Agenda, decisions and minutes

The agenda and reports associated with this minute can be found 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 Convener proposed that the Committee consider item 13.1 (Workplans and Business Cases – Exempt Appendices) 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 item 13.1 on the agenda so as to avoid disclosure of exempt information of the class described in paragraph 8 of Schedule 7(A) of the Act.

The Committee noted the following declarations of interest intimated at this stage:-

(i)     Councillor MacKenzie declared an interest in item 9.1 (Aberdeen Performing Arts Annual Report) by virtue of her position as a board member of Aberdeen Performing Arts, but did not consider that the nature of her interest required her to leave the meeting during consideration of that item on the agenda; and

(ii)    Councillor Allard also declared an interest in item 9.1 (Aberdeen Performing Arts Annual Report) by virtue of his position as a board member of Aberdeen Performing Arts, but also did not consider that the nature of his interest required him to leave the meeting during consideration of that item on the agenda.

The Committee had before it the minute of its previous meeting of 16 June 2021 for approval.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)              to note that the text at article 3 should read ‘Scottish Parliament’ and not ‘Scottish Government’; and

(ii)             to otherwise approve the minute as a correct record.

The Committee had before it the committee business planner as prepared by the Chief Officer – Governance.

The Committee resolved:-

(a)      to note that the Bon Accord Care Annual Report would now be presented to the December meeting of Committee in line with the reason outlined in the planner; and

(b)      to otherwise note the business planner.

With reference to article 5 of the minute of its meeting of 12 November 2020, the Committee had before it a report by the Head of Commercial and Procurement which presented the Aberdeen Performing Arts annual review report covering financial year 2020/21 in order to provide Committee with an overview of performance of service delivery.

Ms Spiers, Aberdeen Performing Arts, was in attendance and answered questions from Members.

The report recommended:-

that Committee note the Aberdeen Performing Arts ALEO Annual Report appended to the report for the Council’s interests.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)       to thank Mrs Spiers for the detailed report and the continued efforts of Aberdeen Performing Arts during the pandemic;

(ii)       to request that the next annual report provide a comparison with pre-COVID figures; and

(iii)      to note the report.

With reference to article 7 of the minute of its meeting of 12 November 2020, the Committee had before it a report by the Head of Commercial and Procurement which presented the Sport Aberdeen annual review report covering financial year 2020/21 in order to provide Committee with an overview of performance of service delivery.

Mr Robertson, Sport Aberdeen, was in attendance and answered questions from Members.

The report recommended:-

that the Committee note the Sport Aberdeen ALEO Annual Report appended to the report for the Council’s interests.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)       to note the assurance from officers that future reports would be clear in relation to references to the living wage;

(ii)       in relation to page 60 (Healthy life expectancy - time lived in good health - is five years longer by 2026) to request that information be circulated to Members outwith the meeting to advise of the current life expectancy age;

(iii)      to thank Mr Robertson and his staff for their hard work and efforts to maintain services for the public over the pandemic; and

(iv)      to note the report.

The Committee had before it a report by the Director of Customer Services which presented the status of key performance measures relating to the Commercial and Procurement cluster.

The report recommended:-

that Committee note the report and provide comments and observations on the performance information contained in the report appendix.

The Committee resolved:-

to note the report.

With reference to article 9 of the minute of its meeting of 27 August 2020, the Committee had before it a report by the Director of Commissioning which presented a revised Performance Management Framework which reflected the Local Outcome Improvement Plan and the Council’s commissioning outcomes and intentions as set out within the Council Delivery Plan 2021/22, as well as comments and recommendations made within Audit Scotland’s “Best Value Audit of the Council”.

The report recommended:-

that Committee agree the revised Performance Management Framework for 2022-23.

The Committee resolved:-

to approve the recommendation.

The Committee had before it a report by the Director of Customer Services which presented the Council Delivery Plan 2020/21 Annual Report.  The annual report built on the summary of progress which had been captured in the Council Delivery Plan 2021/22, originally presented to Council at its meeting on 10March 2021.

The report recommended:-

that Committee note the report and provide comments and observations on the information contained in the Report (Appendix A) and supporting Council Delivery Plan Measures (Appendix B).

Members asked a number of questions on the detail in the report, particularly in relation to cuckooing.  There was also some discussion around Big Noise and extending it into other areas of the city, during which it was requested that it be noted that Aberdeen received the lowest amount of funding for Big Noise in Scotland.  Members further discussed making approaches to Government for a fair funding settlement for Aberdeen, following which it was unanimously agreed that Group Leaders would meet to discuss the matter in more detail.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)       in relation to page 147 of the report and the text included in the section referring to “Increase city centre footfall through delivery of the City Centre Masterplan”, to note that officers would amend the text “Several exciting changes for the city were agreed at committee from the CCMP” to reflect that final decisions had still to be taken in respect of the projects at a future meeting of City Growth and Resources Committee;

(ii)       in relation to cuckooing, to request that officers provide information to Members outwith the Committee as to whether there were particular areas of the city where cuckooing was more prevalent;

(iii)      to thank officers for the work that had gone into the production of the report, as well as for the work underpinning the Council Delivery Plan;

(iv)      to agree that a meeting be arranged with all Group Leaders to consider how to lobby and secure a fair funding settlement for local government; and

(v)      to note the report.

The Committee had before it a report by the Director of Customer Services which presented the refreshed Local Outcome Improvement Plan (LOIP) 2016-26 approved by the Community Planning Aberdeen (CPA) Board on 7 July 2021.  The report advised that the Community Planning Partnership’s ambition for improvement was as bold as ever and work continued towards achieving the vision of Aberdeen as ‘a place where all people can prosper’.  The refreshed LOIP set out how this would be progressed in the face of changed circumstances as a result of Covid-19.

The report recommended:-

that Committee –

(a)      endorse the refreshed Local Outcome Improvement Plan 2016-2026

presented at Appendix 1;

(b)      endorse the Development Plan at Appendix 2; and

(c)      consider the LOIP and Development Plan in conjunction with the Locality Plans (Item 11.3 on the agenda) which connected the LOIP to community priorities and assets.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)       to acknowledge the immense amount of work being undertaken by communities in relation to the various projects reflected in both the Local Outcome Improvement Plan and the following Locality Plans; and

(ii)       to approve the recommendations.

The Committee had before it a report by the Director of Customer Services which presented the Locality Plans which had been approved by the Community Planning Aberdeen Board on 7 July 2021.  The report advised that the plans underpinned the refreshed Aberdeen City Local Outcome Improvement Plan, as well as individual partner plans, to cement a joint and coordinated approach between professionals and local communities to improve outcomes city wide and at a locality level.

The report recommended:-

that Committee –

(a)      endorse the Locality Plans presented at Appendix 1, 2 and 3; and

(b)      consider the report in conjunction with the refreshed LOIP 2016-26 (Item 11.2 on the agenda) to understand the connect with strategic priority issues.

The Committee resolved:-

to approve the recommendations.

The Committee had before it a report by the Chief Operating Officer which (1) presented procurement workplans where revenue expenditure was included for the Customer and Resources functions to Committee for review; and (2) sought approval of each of the procurement business cases listed below, including the total estimated revenue expenditure for each proposed contract, as contained at item 13.1 of the agenda.

The list of procurement business cases was as follows:-

The report recommended:-

that Committee –

(a)      note the workplans;

(b)      approve the procurement business cases, including the total estimated expenditure for the proposed contracts; and

(c)      note the content of Appendix 3 – Summary of 3.10 Memos (Contract Awards due to Urgency) and Appendix 4 – Summary of 4.1.3 Forms (Technical Exemption).

The Committee resolved:-

(i)       to note the assurance from officers that procedures had been put in place which addressed the administrative error referred to Appendix 3;

(ii)       to note that officers would provide information to Members outwith the meeting in relation to whether the Civica contract referred to in Appendix 4 was a new contract or renewed, and if renewed what the amount of the last contract had been; and

(iii)      to approve the recommendations.

In accordance with the decision taken under article 1 above, the following item was considered with the press and public excluded.

The Committee had before it exempt appendices relating to the Workplans and Business Cases Revenue report on the agenda (article 12 of this minute refers).

The Committee resolved:-

to note the exempt appendices.

-      COUNCILLOR JOHN WHEELER, Convener