Agenda, decisions and minutes

(A)       The persons undermentioned were admitted into the presence of the Council and passed as Burgesses of Guild in respect of their respective Acts of Admission in the Guild Burgess Book:-

Doris May Campbell, Ex Local Government Officer, Aberdeen

Professor Andrew J R Porter, Academic and Entrepreneur, Aberdeen

Kenneth Duncan Taylor, Forester, Aberdeen

(B)       The persons undermentioned were admitted into the presence of the Council and passed as Burgesses of Guild by right of their father’s status as a Free Burgess:-

            Alastair David Hunter, Sales Manager, Aberdeen

            Roxanne Watt, Nurse, Aberdeen

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:-

8(a)     Decisions and Minutes of Social Work Complaints Review Committee

8(b)     Conservation Area Regeneration Scheme - Appendix

8(c)     Strategic Mixed Tenure Housing for Aberdeen City: Progress Report

8(d)     Berryden Corridor Improvements

The Council resolved:-

in terms of Section 50(A)(4) of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, to exclude the press and public from the meeting during consideration of items 8(a) to 8(d) so as to avoid disclosure of exempt information of the classes described in paragraphs 1, 4, 5, 6, 8 and 9 of Schedule 7(A) of the Act.

The Council had before it the minute of meeting of Aberdeen City Council of 29 June 2016.

The Council resolved:-

to approve the minute.

The Council had before it the minute of meeting of the Urgent Business Committee of 1 July 2016.

The Council resolved:-

to approve the minute.

The Council had before it a statement of Council business.

The Council resolved:-

(i)           to delete item 12 (Broadford Works); and

(ii)          to otherwise note the statement.

The Council had before it a list of outstanding motions.

The Council resolved:-

to note the motions list.

MATTER OF URGENCY

The Lord Provost intimated that he had directed in terms of Section 50(B)(4)(b) of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, that the following item be considered as a matter of urgency in accordance with the resolution of the Council that the report be considered this day.

With reference to Article 4 of the minute of its meeting of 29 June 2016, the Council had before it a report by the Chief Executive which provided the findings following a review of the National Cremation Investigation report and advised of the actions that had been taken to date.

The report recommended:-

that the Council -

(a)          note and fully accept the findings of both the National Cremation Investigation led by Dame Elish Angiolini and the findings of the Infant Cremation Commission led by Lord Bonomy;

(b)          instruct the Chief Executive to continue to monitor the completion of the remaining actions to be undertaken by the Council, as well as the actions arising from the recent inspection undertaken by the Inspector of Crematoria Scotland and to provide further reports to the Council as necessary;

(c)          instruct the Chief Executive to constitute formally the inter-agency Bereavement Services Group with formal terms of reference and to assume the chairmanship of the group;

(d)          note the findings of the Inspector of Crematoria Scotland set out in his recent inspection report and note that future inspection reports will be submitted to the Communities, Housing and Infrastructure Committee and to note that any complaints being upheld by the Inspector of Crematoria Scotland will be reported to the Audit, Risk and Scrutiny Committee in the same way as complaints upheld by the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman are reported;

(e)          in light of the legal framework being due to change considerably following the work of the Infant Cremation Commission, instruct the Chief Executive to arrange an elected members’ briefing on the statutory duties to be placed on the Council as a result of the Burial and Cremation (Scotland) Act 2016 (and any regulations made thereunder) once the said provisions are in force;

(f)           instruct the Chief Executive to develop an Assurance Map for the Council in order that a full understanding is developed as to which Council services are subject to independent external inspection;

(a)       On completion of the Assurance Map, instruct the Chief Internal Auditor to review it for omissions in assurance and determine how the Internal Audit Workplan could address the gaps;

(b)       Request the Audit, Risk and Scrutiny Committee to consider any proposed revision of the existing Internal Audit Workplan, following the Chief Internal Auditor’s review of the Assurance Map;

(c)       Instruct the Head of Public Infrastructure and Environment to develop a suite of compliance measures which should be routinely reported to both the Communities, Housing and Infrastructure Committee and the Corporate Health and Safety Committee to evidence continued compliance by the crematorium service, as well as providing a suite of performance measures evidencing comparison with external benchmarks where available; and

(d)       In order to ensure a more proactive assurance framework across the Council, instruct each Director to bring to the attention of the appropriate service committee any significant service failures from across Scotland and for each committee to instruct the Director regarding the level of testing of the relevant Aberdeen City  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

With reference to Article 13 of the minute of meeting of the Audit, Risk and Scrutiny Committee of 27 June 2016, the Council had before it, by way of remit, a report by the Chief Executive which presented the annual report of the Audit, Risk and Scrutiny Committee.

The Audit, Risk and Scrutiny Committee resolved:-

(i)           to approve the annual report; and

(ii)          to refer the report to the Council for their consideration.

The Council resolved:-

to approve the annual report for its interest.

The Council had before it a report by the Chief Executive which provided details of the arrangements that had been put in place for governance of the Integration Joint Board (IJB).

The report recommended:-

that the Council -

(a)          note the content of the report;

(b)          recommend that the Chairs of the Audit Committees of Aberdeen City Council, NHS Grampian and the IJB come together to avoid duplication of effort, whilst ensuring that both parent bodies receive necessary assurances; and

(c)          agree to receive regular updates on the governance arrangements relating to the IJB.

The Council resolved:-

(i)           to approve the recommendations; and

(ii)          to note that the Chief Executive would notify all members of the timescales involved with the independent review in relation to the functions of the Chief Social Work Officer around adult and child protection arrangements in light of the new delivery arrangements created by the formation of the IJB.

With reference to Article 18 of the minute of its meeting of 19 August 2015, the Council had before it a report by the Chief Executive which presented the revised Gaelic Language Plan.

The report recommended:-

that the Council approve the content of the revised Gaelic Language Plan.

Councillor Laing moved, seconded by Councillor Boulton:-

That the Council approve the recommendation contained within the report.

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

That the Council agree to defer consideration of the report meantime and instruct the Chief Executive to write to Scottish Ministers requesting that the statutory requirement to produce Gaelic Language Plans be removed from those local authority areas with little or no Gaelic heritage.

On a division, there voted:-

For the motion  (32)  -  Lord Provost; and Councillors Allan, Cameron, Carle, Cooney, Copland, Corall, Cormie, Crockett, Dickson, Jackie Dunbar, Lesley Dunbar, Flynn, Graham, Grant, Hutchison, Ironside, Jaffrey, Laing, Lawrence, MacGregor, Malik, Milne, Jean Morrison, Nathan Morrison, Nicoll, Noble, Samarai, Sandy Stuart, Taylor, Townson and Young.

For the amendment  (9)  -  Depute Provost; and Councillors Boulton, Delaney, Donnelly, Finlayson, Greig, Malone, Thomson MSP and Yuill.

The Council resolved:-

to adopt the motion.

With reference to Article 17 of the minute of its meeting of 29 June 2016, the Council had before it a report by the Chief Executive which provided an early assessment of possible local implications of the vote to leave the European Union.

The report recommended:-

that the Council -

(a)          note the detail of the report;

(b)          note the correspondence received from the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union; and

(c)          agree that further reports on emerging issues be submitted to the appropriate Council committees as required.

The Council resolved:-

to approve the recommendations.

With reference to Article 18 of the minute of its meeting of 29 June 2016, the Council had before it a report by the Chief Executive which provided the response received from the Scottish Government to the letter from the Chief Executive regarding the new Scottish Benefits Agency.

The report recommended:-

that the Council note the correspondence received from the Scottish Government.

The Council resolved:-

to approve the recommendation.

MATTER OF URGENCY

The Lord Provost intimated that he had directed in terms of Section 50(B)(4)(b) of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, that the following item be considered as a matter or urgency to enable the proposed working group to meet at the earliest opportunity if agreed.

With reference to Article 17 of the minute of its meeting of 13 May 2015, the Council had before it a report by the Director of Education and Children’s Services which proposed the establishment of a short life working group to commission a memorial to the fishing industry.

The report recommended:-

that the Council -

(a)          establish the Fishing Industry Memorial Working Group comprising four people: the Lord Provost, the Cultural Policy and Partnership Manager and two industry experts;

(b)          approve the remit for the working group as being to agree (a) a budget for the commission and installation of the works; (b) the preferred site for the piece; (c) the commissioning process, shortlisting and selection of the artist and art form; (d) the timescale for completion; and (e) any formal opening event, including the invitation of dignitaries; and

(c)          agree that the working group meets cyclically, or more frequently as required, on the understanding that during the construction of the piece, if there is no business for consideration, progress reports will be sent to each member of the group.

The Council resolved:-

to approve the recommendations.

The Council had before it a report by the Chief Executive which sought endorsement of the Draft Local Outcome Improvement Plan (LOIP) 2016-26 for Aberdeen City, and provided an update on the proposed locality planning framework and planned community engagement events.

The report recommended:-

that the Council -

(a)          endorse the Draft LOIP 2016-2026 at appendix 1 to the report;

(b)          note that the Draft LOIP will be considered by the Community Planning Partnership on 22 August 2016;

(c)          note that the planned approach to locality planning set out in section 7 of the report will be considered by the Community Planning Partnership on 22 August 2016; and

(d)          note the planned community engagement events detailed in paragraph 7.6 of the report.

The Council resolved:-

to approve the recommendations.

The Council had before it a report by the Interim Director of Corporate Governance which presented proposals for the reorganisation of the Bridge of Don Trust, proposed a grant from the trust towards Thomas Glover House and provided an update on the reorganisation of charitable trusts.

The report recommended:-

that the Council -

(a)          adopt the constitution at appendix A to the report for the future operation of the Bridge of Don Trust;

(b)          as trustee of the Bridge of Don Trust, agree to make a grant of £150,0000 from Trust funds to Thomas Glover House;

(c)          confirm the appointment of the Head of Finance as treasurer and the Head of Legal and Democratic Services as secretary to the Bridge of Don Trust; and

(d)          instruct that officers continue to work with the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator on the reorganisation of the charitable trusts.

The Council resolved:-

to approve the recommendations.

The Council had before it a report by the Director of Education and Children’s Services which provided the annual update on progress of the implementation of the corporate parenting responsibility.

The report recommended:-

that the Council -

(a)          note the action plan for the development of the Champions Board;

(b)          instruct officers to report back on the further implementation of the corporate parenting responsibility to Council in 2017;

(c)          continue to be proactive in promoting the corporate parenting agenda in Council business; and

(d)          continue to support and invest in the Council’s Family Firm opportunities.

The Council resolved:-

to approve the recommendations.

The Council had before it a report by the Director of Communities, Housing and Infrastructure which set out a proposal to establish a strategic Energy Services Company (ESCo), as an arms’ length external organisation (ALEO) wholly owned by the Council to manage all energy related activity undertaken by the Council.

The report recommended:-

that the Council -

(a)          instruct the Director of Communities, Housing and Infrastructure to proceed with developing a detailed business plan for a strategic ESCo, as an ALEO wholly owned by the Council to manage all energy related activity undertaken by the Council with the option to expand and develop energy related services over time. This would include proposals for the following:

·         A legal structure for the organisation

·         A governance structure

·         Identify a priority project list

·         A staff and management structure and job descriptions

·         Initial resource and funding requirements

·         An initial business plan for the first three years; and

(b)          instruct the Director of Communities, Housing and Infrastructure to establish an interim informal working group led by a project manager to take forward the development of a detailed business plan. The working group would include relevant internal energy experts as well as elected members and representatives from legal and finance.

Councillor Laing moved, seconded by Councillor Boulton:-

That the Council approve the recommendations contained within the report subject to the working group including three elected members (2 administration and 1 opposition).

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

            That the Council -

(1)       note the report; and

(2)       instruct the Director of Communities, Housing and Infrastructure to report back to a future meeting of the Council having carried out an options appraisal which includes a joint venture with a third sector organisation.

On a division, there voted:-

For the motion  (37)  -  Lord Provost; Depute Provost; and Councillors Allan, Boulton, Cameron, Carle, Cooney, Copland, Corall, Cormie, Crockett, Dickson, Donnelly, Jackie Dunbar, Lesley Dunbar, Finlayson, Flynn, Graham, Grant, Hutchison, Ironside, Jaffrey, Laing, Lawrence, MacGregor, Malik, Milne, Jean Morrison, Nathan Morrison, Nicoll, Noble, Samarai, Sandy Stuart, Taylor, Thomson MSP, Townson and Young.

For the amendment  (3)  -  Councillors Greig, Malone and Yuill.

Absent from the division  (1)  -  Councillor Delaney.

The Council resolved:-

to adopt the motion.

The Council had before it a report by the Director of Communities, Housing and Infrastructure which sought authority to submit a bid for up to £1.5million in funding from Historic Environment Scotland towards a Conservation Area Regeneration Scheme which could make a significant contribution to regenerating Union Street.

The report recommended:-

that the Council -

(a)          agree the submission of a bid of up to £1.5million to Historic Environment Scotland for a Conservation Area Regeneration Scheme;

(b)          agree in principle that match funding of up to £1.5million be allocated from the City Centre Masterplan budget; and

(c)          agree that officers report the outcome of the bid to a future meeting of the Finance, Policy and Resources Committee.

The Council resolved:-

to approve the recommendations.

MATTER OF URGENCY

The Lord Provost intimated that he had directed in terms of Section 50(B)(4)(b) of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, that the following item be considered as a matter or urgency in accordance with the resolution of the Council that the report be considered this day.

With reference to Article 17 of the minute of its meeting of 2 March 2016, the Council had before it a report by the Director of Communities, Housing and Infrastructure which provided the findings of the work instructed by the Council regarding the devolution of existing and proposed powers and the different levers that could be available.

The report recommended:-

that the Council -

(a)          note the Empowering Scotland’s Cities - Empowering City Government analysis undertaken by Scotland’s seven cities calling for a new way of working with the UK and Scottish Governments, and agree it will provide a framework within which further discussions are progressed;

(b)          note the analysis of additional non-fiscal and fiscal powers the Council could seek to pursue (outlined in the appendix to the report) and the potential ‘costs’ and ‘benefits’ of these; and

(c)          based on this analysis, note the priority levers outlined in the report, and instruct officers to assess the implications on the Council’s finances if these were to be devolved to the Council.

The Council resolved:-

(i)           to note the Empowering Scotland’s Cities - Empowering City Government analysis undertaken by Scotland’s seven cities calling for a new way of working with the UK and Scottish Governments, and agree it will provide a framework within which further discussions are progressed;

(ii)          to note the analysis of additional non-fiscal and fiscal powers the Council could seek to pursue (outlined in the appendix to the report) and the potential ‘costs’ and ‘benefits’ of these;

(iii)         based on this analysis, to note the priority leavers outlined in the report, and instruct officers to assess the implications on the Council’s finances and the economy of Aberdeen if these were to be devolved to the Council;

(iv)         to instruct the Chief Executive to send a copy of the report to the Secretary of State for Scotland at the UK Government;

(v)          to instruct the Chief Executive to send a copy of the report to the First Minister and the Cabinet Secretary for the Economy, Jobs and Fair Work at the Scottish Government; and

(vi)         to instruct the Chief Executive to send a copy of the report to the other 31 Local Authority Leaders in Scotland, the Chief Executives of COSLA, ONE, Visit Aberdeenshire, the Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce, and the Scottish Council for Development and Industry, and the secretariats of the Scottish Local Government Partnership and the Seven Cities Alliance, and any other partners that the Chief Executive considers would benefit from oversight of the report.

MATTER OF URGENCY

The Lord Provost intimated that he had directed in terms of Section 50(B)(4)(b) of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, that the following item be considered as a matter of urgency to enable actions to be developed to accelerate the delivery of housing in the city at the earliest opportunity.

DECLARATIONS OF INTERESTS

Councillors Finlayson, Flynn and Young declared interests in the following item of business by virtue of their position as Council appointed representatives on the Board of Shaping Aberdeen. Councillors Finlayson, Flynn and Young considered that the nature of their interests required them to leave the meeting and took no part in the Council’s deliberations thereon.

With reference to Article 2 of the minute of its meeting of 25 February 2016, the Council had before it a report by the Director of Communities, Housing and Infrastructure which provided the background on the extent of affordable housing in the city, the current delivery mechanisms and potential future issues.

The report recommended:-

that the Council -

(a)          note the content of the report; and

(b)          instruct the Chief Executive to develop specific actions to accelerate the delivery of housing in the city and report any actions which need agreement by Council to its meeting in December 2016.

The Council resolved:-

to approve the recommendations.

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

The Council had before it a report by the Interim Director of Corporate Governance which presented the minutes and recommendations from the Social Work Complaints Review Committee meetings of 16, 22 and 30 June and 6 July 2016.

The report recommended:-

that the Council approve the recommendations and the minutes of the Social Work Complaints Review Committee meetings of 16, 22 and 30 June (noting that two meetings were held on this date) and 6 July 2016.

The Council resolved:-

(i)           to approve the recommendation; and

(ii)          to note the Director of Education and Children’s Services comments in the forewords.

With reference to Article 18 of this minute, the Council had before it an appendix to the report by the Director of Communities, Housing and Infrastructure.

The Council resolved:-

to note the appendix.

With reference to Article 19 of the minute of its meeting of 8 October 2015, the Council had before it a report by the Director of Communities, Housing and Infrastructure which provided an update on progress regarding the establishment of Shaping Aberdeen Housing LLP.

The report recommended:-

that the Council note the content of the report and the progress achieved.

The Council resolved:-

to approve the recommendation.

The Council had before it a report by the Director of Communities, Housing and Infrastructure which advised of progress in relation to the Berryden Corridor scheme and recommended a preferred option for the Caroline Place junction.

The report recommended:-

that the Council -

(a)          note the content of the report;

(b)          adopt option 5 as the preferred option for the Caroline Place junction and instruct officers to progress the detailed design on this basis to enable the Compulsory Purchase Order to come to the October meeting of the Council; and

(c)          delegate authority to the Head of Land and Property Assets to purchase property and land on behalf of the Council that he deems necessary to progress the scheme based upon the preferred option subject to a maximum price (as detailed in the report), in consultation with the Head of Legal and Democratic Services, the Transportation Manager and the Convener of the Finance, Policy and Resources Committee.

The Council resolved:-

to approve the recommendations.

The press and public were excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following item which contained confidential information in terms of Section 50A 3(a) of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973.

MATTER OF URGENCY

The Lord Provost intimated that he had directed in terms of Section 50(B)(4)(b) of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, that the following item be considered as a matter of urgency, to enable the Council to determine the matter on the same day as Aberdeenshire Council.

DECLARATIONS OF INTERESTS

Councillors Laing, Thomson MSP and Young declared interests in the following item of business by virtue of their membership of the Aberdeen City Region Deal Joint Committee. Councillors Laing, Thomson MSP and Young chose not to leave the meeting given the specific dispensation granted to Councillor members of the Joint Committee by the Standards Commission.

The Council had before it a report by the Director of Communities, Housing and Infrastructure which sought approval of the Aberdeen City Region Deal Agreement.

The report recommended:-

that the Council -

(a)          approve the Aberdeen City Region Deal Agreement (appendix 1), Implementation Plan (appendix 2), Financial Plan (appendix 3) and the Assurance Framework (appendix 4), subject to:

a.    approval of the Deal by Aberdeenshire Council;

b.    approval of the Deal by the Board of Opportunity North East Limited, (SC520110), a company limited by guarantee; and

c.    approval of the Deal by the UK Government and the Scottish Government;

(b)          authorise the Chief Executive in consultation with the Head of Legal and Democratic Services and the Head of Finance to agree non-material amendments as required due to any changes requested by the parties in recommendation (a) above to the agreement or any amendments which would improve or further safeguard the Council’s position, prior to signature;

(c)          approve the Aberdeen City Council contribution of £10million to the overall Aberdeen City Region Deal programme, to be funded from the Council’s Capital Fund, subject to the satisfactory approval of all relevant business cases by the City Region Deal Joint Committee, the UK Government and the Scottish Government; and

(d)          approve that Aberdeenshire Council will act as the lead accountable body for the City Region Deal Joint Committee.

The Council resolved:-

to approve the recommendations.

The press and public were excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following item which contained confidential information in terms of Section 50A 3(b) of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973.

MATTER OF URGENCY

The Lord Provost intimated that he had directed in terms of Section 50(B)(4)(b) of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, that the following item be considered as a matter of urgency to enable the Council to take decisions at the earliest opportunity.

The Council was circulated with a report by the Interim Director of Corporate Governance which considered a financing strategy for the Capital Programme.

The Council resolved:-

to approve the recommendations contained within the report together with one additional recommendation.

- GEORGE ADAM, Lord Provost.