Agenda, decisions and minutes

Councillor Mason MSP declared a general interest as a Member of the Scottish Parliament for North East Scotland.

The Depute Provost and Councillors Cormie, Houghton and Yuill declared interests in relation to Article 3 of this minute by virtue of their appointment by the Council to the Board of Governors for Robert Gordon’s College, however none of the Councillors felt that their interest required them to leave the meeting.

Councillors Boulton and Duncan declared interests in relation to Article 3 of this minute by virtue of their appointment by the Council to the Board of Aberdeen Performing Arts, however they did not consider that the nature of their interests required them to leave the meeting.

Councillor Lesley Dunbar declared an interest in relation to Article 3 of this minute by virtue of her appointment by the Council to the Board of Community Food Initiatives North East (CFINE), however Councillor Lesley Dunbar did not consider that the nature of her interest required her to leave the meeting.

The Council had before it a report by the Chief Executive which presented the Council Delivery Plan for 2019/20.

The report recommended:-

that the Council -

(a)          note the content of the Council Delivery Plan 2019/20; and

(b)          instruct the Chief Executive to realign any of the delivery commitments set out in the Plan that may be required, as a result of any potential Council budget decisions, to meet Council’s instructions.

The Council resolved:-

to approve the recommendations.

At this juncture, it was agreed that the reports on the General Fund Revenue Budget and Capital Programme and the Common Good Budget be considered together as the next item of business.

(A)       The Council had before it a report by the Director of Resources which provided details of (1) the General Fund Revenue Budget for 2019/20 and a medium-term financial forecast for the following four years; and (2) the General Fund Capital Programme for 2019/20 to 2023/24.

The report recommended:-

that the Council -

Balance Sheet

(a)          note the projected balance sheet position including the reserves as at 31 March 2019, shown at Appendix 1;

(b)          approve the General Fund Capital Programme as attached at Appendix 7, which increases borrowing levels in the short term, and signals reducing borrowing requirements in future years;

(c)          delegate authority to the Chief Officer - Capital to approve business cases for the purposes of Procurement Regulation 4.1.1.2 and undertake all necessary procurement exercises to deliver the Early Learning and Childcare expansion programme in accordance with the principles of the specific Capital Grant award, within an initial cost estimate of £15million and, following consultation with the Head of Commercial and Procurement Services, enter into any necessary contracts;

(d)          instruct the Chief Officer - Capital in relation to any other actions required on projects contained within the General Fund Capital Programme;

(e)          consider the capital projects described in Appendix 9 which are not currently included in the General Fund Capital Programme, and instruct the Director of Resources on any action to be taken;

(f)           approve the use of the 2018/19 Construction Inflation budget to support the City Centre Regeneration and Art Gallery Projects as detailed at paragraph 3.112 in the report, with the remainder being set aside for safety and security measures across the property estate;

(g)          approve the creation of a single Capital Contingency budget, comprising project specific contingencies currently included in initial cost estimates from which all contingencies will be drawn;

(h)          approve the use of the AREG receipt being applied to the Energy Centre project, located at the new event complex;

(i)            delegate authority to the Chief Officer - Corporate Landlord to negotiate and conclude terms for the sale of the existing AECC building (excluding the arena and adjoining land), as referred to in paragraph 3.107;

(j)            instruct the Director of Resources to soft market test possible options on the future of the investment property portfolio, as referred to in paragraph 3.108, and report back to the City Growth and Resources Committee;

(k)          approve the Prudential Indicators as attached at Appendix 8 to the report;

(l)            approve the recommended use of reserves and Reserves Policy for 2019/20 as detailed in Appendix 3;

Medium-Term Financial Projections

(m)        note the forecast medium-term financial projection for the period ending 2023/24 as shown in paragraph 3.17;

Revenue Budget

(n)          note that the conditions outlined by the Scottish Government within the Local Government Finance Settlement for 2019/20 are met by the proposals set out in the report;

(o)          approve the use of various savings options to set at least a balanced budget for financial year 2019/20, having taken into account the following:-

(1)   the Budget Model as contained  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

The Council had before it a report by the Director of Resources which provided information to allow the setting of the rent level for the financial year 2019/20 as well as provisional rent levels for the financial years 2020/21 to 2023/24, which would allow a capital programme to be set for 2019/20 as well as a provisional programme for 2020/21 to 2023/24.

The report recommended:-

that the Council -

(a)         approve the budget as attached in Appendix 1 (pages 5 to 6) of the report;

(b)         approve the setting of the weekly unrebated rents for municipal houses as detailed in Appendix 1 (pages 5 to 6) of the report, to take effect from Monday 29 April 2019;

(c)          approve the level of revenue contribution to the Housing Capital budget for 2019/20 as well as a provisional contribution for the subsequent four financial years as detailed in Appendix 1 (pages 19 to 20) of the report;

(d)         approve the proposal to maintain the working balances at 10% to meet future contingencies as detailed in Appendix 1 (pages 5 to 6) of the report;

(e)         approve the level of miscellaneous rents and service charges, including Heat with Rent as detailed in Appendix 1 (pages 11 to 12) of the report;

(f)           approve, based on the rent strategy adopted, the Base Capital Programme for the financial year 2019/20 as detailed in Appendix 1 (pages 17 to 19) of the report;

(g)         note the indicative level of the Base Capital Programme for the financial years 2020/21 to 2023/24 as detailed in Appendix 1 (pages 17 to 19) of the report;

(h)         approve as estimated expenditure in terms of Procurement Regulation 4.1.1, in order for work to commence on the ongoing Capital Programme, the sums shown against each heading of the Housing Capital Expenditure budget for the financial year 2019/20 set out in Appendix 1 (pages 17 to 19) of the report without the need for separate committee approval of each;

(i)           delegate authority to the Director of Resources, following consultation with the Head of Commercial and Procurement Services, to undertake or instruct appropriate procedures in accordance with the ACC Procurement Regulations to procure the works referred to in Appendix 1 (pages 17 to 19) for the Capital Programme for the financial year 2019/20 and award contracts relating thereto;

(j)           approve the principle of a long term fixed rent policy and instruct the Chief Officer - Early Intervention and Community Empowerment to undertake a consultation exercise with tenants, elected members and appropriate staff on potential options;

(k)          approve that the Chief Officer - Capital award the contract for the Summerhill procurement to develop the site as detailed in Appendix 1 (pages 24 to 25) of the report;

(l)           approve the transfer of land at open market value to the HRA and tendering of the site at Craighill;

(m)        approve the transfer of land at open market value to the HRA and tendering of the site at Kincorth;

(n)         approve the transfer of land at open  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.