More than £500,000 has been set aside as part of Renfrewshire Council’s fight against poverty amid the brutal cost-of-living crisis.

A series of measures have been identified to support vulnerable people in 2024/25 as more and more people are pulled into hardship.

A report to the Fairer Renfrewshire sub-committee – a task force focusing interventions during the crisis – outlined how it plans to spend £516,000.

A total of £40,000 has been earmarked to sustain support to the energy management unit, helping people to reduce their energy bills, manage fuel debt and improve energy efficiency in their homes.

The Winter Connections programme – a network of events for people to connect with others in their area – is in the pipeline for a third successive year as £75,000 is designated for the initiative.

Meanwhile, £138,000 has been made available to continue provision of a free universal breakfast service in nine primary schools to relieve financial pressure on low-income families and ensure children start the day ready to learn.

Councillor Graeme Clark, vice chair of the sub-committee, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “I’ve always supported breakfast clubs.

“If children are hungry, it really is a deficit to their education and if they get that breakfast, it helps them throughout the day to concentrate and do their work much better, which gives them a much better future outcome.”

Other pledges include continuing the cost of the school day fund, a peer health education project, mobile public library service and models of participation for people with lived experience of poverty to inform policy.

Councillor Clark, a Labour representative for Paisley Northeast and Ralston, added: “In-work poverty has increased in the last year or so and the amount of debt that people are carrying has also increased.

“Poverty figures are fairly static in Scotland but most of the agencies are now saying that they’re seeing an increase – the foodbank has certainly seen an increase – so I think that the work of Fairer Renfrewshire becomes even more important in these times.

“I think we’ve got a diverse programme which is meeting a range of needs across the community.”