Agenda, decisions and minutes

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

http://committees.aberdeencity.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=504&MId=3634&Ver=4

Please note that if any changes are made to this minute at the point of approval, these will be outlined in the subsequent minute and this document will not be retrospectively altered.

The Convener advised that the previous meeting of the Committee had been Mrs Wildi's last meeting as parent representative – secondary schools, and took the opportunity to thank her for her valuable input.  She also advised that that Mr Anthony Rafferty had been elected by the Aberdeen Parent Council Forum as the new secondary schools representative on the Committee.  She welcomed Mr Rafferty to the Committee.

She also welcomed Councillor Copland to his first meeting of the Committee.

The Committee resolved:

to echo the comments of the Convener.

The Committee heard from the Convener who referred to the forthcoming summit to address teacher recruitment and welcomed the Scottish Government and other national agencies’ participation at the summit.  The aim of the summit was to understand the root causes underlying the current challenges and identify solutions at a national and local level to support the region at a time of unprecedented low numbers of applicants and increased pupil numbers.  In light of this, the Convener proposed that she write to parents/carers of young people to advise of the summit; the current position in respect of teacher recruitment and vacancies and the steps the Council had taken to recruit, train and retain teachers in Aberdeen.

The Committee resolved:

to agree that the Convener write to parents/carers of children and young people to advise of the summit to be held to address teacher recruitment and that the letter be shared with Councillors Townson and Jennifer Stewart prior to being issued.

The Convener advised that Pearl Rendall had been named as School Crossing Patroller of the Year at the ASSIST Scotland National Local Authority FM awards and that Stephanie Campbell had finished third place in the National School Cook of Year category at the same awards.  She congratulated both on their achievement.

The Committee resolved:

to congratulate Pearl Rendall who was named as School Crossing Patroller of the Year at the ASSIST Scotland National Local Authority FM awards and Stephanie Campbell who finished third place in the National School Cook of Year category at the aforementioned awards.

The Convener proposed that items 9.1 (Centre for Excellence), 9.2 (Aberdeen Sports Village Business Plan) and 13.1 (Minute of the Complaints Review Committee of 23 July 2015) of today’s agenda (articles 15, 16 and 21 of this minute) be considered with the press and public excluded.

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 during consideration of the aforementioned items of business (Articles 15, 16 and 21 of this minute refer) so as to avoid disclosure of exempt information of the classes described in the following paragraphs of Schedule 7(A) of the Act: article 15 (paragraphs 8 and 9), article 16 (paragraph 6), and article 21 (paragraph 1).

The Committee had before it the minute of its meeting of 2 June 2015.

The Committee resolved:

to approve the minute as a correct record.

The Committee had before it the minute of its meeting of 10 June 2015.

The Committee resolved:

to approve the minute as a correct record.

The Committee had before it a statement of pending and outstanding committee business which had been prepared by the Head of Legal and Democratic Services.

The Committee resolved:

(i)         to delete item 5 (Joint Inspection of Children’s Services); and

(ii)        to otherwise note the updates provided.

With reference to article 6 of the minute of its meeting of 2 June 2015, the Committee had before it a report by the Director of Education and Children’s Services and the Head of Finance which advised members of the current year revenue budget to date for the Education and Children’s service, and outlined any areas of risk, and management action being taken in this regard.

The report recommended –

that the Committee –

(a)       note the projected variance of £465,000 under budget; and

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

The Committee resolved:

to approve the recommendations.

DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

Prior to consideration of the following item of business, Councillors Cameron and Young declared an interest in the subject matter of the following article by virtue of their positions as Board members of Aberdeen Sports Village.  Councillor Cameron considered that the nature of his interest required him to leave the meeting and took no part in the Committee’s deliberations thereon.  Councillor Young considered that the nature of his interest did not require him to leave the meeting and therefore chose to remain in the meeting.

The Committee had before it the minute of the meeting of the ALEO Governance Hub of 15 June 2015, in respect of Aberdeen Sports Village.

The Committee resolved:

to note the minute.

DECLARATION OF INTEREST

Councillor Dickson declared an interest in the following article by virtue of his position as a Council appointed Director to the Board of Sport Aberdeen but chose to remain in the meeting as Sport Aberdeen was a body being a company established wholly or mainly for the purpose of providing services to the local authority, and which had entered into a contractual arrangement with the local authority for the supply of goods and/or services to the local authority, as set out in paragraph 5.18(2)(d)(i) and (ii) of the Councillors’ Code of Conduct.

The Committee had before it the minute of the meeting of the ALEO Governance Hub of 17 June 2015, in respect of Sport Aberdeen.

The Committee resolved:

(i)         to request the Head of Policy, Performance and Resources  to provide details of the new funding streams which had been successfully identified by Sport Aberdeen to Councillor Townson by way of email; and

(ii)        to otherwise note the minute.

The Committee had before it a report by the Director of Education and Children’s Services which advised of progress to date in preparing for the implementation of Parts 4, 5 and 18 of the Children and Young People’s Act which would come into force in August 2016.

The report recommended –

that the Committee -

(a)       note the content of the report and Action Plan contained within Appendix 1;

(b)       instruct officers to implement the Action Plan contained within Appendix 1; and

(c)        instruct officers to report back to Committee on progress against actions, as appropriate by means of the service performance report.

The Committee resolved:

(i)         to approve recommendations (a) and (b); and

(ii)        to instruct officers to report back to Committee on progress against actions,  as appropriate by means of the service performance report, along with the detailed costs associated with the implementation of the Action Plan.

The Committee had before it a report by the Director of Education and Children’s Services which provided an update on the outcome of the 2015 SQA examination diet and outlined the results for pupils entered for formal examinations.

The report recommended –

that the Committee –

(a)       note the information provided in the report and the attached appendix;

(b)       instruct officers to provide a further report at the Education and Children’s Services Committee on 12 November 2015, following the release of the insight information and another in 2016 following the release of leaver destination information; and

(c)        acknowledge the hard work and dedication of staff and pupils in the successes they had with the examination results.

The Committee resolved:

(i)         to approve the recommendations;

(ii)        to note that officers would consider the proposal to write to all pupils following the issuing of exam results; and

(iii)       to request the Head of Education Services to write, on behalf of the Committee, to the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) advising of the Committee’s concerns regarding the 2015 higher maths exam and to seek assurance in relation to the setting of future exams.

The Committee had before it a report by the Director of Education and Children’s Services Committee which advised of the requirements placed on Local Authorities by the new Scottish Statutory instrument: “The Requirements of Community Learning and Development (Scotland) Regulations 2013.

The report recommended –

that the Committee –

(a)       note and approve the Community Learning and Development (CLD) Strategic Plan and the process required to enable its implementation in line with The Scottish Statutory Instrument, “Requirements for Community Learning and Development (Scotland) Regulations 2013” attached at appendix 1; and

(b)       note that the Local Authority was responsible for ensuring that all relevant services and Community Planning Partnership (CPP) partners were made aware of the CLD Regulations.

The Committee resolved:

to approve the recommendations.

With reference to article 12 of the minute of its meeting of 2 June 2015, the Committee had before it a report by the Director of Education and Children’s Services which presented applications for financial assistance from various sporting organisations and individuals.

The report recommended –

that the Committee –

(a)       approve the application through the club development grants programme as detailed in the report;

(b)       approve the applications through the significant sporting events grants programme as detailed in the report;

(c)        approve the applications through the coach and volunteer workforce development grant programme as detailed in the report; and

(d)       approve the applications through the talented athlete grants programme as detailed in the report.

The Committee resolved:

to approve the recommendations.

EXEMPT BUSINESS

In accordance with the decision taken at article 4 of this minute, the following two items of business were considered with the press and public excluded.

With reference to item 15 of the minute of the meeting of the former Education, Culture and Sport Committee of 30 May 2013, the Committee had before it a report by the Director of Education and Children’s Services which provided an update on progress towards delivering the new Centre for Excellence which would replace Hazelwood School, Woodlands School and the Pre School provision for Children with Additional Support Needs currently based in Seaton School.

The report recommended –

that the Committee –

(a)       approve the Stage 2 report;

(b)       authorise officers to complete commercial negotiations and reach financial close;

(c)        note the capital cost which was within the allocated capital budget;

(d)       note that the practical completion date had been scheduled for 31 March 2017, with staff and young people transferring to the Centre of Excellence as soon as possible thereafter; and

(e)       otherwise note the contents of the report.

The Committee resolved:

to approve the recommendations.

DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

Prior to consideration of the following item of business, Councillors Cameron and Young declared an interest in the subject matter of the following article by virtue of their positions as Board members of Aberdeen Sports Village.  Councillor Cameron considered that the nature of his interest required him to leave the meeting and took no part in the Committee’s deliberations thereon.  Councillor Young considered that the nature of his interest did not require him to leave the meeting and therefore chose to remain in the meeting.

The Committee had before it a report by the Director of Education and Children’s Services which sought approval of the Aberdeen Sports Village Business Plan for 2015/2016.

The report recommended –

that the Committee –

(a)       note the content of the report; and

(b)       approve the Aberdeen Sports Village Business Plan for 2015/2016.

The Committee resolved:

to approve the recommendations.

At this juncture the external members of the Committee departed.

With reference to article 5(B) of the minute of its meeting of 29 January 2015, the Committee had before it a report by the Director of Education and Children’s Services which provided an update on progress made with delivering on the Care Inspectorate’s report on the joint inspection of services for children and young people in the Aberdeen Community Planning Partnership area.

The report recommended –

that the Committee –

(a)       note the multi agency Action Plan (appendix 1) submitted to the Care Inspectorate in response to the areas of improvement identified within the inspection report; and

(b)       request a report back on progress against actions in the Action Plan as appropriate.

The Committee resolved:

(i)         to approve recommendation (a); and

(ii)        to request a report back on progress against actions in the Action Plan as appropriate, with the actions to be completed by December 2015 being reported to the Committee at its meeting on 28 January 2016 and the remainder of the actions being reported to its meeting on 24 March 2016.

With reference to article 1 of the minute of its meeting of 2 June 2015, the Committee had before it a report by the Chief Officer – Adult Health and Social Care and the Head of Finance which advised members of the current year revenue budget to date for Adult Services, and outlined any areas of risk, and management action being taken in this regard.

The report recommended –

that the Committee –

(a)       note the report on the forecast outturn on the revenue budget and the information on areas of risk and management action that was contained herein; and

(b)       instruct officers to continue to review budget performance and report on service strategies.

The Committee resolved:

to approve the recommendations.

With reference to article 16 of the minute of its meeting of 2 June 2015, the Committee had before it a report by the Chief Officer – Adult Health and Social Care which provided information relating to the performance of the Adult Social Work Service against its agreed indicators.  Appended to the report was an update on associated performance measures.

The report recommended –

that the Committee –

(a)       approve the Adult Social Work performance report; and

(b)       note that work was ongoing to develop a suite of performance indicators, aligned to the national outcomes for integration in the Service Business Plan 2014-17.

The Committee resolved:

(i)         to approve the recommendations; and

(ii)        in relation to SCW1 (average number of days per employee lost through sickness absence), to note that officers would investigate the increase over the last quarter and a detailed analysis would be provided in the next performance report considered by the Committee.

The Committee had before it the minute of the meeting of the ALEO Governance Hub of 15 June 2015, in respect of Bon Accord Care.

The Committee resolved:

to note the minute.

EXEMPT INFORMATION

In accordance with the decision taken at article 4 of this minute, the following item of business was considered with the press and public excluded.

The Committee had before it the minute of meeting of the Social Work Complaints Review Committee of 23 July 2015, and a foreword by the Chief Officer – Adult Services which set out the actions to be taken to respond to the recommendations of the Complaints Review Committee.

The Committee resolved:

(i)         to accept the recommendations; and

(ii)        to otherwise note the Chief Officer’s comments in the foreword.

- COUNCILLOR ANGELA TAYLOR, CONVENER