Agenda and minutes

In accordance with Standing Order 10(1), the Convener advised that requests for deputations had been received on behalf of (1) Kaimhill Area Management Committee;  (2) Seaton Community Project;  (3) Ruthrieston Community Centre Management Committee;  (4) Inchgarth Community Centre;  (5) Portal Community Centre;  (6) Ashley and Broomhill Community Council;  and (7) Mr. David Henderson, in relation to the report on Community Learning Hubs and Review of Learning in the Wider Community (as detailed at Article 8 of this minute).

The Committee resolved:-

to accept and hear the deputations prior to considering the relevant report. 

The Convener advised that it was his intention to take item 7.2 (Community Learning Hubs and Review of Learning in the Wider Community) immediately after the Committee Business Statement and Motions List.

The Convener further advised that item 6.1 (Bookings and Lettings Review: Varying Charges Proposals) had been withdrawn from the agenda.

The Committee resolved:-

to agree to the amendment of the agenda running order.

The Committee were advised that the Education, Culture and Sport Service had held its first “Snapshot” day on 13 May, 2010.  All services, learners and users across the education, arts, heritage, community learning and sports sectors had been invited to submit examples of their activities on a particular date.  The event had been a tremendous success, and people of all ages from all Services had taken the opportunity to participate by submitting video clips, photographs and written accounts of their activities.  The Committee heard that the results were available to view on www.abernet.org.uk/snapshot and that Services would use the link to share examples of good practice throughout the Council.

The Committee heard that the Visitor Attraction Monitor had published its attendance figures for 2009 and that Aberdeen Art Gallery was listed as the third most popular visitor attraction in the Aberdeen and Grampian area after the David Welch Winter Gardens and Johnston’s of Elgin Cashmere Centre, making it the top gallery and museum in the area.  It was noted that the Art Gallery was the 13^th most visited museum and gallery in Scotland in 2009, which was an improved placing on the previous year. 

The winners of this year’s Scottish Education awards were to be announced on 18 June, 2010, and the Committee were advised that Holy Family School was a finalist, and that representatives of the school would be attending the award ceremony in Glasgow. 

The Committee heard that the Aberdeen City Children and Young People’s Services award ceremony would be held on 15 June, 2010, at the Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre.  It was expected that approximately 300 adults, young people and their families, and Council officers would attend the event, where the winners of all the Council’s award categories would be announced and presented with trophies and certificates.  It was noted that the event, to be officially opened by the Lord Provost, was generously sponsored by a number of local companies.  The Committee heard that the Chief Executive would be introducing the event.

The Committee were advised that the Aberdeen City Council Arts Education team had been awarded £10,000 from the Scottish Arts Council and Children in Scotland to establish a creative learning network in the city.  The team had been successful in attracting the maximum amount which could be awarded, and the money would be used to develop new and existing creative learning networks, and to champion the arts, culture and creativity in schools and communities within the context of the Curriculum for Excellence. 

The Committee heard that a local sports person, Ronnie Watt, had been awarded the Order of the Rising Sun with Gold and Silver Rays for services to karate.  The Committee was advised that this was a tremendous achievement and that Mr. Watt was one of only three people in the UK to be given this award.  The Convener congratulated all those involved in the aforementioned events.

Finally, the Convener advised the Committee that this would be the last meeting attended  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

Members are requested to resolve that the business listed under items 9.1 and 10.1 of this agenda be considered with the press and public excluded.

Prior to considering the matters before the Committee, the Convener proposed that, in terms of Section 50A(4) of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, the items identified as Articles 15 and 16 of this minute be considered with the press and public excluded so as to avoid disclosure of exempt information of the class described in paragraphs 2 and 8 of Schedule 7(A) of the Act. 

Councillor Laing moved as a procedural motion:-

            That item 10.1 (Tullos Swimming Pool – Internal Works) be taken in public session. 

It being a procedural motion, the terms were put straight to the vote.

On a division, there voted:-  for the procedural motion (4) – Councillors Allan, Collie, Cooney and Laing;  against the procedural motion (17) – the Convener;  the Vice-Convener;  and Councillors Boulton, Corall, Cormack, Cormie, Farquharson, Leslie, Reynolds, Jennifer Stewart, Kevin Stewart, Kirsty West, Wisely and Yuill;  and Mrs. M. Abdullah, Mr. P. Campbell and Mr. M. Vicca;  declined to vote (2) – Mr. G. Bruce and Mr. S. Duncan.

The Committee resolved:-

to consider the above-mentioned items in private session.

The Committee had before it the minute of its previous meeting of 15 April, 2010.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)         in relation to Article 7 (2009/2010 Revenue and Budget Monitoring), to note the update provided on the review of Devolved Educational Management (DEM) procedures, namely, (a) that the DEM Working Group had met and had discussed what the budget and degree of carry forward should be for schools, and that a letter would shortly be circulated to schools on this matter; and (b) that any school could discuss concerns with officers about the proposed new figures;

(ii)        in relation to Article 18 (Roll Capping in Aberdeen City Schools 2011/2012), to request that officers circulate the recently produced school roll forecast to all Members of the Committee;  and

(iii)       to approve the minute as a correct record.

The Committee had before it a Statement of Committee Business and a Motions List prepared by the Head of Legal and Democratic Services.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)         in relation to item 7 (Review of Sports Grant Criteria), to note the delay in receiving a report back on the Shared Education Trust being run in Aberdeenshire, and request that officers continue to liaise with officers in Aberdeenshire Council for this information;

(ii)        in relation to item 8 (Property Sales Investigation), and whether a report providing an overview on the number of tied houses in existence and the justification for those properties being tied houses would come before Committee for discussion, to note that the Director of Education, Culture and Sport would require to discuss the matter with the Directors of Enterprise, Planning and Infrastructure and Housing and Environment and would provide a verbal update to the next Committee meeting on this matter;

(iii)       in relation to item 9 (2009/10 Revenue Budget Monitoring), to note that the additional staffing resources for accounting in relation to Education, Culture and Sport were now in place;

(iv)       in relation to item 13 (Bookings and Lettings Review), to note that the report on this matter which had been due for discussion later in the meeting had been withdrawn and would potentially come before Committee at its meeting in September;

(v)        in relation to item 15 (Provision for Children with Additional Support Needs – Raeden), to note that officers would report back to the September meeting of the Committee on the closure of Hazlewood, Raeden and Woodhill nurseries and the redesign of pre-school ASN;  and

(vi)       to otherwise note the updates provided for the business and motions list.

Prior to considering the item and hearing the deputations as agreed at the start of the meeting (Article 1 refers), the Convener circulated the amended wording he proposed to move in place of the recommendations contained in the report.  There followed a brief adjournment to enable Members and the deputations to consider the recommendations. 

With reference to Article 13 of the minute of its meeting of 8 October, 2009, the Committee had before it a report by the Director of Education, Culture and Sport which sought approval for various options for the development of community learning hubs across the city.  It advised that the options outlined in the report were the results of further consultation, research, and consideration of the best use of the Council estate, and took into account opportunities for service co-location, partnership working and shared resources.

The report advised that the Committee had before it a revised proposal for eight community learning hubs, designed to complement the proposals for city-wide rezoning which were also before Committee for discussion (Article 11 refers).  The hubs proposals were based on the proposed Associated School Groups, namely Dyce/Bucksburn;  Bridge of Don/Oldmachar;  St. Machar;  Torry/Kincorth;  Aberdeen Grammar;  Harlaw/Hazlehead;  Cults;  and Northfield.  The underpinning rationale and research information for the proposals was detailed in the report under each option, and consultation information and supporting maps were included as appendices to the report.

The report recommended:-

(a)       to approve the preferred option for the Dyce/Bucksburn Associated School Groups community learning hub as Bucksburn 3Rs campus, comprising Bucksburn Academy, the Beacon Centre and Bucksburn Community Library, as outlined in Section 6.1 of the report;

(b)       to instruct officers to undertake a capital business case in relation to the provision of a new community facility for the Bridge of Don/Oldmachar Associated School Groups to include a library and community learning hub in the light of new developments outlined in Section 6.2 of the report;

(c)        to approve the preferred short-term community learning hub option for the St Machar Associated School Group as Seaton 3Rs School and to approve the actions outlined in Section 6.3 of this report, namely (1) that officers, in liaison with other Directorates and partner agencies, undertake further work and report back on medium to long term community learning hub options;  (2)  that the outcome of research on the future location of Portal Community Centre and Tilly Youth Project be reported to the next meeting of the Committee;  (3) that the Hilton Community Learning and Development Centre officer base be declared surplus to the requirements of the Education, Culture and Sport Directorate once the building had been vacated; (4) that Woodside Library be retained as an archive/store in the short-term, with the medium term option of the building being taken over and run for alternative community use; and (5) that a decision on the future of the Seaton Community Learning and Development Centre on School Road be deferred pending further investigation on funding options which would be included in a report to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

With reference to Article 6 of the minute of the meeting of the Education, Culture and Sport Committee of 15 April, 2010, the Committee had before it a report by the Director of Education, Culture and Sport which provided Members with an overview of service performance for the period to March, 2010.  Appended to the report were the Directorate’s balanced scorecard for 26 key performance indicators; detailed performance information and analysis sheets containing library and information service summary statistics and summaries of city-wide sports facilities and museums and galleries admissions;  and a year-end report on Neighbourhood Community Action Plans.

The report advised that work was ongoing to develop a robust performance management framework for the Directorate, utilising Covalent as a performance management, monitoring and reporting tool.  The report highlighted where there had been good performance in the Service throughout March, 2010, and made particular mention of Indicator 1 where the sickness absence figure of 4.66 days was far lower than the target of 10 days;  Indicator 6 where the Service had achieved a 95% compliance with the health and safety matrix;  Indicator 6.1 where the Service had completed 99% of the recommendations from Internal Audit;  and the Neighbourhood Community Planning Actions, where 68% of targets had been achieved.

The report recommended:-

that the Committee consider the performance reporting and analysis as contained in the appendices.

The Committee resolved:-

to note the performance information provided in the report.

With reference to (1) Councillor Cormack’s motion to the Policy and Strategy (Education) Committee of 28 April, 2009:-

“That this Council agrees to promote further and to continue to develop parental involvement in the Council’s decision-making process and that a report is therefore produced with recommendations for including parents in the work of the main Council Committee with education responsibilities, relevant Sub-Committees and consultation processes.”  and

(2) Article 4 of the minute of the Education, Culture and Sport Committee of 24November, 2009, the Committee had before it a report by the Director of Education, Culture and Sport which provided an update on actions and progress and the arrangements that had been put in place to establish an Aberdeen City Parent Forum.

The report advised that since the last update to Committee at its meeting in November, 2009, officers had arranged an additional meeting with Parent Councils to establish how individuals would be identified to serve on the Forum and to also discuss the remit of the Forum.  As a result of this meeting, a proforma had been circulated to all Parent Councils to seek their views on the appropriate mechanisms for identifying representatives for the Forum.  Officers had suggested that representatives could be selected via city-wide elections, through categories or communities of interest, or by nomination from each Associated School Group (ASG).  Following further discussion with Parent Councils, and a vote by the attendees at a meeting on 22^nd February, 2010, it was agreed that the Forum should adopt the proposal to nominate members through ASGs.  At this meeting, officers had also circulated a draft remit for the Forum, which combined suggestions from the Walker Road and Airyhall Parent Councils.  It was agreed by those present at the meeting that the draft remit was appropriate, but that the new Forum would possibly wish to make further adjustments prior to its adoption.

The report advised that officers had circulated information to Parent Councils which set out both the process for establishing the Forum and how Parent Councils could nominate representatives.  It was noted that the first meeting of the new Forum would be held in the week commencing 21 June, 2010, and that roles and responsibilities on the Forum would be determined following the formation of the body. 

The various papers which had previously been circulated to Parent Councils, as well as the draft remit and the timeline for the establishment of the Forum, were appended to the report.  A further appendix detailed the outcome of a meeting held with Parent Councils on 18 May, 2010, to consider the process for the establishment of the city-wide Parent Forum and how to secure nominations to the body.

The report recommended:-

that Committee endorse the work undertaken by Parent Council representatives and officers to establish the new Forum.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)         to approve the recommendations contained in the report with a request that officers submit a further report back on the matter in six months’ time;

(ii)        to request  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

DECLARATION OF INTEREST

Councillor Leslie declared a personal interest in the following article, but did not consider it necessary to withdraw from the meeting during consideration of the item.

The Committee had before it a report by the Director of Education, Culture and Sport which detailed six applications for financial assistance received from various sports organisations throughout the city.  The report advised that if the recommendations contained in the report were to be approved, £48,922 would be available in the sports grant budget for the remainder of the year. 

The Committee resolved:-

(i)         to award funding of £3,400 to City of Aberdeen Gymnastics in order to support the hosting of the second open competition to be held by the Group at the Beach Leisure Centre on 12 and 13 June, 2010; 

(ii)        to award funding of £500 to Aberdeen Churches League to support the cost of holding a one-day open bowling tournament at Westburn Park Bowling Centre at the end of May, 2010;

(iii)       to award funding of £1,000 to Scottish Schools Gymnastics to offset some of the costs incurred in assisting primary and secondary pupils from schools in Aberdeen to participate in a team gymnastics competition to be held at the Beach Leisure Centre in November, 2010;

(iv)       to award funding of £10,000 to Aberdeen Youth Rugby Association in support of a Rugby Development Officer for the city;

(v)        to award funding of £2,000 to Grampian Institute of Sport in relation to an annual partner contribution to programme funding in support of the work undertaken and services delivered to city athletes and coaches;  and

(vi)       to award funding of £500 to Aberdeenshire Ladies County Golf Association in support of hosting a Ladies Open competition at Hazlehead Golf Course on 8 July, 2010.

With reference to Article 13 of the minute of its meeting of 18 February, 2010, the Committee had before it a report by the Director of Education, Culture and Sport which detailed the latest phase of the development of the Learning Estate and outlined options for reducing the number of secondary schools and redefining catchment areas to allow a more efficient delivery of secondary school education.

The report detailed the history of the work undertaken to improve the Learning Estate thus far, and the 25 stakeholder engagement events which had been held to develop the potential options for improvement.  The priorities and principles for the Learning Estate had been approved by Committee at its meeting in February, 2010.

The report advised that there were three main influences which impacted on planning the delivery of the service, namely sufficiency, suitability and condition.  A revised strategy on the evaluation of school capacities had previously been approved by Committee and the report stated that it was essential that the Council provided the right size of schools in the right places.  It was also noted that some of the current schools were not suitable for the delivery of a modern curriculum and were of inferior quality to schools completed as part of the 3Rs Project.  Finally, the report advised that there were aspects of all schools, other than in those which were part of the 3Rs Project, which were in an unsatisfactory condition.

The report outlined that there was a commitment to bring all places of learning, including schools, up to a standard which was equivalent to, or better than, those which were built as part of the 3Rs Project.  While it was acknowledged that this would be challenging, particularly in the current financial climate, it was noted that decisions would be taken based on sound educational rationale, value for money and to meet the aspiration of communities.

The report highlighted that there were currently 16,008 primary school places and 10,896 secondary places in Aberdeen, however, the current primary roll of 11,819 and secondary roll of 9,208 reflected a 74% and 85% occupancy rate respectively.  These figures did not, however, reflect the fact that some schools were over-subscribed while others were under occupied.  It was predicted that the level of overprovision in secondary schools would continue to rise until 2018.  Therefore, the report recommended that an eight academy model should be investigated, which would allow for 800 to 1,200 pupils in each secondary school.  It was however noted that this size of school was not appropriate in every case, and the option proposed took this into consideration.  For example, the report advised that due to the provision at Bucksburn Academy for pupils with Additional Support Needs, it was felt that a smaller secondary school would provide a more supportive environment for pupils.  It was also noted that the location and footprint of certain schools would not easily allow expansion to accommodate 1,200 pupils.

It was advised that work was ongoing to develop co-operative  ...  view the full minutes text for item 11.

Would Members please note that a bulletin report on this matter is also included in the Committee Information Bulletin.

With reference to Article 3 of the minute of its previous meeting, the Committee received an update from David Leng, Head of Schools and Educational Establishments, who drew Members’ attention to the update report provided in the Committee Information Bulletin.  Mr Leng advised that work was ongoing to reduce the number of buses required for the decant, and there had been a decrease of two buses since the last update to Committee.

The Committee noted its concern that twenty one pupils had received warnings about their conduct on the buses, with six of those pupils on their second warning.  The Committee also enquired about the status of the Director of Education, Culture and Sport’s investigation into the promise to parents that transport would be provided for pupils, and the Director updated the Committee accordingly, noting that she hoped to report her findings on the matter to the Chief Executive by the end of June, 2010.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)         to note the update provided; and

(ii)        in relation to the investigation into the promise to parents that transport would be provided, (a) to note that the Director of Education, Culture and Sport would undertake to provide Committee members with the names of those she had interviewed in connection with the investigation; and (b) to note that once the remaining interviews had been conducted, the Director would discuss her findings with the Chief Executive and advise the Committee following this discussion.

The Committee had before it a report by the Director of Education, Culture and Sport that set out a draft policy to give direction and practical suggestions to all those providing food and drink in school settings to enable them to implement the regulations within the abovementioned Act.

The report advised that the Scottish Government “Schools (Health Promotion and Nutrition) (Scotland) Act 2007” aimed to ensure that all schools were health-promoting and that all food and drink served within school settings met nutritional requirements as set out in the Nutritional Requirements for Food and Drink in Schools (Scotland) Regulations 2008.  Following the introduction of the Act, there had been numerous queries from schools in the city as to how they should implement the nutritional requirements under the regulations.  Schools had advised officers that it would be helpful if a policy was produced which would provide guidance on the implementation, and as a result of this, the Aberdeen City Health Focus Group had prepared the draft policy which was presented to Committee for endorsement.

The report recommended:-

that Committee endorse the proposed Aberdeen City Policy on the Schools (Health Promotion and Nutrition) (Scotland) Act 2007.

The Committee resolved:-

to agree and note the proposed Aberdeen City Policy on the Schools (Health Promotion and Nutrition) (Scotland) Act 2007.

With reference to Article 18 of the Council meeting of 24 June, 2009, the Committee had before it a report by the Director of Education, Culture and Sport which outlined the progress to date on the proposal to redevelop the Art Gallery.

The report outlined the history of the proposed redevelopment, and advised that Gareth Hoskins Architects, who had been appointed in August, 2009, had recently completed the development study for the project.  The study proposed five options for the redevelopment of the gallery.  It was noted that a pre-application had been lodged with the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) for the redevelopment, and the report advised that in order to make a Stage One application to the HLF, a conservation statement on the Art Gallery would be required.  As this would be outwith the scope of the original development study, the request for funding of the conservation statement would be referred to the next Finance and Resources Committee for consideration.

The report also detailed the ongoing work to investigate how to provide accommodation for the museums and galleries collections not currently on display.  It was noted that the redevelopment of the Art Gallery would be eased if a new facility to house the collections was in place prior to the commencement of the redevelopment work.  Without a new facility to store the collections, the cost and time to complete the redevelopment project would increase.  The facility could also be used as an exhibition space and would provide a safe and secure environment for the collections.

The report advised that funding for the redevelopment of the Art Gallery and the provision of a museums collections centre would be sought from the Non Housing Capital Programme in the 2013/2014 financial year and the following two financial years.  It was stressed that a funding campaign would be an integral part of a successful redevelopment project and a further report would be presented to Committee at its meeting in September, 2010, which would outline the proposals for this campaign.  This report would also include recommendations for the preferred redevelopment option and details of any potential funders to be considered.

The report recommended:-

that the Committee –

(a)       note the work to date;

(b)       remit the report to the Finance and Resources Committee on 17^th June, 2010, to consider funding the conservation statement, estimated cost, £19,444 plus VAT, for the Art Gallery, if required as part of the proposed Stage One application to the Heritage Lottery Fund;

(c)        instruct officers to prepare a capital business case for further consideration and report to the Education, Culture and Sport Committee on 16^th September, 2010, and Finance and Resources Committee on 28^th September, 2010, to include recommendations on the most appropriate option to redevelop the Art Gallery, and on the commitment the Council is being requested to make at that stage; and

(d)       instruct officers to report to a future meeting of the Committee on how best to improve access to the Museums and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 14.

EXEMPT INFORMATION

       In terms of Article 4, the following items of business were considered with the press and public excluded.

By way of referral from the Housing and Environment Committee of
13^th April, 2010, the Committee had before it a report on tied housing within Environmental Services which detailed the current status of a particular property which fell within the remit of the Education, Culture and Sport account.

The Committee resolved:-

that the property listed in the report as being on the Education, Culture and Sport account was no longer a tied property.

The Committee had before it a report by the Director of Education, Culture and Sport which outlined the ongoing work to re-open Tullos Swimming Pool and sought Committee approval to refer to the Finance and Resources Committee a request for funding to carry out the necessary works to the interior of the building.

The report advised that Tullos Pool had been closed in the autumn of 2008, due to ongoing problems in relation to the roof of the building.  The roof was considered to be unsafe and had been leaking badly for a considerable period of time.  Initial work had been undertaken to repair the roof, however at this time, it had become apparent that the existing structural timber deck was badly decayed and it was recommended that the entire roof should be replaced.  As a result of the roofing work, it was discovered that the internal building fabric was in an extremely poor condition due to a high level of water penetration and therefore, considerable additional work would be required to bring the building up to a standard where it could be re-opened to the public.  The report detailed the cost of the necessary work and advised that the repairs could take approximately 5 to 6 months to complete.

The report recommended:-

(a)       that the Committee note the progress with work to make Tullos Swimming Pool safe and water-tight, and the likely costs and implications of the water damage to the building interior; and

(b)       that the Committee refer a request for urgent funding from the capital plan to the next Finance and Resources Committee.

The Committee resolved:-

to approve the recommendations contained in the report.

- ANDREW MAY, Convener.