Agenda, decisions and draft minutes

Councillor Macdonald advised that she had a connection in relation to agenda item 9.1 (City Centre and Beach Masterplan - Annual Update) by virtue of her position as a Council appointed Director on the Board of Aberdeen Heat and Power Limited, however having applied the objective test she did not consider that she had an interest and would not be withdrawing from the meeting.

Councillor Grant advised that he had general connections in relation to agenda items 9.1, 9.3 (Queen Street Outline Business Case) and 9.5 (Aberdeen Market - August 2023 Update) by virtue of being an employee of Aberdeen Inspired, however having applied the objective test he did not consider that he had an interest and did not intend to withdraw from the meeting.

Councillor Yuill advised that he had a connection in relation to agenda item 9.10 (Public Health Scotland/North East Population Health Alliance Strategic Partnership Agreement) by virtue of his position as a Council appointed member of the Board of NHS Grampian, however having applied the objective test he did not consider that he had an interest and would not be withdrawing from the meeting.

Councillor Allard advised that he had a connection in relation to agenda item 9.6 (Land Options within the Energy Transition Zone) as a Council appointed Director on the Board of Opportunity North East, however having applied the objective test he did not consider that he had an interest and would not be withdrawing from the meeting.

Councillor Hutchison advised that he had connections in relation to agenda item 9.1 by virtue of his position as a Council appointed Director on the Board of Aberdeen Heat and Power Limited and as a resident and property owner within the footprint of the George Street Masterplan, however having applied the objective test he did not consider that he had an interest and would not be withdrawing from the meeting.

Councillor Cooke advised that he had a connection in relation to agenda item 9.1 by reason of his position as an observer to the Board of Sport Aberdeen, however having applied the objective test he did not consider that he had an interest and would not be withdrawing from the meeting.

The Lord Provost advised that it was with a heavy heart that he was paying tribute to Richard Sweetnam who had very sadly passed away at the beginning of August after a long battle with cancer. The Lord Provost emphasised that Richard had contributed significantly to the economic development of the city and would be greatly missed by all.

The Lord Provost listed a number of Richard’s achievements and projects that he had been involved with during his time as Chief Officer - City Growth, which included attracting the Great Aberdeen Run, elite cycling events and the Tour of Britain to Aberdeen in recent years. Richard had also been heavily involved with various international activities and had supported Lord Provosts accordingly. The Lord Provost highlighted the redevelopment of Aberdeen Art Gallery and the reopening of Provost Skene’s House as part of the City Centre Masterplan. Richard had also played a key role in the Aberdeen South Harbour and Energy Transition Zone and many condolences had been paid by the Council’s various partners.

The Lord Provost expressed his sincere condolences to Richard’s wife, Margaret, and his three sons on behalf of the Council.

Councillors Allard, Yuill, Malik, Houghton and Boulton each paid their own tributes to Richard, recollecting their time working with him and how passionate he had been about the city.

The Council resolved:-

to concur with the remarks of the Lord Provost and the various Councillors.

Two deputation requests have been received in relation to item 9.6 (Land Options Within the Energy Transition Zone), who wish to speak with reference to matters pertaining to governance, land options and St Fittick’s Park:-

·         Torry Community Council

·         Mr Simon McLean

The Council received a deputation from Mr Simon McLean on behalf of Torry Community Council with regard to agenda item 9.6 (Land Options within the Energy Transition Zone).

Mr McLean spoke in the following terms:-

“Councillors - communities welcome change; change that benefits their community; change that benefits their environment. Following the methodology of the electoral commission on referendum and referendum questions - the voluntary Community Council in Torry polled the community - carrying out, in part, its statutory role on planning. 100%, yes 100%, of valid votes cast of approximately 200 people made it clear that “I want St Fittick’s Park to remain a green space as a community park.” None wanted, in part or whole, for the last large accessible green space to be made into an industrial site.

Of a population of around 10,000 people, the people of Torry should as an average have about 0.2% of the Control of Major Accident Hazards (COMAH) sites in Scotland in or around our area - yet we have over twenty times that number. Torry is already surrounded by industrial and or contaminated land. Taking a further large accessible green space will continue to add to the poor rates of health.

In 2021, local medical practitioners wrote advising that building on the park would ‘permanently undermine’ efforts to tackle health inequality. Men living in Torry have on average 13 years less life expectancy than wealthier parts of the city and residents of Torry have on average 20 years less healthy life expectancy.

Based on information in the public domain and speaking with ETZ Ltd, no health impact assessment has happened and already the protective status of the park was taken in December 2022 - it is concerning what access, information and its tone and presentation is being given to Councillors from different quarters.

No one is doubting climate change, yet taking needed green space from a community while speaking about helping the environment is projecting greenwashing to both residents and you city Councillors alike.

Jobs are repeatedly claimed perhaps to sweeten the deal and ease conscience when voting on such plans while at the same time perhaps deflecting further harm is risked to our community and environment. What is certain is that homes in Torry and across the North East need to insulate all homes to EPC C standard in ten years.

Are you aware of a draft plan to insulate all homes to EPC C standard in Torry for an estimated £38million? This and the wider area WILL result in real and needed jobs.

Councillors, no doubt Council officers have made you aware of HMRC’s Green book 2022 ‘how to appraise policies, programmes and projects’. It also provides guidance on the design and use of monitoring and evaluation before, during and after implementation. Appraisal of alternative policy options is an inseparable part of detailed policy development and design.

With this in mind and the knowledge that local people and doctors state the need to keep the park and the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

The Council had before it the minute of meeting of Aberdeen City Council of 14 June 2023.

The Council resolved:-

to approve the minute.

The Council had before it the minute of meeting of the Urgent Business Committee of 7 July 2023.

The Council resolved:-

to note that the minute required to be updated to include the special circumstances regarding urgency, and that the amended minute would therefore be submitted to the next Council meeting for approval.

The Council had before it the minute of meeting of the Urgent Business Committee of 11 August 2023.

The Council resolved:-

to approve the minute.

With reference to Article 7 of the minute of meeting of the Audit, Risk and Scrutiny Committee of 27 June 2023, the Council had before it a report by the Director of Customer Services which had been prepared in response to the notice of motion by Councillor Kusznir requesting the preparation of a feasibility study to explore the establishment of a parallel Local Government Transparency Code, similar to the one in place for local authorities in England. The matter had been referred to Council by six members of the Committee in accordance with Standing Order 34.1.

The report recommended:-

that the Audit, Risk and Scrutiny Committee -

(a)           note the current position regarding data publication and compliance; and

(b)           note that a report from the Chief Officer - Customer Experience and People and Organisational Development would be provided pending the outcome of Scottish Government consultation and further review.

The Audit, Risk and Scrutiny Committee resolved:-

to approve the recommendations.

Councillor Fairfull moved, seconded by Councillor Bouse:-

That the Council approve the decision of the Audit, Risk and Scrutiny Committee.

Councillor Kusznir moved as an amendment, seconded by Councillor Farquhar:-

          That the Council:-

(1)       understands the current position regarding data publication and compliance in Scotland; and

(2)       instructs the Chief Officer - Customer Experience and People and Organisational Development to come back to committee following the publication of the results of the recent consultation to further consider the progression of a parallel Aberdeen Taxpayers Transparency Code for approval.

On a division, there voted:-

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

For the amendment  (19)  -  Councillors Ali, Blake, Bonsell, Boulton, Brooks, Crockett, Cross, Farquhar, Graham, Grant, Houghton, Kusznir, Lawrence, Macdonald, McLeod, Malik, Massey, Thomson and Watson.

The Council resolved:-

to adopt the motion. 

The Council had before it the business planner as prepared by the Interim Chief Officer - Governance (Assurance).

During the course of questions, Councillor Macdonald advised that she had a connection due to her involvement with the Our Union Street project, however having applied the objective test she did not consider that she had an interest and would not be withdrawing from the meeting.

Councillor McLellan advised that he had a connection as the Council appointed observer to the Board of Our Union Street, however having applied the objective test he did not consider that he had an interest and would not be withdrawing from the meeting.

Councillors Yuill and Greig advised that they also had connections as volunteers with Our Union Street, however having applied the objective test they did not consider that they had an interest and would not be withdrawing from the meeting.

Councillor Malik moved as a procedural motion, seconded by Councillor Ali:-

That item 7 (101-103 Union Street) on the business planner should not be delayed to December 2024 and to instruct the Chief Officer - Corporate Landlord to report back to the next Council meeting on the matter.

On a division, there voted:-

For the procedural motion  (19)  -  Councillors Ali, Blake, Bonsell, Boulton, Brooks, Crockett, Cross, Farquhar, Graham, Grant, Houghton, Kusznir, Lawrence, Macdonald, McLeod, Malik, Massey, Thomson and Watson.

Against the procedural motion  (23)  -  Lord Provost; Depute Provost; and Councillors Al-Samarai, Allard, Alphonse, Bouse, Hazel Cameron, Clark, Cooke, Copland, Cormie, Davidson, Fairfull, Greig, Henrickson, Hutchison, MacGregor, McLellan, McRae, Nicoll, Radley, van Sweeden and Yuill.

Absent from the division  (1)  -  Councillor Mennie.

The Council resolved:-

to reject the procedural motion and therefore agree that item 7 be delayed to the Council meeting in December 2024.

The Council further resolved:-

(i)             to note that the Chief Officer - Strategic Place Planning would issue a service update to the Net Zero, Environment and Transport Committee in connection with item 35 (Revised Council Climate Change Plan);

(ii)           to note that the Interim Chief Officer - Governance (Assurance) would investigate the situation with regard to a notice of motion by Councillor Houghton regarding the possibility of renaming Union Terrace Gardens after Queen Elizabeth II, which had been considered at committee in November 2022,  and which had called for a further report but was no longer appearing on any committee business planner; and

(iii)          to otherwise note the business planner.

With reference to Article 2 of the minute of its meeting of 25 August 2022, the Council had before it a report by the Director of Commissioning which provided an annual update on the City Centre and Beach Masterplan.

The report recommended:-

that the Council -

(a)           note the progress made over the last 12 months to advance a wide range of projects contained within the City Centre and Beach Masterplan, and agree the updates provided to Sections 6, 8 and Appendix 1 of the Masterplan report (Appendix 1);

(b)           note the expected activity to be undertaken over the next 12 months, as set out in paragraph 3.19 of the report and within Section 8 of Appendix 1;

(c)           instruct the Chief Officer - Strategic Place Planning to continue to keep the Masterplan report under review, and to provide another progress report to Full Council after 12 months; and

(d)           in relation to Phase 2 of the Beach area, note the summary of comments received on the initial public consultation exercise on how people currently use these areas, and instruct the Chief Officer - Strategic Place Planning to prepare a Development Framework for the Phase 2 areas, which would be reported back to Full Council before the end of 2024.

During the course of questions, Councillor Henrickson advised that he had a connection by virtue of being a very minor shareholder in Aberdeen Football Club, however having applied the objective test he did not consider that he had an interest and would not be withdrawing from the meeting.

Councillor McLellan moved, seconded by Councillor Greig:-

          That the Council approve the recommendations.

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

          That the Council -

(1)       approve recommendations (a) and (b);

(2)       agree the SNP are famous for dither, defer, delay tactics and note within the financial implications that phase 2 of the Masterplan may not be delivered until 2037/38, which will come as a complete shock to the public;

(3)       agree that Aberdeen city centre residents, businesses, visitors and the people of Aberdeen are being let down by the SNP led Administration. The decision they have made for the city centre, particularly the signage and operation of the bus gate proposals have caused consternation and confusion; they have generated a city centre that is no longer easy to visit because firstly it is not pedestrian friendly for customers and secondly it is not conducive to attracting businesses needed to create a vibrant diverse café culture economy that would attract shoppers and other visitors to the city;

(4)       agree that the enforcement of bus gate penalties on Union Street and neighbouring streets should be suspended until further notice and instruct the Chief Officer - Operations and Protective Services to bring a report back to the next meeting of Full Council outlining the feasibility and costs for exemptions to holders of blue badges;

(5)       instruct the Chief Officer - Strategic Place Planning to bring forward a Masterplan report detailing the expected  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

The Council had before it a report by the Director of Resources which presented the Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) for the Council’s General Fund in 2023 and explained that its purpose was to pull together in one place all known factors affecting the financial position and financial sustainability of the organisation over the medium term.

The report recommended:-

that the Council -

(a)         note that the Scottish Government published its latest MTFS in May 2023. This indicated that while the Scottish Resource Budget was increasing up to 2027-28, in both cash and real terms, it was not expected to rise at the same rate as the spending bill, creating a growing funding gap over time;

(b)         note that in light of the deficit in the Scottish Budget forecast as part of the Scottish Government’s MTFS, May 2023, and expectations for Local Government included in the Resource Spending Review, published in May 2022, the future funding assumption within the MTFS had been revised to flat cash for the period through to 2025/26, with a 1% increase thereafter. Further information would be available once the Scottish Budget for 2024/25 was published in December 2023 and the Local Government Settlement was issued.  At this point the MTFS model would be updated to reflect the latest data;

(c)          approve the MTFS for the General Fund, 2023;

(d)         note that the Strategy relied on delivering its intentions contained in the TOM1.2 report [Council, August 2022, CUS/22/171] which described the approach the Council intended to take through transformation and multi-agency working to contribute towards closing the gap between income and expenditure forecast;

(e)         note the reported impact that pay and price inflation and supply chain volatility was continuing to have on our current financial year [Finance & Resources Committee, August 2023, RES/23/255] and that the impact was anticipated to continue to have an effect on the future funding gap;

(f)           note that the commitments contained within the Partnership Agreement, adopted on 18 May 2022, as part of the 2023/24 budget setting process were prioritised and where appropriate the decisions taken by the Council had been incorporated into the MTFS to reflect the financial implications of those decisions;

(g)         note that a review was being undertaken of the Capital Programme, in light of the financial environment, and the best value considerations, with a report being provided to the Finance and Resources Committee in September 2023;

(h)         note that the current Capital Programme, as included in the Council Financial Performance Quarter 1, 2023/24 report, was the basis for capital financing costs and debt levels referred to in the MTFS and following the regular review of the Loans Fund Repayment Policy, approve the policy for 2024/25 and beyond as described in Table 5 of the MTFS;

(i)           note the 2024/25 Budget would be discussed and set by the Council in February/March 2024 following an extensive public engagement exercise as required by the Scheme of Governance and Budget Protocol. Councillors would be issued with full detail of the Phase 1  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

At this juncture, the Lord Provost advised that he was bringing forward items 9.9 (Regional Land Use Partnership Pilot Board) and 9.10 (Public Health Scotland/North East Population Health Alliance Strategic Partnership Agreement) as the next two items of business.

The Council had before it a report by the Director of Commissioning which provided background on the establishment of a Regional Land Use Partnership (RLUP) Pilot Board for the North East of Scotland and sought the appointment of two elected members to the Board.

The report recommended:-

that the Council -

(a)          instruct the Chief Officer - Strategic Place Planning to continue to work collaboratively with officers in Aberdeenshire Council on the development of the North East Regional Land Use Partnership Pilot, recognising the strong history of partnership working between the two Councils on matters affecting the North East Region;

(b)          note the Terms of Reference for the newly formed Regional Land Use Partnership Pilot Board for the North East of Scotland; and

(c)          appoint two members from Aberdeen City Council to sit on the Regional Land Use Partnership Board.

The Council resolved:-

to approve the recommendations and agree that the two members to sit on the RLUP Board would be from the Partnership.

The Council had before it a report by the Director of Commissioning which sought endorsement for the signing of a strategic partnership agreement between Public Health Scotland (PHS) and Aberdeen City Council, as one of nine organisations comprising the North East Population Health Alliance (NEPHA).

The report recommended:-

that the Council -

(a)          agree that Aberdeen City Council be a signatory to the strategic partnership agreement; and

(b)          request the Chief Executive to provide the Council with an annual progress report on the strategic partnership agreement.

The Council resolved:-

to approve the recommendations.

At this juncture, the Council agreed to suspend Standing Order 40.2 to enable the meeting to continue beyond six hours.

The Council had before it a report by the Director of Commissioning which sought approval of the Council diary for 2024; and considered the allocation of committee places following the resignation of Councillor Crockett from the Labour group.

The report recommended:-

that the Council -

(a)          approve the Council diary for 2024 appended to the report, making any changes as appropriate; and

(b)          agree that three Labour committee places transfer to Councillor Crockett and determine those committees.

Councillor Radley moved, seconded by Councillor Greig:-

            That the Council -

(1)      approve the Council diary for 2024 appended to the report; and

(2)      agree, as a consequence of Councillor Crockett’s resignation from the Labour Group, the revised allocation of committee places in Appendix 1 below.

Appendix 1 : Revised Committee Place Allocations

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

            That the Council -

(1)      approve the Council diary for 2024 appended to the report; and

(2)      agree that three Labour committee places transfer to Councillor Crockett, these being Licensing, Planning and Anti-Poverty.

On a division, there voted:-

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

For the amendment  (18)  -  Councillors Ali, Blake, Bonsell, Brooks, Crockett, Cross, Farquhar, Graham, Grant, Houghton, Kusznir, Lawrence, Macdonald, McLeod, Malik, Massey, Thomson and Watson.

Declined to vote  (1)  -  Councillor Boulton.

The Council resolved:-

to adopt the motion.

The Lord Provost noted that former Councillor Ron Webster had sadly passed away during the summer and recalled his own experience of meeting him many years ago in a different capacity. Ron had been a long serving Councillor with Aberdeen City Council and its predecessor authorities before retiring in 2007, and the Lord Provost emphasised that he had the greatest respect for him.

The Depute Provost and Councillors Crockett, Macdonald, Allard, Houghton, Boulton, Copland, Yuill and Malik echoed the Lord Provost’s remarks and paid their own tributes to Ron, expressing their condolences to his friends and family.

The Council resolved:-

to concur with the remarks of the Lord Provost, Depute Provost and the various Councillors.

The Lord Provost advised that the meeting was being adjourned in terms of Standing Order 40.3 and that the remainder of the business would be considered at a future date which would be confirmed in due course.