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ÄÛ²ÝÓ°Ôº Council is committed to ensuring that the rights of children and their families continue to be heard. At a meeting of today’s Community Services Committee, members heard about the work already carried out by the council over the last three years to give children and young people a voice, and its plans to expand this. During the last three years, ÄÛ²ÝÓ°Ôº Council has:

Today is International Women’s Day and to celebrate the Council’s Chief Executive, Pippa Milne, tells us how it feels to be a woman at the top of local government. How does it feel to be a woman at the top of your industry?

The Environment, Development and Infrastructure Committee yesterday (4 March) endorsed a £10m roads improvement programme for ÄÛ²ÝÓ°Ôº. This sum includes an additional £2.61m, approved in last month’s budget that has still to be allocated to work. A full, updated, programme will be presented to the committee’ next meeting in June.

With its stunning scenery from lochs to mountains, coast and islands, ÄÛ²ÝÓ°Ôº has built a reputation for offering some of the best scenery in the UK to the film and TV industry. A report to the Environment, Development and Infrastructure (ED&I) Committee on Thursday highlighted how COVID-19 has directly impacted the number and size productions coming into the area.

The Environment, Development and Infrastructure Committee recommends that the council funds a permanent post that will ensure housing in ÄÛ²ÝÓ°Ôº is accessible and adaptable, to meet all needs. The Housing Occupational Therapist post, is funded through the Strategic Housing Fund, and links up the Health and Social Care Partnership and Housing Services. This has been a temporary role for three years and has been successful in meeting key outcomes in the council’s housing strategy and helping appropriate services to work together. Key successes include:

ÄÛ²ÝÓ°Ôº Council continues to support town centre regeneration by delivering Town Centre Funding from the Scottish Government. The fund worth £1.686 million is helping the local economy recover making it a more attractive places to live, work, visit and invest. A report to the Environment, Development and Infrastructure (ED&I) committee on Thursday highlighted progress to date with 28 projects in total allocated for funding.

Transforming ÄÛ²ÝӰԺ’s economy continues to be a priority for ÄÛ²ÝÓ°Ôº Council to help create vibrant places and communities and attract more people to live and work in the area. A report to the Environment, Development and Infrastructure (ED&I) Committee highlighted the role the Transformation Project and Regeneration Team are playing to secure external funding and help deliver large scale regeneration projects across the area.

Anyone wishing to take part in Public Questions at any of March’s Area Committees can do so by joining the meeting via Skype for Business.To sign up, contact:Bute and Cowal/Oban, Lorn and the Isles:adele.price-williams@argyll-bute.gov.ukMid Argyll, Kintyre and the Islands/Helensburgh and Lomond:iona.campbell2@argyll-bute.g

Developing innovative digital services and working practices, for the benefit of council employees and customers, is the aim of a strategy agreed at Thursday’s Council meeting. The strategy will shape the work of the council’s ICT (Information Communication and Technology) Services over the period 2021 to 2024. The ICT service was recognised as the number one ranked UK local authority ICT service for 2019/20 (*) Policy Lead for Customer Support Services, Councillor Mary-Jean Devon said:

Cycling, sailing and learning will all benefit from a share of £550,000 announced by ÄÛ²ÝÓ°Ôº Council for Bute and Cowal. The council is investing funding, received from the Scottish Crown Estate, in projects in Dunoon and Rothesay to support climate-friendly living, and local economic development. Scottish Crown Estate funding focuses on delivering benefits for coastal communities based on four key priorities: the environment, community, climate change and economic development. Policy Lead for Business and Regeneration, Councillor Alastair Redman said: