Agenda and draft minutes

The agenda, reports and recording of the meeting associated with this minute can be located here.

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 Vice Chairperson, Councillor Stirling welcomed everyone to the meeting and advised that she would be chairing the meeting today due to the absence of the Chairperson, Councillor Yuill.

The Clerk advised that apologies for absence had been received from Councillor Yuill and Professor George Boyne.

Members are required to intimate any Declarations of Interest or Transparency Statements in respect of the items on today’s agenda.

Members were requested to intimate any declarations of interest or transparency statements in respect of the items on today’s agenda, thereafter the following was intimated:-

(1)      Sir Ian Wood and Jennifer Craw made transparency statements indicating that they had a connection to any issues affecting Opportunity North East, in particular matters relating to the Food Hub, BioAberdeen and the Energy Transition Zone (ETZ), which may arise during the meeting, by virtue of them being Board Members of ONE, Bio Aberdeen Limited, the Food Hub (NES) Limited and ETZ. However, having applied the objective test they indicated that they did not consider that they had an interest to declare and would remain in the meeting. This was because, in practice, funding was allocated by agreement with government and in line with the tripartite agreement;

(2)      Councillor Owen made a transparency statement, by virtue of her being a Board Member of Opportunity North East. Having applied the objective test she had concluded that she did not have an interest to declare and she would remain in the meeting; and

(3)      Councillor Allard made a transparency statement, by virtue of him being a Board Member of Opportunity North East. Having applied the objective test he had concluded that he did not have an interest to declare and he would remain in the meeting.

The Joint Committee had before it minutes of previous meetings of 15 November 2024 and 10 January 2025, for approval.

The Joint Committee resolved:-

to approve the minutes.

With reference to article 5 of the minute of the previous meeting of 15 November 2024, the Joint Committee had before it a report which provided an update in relation to the progress of the last quarter (Q3 2024/25) of the Aberdeen City Region Deal Programme under the headings Governance, Finance, Risk and Benefits. The report also included a Programme Dashboard and a detailed quarterly Financial Summary in Tables 1 to 5 and had attached an Executive Summary of the Programme Dashboard as requested at the previous meeting.

The report recommended:-

that the Joint Committee note the content of the quarterly Programme Dashboard.

The Joint Committee heard from Stuart Bews, ACRD Programme Manager who highlighted the key information from the report and made reference to the annual conversation between representatives from the UK and Scottish Governments, members of the Joint Committee and officers. He thanked in particular, Jennifer Craw, Alan McKay and Rebecca Allison for their presentations, which were well received by all in attendance.

In addition, Stuart explained that the new approach at the annual conversation, which was to focus on what was to come in the next 12 months was appreciated by both governments and helped them to understand the direction of travel that the projects were taking and where they may be able to offer some support going forward. He provided details of the site visits to ONE Seed Pod and Robert Gordon University, the presentation on the National Subsea Centre and a demonstration of the Digital Innovation Lab.

In relation to the 5G Port of Aberdeen project previously approved by the Joint Committee, Stuart intimated that unfortunately, the kit which was ordered and received was not functional, therefore they were waiting to receive a replacement kit in order to get that project up and running.

The Joint Committee:-

to approve the recommendation within the report.

With reference to article 9 of the minute of the meeting of 15 November 2024, the Joint Committee had before it a report by Paul Finch, Nestrans Transport Manager and Aigul Gray, ACRD Programme Officer which (1) set out the processby which funding allocated to the Strategic Transport Appraisal (STA) could be vired to cover the risk allocation identified for the External Transportation Links to Aberdeen South Harbour (ETLASH) project and the key rationalefor this; and (2) reaffirmed that there was no impact on STA projects of moving the funding to ETLASH since this was previously considered and agreed by the Joint Committee in February 2024, with the opportunity for this virement principally arising from a lower spend forecast across the Regional Hydrogen refuellers project, and the Mobility Hubs project.

The report recommended:-

that the Joint Committee –

(a)      note the process to be followed;

(b)      instruct the Chief Officer, City Development and Regeneration, Aberdeen City Council, and the Head of Service, Planning and Economy, Aberdeenshire Council, to submit reports to Aberdeen City Council and Aberdeenshire Councils respectively seeking approval from each for the virement of £575,000 from the Strategic Transport Appraisal project to the Aberdeen City Region Deal External Transportation Links to Aberdeen South Harbour project; and

(c)      agree to reconvene a special one-item Aberdeen City Region Deal Joint Committee meeting at the earliest available opportunity following the 26 March, Aberdeen City Council Finance and Resources Committee to approve a material change request.

Stuart Bews highlighted the key information from the report and during discussion, officers responded to questions from members relating to the governance and funding/virement process.

Councillor Owen, seconded by Council Petrie, moved:-

that the Joint Committee –

(1)    approve recommendations (a) and (c); and

(2)    instruct the Chief Officer, City Development and Regeneration, Aberdeen City Council, and the Head of Service, Planning and Economy, Aberdeenshire Council, to submit reports to Aberdeen City Council and Aberdeenshire Councils respectively to consider virement of £575,000 from the Strategic Transport Appraisal project to the Aberdeen City Region Deal External Transportation Links to Aberdeen South Harbour project.

Councillor Allard, seconded by Councillor Radley, moved as an amendment:-

that the Joint Committee approve the recommendations contained within the report.

On a division, there voted:- for the motion (3) – Councillors Owen, Petrie and the Vice Chair; for the amendment (5) – Councillors Allard, McLellan, Radley and Jeniffer Craw and Sir Ian Wood.

The Joint Committee resolved:-

to adopt the amendment.

With reference to article 10 of the minute of meeting of 15 November 2024, the Joint Committee had before it a report by Ross Stevenson, Senior Engineer, Aberdeen City Council, which provided an update on timescales and the project finance costs.

The report recommended:-

that the Joint Committee –

(a)      note the ongoing discussions with both Governments with regard to the Outline Business Case;

(b)      note the progress of the scheme with regard to the ongoing detailed design work, Planning Application, and the progression of the Compulsory Purchase Order; and

(c)      instruct the Chief Officer - Operations, Aberdeen City Council, to progress all necessary consultations and traffic orders required for the implementation of a width restriction on St Fitticks Road.

Alan McKay, Team Leader Roads Projects provided a summary of the report, specifically (1) advising that in terms of the Compulsory Purchase Orders, that agreement had been reached with the remaining objector and their objection had been withdrawn therefore, there was no requirement for an inquiry process to proceed; (2) indicating that a determination approving the planning application had been received; (3) intimating that procurement had commenced with expressions of interest submitted to the Construction Framework; and (4) outlining the current progress with project works, including traffic management measures and information on the constructability and phasing assessment.

Alan McKay responded to questions from members regarding abnormal loads, construction traffic/restrictions and costs associated with construction of the project.

In terms of the funding of the project, Mr McKay intimated that officers were currently proceeding on the basis of the estimating exercise undertaken as part of the Outline Business Case and were confident in that assessment insofar as the project could be delivered. He advised that there would be a further estimating exercise immediately prior to commencing with procurement.

The Joint Committee resolved:-

to approve the recommendations contained within the report.

-                COUNCILLOR ANNE STIRLING, Vice Chairperson