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.

A petition was submitted and had the necessary signatures to be considered at committee.   "We the undersigned petition the council to introduce a weight restriction to stop HGV’s from using School Road / Golf Road Park Road and Park Street and to ask the council to write to Police Scotland to consider the installation of speed cameras along School Road and Golf Road in Seaton."
 
 

The Committee had before it the following petition which had been submitted by the lead petitioner Mr Lewis McGill.

“We the undersigned petition the Council to introduce a weight restriction to stop HGV’s from using School Road/ Golf Road/ Park Road and Park Street and to ask the Council to write to Police Scotland to consider the installation of speed cameras along School Road and Golf Road in Seaton.

The Convener explained the process and invited the petitioner to present his case to the Committee.

Mr McGill explained that HGV’s constantly sped along School Road which was very unacceptable and used it as a rat run to get to other areas in Aberdeen.  Mr McGill noted that the area was a 20MPH zone however this was never adhered to, not only by HGV’s but cars too.  He explained that he held discussions with the local community on what to do and as a result decided to do a petition to try and get HGV’s off School Road.  Mr McGill explained that there had been several accidents in the area with one death on King Street, and highlighted that the road was not built to handle the amount and size of vehicles such as HGV’s.  He noted that residents did not feel safe due to the amount of traffic on the road and with cars parked at either side of the road, it meant that children living in the area were not safe to play.

Mr McGill went on to speak about the regeneration of Seaton and spoke about the impact the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route had on traffic levels in the area.  Mr McGill stated that the levels had dropped at first, however felt that the amount of HGV’s using the route had returned to what they were.  Mr McGill highlighted that according to Police Scotland, 85% of HGV’s using the area, were going over the speed limit and there was no potential of getting speed cameras in the area.

Finally Mr McGill spoke about the health impact the amount of vehicles passing by had on residents in regards to the fumes and noted that a lot were suffering with asthma as a result.  Also the vehicles were causing the roads to vibrate, with cracks appearing on School Road as a result, as well as on the pavements.

Members then asked a number of questions of Mr McGill and Vycki Ritson, Team Leader, Operations and Protective Services. 

The Committee resolved:-

(i)            to note that officers had recently undertaken traffic surveys in the area and were due to examine the results and look at various options as a result; and

(ii)          to therefore agree that no action be taken from the Committee at this point, and to request that a Service Update be provided to members in advance of the January Committee, to give assurance on safety measures and what action was being proposed for the area.   

The Committee had before it the minute of the previous meeting of 17 September 2019, for approval.

The Committee resolved:-

to 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:-

(i)            to agree to remove items 6 (Petition School Road), 7 (Performance Report), 8 (Risk Register), 9 (Joint Inspection of Children’s Services) and 10 (Out of Authority Residential Placements);

(ii)          to note that item 5 (Council Housing Rent Management and Universal Credit Review of Implementation of Full Service), would come to the January Committee;

(iii)         to note that for item 13 (Community Learning Centre and leased Community Centre provision) that a meeting would take place at the end of November with the wider stakeholders;

(iv)         to note that item 11 (Windmill Brae) would come to Committee in March 2020, following the further meetings taking place that were scheduled; and

(v)          to otherwise note the information on the business planner. 

The Committee had before it a referral from the Licensing Committee of 29 October 2019, which requested:-

To refer the matter of allowing access for private hire car drivers through bus

gates to the Operational Delivery Committee for their consideration.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)            to instruct the Chief Officer – Operations and Protective Services to commence the necessary statutory procedure to permit private hire vehicles access through the Bedford Road bus gate.  If no significant objections were received, then to progress with the public advertisement and report any objections to a future meeting of this Committee; and

(ii)          instruct the Chief Officer – Operations and Protective Services, to report back to this Committee on the potential impact of allowing private hire vehicles through the city’s remaining bus gates, where taxis were already permitted.

The Committee had before it a report by the Chief Operating Officer and the Director of Customer Services, which presented Committee with the status of key performance measures relating to the Operations function.

The report recommended:-

that the Committee provide comments and observations on the performance measures relating to the Operations function.   

The Committee resolved:-

(i)            to note that officers would liaise with the Chief Officer - Corporate Landlord, in regard to repair targets for lighting within sheltered housing, and would report back to members in this regard; and

(ii)          to otherwise note the information contained in the Performance Report. 

 The Committee had before it a report by the Chief Officer Integrated Children’s and Family Services, which provided the Committee with independent external assurance as a result of the Care Inspectorate’s independent examination of the systems, processes and practices in place across the multi agency partnership. 

The report also reminded the Committee of the work being undertaken across Children’s Services, and how the associated actions arising from the inspection were already included in existing strategic improvement plans such as the Local Outcome Improvement Plan, Child Protection Improvement Plan and Corporate Parenting Action Plan.

The report recommended:-

that the Committee -

(a)          note the findings of the “Report of a joint inspection of services for children and young people in need of care and protection in Aberdeen” – September 2019; and

(b)          note that the Community Planning Partnership was required to prepare a plan detailing the action it intended to take in response to the Inspection Report within 6 weeks of its publication, had submitted this action plan to the Care Inspectorate and that this action plan be shared with Members via a Service Update.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)            to thank officers for their continued efforts with the Joint Inspection; and

(ii)          to otherwise approve the recommendations. 

The Committee had before it a report by the Chief Operating Officer and the Director of Customer Services, which presented the Cluster Risk Registers and Assurance Maps in accordance with Committee Terms of Reference and to provide assurance on the Council’s system of risk management. 

The report recommended:-

that the Committee note the Cluster Risk Registers and Assurance Maps set out in Appendices A – C. 

The Committee resolved:-

to approve the recommendation. 

The Convener offered his congratulations to the team in Building Services, for their success at the CITB Apprenticeship Awards and being crowned Workplace Mentor of the Year at the awards ceremony in London.   He also congratulated colleagues in Fleet Services for winning the Local Authority Fleet Operator of the year award by Transport News.

-       Councillor John Wheeler, Convener