Agenda, decisions and draft minutes

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:-

Sheena Blackhall, Poet, Vocalist and Writer, Aberdeen

Stuart James Clark, Police Inspector, Aberdeen

Dr Tracey Jane Houston Menzies, Solicitor, Aberdeen

Deborah Elizabeth Mitchell, Retired Financial Adviser, Aberdeen

The Council was requested to determine that the following item of business, which contained exempt information as described in Schedule 7(A) of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, be taken in private:-

11.1    Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) - Outcome of Options Appraisal August 2024 - exempt appendices

The Council resolved:-

in terms of Section 50A(4) of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, to exclude the press and public from the meeting during consideration of item 11.1 so as to avoid disclosure of exempt information of the class described in paragraph 12 of Schedule 7A of the Act.

The Lord Provost advised that he had connections in relation to agenda item 7.1 (Council Financial Performance - Quarter 4, 2023/24 - Finance and Resources Committee of 8 May 2024) as he was acquainted with Mr Kenny Anderson who was due to make a deputation on the item, and the UCAN unit opened when he was Chairperson of NHS Grampian and he had been involved, 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 item 7.1 as a member of the Integration Joint Board, however having applied the objective test he did not consider that he had an interest and would not be withdrawing from the meeting.

Councillor Yuill advised that he had a connection in relation to item 7.1 as the Council’s 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 Greig advised that he had connections in relation to item 7.1 as a member of the Integration Joint Board and as a member of the Great Western Community Trust, however having applied the objective test he did not consider that he had an interest and would not be withdrawing from the meeting.

Councillor Alphonse declared an interest in relation to item 7.1 as she knew Mr Anderson and she had been working closely with UCAN in relation to a forthcoming event, and advised that she would leave the meeting prior to consideration of the item.

Councillor Cooke advised that he had connections in relation to item 7.1 by virtue of his position of Chairperson of the Integration Joint Board and as a result of his family having a history of prostate cancer, 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 further advised that he had a connection in relation to item 9.4 (City Centre and Beach Masterplan Annual Update) as a Council appointed observer to the Board of Sport Aberdeen, however having applied the objective test he did not consider he had an interest and would not be withdrawing from the meeting.

Councillor Radley advised that she had a connection in relation to item 7.1 as a substitute member of the Integration Joint Board, 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 a connection in relation to items 9.4 and 9.5 (Aberdeen Market July 2024 Update) by reason of his employment by Aberdeen Inspired, however having applied the objective test he did not consider that he had an interest and would not be withdrawing from the meeting for those items.

Councillor Blake advised that she had a connection in relation to item  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

(A)      The Council received a deputation from Ms Gayle Stephen and Mr Kenny Anderson from UCAN in relation to agenda item 7.1. Ms Stephen advised that she was the Office Manager with UCAN, which was a local cancer charity established in 2005 and summarised its aims. She emphasised that one in three men in Scotland diagnosed with a urological cancer were diagnosed too late, and that if urological cancers were caught early, it relieved pressures on other services. She added that UCAN had minimal financial outgoings - she was the organisation’s only employee and the Board were all volunteers, and emphasised that every pound raised went directly to front line services.

Mr Anderson advised that he was a Director on the Board of UCAN and he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2018, but having benefited from UCAN’s robotic surgery, he was given the all clear, following which he made a donation to UCAN and joined the Board last year. Mr Anderson stated that they were seeking the Council’s support to adapt an existing space at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary (Ward 209) to provide a rapid diagnostic centre, which would provide a one stop diagnostic process for patients, both male and female.

Ms Stephen emphasised that this would help build on the existing success of Aberdeen’s robotic surgery and enhance Aberdeen’s global reputation as a centre of excellence and provide lifesaving outcomes. Mr Anderson noted that the total cost of the project was £2.5m, with donations received and work under way on funding applications, however they were seeking £250,000 from the Council which would allow them to commence the first phase of the unit, which would start delivering benefits for patients and their families.

Ms Stephen emphasised that they could not wait any longer and begged the Council for their help.

During the course of questions to the deputation, Councillor Yuill advised that he was changing his transparency statement, made within Article 3 of the minute, to a declaration of interest and withdrew from the meeting.

Councillor Blake advised that she had a connection by reason of her husband having had testicular cancer and benefitting from support from UCAN, however having applied the objective test she did not consider that she had an interest and would not be withdrawing from the meeting.

Councillor Watson advised that he had a connection by reason of his mother having passed away due to bladder cancer, however having applied the objective test he did not consider that he had an interest and would not be withdrawing from the meeting.

Councillor Ali advised that he had a connection by reason of his wife having had Professor N’Dow as her surgeon, however having applied the objective test he did not consider that he had an interest and would not be withdrawing from the meeting.

Councillor Kusznir advised that he had a connection by virtue of Professor N’Dow having been mentioned, as Professor N’Dow was an NHS appointed trustee on a trust that he managed, however having  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

The Council had before it the minute of meeting of Aberdeen City Council of 3 July 2024.

The Council resolved:-

to approve the minute.

The Council had before it the minute of the special meeting of Aberdeen City Council of 16 July 2024.

The Council resolved:-

to approve the minute.

The Council had before it the minute of the special meeting of Aberdeen City Council of 16 July 2024.

The Council resolved:-

(i)             to note that Councillor MacGregor voted for Councillor Yuill’s amendment in the second division within Article 2, however due to problems with the electronic voting system his vote had not registered and therefore was not reflected in the minute; and

(ii)           to otherwise approve the minute.

The Lord Provost advised that he was bringing forward agenda item 9.1 to be considered at this point.

With reference to Article 8 of the minute of its meeting of 3 July 2024, the Council had before it a report by the Chief Officer - Capital which presented the completed options appraisal, an overview of feedback from the recent engagement with Council tenants, homeowners, private tenants and the wider community and associated survey work, and wider contextual information used to help formulate a recommendation for consideration.

The report recommended:-

that the Council -

(a)           note the engagement undertaken over the summer period and thank the community for their participation and contributions to the online engagement and drop-in sessions. In addition, note the planned follow-on engagement with RAAC impacted owners and residents;

(b)           agree that the optimum option is the demolition and rebuild of homes on site and instruct the Chief Officer - Capital to proceed with the demolition aspect of this (Option 4a), and report back to the next appropriate meeting of the Communities, Housing and Public Protection Committee  on the initial phasing of demolition and landscape details;

(c)           instruct the Chief Officer - Corporate Landlord in consultation with the Chief Officer - Capital,  Chief Officer - Housing, and the Chief Officer - Finance, to assess the ‘building new homes’ option as alluded to in Option 4b with consideration towards  undertaking a detailed masterplanning exercise assuming the site is vacant to determine future redevelopment proposals. For the wider site give consideration to creation of appropriate greenspace, preferred housing mix, opportunities to extend tenure mix and provision for housing for varying need and report this to a future meeting of the Communities, Housing and Public Protection Committee in 2025 (as early as possible);

(d)           approve the funding noted within the Financial Implications section of the recommendations and  instruct the Chief Officer - Capital, following consultation with the Convener of the Finance and Resources Committee, and the Chief Officer - Procurement, to procure appropriate works and services, and enter into any contracts necessary for the delivery of the demolition, masterplanning and landscaping works  without the need for further approval from any other Committee of the Council subject to due diligence, consistency with the financial model and affordability and regular update on progress of project delivery to the Communities, Housing and Public Protection Committee;

(e)           instruct the Chief Officer - Corporate Landlord to look at a range of delivery options for new housing on the site including opportunities to work with partners to meet the masterplan aspirations, and the requirement of the Housing Revenue Accounts 30 year business plan; reporting this in as part (ii) above;

(f)            instruct the Chief Officer - Corporate Landlord in consultation with the Chief Officer - Finance to take forward negotiations with private owners to acquire their properties voluntarily at Market Value, noting that this would be a valuation of the property at the current date and be on the same basis as the CPO process. In addition to Market Value the Council would be willing to meet reasonable legal and professional costs along with home  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

In accordance with Articles 3 and 4 of the minute, Councillors Alphonse and Yuill left the meeting for the following item of business having declared interests.

Carried forward from 3 July Council meeting

With reference to Article 5 of the minute of meeting of the Finance and Resources Committee of 8 May 2024, the Council had before it a report by the Executive Director of Corporate Services which provided details of the full year actual financial position of the Council against budget for the financial year 2023/24, and which had been referred to it by four members of the Committee in accordance with Standing Order 34.1.

The report recommended:-

that the Finance and Resources Committee -

(a)           note the unaudited final outturn position for the financial year 2023/24 as detailed in Appendix 1;

(b)           note that the General Fund has recorded a balanced operational position for the year 2023/24. The uncommitted General Fund reserve remains in line with the approved Reserves Policy;

(c)           note that the Housing Revenue Account has recorded a deficit of £1.525m for the year, and this will have to be funded from the uncommitted HRA reserve;

(d)           note that the Common Good has recorded an operating surplus of £1.814m for the year, which is better than the approved use of cash reserves. After investment valuation changes and capital receipts are included, cash balances increased by £1.614m and remain in line with recommended levels;

(e)           approve the various transfers for 2023/24, between Council Reserves and Earmarked sums for the General Fund, Housing Revenue Account, Common Good and Statutory Funds as of 31 March 2024, as detailed in Appendix 1;

(f)             approve the reprofiling of the 2024/25 - 2027/28 capital programmes to take account of the year end position and that the outcome of this is incorporated into the 2024/25 Quarter 1 reporting; and

(g)           note that the unaudited Annual Accounts for 2023/25 will be presented to Audit, Risk and Scrutiny Committee on 9 May 2024, including the Annual Governance Statement and Remuneration Report for the year.

The Finance and Resources Committee resolved:-

          to approve the recommendations contained within the report.

Councillor McLellan moved, seconded by Councillor Bouse:-

          That the Council -

(1)       approve the recommendations contained within the report;

(2)       note that following the meeting of the Finance and Resources Committee of 4 May 2024, the Convener and Vice Convener wrote to UCAN to make them aware that Aberdeen City Council’s External Funding Team would be able to assist them with any funding applications; and

(3)       understand that UCAN had since engaged with the External Funding Team to assist them in securing funding of £2.5m towards a urological Rapid Diagnostic Centre.

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

          That the Council -

(1)       note the changes in balances of uncommitted funds from Q4 to Q1 reporting, and the cash balances reported at both periods;

(2)       note that on 25 April UCAN (Scottish Charity SC036638, and a company limited by guarantee with the Registrar of Companies as UCAN (Grampian), company number 286333) launched a second fundraising round to support the next chapter of its support for its ongoing provision of care for urological related cancers affecting those in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

In accordance with Article 3 of the minute, Councillor Nicoll left the meeting for the following item of business having declared an interest.

Carried forward from 3 July Council meeting

With reference to Article 14 of the minute of meeting of the Audit, Risk and Scrutiny Committee of 9 May 2024, the Council had before it a report by the Executive Director of Corporate Services which provided management assurance on the Council’s compliance with its statutory duties under the Equality Act 2010, specifically in relation to the Public Sector Equality Duty, and which had been referred to it by four members of the Committee in accordance with Standing Order 34.1.

The report recommended:-

that the Audit, Risk and Scrutiny Committee -

(a)           note the management assurance on the controls in place for managing the Council’s compliance with the Public Sector Equality Duty; and

(b)           note that the Annual Governance Statement, reported to the Audit, Risk and Scrutiny Committee as part of the annual accounts audited by Audit Scotland, will assess the effectiveness of our controls in this area, any residual risk and how we manage it, and that this will be reported to the Committee in April.

The Audit, Risk and Scrutiny Committee resolved:-

to approve the recommendations contained within the report.

Councillor Yuill moved, seconded by Councillor Allard:-

That the Council approve the recommendations contained within the report.

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

          That the Council -

(1)       approve the recommendations contained within the report; and

(2)       note that a review of matters by the Depute Monitoring Officer concluded in respect of Bucksburn Pool “The Joint Statement [between Aberdeen City Council and Sport Aberdeen] was not accurate in stating that the site of the Pool was needed to create space for additional school building”, in other words the press release was untrue, therefore agrees that there requires to be an investigation by Internal Audit into why the Council authorised the release of this joint statement, when the Council first became aware the statement was untrue and why officers never reported the facts to elected members of this untrue statement when they first became aware it was untrue.

On a division, there voted:-

For the motion  (22)  -  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, van Sweeden and Yuill.

For the amendment  (16)  -  Councillors Ali, Blake, Bonsell, Brooks, Crockett, Farquhar, Graham, Kusznir, Lawrence, Macdonald, McLeod, Malik, Massey, Thomson, Tissera and Watson.

Absent from the division  (4)  -  Councillors Boulton, Grant, Nicoll and Radley.

The Council resolved:-

to adopt the motion.

Carried forward from 3 July Council meeting

With reference to Article 10 of the minute of meeting of the Anti-Poverty and Inequality Committee of 12 June 2024, the Council had before it a report by the Executive Director of Corporate Services which presented the work undertaken to determine issues faced by people in poverty in relation to accessing advice services and financial services, and which had had been referred to it by four members of the Committee in accordance with Standing Order 34.1.

The report recommended:-

that the Anti-Poverty and Inequality Committee note the recommendations at section 3.12 of the report to support the development of access to money advice services in Aberdeen.

The Anti-Poverty and Inequality Committee resolved:-

(i)             to instruct the Executive Director of Corporate Services to bring a report to a future committee to consider with partners the provisions of other advisory services in the city; and

(ii)           to otherwise approve the recommendation.

Councillor Allard moved, seconded by Councillor Bouse:-

That the Council -

(1)       note the recommendations at section 3.12 of the report to support the development of access to money advice services in Aberdeen; and

(2)       note that the Executive Director of Corporate Services had submitted a report to the next Anti-Poverty and Inequality Committee meeting which considered the provision of other advisory services in the city with partners.

Councillor Watson moved as an amendment, seconded by Councillor Tissera:-

          That the Council:-

(1)       agree the recommendation contained within the report;

(2)       agree the SNP give a whole new meaning to dither, delay and defer given the Committee instructed a report on 30 August 2023, with the report due no later than summer 2024, noting that there are no specific recommendations contained within the report on the actual issues faced by people in poverty in relation to accessing advice services and financial services and the impact this had; on the services available in Aberdeen; on the unmet need; and no specific recommendations for Council services and other organisations to address this unmet need; and

(3)       instruct the Executive Director - Corporate Services to bring a report to the next Anti-Poverty and Inequality Committee detailing exactly what was asked for on 30 August 2023 in order to give confidence to those who may need help in this matter.

On a division, there voted:-

For the motion  (23)  -  Lord 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  (15)  -  Councillors Ali, Blake, Bonsell, Brooks, Crockett, Farquhar, Graham, Kusznir, Lawrence, Macdonald, McLeod, Malik, Thomson, Tissera and Watson.

Absent from the division  (4)  -  Depute Provost; and Councillors Boulton, Grant and Massey.

The Council resolved:-

to adopt the motion.    

The Council had before it the business planner as prepared by the Chief Office - Governance.

The Council resolved:-

(i)             to note the reason for the delay to item 5 (Medium Term Financial Strategy) and that it would be reported to the October Council meeting; and

(ii)           to otherwise note the business planner.

The Council had before it a report by the Chief Officer - Capital which provided an update on the progression of the B999/Shielhill Road Junction Improvements project.

The report recommended:-

that the Council -

(a)           note the progress made on the B999/Shielhill Road Junction Improvement project and the updates to the programme milestones; and

(b)           resolve to make a Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) in respect of the land identified in the CPO Map (comprising 1 sheet) contained in Appendix 2 and instruct the Chief Officer - Governance to implement the statutory procedures following on from the making of the Order and continue to pursue voluntary acquisition in parallel with the compulsory purchase process.

The Council resolved:-

to approve the recommendations.  

The Council had before it a report by the Interim Chief Officer - Governance  which met the Council’s instruction to report on the operation of the Scheme of Governance annually and make recommendations for improvement. The report also presented the proposed Council Diary for 2025.

The report recommended:-

that the Council -

(a)           approve Appendix C, Committee Terms of Reference, with effect from 26 August 2024, notes that a further review will be reported to Council in February 2025 following consideration of committee structures by the Governance Reference Group, and instruct the Interim Chief Officer - Governance to schedule a series of meetings from September for the Group to undertake this review;

(b)           approve Appendix D, Powers Delegated to Officers, with immediate effect, and delegate authority to the Interim Chief Officer - Governance to make any further changes to Appendix 1 of that document which are necessary to reflect such approval;

(c)           approve the revisions to the Standing Orders for Council, Committee and Sub-Committee Meetings as set out in Appendix B, with effect from 26 August 2024;

(d)           approve the revisions to the Financial Regulations as set out in Appendix B, with effect from 26 August 2024;

(e)           approve the revisions to the Procurement Regulations as set out in Appendix B, with effect from 26 August 2024;

(f)             approve Appendix E, Member - Officer Relations Protocol, with effect from 26 August 2024;

(g)           approve Appendix F, the Local Code of Corporate Governance, with effect from 26 August 2024;

(h)           note the minutes of the Governance Reference Group of 20 March, 29 April, 9 May, 29 May, 3 June, 20 June and 2 August 2024, as contained at Appendix A;

(i)             instruct the Interim Chief Officer - Governance to, following consultation with the Co-Leaders, make all other amendments to the Scheme of Governance which are necessary to reflect the decisions taken by the Council at this meeting in relation to this report;

(j)             instruct the Interim Chief Officer - Governance to undertake a comparison of scrutiny models available, to report on these to the Governance Reference Group, including the Convener of the Audit, Risk and Scrutiny Committee, and to make recommendations for enhanced scrutiny within the report on Committee Terms of Reference to be presented to Council in February 2025;

(k)           instruct the Interim Chief Officer - Governance to produce (and update and revise from time to time as necessary) a guidance note for Conveners concerning member behaviour in meetings, such note to include reference to relevant provisions in the Standing Orders, Member - Officer Relations Protocol and Councillors’ Code of Conduct;

(l)             note the current arrangements for cross-party working and that no additional groups are being proposed at this time;

(m)         ratify the appointment of Mr Doug Haywood to the Education and Children’s Services Committee with immediate effect;

(n)           approve the Council Diary for 2025 as contained at Appendix G; and

(o)           consider the information regarding Nuclear Free Local Authorities contained within the report, and at Appendix H, and determines  ...  view the full minutes text for item 14.

Councillor Yuill moved as a procedural motion, seconded by Councillor McLellan:-                   

That agenda items 9.4 and 9.5, as abovementioned, be referred to the Finance and Resources Committee.

On a division, there voted:-

For the procedural motion  (23)  -  Lord 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.

Against the procedural motion  (13)  -  Councillors Ali, Blake, Bonsell, Brooks, Crockett, Farquhar, Lawrence, Macdonald, McLeod, Malik, Thomson, Tissera and Watson.

Declined to vote  (1)  -  Councillor Boulton.

Absent from the division  (5)  -  Depute Provost; and Councillors Graham, Grant, Kusznir and Massey.

The Council resolved:-

to adopt the procedural motion.

In terms of Standing Order 32.8, Councillors Crockett, Macdonald and Malik intimated their dissent against the foregoing decision.

The Council had before it a report by the Chief Officer - Data Insights which presented a revised Performance Management Framework 2024/25 reflecting proposals for the capture, scrutiny and reporting of Council performance, aligning with the Council’s commissioning intentions, Service Standards, and approach to evidencing and evaluating improvements as outlined within the Council Delivery Plan 2024/25.

The report recommended:-

that the Council approve the revised Performance Management Framework for 2024-25 as detailed in Appendix A.

The Council resolved:-

to approve the recommendation.

To instruct the Executive Director of Families and Communities to investigate, with urgency, the opportunity for post offices that are closing to be set up in our local libraries and to report back to the Communities, Housing and Public Protection Committee as soon as possible.  With the closure of both Culter and Cults post offices recently, this leaves a huge number of people without a post office facility. 

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

“To instruct the Executive Director of Families and Communities to investigate, with urgency, the opportunity for post offices that are closing to be set up in our local libraries and to report back to the Communities, Housing and Public Protection Committee as soon as possible.  With the closure of both Culter and Cults post offices recently, this leaves a huge number of people without a post office facility.”

The Council resolved:-

to approve the notice of motion.

In accordance with Article 2 of the minute, the Council considered the following item of business with the press and public excluded.

With reference to Article 2 of this minute, the Council had before it exempt appendices relating to the abovementioned report.

The Council resolved:-

to note the exempt appendices.

The Lord Provost advised that the meeting would end at this juncture and that the remaining item of business (item 9.7 - Diversity in Recruitment Update) would be considered at a later date.