MEMBERS of an Inverclyde Council committee are being asked to approve spending a six-figure sum on a pair of anti-poverty initiatives.

A report to the local authority’s policy and resources committee asks councillors to set aside cash to cover the costs of a scheme to increase participation in the Duke of Edinburgh programme among certain groups of young people.

The report states: “Funding from the anti-poverty budget would support a continued strategy to implement a targeted approach by identifying opportunities to increase engagement and participation for young female’s and for young people living the areas with the highest deprivation and poverty or facing inequalities.

“This will prevent low-income families from being excluded on the grounds of cost.”

Officers say implementing the programme would cost £120,000.

The report also recommends that elected members sign off on a plan to allocate £120,000 per year to extending their ‘Warm Hand of Friendship’ initiative until March 2027.

The project, which the council has run for the last two winters, has successfully supported  58 local community organisations to deliver essential community services during the colder months of the year.

These services ranged from safe warm spaces and clothing distribution to meals provision, and community activities.

Council officers say more than 9,000 individuals benefitted from the Warm Hand of Friendship initiative and that there was a focus on prioritising vulnerable groups including lone parent families, families with multiple children, and older adults.

Councillors are also being asked to agree to bring an end to the local authority’s IRISE (Inverclyde Routes Into Supported Employment) scheme, which supports young men with alcohol or drug dependencies to turn their lives around.

Explaining the reasoning behind the recommendation, the report states: “Progress in relation to this project is regularly reported to this committee and while the work which takes place with the client group has had some positive impact, the project has been unable to achieve the aims first set out.

“Due to the very complex nature of the needs of the client group, this pilot has established that until the very basic needs of clients have been met for a sustained period of time, meaningful employment may be some years off, if indeed possible at all.

“While there have been some successes with offering advice and accessing housing and other benefits, the anti-poverty steering group feel that these services are already offered elsewhere.

“Given the significant resourcing of this project and its inability to achieve its original outcomes, it is recommended that due to limited impact the project comes to an end on 31 December 2024.

“Any unallocated council funding will be returned to the anti-poverty reserve.”