Local Authority Minutes

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Current Council minutes

Current Renfrewshire Council agendas and minutes are available online. The collection includes 2001 to date. You can also view Council minutes in Renfrewshire Libraries' Local Studies Library.

Historical Council minutes

The library also holds a collection of historical Council minutes. The earliest minutes date from 1594 and reflect the changes in local administration which have taken place over the years.

Please note that early records are written in an unfamiliar script and language. The Local Studies Library collection includes:

• Paisley Town Council minutes from 1594 to 1975, with small gaps
• Renfrew Town Council minutes from 1655 to 1975, comprehensive summaries for years 1718 to 1867
• Johnstone Town Council minutes from 1864 to 1975
• Renfrew District Council minutes and reports from 1975 to 1995
• Strathclyde Regional Council minutes from 1975 to 1995
• Renfrewshire County Council minutes from 1930 to 1975, with small gaps
• Renfrewshire Council Minutes and reports from 1995 to date

Local authority administration in Renfrewshire

Renfrewshire County Council 1929-1975
The role of County Councils was formalised by the 1929 Local Government (Scotland) Act. The County Councils took responsibility for education, valuation and electoral registration. The towns and smaller settlements that made up Renfrewshire County continued to play a large part in the administration of the county:

• the large towns of Paisley, Greenock and Port Glasgow continued to be responsible for most local services such as roads, water and housing
• the small towns of Renfrew, Johnstone, Barrhead and Gourock were responsible for services such as housing, parks and cleansing
• the remaining smaller settlements, known as "landward" areas, e.g. Bishopton and Clarkston, had responsibility for parks and recreation only.

Renfrewshire County Council took responsibility for all other services in the small towns and landward areas.

Strathclyde Region and Renfrew District Council 1975-1995
In 1975 local government in Scotland changed to a new, two-tier system of District and Regional authorities and this led to political and geographical changes in Renfrewshire:

• Greenock, Port Glasgow and an area in the west of the county including Kilmalcolm became part of Inverclyde District Council
• the area in the east of Renfrewshire including Eastwood, Giffnock and Newton Mearns became part of Eastwood District Council
• the remainder of Renfrewshire County Council became Renfrew District Council, including Barrhead, Johnstone, Paisley and Renfrew.

All three of these new District Councils were included in the much larger geographical and political area covered by the new Strathclyde Regional Council.

Renfrewshire Council 1995 to date
The latest reorganisation was in 1995, when Renfrewshire Council became the succeeding authority. Both Renfrew District and Strathclyde Regional Councils ceased to exist. Barrhead and Neilston joined the new East Renfrewshire Council, which also included the former Eastwood District Council.

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