Agenda and minutes

The agenda and reports associated with this minute can be found at:-

http://committees.aberdeencity.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=143&MId=1912&Ver=4

Members are requested to resolve that the business listed under item 11.1 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 item identified as article 18 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 6 and 8 of Schedule 7(A) of the Act.

The Committee resolved:-

to consider the aforementioned item with the press and public excluded.

The Committee had before it the minute of its previous meeting of 24 March 2011.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)         to receive an update in relation to article 3(i) from the Legal Manager after the Committee had moved into confidence;

(ii)        in relation to article 5(i)(a) (2010/2011 Budget Monitoring), to request that the Head of Finance advise the Committee outwith the meeting if the letter had been sent to the Scottish Government to highlight the anomaly in the public sector taxing another part of the public sector; calling for a review of the situation; and asking for a continuation of the tapering relief; and

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

“That Aberdeen City Council writes to Mike Russell, the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning, asking for a review of ‘The Parent’s Charter’.”

With reference to article 19 of the minute of the meeting of Council of
23 February 2011, and article 4 of the minute of the Education, Culture and Sport Committee of 24 March 2011, the Committee had before it a background report on the following motion which had been submitted by Councillor Boulton:-

“That Aberdeen City Council writes to Mike Russell, the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning asking for a review of “The Parents’ Charter”.”

At its previous meeting, the Education, Culture and Sport Committee had requested that the background report contain reference to school transport costs.  The paper before Committee contained a summary of the current policy on school placements, a summary of the current position in relation to school placements for the session 2010/11, and a statement of the costs of providing transport as a result of placing requests.

Councillor Boulton spoke in furtherance of her motion, and stated that given the financial climate, she felt it was appropriate to request that the legislation on school placements be reviewed to address the impact on families living within zone; not to remove parental choice, but to give local authorities more flexibility and the discretion to make alterations to the policy where necessary to minimise this impact.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)         to note the background report; and

(ii)        to request a more detailed report back on the matter to the next meeting.

With reference to article 3 of the minute of the Policy and Strategy Committee (Education) of 28 April 2009, and article 7 of the minute of the Education, Culture and Sport Committee of 18 November 2010, the Committee had before it a report by the Director of Education, Culture and Sport which updated members on the progress made with the motion by Councillor Cormack:-

“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.”

The report provided an update on the work of the Parents’ Forum and noted that the Forum was requesting that the Committee consider how to include parents in the work of the Education, Culture and Sport Committee.

The report recommended:-

that Committee:-

(a)       acknowledge the progress made by the Aberdeen Parent Council Forum to establish its terms of reference and to effectively represent the views of the Parent Councils in local authority schools in the city; and

(b)       request that officers prepare a report for the next cycle to enable the Council to consider the most appropriate way to include parents in the work of the main Council Committee with education responsibilities, relevant sub-committees and consultation processes.  The report should include the following:

·        arrangements in other Scottish local authorities;

·        the implications of a voting/non-voting option for members, taking account of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973;

·        an outline of the mechanism that the Forum proposes to take to appoint the parent representative;

·        detail of any changes that may be needed to the Committee composition, should Committee agree to a parent representative; and

·        advice on the formal processes required to secure a change in Committee representation.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)        to request that the report back include more detail on the legislation and the section of the Council’s Standing Orders in relation to teacher and religious representatives on the Committee; and

(ii)       to approve the recommendations contained in the report.

The Committee had before it, by way of a referral from the meeting of the Enterprise, Planning and Infrastructure Committee of 24 May 2011, a report by the Director of Enterprise, Planning and Infrastructure which sought approval for officers within Facilities Management Services to apply an annual increase to the price of both primary and secondary school meals, as necessary.

The report recommended:-

that the Enterprise, Planning and Infrastructure Committee:-

(a)       approve an increase in the price of a school meal by 10p per meal from August 2011;

(b)       delegate power to the Head of Asset Management and Operations to determine and apply increases in future years’ meal prices as necessary, to reflect budget decisions, increased costs etc, subject to the charges being benchmarked with other comparable authorities;

(c)        refer the report to the Finance and Resources Committee of 16 June 2011 for final approval to apply any increases, and to the Education, Culture and Sport  Committee of 2 June 2011 for information; and

(d)       request that the final decision of the Finance and Resources Committee be communicated to parents through each school.

The Committee resolved:-

to note the report.

With reference to article 2 of the Council Budget meeting of 10 February 2011, the Committee had before it a report by the Director of Education, Culture and Sport which updated members on the implementation of the Education, Culture and Sport Service transformation options and service options relating to potential external delivery, and outlined the work currently in progress to deliver the required savings as remitted at the Council Budget meeting.

The report recommended:-

(a)       that Committee note the progress to date on implementing the service transformation options and service options relating to potential external delivery required to deliver the identified savings; and

(b)       that Committee request an update on continued progress to the meeting of Committee on 24 November 2011.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)         in relation to transformation project ECS_E11 (Redesign of senior secondary schools towards a virtual city campus), to request that officers circulate information to members on the number of pupils participating in the virtual campus from the other ten secondary schools, once these figures were available;

(ii)        also in relation to ECS_E11, to request that officers report back to Committee once more information was available on the potential impact of the costs of travel to those children from more deprived areas, to ensure travel costs were not preventing them from access to educational opportunities;

(iii)       to request that officers investigate the possibility of using the Aberdeen Endowment Trust as a means of assisting these pupils with travel costs, and to note that officers would report back on all aspects of the virtual campus once the scheme was in its trial period; and

(iv)       to approve the recommendations contained in the report.

With reference to article 12 of the minute of its previous meeting of 24 March 2011, the Committee had before it a report by the Director of Education, Culture and Sport which presented recommendations for cultural grants for the 2011/12 financial year for applications which had previously been deferred or deemed ineligible.

The report recommended:-

that Committee approve the allocation of cultural grants to the total value of £160,171 as presented in the following table.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)         to request that officers provide further information to Councillor Cooney on the Station House Media Unit application as to why it had not received the full grant amount requested; and

(ii)        to approve the recommendations contained in the report.

With reference to article 18 of the minute of its previous meeting of 24 March 2011, the Committee was advised that there were no further updates which could be provided at this time.

In light of this, the Convener proposed that the Bookings and Lettings Review: oral update standing item on the Committee Business Statement be removed, and updates provided as and when required.  The Committee heard that a report would be submitted in three cycles’ time.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)         to agree to remove the standing item from the Committee Business Statement; and

(ii)        to note that a report on the bookings and lettings review would be reported to the first Committee meeting in January 2012.

With reference to article 17 of the minute of its previous meeting of 24 March 2011, the Committee had before it a report by the Director of Education, Culture and Sport which presented applications for financial assistance from eight sports organisations and made recommendations in respect of each.

The report recommended:-

that Committee consider the applications and approve the following recommendations:-

The Committee resolved:-

(i)         to request that officers provide Councillor Cooney with the rugby development programme for next year;

(ii)        to request that officers advice Councillor Farquharson if the Council had charged for the use of Westburn Tennis Centre while the venue was under its control;  and

(iii)       to approve the recommendations for funding awards as contained in the table above.

With reference to article 11 of the minute of its previous meeting of 24 March 2011, the Committee had before it a report by the Director of Education, Culture and Sport which provided an update on the implementation of the decision to reduce the costs of the Communities Team by £1.4 million in 2011/12 and provisionally by a further £1 million in 2012/13.  The report also included an update on the reduction of the staffing provision within the Service, an outline of progress towards the move of community learning centres to leased centre status, and an update of the ongoing work towards development of a model lease, management agreement and constitution.

The report recommended:-

that Committee:–

(a)       note the progress in relation to the appointment of staff to the new structure, and the reduction of the overall workforce;

(b)       note the progress in relation to moving community learning centres to leased centre status;

(c)        note the options being developed in relation to each community learning centre, and agree that a further report will come to the next Committee with firm recommendations for various community centres;

(d)       agree that officers seek to relocate the current groups within Torry Community Learning Centre to other suitable local facilities, in order to facilitate the closure of that facility;

(e)       determine whether it would wish to provide Management Committees with a Transition Grant for 2011/12 (as detailed in Section 5.3 of the report), and if so, agree to remit this to the Finance and Resources Committee for consideration;

(f)         note the progress in relation to developing a citywide model lease, management agreement and constitution, and agree the heads of terms for each as set out in Section 5.4 of the report;

(g)       agree that, until the Service Asset Management Plan for Community Buildings is completed, community centres and community education centres should only be granted one year leases;

(h)        agree that once approved, all community centres will be subject to the Management Agreement and Constitution and that all standalone centres will also be subject to the agreed lease; and

(i)         note that a petition has been signed by approximately 500 residents campaigning against the reopening of the Hillylands Centre on Croft Road.

The Convener, seconded by the Vice-Convener, moved an amended set of recommendations, namely:-

            (a)       to note the progress in relation to the appointment of staff to the new structure and the reduction of the overall workforce;

            (b)       to note the progress in relation to moving community learning centres to leased centre status;

            (c)        to note the options that are being developed in relation to each community learning centre, and to agree that a further report will come to the next Committee with firm recommendations for various community centres;

            (d)       to agree that officers seek to locate the current groups within Torry Community Learning Centre to other suitable local facilities, in order to facilitate the closure of that facility;

            (e)       to agree to provide Management Committees with a Transition Grant for 2011/12 (as  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

The Committee had before it a report by the Director of Education, Culture and Sport, which sought direction from the Committee with regard to the legal and management options to address key challenges relating to the management of the Woodside Fountain Centre, which had developed from a leased community centre into a multi-occupancy building which provided various services to the local community.

The report recommended:-

that Committee:-

(a)       agree that the User Group, which contains representatives from all four voluntary organisations (tenants) within the building, manages the overall operation of the building;

(b)       agree that each tenant within the building continues to be responsible for their own programme, activity and service;

(c)        agree that all tenants and City Council Services within the building pay a proportion of the property costs pertaining to the whole building, with the aggregate of those proportions totalling 100%;

(d)       agree that the relevant proportions be calculated by City Council officers in relation to the floor space exclusively occupied by the tenants and City Council Services, with those occupying a larger proportion of the floor space paying a larger proportion of the property costs;

(e)       agree to begin recovering these costs from the occupants from April 2011;

(f)         agree that areas of the community centre should be made available for let, by the community centre, to other tenants of the building when they are not in use by the community centre, i.e. games hall, coffee bar, kitchen, small hall and garage; and

(g)       instruct officers to negotiate the amount of development grant payable to Woodside Community Centre Management Committee to ensure that the level of grant reflects the change in circumstances while ensuring the Management Committee is not disadvantaged financially by the changes (subject to the development grant amount not exceeding £10,565 per annum).

The Committee resolved:-

to approve the recommendations contained in the report.

With reference to article 11 of the minute of the Policy and Strategy (Education) Committee of 9 June 2009, the Committee had before it a report by the Director of Education, Culture and Sport which gave an update on the recent visit by elected members to the “Big Noise” project in Stirling, and outlined the findings of the recent evaluation of the project undertaken on behalf of the Scottish Government.  The report proposed that further consideration be given to the potential for delivery of the project in Aberdeen.

The report recommended:-

(a)       that Committee note the report and the potential for a similar project in Aberdeen;

(b)       that Committee instruct officers to investigate a business model for the delivery of a project working with Sistema Scotland; and

(c)        that Committee instruct officers to report to a future meeting of the Committee on the proposed business model, criteria for identifying an appropriate community, and possible funding sources.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)         to thank Neil Bruce and Annette Bruton for their work on the visit to Sistema, and to note that another report on the project would be presented to Committee in due course; and

(ii)        to approve the recommendations contained in the report.

With reference to article 7 of the minute of the Education, Culture and Sport  Committee meeting of 20 January 2011, at which members had requested a further report on the gap between the lowest attaining 20% and the highest attaining 20% of pupils, to include any lessons learned from how other local authorities had tackled the problem, the Committee had before it a report by the Director of Education, Culture and Sport which provided an overview of the key factors associated with underachievement and the gap between the highest and lowest performers in attainment.

The report recommended:-

(a)       that Committee note the contents of the report; and

(b)       that Committee instruct officers to develop a policy on raising achievement which sets out the approaches to be taken in schools and across Services to reduce the gap in attainment.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)         to request that in future reports, Closing the Gap and the Sistema project be considered alongside one another; and

(ii)        to approve the recommendations contained in the report.

The Committee had before it a report by the Director of Education, Culture and Sport which sought approval for schools to remain open to pupils on
St Andrew’s Day on 30 November 2011, to allow the occasion to be celebrated in school.  The report noted that in the previous two years, St Andrew’s Day had been designated as a school in-service day and therefore pupils had previously been given a holiday to celebrate the occasion.  If the schools were to remain open on 30 November 2011, it would afford teachers the opportunity to teach pupils about an important aspect of Scottish culture.

The report recommended:-

that Committee approve the change in approach to celebrating St Andrew’s Day, by allowing pupils to celebrate the day in school, rather than using the day as a school in-service day.

The Committee resolved:-

to approve the recommendation contained in the report.

With reference to article 51 of the minute of the Finance and Resources Committee of 21 April 2011, and article 10 of the minute of the Education, Culture and Sport Committee of 24 March 2011, the Committee had before it a report by the Director of Education, Culture and Sport which updated members on progress with the proposed school campus for children with severe and complex needs.  The report also sought endorsement of the proposed way forward for the service, namely the planned relocation of the children to three developmental nurseries and the development of a business case for the new school campus to be presented to the Finance and Resources Committee on 16 June 2011.

Appended to the report was a copy of correspondence received from the School Infrastructure Unit of the Scottish Government which advised that Scottish Ministers considered that the Council had fulfilled its obligations under the Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010, and were therefore content that the Council close Raeden, Hazlewood and Woodlands Schools in line with the proposals to develop the Raeden campus.

The report recommended:-

that Committee:-

(a)       note the wishes of parents and guardians, and the new information brought forward by officers, following discussions with NHS Grampian about the future of the Raeden site; and

(b)       endorse the actions taken since the last meeting of the Committee, and the proposed way forward for services for children with severe and complex needs.

The Committee resolved:-

to approve the recommendations contained in the report.

The Committee had before it a statement of Committee business prepared by the Head of Legal and Democratic Services.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)         in relation to item 4 (Communities Team / Leased Community Centres), to note that the report on Torry Learning House, Tilly Flat and Cummings Park Flat would be brought to the September meeting of Committee;

(ii)        in relation to item 22 (Virtual Campus), to note that a date for the members’ seminar on this subject was still to be arranged; and

(iii)       to otherwise note the updates provided.

The Committee had before it a motions list prepared by the Head of Legal and Democratic Services.

The Committee resolved:-

in relation to motion 2 by Councillor Cormack on recognising the contribution of granite, to thank the staff involved in the Granite Festival for their work in making the event a success.

At this juncture, the Convener proposed to take item 11.1 (50 Metre Pool Progress Report) as the next item on the agenda.  The Committee concurred with the proposal

DECLARATION OF INTEREST

Councillor Collie declared an interest in the following article by virtue of his position as a Director on the Board of Aberdeen Sports Village and withdrew from the meeting during consideration of the item.

EXEMPT INFORMATION

In terms of article 1, the following item of business was considered with the press and public excluded.

With reference to article 7 of the Council meeting of 27 April 2011, at which the Council had agreed to delegate authority to the Education, Culture and Sport Committee to make all necessary decisions at its meeting on 2 June 2011, in order to keep the project on track, the Committee had before it a report by the Director of Education, Culture and Sport which updated members on the current status of the project, and on the outcome of investigations into alternative methods of funding the Council’s capital contribution.  The report also provided an analysis of the tenders received for the proposed development; detailed the outcome of the EU Invitation to Tender evaluation to select the Principal Contractor for the construction of the complex; and provided a comparison of cost for constructing either an eight or ten lane pool.

The report recommended:-

that Committee:-

(a)       note the content of the report;

(b)       note that the development cost, based on the most economically advantageous tender for the 10 lane option is £21,918,104 and for the 8 lane option is £21,638,104 compared to the previously reported estimated costs of £23,347,259 for the 10 lane option and £22,726,794 for the 8 lane option;

(c)        note that the total funding available from the other partners as detailed in section 5.3 of the report has increased from the previous total of £10 million reported to Council on 15 December 2010 to £14 million.  This being the result of the University of Aberdeen increasing their contribution from £5 million to £8 million and Aberdeen Sports Village Ltd. (ASV Limited) agreeing to underwrite the shortfall of £1 million for the 10 lane option to ensure that the funding package can be secured.  The remaining balance of external funding coming from a £5 million grant from sportscotland;

(d)       agree to approve funding of up to £8 million pounds and this be met from the Non-Housing Capital Programme for the construction of a 10 lane pool subject to:

(i)         the Corporate Asset Group, on behalf of the Corporate Management Team, managing the overall spend of the Non-Housing Capital Programme in 2011/12 to stay within approved spending limits and to take into account the future capital demand for this project in the budget process for 2012/13 and 2013/14;

(ii)        the revenue support for the ongoing costs of the project being capped at £250,000 per annum at 2010/11 prices with a review of future indexation once the facility is nearing completion of the construction phase;

(iii)       officers reaching an agreement with partners in regard to the use of the facilities in light of the potential migration of swimming clubs to the new facility;  and

(iv)       officers reaching agreement on a Transfer Agreement Document, which will formalise the transfer of responsibility for the delivery and operational phases of the 50 metre pool project to ASV Limited.

(e)       note that the most economically advantageous tender for the 50 metre pool project was submitted by Contractor A, and subject to the Committee agreeing  ...  view the full minutes text for item 18.

The Committee had before it a report by the Director of Education, Culture and Sport which provided a summary of performance data to 31 March 2011 for the Education, Culture and Sport Directorate.  Appended to the report were the Education, Culture and Sport service plan performance report for 2010/11; a report on performance against key outcomes from the Public Library Quality Improvement Self Evaluation for Library and Information Services; and an update on the Central Streetwork project.

The report recommended:-

that Committee:-

(a)       approve the Education, Culture and Sport Service performance report for the financial year 2010/11;

(b)       note the progress towards service plan actions;

(c)        note the progress against performance targets; and

(d)       note the good performance against key outcomes from Public Library Quality Improvement self evaluation for Library and Information Services.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)         to request that the Education, Culture and Sport report to the Corporate Health and Safety Committee on health and safety reportable accidents be circulated to members for information; and

(ii)        to approve the recommendations contained in the report.

EXEMPT INFORMATION

In terms of article 2, the following item of business was considered with the press and public excluded.

With reference to article 2 of this minute, and in relation to article 3(i) of its previous minute of 24 March, 2011 (Operation of the Community Learning Hub at Kaimhill Primary School), the Committee was advised that the matter had been referred to an independent third party firm for reasons explained, and that a response was now awaited.

The Committee resolved:-

to note the update; and to request that officers contact the firm to ask when a response could be expected and advise the Committee accordingly.

- CALLUM MCCAIG, Convener.