Agenda, decisions and draft minutes

The Lord Provost stated that he was shocked when he received news of the King’s diagnosis with a form of cancer. He wished His Majesty his warmest wishes and a speedy and full recovery, and was sure that the Council and the public would join in him in expressing those wishes. The Lord Provost highlighted that the King’s strong links with Aberdeen and the North East of Scotland were well known, and he looked forward to welcoming His Majesty back to the city following his return to full duties.

The Lord Provost advised that he had sent a letter from himself, Councillors and citizens of Aberdeen to His Royal Highness this morning in such terms.

The Council resolved:-

to concur with the remarks of the Lord Provost.

The Lord Provost advised that he had accepted an urgent notice of motion by Councillor Radley onto the agenda as a matter of urgency in terms of Section 50B(4)(b) of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, and that it would be considered at the appropriate point.

The Council was requested to determine that the following items of business, which contained exempt information as described in Schedule 7(A) of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, be taken in private:-

11.1    Reconfiguration of Working Arrangements with ALEOs - exempt appendix

11.2    Culture Delivery and Funding Review - exempt appendix

The Council resolved:-

in terms of Section 50A(4) of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, to exclude the press and public from the meeting during consideration of items 11.1 and 11.2 so as to avoid disclosure of exempt information of the classes described in paragraphs 4, 6, 9 and 11 of Schedule 7A of the Act.

The Lord Provost and Councillor Blake advised that they had a connection in relation to agenda item 9.2 (Reconfiguration of Working Arrangements with ALEOs - Bon Accord Care and Aberdeen Sports Village) as Council appointed Directors to the Board of Aberdeen Sports Village, however having applied the objective test they did not consider that they had an interest and would not be withdrawing from the meeting.

Councillor Radley advised that she had a connection in relation to item 9.7 (Culture Delivery and Funding Review) as a Council appointee to the Board of Visit Aberdeenshire, however having applied the objective test she did not consider that she had an interest and would not be withdrawing from the meeting.

Councillor Allard declared an interest in relation to item 9.9 (Petition - United Nations Treaty to Prohibit Nuclear Weapons/Nuclear Free Local Authorities) as a member of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament North East Scotland, the Scottish Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and the UK Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and stated that he would withdraw from the meeting for that item.

Councillor Nicoll advised that he had a connection in relation to item 9.2 by reason of a close family member he held power of attorney for being in the care of Bon Accord Care, however having applied the objective test he did not consider that he had an interest and would not be withdrawing from the meeting.

Councillors Henrickson and Mrs Stewart advised that they had a connection in relation to item 9.7 as Council appointed Directors to the Board of Aberdeen Performing Arts, however having applied the objective test they did not consider that they had an interest and would not be withdrawing from the meeting.

Councillor Macdonald advised that she had a connection in relation to item 9.7 as a Director of Belmont Community Cinema, however having applied the objective test she did not consider that she had an interest and would not be withdrawing from the meeting.

Councillor Grant declared an interest in relation to items 9.6 (City Centre Streetscape Update) and 9.7 by virtue of his employment by Aberdeen Inspired and stated that he would withdraw from the meeting for those items.

Councillor Greig advised that he had a connection in relation to items 9.2, 9.7 and 11.1 as a member of the Integration Joint Board and a Council appointed Director to the Board of Aberdeen Performing Arts, however having applied the objective test he did not consider that he had an interest and would not be withdrawing from the meeting.

Councillor Watson declared an interest in relation to item 9.9 as a member of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and stated that he would withdraw from the meeting for that item.

Councillor Boulton advised that she had a connection in relation to item 9.7 as an observer to the Board of Peacock Visual Arts, however having applied the objective test she did not consider that she had an interest and would not be withdrawing from the meeting.

Councillor Yuill  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

·       Gavin Clark - Aberdeen Cycle Forum - in support of item 9.6

(A)      The Council received a deputation from Mr Gavin Clark on behalf of Aberdeen Cycle Forum, who spoke in connection with the City Centre Streetscape Update report.

Mr Clark advised that Aberdeen Cycle Forum was a campaign group which had been formed in 2003 primarily on the back of cycling fatalities and the need for change. He added that progress had been slow and not a lot had changed with regard to the city’s cycling infrastructure.

Mr Clark noted, however, that sustainable active travel was now front and centre in many transport strategies at national and local level. Sustainable transport hierarchy enshrined in most of those policies was clear that infrastructure should provide for walking and wheeling first and cycling second before the needs of public transport and motorised vehicles; and funding for cycling infrastructure had increased accordingly.

Mr Clark commended the report before the Council and the ambition to create safe segregated cycling on Union Street, which was a significant step in the right direction. He aspired for a cycle route from Westhill to Aberdeen beach and dared to dream. Mr Clark highlighted his experience of cycling in Dundee recently, where there was an eight mile cycle route in place from the city centre - if Dundee could do it surely Aberdeen could too.

Mr Clark acknowledged that the city centre was facing lots of challenges and a cycle path was not a panacea. However, making streets safer and more attractive would encourage people to visit and use them more often. Investment in cycling had a greater and faster payback than most other forms of investment in transport infrastructure - broadly speaking there was £5 benefit for every £1 spent.

Mr Clark noted that former Olympic cyclist Chris Boardman, now Active Travel Commissioner for England, had suggested that active travel can help any crisis and improve outcomes. Whilst there would always be resistance to change, there needed to be change.

In conclusion, Mr Clark referred to the route contained within the report and stated it was not ideal, however it was acceptable as a compromise and whilst he did have some reservations, he looked forward to seeing the designs.

Members asked questions of Mr Clark and thanked him for his deputation.

In accordance with Article 4 of the minute, Councillors Allard and Watson left the meeting for the following item having declared interests.

(B)      The Council then heard from the petitioners associated with the petition on the United Nations Treaty to Prohibit Nuclear Weapons/Nuclear Free Local Authorities.

Ms Emma Morrison, Vice Chair of North East Scotland Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, introduced Mr Felix Mensah, Treasurer, and Mr Mike Martin, Media Secretary. Ms Morrison hoped the Council would look favourably on the request for Aberdeen City Council to endorse the United Nations Treaty to Prohibit Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) and join Nuclear Free Local Authorities (NFLA) and take a stand against those weapons whose mere existence threatened the survival of humankind.

Mr Mensah provided background information on the United Nations TPNW  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

The Council had before it the minute of the special meeting of Aberdeen City Council of 13 December 2023.

The Council resolved:-

to approve the minute.

The Council had before it the minute of meeting of Aberdeen City Council of 13 December 2023.

The Council resolved:-

to approve the minute.

The Council had before it the minute of the adjourned meeting of Aberdeen City Council of 14 December 2023.

The Council resolved:-

to approve the minute.

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

The Council resolved:-

to note the business planner.

With reference to Article 6 of the minute of its meeting of 1 March 2023, the Council had before it a report by the Chief Executive which proposed changes to the way in which specific clusters and services were managed and delivered and made recommendations for new alignments as part of the agreed next iteration TOM (Target Operating Model) 1.2.

The report recommended:-

that the Council -

(a)           note the findings of the CELCIS Children’s Services research summarised in Appendix 11.1;

(b)           note that Scottish Government intended to progress a national framework of shared accountability to support delivery of the National Care Services and their stated position that social work staff would remain employed by the Council;

(c)           note the feedback contained in Background Paper 5 arising from engagement on the proposed structure;

(d)           approve the proposed changes to the functional structure shown in Appendix 11.3to go forward to consultation; those being the move to a 3 Director model under the proposed groupings as follows:- Children, Families & Communities; Place; and Corporate Services as well as the related Job Profiles and salaries, within Appendix 11.4;

(e)           approve the changes proposed to the Tier 2 Chief Officer posts in aligning to the 3-director model above, as well as the related Job Profiles and salaries, as detailed in Appendix 11.4 to go forward into consultation;

(f)            note the updated version of the Job Matching Process (as approved for TOM implementation in 2017) to be utilised as part of these proposals, as set out in Appendix 11.5 alongside our redeployment process where appropriate, for the purposes of implementing the proposed structural amendments;

(g)           instruct the Chief Executive to undertake external recruitment for those roles not identified under job matching or redeployment processes, in accordance with the Council’s Standing Order 6.1;

(h)           if approved, agree that the transition to the proposed 3 Director model would begin to take place from 8 February 2024;

(i)             note that the Chief Officer - Governance would update the Scheme of Governance to reflect changes to structure, under delegated powers;

(j)             note that that the required annual review of the Scheme of Governance would be reported back to Council in July 2024, with the exception of the Committee Terms of Reference which would be reviewed and reported as part of the annual review of the Scheme of Governance in February/March 2025; and

(k)           approve that the Chief Officer - Strategic Place Planning replace the Director of Resources as Director of the Council’s Joint Venture with bp with effect from 8 February 2024 and delegate authority to the Chief Officer - Governance to discharge the Shareholder Reserved Matters in the Council’s Joint Venture with bp, effective immediately.

Councillor Yuill moved, seconded by Councillor Allard:-

          That the Council -

(1)       approve recommendations (a), (b), (c), (f), (g), (h), (i), (j) and (k) as contained within the report;

(2)       approve the proposed changes to the functional structure shown in Appendix 11.3 (amended as detailed) to go forward to consultation; those being  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

With reference to Article 2 of the minute of its meeting of 3 November 2023, the Council had before it a report by the Chief Officer - Commercial and Procurement which satisfied the instruction to report on the benefits of bringing the associated services in relation to Bon Accord Care in-house and incorporating them into the Council structure, and provide indicative delivery milestones within an Outline Business Case for consideration. The report also satisfied the instruction for the Chief Officer - Finance to explore the potential for the Council and the University of Aberdeen to amend the shareholder agreement and ownership with regard to Aberdeen Sports Village Ltd, and to report back to align with the Council budget setting process.

The report recommended:-

that the Council -

(a)           agree, in respect of Bon Accord Care, that given the current financial arrangements between the Council and the Integration Joint Board (IJB) outlined in the report, not to develop a full business case to bring Bon Accord Care back in-house and integrate into the Council structure;

(b)           note that the National Care Service (Scotland) Bill was currently undergoing parliamentary process and if there was any change to the operating environment for Bon Accord Care resulting from this legislation then a report would be prepared by the Chief Executive and submitted to Council;

(c)           note that the redesign opportunities highlighted in the outline business case, appended to the report, would be taken forward by the IJB’s annual commissioning of Bon Accord Care; and

(d)           note, in respect of Aberdeen Sports Village, that neither partner had the financial resources to enable a change in ownership model, and therefore the Joint Venture Agreement should be maintained on the basis of the Council and the University of Aberdeen being equal partners, 50:50.

Councillor Cooke moved, seconded by Councillor Greig:-

          That the Council approve the recommendations.

Councillor Bonsell moved as an amendment, seconded by Councillor Blake:-

          That the Council -

(1)       note the decision of the SNP agreed motion at Council in November 2023 which stated “in relation to Bon Accord Care (i.e. Bon Accord Care Ltd, and Bon Accord Support Services Ltd), note that the Options Appraisal process highlighted potential benefits in bringing the associated services in-house  and  integrating them into the Council structure;  and instruct the Head of Commercial and Procurement Services,  following consultation with the Managing Director of Bon Accord Care,  to outline the benefits of this potential option and provide indicative delivery milestones within an Outline Business Case for consideration by Council in February 2024”;

(2)       agree the option appraisal process in November 2023 highlighted potential benefits in bringing Bon Accord Care in-house;

(3)       agree that if the Administration is serious about how our ALEOs fit into the approach taken by the Council to embed Prevention and Early Intervention into the Commissioning cycle then they should have listened to and supported Labour’s amendment at the November 2023 meeting;

(4)       agree this screeching U-turn by the Administration proves beyond  ...  view the full minutes text for item 11.

Deferred at Council in December 2023

With reference to Article 5 of the minute of its meeting of 14 December 2023, the Council had before it a report by the Interim Chief Officer - Governance (Assurance) which presented the annual effectiveness report for Council to enable members to provide comment on the data contained within, as well as the annual effectiveness reports of the various committees, which had been considered by those committees.

The report recommended:-

that the Council -

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

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

Councillor Allard moved, seconded by Councillor Yuill:-

          That the Council -

(a)       note the Council annual report as contained at Appendix A; and

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

Councillor Watson moved as an amendment, seconded by Councillor Ali:-

          That the Council -

(a)       note the contents of the report;

(b)       note Aberdeen Labour’s amendment at the Anti-Poverty and Inequality Committee in November 2023 in relation to its Annual Effectiveness Report;

(c)       agree that anti-poverty is already dealt with by Community Planning Aberdeen and that eradication of poverty involves many differing agencies all of which are part of Community Planning Aberdeen; and

(d)       agree that the Anti-Poverty and Inequality Committee should be disbanded as part of the next review of the Scheme of Governance in 2024.

On a division, there voted:-

For the motion  (31)  -  Lord Provost; Depute Provost; and Councillor Al-Samarai, Allard, Alphonse, Boulton, Bouse, Brooks, Hazel Cameron, Clark, Cooke, Copland, Cormie, Cross, Davidson, Farquhar, Greig, Henrickson, Houghton, Hutchison, Kusznir, MacGregor, McLellan, McLeod, Massey, Mennie, Nicoll, Radley, Mrs Stewart, van Sweeden and Yuill.

For the amendment  (10)  -  Councillors Ali, Blake, Bonsell, Crockett, Graham, Grant, Lawrence, Macdonald, Thomson and Watson.

Absent from the division  (1)  -  Councillor Tissera.

The Council resolved:-

to adopt the motion.

The Council had before it a report by the Interim Chief Officer - Governance (Legal) which made recommendations as part of the statutory review of polling districts and polling places before proceeding to public consultation.

The report recommended:-

that the Council -

(a)          agree the recommended changes to polling districts as outlined in paragraphs 3.3, 3.4, 3.5, 3.6, 3.7, 3.8, 3.9 and 3.10 of the report;

(b)          agree the recommended changes to polling places as outlined in paragraph 3.11 of the report;

(c)          following approval of the recommended changes to polling districts and polling places, instruct the Chief Officer - Governance to proceed to public consultation; and

(d)          note that following public consultation, a report containing the final proposals would be presented for consideration at a Council meeting by July 2024.

The Council resolved:-

to approve the recommendations.

The Lord Provost advised that he was bringing forward various items of business in a different order from the agenda.

The Council had before it a report by the Chief Officer - Finance which outlined the Council’s Treasury Management Policy for 2024/25 to 2026/27, for approval.

The report recommended:-

that the Council approve the Treasury Management Policy, including the Treasury Management Policy Statement, Borrowing Policy, Investment Policy and Counterparty list, for 2024/25 to 2026/27 as detailed at Appendix 1.

The Council resolved:-

to approve the recommendation.

In accordance with Article 4 of the minute, Councillors Allard and Watson left the meeting for the following item having declared interests.

“We the undersigned call upon Aberdeen City Council to support efforts to rid the world of nuclear weapons by endorsing the United Nations treaty To Prohibit Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). We request that the Council join ‘Nuclear Free Local Authorities’ whose aim is to tackle in practical ways and within their powers the problems caused by civil and military nuclear hazards.”

(Deferred at last Council meeting at the petitioner’s request)

With reference to Article 4(B) of this minute, the Council had before it details of the following petition which had been submitted in accordance with the Council’s petitions procedure and Standing Order 15.

“We the undersigned call upon Aberdeen City Council to support efforts to rid the world of nuclear weapons by endorsing the United Nations treaty To Prohibit Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). We request that the Council join ‘Nuclear Free Local Authorities’ whose aim is to tackle in practical ways and within their powers the problems caused by civil and military nuclear hazards.”

The Council resolved:-

(i)             to thank the petitioners for presenting their petition; and

(ii)           to instruct the Chief Officer - Governance to report back to Council on the implications of joining ‘Nuclear Free Local Authorities’.

In accordance with Article 4 of the minute, Councillor Grant left the meeting for the following item having declared an interest.

The Council had before it a report by the Chief Officer - City Growth which advised of the progress to date of the Culture Delivery and Funding Review commissioned in July 2023, including consultation undertaken with cultural partners in respect of options for funding allocation to the cultural sector in 2024/25 to inform the budget process.

The report recommended:-

that the Council -

(a)           note the findings and recommendations of the Interim Cultural Funding and Delivery Review Report as detailed in Appendix 1, in respect to informing 2024/25 budget decision;

(b)           note the Culture Delivery and Funding Review final report would be  completed on 10 February 2024 and the funding to external cultural organisations for 2024/25 would be set through the Council budget process on 6 March;

(c)           note the social and economic benefits identified through investment in external cultural organisations as set out in the Investment in Culture report, Appendix 2; and

(d)           instruct the Chief Officer - City Growth to begin work on an investment framework  and application process for cultural funding, informed by the Culture Review recommendations and to report back to the Finance and Resources Committee in 2024 for approval.

The Council resolved:-

(i)             to approve the recommendations;

(ii)           to note section 3.17 of the report which stated “Analysis of Creative Scotland historic grant awards to Aberdeen across its various open funds and targeted schemes shows that in comparison to other Scottish cities, Aberdeen receives the lowest amount per a head of population at just £7.68, standing in stark contrast to Edinburgh (£53.06) and Glasgow (£40.56)”;

(iii)          to instruct the Chief Executive as part of the review to write to both Creative Scotland’s Chief Executive and the Cabinet Secretary for Constitution, External Affairs and Culture asking them to confirm why Aberdeen receives significantly less funding from Creative Scotland than any other Scottish city;

(iv)          to instruct the Chief Officer - City Growth to bring the finalised report back to Council within two cycles with recommendations on issues identified, including how we build capacity and resilience within the creative sector and provide clarity of vision; and

(v)           to instruct the Chief Officer - City Growth to write to Culture Aberdeen, Aberdeen Arts Centre, Aberdeen Performing Arts and other appropriate stakeholders exploring the creation of an Aberdeen Cultural Champion.

That Council:-

Notes that Elected Members are not entitled to maternity, paternity or adoption leave.

Notes that Aberdeen City Council adopted the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities' refreshed “Family Leave Guidance for Councils” at the meeting of 14^th December 2020, but that guidance did not extend to the matter of proxy voting.

Instructs the Chief Executive to write to and work with the Scottish Government and CoSLA in order to explore opportunities around how proxy voting could be implemented including pursuing legislative change so as to permit proxy voting on behalf of all elected members who are on maternity, paternity, shared parental or adoption leave.

The Council had before it an urgent notice of motion by Councillor Radley in the following terms:-

          “That Council:-

Notes that Elected Members are not entitled to maternity, paternity or adoption leave.

Notes that Aberdeen City Council adopted the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities’ refreshed “Family Leave Guidance for Councils” at the meeting of 14^th December 2020, but that guidance did not extend to the matter of proxy voting.

Instructs the Chief Executive to write to and work with the Scottish Government and CoSLA in order to explore opportunities around how proxy voting could be implemented including pursuing legislative change so as to permit proxy voting on behalf of all elected members who are on maternity, paternity, shared parental or adoption leave.”

At this juncture, the Council agreed to suspend Standing Order 40.2 to allow the meeting to continue beyond six hours.

The Council resolved:-

to approve the urgent notice of motion.

The Lord Provost advised that this was the last Council meeting for Sandra MacLeod, Chief Officer of Aberdeen Health and Social Care Partnership, before she moved on to pastures new. The Lord Provost thanked Sandra for her service to the Partnership and to Bon Accord Care, where she had previously been Managing Director.

Councillors Boulton, Macdonald and Cooke echoed the words of the Lord Provost and expressed their own thanks to Sandra.

The Council resolved:-

to concur with the remarks of the Lord Provost and the various Councillors.

In accordance with Article 3 of the minute, the Council considered the following items of business with the press and public excluded

With reference to Article 11 of this minute, the Council had before it an exempt appendix relating to the abovementioned report.

The Council resolved:-

to note the exempt appendix.

With reference to Article 16 of this minute, the Council had before it an exempt appendix relating to the abovementioned report.

The Council resolved:-

to note the exempt appendix.

The Lord Provost advised that the meeting was being adjourned in terms of Standing Order 40.3 and that the remainder of the business would be considered the following day.