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 Committee had before it the minute of the previous meeting of 9 January 2020, 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 4 (Performance Report), 5 (Signalisation of the A944/AWPR Roundabout), 6 (School Road/Park Road Corridor response to petition), 7 (Council Housing Rent Management and Universal Credit Review), 8 (Autism Strategy and Action Plan) and 9 (Windmill Brae) subject to the decisions taken later on the agenda; and

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

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. 

Members discussed the performance report in detail and offered various observations.  It was noted that in regards to the transition to LED street lighting, it was anticipated that this would be 60% complete for the whole of the city by the end of March and had helped to reduce with maintenance of street lighting and also energy costs.  

In regard to VOIDS, the Director of Customer Services provided assurance that they were working hard to improve the stock levels of housing and hoped to see improvements very soon.

The report recommended:-

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

The Committee resolved:-

to note the information contained within the performance report. 

The Committee had before it a report by the Chief Officer – Operations and Protective Services, which informed members of the high collision rate currently experienced at the new A944/AWPR junction at South Kingswells and presented members with the proposal of signalisation of the junction which would reduce collisions.

The report recommended:-

that the Committee –

(a)          note that the introduction of full signalisation of the A944/Kingswells Junction would assist greatly in reducing Road Traffic Collisions but would affect journey times for commuters travelling to and from Aberdeen, especially during peak periods; and

(b)          instruct the Chief Officer – Operations and Protective Services to deliver the full implementation of the traffic signal installation. 

The Committee resolved:-

(i)            to thank officers for all of their efforts with the work undertaken; and

(ii)          to approve the recommendations contained in the report. 

The Committee had before it a report by the Chief Officer – Operations and Protective Services, which provided details on the options that had been appraised in response to a petition regarding the issue of high volumes of Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGV’s) and vehicle speeds on the School Road/ Park Road corridor.

The report recommended:-

that the Committee –

(a)          note the options that have been considered in response to the petitioner’s concerns and agree the progression of option 2 – to install a width restriction on a section of Golf Road as an appropriate measure to reduce HGV traffic on the corridor;

(b)          instruct the Chief Officer – Operations and Protective Services to proceed with the statutory process for progression of a Traffic Regulation Order, as per Delegated Powers; and

(c)          instruct the Chief Officer – Operations and Protective Services to review the relevant sections of the road network post implementation to determine if there are any implications from the introduction of the measure and ensure that future aspirations for the relevant corridor are pursued through the Roads Hierarchy study.

The Committee resolved:-

to approve the recommendations contained in the report. 

The Committee had before it a report by the Chief Officer – Integrated Children’s and Family Services, which provided an update on the implementation of the Aberdeen City Autism Strategy and Action Plan 2019-22.

The report recommended:-

that the Committee notes the progress report. 

The Committee resolved:-

(i)            to approve the recommendation; and

(ii)          to request that information be circulated to members on the governance review, as per page 126 in the report. 

The Committee had before it a report by the Chief Officer – Operations and Protective Services, which considered objections that had been lodged with respect to the proposed Traffic Regulation Order titled “The Aberdeen City Council (Justice Mill Lane, Langstane Place, Windmill Brae Area, Aberdeen) (Traffic Management) Order 202(X).

The report recommended:-

that the Committee –

(a)          note the objections received as a result of the statutory consultation in relation to “the Aberdeen City Council (Justice Mill Lane, Langstane Place, Windmill Brae Area, Aberdeen) (Traffic Management) Order 202(X);

(b)          instructs the Chief Officer - Operations and Protective Services to implement the proposals as part of an Experimental Traffic Regulation Order (ETRO), for a duration of 18 months; and

(c)          instructs the Chief Officer – Operations and Protective Services to continue dialogue with Police Scotland and the Bon Accord Residents Association with a view to establishing baseline data following which the ETRO can be reviewed on completion of an initial 12 month period. 

The Committee resolved:-

(i)            to note Aberdeen had retained Purple Flag status for a record seven years in a row;

(ii)          to note that Aberdeen was one of three finalists for the prestigious National Purple Flag award within the night time economy category with the winner being decided at the UK and Ireland’s Association of Town & City Management annual gathering in June 2020;

(iii)         to note the decision of the City Growth and Resources Committee on 5^th December 2019 regarding the Aberdeen Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan (SUMP);

(iv)         to note the SUMP had not been developed in isolation but in the context of a number of other projects concerning transport in the city centre including ongoing City Centre Masterplan delivery;

(v)          to note the SUMP sought to support the Administration’s transition to a low carbon and low emission future as outlined at the budget meeting 3^rd March 2020;

(vi)         to agree a strategic approach must be adopted by the Council to support city centre living by promoting development of a safe and sustainable city centre which people could access and move around with ease; and

(vii)        to agree to wait for the prioritised delivery programme of transport interventions from the Chief Officer - Strategic Place Planning and Chief Officer - Capital before determining its position on the proposed overnight prohibition of motor vehicles on Justice Mill Lane/Langstane Place/Windmill Brae etc as outlined in the report.

The Committee had before it a report by the Chief Officer – Early Intervention and Community Empowerment, which provided information on rent management and Universal Credit, one year after the implementation of Universal Credit full service. 

The report recommended:-

that the Committee note current rent management performance and support the Council’s focus on tenancy sustainment.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)            to approve the recommendation;

(ii)          to request that updated figures on Free School meals be circulated to members as soon as possible; and

(iii)         to agree that the Convener would write to both the UK and Scottish Government, outlining any impact Universal Credit has had on tenants, and to send a copy of the letter to all members of the Committee for information. 

-       Councillor John Wheeler, Convener