Agenda, decisions and draft minutes

The Lord Provost advised that he was reordering the agenda and would take item 9.2 (Medium Term Financial Strategy) after item 9.5 (Proposal for the Torry Battery).

The Lord Provost referred to the Council meeting on 2 October 2024 (Article 7 of the minute refers) where it had been agreed that the legal advice relating to the City Centre Transport Measures report would be circulated via hard copy, however the hard copies would have to be returned to officers. The Lord Provost explained that hard copies would be made available to Group Leaders, independent Councillors and it would also be shared on screen for those members who were in attendance online, however in order to do so, the meeting would require to go into private session.

At this juncture, the press and public were excluded from the meeting in terms of Section 50A(4) of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, so as to avoid disclosure of exempt information of the class described in paragraph 12 of Schedule 7A of the Act.

The press and public were then readmitted to the meeting.

Carried forward from July and August meetings. Please note the report has been updated since those meetings.

With reference to Article 10 of the minute of its meeting of 7 February 2024, the Council had before it a report by the Chief Officer - People and Citizen Services which responded to the instruction to report back providing further detail on the activity which had been undertaken to improve diversity in recruitment, including leadership and management roles.

The report recommended:-

that the Council -

(a)           note the actions contained in the report being taken to increase diversity in leadership;

(b)           note the self-assessment and areas for further consideration contained within Appendix A; and

(c)           note that in the first appropriate committee cycle in 2025/26 the equality, diversity and inclusion action plan, first agreed in 2021, would be updated and reported to the Staff Governance Committee for approval, as a result of the ongoing work, self-assessment exercise and new equality outcomes due to be presented for approval in April 2025.  

Councillor Copland moved, seconded by Councillor Al-Samarai:-

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 report;

(2)       notes this report was deferred in both July and August, the only recent report to be deferred twice. Notes the report deals with diversity and notes our disappointment with the Lord Provost for not taking this report in either July or August which may lead the public to conclude that, whilst there is no direct evidence of discrimination on the part of the Council, the actions of the Council in delaying the report twice shows unconscious bias on the part of the Council versus other reports which were taken;

(3)       agrees the report does not adequately address the issue agreed by Council on 13th October 2022 which said “given the low proportion of Ethnic Minority employees in the Council compared to the UK, to agree that everything possible should be done by officers to ensure that employees who are suitably qualified and who identify as Ethnic Minority should be encouraged to apply for these senior posts”, meaning the Chief Officer posts;

(4)       notes that none of the posts went to any person from a Minority Ethnic background; and

(5)       agrees that the final report in 2025 should show how the Council intends its workforce to mirror the cosmopolitan mix of Aberdeen.

On a division, there voted:-

For the motion   (24)  -  Lord Provost; Depute Provost; and Councillors Al-Samarai, Allard, Alphonse, Boulton, Bouse, Hazel Cameron, Clark, Cooke, Copland, Cormie, Davidson, Fairfull, Greig, Henrickson, Hutchison, McLellan, McRae, Mennie, Nicoll, Radley, van Sweeden and Yuill.

For the amendment  (15)  -  Councillors Ali, Blake, Bonsell, Brooks, Crockett, Graham, Grant, Kusznir, Lawrence, Macdonald, Malik, Massey, Tissera, Thomson and Watson. 

Absent from the division  (3)  -  Councillors Cross, Farquhar and MacGregor.

The Council resolved:-

(i)             to adopt the motion;

(ii)           to note that the Chief Officer - People and Citizen Services would check on training that had been offered to elected members, with a view to offering training  ...  view the full minutes text for item 2.

With reference to Article 2 of the minute of its meeting of 14 December 2023, the Council had before it a report by the Chief Officer - Finance which presented an updated 30-year Housing Revenue Account (HRA) Business Plan.

The report recommended:-

that the Council -

(a)           approve the HRA Business Plan at Appendix A to the report;

(b)           agree the HRA Business Plan would be updated on an annual basis and reported to Council;

(c)           note the requirement for the Council to maintain HRA reserves for financial resilience and sustainability purposes and that the Plan builds in an annual surplus to support the value of HRA Reserves as time passes;

(d)           approve the terms of proposed consultation with tenants as detailed in paragraph 3.4 and instruct the Chief Officer - Housing to consult with the tenants, and note that the Chief Officer - Finance would include the results as part of the HRA Budget 2025/26 presented to the Council on 11 December 2024; and

(e)           note that the Council would receive reports on the Local Housing Strategy and the Housing Asset Management Plan in 2025 and these would inform future updates to the HRA Business Plan.

Councillor Radley moved, seconded by Councillor Henrickson:-

That the Council approve the recommendations contained within the report.

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

That the Council - 

(1)       note the HRA Business Plan at Appendix A to this report;

(2)       agree the HRA Business Plan as presented highlights the failures of this SNP administration and the Scottish Government who continue to cut the budget for housing projects;

(3)       agree the previous administration brought forward plans to deliver 2,000 council homes, the first thing the SNP did in power was to delay much needed Council homes at Craighill and Kincorth;

(4)       agree that improvements to the management of void properties may reduce the need to consider increasing rent by 10%;

(5)       approve the terms of proposed consultation with tenants as detailed in paragraph 3.4 of the report and instruct the Chief Officer - Housing to consult with the tenants, and note that the Chief Officer - Finance will include the results as part of the HRA Budget 2025/26 presented to the Council on 5 March 2025;

(6)       instruct the Chief Officer - Housing to consult with communities and individuals with lived experience of the housing emergency, and internal and external partners, on the HRA Business Plan;

(7)       note that the Council will receive reports on the Local Housing Strategy and the Housing Asset Management Plan in 2025 and these will inform future updates to the HRA Business Plan; and

(8)       instruct the Chief Officers - Housing and Corporate Landlord, in consultation with the Chief Officer - Finance, to incorporate into the next 30 Year HRA Business Plan, which will be reported to Council during 2025/26, the indicative costs and financial implications on tenants’ rents of building a further 1,000 Council homes, and agreeing that Labour will participate in a cross  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

In accordance with Article 2 of the minute of the Council meeting of 2 October 2024, Councillor Grant left the meeting for the following item having previously declared an interest.

With reference to Article 2 of the minute of its meeting of 16 July 2024, the Council had before it a report by the Chief Officer - Strategic Place Planning which provided an update on the feasibility and impact of amending elements within the Aberdeen City Council (City Centre, Aberdeen) (Traffic Management) (Experimental) Order (ETRO) 2023, and requested approval to make the ETRO a permanent order.

The report recommended:-

that the Council -

(a)           note that the Aberdeen City Council (City Centre, Aberdeen) (Traffic Management) (Experimental) Order 2023 was implemented to achieve the safe and efficient movement of active travel and public transport users through the city centre, and that the measures originated from the City Centre Masterplan 2015 Movement Strategy;

(b)           note that at the Council’s City Growth and Resources Committee in February 2021, Committee instructed officers to submit a bid to the Scottish Government’s Bus Partnership Fund, and included specific instructions to:-

(i)         instruct the Chief Officer - Strategic Place Planning, that in the context of the corridor options within the bid terminating in the City Centre, and in light of the recommendations from the Economic Policy Panel and ongoing transport projects, to seek to accelerate the City Centre elements of the bid. This should include any necessary enabling works for approved schemes, for example South College Street and Berryden, to help drive recovery, improve the transport system and ensure integration of current transport projects; and

(ii)        instruct the Chief Officer - Strategic Place Planning, to explore options to improve access and integration of the Aberdeen bus station as part of the bid, to help improve the customer experience.

(c)           note that at the Council meeting in June 2022, all members of Council present either explicitly voted for the inclusion of bus priority measures contained within the Aberdeen City Council (City Centre, Aberdeen) (Traffic Management) (Experimental) Order 2023, or proposed an amendment that would have also resulted in the measures being included;

(d)           note that, as instructed by Council in July 2024, additional work has been undertaken by officers to investigate the feasibility and impact of reopening Bridge Street to all vehicles in one or both directions; and, the feasibility and impact of removing the ban on right turns from Union Terrace onto Rosemount Viaduct (Appendix 1);

(e)           note that the output of the additional work referenced in recommendation (d) (above) does not provide officers with sufficient certainty that amending bus priority measures on Bridge Street and Union Terrace would not prejudice the further delivery of key projects within the City Centre & Beach Masterplan 2022;

(f)             note that the output of the additional work referenced in recommendation (d) (above) does not provide officers with sufficient certainty that amending bus priority measures on Bridge Street and Union Terrace would guarantee there would not be a need in the near future for the measures to be reintroduced as traffic levels begin to rise once more;

(g)           agree that any amendments to the Aberdeen City Council (City Centre, Aberdeen) (Traffic  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

The Council had before it a report by the Chief Officer - Corporate Landlord which advised of the proposal received from Greyhope Bay Ltd for the expansion of their existing facility at the Torry Battery, and request that a 20-year lease be granted to allow them to secure funding to undertake required remedial works to the existing monument and the proposed development works.

The report recommended:-

that the Council acting in its capacity as trustee of the Lands of Torry (charity number SC021299):-

(i)       approve the granting of a 20-year lease of the Torry Battery to Greyhope Bay Ltd at a proposed peppercorn rent of £1.00 per annum, subject to planning and Listed Building consent for the proposed works being granted; and

(ii)      instruct the Chief Officer - Governance following consultation with the Chief Officer - Corporate Landlord to conclude the appropriate legal agreements incorporating various qualifications as necessary to protect the Council’s and Trust’s interests.

The Council resolved:-

to approve the recommendations.

The Council had before it a report by the Chief Officer - Finance which presented the Medium Term Financial Strategy for approval.

The Council resolved:-

to refer the report to the Finance and Resources Committee.

The Council had before it a report by the Chief Officer - Data Insights which presented an annual review report which highlighted progress with respect to the 2023-24 Council Delivery Plan approved by the Council on 1 March 2023.

The Council resolved:-

to defer consideration of the report to the Council meeting in December.

The Council had before it a report by the Chief Officer - Data Insights which presented a progress report after the first year of operation of the North East Population Health Alliance (NEPHA).

The Council resolved:-

to defer consideration of the report to the Council meeting in December.

The Council had before it a report by the Chief Officer - Commercial and Procurement which presented the annual performance reporting of the Council’s four tier one Arm’s Length External Organisations (ALEOs) covering financial year 2023/2024.

The Council resolved:-

to refer the report to the Finance and Resources Committee.

Notes that Council passed a notice of motion on 13 December 2023 recognising the importance of holding out a hand to those outwith our direct area.  It called for an immediate ceasefire in Palestine/Israel, and for urgent humanitarian relief for the citizens of Gaza.

Since then, nine months have passed and tens of thousands more civilians have died.  In March 2024 the United Nations Special Rapporteur found that “There are reasonable grounds to believe that the threshold indicating the commission of the crime of genocide…has been met.” In July 2024, the prestigious medical journal The Lancet stated that “it is not implausible to estimate that up to 186,000  [7.9% of the total population in the Gaza strip] or even more deaths could be attributable to the current conflict in Gaza”.  Later in July, the International Court of Justice, the United Nations' highest court, ruled that “Israel’s continued presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory is unlawful” and that Israel “is under an obligation to bring to an end its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory as rapidly as possible” and “is under an obligation to cease immediately all new settlement activities, and to evacuate all settlers from the Occupied Palestinian Territory”.

This Council reaffirms its place as part of the common family of humanity, and:

1.      Reiterates our call for a permanent ceasefire;

2.      Calls on the Lord Provost to fly the Palestinian Flag on 29 November 2024, International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People;

3.      Follows Barcelona and other cities and instructs the Chief Officer - Governance to report to Council by the end of 2024 on any direct or indirect links that Aberdeen City Council have with the State of Israel, with a view to stopping these;

4.      Asks the North East Scotland Pension Fund to commission a study to identify any investments in companies that supply arms to Israel, as these investments may be at high risk due to the political instability;

5.      Recognises the UK Labour Government’s suspension of 30 licences for arms sales to Israel;

6.      Endorses the Scottish Government’s 2024 call for an arms embargo on Israel, and calls for the Scottish Government to act in all its available capacities to help prevent the production and transfer of weapons components for Israel from arms companies in Scotland; and

7.      Instructs the Chief Executive to write to other Scottish Local Authorities informing them of this motion, and encouraging them to take similar actions.

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

“Notes that Council passed a notice of motion on 13 December 2023 recognising the importance of holding out a hand to those outwith our direct area.  It called for an immediate ceasefire in Palestine/Israel, and for urgent humanitarian relief for the citizens of Gaza.

Since then, nine months have passed and tens of thousands more civilians have died.  In March 2024 the United Nations Special Rapporteur found that “There are reasonable grounds to believe that the threshold indicating the commission of the crime of genocide…has been met.” In July 2024, the prestigious medical journal The Lancet stated that “it is not implausible to estimate that up to 186,000  [7.9% of the total population in the Gaza strip] or even more deaths could be attributable to the current conflict in Gaza”.  Later in July, the International Court of Justice, the United Nations' highest court, ruled that “Israel’s continued presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory is unlawful” and that Israel “is under an obligation to bring to an end its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory as rapidly as possible” and “is under an obligation to cease immediately all new settlement activities, and to evacuate all settlers from the Occupied Palestinian Territory”.

This Council reaffirms its place as part of the common family of humanity, and:

1.      Reiterates our call for a permanent ceasefire;

2.      Calls on the Lord Provost to fly the Palestinian Flag on 29 November 2024, International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People;

3.      Follows Barcelona and other cities and instructs the Chief Officer - Governance to report to Council by the end of 2024 on any direct or indirect links that Aberdeen City Council have with the State of Israel, with a view to stopping these;

4.      Asks the North East Scotland Pension Fund to commission a study to identify any investments in companies that supply arms to Israel, as these investments may be at high risk due to the political instability;

5.      Recognises the UK Labour Government’s suspension of 30 licences for arms sales to Israel;

6.      Endorses the Scottish Government’s 2024 call for an arms embargo on Israel, and calls for the Scottish Government to act in all its available capacities to help prevent the production and transfer of weapons components for Israel from arms companies in Scotland; and

7.      Instructs the Chief Executive to write to other Scottish Local Authorities informing them of this motion, and encouraging them to take similar actions.”

The Council resolved:-

to refer the notice of motion to the Communities, Housing and Public Protection Committee.