Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Audrey Forrest, Luna Martin and Dougie Philand.

There were no declarations of interest intimated.

Policy and Resources Committee held on 4 December 2025

The Minutes of the meeting of the Policy and Resources Committee held on 4 December 2025 were approved as a correct record.

Report by Section 95 Officer

The Committee gave consideration to a report providing a summary of the overall position of the council for 2025-26 as at 31 December 2025. The report outlined the key highlights from the detailed financial monitoring reports.

Decision

The Policy and Resources Committee –

1.    approved the budget changes in Section 4 of the Capital Plan Monitoring report;

2.    noted the contents of the 2025-26 Revenue Budget Monitoring, Financial Risks, and Reserves and Balances reports as at 31 December 2025 and Capital Plan Monitoring report as at Quarter 3, 31 December 2025; and

3.    noted there were no Virements requiring approval for this reporting period.

(Report by Section 95 Officer dated 27 January 2026, submitted)

Reports by Section 95 Officer

The Committee gave consideration to a report introducing the full package of papers included in the Budget Pack in relation to the revenue and capital budgets.

Decision

The Policy and Resources Committee agreed to refer consideration of the Budgeting Pack 2026-27 to the Council meeting on 25 February 2026, without recommendation.

(Reference: Budgeting Pack 2026-27 dated 11 February 2026, submitted)

Report by Section 95 Officer

The Committee gave consideration to a report presenting the draft Treasury Management Strategy and Annual Investment Strategy for 2026-27, and the Prudential and Treasury Indicators for 2026-27 to 2028-29. 

Decision

The Policy and Resources Committee –

1.    noted the Treasury Management Strategy and Annual Investment Strategy for 2026--27, and the Prudential and Treasury Indicators for 2026-27 to 2028-29; and

2.    referred the report to full Council for approval.

(Reference: Report by Section 95 Officer dated 6 February 2026, submitted)

Report by Executive Director with responsibility for Financial Services

In February 2025, the Policy and Resources Committee agreed to the use of earmarked reserves to support the Flexible Food and Fuel Fund (FFFF), delivered under contract by third sector partners Bute Advice Centre and ALIenergy during 2025/26.  The current contract is due to end on 31 March 2026.

The Committee gave consideration to a report providing an updated position on the FFFF and the proposed Connected for Good redesign and presented options for the Committee to consider in light of significant changes to the external funding landscape.

Decision

The Policy and Resources Committee –

1.    noted the updated funding position for the Flexible Food and Fuel Fund and Connected for Good, including the loss of UKSPF funding from 2026/27;

2.    recommended to Council that they approve Option 2 and provision is made for the annual cost of £104,000 at the budget meeting on 25 February 2026; and

3.    agreed the time-limited use of existing Scottish Welfare Fund earmarked reserves to support the preventative elements of the Flexible Food and Fuel Fund and Connected for Good, recognising the complementary role these services play in protecting statutory crisis provision.

(Reference: Report by Executive Director with responsibility for Finance dated 19 February 2026, submitted)

Report by Chief Executive

The Committee gave consideration to a report introducing the Annual Business Plan 2025/26 which set out recommended Performance Measures to assess and monitor progress against the Priorities in the Council’s Corporate Plan 2025-27.

Decision

The Policy and Resources Committee –

1.    agreed the Annual Business Plan Measures as part of performance monitoring and progress towards the council’s Corporate Plan and Priorities;

2.    agreed to recommend to Council that the Annual Business Plan Measures are approved; and

3.    noted that the report would be presented to Audit and Scrutiny Committee for information as part of the regular assurance reporting on performance management.

(Reference: Report by Chief Executive dated 20 January 2026, submitted)

Report by Chief Executive

The Committee gave consideration to a report presenting a new suite of Corporate Indicators aligned to the seven priority areas set out in the Council’s Corporate Plan.

Decision

The Policy and Resources Committee approved the suite of Corporate Outcome Indicators.

(Reference: Report by Chief Executive dated 19 February 2026, submitted)

Report by Executive Director with responsibility for Customer Support Services

The Committee gave consideration to a report presenting a revised Council Recruitment Policy for approval.

Decision

The Policy and Resources Committee approved the revised Recruitment Policy.

(Reference: Report by Executive Director with responsibility for Customer Support Services dated December 2025, submitted)

Report by Executive Director with responsibility for Financial Services and Customer Support Services

The Committee gave consideration to a report updating Members on the arrangements for approval of early departures from council employment, costs, savings and delegations.

Decision

The Policy and Resources Committee –

1.    agreed to recommend to Council for approval that information would be prepared, as part of the year-end financial report to inform members of all severance packages, their costs and any associated savings. This would include confirmation that appropriate internal processes have been exercised in accordance with the Accounts Commission letter to all Councils concerning the exit packages for staff;

2.    agreed to recommend to Council for approval that the process and protocol for the assessment, approval and scrutiny of exit packages pertaining to Executive Directors or Chief Executive be augmented to include formal Member scrutiny as set out in Paragraph 4.7.5 of the report; and

3.    noted that these actions constitute a policy review and would bring the council into full alignment with the recommendations contained within the Accounts Commission’s letter.

(Reference: Report by Executive Director with responsibility for Financial Services and Customer Support Services dated 20 January 2026, submitted)

Report by Executive Director with responsibility for Customer Support Services

The Committee gave consideration to a report providing details of the outcome of a review of the workload and resourcing of the Council’s Payroll and Pensions Team.

Decision

The Policy and Resources Committee –

1.    noted the challenges facing the Payroll and Pensions Team and the potential risks to the Council if action was not taken to address them;

2.    considered the three improvement options which were detailed in the report; and

3.    agreed the recommended option 2, to recover and stabilise the position in the short-term and ensure that the Payroll and Pensions Team was sufficiently resourced to deliver an efficient and effective payroll and pensions service on a sustainable basis for the long-term and refer on to Council to be included as part of the budget considerations.

(Reference: Report by Section 95 Officer dated 14 January 2026, submitted)

Report by Executive Director with responsibility for Legal and Regulatory Support

The Committee gave consideration to a report proposing the suspension of the constitution of Garelochhead Community Council which was currently siting in a dormant state.

Decision

The Policy and Resources Committee agreed –

1.    to suspend the constitution of the currently dormant community council for the Garelochhead area to allow the bank account of the community council to revert to Argyll and Bute Council to be held pending any future community council identified to represent that community; and

2.    that the Executive Director with responsibility for Legal and Regulatory Support, and the Head of Legal and Regulatory Support become signatories to enable them to serve as custodians of the bank account.

(Reference: Report by Executive Director with responsibility for Legal and Regulatory Support dated 13 December 2025, submitted)

Report by Executive Director with responsibility for Legal and Regulatory Support

The Committee gave consideration to a report seeking approval for the 2026/27 Annual Review of the Sustainable Procurement Strategy (SPS) 2025/28.

Decision

The Policy and Resources Committee –

1.    noted the content of the 2026/27 Annual Review of the SPS 2025/28; and

2.    approved the 2026/27 Annual Review of the SPS 2025/28 and recommended approval of the revised SPS to full Council.

(Reference: Report by Executive Director with responsibility for Legal and Regulatory Support dated 20 January 2026, submitted)

Report by Executive Director with responsibility for Legal and Regulatory Support

The Council has been requested by the Keeper of the Registers of Scotland to submit a revised Records Management Plan (RMP) by 28 February 2026, in line with the Council’s obligations in regard to the Public Records (Scotland) Act 2011.

The Committee gave consideration to a report presenting the revised RMP and Records Management Development Plan for approval.

Decision

The Policy and Resources Committee approved the RMP, the Records Management Development Plan and documents referred to in paragraph 2.3 of the report which have been subject to consideration and approval by SLT on 26 January 2026 and were set out in the appendices to the report.

(Reference: Report by Executive Director with responsibility for Legal and Regulatory Support dated 27 January 2026, Record Management Development Plan; Information Management Strategy 2026 – 2029; Integrated Business Classification Scheme and Records Retention Schedule; Data Protection Policy 2025; Records Management Policy; and Managing Archiving Emails & Messages Policy, submitted)

Report by Executive Director with responsibility for Development and Economic Growth

The Committee gave consideration to a report updating Members on Round 8 (2026/27) of the Council’s Strategic Events and Festivals Fund (SEF). 

The report provided details of the applications submitted and the applications recommended to receive funding and sought Members’ agreement to allocate a minimum of £90,000 funding to allow for a SEF Round 9 in 2027/28.

Decision

The Policy and Resources Committee agreed –

1.    to the award of eligible SEF Round 8 grants amounting to £104,500 as detailed in Table 1;

2.    that any SEF Round 8 grant offer be formally issued upon confirmation from the event organisation that the event is confirmed as going ahead, match funding is in place, and the event still meets the SEF Round 8 criteria;

3.    to continue delegation of powers to the Executive Director with responsibility for Development and Economic Growth to allow any subsequent amendment to existing grant requests due to changes to the event/event budget. If there was a reduction in the final event costs that would result in delivery of a profit of more than £10,000 (all of which must be reinvested to future events) to the organisation and that this was sustained over a 3-year period, the final retention (10%) would not be paid out on the third year of the grant;

4.    to a delegation of powers to the Executive Director with responsibility for Development and Economic Growth in consultation with the Leader and Depute Leaders, to allow resources to be reallocated to other events should a funded project no longer require funding;

5.    to recommend to Council that as part of the budget in February 2026, that they agree a minimum of £90,000 base funding for Strategic Events and Festivals in order that the application process can commence for Round 9 (2027/28); and

6.    to recommend to Council that any underspend from SEF Round 7 (2025/26) is earmarked and used to augment a future SEF round.

(Reference: Report by Executive Director with responsibility for Development and Economic Growth dated 8 December 2025, submitted)

Report by Executive Director with responsibility for Development and Economic Growth

The Scottish Government has written each year to Councils advising of the distribution of the net revenue generated from the Scottish Crown Estate’s marine asset out to 12 nautical miles for their respective council area.

The Council have previously agreed to allocate £1,407,000 and the Committee gave consideration to a report bringing forward proposals for a further £949.5k of funding from the remaining 2025/26 Crown Estates funding allocation.

Decision

The Policy and Resources Committee –

1.    agreed to the allocation of the remaining Crown Estate funding for 2025/26 to the priority projects outlined in Table 1, paragraph 4.2.1 of the report;

2.    noted that these projects were additional to the £800k of funding approved by Policy and Resources Committee on 21 August 2025 and detailed in Table 2 of this report; and

3.    agreed to delegate authority to the Council’s Executive Director with responsibility for Development and Economic Growth in consultation with the Leader of the Council to endorse changes to the approved programme of projects. It was not considered that new projects would be introduced however, there may be the requirement to move funding between agreed projects.

(Reference: Report by Executive Director with responsibility for Development and Economic Growth dated 8 January 2026, submitted)

Report by Section 95 Officer

A report was presented to the Council on 26 June 2025 which provided detail on the initial cost estimates for the response and repair works undertaken by the Council in relation to Storm Eowyn.

A report providing an update on the cost information provided in June with costs updated based on the latest information available was before the Committee for information.  The report also provided an update on the value of the final claim submitted to the Scottish Government under the Bellwin Scheme in relation to costs incurred as a consequence of Storm Eowyn.

Decision

The Policy and Resources Committee noted –

1.    the updated cost estimates in respect of Storm Eowyn;

2.    that some cost estimates remain unknown and were subject to ongoing assessment by the relevant Council officers;

3.    the change in the estimated cost of support for Live Argyll in relation to the potential delay in the reopening of the Helensburgh Leisure Centre;

4.    that the updated cost estimates were currently within the funding previously identified and agreed by the Council; and

5.    that a final report would be brought back to committee in due course.

(Reference: Report by Section 95 Officer dated 12 January 2026, submitted)

The Policy and Resources Committee Workplan was before the Committee for noting.

Decision

The Policy and Resources Committee noted the content of the Workplan.

(Reference: Policy and Resources Committee Workplan as at 19 February 2026, submitted)

The Committee resolved in terms of Section 50(A)(4) of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 to exclude the press and public for the following item of business on the grounds that it was likely to involve the disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 14 of Part 1 of Schedule 7A to the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973.

Report by Executive Director with responsibility for Customer Support Services

The Committee gave consideration to a report advising about the current risk level of a potential criminal cyber-attach on the council and the impact that could have on services.  The report is informed by the recently published findings and recommendations from the Audit Scotland report into the criminal cyber-attack on Comhairle nan Eilean Siar in 2023.

Decision

The Policy and Resources Committee agreed the recommendations in the report.

(Reference: Report by Executive Director with responsibility for Customer Support Services dated January 2026, submitted)

E1       Paragraph 14  Any action taken or to be taken in connection with the prevention, investigation or prosecution of crime.