Agenda and minutes

The Convener welcomed Patricia Cassidy, who had recently taken up post as Head of Communities, Culture and Sport, and noted that he looked forward to working with her on the Education, Culture and Sport Committee.  

The Convener also drew Members’ attention to the papers circulated as part of the Committee information bulletin, noting that it contained some very interesting and useful reports.

Finally, the Convener referred to the completion of the impressive new Braehead and Mile End Schools, and recommended that Members avail themselves of the opportunity to visit both schools.

Members are requested to resolve that the business listed under items 9.1, 10.1 and 10.2 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 24, 25, 26 and 27 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 4, 6, 8, 9 and 12 of Schedule 7(A) of the Act. 

The Committee resolved:-

to consider the above-mentioned items in private session.

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

The Committee then heard from David Leng, Head of Schools and Educational Establishments, who directed Members to the update provided in the Committee information bulletin on the Kaimhilll to Braeside decant, and advised that officers were progressing various incentives to encourage pupils to walk to school, namely the Walk to School Badge Initiative;  walking pupils to various places of interest such as the Gordon Highlanders Museum and Airyhall Library;  and walking the pupils to a one-off event to be held in Garthdee.   It was hoped that the improved weather might encourage more pupils to walk to school.  

With reference to Article 14 of the previous minute (Inspection of Education Authorities – INEA2), Annette Bruton, Director of Education, Culture and Sport, advised the Committee that HMIe would carry out a scoping exercise with Members and officers in the week commencing 7 June, 2010, and would then return for up to five days in the week commencing 15 September, 2010.

With reference to Article 22 of the previous minute (A Games Legacy for Scotland), Mark Armstrong, Head of Service, advised the Committee that three fully-funded places were available for local residents to participate in the Mass Cast Delhi 2010 flag handover ceremony and that the public draw for those places would be held on 22 April, 2010.

Finally, with reference to Article 24 of the previous minute, the Committee heard from David Leng, Head of Schools and Educational Establishments, who requested that the Committee suspend Standing Order 22(2) to enable the deadline for applications for voluntary severance and early retirement for teaching staff to be extended to 1 June, 2010.   Mr. Leng explained that there would be excess staff in certain areas of the secondary curriculum and that extending the deadline for applications could avoid potential redundancies.   The Committee heard that the Teaching Unions were happy to support the extension.  

The Committee resolved:-

(i)         in relation to Article 24 (Revised Voluntary Severance/Early Retirement Policy), to suspend Standing Order 22(2) and agree an extension to the closing date for applications to 1 June, 2010; 

(ii)        to note the updates provided;  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 Acting Head of Democratic Services. 

The Committee resolved:-

(i)         to remove item 1 (Northfield and Cummings Park Sports Facilities), item 3 (Reporting School Performance Measures), item 4 (Quality Improvement Framework/More Choices More Chances), the part of item 7 (Community Learning Hubs) relating to the outcome of consultation on new leases with leased community centres, item 11 (Vibrant Aberdeen) and item 13 (Additional PE Needs in Schools) from the business statement;  and

(ii)        to request that an item on the new build at Raeden be added to the business statement, and that a report on this matter be submitted to the Committee at its meeting on 16 September, 2010.

“That this Council works with the youths of Middlefield to develop proposals to floodlight the football pitch at Manor Walk.”

The Committee had before it a notice of motion by Councillor Graham for consideration:-

“That this Council works with the youths of Middlefield to develop proposals to floodlight the football pitch at Manor Walk.”

With reference to the motion, the Committee also had before it a background report by the Director of Education, Culture and Sport which advised that the football pitch in question was located within an area adjacent to Manor Walk which was currently zoned for future residential development as part of the Aberdeen Local Development Plan Main Issues report.   The report also noted that there was no budget identified to improve sports areas or provide floodlighting within the Middlefield neighbourhood and although the new Manor Park Primary School, scheduled to open later in the year, would include an all-weather pitch, no floodlighting was planned for this facility.   It was suggested that officers could explore options and associated costings for interim measures for lighting the football pitch at Manor Walk, while taking into consideration the fact that the land was zoned for future housing development. 

Councillor Graham spoke to his motion and requested that any follow-up report be submitted to the Committee prior to September, 2010.  

The Committee resolved:-

(i)         to agree the terms of the motion; 

(ii)        to request that officers from Education, Culture and Sport investigate options and associated costings for interim measures for lighting the football pitch in liaison with officers from Housing and Environment, in light of the site being zoned for future residential development as part of the Local Development Plan Main Issues report;  and

(iii)       to request that officers report back on their findings no later than the 16 September, 2010 meeting of the Committee.

With reference to Article 7 of the minute of the meeting of the Education, Culture and Sport Committee of 18 February, 2010, the Committee had before it a report by the Director of Education, Culture and Sport which provided Members with an overview of the service performance for the period to January, 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 the Directorate 2010/11 annual performance reporting calendar which detailed officer commitments to report performance data on a national and local level.  

The report advised that work was ongoing to develop a robust performance management framework for the Directorate.   The report highlighted where there had been good performance in the service throughout January, 2010, and made particular mention of Indicator 6 where the service had achieved a 92% compliance with the health and safety matrix, and Indicator 6.1 where the service had completed 94% of the recommendations from Internal Audit.

The report recommended:-

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

The Committee resolved:-

(i)         in relation to Indicator 7 (the proportion of schools receiving positive inspection reports), to request that officers remove the special schools percentages from future reports as the information for these schools was encompassed in the primary/secondary statistics;

(ii)        to note that the target for secondary writing and mathematics was to be revised as the current target was considered to be too low, and that this would be undertaken in line with the new Curriculum for Excellence measures;

(iii)       to request that officers did not use yellow text in future reports as it was difficult to read;  and

(iv)       to note the Director’s suggestion that a Members’ seminar could be arranged on the new 5-14 criteria.

With reference to Article 8 of the minute of its previous meeting, the Committee had before it a joint report by the Director of Education, Culture and Sport and the City Chamberlain which provided Members with information on the current year revenue budget performance to date for the Education, Culture and Sport service and also advised on areas of risk and any management action required.

The report highlighted out of authority placements, pupil support assistants, pupil roll changes, and sports as areas of concern in the budget which could lead to a potential overspend of £1,326,000.  This was an increase of £48,000 in the forecast overspend since the previous report to Committee.   The report went on to advise that there were 46 approved savings for 2009-2010, worth a combined total of £7,928,000.   Full details of the approved savings were attached as an appendix to the report, which also included details of the progress to date on each saving.   It was further noted that the current forecast predicted that the service was on target to achieve £7,268,000 of these savings, with the main exception to this being in relation to out of authority placements.

The Director for Education, Culture and Sport then advised the Committee that an officer working group was in the process of reviewing the Devolved Educational Management procedures in Education, Culture and Sport, with the aim of reaching agreement with schools on the amount of carry-forward and overspend in their budgets.  

The report recommended:-

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

(b)       that Committee instruct officers to continue to review budget performance and report on service strategies;  and

(c)        that Committee instruct officers to report, in due course, on the actual outturn compared to budget following completion of the 2009/2010 financial statements.  

The Committee resolved:-

to approve the recommendations contained in the report.

With reference to Article 9 of the minute of its previous meeting, the Committee had before it a joint report by the Director of Education, Culture and Sport and the City Chamberlain which provided an update on the progress with various Education, Culture and Sport projects within the Non-Housing Capital Programme.   Attached as an appendix to the report was a detailed list of the Non-Housing Capital Programme projects which provided the spend to date to the end of February, 2010, including forecast outturn for each project in the budget for 2009/2010.   The appendix also outlined future years’ budget profiles and any current project forecast variance.

The Convener advised that Brian Dow, Finance Manager, would provide an update to members on Dyce Music School once the Committee had moved into private session.  

The report recommended:-

that the Committee consider and note the content of the report in relation to the projects outlined at appendix A. 

The Committee resolved:-

to note the contents of the report.

The Committee had before it a report by the Director of Education, Culture and Sport which sought approval for the establishment of a revised structure and remit for senior management posts within Central Support Services for the Education, Culture and Sport Directorate.

The report advised that the Council had agreed savings of £792,000 from the 2010/2011 Education, Culture and Sport budget and that these would be achieved through the restructuring of the Directorate’s Central Support functions.   It was noted that the restructuring proposals contained within the report before Committee for consideration would contribute greatly to the achievement of the agreed savings.  

There were currently 23 Senior Managers in Education, Culture and Sport and it was proposed that these posts be dis-established and 16 new Senior Manager posts created, leading to a minimum full year saving of £391,196.   It was noted that there would be limited one-off costs in relation to potential severance costs resulting from any redundancies made as a result of the new structure, but that these could not be clarified at present until the specific circumstances of the individual concerns were known.  

It was proposed that the 16 new Senior Manager posts would be filled in line with the Council’s job matching policy, with the completion of this process by the end of June, 2010.  

The report noted the restructuring of senior management posts within Central Support services would allow the Education, Culture and Sport Directorate to achieve Best Value, with the achievement of agreed revenue budget savings, and would also ensure that there was clarity in relation to officer accountability and responsibility.  

Further to the restructure outlined above, the report sought delegated authority for the Director of Education, Culture and Sport to implement additional restructuring across the Directorate in line with the agreed 2010/2011 budget savings.

Proposed structure charts and job descriptions and person specifications outlining the proposed duties for each new post were appended to the report.  

The report recommended:-

that the Committee –

(a)       agree to the proposals to establish 9 new Manager and 7 new Quality Improvement Officer posts as detailed at Appendix 1 to the report;

(b)       note the arrangements to fill the new posts through the Council’s job matching process; 

(c)        agree to the disestablishment of all the existing Service Manager, Strategist, Education Officer, Operational Support Manager and Manager – Communications and Administration posts within the Education, Culture and Sport Directorate;

(d)       agree to provide delegated authority to the Director of Education, Culture and Sport to implement further restructuring across the Directorate, and in accordance with Council policies and procedures for Trade Union consultation and managing organisational restructuring, thereby enabling delivery of the agreed 2010/2011 budget savings;  and

(e)       otherwise note the report.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)         to amend recommendation (iv) to “agrees to provide delegated authority to the Director of Education, Culture and Sport, in conjunction with the Convener of the Education, Culture and Sport Committee, to implement further restructuring across the Directorate, and in accordance with  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

The Committee had before it a report by the Director of Education, Culture and Sport which sought approval of the Education, Culture and Sport Service Improvement Plan 2010-2013.   The Plan detailed factors which influenced service needs, development and delivery and set the priorities for the Education, Culture and Sport Directorate in order to achieve the key strategic objectives of the Council which reflected the national priorities set out by the Scottish Government, the Concordat and the Single Outcome Agreement.

Appended to the report was the Service Improvement Plan, which included a detailed action plan of the Directorate’s priorities and outcomes and operational plans for the three service sectors of the Directorate, namely:- Schools and Educational Establishments;  Communities, Culture and Sport;  and Educational Development, Policy and Performance.   The report advised that the service would prepare quarterly reports to the Education, Culture and Sport Committee on the Directorate’s priorities and outcomes.  It was noted that the final year-end report to Committee would form the basis of the annual Standards and Quality Report for the Education, Culture and Sport Directorate.   This report was a key public performance document which demonstrated how services were performing. 

Annette Bruton, Director of Education, Culture and Sport, advised the Committee that the plan also took account of the five year business plan which was due to go before Council for approval later in the year.  

The report recommended:-

(a)       that Committee approve the Service Improvement Plan for 2010-13;  and

(b)       instruct that quarterly progress reports be presented to Committee as part of the Education, Culture and Sport performance reporting framework.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)         to request that officers include more information in the Plan about the number of children with English as an additional language and what action was taken to support them; 

(ii)        to request that in the opening statement to the Service Improvement Plan that officers strongly emphasise the importance of working with parents;  and

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

With reference to Article 5 of the minute of its meeting of 7 January, 2010, the Committee had before it a report on tied housing within the Facilities Management Service referred from the Enterprise, Planning and Infrastructure Committee of 23 February, 2010, for information.

At the meeting of the Audit and Risk Committee of 8 September, 2009, the Committee had instructed that each Director should report to their Service Committee in the next cycle detailing how many tied houses were still in existence, where they were located and the justification for their remaining as tied houses.   At its meeting on 7 January, 2010, the Education, Culture and Sport Committee had requested that a report be submitted which detailed all janitorial houses and confirmation of the property account to which they were aligned.  

It was noted that historically, tied housing was provided to janitorial and school grounds staff within the Council, where predominantly, janitors took up occupancy of the lodge house attached to the school to which they were appointed as janitor.   In light of the change to a city-wide Facilities Management Service, janitorial staff were no longer appointed to a single school site and therefore there was less likelihood of facilities staff who were residing in any particular lodge only having specific duties at the school to which their property was attached.   Despite this, it was found that many of the facilities staff residing in tied houses across the city remained on call-out lists or held keys for the educational property attached to the tied house.   It was however noted that janitorial staff who did not reside in tied houses were also required to undertake on-call and response duties, and therefore it was no longer deemed necessary that houses be tied to their adjacent buildings.   The report detailed the present occupation status of tied houses within the Enterprise, Planning and Infrastructure service.  

The Committee resolved:-

to note the content of the report.

With reference to Article 7 of the minute of meeting of 8 October, 2009, the Committee had before it a report by the Director of Education, Culture and Sport, which sought the Committee’s endorsement of the final draft of Vibrant Aberdeen -  the Cultural Strategy for Aberdeen (2010 – 2015) and also sought approval to develop an Aberdeen City Council action plan.

By way of background, the report highlighted the work that had been undertaken with regards to the draft cultural strategy and noted that consultation had been undertaken in various forms, including public surveys, question and answer sessions and individual feedback meetings, and provided the highest and most detailed level of engagement and feedback the city had delivered in relation to the issue of cultural development.  It was further outlined that 320 members of the public had provided feedback through online surveys, while the question and answer sessions had been well attended and had included a session delivered in partnership with Transition Extreme and Creative Cultures Scotland which attracted an audience of over 50 representatives from the cultural sector.  In addition to this, Creative Cultures Scotland, as a partner within the Cultural Forum, had also utilised social networking tools such as Twitter and Facebook to receive extensive feedback on the consultation draft.  The consultation draft had also been presented to key national cultural partners, and this had resulted in extensive feedback from senior officials within the Scottish Government, Visit Scotland and Museums and Galleries Scotland.

The report went on to advise that following feedback from the draft version, the final draft was written and presented a vision of Aberdeen becoming a “Vibrant, Creative and Ambitious City”.  The final strategy presented five overarching objectives of Vibrant Aberdeen, refined from the nine which were contained in the consultation draft.  They did however remain representative of the key cultural requirements that were identified during the development of the strategy.  The five objectives were (1) to establish a cohesive cultural sector; (2) to increase community engagement in cultural activity; (3) to improve the city’s cultural profile; (4) to increase investment in culture; and (5) to effectively monitor and evaluate the impact of culture.

Attached to the report was the executive summary of “Vibrant Aberdeen - a Cultural Strategy for Aberdeen.”  It was proposed that the final graphic design for the final version would be developed in line with the design used in the consultation draft, and would then be made available in various formats.

The report also highlighted that “Vibrant Aberdeen” was a partnership document, and while it did not provide an action plan for each partner, it did however provide a framework for the development of individual action plans.  It was noted that should the final draft be endorsed, this would include approval for the development of an Aberdeen City Council action plan around the “Vibrant Aberdeen” framework.

The report recommended:-

that the Committee -

(a)       endorse the final draft of “Vibrant Aberdeen” – The Cultural Strategy for Aberdeen (2010-2015);  ...  view the full minutes text for item 12.

DECLARATION OF INTERESTS

Councillors Cooney, Leslie, Reynolds, Jennifer Stewart and Kirsty West declared an interest in the following article due to their appointment as Board Members of Aberdeen International Youth Festival.   Councillors Leslie and Reynolds declared an interest due to their appointment as Directors of North East of Scotland Music School.   Councillors Cormack and Jennifer Stewart declared an interest by virtue of their position as the Council’s appointed representatives to the Board of Aberdeen Performing Arts.  None of the above-mentioned Councillors felt it necessary to leave the room during consideration of the article.

The Committee had before it a report by the Director of Education, Culture and Sport which presented the proposed cultural projects recommended to be funded by Aberdeen City Council in 2010/11.

The report advised that there had recently been a revision to the cultural grants application process, which historically was administered directly through submissions framed within the template of the Council’s Funding pack.  Having reviewed the existing application process both internally and externally, with current and previous applicants for cultural grants, it was clear that the current process was failing to effectively meet the needs of either party.  Feedback suggested that the form was difficult to complete and did not provide the necessary space to clearly illustrate the scope and purpose of the project, and determining the cultural grant criteria in such a wide ranging generic document was overly challenging.

The report went on to advise that through the applied revisions, applicants were now part of a process which provided clear and structured guidance on the grants and also an increased level of flexibility through the online administration process.  It was also noted that in providing an increased level of ongoing support and information through grants workshops and the option of directly contacting the Culture and Sport Strategy team, applicants were able to access pre-application advice and would receive feedback on their applications which could be used for future applications to both Aberdeen City Council and other external funding providers.

In relation to the application for grants, a total of 83 applicants had been received, totalling £810,970.95.  It was recommended to allocate cultural grants to the value of £408,282.72 which would support projects to the estimated total value of £12.6 million to Aberdeen City residents.

Appended to the report were applications for the cultural grant allocation for 2010/2011, with applicants requesting (1) under £1,000 in funding, (2) for £1,000 to £10,000 and (3) over £10,000.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)         to enable officers to provide recommendations to future Committees in regards to the disbursement of any remaining funds in response to potential additional applications against the cultural grants fund(s) within this fiscal year; and

(ii)        to agree the allocation of cultural grants to the value of £408,282.72 to cultural organisations as set out below:-

With reference to Article 21 of the minute of its meeting of 18 February, 2010, the Committee heard an oral update by Caroline Walker, Sports and Recreation Officer, which provided members with an update in regard to the bookings and lettings review.  Ms. Walker advised that there was also a report in the Committee information bulletin which provided members with information regarding this issue and in addition outlined that officers had recently tested a new bookings and lettings application form through sport users.  As a result, a few adjustments had been made to the form.

Ms. Walker further advised that two positive meetings had been held with janitorial staff to discuss the bookings and lettings review, with a further meeting planned for 27 April, 2010.

The Committee resolved:-

to note the oral update.

With reference to Article 19 of the minute of the Committee of 18 February, 2010, the Committee had before it a report by the Director of Education, Culture and Sport which brought forward two applications for financial assistance from sports organisations within the city.  The report advised that should the recommendations be approved, a balance of £66,322 would remain in the sports budget for the year 2010/11.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)         to award funding of £678 to Netball Scotland in order to assist with the hosting of the Netball Scottish Cup finals; and

(ii)      to award funding of £2,000 to North East Tennis Tournament Group, in order to assist with the hosting of two tennis tournaments to be held at the Westburn Tennis Centre.

With reference to Article 7 of the minute of meeting of Area Committee North of 23 September, 2008, the Committee had before it a report by the Director of Education, Culture and Sport, which provided an update on progress to develop sport facilities and opportunities in the Northfield and Cummings Park area.

The report advised that work had been ongoing in regard to improving sports facilities within the Northfield and Cummings Park area, and following resubmission of an earlier bid, £4,682 had been allocated from the Fairer Scotland Fund towards drainage improvements to the football pitches adjacent to the Allan Douglas Park and at Northfield Academy, as well as £4,110 towards the provision of a development programme at Northfield Academy in conjunction with Aberdeen Amateur Boxing club.

The report outlined that the revised proposal to the Fairer Scotland Fund Board was expanded to include an Active Schools project to work in conjunction with Aberdeen Amateur Boxing Club based at Cummings Park Community Centre, with the objectives being (1) to provide taster sessions and after-school coaching at Northfield Academy, (2) enable pathways to be formed between the local schools and Aberdeen Amateur Boxing Club, (3) to purchase new equipment and (4) to provide training opportunities for senior pupils, volunteers and sports coaches.

The report concluded by noting that the revised proposal was endorsed by the Northfield Forum on 23 February, 2010, prior to the bid being submitted to the Fairer Scotland Fund Board.

The report recommended:-

that the Committee –

(a)       note the progress to date in developing sports facilities and opportunities in the Northfield and Cummings Park area;

(b)       note that the Fairer Scotland Funding be used to improve the drainage for football pitches in Northfield; and

(c)        note that for Fairer Scotland Funding to be used to provide a programme of taster, coaching and coach education sessions for Northfield Academy pupils by Active Schools in conjunction with Aberdeen Amateur Boxing Club.

The Committee resolved:-

to approve the recommendations.

The Committee had before it a joint report by the Directors of Education, Culture and Sport and Social Care and Wellbeing which sought Committee approval for a review of the planning and governance arrangements to support and strengthen the delivery of integrated children’s services.

The report advised that in 2009, the Children and Young People’s Strategic Planning Group (CYPSPG) reviewed the governance and planning to support the delivery of integrated children’s services in the city.  The review considered the governance and resource management arrangements in place locally to deliver the Integrated Children’s Services Plan, “For Aberdeen’s Children”.  One-to-one interviews were held with 20 members of the CYPSPG and the Children and Young People’s Services Management Group (CYPSMG), including Elected Members, the Education, Culture and Sport and Social Care and Wellbeing Directorates, NHS Grampian, Grampian Police and the Aberdeen Council of Voluntary Organisations (ACVO) who represented the Third Sector.  As a result of this, the following recommendations had been put forward:-

·                    Improving outcomes for children and families;

·                    Overseeing the effective use of resources;

·                    The roles and accountabilities of partners in delivering improvements set out in the Integrated Children’s Services Plan;

·                    Effective consultation, engagement and involvement of key stakeholders;

·                    Supporting local capacity building and capability development;

·                    The governance and principles of the partnership; and

·                    Managing risks and exercising controls.

The proposals contained in the report before Committee for approval had been designed to relate specifically to these recommendations.

The report also advised of the large membership of both the Children and Young People’s Strategic Planning Group and the Children and Young People’s Service Management Group and noted that the large size of both groups was not conducive to effective strategic planning.  Following a meeting of representatives from key agencies, it had been agreed that governance and membership of the strategic planning structure should be designed around key outcomes, and that membership of the management group should be at a more senior level.  The management group would then remit work programmes to a small number of focused delivery sub-groups.

Finally, the report noted that the proposed strategic planning structure would take forward key messages from the Getting It Right For Every Child pathfinder model which was being developed in Highland Council in order to drive forward a change in practice.  A series of seminars led by the proposed Integrated Children’s Services Partnership and Management Group was to be arranged to deliver these key messages to staff.  Further to this, events would be organised for teams within localities and associated school groups to ensure the change in practice was embedded at all levels.

Appended to the report were structure diagrams showing the current and proposed governance structures for Integrated Children’s Services, as well as the proposed membership for the governance structure and a diagram detailing the committee reporting arrangements for the Children and Young People’s Strategic Partnership.

The report recommended:-

(a)       that Committee agree that the integrated children’s services strategic planning structure should be designed around key outcomes;

(b)       that the number of planning  ...  view the full minutes text for item 17.

The Committee had before it a report by the Director of Education, Culture and Sport seeking approval for a limit on pupil intakes to certain secondary and primary schools.  The report advised that it was necessary to limit pupil numbers through roll capping to certain secondary schools which could otherwise exceed capacity, while taking into account the rights of the Education Authority to reserve a number of places for incoming families to the area and to refuse placing requests for children who lived outwith the area zoned to a particular school if the school was full to capacity.  The report sought approval to limit the S1 intake in session 2010/2011 for Aberdeen Grammar School, Cults Academy, Harlaw Academy and Oldmachar Academy.

It was noted that previously only a small number of primary schools had previously required to be roll capped, however due to the increasing demand for places in certain schools, the Council’s decision to reduce class sizes to a maximum of 18 pupils in all primary 1 classes in schools within areas of deprivation would need to be determined by the ability of each school to accommodate the increase in classes.  It was proposed to retain a maximum of 25 pupils for all other Primary 1 classes.  The report advised that this could mean that some schools would have to reserve places for pupils who might move in zone during the school year.  The report then listed the 10 primary schools which could potentially be affected in this manner:-

Manor Park School

Bramble Brae School

Riverbank School

Tullos School

Kittybrewster School

Seaton School

Walker Road School

Woodside School

Heathryburn School and

St Peter's RC School

The decision to cap a primary school would be based on the number of primary classes a school could accommodate, rather than the number of pupils, and would be related to the optimum class configuration which had to be adopted by schools.

The report advised that it could be necessary to employ staff on a fixed term basis until pupil figures were confirmed at the start of the new school session.  This would ensure that the numbers of excess staff could be kept to a minimum.

The report recommended:-

(a)       that the Committee agree the following limits upon the S1 intakes of the following secondary schools:

Aberdeen Grammar School            210

Cults Academy                                  180

Harlaw Academy                               180

Oldmachar Academy                        180;

(b)       that the Committee agree that it might be necessary to cap a number of primary schools to accommodate any class size reductions in Primary 1- 3 to conform to class size regulations and local policy, noting that the schools in question could only be identified once class configurations had been established;

(c)        that the Committee agree the reservation of spaces in the above-named secondary schools and identified primary schools as appropriate, within the powers given to Local Authorities by the Standards in Scotland’s Schools Etc. Act 2000; and

(d)       that the Committee require the Schools and Children’s Service Managers to closely  ...  view the full minutes text for item 18.

With reference to Article 13 of the minute of its meeting of 7 January, 2010, the Committee had before it a progress report by the Director of Education, Culture and Sport on the development work undertaken in relation to leased community centres, including the cost of repairs to bring centres up to an acceptable Grade B standard; the development of a new model lease, management agreement, enhanced grant and constitution; and information on the outcomes of a social capital and financial analysis.

At its meeting in January, 2010, the Committee had approved both a lease and management agreement, and a financial model, with officers remitted to conclude negotiations with the leased centres on the approved documents.  The report advised that, in response to issues raised by both Members and leased centres, there had been two versions of the lease produced with three revisions, as well as three versions of the management agreement.  The report then highlighted key concerns which had been raised by the leased centres in relation to the responsibility on centres to find any budget deficit arising from the historical costs of gas and electricity; the health, safety and financial implications if centres were to take responsibility for the routine testing and maintenance of fire equipment; the cost of public liability and employers’ liability insurance; the disparity of costs covered by budgets and the difference in the settlements received by each centre;  and the reduction in the centre development grants.  The report outlined the officer responses to each area of concern, and advised that the centres were content with the responses provided.  It was noted that officers had also identified an omission in the management agreement, which stated that the Council would be responsible for water charges.  This omission had been corrected.

Officers recommended that there should be a transition year, with all centres receiving a one year lease.  This would allow there to be a review of financial arrangements and a report on the longer-term financial implications for the Council would be brought before Committee in June, 2011, after one year of operation under the new scheme.

In relation to the cost of repairs to bring centres up to an Acceptable Grade B, the report advised that, as previously reported to Committee, centres had been assessed on a scale from A (pristine) to D (poor).  While the overall condition of a building could, for example, be a Grade B, the report noted that there could be aspects of the building which were a Grade C and would therefore require attention in the immediate future.  It was noted that the previous survey undertaken did not identify the detailed costs of remedial repair works, and it was advised that a further survey would be required to ascertain the cost to bring the centres to an acceptable Grade B level.  The report advised that there was no internal capacity to undertake this work and therefore it would require to be out-sourced, leading to additional costs.  It was recommended  ...  view the full minutes text for item 19.

A related appendix containing exempt information is listed at 10.1 below.

With reference to Article 17 of the minute of the Council meeting of 1 October, 2007, the Committee had before it a report which sought approval to conduct an options appraisal on the redevelopment of the Cordyce site to improve provision for children and young people with additional support needs arising from social, emotional and behaviouralneeds, on a spend-to-save basis.

At its meeting on 1 October, 2007, the Council had approved the Transformation Strategy which had included the following recommendations:-

(a)       in conjunction with the review of school estates and the Corporate Asset Management Strategy, to instruct officers to undertake a feasibility study for building/refurbishing and managing a full time placement facility for children and young people with social, emotional and behavioural needs;  and a close support/semi-secure facility;  and

(b)       the rebuild of a full time placement facility for children and young people with social, emotional and behavioural needs as part of the School/Learning Estate Strategy.

The report advised that the proposal before Committee was part of a wider review of inclusion aimed at improving and developing a continuum of support for children and young people within Aberdeen City to ensure best outcomes for all, while linking into the Social Care and Wellbeing plans for service redesign.

It was noted that the Cordyce School building was not fit for purpose to provide the standard of education expected in the 21^st century.   It was, however, situated on a large open site which was suitable for redevelopment, and would allow the range of outdoor space at the site to be used to enhance the learning environment for pupils.  

It was proposed that an options appraisal be carried out on a spend-to-save basis, which would involve site surveys, ground investigations and concept designs.   Although the proposal to build a new facility on the Cordyce School site would have long term financial implications, the report advised that spend on out of authority placements, residential care and education had increased over the past decade, with a £7.5m cost in 2008/2009.   While overspend on the budget had reduced, in order to ensure that the out of authority spend reduced still further, it was essential that the Council improved local provision to support children and young people within the city, and the spend-to-save proposal would lead to revenue savings through more effective and efficient building infrastructure.  

The report advised that if the options appraisal was approved by Committee, the matter would then be referred to the meeting of the Finance and Resources Committee of 6 May, 2010, for approval of the funding for the options appraisal.   Information on the content of the options appraisal and the approximate cost to carry out the study was contained in a confidential appendix to be considered by the Committee in private session later in the meeting. 

Appended to the report was a diagram which detailed stage provision for children and young people with additional support needs arising from social, emotional and behavioural factors.

The report recommended:-

(a)       that the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 20.

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 advised on progress with the development and operation of Learning Partnerships and Learning Communities.

The report proposed to establish a network of learning partnerships across the city, based on one partnership in each learning community or cluster of learning communities.   A learning community was defined in the report as a group of people who were learners and were based in geographical areas such as secondary school catchment areas.   It was planned that each partnership would be operational by September, 2010.  

Each learning partnership would take into account the particular circumstances of each learning community, and a dedicated member of Community Learning and Development staff would have responsibility for supporting and developing the partnership.  It was proposed that Steering Groups would be set up in each area from May, 2010, to consider and identify the needs of the learning community and to make evidence-based decisions about the membership of each potential learning partnership.   The membership of each Steering Group would comprise the Principal Community Learning and Development Worker, the Secondary School Head Teacher, a Primary School representative, a Parent representative, a Senior Pupil representative and a Community representative. 

The report advised that the Local Learning Partnerships and the Lifelong Learning Forum would undertake a review of the learning community and learning partnership structures within eighteen months.

The report recommended:-

(a)       that the Committee agree proposals for a network of Learning Partnerships across the City to support the implementation of the Aberdeen Learning Strategy, “Aberdeen City of Learning”;  and

(b)       that the Committee endorse that Learning Partnerships would support improvements in learning outcomes, support the Council’s implementation of a Curriculum of Excellence and support people of all ages, abilities and backgrounds to become more involved in their own learning and their community’s development to help develop lifelong learning in Aberdeen.

The Committee resolved:-

to approve the recommendations contained in the report, with the additional request that a further report on the matter be brought before the Committee at its meeting on 16 September, 2010.

The Committee had before it a report by the Director of Education, Culture and Sport which sought approval of the Aberdeen City More Choices, More Chances Strategy 2010-2013.

The report advised that the Scottish Government had published its “More Choices, More Chances” Strategy in 2006, with the aim of reducing the proportion of young people not in education, employment or training in Scotland.   In the intervening years, the impact of the economic recession had required a review of the response to national and local challenges in this matter, particularly for those young people most affected by the recession.   It was noted that in 2008/2009, 82% of 1,730 statutory school leavers entered positive destinations in education, employment or training, which was a 2.9% reduction on the previous year and was well below the national average of 85.7%.   The Council’s More Choices, More Chances Strategy sought to encourage the local authority, community planning partners and local employers to undertake a broad range of interventions to rectify this situation, and ensure that young people in Aberdeen were supported to reach their full potential and make positive and sustained contributions to both the local economy and their communities.  

Appended to the report was the More Choices, More Chances Strategy for 2010-2013.  

The report recommended:-

that the Committee -

(a)       approve the Aberdeen City More Choices, More Chances Strategy 2010-2013; 

(b)       note that regular updates on performance against the (a) school leaver destinations (annually); (b) implementation of 16+ learning choices (bi-annually for summer and winter leaver cohorts) to the Education, Culture and Sport Committee within the standing item: Education, Culture and Sport Performance report;  and

(c)        note that implementation would be reported quarterly through the Integrated Children’s Services Planning process and annually through the Single Outcome Agreement. 

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 seeking approval to provide secondary school head teachers with increased curricular flexibility by removing the current constraint of maintaining average class sizes of twenty pupils in S1 and S2 English and Mathematics.

The report advised that in relation to the recruitment of extra teachers, the 2003 Partnership Agreement for a Better Scotland had outlined the reduction of class sizes to a maximum of twenty in S1 and S2 for Mathematics and English.   This was further emphasised in a 2007 Circular from the Scottish Government.   As a result of this, all secondary schools in Aberdeen had implemented the guidance and maintained an average class size of twenty in English and Mathematics in S1 and S2.   The report advised that due to the current financial climate, schools had been required to reduce staffing costs by 5% from the start of the August, 2010 session, and as a result, maintaining average class sizes at twenty in S1 and S2 English and Mathematics would have significant budgetary implications for schools.  

The report advised that by not allowing schools to alter class sizes, there was likely to be a reduction in the range of curricular choice available to pupils, a reduction in management time available to senior management teams, and a reduction in time available to guidance staff to work on pupil caseloads, which could mean less support for vulnerable pupils.   It was also noted that schools would welcome the flexibility to internally decide the best deployment of staff to effectively deliver a curriculum for each pupil.  

The report outlined that in a school of just over 1,000 pupils, the teaching staff savings required in 2010/2011 amounted to a reduction of 4.96 full-time equivalent (FTE) posts.   By removing the requirement for an average of twenty pupils in S1 and S2 English and Mathematics, a saving of 1.2 FTE could be made in both Mathematics and English.   This could account for 50% of the required savings for schools, and would mean that the impact on other aspects of educational delivery in the school would be reduced. 

The Convener, seconded by the Vice-Convener, moved the recommendations contained in the report.

As an amendment, Councillor Laing, seconded by Councillor Collie, moved:-

            That the Committee agree to maintain average class sizes of twenty pupils in English and Mathematics in S1 and S2.

On a division, there voted:-  for the motion (15) – the Convener;  the Vice-Convener;  Councillors Corall, Cormack, Cormie, Leslie, Reynolds, Robertson, Jennifer Stewart, Kevin Stewart and Kirsty West;  and Mrs. M. Abdullah, Mr. G. Bruce, Mr. P. Campbell and Mr. M. Vicca;  for the amendment (4) – Councillors Collie, Cooney, Donnelly and Laing;  declined to vote (1) – Councillor Boulton;  and absent from the division (1) – Councillor Wisely.

The Committee resolved:-

to approve the recommendations contained in the report.

In terms of Article 2, the following items of business were considered with the press and public excluded.

With reference to Article 8 of this minute, the Committee heard an update from Brian Dow, Finance Manager in respect of Dyce Music School.

The Committee resolved:-

to note the update provided.

With reference to Article 35 of the minute of the Finance and Resources Committee of 10 December, 2009, the Committee had before it a report by the Director of Education, Culture and Sport, which informed members of the current situation in relation to the instruction from the Finance and Resources Committee for a competitive re-tendering exercise in relation to the future management of the Belmont Media Centre.

At its meeting of 10^th December 2009, the Finance and Resources Committee had approved the continuation of a supported media centre ensuring compliance with the Council’s Standing Orders, the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 and State Aid legislation by undertaking a competitive tendering exercise.  The aim of the procurement exercise was to seek competitive bids for the operation of the Belmont Media Centre which would include bids for the entire operation, including the lease of the Centre and the provision of cultural film programming and media education services to meet the Council’s priorities.

The report went on to advise that the proposed draft lease would be provided on a similar basis to the previous tendering exercise carried out in 2000 and would be offered on a ten year Contract and Lease Agreement.

It was expected that the tender process would be concluded during the recess period, and therefore, delegated authority was sought to allow the Director of Education, Culture and Sport to enter into a formal contractual agreement with the successful bidder.

The report recommended:-

(a)       that the Committee agree the draft terms of the Invitation to Tender proposal highlighted within this report;

(b)       that the Committee provide the Director of Education, Culture and Sport, in consultation with the Head of Legal and Democratic Services and the Head of Finance with delegated authority to award the lease and operational contract to the bidder who submitted the most economically advantageous tender in response to the procurement process; and

(c)        that the Committee instruct officers to report on the outcome of the evaluation process and contract award to the next appropriate meeting of the Committee.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)         to provide the Director of Education, Culture and Sport, in consultation with the Head of Legal and Democratic Services and the Head of Finance, and in consultation with the Convener of the Education, Culture and Sport Committee, with delegated authority to award the lease and operational contract to the bidder who submitted the most economically advantageous tender in response to the procurement process; and

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

Would Members please note that this appendix refers to Item 8.4 on the agenda.

With reference to Article 15 of this minute, the Committee had before it a detailed summary of the work which would be undertaken, and the costs involved, to carry out an options appraisal and feasibility study on the Cordyce site in relation to the improvement of provision for children and young people with additional support needs arising from social, economic and behavioural needs.

The Committee resolved:-

to note the information.

With reference to Article 26 of the meeting of the Resources Management Committee of 16 June, 2009, the Committee had before it a report by the Director of Education, Culture and Sport which updated members on the procurement of a Management Information System (MIS) for schools and sought approval to award the contract to the preferred bidder.

The new system would improve the consistency of application of MIS throughout the schools in the authority and would ensure sustainable technical support as well as providing a comprehensive performance management tool for the authority’s schools and central teams.  It would allow reliable and real time data to be made available to schools and to the central team, and would ensure that there could be timely intervention in pupils’ education if any problems were detected.  Data could also be shared more easily between the school, partners and external agencies.

The Resources Management Committee had approved the capital and revenue funding required for the project and the subsequent responses to the tender document had been evaluated and were included in the report before Committee for approval.

The report recommended:-

that the Committee:-

(a)       approve entering into a contract with the preferred bidder, Bidder A, for the procurement and implementation of the Management Information System (MIS) (for schools), subject to agreement of Terms & Conditions of contract which were acceptable to the Council;

(b)       approve entering into a contract with the second placed bidder, Bidder B,  for the procurement and implementation of the Management Information System (MIS) (for schools), should officers fail to reach agreement on suitable Terms & Conditions with Bidder A; and

(c)        that the report be referred to the Finance and Resources Committee for consideration of the capital funding implications.

The Committee resolved:-

to approve the recommendations contained in the report.

- ANDREW MAY, Convener.