Agenda and minutes

The Convener paid tribute to Councillor May who had stepped down from his role as Convener of the Education, Culture and Sport Committee.  He stated that Councillor May could be immensely proud of the work he had undertaken in the role, and noted that he would be a hard act to follow.  He thanked Councillor May for his motivation and encouragement.

The Vice-Convener also thanked Councillor May for his excellent leadership, the huge amount of personal experience he had brought to the role, and his dedication over the years to the education service.

On behalf of the Labour Group, Councillor Laing thanked Councillor May for all he had done for the Committee whilst in the role of Convener.  She stated that he had dealt with all Members in a fair and even handed manner, and noted that she looked forward to debating with him at future meetings.

Councillor Kevin Stewart stated that Councillor May had always fought for education, culture and sport and that his heart was always with what was best for the children of the city.  He noted that Councillor May would continue to play a huge role in the education of the children of Aberdeen.

CouncillorWisely concurred with Councillor Kevin Stewart’s statement and said that she felt that Councillor May had always performed his role excellently.

CouncillorBoulton stated that she felt she had always had a good relationship with Councillor May and thanked him for his time as Convener.

Councillor Collie advised the Committee that he had known Councillor May for many years, as they had previously worked together at Sunnybank School and reiterated the comments made by the other Members.

Councillor May thanked the Committee for their comments and stated that it had been an honour and a privilege to be a Convener, firstly for Area Committee Central and then the Education, Culture and Sport Committee.  He thanked all Members of the Committee and noted that he had been very fortunate to have the advice and support of the officers in Education, Culture and Sport and Legal and Democratic Services during his time as Convener.

Members are requested to resolve that the business listed under item 8.1 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 15 of this minute be considered with the press and public excluded so as to avoid disclosure of exempt information of the class described in paragraph 6 of Schedule 7(A) of the Act.

The Committee resolved:-

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

The Committee was advised that, in accordance with Standing Order 10, a request for a deputation had been received from Mr. Paul O’Connor in relation to item 6.3 on the agenda (Operation of the Community Learning Hub at Kaimhill Primary School).

The Committee resolved:-

to hear the deputation prior to the consideration of item 6.3.

The Committee had before it the minute of its previous meeting of
18 November 2010.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)         in relation to article 16 (Review of Kaimhill Transport), to note that the Monitoring Officer was in possession of all the necessary files to progress the investigation and would report back to the appropriate Committee in the next cycle;

(ii)        in relation to article 17, recommendation (iii) (Provision for Children with Additional Supports Needs – Cordyce), to note that Members had yet to receive the update on the development of the site of the former Choices Day Centre, and to request that officers from both Education, Culture and Sport and Social Care and Wellbeing circulate the information to all Members of the Committee;

(iii)       in relation to article 24 (Committee Business Statement and Motions List – Tullos Swimming Pool), to note that work had commenced on the Water Management Plan; that a survey had been issued to swimming clubs; and that a briefing would be provided to local Members following a meeting to be held with all parties on 14 February 2011;

(iv)       in relation to article 25 (Belmont Media Centre), to note that a report would go before Committee at its meeting on 24 March 2011 to advise on the outcome of the tender process;  and

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

The Committee had before it, by way of a referral from the Corporate Policy and Performance Committee of 25 November 2010, a report by the Director of Corporate Governance.  The report provided an update and proposals for developing local collaborative planning initiatives aimed at saving money in the future, through the development of a joined up service approach which would more effectively address and prevent the long term costs associated with the failure to solve complex social problems.  It was proposed that the focal theme for the first initiative should be “Raising Educational Attainment and Achievement in the Northfield, Cummings Park, Middlefield and Heathryfold neighbourhoods”, while further initiatives would focus on the themes of community safety, older people and care services.

The report advised that Total Place projects were designed to tackle the current major challenge for the public sector of doing “more with less”.  As the initial project would focus on educational attainment, it was proposed to submit a follow-up report to the Education, Culture and Sport Committee which would provide detail on how the project would be progressed at the local level and information on any resource considerations which might require to be addressed.  The Corporate Policy and Performance Committee had resolved, amongst other things:-

(i)         to refer the report to the Education, Culture and Sport Committee for information;  and

(ii)        to note that a further report providing specific detail on how the initiative would be delivered would be submitted to that Committee.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)         to request that officers take cognisance of ongoing work in Nottingham on early intervention;

(ii)        to request a report back on progress with Total Place and Community Signature work in Torry;  and

(iii)       to otherwise note the report.

The Committee had before it a report by the Director of Education, Culture and Sport and the Head of Finance which detailed the performance to date in relation to the Education, Culture and Sport capital and revenue budgets and advised on any areas of risk which could require management action.

The report advised that there were 37 approved savings for 2010/2011 which totalled £8,500,000 and that the service was on target to achieve most of those savings.  In relation to the saving of £810,000 proposed for Directorate and operational staff costs, it was noted that work was ongoing to identify the exact savings which would be generated in relation to staffing.

The report further noted that there had been a double count of savings totalling £400,000 between Enterprise, Planning and Infrastructure and Education, Culture and Sport in relation to facilities.  It had been agreed that any catering deficit would be retained by Enterprise, Planning and Infrastructure which meant that a saving of £350,000 required to be made by Education, Culture and Sport.  The report advised that this saving would be achieved.

It was noted that the current forecast revenue outturn was for an overspend of £550,000; a significant reduction on the previous forecast of £1,800,000.  This had been achieved as a result of an additional £600,000 of budget provision to meet energy costs, and the identification of savings elsewhere within the service’s budget.

In relation to Out of Authority Placements, the report advised that based on current figures there was likely to be an overspend of £960,000, and that the Education, Culture and Sport element of this combined budget with Social Care and Wellbeing was anticipated to be overcommitted by £380,000.  It was noted that management action had been taken to identify alternative savings to mitigate the overspend.

The delay in the transfer of facilities to Sport Aberdeen had also had an impact on projected savings, and the report noted that the full year savings were now projected to be £230,000 less than anticipated as a result.  It was expected that £670,000 of savings would be achieved in 2010/11.

In relation to the teachers’ long term absence budget, the report advised that there was a potential overspend of £500,000 against a budget of £1,400,000.  It was noted that this figure did not merely reflect sickness costs, but also covered a wide range of absences, including maternity leave.  Savings had been identified within other teaching budgets to offset the overspend within the current financial year.

Detailed information in relation to progress on the various Education, Culture and Sport budget savings for 2010/11 was appended to the report.

The report recommended:-

(a)       that the Committee note the report and the information on management action and risks that was contained therein;  and

(b)       that the Committee instruct officers to continue to review budget performance and report on Service strategies.

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 presented a summary of performance data to November 2010 for the Education, Culture and Sport Service.  The report now included Service performance against the key priorities set out in the Education, Culture and Sport Interim Service Plan 2010-2013.

Appended to the report were HMIe follow through reports from December 2010 on both the Education Service and the Educational Psychology Service; the Education, Culture and Sport Service Plan balanced scorecard; Neighbourhood Community Action Plan achievements from March to September 2010; leaver destinations for 2009/10; Adult Learning achievements from January to June 2010; and an update on Closing the Gap.

The report recommended:-

(a)       that Committee approve the Service performance report for November 2010;

(b)       that Committee approve the progress against impact measures, outcomes and actions as set out in the Education, Culture and Sport Service plan; and

(c)        that Committee note plans to develop reports further, to include the risk register for the Education, Culture and Sport Service within the next performance report and to invite comments and feedback from elected members.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)         to note that several of the actions in the performance report which had been taken from the service improvement plan would not commence until 2011/12 and therefore to note that officers would incorporate start and end dates for these targets in future reports;

(ii)        in relation to the indicator for the collective monthly number of attendances at pools, and particularly those for Tullos and Walker Road Schools, to request that officers establish if lessons for children were captured in the data as a group booking and pass the information to Councillor Allan;

(iii)       in relation to indicator ECS-SP07.02b (improve the engagement, involvement and achievement of the City’s looked after children as part of our corporate parenting role), to request that officers prioritise putting a measure against this indicator due to its importance, and to note that officers would report to a future Committee on this issue;

(iv)       in relation to indicator ECS-SP07.02c (Identification and Support of Young Carers), to note that this would be a priority area to be included in the next performance report;

(v)        in relation to appendix 3 (Neighbourhood Community Action Plan Achievements), to note that officers would investigate whether it would be possible to report back directly through the Community Planning process to elected members on their particular ward areas;

(vi)       in relation to appendix 4 (Leaver Destinations for 2009/10),  (a)  to note with concern that the proportion of young people classified as unemployed and seeking employment was slightly higher than the national average;  (b)  to request a report back with an analysis of the cause and what action could be taken to address the issue; and  (c)  to request that the report include information on those unemployed and not seeking employment;

(vii)      in relation to appendix 4, to note that information had been omitted from the paragraph  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

Please note that this is a replacement report from what was originally uploaded, due to an omitted word in the first paragraph under section 3.

(A)       Deputation

As agreed at the start of the meeting (article 3 refers), the Committee heard from Mr Paul O’Connor on behalf of Inchgarth Community Centre.  Mr O’Connor advised that he managed Inchgarth and was also involved in other projects in the Garthdee area.  He referred to the decision of the Committee in May 2010 that Inchgarth manage the Kaimhill building, and the current financial situation which he said dictated that new ways of working be found.  He said that since the decision, he felt that it had not been an easy process for Inchgarth and that in his opinion there had been many obstacles which negated democracy and impacted on their work.  He stated that Inchgarth had a proven record of success.  He noted that the decision of the Committee in May should have referred to Inchgarth managing the programme at the hub and not the building itself, and that as a result, the report before Committee for consideration reflected the management of the building, rather than the programme.  Mr O’Connor advised that Inchgarth had held meetings with Kaimhill in relation to opportunities for young people to become involved in community learning.

He queried the 2,700 non core hours mentioned in the report and stated that he felt 720 hours was more accurate.  He stated that he understood that the Council had to recover the unitary charge but proposed a compromise in this regard, and queried the level of revenue generated by other 3Rs schools.  He suggested that a partnership could offset the unitary charge.  In relation to the report recommendations, he stated that he was in complete disagreement that there should be a Service Level Agreement (SLA) put in place between Inchgarth and the Council, and stressed that no other community centre had an SLA with the Council.  He advised that he was happy for there to be a management agreement but that the Council should not expect Inchgarth to be part of an SLA.

In relation to Inchgarth being required to generate revenue, Mr O’Connor stated that as a result of the Aberdeen College delivered tutors and community learning workers, there was no revenue to consider.  He felt that there were also no legal implications in relation to personnel issues.  Mr O’Connor noted that the report gave Community Learning and Development (CLD) and the Harlaw Learning Partnership control of the programme, which he felt was in contradiction to the Committee decision made in May, and meant that CLD workers could not focus on the work they should be doing.  He again stressed that Inchgarth had a proven track record and noted that they would be happy to work with the Harlaw Learning Partnership.  He advised that any perceived barriers would not be an issue, and that the community learning workers were delighted to work with Inchgarth.  He requested that Inchgarth be given the opportunity to honour the task at hand and stated that they wanted to negotiate non core hours income sharing with other services.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

With reference to article 5 of the minute of the meeting of the Culture and Leisure Trust Shareholder Monitoring Working Group of 1 November 2010, the Committee had before it a report which outlined football projects directly supported by Aberdeen City Council, namely, the Aberdeen Secondary Schools Football Association; the Dons in the Community programme, the Aberdeen International Football Festival; and the Street Sport programme.  The report advised that although these projects received funding from the Council, there were also many other football related projects delivered across the city, such as an extensive schools football programme at both primary and secondary level; a youth club structure run through the Aberdeen and District Juvenile Football Association; and a range of amateur and junior leagues.

In addition, Aberdeen benefitted from a wide range of projects funded and delivered by the Scottish Football Association, including a club development programme; midnight leagues; disability football, coach education; girls’ and women’s football programmes and work within schools.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)         to request that officers contact the Scottish Football Association and Active Schools and thereafter provide Councillor Boulton with the programme for the level 1 teaching course;

(ii)        in relation to appendix 2 of the report and the participation by two national teams, to note that only one national team (the Faroe Islands) was listed and to clarify to Councillor Yuill whether this was correct, or if not, to provide information on the second national team that had participated;  and

(iii)       to otherwise note the content of the report.

The Committee had before it a report by the Director of Education, Culture and Sport which detailed two applications for financial assistance received from sports organisations.  The report advised that if the funding were to be approved, there would be £26,801.90 available for sports grants for the remainder of the financial year.

The report outlined that the first application had been received from Grampian Orienteers, a volunteer-led sports club which aimed to increase the awareness of the fun and benefits which could be derived from orienteering.  Funding was sought to support a project which would promote and increase the number of opportunities for participation in orienteering; raise the profile of orienteering in Aberdeen, particularly amongst young people; develop partnerships with community groups; build capacity within the club to take orienteering into the community; and broaden the pool of volunteers to support the sport in Aberdeen.  The first phase of the project was to expand the club’s range of parks and school grounds in Aberdeen to facilitate new links with community groups.  The project would also introduce orienteering into schools by providing school maps and training active school coordinators and / or school staff to deliver orienteering.  The report advised that the cost of the project was £4,000, of which £2,000 had already been raised by the club.

The second application was from Aberdeen Dolphin Swimming Club in support of the annual Mitchell Trophy.  The report advised that the Mitchell Trophy was a two day regional swimming gala hosted by the club which attracted over 270 swimmers from across Scotland.  The event was held at the Aquadome in Inverness and the application was to cover costs related to travel and pool hire.  The report advised that the overall cost of the event was estimated to be £8,600, and the application sought £4,300 towards the cost.  It was however recommended that £2,700 of funding be approved as the remaining amount requested related to accommodation and meals for all clubs and officials from across Scotland participating in the event, and this was not viewed as suitable for support due to the significant investment the club already received through entry fees.

Appended to the report was a breakdown of sports grant funding awarded in the financial year 2010/11.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)         to award funding of £2,000 to Grampian Orienteers; and

(ii)        to award funding of £2,700 to Aberdeen Dolphin Swimming Club.

With reference to article 21 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 provided an update on the progress of the implementation of the bookings and lettings review.

The report set out the implementation to date and advised that there had been some delay in confirming lets due to the letting team not receiving applications for after school programmes, school activities and community education programmes before the end of the school term.  Other delays had been because in some cases, applicants had to consider and visit alternative venues.  There had also been delays in confirming janitorial cover.  However, over 25% more applications had been processed than in previous years, with the majority confirmed by the end of August 2010.  Those not confirmed by this date were mainly as a result of the applicant’s first choice being unavailable or because the let was not scheduled to start until later in the year.  Some groups had commented on the increased charges, particularly those who used a larger number of rooms within schools.  These groups were in the process of reviewing whether they could operate more efficiently using fewer rooms, and the report advised that where this did not prove possible, officers would advise groups that they could potentially apply for grants to support their activities.

In relation to the outstanding elements of the review, it was noted that officers were discussing a number of options to resolve the issue of an electronic leisure management system, particularly the lack of finance available to support the considerable cost.  A report was to be presented to the February meeting of the Finance and Resources Committee setting out options for using the Accord Card as proof of eligibility for a preferential charge for a range of services, including lettings.  Facilities Management were developing options to provide cover for evening and weekend lets and these would be presented to the Committee in due course for consideration.  Officers had also worked on reviewing the rationale for groups receiving free lets via the Corporate Budget held by Corporate Governance, and it was noted that a report would be presented to a future meeting of the Committee on this matter.  Finally, a report would also be produced on the review of the Access to Leisure Scheme to ensure that it was achieving its objectives.

The report recommended:-

that the Committee note the progress being made in implementing the bookings and lettings review.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)         to request that officers provide Councillor Kevin Stewart with information on why £116,000 had been budgeted for overtime following the decisions taken as part of the Equal Pay and Modernisation process;

(ii)        to request that officers provide the North East Pipe Band with information on any funding opportunities which might be available; and

(iii)       to otherwise note the report.

With reference to article 15 of the minute of its previous meeting, the Committee heard from Mr David Leng, Head of Schools and Educational Establishments, who advised that the buses provided were still well used, with four buses used at the start of the day and three at the end.  He reported that seven letters had been sent to parents about pupil behaviour on the buses.  It was expected that the new school would be completed in late February and would open on 22 April 2011.  He noted that there had been a number of problems with the provision of transport in December and January due to the weather and issues with the supply of transport from the bus company.  This had been reported to the Contract Monitoring Officer at the Public Transport Unit and damages had been received from the company.  He acknowledged the efforts made by staff to work around the difficulties.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)         to request that officers advise members of the extent of the financial penalty which had been applied to the contractor; and

(ii)        to otherwise note the update provided.

With reference to article 13 of the minute of its meeting of 27 May 2010, the Committee had before it a revised version of the Aberdeen City policy on the Schools (Health Promotion and Nutrition) (Scotland) Act 2007 for approval.

The report advised that the Scottish Government Act 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 policy which had been presented to Committee for approval in May 2010.  Following comments made at that meeting, the policy had been amended and the revised version was therefore presented to Committee for approval.

Appended to the report was a briefing paper on health and wellbeing across Aberdeen City schools, as well as a table showing the level of accreditation achieved by each school.  The report also included a selection of case studies which highlighted the good practice across primary, secondary and special schools in Aberdeen in implementing the Schools (Health Promotion and Nutrition) (Scotland) Act 2007.

The Committee resolved:-

to approve the revised policy.

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)                 to remove item 7 (Catering Services) from the business statement as a report on the matter had been considered earlier in the meeting and would be referred to Corporate Policy and Performance as requested;

(ii)               to remove item 8 (Analysis of Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation) from the business statement as information on closing the gap would now be regularly included as part of the Directorate performance report; 

(iii)             to remove item 14 (Football Funding in the City), as a report had been considered on this matter earlier in the meeting;  and

(iv)              to otherwise note the updates provided.

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

DECLARATION OF INTEREST

            Prior to the consideration of the following item, Councillor Jennifer Stewart declared an interest in the matter by reason of her appointment to the Board of Aberdeen Performing Arts.  Councillor Stewart withdrew from the meeting prior to consideration of the matter and took no part in the deliberations thereon.

PROPOSED REDEVELOPMENT OF THE MUSIC HALL – ECS/10/092

15.             The Committee had before it a report by the Director of Education, Culture and Sport which provided members with an overview of the proposed redevelopment of the Music Hall.

The report outlined the financial implications of the proposal, and advised that a report would be presented to Committee in March which outlined the Council’s cultural priorities for the duration of the five year business plan and would include the redevelopment of the Music Hall amongst the other cultural priorities which required to be considered.

The report recommended:-

(a)       that the Committee note the content of the report;

(b)       that the Committee instruct Aberdeen Performing Arts to present a detailed financial model and business plan which outlined the financial and resource commitment requested from Aberdeen City Council; and

(c)        that the Committee instruct officers to consider the implications of supporting this development within the context of the City Council’s cultural priorities, priority based budgeting and the five year costed business plan, and to report to the March Education, Culture and Sport Committee with recommendations resulting from these considerations.

The Committee resolved:-

to approve the recommendations contained within the report.

- CALLUM MCCAIG, Convener.