A NEW report has lifted the lid on the yawning gap between the quality of life for residents in Renfrewshire and neighbouring East Renfrewshire.

The Bank of Scotland’s quality of life survey uses a range of indicators, such as employment, housing, the environment, education, health, personal well-being and leisure, to rank each of the country’s 32 local authority areas.

And the latest index lists East Renfrewshire in 11th place – significantly higher than Renfrewshire, which is languishing in 25th spot.

Average weekly earnings in East Renfrewshire were £789, compared to a Scottish average of £630.

And the biggest homes in Scotland are also found in East Renfrewshire, with an average of 4.9 habitable rooms. The Scottish average is 4.6 rooms.

A total of 45 per cent of adults in East Renfrewshire have a high level of qualification, such as a degree, NVQ level 4 and above or professional qualification, compared to 35 per cent for Scotland as a whole.

East Renfrewshire Council leader Tony Buchanan has welcomed the findings.

He said: “We are committed to making East Renfrewshire a fantastic place for people to live in, work in and visit.

“I’m delighted to see that our continued investment in key services has led to us performing so well in this quality of life survey.

“We will continue to strive to provide the best opportunities possible for all of our residents.”

Bosses at Renfrewshire Council also remain upbeat about the area’s prospects, despite the index ranking it as the eighth worst place to live in Scotland.

A spokesperson said: “Ninety two per cent of Renfrewshire residents indicated a positive perception of their quality of life in an independent survey commissioned by the NHS and 93.5 per cent of residents rated Renfrewshire as a good place to live in the latest Scottish Household Survey.

“We have an employment rate and average weekly earnings above the national average and higher than the neighbouring Glasgow City region, while youth employment is fourth best in Scotland.

“We are building 1,000 affordable homes over the next five years, investing £274million in infrastructure, including new roads and bridges, and £110million to develop our town centres and cultural venues.

“There is clear evidence our approach is already achieving success, with thousands of new jobs and significant private investment coming to Renfrewshire through being selected as home to Scotland’s new national manufacturing institute, while visits to the area have increased by 25 per cent in the last year alone.”

The quality of life assessment for each local authority was created by compiling scores across 26 variables within eight broad groups.

Each local authority is given a score out of 10 for each variable. Scores within each of the broad groups are then averaged and the seven group scores are added to create an overall quality of life score.