Agenda and minutes

The agenda and reports associated with this minute can be found at:-

http://committees.aberdeencity.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=122&MId=2506&Ver=4

The Returning Officer laid before the meeting the following declaration:-

Aberdeen City Council

Local Government Election - 3 May 2012

I, Valerie Watts, as Returning Officer for the Aberdeen City Council give notice that the successful candidates in this election are as follows:-

Dated at Aberdeen, this Sixteenth Day of May, Two Thousand and Twelve.

Valerie Watts

Returning Officer

The Returning Officer addressed the Council and sought nominations for the Office of Lord Provost.

Councillor Donnelly proposed, seconded by Councillor Malik:-

            That Councillor George Adam be elected Lord Provost of the City.

The Council elected Councillor George Adam to be Lord Provost of the City in terms of the relevant statutes. Councillor George Adam having declared acceptance of the said Office, the Chief Executive duly invested him with the insignia of Office and delivered into his keeping the silver keys of the City.

The Chair was then vacated by the Returning Officer and taken by the Lord Provost.

-  VALERIE WATTS, Returning Officer

The Lord Provost, in acknowledging the honour of his appointment, thanked his fellow members for electing him, and stated that he would carry out his duties to the best of his ability and looked forward to working with the Office of Chief Executive and the civic support team. The Lord Provost thanked the Chief Executive and the election team for the professional manner in which the election had been delivered. He paid tribute to his predecessor, Peter Stephen, and to his wife Sandra, for their exceptional service to the city over the past five years. Lastly, he welcomed the 17 new members to the Council, as well as the returning members, and reminded all members that they had been elected to represent the people and not themselves.

On behalf of the Liberal Democrat group, Councillor Malone thanked the Lord Provost for his kind words about former Lord Provost Peter Stephen and his wife Sandra, and wished him well for his time in office. Councillor McCaig, on behalf of the SNP group, echoed the comments of Councillor Malone, expressing a warm welcome to the position of Lord Provost.

The Lord Provost sought nominations for the position of Depute Provost.

Councillor Cooney proposed, seconded by Councillor Laing:-

            That Councillor Reynolds be appointed Depute Provost.

The Council resolved:-

to appoint Councillor Reynolds as Depute Provost.

The Lord Provost sought nominations for the positions of Council Leader and Depute Leader.

Councillor Young proposed, seconded by Councillor Ironside CBE:-

            That Councillor Crockett be appointed Council Leader.

The Council resolved:-

to appoint Councillor Crockett as Council Leader.

Councillor Forsyth proposed, seconded by Councillor Finlayson:-

            That Councillor Boulton be appointed Depute Leader.

The Council further resolved:-

to appoint Council Boulton as Depute Leader.

The Council had before it a report by the Chief Executive which sought (1) the appointment of Conveners and Vice-Conveners to the Council’s committees; (2) approval for the composition and membership of those committees; (3) agreement on the payment of senior allowances and a committee diary for the period July 2012 to June 2013; and (4) a view on whether a review of the committee Orders of Reference and Standing Orders was required.

The report recommended:-

that the Council -

(i)                 agree the composition of the committees listed at paragraph 5.1 of the report, agree to increase the size of the Education, Culture and Sport Committee to 19 (plus seven external members), and appoint members to those committees on the basis of the agreed compositions;

(ii)               appoint a Convener and Vice-Convener to each of the committees listed at paragraph 5.1 of the report;

(iii)             agree the composition of the Urgent Business Committee and appoint members to this committee on the basis of this composition;

(iv)             determine whether it wishes to review the committee Orders of Reference and Standing Orders appended to the report; and if so, instruct officers to report with these revisions to the Council at its meeting on 27 June;

(v)               agree the payment of senior councillor allowances in accordance with the guidance set out at paragraph 7.3 of the report;

(vi)             agree the appointment of external members to the Education, Culture and Sport Committee as set out at paragraph 8.1 of the report and authorise that committee to accept the appointment of the second teacher representative as set out in paragraph 8.2 of the report;

(vii)           approve the diary of meetings for July 2012 to June 2013, subject to any modifications as determined by the Council; and

(viii)         approve option 3 for checking members under the Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) scheme, and determine whether to establish a pool of substitutes for the Social Care and Wellbeing and Education, Culture and Sport Committees; and agree to check external members as outlined in paragraph 10.7 of the report, and make budgetary provision for this purpose.

Councillor Crockett moved, seconded by Councillor Boulton:-

            That the Council -

(i)                 agree the composition of the committees listed at paragraph 5.1 of the report, agree to increase the size of the Education, Culture and Sport Committee to 19 (plus seven external members) and increase the size of the Development Management Sub Committee to 13 (5 Labour members, 5 SNP members 1 Liberal Democrat member, 1 Conservative member and 1 Independent member), appoint members to these committees on the basis of the agreed compositions, as appended, and request Group Leaders to provide nominations to the Head of Legal and Democratic Services in early course;

(ii)               appoint a Convener and Vice-Convener to each of the committees listed at paragraph 5.1 of the report, as appended;

(iii)             agree the composition of the Urgent Business Committee on the basis of 5 Labour members, 5 SNP members, 1 Liberal Democrat member, 1 Conservative member and 1 Independent member;  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

The Council had before it a report by the Director of Corporate Governance which sought to assist members in making appointments to (1) certain sub-committees, working groups and task groups; (2) Council supported Trusts; and (3) other organisations which required elected members to be appointed to them.

The report recommended:-

that the Council -

(a)              consider appointing members to the sub-committees, working groups and other groups shaded grey and in bold text within Appendix 1 to the report, by virtue of them requiring to be appointed by Council, or that they have meetings scheduled prior to the next meeting of the relevant committee;

(b)              refer the remaining sub-committees, working groups and other groups within Appendix 1 to the first meeting of the relevant committee as detailed in the far right hand column;

(c)               consider appointing members to the Trusts listed in Appendix 2 to the report, noting the meeting dates detailed; and

(d)              consider appointing members to the Boards listed in Appendix 3 to the report, noting the meeting dates detailed.

The Council resolved:-

(i)                 to approve the compositions and appointments for those sub-committees, working groups and other groups shaded grey and in bold text within the table below;

(ii)               to refer the remaining sub-committees, working groups and other groups to the first meeting of the relevant committee as detailed in the far right hand column; and

(iii)             to defer consideration of the appointment of members to the Trusts and Boards appended to the report for discussion between Group Leaders.

• Additional information

The Council had before it a report by the Director of Corporate Governance which sought appointments to a number of outside bodies and organisations.

The report recommended:-

that the Council -

(a)              consider the appointment of members to the various bodies listed in the appendix to the report; and

(b)              consider whether it wishes to nominate any members for the positions of President and Vice President of COSLA.

Councillor Crockett moved, seconded by Councillor Boulton:-

            That the Council -

(a)          agree the appointment of members to the various bodies listed in Appendix 1 below;

(b)          agree the allocation of places as listed in Appendix 2 below;

(c)          agree that a meeting of Group Leaders be held in early course to agree the appointment of members to the various bodies listed in Appendix 2 below; and

(d)          agree to nominate Councillor Crockett for the post of Vice President of COSLA.

Appendix 1

Appendix 2

The Council had before it a report by the Clerk to the Licensing Board which set out the procedure for establishing a Licensing Board for the City of Aberdeen.

The report recommended:-

that the Council -

(a)              determine the number of members to be elected to the Licensing Board; and

(b)              elect the appropriate number of members to the Licensing Board.

The Council resolved:-

to agree that the Aberdeen City Licensing Board comprise nine members, consisting of 3 Labour members, 3 SNP members (Councillors Cameron, Cormie and Jaffrey), 1 Liberal Democrat member, 1 Conservative member and 1 Independent member.

The Council had before it a report by the Director of Corporate Governance which requested that consideration be given to the appointment of the Council’s representatives on Aberdeen and Peterhead Prison Visiting Committees.

The report recommended:-

that the Council -

(a)              appoint four people to serve on Aberdeen Prison Visiting Committee, in accordance with paragraphs 5.2.1 and 5.2.2 of the report; and

(b)              appoint three people to serve on Peterhead Prison Visiting Committee, in accordance with paragraph 5.2.4 of the report.

The Council resolved:-

(i)                 to appoint Councillors Allan and Forsyth, and Ms Eileen Lawson to serve on Aberdeen Prison Visiting Committee; and

(ii)               to appoint Councillor Donnelly, and Ms Heather Morgan and Mr William Stark to serve on Peterhead Prison Visiting Committee.

The Council had before it a report by the Director of Corporate Governance which sought approval to appoint a pool of Councillors and external members from which individuals would be drawn to form the membership of the School Placings and Exclusions Appeal Committee.

The report recommended:-

that the Council -

(a)              appoint a pool of Councillors and external members from which individuals can be drawn to form Appeal Committees, comprising (1) all members of the Council; (2) members of School Parent Councils who were previously members of the pool; (3) ex-members of former School Boards/Parent Councils who have experience of the committee on the basis that training sessions are attended; and (4) members of the Council who have demitted office and who have expressed an interest in participating in the work of the committee;

(b)              appoint the Senior Democratic Services Manager as Clerk to the School Placings and Exclusions Appeal Committee and authorise Martin Allan, Martyn Orchard and Allison Swanson as Assistant Clerks to act in his name; and

(c)               agree that Council accommodation continue to be used for hearings for the reasons set out in paragraphs 3.1 and 3.2 of the report.

The Council resolved:-

to approve the recommendations.

The Council had before it a report by the Director of Corporate Governance which sought approval to appoint a pool of Councillors to form the membership of the statutory Local Review Body.

The report recommended:-

that the Council -

(a)              appoint a pool of Councillors from which individuals can be drawn to form members of the statutory Local Review Body; and

(b)              note that appropriate training would be provided to the pool of members appointed.

The Council resolved:-

(i)                 to approve the recommendations; and

(ii)               to delete the final sentence of paragraph 1.4 within the report, thereby discontinuing the current practice of the Local Review Body comprising three members.

The Council had before it a report by the Director of Corporate Governance which sought to establish a Local Licensing Forum for Aberdeen, in accordance with the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005.

The report recommended:-

that the Council -

(a)              re-establish Aberdeen Local Licensing Forum and re-appoint the current members as listed in Appendix A to the report;

(b)              delegate powers to the Forum to adjust its membership as the need arises; and

(c)               determine whether it wishes to appoint a representative to the Forum, and, if so, to make such an appointment.

The Council resolved:-

to approve the recommendations, appointing Councillor Greig as the Council’s representative.

The Council had before it a report by the Director of Corporate Governance which sought the appointment of members on the employee Appeals Committee.

The report recommended:-

that the Council -

(a)              appoint members to the Appeals Committee, comprising nine members of the Council who also serve on the committee dealing with human resource matters, namely the Corporate Policy and Performance Committee;

(b)              note that the Convener and Vice-Convener of the Appeals Committee should not hold any other convenership of any standing committee of the Council; and

(c)               determine the political balance of the Appeals Committee accordingly.

The Council resolved:-

to agree that the Appeals Committee comprise nine members on the basis of 3 Labour members, 3 SNP members, 1 Liberal Democrat member, 1 Conservative member and 1 Independent member.

The Council had before it a report by the Director of Corporate Governance which sought the appointment of members to the Pensions Panel and Joint Investment Advisory Committee.

The report recommended:-

that the Council -

(a)              appoint a Pensions Panel comprising four members of the Council; and

(b)              appoint the members of the Pensions Panel as its representatives to the Joint Investment Advisory Committee.

The Council resolved:-

to appoint a Pensions Panel comprising four members on the basis of 1 Labour member (Councillor Crockett), 1 SNP member (Councillor Noble), 1 Liberal Democrat member, and 1 Conservative member (Councillor Thomson), who would also be the Council’s representatives to the Joint Investment Advisory Committee.

The Council had before it a report by the Director of Corporate Governance which requested that consideration be given to appointing Baillies to assist in the undertaking of the ceremonial duties on behalf of the Lord Provost.

The report recommended:-

that the Council -

(a)              take a view as to whether the office of Baillies be continued.

If Council is supportive of continuing, it is further recommended that the Council -

(b)              appoint Baillies as it deems appropriate;

(c)               note the decision of Council of 16 May 2007 whereby it was agreed that any serving former Lord Provost would automatically become a Baillie;

(d)              agree that the allocation of robes and chains be at the discretion of the Lord Provost; and

(e)              agree that Baillies will receive no remuneration, but note that those undertaking civic duties on behalf of the Lord Provost are entitled to claim reimbursement of receipted expenditure within the limits specified for the Council.

The Council resolved:-

(i)                 to appoint Councillors Cooney, Donnelly and Jennifer Stewart and one SNP member as Baillies;

(ii)               to note that the Depute Provost would automatically become a Baillie as a serving former Lord Provost; and

(iii)             to approve recommendations (d) and (e) contained within the report.

(a)               Master of Shore Works

(b)               Master of Kirk and Bridge Works

(c)               Master of Mortifications

(d)               Master of Guild Brethren’s Hospital

The Council had under consideration (1) the appointment of members to the following offices:- Master of Shore Works; Master of Kirk and Bridge Works; Master of Mortifications; and Master of Guild Brethren’s Hospital; and (2) a statement by the City Archivist which provided information on the historical background to the posts of Master of Kirk and Bridge Works, Master of Shore Works and Master of Guild Brethren’s Hospital.

The Council resolved:-

(i)                 to appoint Councillor Allan as Master of Shore Works and Master of Kirk and Bridge Works; and

(ii)               to appoint Councillor Finlayson as Master of Mortifications and Master of Guild Brethren’s Hospital.

- GEORGE ADAM, Lord Provost.