Agenda and decisions

n/a

No urgent business

No exempt business

to note the transparency statements which will be recorded in the minute.

No deputations

to approve the minute.

to approve the minute.

(i)             to note that Councillor Malik had voted for his amendment within Article 4, however due to an issue 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.

to defer consideration of the referral to the next Council meeting.

(i)             to transfer items 4 (101-103 Union Street), 25 (Beachfront Masterplan - Castlegate) and 29 (Beachfront Shoreline Regeneration (Phase C) - Full Business Case) to the Finance and Resources Committee business planner;

(ii)           to note that item 17 (Scheme of Governance - Terms of Reference) would be reported to the Council meeting in April 2025 as part of the Scheme of Governance review; and

(iii)          otherwise to note the business planner.

Carried forward from October Council meeting

to note the report.

Carried forward from October Council meeting

(i)             to note the report; and

(ii)           to instruct a progress report on the second year of the operation of the strategic partnership agreement.

(i)             to note the contents of the report;

(ii)           to agree, subject to any further clarification from Scottish Government, that the General Fund budget model for 2025/26 will assume the cost of increased Employer National Insurance Contributions will be fully funded;

(iii)          to note that COSLA has identified that the wider cost of Employer National Insurance Contributions increasing has implications for services commissioned and funded to deliver public services;

(iv)          to agree that the Chief Officer - Finance, working with the Extended Corporate Management team, update the General Fund financial model for 2025/26 for the Local Government Financial Settlement for 2025/26 from Scottish Government and to take account of the analysis work described in the report;

(v)           to agree, due to the new financial risks, that updated financial modelling is done in conjunction with NHS Grampian, for the Aberdeen City Integration Joint Board and included in the General Fund budget report for 2025/26;

(vi)          to note that the Council will be presented with the final budget position and the request to approve a balanced General Fund Revenue and Capital Budget, and set Council Tax for 2025/26 at the Budget meeting on 5 March 2025;

(vii)        to note that the Scottish Government’s proposed budget, presented to the Scottish Parliament on 4 December 2024, provides an uplift to local authority budgets in a continued context of financial challenge for public services, and that this budget goes some way to meeting COSLA’s asks; however, recognises it will take more than a single year’s settlement to restore the financial position of local authorities;

(viii)       to note that the Scottish Government estimates (published 20 November 2024) a £549m cost implication, including £265m cost to local government, of employer National Insurance Contributions (NICs) changes to the directly employed devolved Scottish public sector workforce as a result of UK employer NICs policy;

(the Scottish Government, 20 November 2024)

(ix)          to agree the UK Government must urgently clarify additional funding to protect Scotland’s local government, including ALEOs and partners who deliver statutory services, from additional costs arising from the rise in employer NIC;

(x)           to instruct the Chief Executive to write to the UK Government’s Chancellor of the Exchequer and Secretary of State for Scotland, and the Scottish Government’s Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government, setting out the costs of NIC to Aberdeen City Council, and Aberdeen City Council’s budget position if funding for NIC is not provided from the UK Government in addition to the Local Government Financial Settlement for 2025/26; and

(xi)          to note that the Chief Executive would organise a session with elected members to look at levels of engagement with the budget consultation and to consider suggestions for improvement.

to consider the report at the reconvened Council meeting on 12 December.  

to defer consideration of the report to the next Council meeting.

to defer consideration of the report to the next Council meeting.

to defer consideration of the report to the next Council meeting.

to refer the report to the Finance and Resources Committee.

to refer the report to the Finance and Resources Committee.

to defer consideration of the report to the next Council meeting.

“That the Council:

(1)            Notes the Aberdeen Friends of Ukraine dinner on 14 September 2024 which brought together the Ukrainian community, supporters and elected members, from myriad political parties, to recognise the local efforts of support and assistance since the illegal invasion of Ukraine by Russia;

(2)            Recognises the ongoing support from both the Council to the Ukrainian community and that from ordinary Aberdonians who support the Ukrainian school at Rosemount Community Centre; and

(3)            Reaffirms the Council’s commitment to continuing support for the Ukrainian community in the face of continuing Russian aggression.”

to approve the notice of motion.

“That the Council:

(1)        Notes with regret that new British citizens are not able to bring along guests to group citizenship ceremonies held by Aberdeen City Council;

(2)        Understands that group ceremonies are held approximately every 3 weeks in the Grant Room at Marischal College to meet demand, yet individuals’ guests cannot routinely attend and need to wait outside due to capacity in the Grant Room, unless they book a private ceremony;

(3)        Is aware from Officers that refreshments are no longer provided due to concerns over cost and waste, yet notes the cost is £3.50 per head for tea, coffee and biscuits plus £50 delivery fee per event, and considers this is a small cost as part of welcoming new citizens in Aberdeen;

(4)        Considers not allowing guests at group ceremonies nor providing refreshments is a penny-pinching attitude, which fails to properly respect and promote the effort to become a British citizen and presents an unnecessarily unwelcoming attitude to new citizens;

(5)        Recognises the contribution of naturalised Brits and believes the small expenditure on recognising their citizenship represents value for money for the City of Aberdeen;

(6)        Therefore, directs the Chief Officer - People and Citizen Service from 2025/26 to:

(a)   reinstate refreshments of tea, coffee, water and biscuits and provision for any other dietary requirements to ensure inclusion.

(b)   allow citizenship applicants to invite two guests to group citizenship ceremonies.

(c)   change the room as required to meet the required increased capacity.

(7)        Confirms that any expenditure (estimated by Officers to be in the region of £5,000 per annum) and loss of income (estimated by Officers to be in the region of up to £20,000 per annum) associated with this change will be referred to the 2025/26 Budget process.”

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

“That the Council agrees to: 

(1)            Instruct the Chief Officer - Operations to refer details of the funding required to develop further detailed studies for a flooding solution as described by the WSP consultants to provide protection for The Paddock, Peterculter to the budget process;

(2)            Instruct the Chief Officer - Operations to refer details of the funding required to develop further detailed studies for a flooding solution as described by the WSP consultants to provide protection for Millside and Culter Den, Peterculter for a 1 in 200 and a 1 in 30 flooding event to the budget process; and  

(3)            Instruct the Chief Officer - Operations to continue engagement with local residents, Culter Community Council and the Community Resilience Group on the progress in relation to these flood prevention schemes, subject to funding being awarded to support future activity, and to report these outcomes to a future meeting of the Net Zero, Environment and Transport Committee.”

to refer the notice of motion to the budget process.

“That the Council:-

(1)        Notes the Planning Development Management Committee’s decision on 7 November 2024 to approve planning permission conditionally, subject to referral to the Scottish Ministers due to SEPA’s objection, over Land at Coast Road, St Fittick's Park/ Gregness Headland/Doonies Farm, Aberdeen, following an application by ETZ Ltd who, at the time of the application, had no meaningful legal interest in the Land;

(2)        Notes Govan Law Centre has lodged a reclaiming motion (appeal) to the Inner House of the Court of Session in the environmental justice judicial review of McLean v. Aberdeen City Council. The appeal concerns a decision by Aberdeen City Council (ACC) to possibly industrialise St. Fittick’s Park as part of its Energy Transition Zone (ETZ) plan for the city;

(3)        Notes the decision of Council regarding Land Options Within the Energy Transition Zone 11.09.2023 “to recommend to the Planning Development Management Committee that any future reports of the ETZ Masterplan be reported to the earliest appropriate meeting of Full Council” and seeks clarification as to why the matter was raised at Planning Development Management Committee and not Full Council as agreed by Elected Members;

(4)        Instructs the Chief Officer - Corporate Landlord to bring forward to Full Council, within two cycles, a plan as to how the Council intends to market the land owned by the Council which forms part of the Land noted above for the Council to obtain best value, rather than allow ETZ Ltd the opportunity to take over this land without competitive tenders; and

(5)        Agrees that Aberdeen City Council as landowner should remove St Fittick’s Park from any proposed redevelopment.”

to refer the notice of motion to the Finance and Resources Committee.  

“That the Council:

(1)       Notes with concern that the “A” Listed Building Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, latterly known as Woolmanhill Hospital, has fallen into a state of disuse; and

(2)        Instructs the Chief Officer - Strategic Place Planning to:-

(a)        identify the current owners;

(b)        contact the owners to seek assurances in respect of making the buildings safe, secure, and watertight in the first instance;

(c)        ascertain what are the owners’ plans and timescales for the redevelopment of the site in a manner compatible with its “A” listed status;

(d)        identify the enforcement powers available to the Council should the owners fail to co-operate;

(e)        seek the support and advice of Historic Environment Scotland, the Scottish Government and the King’s Trust in relation to the restoration of what is a building of national importance; and

(f)         report to the relevant committee(s) in relation to the instructions within no more than two meeting cycles.”

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

No exempt/confidential business