nethermains, 8,000 trees have now been planted on land unusable for solar, and a
landscape management plan to address invasive species on Shewalton is in development.
Next steps
As the solar farms enter the operation and maintenance phase of the project, our council is
looking towards a pipeline of potential large scale renewable energy projects, to further
reduce area wide emissions, support council services, and increase community participation
in the journey towards net zero in North Ayrshire.

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A Sustainable Council
A Community Wealth Building Council that is eﬃcient and accessible, maximising investment
and focusing resources towards our priorities.
Key Activities
Best Value Controller of Audit Report
North Ayrshire Council’s scheduled
Controller of Audit (Section 102) Best
Value report was considered by the
Accounts Commission in October, and
Council in December. The ﬁndings are
extremely positive, highlighting a culture
of continuous improvement, a proactive
focus on addressing inequalities in our
communities and stating the council is “an
exemplar of how to do transformation
well”. See ‘Audit, Inpections and
Accreditations’ section below.
2026 to 2027 Budget Consultation
We held our 2026 to 2027 Budget
Engagement between 6 November and 19
December 2025. During this period we
consulted with our residents and
community groups on a number of
proposals across two themes:
1. Children and young people
2. Other Council Services
In addition to community discussions,
1,125 responses were received across the
two themes (887 responses for “Children
and young people”, and 338 responses for
“Other Council services”) showing
considerable engagement with our
residents and community groups resulting
in informative feedback on the proposals.
As with our previous budget consultation,
the proposals were grouped into themes
so that residents could respond to the
areas that mattered most to them,
minimising survey fatigue and ensuring a
higher completion rate. Residents were
able to respond through an online survey
or a variety of mediums to avoid digital
exclusion and make the survey accessible.
These included:
• Posters displayed in front facing
locations with QR codes linking to the
survey.
• Paper copies of the survey available
through front-facing locations.
• Completion via telephone via our
Customer Contact Centre.
• Community discussions.
To reach our young people, a young
person friendly version of the consultation
was carried out in face-to-face sessions
with school pupils, young people with
disabilities, the North Coast Youth Forum,
the annual North Ayrshire Youth
Conference and North Ayrshire Joint
Champions Board Conference. This
included listening to care experienced
residents.
Engagement feedback was analysed,
informed the budget proposals and
accompanying Equality Impact and
Children’s Rights Impact Assessments
(ECRIAs), all of which were presented to
Council on 11 February 2026 in advance of
the budget meeting of Council.
At a Council meeting on 25 February, our
2026 to 2027 budget of £485 million was
approved. The budget included
several key investment
and policy decisions:
• £1.36 million
reallocated from

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Our Council Plan Progress Update – Year End 2025 to 2026 Page 37 of 67
the i3 Energy fund to support the
development of a new council-owned
renewable energy project.  
• £276,000 added to strengthen work
aimed at reducing child poverty.  
Equality and Children’s Rights Impact
Assessments (ECRIAs)
Extensive support was provided to
services completing ECRIAs on Budget
proposals, this resulted in 14 Screening
Forms (not requiring a full assessment)
and eight Full Impact Assessments shared
with Elected Members in advance of the
Council budget meeting.
Assessments were informed by our
Council’s extensive Budget Consultation
Exercise, which included survey questions
on both the perceived impact on people
with protected characteristics and other
elements of our ECRIA.  Optional personal
demographic information was completed
by survey respondents to help provide a
fuller understanding of potential impacts.  
Inline with legislation, ECRIA's are also
completed for non-budget related
activities.  Recently this has included the
completion of Screening forms for an
internal Alcohol, Drugs and Solvent
Misuse Policy, the relocation of Customer
Services from Bridgegate House to
Cunninghame House as part of our estate
rationalisation and The Youth Participation
Strategy.  Once complete, all are uploaded
to our website.
British Sign Language
We continue to support the Pan-Ayrshire
British Sign Language (BSL) Advisory group
to progress the BSL Plan.  Four oﬃcers
from across our council completed a BSL
introductory course, including an
employee from our Sensory Impairment
Team who has direct interaction with our
BSL Communities.  Employees will be
attending more advanced courses during
the autumn of 2026.
Following attendance at the launch of the
Scottish Government Inclusive
Communication Toolkit, planning is
underway to consider how the key
elements can be adapted across our
council.
Property Rationalisation
Continuing our ambition of rationalising
our council’s non-domestic property
portfolio, construction works began on 5
January to create a new customer service
centre on the ground ﬂoor of
Cunninghame House.  As part of property
rationalisation approved by Cabinet in
March 2024, further projects will be
completed in 2026 to 2027 including:
• The vacation of Quarry Road, Trinity
Church and Galt House to merge
operations into Cunninghame House.
• The vacation of Bridgegate House and
subsequent consideration for future
uses as part of Irvine Town Centre
regeneration work.
Housing and Regeneration Funding
We have been working closely with the
Scottish Government and our Registered
Social Landlord partner, Trust Housing
Association, to secure support from the
Scottish Government‘s Key Workers Fund. 
This funding will enable the purchase of
homes on Arran to help meet the housing
needs of key workers.  
We have also successfully secured a
£1.838m investment from
the North Ayrshire
Ventures Trust (NAVT)
and £1.169m of
Regeneration

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Capital Grant Funding (RCGF) to support
regeneration improvements within the
Bourtreehill Village Centre.
Annual Rent Consultation
Our Annual rent consultation was carried
out between 5 December 2025 and 16
January 2026 and attracted the highest
number of responses for this survey. 
Tenants were sent information regarding
two potential rent increase options.  The
ﬁrst option of an average 3.84% increase,
equivalent to £3.50 per week, was
favoured by 75% of respondents and
approved by Council in February.  It will
help maintain current investment levels in
priority areas including home
improvements, sheltered housing,
developing new aﬀordable housing, and
buying back former council houses.    As
with all of our consultations, tenants
without access to the internet were able
to participate via their local housing oﬃce
or library or could request a survey form
be posted out to them with a free return
envelope provided.
Regeneration External Funding
Our Vacant and Derelict Land Fund
allocation for 2025 to 2026 was just over
£1.5m.  With this funding, proposals have
been developed for Lochshore and
Portland Road, Irvine.  Supporting our
Vacant and Derelict Land Strategy, these
areas were highlighted for development
following an examination of cross-service
project expressions of interest.
Via the UK Shared Prosperity Fund
(UKSPF), six council-led projects with a
value of £376,535 are currently underway
and three have been completed.  In
addition, 24 local groups shared £397,000
which included £250,000 of UKSPF
support.
The Irvine Pride in Place (previously Plan
for Neighbourhoods) regeneration plan
was approved by the UK Government in
March 2026.  Year one will see the
following projects progress:
• Bridgegate Enhancement.
• Station Square / Underpass.
• Town Dressing.
• Community Fund.
• Murals.
Delivery of the plan is being supported by
our oﬃcers and the recruitment of a new
Irvine Neighbourhood Board Chair is
underway.
The Pride in Place Impact Fund (PiPIF)
(announced by the UK Government in
September 2025) will see £1.5m of capital
funding invested in North Ayrshire over
the next two years.  The PiPIF will provide
immediate support, complementing the
Pride in Place Programme by enabling the
development of community spaces,
supporting the regeneration of our high
streets and public spaces.
The Three Towns has also been selected
for the Pride in Place Programme and
recruitment of a Neighbourhood Board
Chair is ongoing 
On 2 December 2025, Cabinet agreed that
PiPIF funding would be aimed at areas
that have not previously beneﬁted from
Pride in Place funding or the previous Plan
for Neighbourhoods funding.  PiPIF
funding will be assigned via one of the
three following ways:
• A direct allocation to
participatory
budgeting in
eligible localities.

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• A community funding allocation and
direct council-led delivery of projects
informed by the Regeneration Delivery
Plan.
• Associated strategies and plans.
Smart Infrastructure Pilot
The Smart Infrastructure Pilot Project
(SIPP) has moved from initial installation
into early use.  A workshop was held with
key partners to build a shared
understanding of how the technology
works and how it can begin to support
local services. In March 2026, a Data
Protection Impact Assessment was carried
out for the new public Wi-Fi network,
which was approved allowing work to
progress towards a planned launch in May.
The project’s digital platform is now live
and providing real-time insight into
footfall in addition to noise and weather
data.  Teams working in regeneration,
tourism and public safety are already
using the data to inform their work and
are embedding the technology into
routine activity to support the delivery of
the Great Harbour project.
Our Digital Infrastructure and Connectivity
plan together with accompanying
guidelines is now complete with a ﬁnal
learning session scheduled early in the
next ﬁnancial year.  This will help inform
future digital infrastructure investment
decisions enabling our Transformation
team to work with other services and to
determine opportunities and align with
the Ayrshire Growth Deal Building Digital
Capital project.
The Ayrshire 5G Innovation Region (5GIR)
programme was awarded additional
funding of £400,000 bringing the total
value of the programme to £4.4m. 
Completed in March 2026, the
programme delivered a realised Gross
Value Added impact of £7.8m evidencing
strong place-based impacts of better
digital connections for the local economy. 
Enabling further investments in regional
connectivity, the programme achieved the
following:
• Engagement with more than 220
stakeholders.
• Delivery of 107 learning events.
• Support for 18 Small to Medium size
Enterprise grant-funded projects.
• Deployment of 25 advanced wireless
network solutions.
• Upskilling of over 200 individuals.
A key outcome of the 5GIR programme
has been the creation of a shared
approach to developing Ayrshire’s digital
economy.  This approach supports the
Ayrshire Digital Economy Framework and
helps build the skills, infrastructure and
partnerships needed to strengthen digital
capability in our localities.  Following
changes to how the Regional Economic
Strategy is being delivered, work has
moved away from producing a separate
digital masterplan and is now focused on
developing a practical roadmap for the
Ayrshire Digital Economy Ecosystem
(ADEE), directly aligned with and
supporting the Regional Economic
Strategy. 
A commitment to long-term collaboration
(through to 2030) has been put in place
with ADEE partners providing strong
infrastructure for the governance and
delivery of future investment and
innovation activity across
Ayrshire.
Our journey with
5GIR is now

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informing the Ayrshire Growth Deal
Building Digital Capital business case
which will focus on digital infrastructure
and private sector leverage.  
Maximising our Assets
Improvements to our play facilities are
ongoing by our Streetscene team.  A large
focus has been on accessibility
improvements both for accessing the
facility and when using the play
equipment – this has been facilitated by
capital funding from the Scottish
Government.
Play facilities in coastal areas are in
development and improvements at Irvine
Beach Park are well underway including a
skate park, cycle pump track and play
park.
A review of our existing assets is ongoing
with new replacements being made where
possible, as well as working with our
communities to redistribute older assets
to libraries, community centres or schools
bringing these back into use.  For example,
benches from Millport were gifted to local
community groups.

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Workforce Development
The Staﬀ Promise Conference was held in
January with 81 employees, partners and
10 care-experienced young people
attending. Young people from the
Champions Board presented the What
Matters to Us priorities and challenged
practice. 
The e-learning module on Corporate
Parenting went live and is mandatory for
all council staﬀ to understand their
responsibilities around supporting care
experienced young people.
We are supporting employees from the
Community Learning and Development
service to undergo professional
qualiﬁcations in partnership with the
University of the West of Scotland. This
helps to improve the quality of the
support we can deliver to community
members and organisations. 
Climate Change Connected Leadership
Conference
The Connected Leadership Conference
enables senior oﬃcers to share best
practice to deliver the priorities of our
Council Plan.  A Connected Leadership
Conference on Climate Change was held
on Monday 19 January at Saltcoats Town
Hall.  Our Chief Executive, Executive
Director for Place, Head of Sustainability,
Transport and Corporate Property, and
Senior Manager for Sustainability provided
updates and led valuable discussions.
Following this, a Chief Oﬃcer Leadership
Team session on climate change was
delivered in March.  The aim of the
session was to transform the discussions
at the Leadership Conference into speciﬁc
measurable actions that could be taken
forward by deﬁned oﬃcer leads to ensure
sustainability in council services.
A Great Place to Work Event
On 25 November 2025 we hosted our
second ‘Great Place to Work’ event which
was attended by over 400 employees from
several council areas.  Over 20 information
stalls were available on the day and were
hosted by a mix of council representatives
and partner exhibitors.  
A Breastfeeding Friendly Employer
Our council is now a Breastfeeding
Friendly Employer.  We have joined the
Breastfeeding Friendly Network which is a
UK-wide scheme that looks to empower
mothers by raising awareness of their
rights under the Breastfeeding etc. 
(Scotland) Act 2005 and the Equality Act
2010.
Living Wage Employer
Our council has paid the real Living Wage
for the last 14 years and implemented the
May 2026 increase six months early in
October 2025.  The increase of £0.85 from
£12.60 to £13.45 positively impacts 796
council employees.

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Our Transformation Programme
Our current Transformation Programme was approved in 2023 and developed alongside our
Council Plan 2023 to 28. The programme being delivered by our council has been
progressed around the key priorities of our Council Plan, driving change and transformation,
using technology and innovation where possible to deliver eﬃcient services to help address
the ﬁnancial challenges facing our council. Through embedding a culture of continuous
improvement, crucially the delivery of our Transformation programme can protect the
services we provide to our residents. This section provides an update on projects that have
reached particular milestones in this period to enable focussed scrutiny.
Digital Workstream
Our Digital Working Group continues to develop key digital projects agreed as part of the
national transformation project teams for Housing, Waste, and Fleet Management. This
includes strategic activity across our council and nationally through the Scottish
Government, Improvement Service (IS), SOLACE and Digital Oﬃce. To date the following
progress has been made:
Parents Portal: This is the national online platform that allows parents and carers to
communicate digitally with schools and access a range of services. All secondary schools
were live by the end of February, with cluster primary schools on track to be fully rolled out
by the end of the 2025 to 2026 school session. The roll-out is making strong progress,
particularly through the successful move to digital report delivery. To date, 70% of Progress
and Achievement Reports have been issued digitally by schools currently using Parents
Portal. Training for Education Business Assistants was completed in February, with two
additional catch-up sessions to follow.
Artiﬁcial Intelligence: Following the approval of the Generative AI Policy by Cabinet in
September 2025, providing clear guidance for staﬀ on the appropriate use of this
technology, a trial is currently underway until July 2026 using a licensed version of Microsoft
Copilot to test additional functionality.
Digital Economy: This looks to shape North Ayrshire’s digital future through the Digital
Infrastructure and Connectivity Plan. The work on the Digital Connectivity Procurement
Framework provided valuable learning, which is now informing the Building Digital Capital
programme and supporting a more eﬀective delivery approach. Regionally, our partnership
through the Ayrshire 5G Innovation Region has progressed, with a new Memorandum of
Understanding extending collaboration to 2030, securing long-term commitment to digital
innovation, and providing a strong legacy beyond the current 5G funding cycle.
Digital Inclusion: Partnership working between libraries, CLD and specialist
organisations continues to strengthen digital inclusion across North
Ayrshire. Targeted support for people with sight impairment has
expanded through collaboration with Triple Tap Tech, alongside a
wider programme of Device Advice, Coding Clubs, Computer Buddy

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Support and Community Learning and Development provision. Together, this coordinated
approach delivered 53 digital learning sessions, supporting 192 adults and children to build
skills and conﬁdence, with additional capacity provided by Digital Volunteers.
Blue Badge Scheme for Disabled Parking: Progress has also been made on the application
process, with a feasibility study now complete and due to be reported to SOLACE in April
2026. Alongside this, a Digital Maturity Assessment led by the Digital Oﬃce is underway,
helping us to better understand our current digital position and shape a future-focused
digital strategy.
Irvine Locality Property Review
The Irvine Locality Review continues to be progressed as part of the Land and Property
workstream. The main purpose of the review is to rationalise our council’s property estate
in alignment with our strategic objectives.
Phase 2 works now completed/ongoing:
• Works have completed on the new Training Suite at Cunninghame House which is now
operational.
• Work commenced on Customer Service Centre with expected completion in May 2026.
• Work commenced on construction changes at Quarry Road with completion now
expected by end of June 2026.
Phase 2 works are ongoing with a review of the remaining localities and land being
undertaken:
• A three-year plan is underway to review the remaining ﬁve localities across North
Ayrshire.
• Service areas have been consulted regarding land requirements and commenced
mapping of land areas with workshops now taking place and expected completion in
August 2026.
Commercial Property
The Commercial Property Workstreams vision is of a more eﬃcient property portfolio across
three themes. Progress across each workstream includes:
Maximise occupancy from the current estate portfolio
Following the transfer of the commercial estate to the Property Management and
Investment team in April 2025, a comprehensive review was undertaken to improve
performance, maximise income and support Community Wealth Building. A programme of
targeted actions has stabilised the estate, improved occupancy and rental
income, and strengthened management and oversight arrangements.
These improvements provide a stronger platform for sustainable,
long-term growth of the commercial portfolio.

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Actions taken to date include:
• Repossession of multiple units abandoned by tenants.
• Active remarketing of vacant and under-used assets.
• Earlier engagement with tenants on rent arrears.
• Alignment of rental levels with market conditions.
• Introduction of improved monitoring, reporting and annual review arrangements.
These actions have delivered a 0.57% increase in occupancy and a 13.75% uplift in rental
income over the past 12 months, while improving visibility of performance and enabling
earlier intervention where issues arise.
Maximise opportunities from Economic Development, Growth & Regeneration and
Ayrshire Growth Deal investment (existing projects)
The following activities have been progressed to maximise the opportunities from
investment:
• i3 Flexible Space, Irvine: The Ayrshire Growth Deal programme has provided modern
commercial industrial property with the completion of one 18,180 sq. ft (1,689m2) unit
as part of the i3 Flexible Space project in Irvine. The unit is currently being marketed for
occupation, with submissions under assessment.
• Portland Rd. Land Sale: Legal Services have been instructed to conclude missives of a
partial land sale, following Cabinet approval. Regeneration Services will undertake cross
service engagement to identify options for the remaining land.
Develop proposals for new investment and securing Return On Investment (ROI) (future
projects)
• An award for the Levelling Up For Ayrshire - Commercial and Low Carbon Infrastructure
under the Levelling Up Fund (LUF) round three of £17.4m was secured from the UK
Government. Informed by market feedback, the North Ayrshire proposal aims to address
market failure in the delivery of new energy eﬃcient commercial property alongside the
provision of associated low carbon infrastructure at key employment areas in Irvine.
These funds are further supported by a successful award of £890,990 from the Scottish
Government’s Vacant Derelict Land Investment Programme (VDLIP). The Irvine
investment concentrates on Kyle Road, Annickbank and i3 sites.
The following activities have been progressed:
• Kyle Rd Phase 2, Irvine: Following additional design work, the tender
pack is currently being ﬁnalised and expected to be issued in
April 2026.

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• Annickbank Innovation Campus, Irvine: The tender process has recently been
undertaken and a contract award is in progress.
• i3 Flexible Space Phase 2: Design work is currently being ﬁnalised to support a
tender issue in Spring 2026 for the construction of a new industrial building.
Nethermains and Shewalton Solar PV Farm
The 7.560MW Nethermains Solar Farm has now moved into the Operation and Maintenance
Phase following the works completion certiﬁcate being issued in January 2026. A tree
planting exercise was also completed in January with a total of 8,050 trees planted, further
supporting our Tree Planting and Nature Network strategies.
A gas pumping trial was successfully held on the Nethermains site throughout January -
February 2026. The trials were successful with a decision pending on whether to proceed
with the gas recovery works.
The 5.344MW Shewalton Solar PV Farm was commissioned on 6 March 2026. An oﬃcial
opening is expected to take place at a later date subject to Scottish Government availability.
An energy sales contract is in place for both sites for one year with the option to review and
extend for a further two years.
Waste Services
Special Uplifts: Following updated Persistent Organic Pollutants Regulations and new
guidance issued by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA), we were required to
introduce a new Waste Upholstered Domestic Seating (WUDS) to be collected and managed
separately for items such as sofas, sofa beds, chairs, stools etc. Since the introduction of the
new process in September 2025, over 6,200 customers from Arran, Cumbrae and the
Mainland have placed special uplift orders successfully using the new form.
In-Cab Devices: To further support service eﬃciency, a decision was taken to extend the use
of in-cab devices to additional service areas, including Bulky Uplifts and Bin Deliveries in
2026. A pilot commenced in March 2026, with targeted vehicles scheduled to receive
devices between May and June 2026. The In-cab devices provide collection crews with
real-time access to up-to-date work instructions, with completed tasks automatically
updating back-oﬃce systems enabling faster service updates for customers, reducing
paperwork, and improving coordination between drivers, team managers and the Waste
Management team. Overall, the devices support a more eﬃcient, reliable and
customer-focused waste and recycling service.
Collection Frequency Change: As part of the 2026 to 2027 budget-setting, Council agreed to
change the collection frequency for the purple and blue recycling bins on the
mainland and Cumbrae from three-weekly to four-weekly, to better reﬂect
service demand. Planning for the revised recycling collection
arrangements is currently underway, with implementation scheduled
for October 2026 and supported by a comprehensive public
communication campaign to ensure residents are fully informed.

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DEFRA Packaging Extended Producer Responsibility:  Work has commenced in North
Ayrshire to support the UK Government’s Packaging Extended Producer Responsibility
(PEPR) initiative, which was introduced in April 2025.  This aims to shift the ﬁnancial burden
of packaging waste away from councils and onto the producers who create it.  This
represents a major structural change in how waste services are funded and will further
beneﬁt North Ayrshire residents by providing:
• Cleaner streets and communities, as producers will fund better recycling and waste
management, reducing litter and landﬁll reliance
• More reliable and improved recycling services, as North Ayrshire Council will receive
dedicated funding to enhance household packaging collection and disposal.  
• Fairer system for residents, as businesses rather than local taxpayers will cover the
full net cost of dealing with packaging waste.  
• Less waste and more sustainable packaging, as producers are incentivised to design
recyclable, reusable and lower impact materials, beneﬁting the local environment.
Digital Waste Tracking:  The introduction of a requirement for all UK councils to utilise the
new Digital Waste Tracking System voluntarily from April 2026 will become mandatory from
October 2026.  This requires our council to record all waste movements electronically in the
national system.  It includes waste collected from our weekly waste collections from
households as well as waste from businesses.  The new Digital Waste Tracking system will
beneﬁt our residents by helping to reduce ﬂy-tipping and illegal waste activity, as electronic
records make it harder for waste to be disposed of unlawfully.  Improved real-time data will
strengthen environmental protection by allowing issues to be identiﬁed and addressed more
quickly, while increased transparency will provide clearer assurance about where waste goes
and how it is managed.  Overall, digital reporting will streamline processes and reduce
errors, supporting more eﬃcient, reliable and higher-quality waste and recycling services for
local communities.
Decarbonisation of Fleet
The Decarbonisation of Fleet project is making steady progress, with 83 electric vehicles
(EVs) now in operation from the 397 vehicles originally identiﬁed as suitable for
replacement.  A further 28 EVs are expected to be purchased by the end of 2026, bringing
the total to 111.  To support this transition, 47 workplace chargers (89 sockets) have been
installed across North Ayrshire, with work underway to add a further eight chargers (16
sockets) in the coming months.  In addition, the Pan-Ayrshire Electric Vehicle Infrastructure
Fund (EVIF) project is expected to award its contract in April 2026 and will deliver over 300
public EV chargers across Ayrshire, including 106 in North Ayrshire, signiﬁcantly
strengthening local charging infrastructure.

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Our Council Plan Progress Update – Year End 2025 to 2026 Page 47 of 67
Our Workforce Strategy 2024 - 2028
The Workforce Strategy 2024–2028 is aligned to the Council Plan and the Medium-Term
Financial Outlook, setting out how the workforce continues to support delivery of our
council’s priorities within the context of available resources. During 2025 to 2026, strong
progress has been made across all four themes of the Strategy, with key action highlights set
out below.
Theme 1 Embedding workforce planning
Workforce Plans
All services have workforce plans in place which are reviewed on a six-monthly basis. These
reviews ensure workforce plans remain live, responsive documents informed by business
demand, PESTLE analysis, change planning and succession considerations.
During 2025 to 2026, workforce planning has become increasingly embedded as a core
leadership responsibility, with clear ownership at Head of Service level and consistent review
cycles across Directorates. Workforce planning activity is now clearly aligned to service
redesign, vacancy management, recruitment control and wider transformation activity,
supporting delivery of our Council Plan priorities.
Development Interventions
Rather than standalone training events, workforce planning capability has been
strengthened through ongoing engagement between HR and Services. Six-monthly
workforce planning sessions, supported by a refreshed template and clearer guidance, have
improved consistency, focus and quality of planning discussions.
Integration with Transformation
Workforce planning is incorporated into transformation programmes to consider workforce
beneﬁts, resource and impact.
Workforce Strategy actions and performance measures are tracked through our corporate
performance management system, strengthening transparency and governance.
Theme 2 Enhancing workforce information
Workforce Information Toolkit
A digital Workforce Information Toolkit has been developed to provide managers and senior
leaders with access to live workforce data to support eﬀective planning and decision-
making. The Toolkit has been rolled out within a number of Services, with wider council
adoption underway during 2026 (see case study below).
Workforce Strategy Performance Dashboard
The Workforce Strategy has a series of performance indicators measured on a regular basis.
These indicators have been included in a Workforce Strategy Performance
Dashboard oﬀering a user-friendly overview to support workforce planning.
The dashboard brings together people data held within corporate systems
and presents it in a visual format to support monitoring of workforce
performance and trends over time. These indicators include, but not

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Our Council Plan Progress Update – Year End 2025 to 2026 Page 48 of 67
limited to, data relating to headcount/ Full-Time Equivalent (FTE), gender, employee
turnover, absence, average age of employee and time to recruit.
Theme 3 Building workforce capacity
Digital Skills Survey
A council-wide Digital Skills Survey was undertaken to assess digital conﬁdence and
capability across the workforce. Results demonstrated strong digital foundations, with
identiﬁed development needs in document collaboration, troubleshooting and information
sharing. A structured action plan was put in place to address these areas through targeted
development activity, practical support and increased awareness of learning resources.
Agile Workstyle Wellbeing Survey
Employees operating an agile workstyle were surveyed to understand the continued impact
on wellbeing and productivity. Findings were positive across recruitment and retention,
engagement, collaboration and work life balance. An associated action plan was put in place
to support continuous improvement and sustain the beneﬁts of agile working.
Apprenticeships and Grow Your Own Programmes
Apprenticeship pathways continue to play a key role in building workforce capacity and
supporting the future talent pipeline. During 2025 to 2026, Modern Apprentices and
Graduate Apprentices have been recruited and supported across a wide range of services,
with strong links to schools, colleges and universities. Services have also progressed grow
your own approaches and succession planning activity - supporting skills development,
retention and workforce sustainability.
Theme 4 Health, Safety and Wellbeing
A broad range of health and wellbeing activity has continued throughout the year,
coordinated through the LiveWell programme. This includes wellbeing courses, workshops,
physical activity sessions and health checks, promoted through corporate communications
to maximise accessibility.
Occupational Health provision continues to support staﬀ wellbeing, early intervention and
sustained attendance, providing clinical advice, management referrals and pre-placement
screening. Promotion of supportive policies and guidance remains a key focus to ensure
managers and employees are aware of available support.
Health and Safety activity remains embedded across our council, with ongoing monitoring
and reporting of RIDDOR incidents, violence and aggression trends and proactive
engagement with services. Health and Safety Planning Groups and the Corporate Health and
Safety Group provide oversight, assurance and opportunities for shared learning and
continuous improvement.
Summary
Overall, delivery of the Workforce Strategy during 2025 to 2026 has been
strong, with actions largely on target. This provides a solid foundation
for sustaining workforce resilience, capability and wellbeing as our
council moves into the next phase of delivery in 2026 to 2027.

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Audits, Inspections and Accreditations 
Best Value Controller of Audit Report
North Ayrshire Council’s scheduled Controller of Audit (Section 102) Best Value report was
considered by the Accounts Commission in October, with the Commission’s ﬁndings
published on 28 October and considered by Council in December.  The ﬁndings are
extremely positive, highlighting a culture of continuous improvement, a proactive focus on
addressing inequalities in our communities and stating the council is “an exemplar of how to
do transformation well”. 
Best Value is a statutory duty as set out in the Local Government (Scotland) Act 2003 and
applies to all public bodies in Scotland.   Its core purpose is to ensure good governance,
eﬀective use of resources and continuous improvement in order to deliver better outcomes
for our communities and residents. 
A new annual Best Value Thematic Approach was introduced in 2023, where a speciﬁc
theme agreed by the Accounts Commission is audited across all local authorities in Scotland. 
As part of this new approach, once every ﬁve years each local authority is the subject of a
Controller of Audit report, also known as a Section 102 report.  This summarises recent Best
Value Audits on behalf of the Accounts Commission who then publish ﬁndings which may
include recommendations to take forward. 
To support Best Value, our Performance Management Strategy (PMS) 2023-2028 October
2025 refresh was approved by Cabinet on 2 December.  Our PMS, which focusses on
delivering better outcomes for our people, was updated in line with the Accounts

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Commission’s Direction 2024 (eﬀective as at 1 April 2025) and the newly introduced
Corporate Fraud Oﬀence Act. Innovatively, the strategy is now speciﬁcally designed as
training reference material for managers. It provides a detailed information on determining
statuses to ensure consistency when demonstrating Best Value and helps maintain our
culture of continuous improvement.
Food Standards Scotland (FSS) Food Law Enforcement Actions Audit 2025 to 2026
A recent Food Standards Scotland audit has praised our council for its strong approach to
food safety and enforcement across local food businesses. The review looked at how we
carry out inspections, handle enforcement action, and ensures high standards in shops,
restaurants and other food premises. Inspectors found that our council has clear policies,
well-trained oﬃcers and reliable systems in place to protect the public.
More than 2,000 food safety visits have been carried out since 2022, and when formal
notices were issued, they were found to be proportionate, clearly written and eﬀective in
improving conditions. The audit also highlighted our commitment to consistency, with
regular staﬀ training, internal checks and annual sampling programmes targeting higher-risk
foods. No enforcement action has been required as a result of food sampling in the past
three years.
The report did identify areas where improvements are needed, particularly around the
accuracy of data reported to the Scottish National Database (SND). While our council’s own
records are robust, not all information was transferring correctly to the national system.
Work is already underway to strengthen the way data is checked, mapped and submitted,
and our council has updated its internal procedures to prevent errors in future.
Overall, the audit provides reassurance that food safety in North Ayrshire remains strong.
Our enforcement work was judged to be eﬀective, timely and appropriate, and the service
continues to prioritise public protection. We are already taking steps to strengthen data
accuracy and will use the audit ﬁndings to continue improving performance in the months
ahead.

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Dalry Early Years Centre
Dalry Early Years Centre has been praised by the Care Inspectorate for creating a warm,
nurturing and safe environment for young people. Following an unannounced two-day
inspection in September 2025, inspectors praised the strong relationships between staﬀ,
children and their families, high quality learning experiences and eﬀective support for
individual needs.
Some of the ﬁndings included:
• Children were safe, secure and emotionally supported.
• Children's individual needs were well understood.
• Children who required additional support received timely and eﬀective intervention.
• Children experienced rich and varied play opportunities indoors and outdoors.
• Staﬀ were warm, respectful and purposeful.
• Indoor and outdoor spaces were thoughtfully arranged to promote independence.
• Leadership was strong and improvement-focused.
The Inspection Report also recognised the centre’s positive leadership and commitment to
continuous improvement, ensuring children beneﬁt from a supportive and engaging start to
their learning journey.
Learning Places Scotland Awards
We have been awarded three prizes at the recent Learning Places Scotland Awards. The
awards celebrate excellence and achievement in the education sector across Scotland, with
categories recognising people, projects and partnerships that help to make a lasting impact.
Marress House won the Early Learning and Childcare Award and was Highly Commended in
the Refurbishment of the Year award. The former tax oﬃce, transformed into a modern and
welcoming facility which opened doors in August 2024, is also home to our council’s Public
CCTV and Concierge Service and features a training suite which will be used to enhance the
skillset of the Early Years workforce across North Ayrshire. In the Early Learning and
Childcare category, the judges found that Marress House was “a thoughtful and sustainable
refurbishment that makes excellent use of an existing building.” It was also praised for
having an environment that has attracted positive feedback from parents and children,
“helping to shape a nurturing and appropriate setting.”.
Montgomerie Park Primary School was Highly Commended in the overall Project of the Year
category.
APSE Awards
Our council achieved two honours at the Association for Public Sector Excellence (APSE)
awards on 4 December 2025. We were recognised as Best Performer in Roads,
Highways and Winter Maintenance, and also received the award for Most
Improved in the Refuse Collection Category. Our council was also named
as a ﬁnalist in three further categories, showcasing the high quality
work happening across a wide range of services.

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Next Steps
We will aim to achieve the following by September 2026 or as detailed below:
• We will continue to involve communities so that their views can help inform our budgets
and shape our services.
• We will continue regenerating our properties, delivering digital projects and maximising
council assets.
• We will roll out refuse vehicle in-cab devices to additional service areas, including Bulky
Uplifts and Bin Deliveries by June 2026 as part of our Transformation Programme.
• We will deliver a year-long Island intelligence Hub pilot that will generate a dashboard to
better equip our island communities with information relative to local challenges
strengthening decision-making and maximising opportunities.
• We will have employees attending advanced BSL courses during the summer of 2026.
• We will work with partners and the Scottish Community Development Centre, the
recognised national centre of expertise, to build on our Participation Strategy and design
a shared learning programme for council and partner employees and community
members. This will be delivered in late 2026 and will give an opportunity to further
develop our shared vision for collaborative working in North Ayrshire.

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Case Study – A Workforce Information Tool   
The Workforce Information Tool is a single online portal which updates daily and enables
managers to see information and analytics on the key workforce themes:
• Workforce information and associated Costs 
• Absence Management information
• Training & Governance
The tool was created by our GIS & Analytics team on the Microsoft Power BI platform. 
Consolidating our analytics into a single council wide management report ensures we get
the maximum value from our analytics platform and reports.  
Where possible we align our analytics with the national Local Government Benchmarking
Framework service areas which allow managers to see how the data from their team
contributes to national benchmarking. 
Development records become readily available enabling managers to identify and ﬁll in any
gaps in training, therefore ensuring our employees have the skills to support and deliver our
priorities.  
This report diﬀers from previous analytics as this ensure we get information to our managers
as soon as it is available.  The primary goal of this is to support workforce management and
put data at the forefront of our decision-making processes.  
“The tool is really helpful as I can review my team information at one source.  It enables me
to interpret the data in a holistic way alongside my one to one in-person meetings.  I can gain
a greater understanding of whether anything needs to be put in place at an earlier stage to
support each of my colleagues.” – Senior Manager

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Performance Summary
Performance Indicators Adrift of Target
This section details the performance indicators adrift of target and the action being taken to address
performance. Due to expected data lags, the most recent data may relate to previous time periods
but may only now be available to report. To avoid duplication, only data that has not previously been
reported to Cabinet through Council Plan progress reporting is included in this section. Further
details can be found in the Performance Indicators section within this report.
CP_37 Average total tariﬀ score of pupils living in SIMD 20% most deprived areas (Red)
The Average Total Tariﬀ Score of the school leavers from the most SIMD deprived 20% of Scottish data
zones in 2025 was 681 points. This is a 3.2% increase on last year and is also above the Average Total
Tariﬀ Score of school leavers from similar SIMD areas in the whole of Scotland (676 points). Given the
dynamic above it means that the poverty-related attainment gap is smaller than last year - a small but
signiﬁcant gain in the endeavour to reduce the opportunity gap between our young people living in
the least and the most deprived areas of North Ayrshire.
CP_06 Average tariﬀ score: All Leavers (Red)
The Average Total Tariﬀ score for 2025 school leavers published in the March 2026 edition of the
national Insight benchmarking tool was 864.4 tariﬀ points. This is an increase of 2.8% compared to
the previous year. North Ayrshire school leavers also outperform the national ﬁgures across a range
of SIMD deciles. There is a complex interaction of factors that determine the dynamic of the Average
Total Tariﬀ Score of a school leaver. North Ayrshire leavers are oﬀered a wider set of opportunities to
choose more qualiﬁcations at diﬀerent SCQF levels - adding more points to the tariﬀ portfolio of each
young learner. Wider achievement is increasing in importance without diminishing the value of
academic achievement.
On Target,
45, 98%
Slightly Adrift
of Target, 1,
2%
Actions
On Target,
17, 66%
Slightly Adrift of
Target, 4, 15%
Significantly Adrift
of Target, 4, 15%
Data Only, 1,
4%
Performance Indicators

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CP_42 Provided ﬂoor space of commercial/industrial space within our council portfolio (sq. ft) (Red)
Performance is 394,684 against a target of 423,077. Fluctuations across the portfolio arise as a result
of estate management actions, principally disposals. Speciﬁc projects also impact availability, for
example, units within Bridgegate are not currently being marketed while the long-term future of the
area is under consideration. There has also been a re-baselining of available space following the
transition of portfolio management from the Business Support and Development Service to Property
Management and Investment. Available space will increase in the coming years as projects are
delivered, for example at Kyle Road, Annickbank and i3.
CP_02 % of council budget directed via participatory methods (Red)
1.27% of council budget has been directed via participatory methods compared to an ambitious 1.5%
target. Though it has not been achieved, we have both expanded our ways of involving communities
and exceeded the national target of 1% spend agreed between CoSLA and the Scottish Government
consistently since 2019/20. The ﬁnancial value of participatory budgeting is only part of the outcome
as it can be diﬃcult to attach a ﬁnancial value to the vast beneﬁts of involving our people in decision
making processes and co-designing services alongside them. Participatory budgeting remains a key
method of engaging our people with services.
CP_07 % of school leavers entering positive destinations (LGBF) (Amber)
At the end of the 2024 to 25 academic session, 95.7% of the 1,396 school leavers identiﬁed by Skills
Development Scotland for North Ayrshire have moved on to positive post-school destinations. As in
previous years most school leavers (72.6%) continue into Further and Higher Education. This time,
the percentage moving into Higher Education courses (37%) have exceeded those who moved into
Further Education (35.5%) which has only occurred previously during the pandemic and two post-
pandemic years. Within our LGBF family group we are currently 3rd below Inverclyde Council (96.4%)
and Eilean Siar Council (96.1%). This places us 16th in the overall rankings and within the 2nd
quartile.
CP_40 Number of new build housing units reaching completion (all tenures) (actual not cumulative)
(Amber)
The number of new build housing units reaching completion was 431 against an annual target of 436.
This indicator includes wider private sector development where our council has limited inﬂuence over
the total number of completions achieved. The shortfall of ﬁve units reﬂects delivery across a
number of sites, including some delays in completion.
Indicator Amendments and Recommendations
CP_41 Number of empty homes brought back into use (actual)
At Mid-Year 2025 to 2026, a Quarter Two ﬁgure of 78 empty homes brought back into use was
reported resulting in an on-target (green) status at that point. Following further year end veriﬁcation,
a small number of cases were identiﬁed as having been closed prematurely and the Quarter Two
ﬁgure has been revised to 74. While this amendment aﬀected the position at Mid-Year, overall
performance at Year End exceeded the annual target. Empty homes remain a key focus for the
service, and additional resources have been secured to strengthen processes and reduce the
likelihood of similar issues in future reporting. As a precaution, a review of previous years’ data was
undertaken and no anomalies were identiﬁed.

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Our Council Plan Progress Update – Year End 2025 to 2026 Page 56 of 67
CP_31 % of total household waste that is recycled (calendar year as per SEPA) (LGBF)
At Mid-Year, the Quarter Two status for Percentage of total household waste that is recycled was
51.2% and was signiﬁcantly adrift of target (red). However, further data checks have been undertaken
and the Quarter Two ﬁgure has now been revised to 56% meaning the Quarter 2 status is on target
(green). The overall ﬁgure for 2025 to 2026 (2025 calendar year) is 52.9% against a target of 53%
meaning that this indicator remains on target (green). All ﬁgures for 2025 to 2026 (2025 Calendar
year) are still subject to veriﬁcation by SEPA and will be conﬁrmed in October.
CP_29 Overall carbon emissions (tonnes) (Non-domestic Council estate)
At Mid-Year, the Quarter 2 Overall carbon emissions (tonnes) (Non-domestic Council estate) was
3,313. This was a provisional ﬁgure and has since been conﬁrmed as 3,030 by the service, which now
has all available data to complete the calculation. There are no quarterly targets set for this indicator
and the status remains unchanged (Data Only).
CP_19 Proportion of operational buildings that are suitable for their current use (LGBF)
The provisional ﬁgure for 2024 to 2025 was incorrectly reported as 95.4% rather than the correct
ﬁgure of 95.2%. This has been updated within this report and the status is unaﬀected.
Target Amendments - Education
A recommendation to amend the 2025 to 2026 targets was agreed by Cabinet at Mid-Year. These
have been made following the publication of conﬁrmed 2024 to 2025 school leaver attainment data
released in February 2026.
The total tariﬀ measure is based on a complex national calculation using leavers’ highest
qualiﬁcations and attainment data, meaning an interim ﬁgure cannot be accurately calculated locally
during the school year. As a result only conﬁrmed annual data which becomes available through the
national release in February can be used to inform targets. Therefor adjusting a target at March 2026
during the 2025 to 2026 academic year cannot be based on any internal information or data more
recent than the 2024 to 2025 academic year.
The proposed targets for Education are as follows:
PI Description
2025 to 2026
Academic Year
Original Target
2025 to 2026
Academic Year
Proposed Target
CP_37 Average total tariﬀ score of pupils living in SIMD 20%
most deprived areas 720 690
CP_06 Average tariﬀ score: All Leavers 910 880
CP_38 Average total tariﬀ for care experienced Young People 470 480

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Our Council Plan Progress Update – Year End 2025 to 2026 Page 57 of 67
Actions Adrift of target
This section details actions adrift of target and the measures being taken to address performance. 
Further details can be found in the Action Tracker section within this document.
CP10 Increase the number of homes in the area through a mix of private and social developments
and bringing empty buildings back in to use (Amber)
This action has been noted as amber due to the linked performance indicator ‘CP_40 Number of new
build housing units reaching completion’ not meeting its target.  As discussed above, the number of
new build housing units reaching completion was 431 against an annual target of 436.  This indicator
includes wider private sector development where our council has limited inﬂuence over the total
number of completions achieved.  The shortfall of ﬁve units reﬂects delivery across a number of sites,
including some delays in completion.  We exceeded our target for bringing empty homes back into
use and will continue to monitor performance and work with partners to support delivery and
improve performance in the coming year.

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Our Council Plan Progress Update – Year End 2025 to 2026 Page 58 of 67
Performance Indicators 
PI Code and Description 2022-23
Value
2022-23
Target
2022-23
Status
2023-24
Value
2023-24
Target
2023-24
Status
2024-25
Value
2024-25
Target
2024-25
Status
2025-26
Value 
2025-26
Target
2025-
26
Status 
2026-27
Target 
CP_36 Number of residents participating
in community learning and development
activity including youth work
17,804   23,503 18,700  28,102 19,500  24,794 23,500  23,500
CP_04 Proportion of children meeting
developmental milestones (LGBF) 79.5%   77.50% 79%  80% 79% 
Data
Available
May 2027
79%  79%
CP_37 Average total tariﬀ score of pupils
living in SIMD 20% most deprived areas 670.2   664.3 714  681 720 
Data
Available
March 2027
690  700
CP_06 Average tariﬀ score: All Leavers 847.2   840.8 908  864.4 910 
Data
Available
March 2027
880  890
CP_38 Average total tariﬀ for care
experienced Young People 411.5   355 465  508 470 
Data
Available
March 2027
480  490
CP_07 % of school leavers entering
positive destinations (LGBF) 96.5%   95.6% 96.4%  95.7% 96.8% 
Data
Available
February
2027
96.8%  96.20% 
PI Status 
Significantly Adrift of Target 
Slightly Adrift of Target 
On Target 
Data Not Available 
Data Only

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Our Council Plan Progress Update – Year End 2025 to 2026 Page 59 of 67
PI Code and Description 2022-23
Value
2022-23
Target
2022-23
Status
2023-24
Value
2023-24
Target
2023-24
Status
2024-25
Value
2024-25
Target
2024-25
Status
2025-26
Value 
2025-26
Target
2025-
26
Status 
2026-27
Target 
CP_39b Number of unemployed people
that have progressed to employment as a
result of participation in council funded
or operated employability activities
427   475   643 475 
Data
Available
November
2026
450  475
CP_10a % of procurement spend on local
enterprises 26.04% 25%  24.48% 26%  26.8% 27% 
Data
Available
June 2026
27%  27%
CP_40 Number of new build housing
units reaching completion (all tenures)
(actual not cumulative)
562   384 295  371 396  431 436  407
CP_41 Number of empty homes brought
back into use (actual) 120   378 200  375 300  432 350  400
CP_28 Hectares of vacant and derelict
land in North Ayrshire 1,130 1,094  951 1,094  942 925  872 925  850
CP_27 Street Cleanliness Index - % Clean
(LGBF)1 84.6 90  89.1 87  90.3% 87  89.7% 89  89%
CP_20 Overall percentage of road
network that should be considered for
maintenance treatment
34.8% 33.8%  32.5% 34.8%  30.6% 32.5% 
Data
Available
September
2026
32%  32%
CP_42 Provided ﬂoor space of
commercial/industrial space within our
council portfolio (sq.  ft)
400,991   404,897 404,755  423,077 423,077  394,684 423,077  394,684 
1 Sourced from the Local Environmental Audit and Management System (LEAMS) audit conducted by Keep Scotland Beautiful.

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Our Council Plan Progress Update – Year End 2025 to 2026 Page 60 of 67
PI Code and Description 2022-23
Value
2022-23
Target
2022-23
Status
2023-24
Value
2023-24
Target
2023-24
Status
2024-25
Value
2024-25
Target
2024-25
Status
2025-26
Value 
2025-26
Target
2025-
26
Status 
2026-27
Target 
CP_02 % of council budget directed via
participatory methods 2.74% 1%  2.05% 1.5%  1.97%. 1.5%  1.27% 1.5%  1.25%
CP_43 Number of council assets under
community management (cumulative) 49   53 54  55 56  57 57  59
CP_30 Total installed capacity of low
carbon heat and electricity generation
across our council's estate
12,104 11,800  15,992 12,000  17,630 28,499  30,230 30,137  31,000
CP_29 Overall carbon emissions (tonnes)
(Non-domestic council estate) 20,896 21,000  20,745 19,500  20,333 19,953  17,229 19,824  16,519
CP_44a % of council dwellings that are
energy eﬃcient (Formerly known as
SHSN05a) (LGBF)2
98.2   98.01 98.1  97.66 98.5  97.92 98.7  98.5%
CP_45 Length of new or improved active
travel routes per annum (Metres) 1,090   3,900 2,000  2,500 2,000  3,443 2,000  2,000
CP_46 Number of trees planted under
the North Ayrshire 2030 Tree Planting
Strategy
No data No data No data 36,531 40,000  49,026 47,000  65,305 60,000  75,000
CP_19 Proportion of operational
buildings that are suitable for their
current use (LGBF)3
95.1% 93%  95.2% 92.1%  95.2% 93%  95.2% 93%  89% 
2 LGBF reporting has paused on this indicator whilst EESSH2 is established therefore the values from 2022-23 onwards are provisional and sourced locally.
3 Data for 2025 to 2026 is provisional and will be conﬁrmed upon the release of the LGBF data in September 2026

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Our Council Plan Progress Update – Year End 2025 to 2026 Page 61 of 67
PI Code and Description 2022-23
Value
2022-23
Target
2022-23
Status
2023-24
Value
2023-24
Target
2023-24
Status
2024-25
Value
2024-25
Target
2024-25
Status
2025-26
Value 
2025-26
Target
2025-
26
Status 
2026-27
Target 
CP_31 % of total household waste that is
recycled (calendar year as per SEPA)
(LGBF)4
55.3% 56.9%  56.1% 57%  53% 56%  52.9% 53%  53%
CP_25 % of council dwellings that meet
the Scottish Housing Quality Standard
(LGBF)
63.2%   76.9% 72.5%  94% 97.4% 
Data
Available
September
2026
97.57%  98.93%
CP_47 Gross rent arrears (all tenants) as
at 31 March each year as a percentage of
rent due for the reporting year (LGBF)
7.1%   5.9% 6.5%  8%  
Data
Available
September
2026
7.0%  7.0%
CP_48 % of income due from council tax
received by the end of the year (LGBF) 94.7%   93.6% 94%  94% 98% 
Data
Available
September
2026
94%  94% 
4 The 2025-26 value is a provisional ﬁgure and will be updated in the LGBF data release in October 2026.

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Our Council Plan Progress Update – Year End 2025 to 2026 Page 62 of 67
Action Tracker
The criteria to determine the status of an action is detailed within section 6.1.2 of Our Performance Management Strategy.
Action Status
Significantly Adrift of Target
Slightly Adrift of Target
On Target
Ref # Existing Overall Action and Priority
2023-24
2023-24
2023-24
2024-25
2024-25
2024-25
2024-25
2025-26
2025-26
2025-26
2025-26
2026-27
2026-27
2026-27
2026-27
2027-28
2027-28
2027-28
2027-28
Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4
CP01
Ensuring that wellbeing is at the heart of local life and
opportunities, with a focus on tackling inequalities
(Wellbeing Priority).
- - - - - - - -
CP02 Developing a Community Wealth Building approach to a
wellbeing economy (Wellbeing Priority). - - - - - - - -
CP03 Improving educational attainment and achievement and
closing the attainment gap (Wellbeing Priority). - - - - - - - -
CP04
Improving outcomes for care experienced young people
including implementation of The Promise (Wellbeing
Priority).
- - - - - - - -
CP05 Developing the Young Workforce and ensuring positive
destinations for school leavers (Wellbeing Priority). - - - - - - - -
CP06
Providing lifelong learning opportunities for individuals
and organisations, including digital literacy (Wellbeing
Priority).
- - - - - - - -
CP07 Maximising access to and uptake of benefits, entitlements
and financial advice (Wellbeing Priority). - - - - - - - -
CP08
Ensuring that supports are available in communities to
alleviate cost-of-living pressures through community hubs
and networks (Wellbeing Priority).
- - - - - - - -

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Our Council Plan Progress Update – Year End 2025 to 2026       Page 63 of 67   
5 Delivery of this action is managed through the Health and Social Care Partnership Strategic Plan
Ref # Existing Overall Action and Priority
2023-24
2023-24
2023-24
2024-25
2024-25
2024-25
2024-25
2025-26
2025-26
2025-26
2025-26
2026-27
2026-27
2026-27
2026-27
2027-28
2027-28
2027-28
2027-28  
Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4
CP09
Through our housebuilding programme and wider
Housing Investment provide homes for life that meet the
needs of our residents (Wellbeing Priority).           
- - - - - - - -
CP10
Increase the number of homes in the area through a mix
of private and social developments and bringing empty
buildings back in to use (Wellbeing Priority).           
- - - - - - - -
CP11
Exploration of models and the development of pilot
schemes to increase access to and use of
public/community transport (Wellbeing Priority).           
- - - - - - - -
CP12
Ensure our places and spaces where we live, work and
visit are well maintained and accessible (Wellbeing
Priority).           
- - - - - - - -
CP13 Developing infrastructure to support business growth
(Wellbeing Priority).            - - - - - - - -
CP14 Support KA Leisure’s leadership of North Ayrshire’s Health
and Wellbeing Alliance (Wellbeing Priority).            - - - - - - - -
CP15
Through the Health and Social Care Partnership Strategic
Plan we will protect and provide care and support for
those in need (Wellbeing Priority).5
- - - - - - -    - - - - - - - - -
CP16
Developing strong relationships with communities and
partners based on trust and shared aspirations using their
experiences to inform service provision (Communities and
Local Democracy Priority).           
- - - - - - - -

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Our Council Plan Progress Update – Year End 2025 to 2026       Page 64 of 67  
Ref # Existing Overall Action and Priority
2023-24
2023-24
2023-24
2024-25
2024-25
2024-25
2024-25
2025-26
2025-26
2025-26
2025-26
2026-27
2026-27
2026-27
2026-27
2027-28
2027-28
2027-28
2027-28  
Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4
CP17
Providing support for community organisations in
achieving their goals, including as Community Wealth
Building anchor organisations (Communities and Local
Democracy Priority).           
- - - - - - - -
CP18
Creating a participation and engagement framework
which ensures opportunities and support for all residents
to take part in influencing local democracy and council
and partner strategies (Communities and Local
Democracy Priority).           
- - - - - - - -
CP19 Supporting participatory budgeting (Communities and
Local Democracy Priority).            - - - - - - - -
CP20
Supporting community asset transfer and community
owned and operated/managed assets (Communities and
Local Democracy Priority).           
- - - - - - - -
CP21
Supporting the Community Planning Partnership and the
Community Plan (LOIP) (Communities and Local
Democracy Priority).           
- - - - - - - -
CP22 Developing partnerships with the third and voluntary
sector (Communities and Local Democracy Priority).            - - - - - - - -
CP23
Placemaking, including creation of locality action plans
based on the Community Plan (LOIP) priorities and
support the delivery of Islands Plans (Communities and
Local Democracy Priority).           
- - - - - - - -
CP24
Ensuring an inclusive, fair, rights-based and asset-based
approach in our work (Communities and Local Democracy
Priority).           
- - - - - - - -

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Our Council Plan Progress Update – Year End 2025 to 2026       Page 65 of 67  
Ref # Existing Overall Action and Priority
2023-24
2023-24
2023-24
2024-25
2024-25
2024-25
2024-25
2025-26
2025-26
2025-26
2025-26
2026-27
2026-27
2026-27
2026-27
2027-28
2027-28
2027-28
2027-28  
Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4
CP25
Accessible public services, both digitally and locally,
ensuring a ‘No Wrong Door’ approach (Communities and
Local Democracy Priority).           
- - - - - - - -
CP26 Embedding our net-zero ambition in all democratic
decision-making (Climate Change Priority).            - - - - - - - -
CP27
Reducing the carbon footprint of our estate through
rationalisation utilising a locality-based approach and
taking a fabric first and low carbon energy generation
approach to homes and buildings (Climate Change
Priority).           
- - - - - - - -
CP28
Improving resilience and reducing carbon by developing
and supporting supply chains where materials and goods
are sourced locally (Climate Change Priority).           
- - - - - - - -
CP29
Promoting new woodland creation and protecting our
green spaces to provide a natural resource for carbon
sequestration (Climate Change Priority).           
- - - - - - - -
CP30 Supporting local businesses as they meet their climate
change obligations (Climate Change Priority).            - - - - - - - -
CP31
Promoting a circular economy in North Ayrshire to reduce
consumption of raw materials and promote reuse, repair
and recycling, and generating energy from residual waste
(Climate Change Priority).           
- - - - - - - -
CP32 Developing local low carbon energy generation schemes
and networks (Climate Change Priority).            - - - - - - - -
CP33 Unlocking the potential of community owned energy
generation to bring new income streams into            - - - - - - - -

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Our Council Plan Progress Update – Year End 2025 to 2026 Page 66 of 67
Ref # Existing Overall Action and Priority
2023-24
2023-24
2023-24
2024-25
2024-25
2024-25
2024-25
2025-26
2025-26
2025-26
2025-26
2026-27
2026-27
2026-27
2026-27
2027-28
2027-28
2027-28
2027-28
Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4
communities and help them take direct action to combat
climate change (Climate Change Priority).
CP34
Learning for sustainability, and work with communities to
adopt low carbon behaviour change and encourage
climate-based volunteering activities (Climate Change
Priority).
- - - - - - - -
CP35
Improving communities’ preparedness to deal with the
impacts of climate change already locked-in (Climate
Change Priority).
- - - - - - - -
CP36
Working with communities to adopt low carbon
behaviour change and encourage climate-based
volunteering activities (Climate Change Priority).
- - - - - - - -
CP37 Taking a nature-based approach to protect our habitats
and species (Climate Change Priority). - - - - - - - -
CP38 Developing and promoting active travel infrastructure
(Climate Change Priority). - - - - - - - -
CP39 Transitioning to low and zero carbon travel (Climate
Change Priority). - - - - - - - -
CP40
Ensuring robust governance arrangements are in place to
fulfil our council’s statutory duties, manage risk and
support delivery of key priorities (A Sustainable Council
Priority).
- - - - - - - -
CP41 Using dynamic data and lived experiences to inform
decision-making (A Sustainable Council Priority). - - - - - - - -

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Our Council Plan Progress Update – Year End 2025 to 2026 Page 67 of 67
Ref # Existing Overall Action and Priority
2023-24
2023-24
2023-24
2024-25
2024-25
2024-25
2024-25
2025-26
2025-26
2025-26
2025-26
2026-27
2026-27
2026-27
2026-27
2027-28
2027-28
2027-28
2027-28
Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4
CP42
Working with partners nationally, regionally and locally to
secure investment and target resources towards our
priorities (A Sustainable Council Priority).
- - - - - - - -
CP43
Driving change and transformation, using technology
where appropriate, to deliver efficient and effective
services and support delivery of priorities (A Sustainable
Council Priority).
- - - - - - - -
CP44 Maximising financial flexibilities to help support delivery
of priorities (A Sustainable Council Priority). - - - - - - - -
CP45 Maximising value from the use of our assets (A
Sustainable Council Priority). - - - - - - - -
CP46 Focusing our investment on priorities (A Sustainable
Council Priority). - - - - - - - -
CP47
Effective workforce planning ensuring that we have the
right skills/resources to deliver priorities (A Sustainable
Council Priority).
- - - - - - - -

Page 84

Our Council Plan Progress Update – Year End 2025 to 2026 
Page 68 of 67  
For further information on this report please contact:
Corporate Policy and Performance
North Ayrshire Council
Email:  NorthAyrshirePerforms@north-ayrshire.gov.uk
Tel:  01294 310000

Page 85

North Ayrshire Council
Annual Performance Report
2025 to 2026
Appendix 2

Page 86

Welcome to our Annual Performance
Report 2025 to 2026 
This Annual Performance Report is the second annual report relating to Our Council Plan.  Our Council Plan
2023 to 2028 was approved by Council in June 2023 following consultation with our residents.  It is our joint
plan, our contract with our communities, Our Council Plan.  
This report provides an at a glance summary of how we’ve supported our residents of North Ayrshire
during 2025 to 2026.  You can find full details in our magazine style Council Plan Progress Reports published
on our website www.north-ayrshire.gov.uk.
We are proud to serve our people of North Ayrshire and would like to say thank you to everyone who has
supported the delivery of our services including our communities, third sector, public and private
partnerships and of course our employees. 
Councillor Anthony Gurney
Leader of the Council
Craig Hatton
Chief Executive 
Our Vision – A North Ayrshire that is fair for all. 
Our Mission – Working together to improve the lives of our people in
North Ayrshire. 
Our four Council Plan priorities are interlinked and interdependent.

Page 87

2025 to 2026 About us
Elected Members
• 12 Scottish National Party (SNP) 
• 11 Labour Group Members (8 Scottish Labour Party and 3 Labour and Co-operative Party)
• 5 Scottish Conservative and Unionist 
• 3 Independent
• 2 Reform UK
Employees 
• 6,401.78 Full Time Equivalent employees
• 7,575 employees
• 73.1% female 
• 26.81% male
Key facts
• Population:  134,010 (As at Mid-Year 2024)
• 64,633 households
• Life Expectancy:
o Female:  79.7 years
o Male:  75 years
• 19,094 children and young people attend our schools and early years centres (including partner early
years centres)
• 18.0% of children in North Ayrshire live in poverty (after housing costs)
• 70.3% of residents are in employment
• 51.9% of our residents live in the most deprived Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation areas
Key assets include: 
• North Ayrshire is 886 sq.km (mainland is 441 sq.km and our islands are
445sq.km)
• 225km coastline with beaches (including Sites of Special Scientific
Interest (SSSI)
• 42 Local Authority Early Years Provisions
• 16 Partner Early Years Provisions
• 49 Primary Schools
• 8 Secondary Schools
• 1 Additional Support Needs School 
• 1 Through School (Early Learning Centre, Primary and
Secondary School combined) 
• 13,405 council homes
• 1,057km carriageway
• 1,035km footpaths
• Approximately 26,223 streetlights
• Over 275 Hectares of woodland
• 30,230kW installed capacity of low carbon heat and 
electricity generation across our council’s estate

Page 88

Financial Overview 
Scottish Government
General Grant
£344.318m
72%
Scottish Government
Specific Grant,
£7.448m
2%
Non Domestic Rates,
£42.871m
9%
Council Tax
£72.984m
15%
Use of reserves
£8.766m
2%
Funding
Corporate Services
£21.953m
5%
Education,
£191.857m
40%
Communities and
Housing, £16.577m
3%
Place
£61.734m
13%
HSCP
£142.676m
30%
Other Corporate Items
£14.138m
3%
Financing Costs
£27.452m
6%
Funding

Page 89

Our Performance
This section highlights key areas we have delivered under each of the four priorities: ‘Wellbeing’, ‘Communities and
Local Democracy’, ‘Climate Change’ and ‘A Sustainable Council’.  Full details can be found in our six-monthly Council
Plan Progress Reports on our website www.north-ayrshire.gov.uk.
Wellbeing
• During 2025 to 2026, our Money Matters team helped increase North
Ayrshire residents’ income by more than £20 million.  Work is underway to
simplify access to benefits by embedding our ‘No Wrong Door’ approach,
expanding cross-sector training, and reviewing progress to ensure
support remains effective and joined-up.
• Fairer Futures continued to develop through strong partnership with
communities and the third sector, focusing on building trust, improving
access to support, and embedding lived experience in service design and
decision-making. 
• We strengthened our approach to tackling child poverty by developing
new data insights with Smart Data Foundry to better identify financial
hardship and enable more targeted support.
• Training and a new child-friendly complaints process were introduced to
embed children’s rights in everyday practice, supporting implementation of the
UNCRC in Scotland.
• An independent report highlighted strong progress in Community Wealth Building,
supported by £3 million of Scottish Government funding, with the programme
assisting over 1,000 local businesses and expanding opportunities to benefit from
public sector investment. 
• The Equal employability service has been further embedded by its move to
Lochshore Park, enhancing support for people with health conditions and disabilities
through improved facilities and opportunities.
• The Employability Awards celebrated over 140 nominations, recognising the achievements
of participants building skills and confidence, while showcasing diverse career pathways and
introducing a new excellence award.
• Strong progress has been made in delivering new and affordable homes through an expanded housing
investment programme, increasing targets and advancing key developments to meet local housing need.  431
homes have been completed during 2025 to 2026.
• Efforts to reduce empty homes have been strengthened, with 432 properties brought back into use and
continued support offered to owners to increase housing supply within communities.
• Ongoing investment in existing council homes is improving safety, comfort and energy efficiency, helping to
reduce costs for tenants while informing long-term housing and sustainability plans.
• Tenant engagement and performance scrutiny remain strong, with high satisfaction levels and ongoing
improvements informed by tenant feedback, inspections and targeted action plans through to 2028.
• External funding totalling over £3 million has been secured to support housing delivery and regeneration,
enabling new homes, improved retail provision and investment in key community sites.
• Strong progress has been made across Local Housing Strategy priorities, delivering new
homes, improving affordability and choice, advancing energy efficiency, and enhancing the
quality of housing and neighbourhoods through regeneration and investment
programmes.

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Communities and Local Democracy
• 431 adults and 1,955 of our young people gained recognised national awards.
• Participatory Budgeting funding of over £204,000 attracted strong community interest,
with 324 nominations received and a significant number progressing across youth,
locality and community wealth building projects.
• Proposals from the locality planning review are being implemented across all six
localities following Cabinet approval in May. This will help strengthen
participation in local democracy.
• The Champions Board Conference brought together care-experienced young
people to share their views, build connections and help shape future activity,
strengthening the council’s commitment to keeping The Promise.
• Co-design with communities and third sector partners continues to strengthen trust
and relationships, with practical improvements such as community connector roles
and a shared services directory enhancing access to support.
• Over £800,000 of funding has been secured in partnership with the Scottish
Government’s Islands Programme to support key projects on Arran, enhancing
community facilities and infrastructure in line with national priorities.
• Our Connected Communities service is supporting residents to improve their
English skills, build confidence and overcome communication barriers through
tailored learning and supportive the Big Class programme sessions.
Climate Change
• The 7.560MW Nethermains Solar Farm has now moved into the Operation and
Maintenance Phase following the works completion certificate being issued in January 2026.
• The 5.344MW Shewalton Solar PV Farm was commissioned on 6 March 2026. An official opening is expected to
take place in the coming months.
• A tree planting exercise was completed in January with a total of 8,050 trees planted, over 65,000 to date, further
supporting our Tree Planting and Nature Network strategies.
• A gas pumping trial was successfully held on the Nethermains site throughout January - February 2026. The trials
were successful with a decision pending on whether to proceed with the gas recovery works.
• Phase Two of the CNI solar project is underway on Cumbrae, supporting 130 homes with renewable
energy solutions to reduce carbon emissions and fuel poverty while delivering wider community
benefits.
• Work is ongoing to identify new low carbon energy opportunities, including community
ownership models, while supporting local groups through the Community Renewable Energy
Generation Fund.
• The Area Based Scheme continues to progress, delivering energy efficiency improvements
and expanding to new areas to help reduce fuel poverty and support low carbon heating.
• The ECO4 Flex partnership has delivered over £1 million in external funding, supporting 48
households with energy efficiency improvements and low carbon heating measures.
• Strong collaboration has supported local suppliers to secure contracts worth £32 million
over the year, reinforcing the council’s commitment to sustaining the local economy and resilient
supply chains.
• We continue to deliver strong recycling performance, exceeding targets, ranking among the top-
performing councils in Scotland, and gaining national recognition for improvement.
• Climate and energy learning has been expanded across schools, building knowledge, skills and engagement
among pupils, staff and council climate champions to support practical climate action.

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• To help ensure wider participation, an online platform has been developed in-house, enabling residents who are
unable to attend Climate Workshops to share their views on climate action.
• Community engagement is supporting the development of Community Climate Action Plans, with mapping and
digital tools helping residents shape local priorities and actions.
• All planned sustainability and volunteering activities were delivered, supporting community engagement and
securing an £80,000 funding application to expand future climate and youth engagement initiatives.
• Nature-based improvements and biodiversity activity have been strengthened through partnership working,
investment, and community-led projects, enhancing local environments and supporting conservation across
North Ayrshire.
• Investment in active travel infrastructure, supported by Levelling Up Fund funding, is improving walking and
cycling routes, enhancing accessibility, and expanding sustainable travel opportunities across North Ayrshire.
• Enhancements to public transport infrastructure have improved accessibility and reliability, including the
installation of real-time information and upgraded bus stops and shelters.
• The Travel Smart Programme continues to promote behaviour change through targeted engagement and
practical initiatives, encouraging greater use of active and sustainable travel options.
A Sustainable Council
• North Ayrshire Council’s scheduled Controller of Audit (Section 102) Best Value report was considered by the
Accounts Commission in October and Council in December.  The findings are extremely positive, highlighting a
culture of continuous improvement, a proactive focus on addressing inequalities in our communities and stating
the council is “an exemplar of how to do transformation well”.
• Budget engagement activity generated strong community input, with over 1,100 responses
helping to shape a £485 million budget, including investment in renewable energy and
measures to reduce child poverty.
• Significant external funding, including over £1.5 million from the Vacant and Derelict
Land Fund, £376,535 for council-led projects and £397,000 for community groups
through UKSPF, alongside £1.5 million for Pride in Place, is supporting regeneration
and community development across North Ayrshire.
• Progress continues on property rationalisation, with construction underway on a
new customer service centre and plans in place to consolidate services into
Cunninghame House to support efficiency and regeneration.
• Following the approval of the Generative AI Policy by Cabinet providing clear
guidance for employees, a trail is underway to test additional functionality.
• The Smart Infrastructure Pilot Project and wider digital programmes have progressed
into delivery, providing real-time data insights, strengthening digital connectivity and skills,
and supporting economic growth through significant investment and collaboration across Ayrshire.
Next Steps
Next steps for the following six months are included in our six monthly Council Plan Progress Reports on our website
www.north-ayrshire.gov.uk.
How do we compare?
You can discover how our performance compares to other Scottish local
authorities through the national Local Government Benchmarking
Framework online tool or through our LGBF Report published within our
Year End reporting on our website www.north-ayrshire.gov.uk.

Page 92

We strive to make our reporting as accessible as possible.  If you
have any questions or require further information on our
council’s performance please contact:
The Corporate Policy and Performance Team
Tel:  01294 310000  Email:  NorthAyrshirePerforms@north-ayrshire.gov.uk
Reports can be viewed at: Council Performance (north-ayrshire.gov.uk)

Page 93

Local Government
Benchmarking Framework
Analysis of April 2026
Data Release
Appendix 3

Page 94

Contents
Introduction .............................................................................................................................................. 1
LGBF Priority Indicators ............................................................................................................................ 2
People Services .................................................................................................................................. 7
Other Services ................................................................................................................................. 19

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Local Government Benchmarking Framework Analysis of April 2026 Data Release - Page 1 of 31
Introduction
The Local Government Benchmarking Framework (LGBF) provides an opportunity to benchmark our
performance with other local authorities in Scotland. It is administered by the Improvement Service
in partnership with the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives (SOLACE) and highlighted within
the Accounts Commission’s Statutory Performance Information Direction 2024 which defines how
local authorities should demonstrate they are achieving Best Value for the people they serve. 
We have identified 33 indicators that closely link to the priorities within our Council Plan. Data for
these indicators is released in phases during the year. Areas such as CO2 emissions, Gross Value
Added and claimant count are included as priority indicators as they are monitored by our council to
reflect our operating environment, though we have limited influence on these areas directly. This
section demonstrates our relative performance for these indicators as at the April 2025 data release.
This information alongside the LGBF Dashboard enables us to learn from others to improve services
for our residents.
For comparison, local authorities are divided into quartiles dependent on their overall ranking for
each indicator.  As at April 2026, 20 of our 33 priority indicators are in the top two quartiles. Top
quartile performance includes areas such as proportion of pupils entering positive destinations, CO2
emissions area wide per capita and percentage of unemployed people assisted into work from
council programmes
In the short term (most recent one year period available), 24 of our 33 priority indicators have shown
improvement in performance, whereas seven have demonstrated a reduction in performance and
two have stayed the same. Some of the indicators which have improved are proportion of children
meeting developmental milestones, immediate available employment land as a percentage of total
land allocated for employment purposes and proportion of Social Welfare Fund (SWF) Community
Care Grant decisions within 15 days. Those that have declined in performance include proportion of
people earning less than the living wage, proportion of the highest paid 5% of employees who are
women and claimant count as percentage of 16-24 population.
The following is a breakdown of the priority indicators within the context of family groups. Family
groups enable local authorities to make as close to a like for like comparison as possible with other
councils by grouping those with similar traits depending on the indicator. Grouping is based on levels
of deprivation (people services) or rurality (other services).  We align our LGBF analysis to the family
groups used within the LGBF Dashboard.  Currently these are: 
Peoples Services (Deprivation)
• North Ayrshire Council
• Comhairle nan Eilean Siar
• Dundee City Council
• East Ayrshire Council
• North Lanarkshire Council
• Inverclyde Council
• West Dunbartonshire Council
• Glasgow City Council
Other Services (Rurality)
• North Ayrshire Council
• Perth and Kinross
• Stirling Council
• Moray Council
• South Ayrshire Council
• East Ayrshire Council 
• East Lothian Council
• Fife Council

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Local Government Benchmarking Framework Analysis of April 2026 Data Release - Page 2 of 31
LGBF Priority Indicators
The table below displays the short term (or prior year) comparison of the performance, rank and quartile for the 33 priority LGBF indicators. To assess
performance, the terms ‘improved’ or ‘declined’ are used in this report. This terminology is used as for some indicators a value increasing is improved
performance however for other indicators, a value increasing is declined performance. Each indicator is linked to a chart later in the document for more
information.
In summary, of the 33 indicators over the short term:
• Performance has improved for 24 (72.7%), declined for 7 (21.2%) and stayed the same for 2 (6.1%). 
• Rank has improved for 19, declined for 10, and stayed the same for 4.
• Quartile has improved for 12 declined for 3 and stayed the same for 18.
Key 
Improved 
Stayed the same 
Declined 
Performance Rank Quartile
LGBF Priority Indicator
Most
recent
year
available
Previous year’s
data 
Most recent
data
Data
improve
/ decline
Prior year
rank 
Most
recent rank
Rank
improve
/ decline
Previous
year’s
quartile 
Most
recent
quartile
Quartile
improve
/ decline
CHN11 - Proportion of pupils
entering positive destinations
(CP_07)
2024 to
2025 95.6% 95.7%  19 16  3 2 
CHN – 17 Proportion of Children
meeting developmental
milestones (CP_04)
2024 to
2025 77.4% 80%  32 28  4 4

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Local Government Benchmarking Framework Analysis of April 2026 Data Release - Page 3 of 31 
Performance Rank Quartile
LGBF Priority Indicator
Most
recent
year
available
Previous year’s
data 
Most recent
data
Data
improve
/ decline
Prior year
rank 
Most
recent rank
Rank
improve
/ decline
Previous
year’s
quartile 
Most
recent
quartile
Quartile
improve
/ decline
CHN24 - Proportion of children
living in poverty (after housing
costs)
2024 to
2025 18.1% 18.0%  31 31  4 4 
CLIM01 - CO2 emissions area
wide per capita
2023 to
2024 4.56 4.04  20 15  3 2 
CLIM02 - CO2 emissions area
wide: emissions within scope of
LA per capita
2023 to
2024 4.90 4.38  22 18  3 3 
CLIM03 - CO2 emissions from
Transport per capita
2024 to
2025 29.51 27.29  22 17  3 3 
CLIM04 - CO2 emissions from
electricity per capita
2024 to
2025  45.78 46.53  17 24  3 3 
CLIM05 - CO2 emissions from
natural gas per capita
2024 to
2025 72.11 68.69  25 25  4 4 
CORP03b - Proportion of the
highest paid 5% of employees
who are women
2024 to
2025 64.0% 63.9%  4 6  1 1 
CORP3c – Gender Pay Gap 2024 to
2025 0.0% 0.3%  7 13  1 2 
CORP07 - Percentage of income
due from Council Tax received
by the end of the year (CP_48)
2024 to
2025 93.6% 94.0%  30 26  4 4 
CORP08 - Percentage of invoices
sampled that were paid within
30 days
2024 to
2025 95.8% 96.4%  6 7  1 1

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Local Government Benchmarking Framework Analysis of April 2026 Data Release - Page 4 of 31 
Performance Rank Quartile
LGBF Priority Indicator
Most
recent
year
available
Previous year’s
data 
Most recent
data
Data
improve
/ decline
Prior year
rank 
Most
recent rank
Rank
improve
/ decline
Previous
year’s
quartile 
Most
recent
quartile
Quartile
improve
/ decline
CORP09 - Proportion of SWF
Crisis Grant decisions within 1
day
2024 to
2025 99.2% 99.2%  9 14  2 2 
CORP10 - Proportion of SWF
Community Care Grant decisions
within 15 days
2024 to
2025 99.1% 99.2%  10 9  2 2 
CORP-ASSET01 - % of
operational buildings that are
suitable for their current use
(CP_19)
2024 to
2025 95.2% 95.2%  6 7  1 1 
ECON01 - Percentage of
Unemployed People Assisted
into work from Council
Programmes
2024 to
2025 19.0% 23.0%  8 4  1 1 
ECON04 - Proportion of
procurement spent on local
enterprises
2024 to
2025 23.9% 26.8%  19 18  3 3 
ECON05 - No of business
gateway start-ups per 10,000
population
2025 to
2026 12.3 13.1  25 24  4 3 
ECON07 - Proportion of people
earning less than the living wage
2024 to
2025 10.7% 10.9%  9 6  2 1 
ECON09 - Town Vacancy Rates 2024 to
2025 7.8% 7.2%  6 7  1 1 
ECON10 - Immediate available
employment land as a % of total
land allocated for employment
purposes
2024 to
2025 42.7% 44.5%  9 5  2 1

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Local Government Benchmarking Framework Analysis of April 2026 Data Release - Page 5 of 31 
Performance Rank Quartile
LGBF Priority Indicator
Most
recent
year
available
Previous year’s
data 
Most recent
data
Data
improve
/ decline
Prior year
rank 
Most
recent rank
Rank
improve
/ decline
Previous
year’s
quartile 
Most
recent
quartile
Quartile
improve
/ decline
ECON11 - Gross Value Added
(GVA) per capital
2023 to
2024 £20,301 £20,887  26 25  4 4 
ECON12a - Claimant Count as a
% of Working Age Population
2025 to
2026 4.2% 4.1%  31 31  4 4 
ECON12b - Claimant Count as %
of 16-24 Population
2025 to
2026 5.5% 5.8%  32 32  4 4 
ENV03c - Street Cleanliness
Score (CP_27)
2024 to
2025 89.1% 90.3%  24 20  3 3 
ENV04b - Percentage of A class
roads considered for
maintenance treatment
2024 to
2025 28.9% 26.7%  21 13  3 2 
ENV04c - Percentage of B class
roads considered for
maintenance treatment
2024 to
2025 27.4% 25.5%  13 7  2 1 
ENV04d - Percentage of C class
roads considered for
maintenance treatment
2024 to
2025 38.5% 36.8%  26 23  4 3 
ENV04e - Percentage of
unclassified roads considered for
maintenance treatment
2024 to
2025 32.4% 30.5%  11 7  2 1 
ENV06 - Proportion of total
household waste arising that is
recycled (CP_31)
2024 to
2025 56.1% 53.0%  4 9  1 2 
HSN01b - Gross rent arrears (all
tenants) as a percentage of rent
due for the year (CP_47)
2024 to
2025 7.5% 8.0%  7 14  1 2

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Local Government Benchmarking Framework Analysis of April 2026 Data Release - Page 6 of 31 
Performance Rank Quartile
LGBF Priority Indicator
Most
recent
year
available
Previous year’s
data 
Most recent
data
Data
improve
/ decline
Prior year
rank 
Most
recent rank
Rank
improve
/ decline
Previous
year’s
quartile 
Most
recent
quartile
Quartile
improve
/ decline
HSN03 - Proportion of council
dwellings meeting Scottish
Housing Quality Standards
(CP_25)
2024 to
2025 76.9% 94.0%  16 3  2 1 
HSN05a - Proportion of council
dwellings that are energy
efficient (CP_44)
2021 to
2022 97.6% 97.7%  2 2  1 1

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Local Government Benchmarking Framework Analysis of April 2026 Data Release - Page 7 of 31
People Services
The table below displays the short – term, medium term and long term comparisons against our current year for our 15 People Services family group
indicators. When 10 full recording periods were not available the most historical figure has been used for the long term comparison. Each indicator is linked
to a chart later in the document for more information.
In summary, of the 15 indicators over the short, medium and long term.
• Short Term Family Group Rank – 8 (53.3%) Improved, 4 (26.6%) declined 3 (20%) and stayed the same 
• Medium Term Family Group Rank – 6 (40%) Improved, 7 (46.6%) declined and 2 (13.3%) stayed the same 
• Long Term Family Group Rank – 4 (26.6%) Improved, 8 (53.3%) declined and 3 (20%) stayed the same 
Short Term, Medium Term and Long Term
Comparisons for our People Services Family
Group 
Current Year Short Term Comparison  Medium Term Comparison  Long term Comparison 
LGBF Indicators Peoples Services Year Rank Year Rank
Rank
improve
/ decline
Year Rank
Rank
improve
/ decline
Year  Rank
Rank
improve
/ decline
CHN11 - Proportion of pupils entering
positive destinations
2024 to
2025 16 2023 to
2024 19  2021 to
2022 15  2014 to
2015 6 
CHN17 - Percentage of children meeting
development milestones
2024 to
2025 28 2023 to
2024 32  2021 to
2022 28  2014 to
2015 13 
CHN24 - Proportion of Children Living in
Poverty After Housing Costs
2024 to
2025 31 2023 to
2024 31  2021 to
2022 31  2014 to
2015 31

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Local Government Benchmarking Framework Analysis of April 2026 Data Release - Page 8 of 31
ECON1 - Percentage of Unemployed People
Assisted into work from Council
Programmes
2024 to
2025 4 2023 to
2024 8  2021 to
2022 12  2014 to
2015  8 
ECON12a - Claimant Count as a percentage
of working age population
2025 to
2026 31 2024 to
2025 31  2022 to
2023 30  2015 to
2016 32 
ECON12b - Claimant Count as a percentage
of 16-24 population
2025 to
2026 32 2024 to
2025 32  2022 to
2023 31  2015 to
2016 32 
ECON7 - Proportion of people earning less
than the living wage
2024 to
2025 6 2023 to
2024 9  2020 to
2021 12  2013 to
2014 25 
ECON9 - Town Vacancy Rates 2024 to
2025 7 2023 to
2024 6  2021 to
2022 18  2014 to
2015  6 
ENV3c - Street Cleanliness Score 2024 to
2025  20 2023 to
2024  24  2021 to
2022 27  2014 to
2015 22 
HSN1b - Gross Rent Arrears (All Tenants) as
a Percentage of rent due for the year
2024 to
2025 14 2023 to
2024 7  2021 to
2022 7  2014 to
2015 3 
HSN3 - Proportion of Council dwellings
meeting Scottish Housing Quality Standards
2024 to
2025 3 2023 to
2024 16  2021 to
2022 21  2014 to
2015 3

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Local Government Benchmarking Framework Analysis of April 2026 Data Release - Page 9 of 31
HSN5a - Proportion of council dwellings that
are energy efficient
2021 to
2022 4 2020 to
2021 2 2018 to
2019 1 2015 to
2016 3
CORP7 - Percentage of income due from
Council Tax received by the end of the year
2024 to
2025 26 2023 to
2024 30 2021 to
2022 31 2014 to
2015 24
CORP9 - Percentage of Scottish Welfare
Fund Crisis Grant decisions within one day
2024 to
2025 14 2023 to
2024 9 2021 to
2022 8 2018 to
2019 7
CORP10 - Percentage of Scottish Welfare
Fund Community Care Grant decisions in 15
days
2024 to
2025 9 2023 to
2024 10 2021 to
2022 5 2018 to
2019 6

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Local Government Benchmarking Framework Analysis of April 2026 Data Release - Page 10 of 31
(Please note, axis scales used within the following charts vary to ensure trends are visible.)
CHN11 – Proportion of pupils entering positive destinations 
At the end of the 2024 to 2025 academic session, 95.7% of the 1,396 school leavers identified by
Skills Development Scotland for North Ayrshire have moved to positive post-school destinations.  As
in previous years most school leavers, 72.6%, continue into Further and Higher Education.  This time,
the percentage moving into Higher Education courses (37%) has exceeded those who moved into
Further Education (35.5%).  This has previously happened during the pandemic and two post-
pandemic years.  Within our family group we are currently 3rd below Inverclyde Council (96.4%) and
Eilean Siar Council (96.1%). This places us 16th in the overall rankings and within the 2nd quartile. 
CHN17 – Percentage of children meeting developmental milestones 
The percentage of children meeting developmental milestones for 2024 to 2025 was 80%. We are
currently 5th within our family group below Inverclyde Council (87%), Eilean Siar Council (84.5%),
North Lanarkshire Council (82.5%) and Dundee City Council (81.6%) and above West Dunbartonshire

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Local Government Benchmarking Framework Analysis of April 2026 Data Release - Page 11 of 31
Council (78.6%) and East Ayrshire Council (78.5%). Our relative position is 28 which places us within
the 4th quartile. Locally we have exceeded our target of 79%.
CHN24 – Proportion of Children Living in Poverty After Housing Costs
Trend data should be interpreted with caution as the Scottish and UK Governments introduced a
new, more accurate methodology for measuring household income in 2023 to 2024 (published in
2026 – this is represented by the purple vertical line on the chart). Across Scotland, percentage rates
have decreased in line with the national trend as a direct result of this improved approach. However,
the new methodology has not resulted in a new indicator within the LGBF, meaning the methodology
is not consistent over the years and trend is significantly skewed as a result.
For the first time, the data now combines survey responses with linked Department for Work and
Pensions (DWP) administrative records, addressing well known issues of under reporting of benefit
income in the Family Resources Survey. This results in a more accurate picture of household incomes,
particularly for low-income families.
However, the new methodology appears to have had a more pronounced effect in areas like North
Ayrshire, where there are higher rates of economic inactivity and therefore greater reliance on social
security.
Currently 18% (2024 to 2025) of children are living in poverty after housing costs with only one
authority, Glasgow City Council 23.3% with higher rates within our family group (and nationally). We
currently sit lower than both our Family Group Average (16.7%) and the National Average (14.8%)
and remain in the 4th Quartile.

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ECON1 – Percentage of Unemployed People Assisted into work from Council Programmes 
The percentage of unemployed people assisted into work from Council Programmes for 2024 to 2025
is 23%. This places us 3rd in our family group behind Eilean Siar Council (60%) and North Lanarkshire
Council (23.7%), 4th in the overall rankings and within the 1st quartile. 
The “Your Next Move Working North Ayrshire” programme provides lifelong learning opportunities
for individuals who access this service to support them to prepare and progress to employment. In
addition to the continuing support delivered as part of Your Next Move Working North Ayrshire
which includes the Equal Programme, Modern Apprenticeships, Skills for Life, Ambition Agreements,
Criminal Justice Mentors, CEiS Ayshire, We Work for Families, TACT: Positive Pathways and Barnardos
additional provision will also be delivered by partners including SAMH, Streetleague, Impact Arts,
Salvation Army, Ayrshire Chamber of Commerce, Maritime Museum, Beith Trust, Hub International
and Ko-Next ensuring more opportunities are available to engage more unemployed individuals and
support their progression to a positive destination.

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ECON12a – Claimant Count as a percentage of working age population 
The claimant count as a percentage of working age population for North Ayrshire Council was 4.1%.
This places us second lowest within our family group above only Glasgow City Council (4.8%). Our
relative position is 31 above only Glasgow City Council. This places us within the 4th quartile. 
ECON12b - Claimant Count as a percentage of 16-24 population 
The claimant count as a percentage of 16-24 population for North Ayrshire was 5.8%. This means we
are least well performing of our family group rankings and 32nd in the relative position. This places us
within the 4th quartile.

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ECON7 – Proportion of people earning less than the living wage 
The proportion of people earning less than the living wage for 2024 to 2025 was 10.9%. This places us
second within our family group behind only Glasgow City Council (10.4%). This means we are 6th in
the overall rankings and within the 1st quartile. 
ECON9 – Town Vacancy Rates 
Our town vacancy rates for 2024 to 2025 was 7.2%. This places us 3rd in the family group rankings
behind Eilean Siar Council (5.5%) and Inverclyde Council (6.1%). This means we are 7th in the overall
rankings and within the 1st quartile.

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Local Government Benchmarking Framework Analysis of April 2026 Data Release - Page 15 of 31
ENV3c – Street Cleanliness Score 
Our street cleanliness score for 2024 to 2025 was 90.3%. This means we are fourth in our family
group rankings behind East Ayrshire Council (92.6%), Eilean Siar Council (92.4%) and Inverclyde
Council (91.1%). This places us 20th in the overall rankings and within the 3rd quartiles. 
HSN1b – Gross Rent Arrears (All Tenants) as a Percentage of rent due for the year 
Our gross rent arrears (all tenants) as a percentage of rent due for the year was 8% for 2024 to 2025.
This places us second least well performing of our family group ahead of West Dunbartonshire
Council (8.8%). This means we are 14th in the overall rankings and within the 2nd quartile.

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Local Government Benchmarking Framework Analysis of April 2026 Data Release - Page 16 of 31
HSN3 – Proportion of Council dwellings meeting Scottish Housing Quality Standards 
The proportion of Council dwellings meeting Scottish Housing Quality Standards for 2024 to 2025 was
94%. This means we are 2nd in our family group behind East Ayrshire Council (98.2%). This places us
3rd in the overall rankings and within the 1st quartile. 
HSN5a – Proportion of council dwellings that are energy efficient 
The proportion of council dwellings that are energy efficient for 2021 to 2022 was 97.7%. This places
us 2nd in our family group behind East Ayrshire Council (99.5%). This means we are 4th within the
overall rankings and within the 1st quartile.

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CORP7 – Percentage of income due from Council Tax received by the end of the year 
The percentage of income due from Council Tax received by the end of year was 94% for 2024 to
2025. This means we are 4th in the family group rankings behind East Ayrshire Council (94.9%),
Inverclyde Council (94.8%) and North Lanarkshire Council (94.5%). This means that we are 26th in the
overall rankings and within the 4th quartile. 
The reported performance represents an improvement from the previous year. However, underlying
performance continues to remain below pre-pandemic levels. Collection activity in relation to Council
Tax debt continues, with the achievement of budgeted recovery levels forecast over the medium
term. As detailed in the Mid-Year 2025 to 2026 Progress Report, we continue to support residents
throughout the year through repayment plans and where required through directing residents to
other money advice supports available. Ongoing encouragement for residents to use the direct debit
payment method should help improve collection levels in future.

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Local Government Benchmarking Framework Analysis of April 2026 Data Release - Page 18 of 31
CORP9 – Percentage of Scottish Welfare Fund Crisis Grant decisions within one day 
The percentage of Scottish Welfare Fund Crisis Grant decision within one day was 99.2% for 2024 to
2025. This places us 4th in the family group rankings behind Eilean Siar Council (although there
appears to be an error as their percentage is showing as 101.7%), Inverclyde Council (99.7%) and East
Ayrshire Council (99.6%). This means we are 14th in the overall rankings and within the 2nd quartile. 
CORP10 – Percentage of Scottish Welfare Fund Community Care Grant decisions in 15 days 
The percentage of Scottish Welfare Fund Community Care Grant decisions in 15 days was 99.2%. This
places us 2nd in our family group rankings behind Inverclyde Council (99.6%), 9th in the overall
rankings and within the 2nd quartile.

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Local Government Benchmarking Framework Analysis of April 2026 Data Release - Page 19 of 31
Other Services
The table below displays the short – term, medium term and long term comparisons against our current year for our 18 Other Services family group
indicators. When 10 full recording periods were not available the most historical figure has been used for the long term comparison. Each indicator is linked
to a chart later in the document for more information.
In summary, of the 18 indicators over the short, medium and long term.
• Short Term Family Group Rank – 11 (61.1%) Improved, 6 (33.3%) declined and 1 (5.5%) stayed the same.
• Medium Term Family Group Rank – 13 (72.2%) Improved, 4 (22.2%) declined and 1 (5.5%) stayed the same.
• Long Term Family Group Rank – 13 (72.2%) Improved, 4 (22.2%) declined and 1 (5.5%) stayed the same. 
Short Term, Medium Term and Long Term
Comparisons for our Other Services Family
Group
Current Year Short Term Comparison  Medium Term Comparison  Long term Comparison 
LGBF Indicators Other Services Year Rank Year Rank
Rank
improve
/ decline
Year Rank
Rank
improve
/ decline
Year  Rank
Rank
improve
/ decline
CLIM1 – CO2 emissions area wide per capita 2023 to
2024 15 2022 to
2023 20  2020 to
2021 19  2013 to
2014 19 
CLIM2 – CO2 emissions area wide: emissions
within scope of Local Authority per capita
2023 to
2024 18 2022 to
2023 22  2020 to
2021 19  2013 to
2014 23 
CLIM3 -CO2 emissions from transport per
1000 population
2024 to
2025 17 2023 to
2024 22  2021 to
2022 23  2017 to
2018 24

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Local Government Benchmarking Framework Analysis of April 2026 Data Release - Page 20 of 31
Short Term, Medium Term and Long Term
Comparisons for our Other Services Family
Group
Current Year Short Term Comparison  Medium Term Comparison  Long term Comparison 
LGBF Indicators Other Services Year Rank Year Rank
Rank
improve
/ decline
Year Rank
Rank
improve
/ decline
Year  Rank
Rank
improve
/ decline
CLIM4 – CO2 emissions from electricity per
1000 population
2024 to
2025 24 2023 to
2024 17  2021 to
2022 21  2017 to
2018 16 
CLIM5 – CO2 emissions from natural gas per
1000 population
2024 to
2025 25 2023 to
2024 25  2021 to
2022 24  2017 to
2018 27 
ECON10 – Immediate available employment
land as percentage of total land allocated for
employment purposes
2024 to
2025 5 2023 to
2024 9  2021 to
2022 11  2014 to
2015 26 
ECON11 – Gross value added (GVA) per
capita
2023 to
2024 25 2022 to
2023 26  2020 to
2021 25  2013 to
2014 26 
ECON5 – No of business gateway start – ups
per 10,000 population
2024 to
2025 24 2023 to
2024 25  2021 to
2022 29  2014 to
2015 14 
ECON4 – Proportion of procurement spent
on local enterprises
2024 to
2025 18 2023 to
2024  19  2021 to
2022  24  2014 to
2015 26

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Local Government Benchmarking Framework Analysis of April 2026 Data Release - Page 21 of 31
Short Term, Medium Term and Long Term
Comparisons for our Other Services Family
Group
Current Year Short Term Comparison  Medium Term Comparison  Long term Comparison 
LGBF Indicators Other Services Year Rank Year Rank
Rank
improve
/ decline
Year Rank
Rank
improve
/ decline
Year  Rank
Rank
improve
/ decline
ENV4b - Percentage of A class roads
considered for maintenance treatment
2024 to
2025 13 2023 to
2024  21  2021 to
2022 26  2014 to
2015 27 
ENV4c - Percentage of B class roads
considered for maintenance treatment
2024 to
2025 7 2023 to
2024 13  2021 to
2022 17  2014 to
2015 18 
ENV4d - Percentage of C class roads
considered for maintenance treatment
2024 to
2025 23 2023 to
2024 26  2021 to
2022 28  2014 to
2015 30 
ENV4e - Percentage of unclassified roads
considered for maintenance treatment
2024 to
2025 7 2023 to
2024 11  2021 to
2022 15  2014 to
2015 17 
ENV6 – Percentage of total household waste
arising that is recycled
2024 to
2025 9 2023 to
2024 4  2021 to
2022 2  2014 to
2015 2 
CORP3b – Percentage of the highest paid 5%
of employees who are women
2024 to
2025 6 2023 to
2024 4  2021 to
2022 9  2014 to
2015 6

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Local Government Benchmarking Framework Analysis of April 2026 Data Release - Page 22 of 31
Short Term, Medium Term and Long Term
Comparisons for our Other Services Family
Group
Current Year Short Term Comparison  Medium Term Comparison  Long term Comparison 
LGBF Indicators Other Services Year Rank Year Rank
Rank
improve
/ decline
Year Rank
Rank
improve
/ decline
Year  Rank
Rank
improve
/ decline
CORP3c – Gender Pay Gap 2024 to
2025  5 2023 to
2024 1  2021 to
2022 6  2015 to
2016 8 
CORP8 – Percentage of invoices sampled
that were paid within 30 days
2024 to
2025 7 2023 to
2024 6  2021 to
2022 4  2014 to
2015 14 
CORP-ASSET1 – Percentage of operational
buildings that are suitable for their current
use
2024 to
2025 7 2023 to
2024 6  2021 to
2022 11  2014 to
2015 5

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Local Government Benchmarking Framework Analysis of April 2026 Data Release - Page 23 of 31 
(Please note, axis scales used within the following charts vary to ensure trends are visible.)
CLIM1 – CO2 emissions area wide per capita 
Our CO2 emissions area wide per capita was 4.04 tCO2e. This places us 3rd in the family group
rankings behind East Ayrshire Council (3.46 tCO2e) and Stirling Council (3.85 tCO2e). This means we
are 15th in the overall rankings and within the 2nd quartile. 
CLIM2 – CO2 emissions area wide: emissions within scope of local authority per capita 
Our CO2 emissions area wide within scope of our local authority per capita was 4.38 tCO2e for 2023
to 2024. This places us 3rd in our Family Group behind East Ayrshire Council (3.91 tCO2e) and East
Lothian Council (4.06 tCO2e). This means we are 18th in the overall rankings and within the 3rd
quartile.

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Local Government Benchmarking Framework Analysis of April 2026 Data Release - Page 24 of 31
CLIM3 -CO2 emissions from transport per 1000 population 
CO2 emissions from transport per 1000 population for 2024 to 2025 was 27.29 tCO2e. This places
North Ayrshire Council 3rd in the family group behind East Lothian Council (9.52 tCO2e) and Stirling
Council (3.85 tCO2e). Meaning we are 17th in the overall rankings and within the 3rd quartile. 
CLIM4 – CO2 emissions from electricity per 1000 population 
CO2 emissions from electricity per 1000 population for 2024 to 2025 was 46.53 tCO2e. This places us
as least well performing of the family group, 24th in the overall relative position and within the 4th
quartile.

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Local Government Benchmarking Framework Analysis of April 2026 Data Release - Page 25 of 31
CLIM5 – CO2 emissions from natural gas per 1000 population 
CO2 emissions from natural gas per 1000 population for 2024 to 2025 is 68.69 tCO2e. This places us
as least well performing of the family group and 24th in the overall relative position and within the
4th quartile
ECON10 – Immediate available employment land as percentage of total land allocated for
employment purposes 
Our immediate available employment land as percentage of total land allocated for employment
purposes for 2024 to 2025 was 44.5%. This places us top of our family group. This means we are 5th in
the overall rankings and within the 1st quartile.

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Local Government Benchmarking Framework Analysis of April 2026 Data Release - Page 26 of 31
ECON11 – Gross value added (GVA) per capita 
The Gross value added (GVA) per capita for 2023 to 2024 was £20,887. This places us 3rd least well
performing of our family group ahead of only East Lothian Council (£18,742) and East Ayrshire
Council (£18,003). This means we are 25th in the overall rankings and within the 4th quartile. 
ECON5 – No of business gateway start–ups per 10,000 population 
The number of business gateways start – ups per 10,000 population was 13.1. North Ayrshire Council
is currently 4th with East Lothian Council (12.0), South Ayrshire Council (11.4) and Moray Council (7.6)
ranking below us. This means we are 24th in the overall rankings and within the 3rd quartile.

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Local Government Benchmarking Framework Analysis of April 2026 Data Release - Page 27 of 31
ECON4 – Proportion of procurement spent on local enterprises 
The proportion of procurement spent on local enterprises for 2024 to 2025 was 26.8%. This places us
third in our family group rankings and 18th in the overall rankings (3rd quartile).  This is a different
indicator to CP_10a “% of procurement spend on local enterprises” within our Council Plan
performance framework which captures all spend including under £1,000 however it also sits at
26.8% for the same period.
ENV4b - Percentage of A class roads considered for maintenance treatment 
Our percentage of A class roads considered for maintenance treatment for 2024 to 2025 was 26.7%.
This places us third within our family group behind East Ayrshire Council (17.7%) and South Ayrshire
Council (23.4%). We are 13th in the overall rankings and within the 2nd quartile. Since the baseline
year (2010 to 2011), we have seen a positive change in performance from 46.7% to 26.7% moving
from 31st in the overall rankings in 2010 to 2011 to 13th as at the most recent data release.

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Local Government Benchmarking Framework Analysis of April 2026 Data Release - Page 28 of 31
ENV4c - Percentage of B class roads considered for maintenance treatment 
Our percentage of B class roads considered for maintenance was 25.5% for 2024 to 2025. This places
us 3rd within our family group behind Moray Council (20.5%) and East Ayrshire Council (25.2%). This
means we are 7th in the overall rankings and within the 1st quartile. Similarly to our A class roads
considered for maintenance treatment, our B class roads considered for maintenance treatment
have also seen improvement from the baseline year (2010 to 2011) moving from 46.1% to 25.5%.
This represents a change in the overall rankings from 29th in 2010 to 2011 to 7th in 2024 to 2025.
ENV4d - Percentage of C class roads considered for maintenance treatment 
Our percentage of C class roads considered for maintenance treatment for 2024 to 2025 was 36.8%.
This places us 3rd least well performing of our family group ahead of South Ayrshire Council (37.6%)
and Stirling Council (39.5%). This means we are 23rd in the overall rankings and within the 3rd quartile.
Continuing the positive long-term trends of both A and B class roads, C class roads considered for

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Local Government Benchmarking Framework Analysis of April 2026 Data Release - Page 29 of 31
maintenance treatment have also reduced from 58.6% to 36.8% since the baseline year (2010 to
2011). This has resulted in an increase in ranking from 31st in 2010 to 2011 to 23rd overall. 
ENV4e - Percentage of unclassified roads considered for maintenance treatment 
Our percentage of unclassified roads considered for maintenance treatment was 30.5% for 2024 to
2025. This places us top of our family group, 7th in the overall rankings and within the 1st quartile. The
trend has been slightly steadier compared to the A, B and C class roads, and has improved since the
baseline year (2010 to 2011). This is a rise from 13th in the overall rankings in 2010 to 2011 to 7th in
the most recent year. 
ENV6 – Percentage of total household waste arising that is recycled 
The percentage of total household waste arising that is recycled was 53% for 2024 to 2025. This
means we are 5th within our family group, behind Moray Council (56.7%), East Lothian Council
(55.3%), South Ayrshire Council (53.3%) and Stirling Council (53.2%). We are 9th in the overall
rankings and within the 2nd quartile. This performance is delivered while managing one of the highest

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Local Government Benchmarking Framework Analysis of April 2026 Data Release - Page 30 of 31
waste tonnages among the top performing authorities, highlighting both our strong outcomes and
operational scale. We were recognised with the Most Improved Performer Award in the Refuse
Collection Category by ASPE in December 2025.  A provisional figure for 2025 to 2026 is 52.9% and is
yet to be verified.
CORP3b – Percentage of the highest paid 5% of employees who are women   
The percentage of the highest paid 5% of employees who are women was 63.9% for 2024 to 2025.
This puts us at the top of our family group. We are 6th in the overall rankings and within the 1st
quartile. 
CORP3c – Gender Pay Gap 
The gender pay gap was 0.3% as at 2024 to 2025. This means we are 5th in the overall rankings and
within the first quartile.

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Local Government Benchmarking Framework Analysis of April 2026 Data Release - Page 31 of 31
CORP8 – Percentage of invoices sampled that were paid within 30 days
The percentage of invoices sampled that were paid within 30 days was 96.4% as at the most recent
data release. This means we are second in our family group rankings behind Fife Council (97.1%). We
are 7th in the overall rankings and within the first quartile. 
CORP-ASSET1 – Percentage of operational buildings that are suitable for their current use
The percentage of operational buildings that are suitable for their current use is 95.2%. This places us
third in our family group behind Perth and Kinross Council (96.9%) and Moray Council (96.1%). We
are 7th in the overall rankings and within the first quartile. Condition information is gathered across
the corporate estate and used to inform asset management decision in relation to property
rationalisation and investment decisions. Accommodation changes are presently focused within the
Irvine estate with improvements being made to Cunninghame House to enable the relocation of
employees from Bridgegate House. Condition improvement works have been completed at
Skelmorlie Primary and are currently progressing at Goldcraigs Depot Kilwinning Hayocks Primary
School and Caledonia Primary School.

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We strive to make our reporting as accessible as possible.  If you have any
questions or require further information on our Council’s performance please
contact:
The Corporate Policy and Performance Team
Tel:  01294 310000  Email:  NorthAyrshirePerforms@north-ayrshire.gov.uk
Reports can be viewed at www.north-ayrshire.gov.uk/performance