Agenda, decisions and minutes

The Lord Provost confirmed that there was no urgent business to be considered and that it was his intention take the notices of motion earlier on the agenda, prior to consideration of the Council Business Planner.

The Council resolved:-

to note the position.

Councillor Lesley Dunbar advised that she had a connection in relation to agenda item 9.7 (Fairer Aberdeen Fund Annual Report) as a member of the CFINE Board, however having applied the objective test she did not consider that she had an interest and would not be withdrawing from the meeting for that item.

Councillors Yuill advised that had a connection in relation to agenda item 9.5 (Standards Commission for Scotland - Written Decision - Councillors Delaney and Yuill) as he was named in the report, however having applied the objective test he did not consider that he had an interest and would not be withdrawing from the meeting for that item.

Councillor Delaney advised that had a connection in relation to agenda item 9.5 (Standards Commission for Scotland - Written Decision - Councillors Delaney and Yuill) as he was named in the report, however having applied the objective test he did not consider that he had an interest and would not be withdrawing from the meeting for that item.

Councillor Donnelly advised that had a connection in relation to agenda item 9.5 (Standards Commission for Scotland - Written Decision - Councillors Delaney and Yuill) as he was named in the report, however having applied the objective test he did not consider that he had an interest and would not be withdrawing from the meeting for that item.

The Council had before it the minute of meeting of Aberdeen City Council of 23 August 2021.

The Council resolved:-

to approve the minute.

The Council had before it the minute of meeting of the Urgent Business Committee of 25 October 2021.

The Council resolved:-

to approve the minute.

That Council instructs the Chief Officer - Operations and Protective Services to report to the June 2022 meeting of the Operational Delivery Committee (or equivalent) to seek a decision on revoking the Aberdeen City Council (Queens Lane South, Aberdeen) (Prohibition of Waiting) Order 2021.

The Council had before it a notice of motion by Councillor Greig in the following terms:-

“That Council instructs the Chief Officer - Operations and Protective Services to report to the June 2022 meeting of the Operational Delivery Committee (or equivalent) to seek a decision on revoking the Aberdeen City Council (Queens Lane South, Aberdeen) (Prohibition of Waiting) Order 2021.”

The Council resolved:-

to approve the notice of motion.

That Council –

(a)  notes that the Aberdeen City Centre Masterplan was agreed unanimously by Council in 2015.  The Masterplan is a 25 year project which seeks to address the challenges facing the City Centre of Aberdeen;

(b)  notes that Aberdeen City Council comprises 45 Councillors representing 5 political groups.  Notes that the current administration of Aberdeen City Council is a minority administration of 22 elected members that has a political majority on all the Committees of the Council including the City Growth and Resources Committee.  The City Growth and Resources Committee comprises 5 elected members from the administration and 4 from the opposition parties;

(c)  notes that the proposals envisage capital investment of several hundreds of millions of pounds and that the legacy of these projects will shape the future of our City for decades to come; and

(d)  agrees that all future papers relating to The City Centre Masterplan, The Beach Masterplan, Aberdeen International Market and the Queen Street Redevelopment are reported to full council meetings until decided otherwise by a decision of full council.

The Council had before it a notice of motion by Councillor Hutchison in the following terms:-

“That Council -

(a)     notes that the Aberdeen City Centre Masterplan was agreed unanimously by Council in 2015.  The Masterplan is a 25 year project which seeks to address the challenges facing the City Centre of Aberdeen;

(b)     notes that Aberdeen City Council comprises 45 Councillors representing 5 political groups.  Notes that the current administration of Aberdeen City Council is a minority administration of 22 elected members that has a political majority on all the Committees of the Council including the City Growth and Resources Committee.  The City Growth and Resources Committee comprises 5 elected members from the administration and 4 from the opposition parties;

(c)      notes that the proposals envisage capital investment of several hundreds of millions of pounds and that the legacy of these projects will shape the future of our City for decades to come; and

(d)     agrees that all future papers relating to The City Centre Masterplan, The Beach Masterplan, Aberdeen International Market and the Queen Street Redevelopment are reported to full council meetings until decided otherwise by a decision of full council.

Councillor Yuill indicated that he had an amendment to the notice of motion which he was looking to move. The Lord Provost, having considered the amendment and taken advice from officers, ruled that the amendment was incompetent as it was not relevant to the notice of motion.

The Council resolved:-

to approve the notice of motion.

That this Council:-

1. notes the achievement of Aberdonian JJR Macleod and his role in the discovery and isolation on insulin; 
2. notes that JJR Macleod jointly received the Nobel prize for his work in 1923; 
3. notes that 2022 will mark the centenary since insulin was first used in a patient; 
4. agrees that the work of JJR Macleod has had a significant difference to the lives of millions of diabetics across the world; 
5. welcomes that a group has been created to fund a memorial for JJR Macleod;
6. instructs the Chief Officer – Operations and Protective Services to work with the group to establish a preferred location for the memorial; and
7. instruct officers to report to a future meeting of the City Growth & Resources Committee for approval of a preferred location and to report on any potential costs to Council.

The Council had before it a notice of motion by Councillor Lumsden MSP in the following terms:-

“That this Council:-

1. notes the achievement of Aberdonian JJR Macleod and his role in the discovery and isolation on insulin; 
2. notes that JJR Macleod jointly received the Nobel prize for his work in 1923; 
3. notes that 2022 will mark the centenary since insulin was first used in a patient; 
4. agrees that the work of JJR Macleod has had a significant difference to the lives of millions of diabetics across the world; 
5. welcomes that a group has been created to fund a memorial for JJR Macleod;
6. instructs the Chief Officer - Operations and Protective Services to work with the group to establish a preferred location for the memorial; and
7. instruct officers to report to a future meeting of the City Growth and Resources Committee for approval of a preferred location and to report on any potential costs to Council.”

The Council resolved:-

to approve the notice of motion.

That this Council agrees:-

1.    to suspend Standing Order 43.2; and

2.    to amend Standing Order 34.1 to read:

Immediately following a vote at Committee or Sub Committee, one third of the membership of the Committee or Sub Committee may refer the matter to the Council, a Committee or Sub Committee for a decision (see Glossary for calculation).

(A)      The Council had before it a notice of motion by Councillor Yuill in the following terms:-

“That this Council agrees:-

1.    to suspend Standing Order 43.2; and

2.    to amend Standing Order 34.1 to read:

Immediately following a vote at Committee or Sub Committee, one third of the membership of the Committee or Sub Committee may refer the matter to the Council, a Committee or Sub Committee for a decision (see Glossary for calculation).”

(B)      The Council had before it a further notice of motion by Councillor Yuill in the following terms:-

“That this Council:

1. Notes that the Administration of the Council comprises 22 Councillors - a minority of the 45 members of the Council.

2. Agrees to amend the membership of Committees, Sub-Committees, Working Groups and Partnerships as below with immediate effect, and that Group Leaders liaise to confirm the individual allocations and advise the Chief Officer - Governance”:

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

That the Council refer Councillor Yuill’s notices of motion to a meeting of the Governance Reference Group to be arranged in January 2022 ahead of the Scheme of Governance review being reported to Council on 28 February 2022.

On a division, there voted:-

For the procedural motion  (23)  -  Lord Provost; Depute Provost and Councillors Allan, Bell, Boulton, Cross, Donnelly, Lesley Dunbar, Duncan, Graham, Grant, Houghton, Imrie, John, Laing, Lumsden MSP, Macdonald, MacKenzie, Malik, Mason, Reynolds, Sellar and Wheeler.

Against the procedural motion  (21)  -  Councillors Al-Samarai, Allard, Alphonse, Cameron, Cooke, Copland, Cormie, Delaney, Jackie Dunbar MSP, Greig, Henrickson, Hutchison, MacGregor, McLellan, McRae, Mennie, Alex Nicoll, Audrey Nicoll MSP, Radley, Townson and Yuill.

Absent from the division  (1)  -  Councillor Noble.

The Council resolved:-

to adopt the procedural motion.

At this juncture, Councillor Hutchison advised that he had submitted a notice of motion for the meeting which the Lord Provost had not accepted onto the agenda as he had ruled it to be incompetent, however Councillor Hutchison stated that he had not been given a specific reason, and that he wished to move a procedural motion to suspend Standing Order 12.5 to enable the notice of motion to be added to the agenda.

Following advice from the Chief Officer - Governance, the Lord Provost ruled that it was not competent for Councillor Hutchison to move such a procedural motion as he had already ruled on the competency of the notice of motion, and to add an item of business to the agenda would be classed as a matter of urgency and the Council had already noted that there was no urgent business requiring to be considered at the start of the meeting - Article 1 of this minute refers.

The Council had before it the business planner as prepared by the Chief Officer - Governance.

The Council resolved:-

(i)             to note that the report on the Council Climate Change Plan Campaign would be submitted to the Council meeting on 28 February 2022; and

(ii)           otherwise to note the business planner.

The Council had before it a report by the Chief Officer - Governance which presented the annual effectiveness report for Council as well as the annual effectiveness reports of the various committees.

The report recommended:-

that the Council -

(a)           provide comments and observations on the data contained within the Council annual effectiveness report as contained at Appendix A; and

(b)           note the annual effectiveness reports of the various committees as contained at Appendices B to L.

The Council resolved:-

(i)             to note the Council annual effectiveness report as contained at Appendix A; and

(ii)           to note the annual effectiveness reports of the various committees as contained at Appendices B to L.

With reference to Article 9 of the minute of its meeting of 21 June 2021, the Council had before it a report by the Chief Officer - Governance which sought ratification of the appointment of the Aberdeen Parent Council Forum nomination to the current vacancy for a parent representative on the Education Operational Delivery Committee.

The report recommended:-

that the Council agree that Frances Cardno be appointed as the new primary/Additional Support Needs (ASN) representative on the Education Operational Delivery Committee with immediate effect, subject to a satisfactory Disclosure Scotland check being undertaken.

The Council resolved:-

to approve the recommendation.

The Council had before it a report by the Chief Officer - Governance which presented the updated policy on appointments of elected members to outside bodies for approval, and an update on progress with the latest review of outside bodies and various proposals arising from the review.

The report recommended:-

that the Council -

(a)           approve the updated policy on appointments of elected members to outside bodies as appended to the report;

(b)           note the position regarding the review of outside bodies, as contained within paragraph 3.4, and agree to receive an update as part of the report on the Scheme of Governance review at Council on 28 February 2022;

(c)           note that work would continue ahead of elected member appointments being sought post-election in May 2022, to ensure that outside bodies meet the requirements of the updated policy;

(d)           note the position regarding Robert Gordon’s College Board of Governors as contained within paragraph 3.5;

(e)           note the position regarding the Violence Against Women Forum as contained within paragraph 3.6, and agree to remove the outside body from the list of outside bodies with immediate effect; and

(f)             note the position regarding Sport Aberdeen, as contained within paragraph 3.8, and agree that no replacement appointment be made at this time.

The Council resolved:-

to approve the recommendations.

The Council had before it a report by the Chief Officer - Governance which provided an update on activity in relation to trusts to which the Council was connected.

The report recommended:-

that the Council -

(a)           note the actions, as detailed in the report, undertaken in relation to trusts to which the Council was connected; and

(b)           instruct the Chief Officer - Governance to bring a further update report to Council no later than December 2022 on future activity in relation to such trusts.

The Council resolved:-

to approve the recommendations.

The Council had before it a report by the Chief Officer - Governance which presented the written decision made by the Standards Commission for Scotland following a hearing on 5 October 2021.

The report recommended:-

that the Council -

(a)           consider the content of the written decision; and

(b)           note that the Standards Commission for Scotland held that there had been breach of the Code of Conduct by Councillor Delaney or Councillor Yuill.

The Council resolved:-

(i)             to note the content of the written decision; and

(ii)           to note that the Standards Commission for Scotland held that there had been no breach of the Code of Conduct by Councillor Delaney or Councillor Yuill.

The Council had before it a report by the Chief Officer - Finance which provided an update on the treasury management activities undertaken to date during the financial year 2021/22.

The report recommended:-

that the Council note the treasury management activities undertaken in the 2021/22 financial year to date, as outlined in the report.

The Council resolved:-

to approve the recommendation.

The Council had before it a report by the Chief Officer - Early Intervention and Community Empowerment which presented the Fairer Aberdeen Fund Annual Report 2020-21.

The report recommended:-

that the Council note the annual report for 2020-21 at Appendix 1 and instruct the Director of Customer Services to report the Council’s feedback to the Fairer Aberdeen Board as appropriate.

The Council resolved:-

(i)             to note the annual report for 2020-21, at Appendix 1, and agree that in an unprecedented year the Fairer Aberdeen Fund initiatives supported those most vulnerable to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic;

(ii)           to note the Fairer Aberdeen programme was aligned with the themes from the Local Outcome Improvement Plan - Economy, Children and Young People, Adults and Place;

(iii)          to note in 2020-21 funding of £1,640,000 was made available to support work in priority areas and across the city with vulnerable groups and individuals;

(iv)          to note grants ranged from £2,200 to £158,000 in value and further note that a total of 36,252 people were involved in, or benefitted from, funded initiatives and 10,094 of them were under 16 years of age;

(v)           to note 630 volunteers contributed 120,756 hours of volunteering time, which had an added value of over £1.9m;

(vi)          to note the funded initiatives at Appendix 2 including the impact measurement comparisons;

(vii)        to note the positive testimonials from those who had benefitted from the Fairer Aberdeen Fund detailed within Appendix A; and

(viii)       to express sincere thanks to all volunteers and staff involved with the Fairer Aberdeen Fund for the contribution they have made in tackling poverty and deprivation in the city and supporting those most vulnerable to the impacts of Covid-19.

The Lord Provost referred to the recent passing of former Councillor Jim Hunter and advised that although he had not been able to attend his funeral, there had been a strong representation from Aberdeen City Council in attendance. The Lord Provost noted his sadness and emphasised that former Councillor Hunter only had friends within the Council.

The Council resolved:-

to concur with the Lord Provost’s remarks.