Issue - meetings

to approve the changes to the Trade and European Partnerships Travel Plan as detailed in paragraph 4 of the report and outlined as follows:-

(1)     the Lord Provost and one officer visit Esbjerg before the end of March 2020;

(2)     the Lord Provost and one officer attend CERAWeek, Houston 9-13 March 2020;

(3)     the Lord Provost and one officer to attend the HighWind Conference which will take place 17–19 March 2020 in Stavanger;

(4)     the Lord Provost and one officer to attend the Barents Sea Conference to be held in Hammerfest, Northern Norway on 20–22 April 2020;

(5)     one elected member and one officer to visit Tamaulipas, Mexico in April 2020 to explore the potential for relationship development with the state and with a view to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU);

(6)     potential visits to Doha, Halifax, Karamay, Pemba and Brazil be reviewed as part of the Travel Plan for 2020–2021, and subject to Council budget setting process;

(7)     that Uganda be removed from the travel plan; and

(8)     Delegate authority to the Chief Officer - City Growth in consultation with the Convener of the City Growth and Resources Committee to authorise only necessary and appropriate travel set out in paragraph 4 and associated expenditure to fulfil the travel plan occurring between April 2020 – March 2021, provided the cost of such travel is reasonable and does not exceed the budget allocation set out in the report.

With reference to article 15 of the minute of meeting of 25 April 2019, the Committee had before it a report by the Chief Officer – City Growth, which sought approval for an amendment to the international trade priorities for 2019-20 and for the associated travel plan.

The report recommended:-

that the Committee approve the changes to the Trade and European Partnerships Travel Plan as detailed in paragraph 4 of the report and outlined as follows:-

(1)       the Lord Provost and one officer visit Esbjerg before the end of March 2020;

(2)       the Lord Provost and one officer attend CERAWeek, Houston 9-13 March 2020;

(3)       the Lord Provost and one officer to attend the HighWind Conference which will take place 17–19 March 2020 in Stavanger;

(4)       the Lord Provost and one officer to attend the Barents Sea Conference to be held in Hammerfest, Northern Norway on 20–22 April 2020;

(5)       one elected member and one officer to visit Tamaulipas, Mexico in April 2020 to explore the potential for relationship development with the state and with a view to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU);

(6)       potential visits to Doha, Halifax, Karamay, Pemba and Brazil be reviewed as part of the Travel Plan for 2020–2021, and subject to Council budget setting process;

(7)       that Uganda be removed from the travel plan; and

(8)       delegate authority to the Chief Officer - City Growth to authorise only necessary and appropriate travel set out in paragraph 4 and associated expenditure to fulfil the travel plan occurring between April 2020 – March 2021, provided the cost of such travel is reasonable and does not exceed the budget allocation set out in the report.

Councillor Alex Nicoll, seconded by Councillor Yuill moved as a procedural motion:-

            that the Committee defer consideration of this item to the Council’s budget setting process.

On a division there voted:- for the procedural motion (4) – Councillors Cooke, Jackie Dunbar, Alex Nicoll and Yuill; against the procedural motion (5) – the Convener, the Vice Convener and Councillors Boulton, Laing and Wheeler.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)        to reject the procedural motion; and

(ii)       to approve the recommendations, subject to amending recommendation (8) to read “delegate authority to the Chief Officer - City Growth in consultation with the Convener of the City Growth and Resources Committee to authorise only necessary and appropriate travel set out in paragraph 4 and associated expenditure to fulfil the travel plan occurring between April 2020 – March 2021, provided the cost of such travel is reasonable and does not exceed the budget allocation set out in the report.”