Agenda, decisions and draft minutes

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

“That the Council:

1. Under Standing Order 5, resolves to remove Cllr Christian Allard from the position of Co-Leader.
2. Notes:
   1. the persistent concerns of RAAC affected homeowners about the lack of leadership shown on their behalf by Council Co-Leader and local Torry Ward member, Councillor Christian Allard.
   2. that despite repeated opportunities to act and advocate for affected homeowners, Cllr Allard failed to bring forward meaningful proposals, even after the Cabinet Secretary for Housing, Màiri McAllan MSP, announced additional funding for Aberdeen City Council.
   3. since March 2024, the Administration, including Cllr Allard, has consistently voted for the legal minimum compensation offer to homeowners in the event of compulsory purchase.
   4. at the Requisitioned Council meeting on 1 October 2025, opposition members advised the Administration to wait for Scottish Government’s funding response - announced the following day and which included an additional £10 million - yet the Administration, including Cllr Allard, proceeded to vote for the minimum payment.
   5. The Administration’s self-congratulatory tone in the face of homeowner distress, exemplified by remarks such as:

“Let’s look at the achievement here”

3. Recognises that the Administration was only driven to announce further funding support for RAAC affected homeowners after a disastrous media round from Cllr Allard - where he said he couldn't commit to support homeowners - after the Cabinet Secretary visited Torry on 22 October 2025.
4. Recognises this as part of a wider pattern of conduct, including his role in supporting the Energy Transition Zone (ETZ) proposals which threaten the future of St Fittick’s Park and has caused significant distress and opposition within the Torry community.
5. Recalls that Cllr Allard voted to cut funding for Big Noise Torry, an initiative he previously described as having “a positive social impact for the local community,” and later praised its rescue from his own Administration’s budget cuts by The Scottish Government.
6. Considers this pattern of conduct to be incompatible with the responsibilities of leadership and representation, particularly for a community such as Torry.
7. Concludes that Cllr Allard is unfit to lead our City and has failed to advocate for the people of Torry.”

Councillor Kusznir moved, seconded by Councillor Nicoll:-

            That the Council approve the notice of motion.

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

That this Council has confidence in Councillor Allard as Co-Leader of the Council.

Councillor Malik moved as a further amendment, seconded by Councillor Watson:-

            That the Council:-

(1)      approve the notice of motion by Councillor Kusznir; and

(2)      add the following at 7 and move 7 to become 8:-

Councillor Allard’s contempt for the Liberal Democrats at the Council Housing Budget meeting where he admitted as far as the SNP are concerned the Liberal Democrats are simply just an extension of the SNP.

During the course of summing up, Councillor Kusznir advised that he was willing to incorporate Councillor Malik’s amendment into his motion, and this was accepted.

On a division, there voted:-  ...  view the full minutes text for item 1.

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

12.1    Alternative Delivery Model - Outline Business Case - exempt appendices

The Chief Officer - Governance advised that a verbal update on a contract situation would also require to be heard with the press and public excluded.

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 the abovementioned items so as to avoid disclosure of exempt information of the classes described in paragraphs 6, 8 and 9 of Schedule 7A of the Act.

Councillor Yuill advised that he had a connection in relation to items 10.1 (Council Delivery Plan, Annual Review Report 2024-25), 10.3 (Sustainability Statutory Social Care Provision via Bon Accord Care), 10.4 (Alternative Delivery Model Outline Business Case) and 12.1 (Alternative Delivery Model exempt appendices) as the Council’s appointed member of the Board of NHS Grampian, however having applied the objective test he did not consider that he had an interest and would not be withdrawing from the meeting.

Councillor Kusznir advised that he had connections in relation to item 10.6 (Governance Review of Trusts - 2025) as a Council appointed member of the Marguerite McBey Trust and the law firm he was a partner at looked after one of the Trusts mentioned 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.

Councillor Nicoll advised that he had a connection in relation to item 10.3 as he held the power of attorney for a close family member 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.

The Lord Provost and Councillor Blake advised that they had a connection in relation to items 10.4 and 12.1 as Council appointed members of the Board of Aberdeen Sports Village. Councillor Blake advised that she also had a connection as member of the Friends of Aberdeen Performing Arts. However, having applied the objective test, the Lord Provost and Councillor Blake did not consider that they had an interest and would not be withdrawing from the meeting.

Councillors Fairfull, Greig and Henrickson advised that they had a connection in relation to item 10.4 by reason of being Council appointed members of 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 Henrickson advised that he had a connection in relation to item 10.4 as a shareholder and AberDNA member of Aberdeen Football Club, however having applied the objective test he did not consider that he had an interest and would not be withdrawing from the meeting.

Councillor Greig advised that he had a connection in relation to item 10.6 as a Council appointed member of the Marguerite McBey Trust, the Macdonald Art Committee, the Aberdeen Gomel Trust and the Robert Nicol Trust, however having applied the objective test he did not consider that he had an interest and would not be withdrawing from the meeting.

Councillor Grant advised that he had a connection in relation to item 10.1 as an employee of Aberdeen Inspired, however having applied the objective test he did not consider that he had an interest and would not be withdrawing from the meeting.

Councillors Cooke, Fairfull and Greig advised that they had a connection in relation to item 10.3 by reason of being Council  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

The Council had before it the minute of the special meeting of Aberdeen City Council of 26 September 2025.

The Council resolved:-

to approve the minute.

The Council had before it the minute of meeting of Aberdeen City Council of 1 October 2025.

The Council resolved:-

(i)             to approve the minute; and

(ii)           to request the Chief Officer - City Development and Regeneration to provide an update to Members on the latest situation with regard to the urgent notice of motion on STV.

The Council had before it the minute of the special meeting of Aberdeen City Council of 1 October 2025.

The Council resolved:-

to approve the minute.

The Council had before it the minute of the special meeting of Aberdeen City Council of 21 October 2025.

The Council resolved:-

(i)             to note that Councillor Kusznir had attended the meeting online; and

(ii)           to otherwise approve the minute.

The Council had before it the minute of the reconvened special meeting of Aberdeen City Council of 28 October 2025.

The Council resolved:-

to approve the minute.

The Council had before it the minute of meeting of the Urgent Business Committee of 19 September 2025.

The Council resolved:-

to approve the minute.

The Council had before it the minute of meeting of the Urgent Business Committee of 20 November 2025.

The Council resolved:-

to approve the minute.

The Council had before it the minute of meeting of the Urgent Business Committee of 24 November 2025.

The Council resolved:-

to approve the minute.

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

The Council resolved:-

(i)           to note that the Chief Officer - Governance would respond to Councillor Houghton with regard to the notice of motion by the Co-Leaders on the former Marks and Spencer building at St Nicholas Street, which was first considered by the Council in February 2024; and

(ii)          to otherwise note the business planner.

This report was deferred at the Council meeting of 1 October 2025

With reference to Article 10 of the minute of its meeting of 1           October 2025, the Council had before it a report by the Chief Officer - Data Insights which presented the Council with an Annual Review Report which highlighted progress with respect to the Council Delivery Plan 2024-25.

The report recommended:-

that the Council note the report and provide comments and observations.

Councillor Allard moved, seconded by the Depute Provost:-

          That the Council note the report.

Councillor Malik moved as an amendment, seconded by Councillor Grant:-

          That the Council -

(1)       note the report;

(2)       congratulate all those involved in Union Terrace Gardens winning the Andrew Doolan Best Building in Scotland Award which is coordinated by the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland;

(3)       agree this ambitious public-realm regeneration project has revived Aberdeen’s key public space, reclaiming Union Terrace Garden as the city’s green, civic heart. The project delivers extensive landscape and engineering work, enriched with conservation elements including the sensitively restored statues, railings, arcade arches, and subterranean Victorian toilets - now proudly reinstated and open to the public via the operator of the Union Street pavilion; and

(4)       agree as a result, Union Terrace Gardens is now a landmark cultural and inclusive destination that demonstrates the power of contextual, people-centred design in transforming a city’s sense of place.

At this juncture, Councillor Crockett advised that he had a connection in relation to the item as the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland had been mentioned and he was an honorary member, however having applied the objective test he did not consider that he had an interest and would not be withdrawing from the meeting.

Councillor Brooks advised that he had a connection in relation to the item as the temporary Chair of an anti-poverty charity, however having applied the objective test he did not consider that he had an interest and would not be withdrawing from the meeting.

Councillor Brooks moved as a further amendment, seconded by Councillor Farquhar:-

          That the Council:-

(1)       notes that Huq Signals footfall data has been used to measure unique visitors to the city between 1 January 2024 and 31 December 2024, which showed an increase of 3.1%;

(2)       further notes that the Huq data for Aberdeen City Centre includes data from Union Square;

(3)       notes that during 2024, Union Square reported its best year on year growth with a sharp rise in footfall;

(4)       agrees that this suggests that the use of Huq data to denote city centre increase in footfall is misleading when visitors to the heart of Aberdeen, Union Street, are visibly less;

(5)       notes that the Council Delivery Plan Annual Review Report 2024-25 is both retrospective (3.4) and indicative of the next 12 months (3.6);

(6)       notes that, with reference to Union Street, the report is confusing, as the number of empty units remains high and on 31^st May 2025 Aberdeen Inspired reported that Union Street footfall had decreased by 2%; and

(7)       to avoid further confusion  ...  view the full minutes text for item 13.

The Council had before it a report by the Chief Officer - Finance which sought approval of a list of General Fund Fees and Charges for 2026/27.

The report recommended:-

that the Council approve the Fees and Charges proposals for 2026/27 within Appendix A to the report.

Councillor Yuill moved, seconded by Councillor Henrickson:-

That the Council approve the Fees and Charges proposals for 2026/27 within Appendix A to the report subject to:

(1)      freezing off street parking charges at 2025/26 rates;

(2)      limiting the increase in on street parking charges to 5%, rounded to the nearest 5 pence;

(3)      limiting the increase in fixed and flexible residents parking permit charges to 5%, rounded to the nearest pound;

(4)      making no increase in school meal charges;

(5)      maintaining free access to the Winter Gardens at Duthie Park;

(6)      confirming that there will continue to be no charge for the collection of each household’s first garden / food waste bin; and

(7)      agreeing to include the net increase in income of £0.349m in the final 2026/27 General Fund budget model to be presented to the Council in March 2026.

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

            That the Council

(1)      approve the recommendation subject to the following:-

(a)   reduce car park off street parking by 25%

(b)   reduce on street car park charges by 25%

(c)   no increase in Business Exemption Permits

(d)   reduce fixed parking and flexible parking permits by 25%

(e)   no increase in monthly parking permits

(f)     School meals no increase

(g)   Child care services and IJB all no increase

(2)      increase by 10% the charges on all fees and charges within Public Infrastructure and Environment road and street work categories;

(3)      note the effect of these decisions will require consideration in the 2026/27 General Fund and Aberdeen City IJB budgets, to be presented to the Council and Aberdeen City IJB in March 2026; and

(4)      agree that there is no charge for entering the award-winning Union Terrace Gardens and notes the petty nature of the SNP who refused to hold an opening ceremony for this much loved park saved by the previous Administration from the brutal cement mixer. 

During the course of summing up, Councillor Yuill advised that he had a connection in relation to the item as the Council’s appointed member of the Board of NHS Grampian, however having applied the objective test he did not consider that he had an interest and would not be withdrawing from the meeting.

On a division, there voted:-

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

For the amendment   (19)  -  Councillors Ali, Blake, Bonsell, Brooks, Crockett, Cross, Farquhar, Grant, Houghton, Kusznir, Lawrence, Macdonald, McLeod, Malik, Massey, Nicoll, Thomson, Tissera and Watson.

Declined to vote  (1)  -  Councillor Boulton.

Absent from the division  (1)  -  Councillor Graham.

The Council  ...  view the full minutes text for item 14.

The Council had before it a report by the Executive Director - Corporate Services which reviewed the strategic options for change to Bon Accord Care’s (BAC) operational model to promote the future sustainability of their contribution to statutory social care provision in Aberdeen and presented evidence supporting the highest scoring option to transfer BAC back in-house to Aberdeen City Council.

The report recommended:-

that the Council -

(a)           note the options appraisal appended to the report;

(b)           approve the preferred option, Option B, as refenced at 1.3, that BAC transfer back into Aberdeen City Council in 2026/27; and

(c)           instruct the Executive Director - Corporate Services to undertake all necessary arrangements in furtherance of recommendation (b) above, and as outlined in the report and its appendices.

Councillor Allard moved, seconded by Councillor Greig:-      

That the Council approve the recommendations contained within the report.

Councillor Malik moved as an amendment, seconded by Councillor Tissera:-

          That the Council -

(1)       notes the Statutory Function Review report in December 2022, noting that the Chief Executive has still to bring forward a report on the specific opportunities proposed to be progressed;

(2)       notes Aberdeen Labour opposition to outsourcing and in particular the good work done by Councillor Deena Tissera on this matter and the reassurance given by the SNP leaders at the time of the report;

(3)       approves option B that BAC be transferred back into Aberdeen City Council subject to:- 

a. no compulsory redundancies

b. all pay and pension contributions to remain as per current contractual entitlement for those employees transferring from Bon Accord Care Ltd.

c. there shall be no transfer commissioning of any statutory activity given the assurance group leaders gave back in December 2022.

d. recognising that the Integration Joint Board commissions the provision of care home services, the Council must encourage the continued use of Bon Accord Care for the delivery of these and avoid outsourcing through the back door; and

(4)       instructs the Executive Director - Corporate Services to undertake necessary arrangements in furtherance of recommendation (c) above, and as outlined in the report and its appendices. 

On a division, there voted:-

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

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

Declined to vote  (9)  -  Councillors Brooks, Crockett, Cross, Farquhar, Houghton, Kusznir, McLeod, Massey and Nicoll.

Absent from the division  (2)  -  Councillors Boulton and Graham.

The Council resolved:-

to adopt the motion.

Exempt appendices contained at item 12.1

The Council had before it a report by the Chief Officer - Commercial and Procurement which updated the Council on the ongoing feasibility work into potential alternative funding and delivery model options for the Council’s arts, culture, events, sport, leisure, museums, and galleries assets.

The report recommended:-

that the Council

(a)           note the medium-term funding and delivery options identified through the Outline Business Case (OBC) process for the Alternative Delivery Model workstream, including consideration of asset condition, current subsidy levels, future investment requirements, and the inclusion of the Beach Ballroom within a wider asset approach;

(b)           instruct the Chief Officer - Commercial and Procurement to progress the development of alternative funding and delivery models, which will include the option for proposals to be submitted directly from ALEO partners, for the Council’s assets through to Full Business Case (FBC) stage, including commencement of a competitive procurement exercise; and

(c)           instruct the Chief Officer - Commercial and Procurement to present the findings of the Full Business case to Council during the final quarter of 2027.

Councillor Yuill moved, seconded by Councillor Allard:-

That the Council approve the recommendations contained within the report.

Councillor Brooks moved as an amendment, seconded by Councillor McLeod:-

          That the Council -

(1)       approve the recommendations contained within the report;

(2)       note that lots B and D (5.4) include the Linx Ice hockey arena, the home of twice Scottish ice hockey champions (2022/23 & 2023/24) and Scottish Cup winners in 2023/24, Aberdeen Lynx; and

(3)       instruct the Chief Officer - Commercial Procurement to consider any potential Aberdeen Football Club Stadium plans when considering any options regarding Aberdeen Lynx, prior to presenting options to Council in 2027.

Councillor Malik moved as a further amendment, seconded by Councillor Grant:-

          That the Council -

(1)       approve the recommendations contained within the report;

(2)       note the negative comments from the SNP Finance Convener in respect of Aberdeen Football Club and the positive comments from Aberdeen Football Club chairman David Cormack;

(3)       agree that in respect of any Alternative Delivery Model programme being pursued through alternative funding and delivery models, the Council must have regard to the proposed developments required to complete the Beach Masterplan and to incorporate findings into the report due in early 2027; and

(4)       agree to include the implications for our relationships with other partners in these sectors such as Aberdeen Arts Centre, Bon Accord Baths and the Belmont Cinema.

At this juncture, the Lord Provost acknowledged that it was unlikely the item would be concluded within the 6 hour time limit and enquired whether the Council would be willing to suspend Standing Order 40.2 to extend the length of the meeting. A number of objections were indicated which demonstrated that the necessary quota of two-thirds of the Members present and entitled to vote would not be met.

After eight Members had spoken, in accordance with Standing Order 31.1, Councillor Hutchison moved as a procedural motion, seconded by Councillor Greig:-

          That no further debate take place. 

On a division,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 16.

In accordance with Article 2 of this minute, the following items were considered with the press and public excluded.

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

The Council resolved:-

to note the exempt appendices.

With reference to the minute of meeting of the Urgent Business Committee of 19 September 2025, the Council received a short verbal update from the Chief Officer - Commercial and Procurement which set out the latest position with regard to the contract.

The Council resolved:-

to note the update.