Agenda and minutes

The Council was requested to determine that the item of business entitled ‘Single Sensory Service - Report by Director of Social Care and Wellbeing’ which contained exempt information as described in Schedule 7(A) of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 be taken in private.

Councillor Ironside moved as a procedural motion, seconded by Councillor Cooney:-

That the Council consider the item of business referred to in public.

On a division, there voted:-

For the procedural motion  (13)  -  Councillors Adam, Allan, Boulton, Cassie, Collie, Cooney, Crockett, Donnelly, Farquharson, Hunter, Ironside, Laing and Young.

Against the procedural motion  (28)  -  Lord Provost Peter Stephen; Depute Provost Dunbar; and Councillors Clark, Corall, Cormack, Cormie, Dean, Greig, Jaffrey, Kiddie, Leslie, McCaig, McDonald, Malone, May, Milne, Noble, Penny, Reynolds, Robertson, Jennifer Stewart, John Stewart, Kevin Stewart, Wendy Stuart, John West, Kirsty West, Wisely and Yuill.

Absent from the division  (1)  -  Councillor Graham.

The Council resolved:-

(i)                 to reject the procedural motion; and

(ii)               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 the item of business entitled ‘Single Sensory Service - Report by Director of Social Care and Wellbeing’ (Article 19 of this minute refers) so as to avoid disclosure of exempt information of the class described in paragraph 10 of Schedule 7(A) of the Act.

The persons aforementioned 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:-

David Alton, Minister of Religion, Aberdeen

Norman Dickson Deans, Retired Chartered Engineer, Aberdeen

Karen Farquhar, Chief Executive, Aberdeen

Ian McKenzie Guthrie, Managing Director, Aberdeen

Alan Gray Morrison, Aberdeen

Sandra Stephen, Lady Provost, Aberdeen

Kathryn Thoirs, Principal Teacher of Modern Languages, Aberdeen

(i)                 I Heart UTG - in relation to item 8(c)

(ii)               Steve Bothwell - in relation to item 8(c)

(iii)             Peacock Visual Arts - in relation to item 8(c)

(iv)              John Askey - in relation to item 11(a)

(v)                Kathleen Cameron - in relation to item 11(a)

The Council had before it, in accordance with Standing Order 10(1), the following requests for deputations:-

(1)          I Heart UTG, in relation to the report on Aberdeen City Centre (as detailed at Article 13 of this minute);

(2)          Steve Bothwell, in relation to the report on Aberdeen City Centre;

(3)          Peacock Visual Arts, in relation to the report on Aberdeen City Centre;

(4)          John Askey, in relation to the report on the Single Sensory Service (as detailed at Article 18 of this minute);

(5)          Kathleen Cameron, in relation to the report on the Single Sensory Service;

(6)          Aberdeen City and Shire Economic Forum (ACSEF), in relation to the report on Aberdeen City Centre; and

(7)          David Henderson, in relation to the report on Aberdeen City Centre.

The Council resolved:-

(i)                 to accept all of the requests;

(ii)               to hear the deputations pertaining to the report on Aberdeen City Centre immediately prior to the report being considered;

(iii)             to hear the deputations pertaining to the report on the Single Sensory Service as the next item of business; and

(iv)             to suspend Standing Order 10(6) to enable Kathleen Cameron to make her address with the assistance of a sign language interpreter outwith the maximum time period allowed if required.

DECLARATIONS OF INTERESTS

Councillor Dean declared an interest in the following item of business as a Director of Grampian Society for the Blind. Councillor Dean considered that the nature of her interest required her to leave the meeting and took no part in the Council’s deliberations.

Councillor Leslie declared interests in the following item of business as a Council appointed representative for Aberdeen and North East Deaf Society and also as a service user. Councillor Leslie considered that the nature of his interests required him to leave the meeting and took no part in the Council’s deliberations.

(A)       In terms of Standing Order 10(2), the Council received a deputation from Mr John Askey, Senior Social Worker at Aberdeen and North East Deaf Society (ANEDS).

Mr Askey explained the range of services provided by ANEDS, which had been established 115 years ago, and that there were 1,827 deaf and hearing impaired people in Aberdeen registered with the organisation. Mr Askey added that there were over 12,000 people in the city with a hearing aid and an estimated 30,000 people who had a form of hearing loss. Mr Askey went on to highlight ANEDS’ formalised operational standards, the impact of deafness, social work service provision and value added services offered by ANEDS and future service planning.

Mr Askey called upon the Council to consider the value of having an independent, appropriately funded, autonomous service for deaf people in the city and not as part of a visually impaired society dominant in management structures, philosophy and history. Mr Askey emphasised that blindness and deafness were not similar disabilities and concluded by reiterating that the city needed to continue its support for the dedicated staff it had providing a quality service to its hearing impaired citizens.

Members then asked questions of Mr Askey and thanked him for his contribution.

(B)       The Council then received a deputation from Ms Kathleen Cameron, who made her contribution with the aid of a sign language interpreter.

Ms Cameron explained that she was representing the deaf community as the ‘deaf club’ was seemingly up for sale. She advised that deaf people had been meeting through ANEDS for 115 years, questioned where they would meet in the future if the Council approved the report and underlined how important it was for deaf people to be able to meet in a communal place to help build confidence and offer assistance and guidance to younger deaf people.

Ms Cameron stated that deaf people should be equal members of society and that their rights needed to be protected and concluded by pleading with the Council to provide a place where deaf people could continue to meet.

The Council thanked Ms Cameron for her contribution.

The Council resolved:-

to note the content of the deputations.

(A)       Councillor Allan advised that young darts players from Aberdeen had been very successful at the National Under 18 Darts Singles Championships at Bannockburn the previous weekend:-

Under 18 Boys

Champion - Daryl Greig (Torry)

Runner Up - Liam Duguid (Torry)

Under 18 Girls

Champion - Emily Davidson (Cummings Park)

Runner Up - Louise Duncan (Bridge of Don)

Winmau Qualifier

                        Sean Ryan (Garthdee)

Councillor Allan added that four young darts players from the city had now qualified to play in the finals of the Winmau World Masters in Hull in October. Councillor Allan congratulated all of the players and paid tribute to Derek Weston, from Torry, who had done a tremendous amount of work in organising and promoting youth darts within the city for a number of years.

(B)       Councillor Leslie referred to the London 2012 Young Leaders Programme, which was sponsored by the Dame Kelly Holmes Legacy Trust and BP as part of the efforts to create a lasting legacy from the London 2012 Olympic Games by giving a group of disadvantaged young people the opportunity to make positive changes to their lives. Aberdeen had originally been allocated eight places but this had increased to twelve as a result of Aberdeenshire not filling all of their places. Councillor Leslie explained that a part-time worker had been employed by Aberdeen Foyer to support the City and Shire participants, wished all involved every success and passed on his thanks to Susan Devlin and her team for their support.

(C)       Councillor Hunter advised that a team from the North East of Scotland had won the Scottish Area Team Golf Championship at Kinross on 16^th May, which was the first time in 18 years that a team from the North East had won the event. Councillor Hunter congratulated the team on their great achievement.

The Council resolved:-

to concur with the remarks of Councillors Allan, Leslie and Hunter.

The Council had before it the minute of meeting of Aberdeen City Council of 24^th March 2010.

The Council resolved:-

to approve the minute.

The Council had before it the minute of meeting of the Urgent Business Committee of 13^th April 2010.

The Council resolved:-

to approve the minute.

The Council had before it a pamphlet of standing committee minutes from 16^th February to 22^nd April 2010.

The Council resolved:-

to note the minutes.

DECLARATIONS OF INTERESTS

Councillors Milne, Reynolds, Jennifer Stewart and Kirsty West declared interests in the following item of business as members of the Board of Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre. None of the members felt it necessary to leave the meeting during the Council’s deliberations.

Councillor Collie declared an interest as a Director of Aberdeen Sports Village but did not consider it necessary to leave the meeting.

The Council had before it a statement of Council business which had been prepared by the Head of Legal and Democratic Services.

The Council resolved:-

to note the statement.

The Council had before it the minute of meeting of the Special Licensing Objections Committee of 28^th January 2010.

The Council resolved:-

to approve the minute.

The Council heard an oral report by the Chief Executive providing an update on the actions taken by the Leadership Board to address the findings and recommendations of the Accounts Commission for Scotland on Aberdeen City Council: Reports by the Controller of Audit on the Audit of Best Value and Community Planning and on the Property Sales Investigation.

The Chief Executive advised that two meetings of the Leadership Board had taken place since the last Council meeting, the main focus of which had been on city centre development. The Chief Executive added that Antony Clark of Audit Scotland would be working with the Council over the coming weeks on Audit Scotland’s new audit and inspection regime, and that the Director of Corporate Governance would report to the Audit and Risk and Corporate Policy and Performance Committees on this issue.

The Council resolved:-

to note the Chief Executive’s remarks.

The Council had before it a report by the Director of Corporate Governance which highlighted the need to appoint a replacement member on Peterhead Prison Visiting Committee for Mrs Eileen Grassick who was standing down.

The report explained the role of Peterhead Prison Visiting Committee in acting on behalf of the First Minister as independent observers concentrating on the conditions in the prison and, in particular, the treatment of prisoners. The report advised that every member of the Visiting Committee had the right to enter the establishment at any time and to have access to every part of it, and to every prisoner. The report noted that a visiting rota was arranged, with a minimum of two members visiting every fortnight.

The report stated that previous experience suggested that contacting Community Councils and the Civic Forum would not yield many expressions of interest in the vacancy. However, the Clerk to the Aberdeen Prison Visiting Committee had received an unsolicited approach from Ms Heather Morgan, an academic at the University of Aberdeen. The report appended Ms Morgan’s curriculum vitae.

The report recommended:-

that, unless the Council was otherwise minded, Ms Heather Morgan be appointed to Peterhead Prison Visiting Committee, joining Councillor Donnelly and Mr William Stark.

The Council resolved:-

to approve the recommendation.

Peacock Visual Arts - Position Statement

DECLARATIONS OF INTERESTS

Councillor Yuill declared interests in the following item of business as a member of the Board of Peacock Printmakers Ltd and due to his external involvement with Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce. Councillor Yuill considered that the nature of his first interest required him to leave the meeting and took no part in the Council’s deliberations thereon.

Councillor Hunter declared interests as a member of the Board of Peacock Printmakers Ltd and as a Council representative on the Peacock Visual Arts Project Board. Councillor Hunter considered that the nature of his first interest required him to leave the meeting and took no part in the Council’s deliberations thereon.

Councillor Adam declared interests as a member of the Board of Peacock Printmakers Ltd and as a member of the Board of Aberdeen Performing Arts. Councillor Adam considered that the nature of his first interest required him to leave the meeting and took no part in the Council’s deliberations thereon.

Councillors Jennifer Stewart and Kirsty West declared interests as Council representatives on the Peacock Visual Arts Project Board but did not consider that this required them to leave the meeting.

Councillor John Stewart declared an interest as the Council’s representative on ACSEF but did not consider that this interest required him to leave the meeting.

At this juncture a number of members expressed their disquiet at three members having to leave the meeting as a result of their membership of the Board of an external organisation to which the Council had appointed them, as one of many outside bodies to which it appointed members. The Chief Executive agreed to write to the Standards Commission for Scotland reiterating the Council’s concerns regarding this issue and stated that all members would be copied in on the correspondence.

During the course of the debate which followed, Councillor Kevin Stewart declared an interest as Chairperson of NESTRANS but did not consider that the nature of his interest required him to leave the meeting. Councillor Jennifer Stewart declared an interest by virtue of her being on the Council waiting list for an allotment but did not consider that the nature of her interest required her to leave the meeting.

1.      (A) In terms of Standing Order 10(2), the Council received a deputation from Mr Fraser Denholm and Ms Katie Guthrie of I Heart UTG.

Mr Denholm drew the Council’s attention to the petition to save Union Terrace Gardens and the proposed contemporary arts centre which had been signed by 10,000 people. Mr Denholm acknowledged that Sir Ian Wood’s offer of £50million was a generous one, however he believed that the strict parameters of the offer would cause a number of untold costs to both the city and the taxpayer and that the entire city square project being progressed on the back of this investment would be based on a highly dubious economic case. Mr Denholm highlighted a number of deficiencies he believed existed within the technical appraisal and also the public consultation which  ...  view the full minutes text for item 13.

The Council had before it the undernoted question, of which due notice had been given in terms of Standing Order 20(2), which had been placed on the agenda as Councillor Wisely had indicated that she was unhappy with the response.

Councillor Wisely

QUESTION -

To the Chief Executive

“To ask the Chief Executive (1) what level of funding Peacock Visual Arts has received from Aberdeen City Council over the last ten years, with a breakdown per year and an explanation of the nature of the funding; and (2) what the financial implications would be for Aberdeen City Council in future years if the Peacock Visual Arts proposal for a contemporary arts centre within Union Terrace Gardens was to proceed (a) in isolation; and (b) in tandem with other proposals, i.e. in relation to annual funding and whether there would be any contribution towards the development.”

ANSWER (by the Chief Executive) -

            2001   £40,000 revenue and project running costs

2002   £55,000 as above

2003   £105,000 as above

2004   £60,000 revenue and project costs

2005   £71,500 as above

2006   £75,000 revenue contribution towards running costs

2007   £90,000 as above

2008   £90,000 as above

2009   £90,000 as above

2010   £90,000 as above

£246,910 one third contribution towards the costs of the Union Terrace Gardens proposal

The incomplete business plan assumes the transfer of revenue running and staff costs at 2008 levels from the arts development, arts education and citymoves teams but no additional revenue running costs.  However this business plan is incomplete and work stopped on it at the point of Sir Ian Wood's proposal.  Also there have been significant budget cuts which would affect the viability of the business proposal which would need to be addressed. A revised business plan would be required.

There have been no costings set against the project should it be run in tandem with another development.  Should this be considered to be the viable option a fully revised business plan would be required to take the time delays and future budget cuts into consideration.

Peacock Visual Arts receive £90,000 per year running costs from Aberdeen City Council. This is factored into their business plan and it is not expected that this would rise or that there would be any further running cost contribution to the development other than the existing budgets held by arts development, arts education and citymoves. Capital contribution has been capped at £3,000,000.

The Council resolved:-

to note the details.

“That this Council calls on the Scottish Government (1) to identify its option for the Haudagain Roundabout; and (2) to provide a definitive time period for the works at the roundabout to begin.  That this Council also writes to NESTRANS and Aberdeenshire Council asking them to write to the Scottish Government in support of Aberdeen City Council”.

Councillor Graham, pursuant to notice, moved:-

“That this Council calls on the Scottish Government (1) to identify its option for the Haudagain Roundabout; and (2) to provide a definitive time period for the works at the roundabout to begin. That this Council also writes to NESTRANS and Aberdeenshire Council asking them to write to the Scottish Government in support of Aberdeen City Council.”

The Council resolved:-

to refer the motion to the Enterprise, Planning and Infrastructure Committee.

“In order to promote a café culture, the Council should organise a meeting with representatives of the restaurant and café trade, planning, licensing and road officials, with a view to identifying and removing barriers to successful pavement seating”.

Councillor John West, pursuant to notice, moved:-

“In order to promote a café culture, the Council should organise a meeting with representatives of the restaurant and café trade, planning, licensing and road officials, with a view to identifying and removing barriers to successful pavement seating.”

The Council resolved:-

to approve the motion and request that reports be submitted to all relevant committees, i.e. Enterprise, Planning and Infrastructure, Licensing Board and Licensing Committee.

“Instruct Council officers to explore all potential sources of external funding, including the McDonald Trust, which would allow Aberdeen City Council to acquire an original Jack Vettriano painting to be hung in Aberdeen Art Gallery.”

Councillor Jennifer Stewart, pursuant to notice, moved:-

“Instruct Council officers to explore all potential sources of external funding, including the McDonald Trust, which would allow Aberdeen City Council to acquire an original Jack Vettriano painting to be hung in Aberdeen Art Gallery.”

The Council resolved:-

to refer the motion to the Education, Culture and Sport Committee.

In accordance with the decision recorded under Article 1 of this minute, the following item was considered with the press and public excluded.

DECLARATIONS OF INTERESTS

Councillor Dean declared an interest in the following item of business as a Director of Grampian Society for the Blind. Councillor Dean considered that the nature of her interest required her to leave the meeting and took no part in the Council’s deliberations.

Councillor Leslie declared interests in the following item of business as a Council appointed representative to Aberdeen and North East Deaf Society and also as a service user. Councillor Leslie considered that the nature of his interests required him to leave the meeting and took no part in the Council’s deliberations.

The Council had before it a report by the Director of Social Care and Wellbeing which requested approval to exempt a contract for a Single Sensory Service from the requirements of Standing Order 5 (PART A), to go out to competitive tender and to advertise on the Public Contracts Scotland Portal, on the grounds that the exemption was justified by special circumstances (Standing Order 1(6)(i) - PART A).

The report explained that the Council had a written contract with Grampian Society for the Blind (GSB) to provide services to the blind and partially sighted and had an implied contract with Aberdeen and North East Deaf Society (ANEDS) to provide services to the deaf and hard of hearing. The Council currently funded both services at a combined cost of £481,979 per annum and Social Care and Wellbeing was required to make a saving of £100,000 on the combined services in 2010/11.

The report advised that £72,000 of the required savings had already been negotiated and agreed upon with a Single Sensory Service in mind through a three year contract with GSB. It was anticipated that there would be no annual uplift during the three year period, which would realise further savings throughout the duration of the contract. It was further anticipated that, if the Council approved the recommendations contained within the report, GSB would commence the Single Sensory Service as of 1^st August 2010.

The report added that the Council’s existing contract with ANEDS was due to terminate on 9^th June 2010, and that from this date until 31^st July 2010 the Council would be making a saving of £23,804.56, realising a total saving of £95,804.56 of the required £100,000. It was proposed that in the interim period between the ANEDS contract terminating and 1^st August 2010, the Council would provide a basic service to meet statutory requirements.

The report emphasised that until the Single Sensory Service was functioning, and a contract signed, no savings would be made. It was anticipated that a tender exercise would take nine months to complete and potentially a further three months before a new service provider could have adequate service provision in place. It was for this reason, therefore, that the report requested approval to exempt the contract from  ...  view the full minutes text for item 18.