Foreword. Your SNP administration set out an ambitious programme for change in the council that focused on what was important to our people, our communities, towns and villages. In difficult times we continued to manage an efficient and forward looking council and worked continuously with many of our partners across a wide range of areas. This partnership working came to the fore with the outbreak of Covid. We want to thank all our partners and communities who worked with us in delivering the ‘Team Renfrewshire’ response to the pandemic”
We delivered on all our key priorities which included… A financially stable council which ensured vital services kept going during difficult times. Working through a pandemic supporting our most vulnerable citizens. Right for Renfrewshire programme which continues to modernise the way we work ensuring we have a council that is adaptable, using new technology to ensure services are delivered in the way our citizens expect. Largest ever investment in our road and footways which will see over 50% of our roads improved during the first phase of our programme. Huge investment in our schools, nurseries, community buildings and our iconic town centre buildings including museums, town halls and centres. Biggest investment in our greenspaces and play parks for decades which will see 20 Play parks replaced or improved in the first round of investment. We are committed to do more and build on our success.
Free Child Swimming. Further expansion of our successful free swim program for babies to primary school children. The next step towards a programme of a children/discount family swim programme.
Playparks. We have invested over £2 million in our highly successful Greenspaces and Playpark programme. Welcomed by all our local communities. We will invest more to maintain that programme and ensure all our play parks are modern and accessible.
Communities. We have invested over £1.5 million in our community empowerment fund. Allowing groups to access and manage their own buildings and parks. We will continue the funding for this successful programme.
Employment and Jobs. We invested £5 million in a new 5 year employability programme supporting people into new jobs. We will continue to develop and commit further resources to helping those furthest from the jobs market.
Digital Inclusion. We have invested in digital infrastructure to ensure our schools and our communities have fair access to fibre broadband. Access for learning and leisure is crucial. We will continue to remove barriers to the internet.
Tackling Poverty. Our programme continues to support families and children who are the most disadvantaged as part of our Social Renewal agenda. We will continue to fund support for children and families with the costs of the school day, educational and skills development .
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School Music tuition. We are one of the few councils that has maintained free school music tuition and enhanced it. We believe all children should have the opportunity to pick up a musical instrument . We will continue to invest in the service.
School clothing grant. We increased the school clothing grant to support children to get the best out of their schooling. We funded a winter school clothing grant in 2021. We will be aiming to make that a permanent support for children in the coming years.
Foster care & Kinship Carers. We increased the support for maintenance allowance and Carer fees for the first time in many years. We shall review and further increase it to ensure it keeps pace with other costs.
Inclusive play. We invested £500,000 in a partnership with OneRen to develop an internal inclusive play area, providing opportunity for children of all abilities to play in a safe, high quality indoor adventure playground. We will seek to deliver that project in the next council.
Retail Shop Improvement. Our highly successful fund has supported dozens of local businesses across Renfrewshire to improve their shop fronts. We will continue to fund and support businesses to improve our shopping outlets and our street scene.
Climate change. We have invested and engaged with local communities to deliver our climate change agenda. We committed funds and resources to achieve our net zero carbon target. We have developed plans and actions to reduce our Co2 emissions.
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Civic amenity sites. We know our communities value our civic amenity sites where household waste can be collected and recycled. We will invest in our waste collection sites to ensure they play a bigger part in our recycling targets and assist our residents to recycle.
New schools. We established a school Investment fund with £27 million. We are building new schools with our new school buildings programme. Ensuring our children are best placed for the future.
Cycling, Walking and Safer streets. We invested £2.3 million in improving outdoor spaces which allows safe access for families to enjoy. We will continue to invest in facilities which are accessible and low cost to use.
3G pitches. We have invested £1.2 million to upgrade/replace 5 artificial pitches across Renfrewshire. We know they are heavily used by sports clubs. We will go further by developing a programme of new pitches which could be operated on an open access model.
Supporting Town Centres. We recently invested a further £2.5 million to support our Town Centre businesses. The challenge facing retail on our High Streets continues . We will also continue to provide support to our local businesses.
Affordable housing. We are building more social housing than ever. We have also changed our policies to ensure developers build more affordable homes in new housing sites for new families and smaller households.
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Investing in schools. We recently invested £3 million in improvements for our schools. We are committed to providing good quality schools. We will go on to do more to ensure our schools are fit for future generations.
Housing. We're investing £100million in council housing in Renfrewshire over the next 10 years. Our Programme will create around 300 new build homes during its first phase.
New Jobs. We are delivering The Advanced Manufacturing Innovation District next to Glasgow Airport. It is expected to create up to 6,000 jobs and boost Scotland's manufacturing sector by £535million a year. We will continue to invest in jobs.
Fly tipping. We have committed £450,000 to create a specialised task force to tackle the scourge of illegal dumping. We will do more to stop this crime and taking action against the dumpers.
Investing in the heart of our towns. We are making significant progress in renewing major public buildings, making them fit for the future. We will deliver and complete all these commitments in our new SNP administration. Paisley. Museum, Town Hall, Arts Centre and other listed buildings are currently undergoing major transformation. Renfrew. We have commenced a programme of renewal for Renfrew Police station and Victory Baths which will keep them in public use for many years to come. Johnstone We are now progressing plans to create a better shopping experience and maintain its place as a shopping hub for the town and local villages.
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