Issue - meetings

The Council resolved:-

to take no action.    

The Council resolved:-

to take no action.  

The Council had before the wording of the written request for this special Council meeting which had been signed by 12 members in accordance with Standing Order 8.2.2:-

“The business to be transacted relates to the Aberdeen City Council (City Centre, Aberdeen) (Traffic Management) (Experimental) Order 2023.”

Councillor Brooks moved, seconded by Councillor Farquhar:-

         That Council:-

1.    Notes the decision of the reconvened Council meeting called by members at 10:30am on 16^th January 2025;

2.    Agrees that all of the information to make a robust decision at the Net Zero, Environment and Transport Committee on 11^th June 2024 and Council on 11^th October 2024 was not provided to elected members, which has resulted in the Chief Executive’s public apology and the calling of numerous special meetings;

3.    Agrees that Councillor Yuill as the Convener of Net Zero, Environment and Transport Committee should have been fully conversant with the ETRO situation and the obligations therein; and, shown the required leadership to avoid the numerous special meetings on this item that have resulted since 11^th June 2024; and

4.    Therefore, and following the public apology from the Chief Executive at the Urgent Business Committee on 18^th December 2024, agrees that the council no longer has confidence in Councillor Yuill as the Convener of Net Zero, Environment and Transport Committee.

Councillor Malik moved as an amendment:-

          That Council agree Councillor Brooks’ motion and add in the following:-

1.      Agrees that this matter is so serious that it resulted in the Chief Executive publicly apologising; and

2.      Agrees that the circumstances leading to the chaotic workings of the Council on this matter should be referred to the Audit, Risk and Scrutiny Committee for a full audit.

Prior to Councillor Malik’s amendment being seconded, Councillor Brooks advised that he was willing to incorporate it within his motion and this was accepted.

Councillor Allard moved as an amendment, seconded by the Depute Provost:-

          That the Council take no action.

On a division, there voted:-

For the motion   (18)  -  Councillors Ali, Blake, Bonsell, Boulton, Brooks, Crockett, Farquhar, Graham, Grant, Lawrence, Macdonald, McLeod, Malik, Nicoll, Mrs Stewart, Thomson, Tissera and Watson. 

For the amendment by Councillor Allard  (23)  -  Lord Provost; Depute Provost; and Councillors Al-Samarai, Allard, Alphonse, Bouse, Hazel Cameron, Clark, Cooke, Copland, Cormie, Davidson, Fairfull, Greig, Henrickson, Hutchison, MacGregor, McLellan, McRae, Mennie, Radley, van Sweeden and Yuill.

The Council resolved:-

to adopt the amendment.  

The Council resolved:-

to welcome this Council’s continued commitment to City Centre regeneration and:

1.      Welcomes the latest independent data from HUQ Signals showing that footfall in Aberdeen City Centre grew by 3.6% in 2024, in comparison to 2023, and Aberdeen continues to outperform the Scottish and UK national averages.

2.      Notes the ongoing city centre regeneration projects underway at Union Street Central and the Aberdeen Market site funded by Aberdeen City Council and the UK Government.

3.      Welcomes that more than 6,000 people enjoyed the Council’s commissioned festive night buses which provided free travel across 10 routes, every Friday and Saturday night between 16^th  November 2024 and 5^th January 2025, as well as the 2024 Hogmanay service that carried the most people on any single day of operation with 841 passengers, all funded through Bus Lane Enforcement surplus monies to help people to get home safely for free over the festive period.

4.      Welcomes the continuing success of the Union Street Empty Shops Action Plan which has helped lower the number of vacant ground floor properties on Union Street and, bolstered by the additional capital funding approved at the March 2024 Council Budget meeting, encouraged additional economic benefit for the city centre.

5.      Welcomes the work of the Council’s cleansing team in keeping our city centre tidy, and welcomes the recent grant received from Keep Britain Tidy’s Chewing Gum Task force which contributed towards additional cleaning and signage.

6.      Welcomes the Union Street Conservation Area Regeneration Scheme (CARS) which has seen investment in the improvement and maintenance of historic buildings on Union Street; the Council’s successful application to the first phase of the Heritage and Place Programme being run by Historic Environment Scotland and the Heritage Lottery Fund; and the Council’s additional capital investment through the Aberdeen City Heritage Trust for Building Repair Grants around Union Street West.

7.      Recognises the excellent partnership working between the Council and Aberdeen Inspired, Our Union Street, Port of Aberdeen, and others, in bringing to the city Spectra, Festival of the Sea, Nuart, Iconic Bricks Dinosaur Trail,  International Exhibitions at the Art Gallery (such as Wildlife Photographer of the Year and currently Artist Textiles: Picasso to Warhol), and Christmas in the City, including Christmas Parade, Aberdeen Christmas Village, Curated in the Quad Christmas Market, and festive lighting in Union Terrace Gardens.

8.      Welcomes the excellent events coming in 2025 - Spectra, Highland Games, the Festival of the Sea and The Tall Ships Races, as well as on-going support to Aberdeen Performing Arts, P&J Live and Visit Aberdeenshire in attracting international events, conferences and visitors to the City.

With reference to the minute of the special meeting of Council of 3 January 2025, the Council had before the wording of the written request for this special Council meeting which had been signed by 12 members in accordance with Standing Order 8.2.2:-

“The business to be transacted relates to the Aberdeen City Council (City Centre, Aberdeen) (Traffic Management) (Experimental) Order 2023.”

During the course of questions to officers and responses being provided, Councillor Hutchison advised that he had a connection in relation to the item as an owner-occupier of a property in the city centre, however having applied the objective test he did not consider that he had an interest and would not be withdrawing from the meeting.

The Lord Provost advised that the meeting would need to go into private session to deal with questions relating to the legal advice.

Councillor Grant advised that he was changing the transparency statement he had made at the outset of the meeting, regarding his employment by Aberdeen Inspired, to a declaration of interest and withdrew for the remainder of the meeting.

At this juncture, the press and public were excluded from the meeting in terms of Section 50A(4) of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, so as to avoid disclosure of exempt information of the class described in paragraph 12 of Schedule 7A of the Act.

The Interim Chief Officer - Governance (Legal) responded to various questions regarding the legal advice which had been made available for inspection by members the previous day.

The press and public were then readmitted to the meeting.

Councillor Brooks moved, seconded by Councillor Nicoll:-

         That Council

1.      Agree the Urgent Business Committee on 18^th December 2024 was not the SNP/Lib Dem coalition’s finest moment since taking over the Administration in May 2022.

2.      Agree the decision to deny a written copy of the legal advice to elected members is believed to be likely to be in breach of elected members' common law rights and rights given to Councillors under the Standing Orders of the Council.

3.      Agree the report to the Net Zero, Environment and Transport Committee on 11^th June 2024 stated, “The Order is experimental to allow the Council to modify or vary the scheme at short notice once in force, should circumstances require” which caused confusion for Councillors over the statutory regime applicable to ETROs.

4.      Agree the Council has tried to deny elected members the legal advice which some members believe they are entitled to on this matter at every stage of this process.

5.      Agree the Council, as seen in the FOI emails reported publicly on 10^th December 2024, indicated a perception of bias in making the ETRO (experimental bus gates) permanent, before consultation or considerations of objections; Believes there is a high risk that any Judicial Review on this would find that the Aberdeen City Council (City Centre, Aberdeen) (Traffic Management) (Experimental) Order 2023 was flawed in its implementation and that the Council potentially acted unlawfully in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 2

The Council resolved:-

to take no action as the procedural motion to suspend Standing Order 42.1 was defeated, which meant the item could not be considered.

The Council had before the wording of the written request for this special Council meeting which had been signed by 12 members in accordance with Standing Order 8.2.2:-

“The business to be transacted relates to Committee Places in terms of Standing Order 47.9.”

The Council had before it a motion by Councillor Malik in the following terms:-

That the Council:

Suspends Standing Order 42.1 (Altering Previous Decisions) to allow the Council to consider the matter today.

Notes the Liberal Democrats, despite having only 4 members, receive more places on Committees than the 5 independent members.

Agrees the following compositions:-

SNP 18/45 - 44 places

Labour 11/45 - 25 places

Conservative 7/45 - 17 places

Independent 5/45 - 10 places

Liberal Democrats 4/45 - 9 places

Councillor Malik moved as a procedural motion, seconded by Councillor Houghton:-

That the Council suspends Standing Order 42.1 (Altering Previous Decisions) to allow the Council to consider the matter today.

On a division, there voted:-

For the procedural motion   (19)  -  Councillors Blake, Bonsell, Boulton, Brooks, Crockett, Farquhar, Graham, Grant, Houghton, Kusznir, Lawrence, Macdonald, McLeod, Malik, Massey, Nicoll, Mrs Stewart, Thomson and Watson. 

Against the procedural motion  (22)  -  Lord Provost; Depute Provost; and Councillors Al-Samarai, Allard, Bouse, Hazel Cameron, Clark, Cooke, Copland, Cormie, Davidson, Fairfull, Greig, Henrickson, Hutchison, MacGregor, McLellan, McRae, Mennie, Radley, van Sweeden and Yuill.

The Council resolved:-

(i)           to reject the procedural motion; and

(ii)          to therefore take no action as the procedural motion had been rejected, which meant the item could not be considered.

Meeting adjourned until a later date.  

The Council had before the wording of the written request for this special Council meeting which had been signed by 12 members in accordance with Standing Order 8.2.2:-

“The business to be transacted relates to the Aberdeen City Council (City Centre, Aberdeen) (Traffic Management) (Experimental) Order 2023.”

The Lord Provost advised that it was his understanding that a motion had been submitted by Councillor Brooks, however it had not yet been finalised as discussions were still taking place with officers. The Lord Provost therefore adjourned the meeting for a short period to enable further discussions to take place.

Following an extended adjournment, the Lord Provost advised that it had not been possible for the motion to be finalised and he was therefore adjourning the meeting to a later date.

Councillor Malik moved as a procedural motion, seconded by Councillor Houghton:-

            That the meeting continue until 1.00pm.

On a division, there voted:-

For the procedural motion   (21)  -  Councillors Ali, Blake, Bonsell, Boulton, Brooks, Crockett, Cross, Farquhar, Graham, Grant, Houghton, Kusznir, Lawrence, Macdonald, McLeod, Malik, Massey, Nicoll, Mrs Stewart, Thomson and Watson. 

Against the procedural motion  (22)  -  Lord Provost; Depute Provost; and Councillors Al-Samarai, Allard, Bouse, Hazel Cameron, Clark, Cooke, Copland, Cormie, Davidson, Fairfull, Greig, Henrickson, Hutchison, MacGregor, McLellan, McRae, Mennie, Radley, van Sweeden and Yuill.

The Council resolved:-

to reject the procedural motion.

The Lord Provost advised that the meeting was being adjourned in terms of Standing Order 40.3 and that it would be reconvened at a later date which would be confirmed in due course.

- DAVID CAMERON, Lord Provost.

to take no action.

The Council had before the wording of the written request for this special Council meeting which had been signed by 13 members in accordance with Standing Order 8.2.2:-

“The business to be transacted relates to the decision by the Education Committee to refer item 10.5 to full Council.

Council therefore agrees that all matters relating to Education which are held at Council should include external members of the Education Committee and as such these external members should have full voting rights with immediate effect.”

Councillor Malik moved, seconded by Councillor Brooks:-

            That the Council -

1.         notes the Lord Provost could have taken this Special Council Meeting before the scheduled meeting of 2^nd October but did not, meaning a decision on the item where external members of the Education and Children’s Services Committee voices were ignored has already been taken;

2.         agrees the whole point of external members is to allow them to voice their opinions and to vote according to the wishes of those they represent; and

3.         on the basis of 1 and 2 above, no longer has confidence in the Convener of the Education and Children’s Services Committee.

Councillor Yuill moved as an amendment, seconded by Councillor Allard:-

That Council agrees to take no action.

On a division, there voted:-

For the motion  (16)  -  Councillors Ali, Blake, Bonsell, Brooks, Crockett, Cross, Graham, Grant, Lawrence, Macdonald, McLeod, Malik, Mrs Stewart, Tissera, Thomson and Watson. 

For the amendment   (24)  -  Lord Provost; Depute Provost; and Councillors Al-Samarai, Allard, Alphonse, Bouse, Hazel Cameron, Clark, Cooke, Copland, Cormie, Davidson, Fairfull, Greig, Henrickson, Hutchison, MacGregor, McLellan, McRae, Mennie, Nicoll, Radley, van Sweeden and Yuill.

Absent from the division  (3)  -  Councillors Houghton, Kusznir and Massey.

The Council resolved:-

to adopt the amendment.

(i)             to note that the Chief Officer - Commercial and Procurement would circulate an update on the performance of the Generation Aberdeen branding;

(ii)            to note that the Chief Officer - Strategic Place Planning would circulate updates with regard to (1) the number of consultations that had been carried out with businesses in the city centre and their corresponding views; and (2) progress with the priority actions in the Empty Shops Action Plan since the matter was last reported to committee in March 2024; and

(iii)          to note that the Council agreed to refer a report on the City Centre and Beach Masterplan to the Finance and Resources Committee for consideration on 12 September 2024 and therefore that no action be taken at this time.

The Council had before the wording of the written request for this special Council meeting which had been signed by 12 members in accordance with Standing Order 8.2.2:-

“The business to be transacted relates to the business regarding City Centre and Beach Masterplan.”

Councillor Malik moved, seconded by Councillor Blake:-

          That the Council -

(a)       notes the City Centre Masterplan was unanimously agreed by Council in 2015.

(b)       notes that the City Centre Masterplan outlines a 20 year development strategy for Aberdeen city centre and notes it identifies a series of ambitious but deliverable projects that support future economic growth and will help secure more benefits and opportunities for the communities of Aberdeen.

(c)        notes that the multi-million projects include the creation of a new city market and the revitalisation of the beach area with plans for a pier, new green hub and a state of the art sports area which could include a new stadium for Aberdeen FC.

(d)       agrees that the Beach Development Framework is designed to capitalise on the built and natural assets of the area which is a tourism priority in its own right.

(e)       agrees that the SNP administration has got itself into a complete mess with the City Centre and Beach Masterplan undoing all the good work of the previous administration which worked with citizens, businesses, organisations and cross party to deliver for the people of Aberdeen.

(f)         agrees that the SNP administration are making a huge and expensive mistake by not investing sufficiently in the beach redevelopment.

(g)       agrees that, for the Council to move forward with confidence, officers must provide clarity to citizens of Aberdeen in the budget process on the total cost of projects outlined in Appendix 1 of the report CR&E/24/231 - City Centre and Beach Masterplan that is now destined for Finance and Resources Committee.

Councillor McLellan moved as an amendment, seconded by the Depute Provost:-

Council notes that the Council agreed to refer a report on the City Centre and Beach Masterplan to the Finance and Resources Committee for consideration on 12 September 2024 and therefore that no action be taken at this time. 

After ten Members had spoken, in terms of Standing Order 31.1, Councillor Greig moved as procedural motion, seconded by Councillor Cooke:-  

          That no further debate take place.

On a division, there voted:-

For the procedural motion  (23)  -  Lord Provost; Depute Provost; and Councillors Al-Samarai, Allard, Alphonse, Bouse, Hazel Cameron, Clark, Cooke, Copland, Cormie, Davidson, Fairfull, Greig, Henrickson, Hutchison, MacGregor, McLellan, McRae, Mennie, Radley, van Sweeden and Yuill.

Against the procedural motion  (15)  -  Councillors Ali, Blake, Bonsell, Boulton, Brooks, Crockett, Farquhar, Graham, Grant, Lawrence, Macdonald, McLeod, Malik, Tissera and Thomson. 

The Council resolved:-

to adopt the procedural motion and therefore proceed to summing up.

In terms of Standing Order 32.8, Councillors Brooks and Crockett intimated their dissent against the foregoing decision.

On a division, there voted:-

For the motion  (13)  -  Councillors Ali, Blake, Bonsell, Brooks, Farquhar, Graham, Grant, Lawrence,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3

(i)             to welcome the Co-Leaders’ hosting of a round table meeting of business groups, bus operators, and others to discuss the city centre bus priority measures;

(ii)           to reaffirm the City Centre Masterplan objective of turning Union Street into a destination rather than a through route;

(iii)          to agree that successful businesses are vital to the future of Aberdeen city centre;

(iv)          to note that any changes to city centre traffic management arrangements would require equality impact assessments;

(v)           in the context of the ongoing construction works on Union Street and around the New Market development, to instruct the Chief Officer - Operations to introduce a Temporary Traffic Regulation Order (TTRO) to suspend Bus Gates on Union Street (westbound only) / Market Street (southbound only), between its junctions with Adelphi and Hadden Street; this allowing all classes of vehicle to turn left from Union Street onto Market Street, thereafter restricting general traffic to a left only turn at the bottom of Market Street onto Trinity Quay (Virginia Street), this to aid continued access and servicing of the businesses on Market Street and Shiprow throughout the remaining period of construction, with the cost of this being met as part of the Capital budget for “City Centre & Beach Masterplans : Market Redevelopment”;

(vi)          to instruct the Chief Officer - Strategic Place Planning, using funding from the Bus Lane Enforcement reserve, to report as soon as possible on:

1.    the feasibility and impact of reopening Bridge Street to all vehicles in one or both directions.

2.    the feasibility and impact of removing the ban on right turns from Union Terrace onto Rosemount Viaduct;

(vii)        to recognise the importance of consistent messaging about Aberdeen’s city centre being open for business and instruct the Chief Officer - City Development and Regeneration to work with partner organisations to promote this; and

(viii)       to note that the Chief Officer - Strategic Place Planning would confirm how much had been spent to date on Aberdeen Rapid Transit.

The Council had before it the wording of the written request for this special meeting which had been signed by 14 members in accordance with Standing Order 8.2.2:-

“The business to be transacted relates to the business regarding THE ABERDEEN CITY COUNCIL (CITY CENTRE, ABERDEEN) (TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT) (EXPERIMENTAL) ORDER 2023 - STATUTORY PUBLIC CONSULTATION.”

With reference to Article 15 of the minute of meeting of the Net Zero, Environment and Transport Committee of 11 June 2024, the Council had before it a report by the Executive Director of City Regeneration and Environment, which had been referred to it by three members of the Committee in accordance with Standing Order 34.1.

The report recommended:-

that the Net Zero, Environment and Transport Committee -

(a)           note the benefits highlighted, to date, by the bus operators, and recognise the measures would support continuing improvements. Similarly, noting the measures supported active travel by way of walking or cycling. Collectively, the measures were a vital component of the City Centre Masterplan for establishing an attractive and vibrant city centre, with an environment that was conducive to encouraging footfall. Furthermore, choice remained in terms of access, with car parks and on-street parking capacity unaffected, and a network of appropriate distributor roads available, whether for access or through traffic;

(b)           approve the making of “The Aberdeen City Council (City Centre, Aberdeen) (Traffic Management) Experimental Order 2023” as a permanent Order, albeit with continued monitoring in terms of the ongoing City Centre Masterplan; and

(c)           instruct the Chief Officer - Operations to commence the procedure for the Order to be made permanent.

The Net Zero, Environment and Transport Committee resolved:-

(i)             to agree the recommendations subject to (ii) and (iii) below;

(ii)           in the context of the ongoing construction works on Union Street and around the New Market development, to instruct the Chief Officer - Operations to introduce a Temporary Traffic Regulation Order (TTRO) to suspend the Bus Gates on Union Street (westbound only) / Market Street (southbound only), between its junctions with Adelphi and Hadden Street; this allowing all classes of vehicle to turn left from Union Street onto Market Street, thereafter restricting general traffic to a left only turn at the bottom of Market Street onto Trinity Quay (Virginia Street), this to aid continued access and servicing of the businesses on Market Street and Shiprow throughout the remaining period of construction; and

(iii)          to instruct the Chief Officer - Operations to report to this Committee in 18 months’ time on the operation and impact of this city centre traffic management regime and to make any recommendations for modifications he considers appropriate.

Following the conclusion of questions to officers, Councillor Yuill advised that he had a connection in relation to the item, in response to the Michie family having been mentioned, having worked for the Michie family many years ago and having maintained contact with them since then, however having applied the objective test he did not consider that he had an interest and would not  ...  view the full minutes text for item 2

to take no action.

The Council had before the wording of the written request for this special Council meeting which had been signed by 12 members in accordance with Standing Order 8.2.2:-

“The business to be transacted relates to the decision by the Standards Commission v Councillor Malik, its judgement and the appeal decision by the Sheriff Principal.”

Councillor Malik moved, seconded by Councillor Ali:-

            That the Council -

(1)      notes the decision by the Sheriff Principal of Grampian Highland and Islands to quash the finding of the Standards Commission under Section 22 of the Ethical Standards in Public Life etc. (Scotland) Act 2000 following a complaint by SNP Councillor Cooke to the Ethical Standards Commissioner;

(2)      agrees the decision by the Standards Commission was draconian in nature and Councillor Malik served a one-month suspension unduly as the Panel did not properly take into consideration his rights under Article 10 of the ECHR;

(3)      agrees that the Ethical Standards Commissioner’s own solicitor pointed out to the panel Councillor Malik’s right of expression under article 10 of the ECHR but this was not properly taken into account by the Panel;

(4)      agrees that the Local Authority Pension Fund Forum’s Executive Committee (LAPFF) remains without ethnic minority representation, thanks to Councillor Cooke; and

(5)      notes that today is a very good day for the city of Aberdeen as the SNP Convener John Cooke’s complaint against Councillor Malik has been rejected by a Scottish Court, however it remains a bad day as well because LAPFF remains without ethnic minority representation and the Pensions Committee remains without Aberdeen Labour members thanks to Councillor Cooke’s actions.

Councillor Allard moved as an amendment, seconded by Councillor Greig:-

            That the Council take no action.

Councillor Crockett moved as a further amendment, seconded by Councillor Mrs Stewart:-

            That the Council -

(1)      notes the Pensions Committee agreed to delegate authority to the Chief Officer - Finance to nominate an appropriate officer as the Pensions Committee nominee;

(2)      agrees that Councillor Cooke should apologise to Councillor Malik for the way in which he handled LAPFF nomination in 2022;

(3)      agrees that should Councillor Cooke apologise to Councillor Malik then the Labour Group should re-join the Pensions Committee with immediate effect;

(4)      notes that the Lord Provost of Aberdeen reported me to the Standards Commission which decided that I had ECHR Section 10.1 rights so therefore did not take the issue to a hearing unlike the case of Councillor Malik, where they agreed that he had ECHR Section 10 rights to book a hearing;

(5)      notes that Unite the Union has nominated me as a member of the Union to be its substitute member of the Pensions Board, as an employee representative;

(6)      notes that the Council has refused to accept the nomination; and

(7)      agrees that the Council should seek external legal advice on the situation at point 6.

There being a motion and two amendments, the Council first divided between the motion and the amendment proposing no action, in terms of Standing  ...  view the full minutes text for item 1