Local Area Committees (LACs) - help to shape our services

Home > News and Events > Features

Renfrewshire Council has set up five new Local Area Committees (LACs) to act as a focus for community consultation in Renfrewshire and allocate a wide range of grants and funds.

This represents a major change in the way we find out what residents think about our services. LACs will also provide opportunities for you to influence how services are delivered in your area.

The LACs will allow local people to see how services are operating in their communities. They will offer an opportunity to engage with our community planning partners such as Strathclyde Police, the NHS and the Fire and Rescue Service, to ensure that the highest possible standard of service is achieved to meet the needs and aspirations of residents.

Importantly, the LACs have been given substantial budgets to fund local initiatives and support local projects which reflect the priorities and needs of local people and communities.

Membership of LACs and how to get involved

The LACs will be statutory committees of the Council. Formal membership will be restricted to councillors (this will enable LACs to take decisions such as making grants to local organisations without having to refer back to another Council committee).

However, we are keen to see more people involved in the work of the LACs. Representatives from a range of constituted local and community voluntary organisations, who operate or provide services in each LAC area, will be invited to provide a wide cross-section of views and interests. There will also be an open session at the end of each meeting to deal with issues raised by individual residents. You can raise an issue by writing to the director of corporate services, or at the meeting with the agreement of the chairman.

LACs will meet on a quarterly basis, and will cover the following areas:

Renfrew and Gallowhill
Paisley North
Paisley South
Johnstone and Villages
Houston, Crosslee, Linwood, Riverside and Erskine

Next meeting of each of the five new LACs*:

LAC	Time	Date	Venue
Renfrew and Gallowhill	6pm	Tuesday 19 August	Renfrew Town Hall
Paisley North	6pm	Thursday 21 August	Council Chambers, Renfrewshire House
Paisley South	6pm	Tuesday 26 August	St Peter's Primary School
Johnstone and Villages	6pm	Thursday 28 August	Johnstone Town Hall
Houston, Crosslee, Linwood, Riverside and Erskine	6pm	Tuesday 2 September	St Benedict's High School

* These times and dates may be subject to change. If you wish to attend, please call beforehand on 0141 840 3399 to confirm.