Agenda, decisions and draft minutes

The Convener thanked Members for attending the meeting at such short notice and explained that the reason for urgency was explained in the exempt report, however the main purpose was for the Council to consider making a further financial commitment to meet the funding gap for the World Rally Championship (WRC) bid and that the Board of Motorsport UK was meeting the following day at 9am to consider whether to submit a bid.

The Committee resolved:-

to note that the item was of an urgent nature and required to be considered this day for the reasons set out in the report and by the Convener.

The Committee was requested to determine that agenda item 4 (WRC - Aberdeen Event), which contained exempt information as described in Schedule 7(A) of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, be taken in private.

The Committee resolved:-

in terms of Section 50A(4) of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, to exclude the press and public from the meeting during consideration of item 4 so as to avoid disclosure of exempt information of the class described in paragraph 6 of Schedule 7A of the Act.

In accordance with Article 2 of the minute, the following item was considered with the press and public excluded.

With reference to Article 5 of the minute of meeting of the Finance and Resources Committee of 6 November 2025, the Committee had before it a report by the Chief Officer - City Development and Regeneration which provided an update on funding and sought a decision on whether the Council should underwrite the funding required to help secure the WRC event, with increased benefits and visibility for Aberdeen.

The report recommended:-

that the Committee -

(a)           note Appendix 1, and the anticipated increased benefits to the city, including increased event visibility, visitor footfall, and global profiling opportunities;

(b)           approve the expenditure by Aberdeen City Council of up to £850,000 per year (for 3 years) to secure the WRC event, with Aberdeen City to benefit from additional event elements; and

(c)           agree any expenditure approved under recommendation (b) above may be recovered against the Aberdeen Visitor Levy once the scheme was in place and operational.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)             to note with disappointment the update with regard to funding contained within paragraph 3.5 of the report;

(ii)           to approve the recommendations contained within the report; and

(iii)          to agree that the outcome of the bid be reported to the Finance and Resources Committee as soon as it was known.