Agenda, decisions and draft minutes
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Contact: Martyn Orchard, tel 01224 067598 or Email: morchard@aberdeencity.gov.uk
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Declarations of Interest and Transparency Statements Minutes: Councillor Grant advised that he had a connection in relation to the item 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 at this stage, however he would assess the situation as the meeting progressed.
Councillor Yuill advised that he had connections in relation to the item as a member of Cycling UK and as a member of the AA (Automobile Association), however having applied the objective test he did not consider that he had an interest and would not be withdrawing from the meeting.
Councillor Brooks advised that he had a connection in relation to the item by reason of members of his family who worked for the Council in Customer Services, however having applied the objective test he did not consider that he had an interest and would not be withdrawing from the meeting. |
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Written Request for Special Meeting Additional documents: Minutes: With reference to the minute of the special meeting of Council of 3 January 2025, the Council had before the wording of the written request for this special Council meeting which had been signed by 12 members in accordance with Standing Order 8.2.2:-
“The business to be transacted relates to the Aberdeen City Council (City Centre, Aberdeen) (Traffic Management) (Experimental) Order 2023.”
During the course of questions to officers and responses being provided, Councillor Hutchison advised that he had a connection in relation to the item as an owner-occupier of a property in the city centre, 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 the meeting would need to go into private session to deal with questions relating to the legal advice.
Councillor Grant advised that he was changing the transparency statement he had made at the outset of the meeting, regarding his employment by Aberdeen Inspired, to a declaration of interest and withdrew for the remainder of the meeting.
At this juncture, the press and public were excluded from the meeting in terms of Section 50A(4) of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, so as to avoid disclosure of exempt information of the class described in paragraph 12 of Schedule 7A of the Act.
The Interim Chief Officer - Governance (Legal) responded to various questions regarding the legal advice which had been made available for inspection by members the previous day.
The press and public were then readmitted to the meeting.
Councillor Brooks moved, seconded by Councillor Nicoll:- That Council 1. Agree the Urgent Business Committee on 18th December 2024 was not the SNP/Lib Dem coalition’s finest moment since taking over the Administration in May 2022. 2. Agree the decision to deny a written copy of the legal advice to elected members is believed to be likely to be in breach of elected members' common law rights and rights given to Councillors under the Standing Orders of the Council. 3. Agree the report to the Net Zero, Environment and Transport Committee on 11th June 2024 stated, “The Order is experimental to allow the Council to modify or vary the scheme at short notice once in force, should circumstances require” which caused confusion for Councillors over the statutory regime applicable to ETROs. 4. Agree the Council has tried to deny elected members the legal advice which some members believe they are entitled to on this matter at every stage of this process. 5. Agree the Council, as seen in the FOI emails reported publicly on 10th December 2024, indicated a perception of bias in making the ETRO (experimental bus gates) permanent, before consultation or considerations of objections; Believes there is a high risk that any Judicial Review on this would find that the Aberdeen City Council (City Centre, Aberdeen) (Traffic Management) (Experimental) Order 2023 was flawed in its implementation and that the Council potentially acted unlawfully in ... view the full minutes text for item 2. |