Agenda, decisions and minutes

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

http://committees.aberdeencity.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=143&MId=2521&Ver=4

The Convener advised that Callum MacLean was in attendance at the meeting, as part of his work towards the Boy Scouts of America citizenship badge.  She explained that Callum had to choose an issue from the meeting where there was a difference of opinion, listen to the debate, and choose a side to support.  He would then have to explain why he had chosen that particular side.  The Convener welcomed Callum to the meeting and stated that she hoped he found it helpful for his project.

The Convener advised the Committee of a number of good news stories, namely:-

Visit to Rwanda – Harlaw Academy S2 and S3 pupils had visited Rwanda for the Rwandan School Village Project.  A blog had been set up for the visit and this could be accessed through the School’s website.  As part of the trip, pupils would visit schools and churches in the area.  Special thanks and congratulations were given to Eileen Hunter, Helen Taylor and the pupils for their efforts.

Early Years Change Fund - Dr Suzanne Zeedyk has been delivering innovative attachment training during April and May to nearly 4000 staff and foster carers across the city.  The voluntary and private sectors, education, health and social work were represented as well as those who work with children from pre-birth and their parents/ carers.

Oldmachar Out of School Care Club – The Club received scores of 6 (Excellent) across the board in their recent Care Inspectorate inspection. The Care Inspectorate Officer stated that it was a well-run, child-led club where the children were at the centre of the care provided by the staff team.

Hazlewood School – The Committee heard that the School was flourishing after the fire which occurred in the school grounds on 20 April.  Due to the support of Northsound Radio Cash for Kids, Aker Solutions, Deeside Log Cabins and a variety of local businesses and trades people, the garden and outdoor classroom would soon be re-opened.  Help had also been provided from school communities including Kincorth Academy Eco Committee, Airyhall School and St Joseph’s School.

Greenbrae on Wheels Event – This had been held on 8/9 May 2013 and had been organised by the Greenbrae Primary 7 pupils.  They had participated in a sponsored cycle using the new cycle paths around the community – a collaborative initiative with NESTRANS and Aberdeen City Council.  On 10 May, pupils had also organised an orienteering event for pupils, parents and the local community.  The winners’ prizes had included a framed signed photo of Neil Fachie, the Gold and Silver Paralympian winner who had been a pupil at Greenbrae School.  The events raised more than £1200, and this would be used to fund a P7 ASG leavers’ event as well as resources for the school.

Luke Purdie, Special Olympics World Winter Games 2013 – The Committee heard that Luke Purdie, a former pupil at Bucksburn Academy ASN Wing, had been selected as a member of the 7-strong GB alpine ski team which participated in the Special Olympics World Winter Games in South Korea in January 2013.  He had skied very well and had come fourth in one of his events.  The Committee noted his excellent performance and positive attitude.

Promotion of Doric / Gaelic Languages - Aberdeen City Council teamed up with its twin city Regensburg, in Bavaria, to help promote the Doric and Gaelic languages in Germany.  A delegation from Aberdeen travelled to Regensburg last month to introduce guests to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 2.

Prior to considering the matters before it, the Committee resolved in terms of Section 50(A)(4) of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, to exclude the press and public from the meeting for article 21 so as to avoid disclosure of exempt information of the class described in paragraph 6 of Schedule 7(A) to the Act.

The Committee had before it the minute of its previous meeting of 28 March 2013.

The Committee resolved:-

to approve the minute as a correct record.

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 5 (Move to a Cultural Trust), to note that the Council was still in positive discussion with the University of Aberdeen, and was looking at ways in which projects could be jointly delivered, and that officers would report back to Committee in more detail in September;

(ii)               also in relation to item 5, to request that officers consider re-titling the item on the business statement to more accurately reflect the discussions, and the fact that a cultural trust was not currently being pursued;

(iii)             in relation to item 13 (Sistema Scotland), to note that discussion was ongoing with Sistema and that more detail on the content of the business plan could be provided at the Committee in September;

(iv)              to remove items 8 (Audit of Community Learning and Development and Library Provision) and 10 (Community Centres – Current Issues) from the business statement, subject to the decisions taken later at Committee;  and

(v)                to otherwise note the updates provided.

With reference to article 10 of the minute of its previous meeting, the Committee had before it a report by the Head of Finance which advised members of the current year revenue budget to date for the Service, and outlined any areas of risk and the management action being taken in this regard.

The report recommended –

that the Committee –

(a)        consider and note the report and the information on management action and risks contained therein;  and

(b)        instruct that officers report the year end position to the appropriate Committee.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)                 to request that officers provide Members with information on the number of children in out of authority placements;  and

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

With reference to article 11 of the minute of its previous meeting, the Committee had before it a report by the Director of Enterprise, Planning and Infrastructure which detailed the capital spend to date for Service projects included within the non housing capital plan, and provided an update on the new projects included within the five year capital programme.

The report recommended –

that the Committee note the current position and legally committed carry forwards.

The Committee resolved:-

to approve the recommendation contained in the report..

With reference to article 16 of the minute of its meeting of 31 January 2013, the Committee had before it a report by the Director of Education, Culture and Sport, which provided a summary of performance data and service plan actions to 31 March 2013, as well as the most recent service wide performance indicators from the Education, Culture and Sport Directorate.

Further information on the SQA Post Appeals analysis for 2011-2012 and the Community Planning Partnership School Leaver Destination February 2013 report was appended to the performance report.

The report recommended –

that the Committee approve the Education, Culture and Sport Service performance report for the period to 31 March 2013 and note the progress towards service plan actions.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)                 in relation to the problems with the main lift in the Central Library having been unavailable since the start of the year, to note that the entire lift required to be replaced, and that officers expected that work to repair the lift would commence in June;

(ii)               to request that officers keep Members updated on progress with the lift repair via email;

(iii)             in relation to the number of visits to / usages of Council funded or part funded museums, to request that officers identify how the representation of the figures could be amended to reflect the impact of the closure of Provost Skene’s House;

(iv)              also in relation to the number of visits to museums, to note that officers had other arrangements in place to mitigate the closure of Provost Skene’s, and to request that future performance reports include figures to reflect whether or not these new arrangements were having the desired effect;

(v)                in relation to the number of non-pool attendances for Aberdeen Sports Village, to request that officers provide information in future reports on the breakdown of usage by community, for example, the regeneration areas of the city;

(vi)              in relation to the number of issues from libraries, to note that although there had been a drop in issues, that libraries were undertaking a variety of other activities and services which were not reflected in the statistics, and to request that officers investigate how these other achievements could be reflected in future performance reports;  and

(vii)            to approve the recommendation contained in the report.

The Committee had before it a report by the Director of Education, Culture and Sport which provided information on the Roots of Empathy Programme which had been running in the Northfield area, and update members on the outcome of an evaluation of the programme which had been undertaken by the North Lanarkshire Psychological Service.  The report sought Committee endorsement to roll the programme out to other schools in the city.

The report recommended –

that the Committee –

(a)       note the progress of the programme in Aberdeen to date;

(b)       note the positive evaluation of the programme in North Lanarkshire;

(c)        instruct officers to roll the initiative out to further schools in Aberdeen in the St Machar and Torry ASGs;  and

(d)       instruct officers to identify a suitable budget source for the backfill costs.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)         to request that officers circulate information on the cost of the licence fees to Members of the Committee;  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 outlined the updated Aberdeen Play Policy.  The report advised that the policy took account of recent local, national and international developments including the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, and interpreted the information to provide a context for the provision and development of high quality play spaces and opportunities for all children in Aberdeen.

The report recommended –

that the Committee

(a)       approve the contents of the Aberdeen Play Policy document and agree and endorse the vision, priorities and principles enshrined within it;  and

(b)       note the intention of Aberdeen Play Forum, in partnership with other agencies, to arrange a launch of Aberdeen Play Policy at Duthie Park on 21 June 2013.

The Committee resolved:-

to approve the recommendations contained in the report.

The Committee had before it a report by the Director of Education, Culture and Sport which provided an update on the ongoing work to audit the provision of Community Learning and Development, and Library and Information Services within Aberdeen.

The report recommended –

that the Committee –

(a)       note the ongoing work in relation to the complex and comprehensive project;

(b)       in relation to the asset review, confirm that the initial baseline assumption was that the overall level of provision of library and community facilities within the city remains static, and the project should seek to utilise weightings to assess whether the current provision is in the appropriate places;

(c)        in relation to the asset review, to instruct officers to develop weightings which take into consideration the needs of the community including demographics, space within schools, SIMD levels, and projected population growth;  and

(d)       following on from the initial modelling based on the current level of provision, instruct officers to run the model based on variations of current provision according to benchmarking, and report back to Committee on the outcomes of this modelling.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)         to note that officers would run workshops for Elected Members which would explain the weighting methods to be used in more detail, and to request that these workshop sessions be offered to all Elected Members, and to all external members of the Education, Culture and Sport Committee;  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 advised Committee of the proposed Scottish Statutory Instrument: ‘The Requirements of Community Learning and Development (Scotland) Regulations 2013’; set out the consultation response which had been provided by officers; and outlined some of the implications to the Council of the new legislation.

The report recommended –

that the Committee –

(i)         to note the anticipated requirements that the forthcoming legislation would place on Aberdeen City Council;  and

(ii)        to request a further report on the implications of the legislation once it is enacted.

The Committee resolved:-

to approve the recommendations contained in the report.

The Committee had before it a report by the Director of Education, Culture and Sport in relation to an exemption from the Standing Orders relating to contracts and procurement in respect of Service Level Agreements for some of the external organisations which currently provided community learning and development services commissioned by the Council.

The report recommended –

that the Committee note the decision, under Standing Order 1(6)(b) of the Standing Orders Relating to Contracts and Procurement, to provide an exemption from the requirement that no contract shall be entered into unless the total estimated expenditure has been previously approved by the Council (Standing Order 1(3)) which was granted in order to allow the continued funding of community learning and development services from the following organisations: WEA; Aberdeen Lads Club; Printfield Project; Fersands and Fountain Community Project; Middlefield Project; and St Machar Parent Support Project (the “Funded Projects”).

The Committee resolved:-

to approve the recommendation contained in the report.

With reference to article 10 of the minute of its meeting of 22 November 2012, the Committee had before it a report by the Director of Education, Culture and Sport which provided an update on the current position in relation to a number of community centres across the city including those moving to leased centre status, namely Froghall Community Centre and Cummings Park and Henry Rae Community Centres.

The report recommended –

that the Committee –

(a)       note the update provided in the report;

(b)       note, in respect of Leased Community Centres with long term old style leases currently in place, that officers intend to formally write to the affected Management Committees to ask that they voluntarily move onto the new lease and Management Agreement;

(c)        note that officers would report back to the next Education, Culture and Sport Committee on the responses received from these Management Committees;

(d)       in respect of Froghall Community Centre, instruct officers to progress with the proposal submitted by St Stephen's Church for an initial period of one year while the Community Asset review is ongoing;  and

(e)       agree, in respect of Cummings Park and Henry Rae Community Centres, to take no action regarding the amalgamating of both community programmes into a single building at this time and to consider the future of both buildings as part of the ongoing community asset review (subject to any decisions relating to the report on this agenda about Henry Rae Community Centre).

The Committee resolved:-

(i)         to request that officers ask the St Stephen’s Church and Sunnybank groups if they would be prepared to share the detail of their submissions with the Committee, and if so, to request that officers provide this information to Members;

(ii)        to thank the volunteers at Froghall Community Centre for all their hard work to date;  and

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

With reference to article 16 of the minute of its meeting of 20 September 2013, the Committee had before it a report by the Director of Education, Culture and Sport which provided an update on the availability of a suitable site for the location of the school for children and young people with severe and complex needs, and sought approval to progress with the necessary arrangements to deliver the school within the Bucksburn Farm site.

The report recommended –

that the Committee note the availability of land at the Bucksburn Farm site and endorse this as the preferred site for the new school.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)         to commend officers in both Education, Culture and Sport and Asset Management for their work to identify a location for the school;  and

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

With reference to article 12 of the minute of its meeting of 23 February 2012, the Committee had before it a report by the Director of Education, Culture and Sport which set out the result of the naming process which had been undertaken for the replacement school for Bucksburn and Newhills Schools and sought formal endorsement of the proposed new name.

The report advised that following consultation with parents, staff, pupils and other stakeholders, the preferred name had been identified as Brimmond School.

The report recommended –

that the Committee note the outcome of the consultation process and formally endorse the name of the new school as Brimmond School, to take effect on establishment of the new school in August 2013.

The Committee resolved:-

to approve the recommendation contained in the report.

DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

Councillor Cameron declared an interest in the following item of business as a Board member of Peacock Visual Arts Ltd. and left the meeting during consideration of the matter.  Councillors Crockett and Malik also declared interests in the following item of business as Board members of Peacock Visual Arts Ltd., but did not consider that the nature of their interests required them to leave the meeting.

Councillor Boulton declared an interest having been appointed by the Council to the Board of Aberdeen Performing Arts but chose to remain in the meeting as Aberdeen Performing Arts had a specific exclusion in terms of the Councillors’ Code of Conduct.

The Committee had before it a report by the Director of Education, Culture and Sport which presented recommendations for cultural awards which fell into the ‘Aspire’ category; funding requests over £10,000; and the further allocation of grant funding to support a range of initiatives to improve the cultural infrastructure of the city.

The report recommended –

that the Committee –

(a)       agree the allocation of cultural awards to the total value of £105,909 as set out in Appendix 1 of the report;

(b)       agree the allocation of £10,000 of the balance of funds to provide opportunities for the programming of 17, the UK City bid hub in Belmont Street;  and

(c)        agree the allocation of £15,000 as match funding for Council applications to the Creative Scotland investment programme for 2013/2014.

The Committee resolved:-

to approve the recommendations contained in the report.

The Committee had before it a report by the Director of Education, Culture and Sport which set out an application for financial assistance from the Grampian Institute of Sport in respect of a Performance Coach Development Programme, and match funding for the Council application to Event Scotland for the Games for Scotland.

The report recommended –

that the Committee –

(a)       consider the application from the Grampian Institute of Sport and approve the recommended funding award of £8,000;  and

(b)       agree the allocation of £5,000 as match funding for the Council application to Event Scotland to deliver an event on 23 July 2013 in Duthie Park to mark one year to go until the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games.

The Committee resolved:-

to approve the recommendations contained in the report.

DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

Councillor Cameron declared a personal interest in the following item of business due to his granddaughter being a member of Aberdeen Dolphin Swimming Club and withdrew from the meeting during consideration of the item.

Councillor Boulton declared an interest as a Council appointed Board member of Sport Aberdeen but chose to remain in the meeting as Sport Aberdeen had a specific exclusion in terms of the Councillors’ Code of Conduct.

The Committee had before it a report by the Director of Education, Culture and Sport which sought formal endorsement of a set of core policy principles around the management of swimming pool water in Aberdeen.

The report recommended –

that the Committee –

(a)       agree as Council policy the set of Water Management Principles as set out within section 5.4 of the report;

(b)       endorse the vision for water management as set out in the report;

(c)        instruct officers to develop an aquatics strategy for Aberdeen and develop an associated action plan;

(d)       instruct officers to negotiate with Sport Aberdeen the return of the budget  allocated for P4 Swimming to Aberdeen City Council, so that a procurement process can take place to deliver the core principle that “every child in Aberdeen is supported to achieve the Scotland Safe Swimming award by the end of primary school”;  and

(e)       note the ongoing consultation process with swimming clubs in relation to the core principle that “different stages in the swimming development pathway (learn to swim through to performance swimming) are delivered by the appropriate delivery vehicle”.

The Committee resolved:-

to approve the recommendations contained in the report.

The Committee had before it a report by the Director of Education, Culture and Sport which provided an update on the progress of the re-opening of Tullos Swimming Pool and sought formal approval for Sport Aberdeen to manage the pool.

The report recommended –

that the Committee –

(a)       note the progress of the Tullos Pool Project;

(b)       note that Sport Aberdeen were currently preparing a business plan that included setting out the financial implications of providing this facility;

(c)        agree that Sport Aberdeen would be responsible for the management and operation of this facility contingent upon receipt of an acceptable business plan;

(d)       provide delegated powers to the Head of Finance, Head of Legal and Democratic Services, and Head of Culture, Communities and Sport, in consultation with the Convenors and Vice Convenors of Education, Culture and Sport, and Finance and Resources Committees, to provide funding up to a maximum of £50,000 to Sport Aberdeen for the initial operation of this facility on the receipt of a robust and acceptable business plan, and the conclusion of a Minute of Variation to the main Sport Aberdeen Funding and Services Agreement and provision of a licence to occupy for this facility;  and

(e)       instruct officers to bring forward the full year’s financial implications for this facility to the Education, Culture and Sport Committee when this information was forthcoming from Sport Aberdeen.

The Committee resolved:-

to approve the recommendations contained in the report.

MATTER OF URGENCY

The Convener intimated that she had directed in terms of Section 50(B)(4)(b) of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 and in accordance with Standing Orders, that the following report be considered as a matter of urgency in order that a timely decision could be taken in relation to the Rubislaw Field Agreement.

With reference to article 4 of the minute of its meeting of 31 January 2013, the Committee had before it a report by the Director of Education, Culture and Sport which provided an update on the ongoing discussions at the Rubislaw Field Committee in relation to a new Field Agreement to replace the existing 1923 version.  The report advised that at the January meeting of the Committee, officers had been tasked with making further efforts to obtain the agreement of the Field Committee to implement a revised Agreement.  Officers had also been asked to seek details of the finances and sports development contributions of the various sections of the Aberdeen Grammar Former Pupils’ Club (FP Club) and to advise on the financial implications to the Council, in order that a balanced view of the overall financial contributions and implications could be presented to the Education, Culture and Sport Committee.

Appended to the report were the minutes from the two meetings of the Rubislaw Field Committee that had been held since the January meeting of the Education, Culture and Sport Committee, and the financial information which had been provided by the Council and the FP Club.

The report recommended –

that the Committee –

(a)       note the current position, that the Rubislaw Field Committee had been unable to reach agreement on replacing the existing 1923 Agreement for the reasons outlined in the report and the appended minutes;

(b)       note the requested information provided, as available;

(c)        note the previous recommendation that if agreement could not be reached, officers be instructed to issue Conditions of Let restricted to the terms of the existing 1923 Agreement with effect from 31st March, thereby preventing any additional, unauthorised usage from that date;  and

(d)       instruct officers to issue Conditions of Let restricted to the terms of the existing 1923 Agreement with effect from the new school session, thereby preventing any additional, unauthorised usage from that date.

The Convener, seconded by Councillor Crockett, moved an amended set of recommendations, namely:-

To approve recommendations (a) to (c), and to add recommendation (d) to instruct officers to issue Conditions of Let restricted to the terms of the existing 1923 Agreement with effect from the new school session, thereby preventing any additional, unauthorised usage from that date.

Councillor Greig, seconded by Mr Nicoll, moved as an amendment:-

In order to inform future decisions, to agree that the Rubislaw Field Committee will consider and agree the relative contribution of the Former Pupils Club to sport at Rubislaw Field with a report back to the next meeting of the Education, Culture and Sport Committee.

On a division, there voted:- for the motion (12) – the Convener; Councillors Boulton, Carle, Cooney, Crockett, Lesley Dunbar, Forsyth, Malik, Jean Morrison MBE and Taylor; and Mr Duncan and Mr Paul; for the amendment (12) – Councillors Cameron, Greig, May, McCaig, Noble, Samarai, Stuart and Townson; and Mr Maclean, Mr Nicoll, Mrs Tree and Mrs Wischik.  Absent from the division – Councillor  ...  view the full minutes text for item 21.

In accordance with the decision taken at article 2 of this minute, the press and public were excluded from the meeting for consideration of the following item of business.

With reference to article 17 of the minute of its meeting of 22 November 2012, the Committee had before it a report by the Director of Education, Culture and Sport which advised Committee of the outcome of a recent internal audit review on record keeping for cash and expenditure at one of the Community Centres.

The report recommended –

that the Committee –

(a)       note the findings of the Internal Audit review;

(b)       note that the Management Committee had yet to put in place systems to improve the financial situation, despite significant support from Council officers;

(c)        instruct officers to continue to provide support to the Management Committee, to include officer attendance at all Management Committee meetings in an advisory capacity, to enable them to develop and improve their financial and governance systems;

(d)       instruct officers to put in place a Licence to Occupy arrangement along the lines of the standard Lease and Management Agreement on a month by month basis;

(e)       instruct officers to release the Development Grant to the Management Committee on a pro-rata monthly basis, conditional upon the Management Committee meeting the Council’s Following the Public Pound guidelines; meeting on a monthly basis; and putting in place improvements to their financial and governance systems;  and

(f)         in the event that the Management Committee fail to implement the necessary improvements, to instruct officers to cease the Licence to Occupy arrangements with the Management Committee, and relocate or provide key holder access to the existing programmes/ lets, until such time as the Libraries and Information Services and Community Learning & Development Audit is complete, and the recommendations falling from that project were implemented.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)         to request that the Director of Education, Culture and Sport write to all Community Centres to remind them of the Council’s policies in relation to the matters outlined at Section 5.1 of the report;  and

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

- JENNIFER LAING, Convener