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 offered his congratulations after Aberdeen City Council won the award for Public Sector Fleet of the Year for 2020, in December 2020, for the medium to large category.  The Convener noted that this was a huge success as it was not only open to local authorities but also to blue light organisations too.  The Convener highlighted that the Council had succeeded due to their commitment to investing and implementing alternative fuel vehicles and also for their efforts with hydrogen technology.  The Convener offered his thanks and congratulations to everyone involved. 

The Convener advised that he had accepted a notice of motion by Councillor Audrey Nicoll as a matter of urgency in terms of Section 50B(4)(b) of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, and that it would be considered under the notices of motion section on the agenda.

The Council resolved:-

to note the position.

The Convener proposed that the Committee consider item 11.1 (Update on Housing First position – Exempt Appendix) 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 11.1 on today’s agenda so as to avoid disclosure of exempt information of the class described in paragraphs 6 and 8 of Schedule 7(A) of the Act.

The Committee had before it the minute of the previous meeting of 19 November 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 (Various Small Scale Traffic Management), 6 (Update on Housing First position), 7 (Driveway Appeal), 9 (Waste and Recycling Policy Review), 10 (Northern Roads Collaboration Annual report), 11 (Child Poverty Action Report) and 12 (Scottish Road Commissioner update), subject to the decisions taken in respect of items 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11 and 12 later on the agenda;

(i)              to agree to remove item 8 from the planner (Waste Strategy) as this would now be considered outwith this committee;

(ii)             to note that a Service Update would be provided in due course in relation to Smart Bins; and

(iii)            to otherwise note the information provided within the planner. 

MATTER OF URGENCY

The Convener intimated that he had directed in terms of Section 50B(4)(b) of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, that the following item be considered as a matter of urgency.

The Committee had before it the following Urgent Notice of Motion by Councillor Audrey Nicoll:-

That the Committee:-

1.     Notes between 24 and 30 December 2020, residents supplied by the Balnagask Energy Centre had problems with heating and hot water due to a failure with the back up boiler at another location;

2.     Notes the sustained demands placed on the heating network during a period of very cold weather, and when residents were at home complying with the Covid19 restrictions;

3.     Notes with regret the time taken to resolve the issue, particularly given the detrimental impact from the many limitations to the heating and hot water on families and vulnerable residents in an area recognised as having high levels of fuel poverty;

4.     Instructs the Chief Officer – Corporate Landlord, to provide a report back to this Committee on the action taken to find a permanent solution to this issue, given the potential sustained demand for domestic heating during winter months and Covid-19 lockdown; and

5.     Further instructs the Chief Officer – Corporate Landlord to provide a report to the relevant committee outlining options to minimise the effect of any future outages, and to include options to mitigate the additional heating costs incurred by residents using alternative costly heating options during the outage period.

The Committee resolved:-

to agree that a Service Update be provided to members, to provide details on how to minimise the effect of any future outages at Balnagask Energy Centre, and to include information on how to mitigate the additional heating costs incurred by residents using alternative costly heating options during the outage period.

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. 

The report recommended:-

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

The Committee resolved:-

(i)              to note the Void Council Housing service update issued on the 7^th January;

(ii)             to note the issues arising from Covid-19;

(iii)            to note the Chief Officer – Early Intervention and Community Empowerment chaired the fortnightly Voids Outcome Improvement meeting which scrutinised performance and progress on identified improvement actions;

(iv)           to agree that Void Properties were far too high and instruct the Chief Officer – Early Intervention and Community Empowerment to continue to develop the improvement plan, in consultation with the Convenor and Housing Spokesperson, to reduce Void Properties significantly, and agree that the improvement plan be sent to members of the committee for reference only;

(v)             to agree that committee members receive fortnightly updates on Void numbers  by way of email;

(vi)           to agree that officers would issue information by way of email to members on the cleaning alert timescales for community buildings;

(vii)          to agree that the Chief Officer – Integrated Children’s and Family Services would provide some information behind the statistics in regard to Children’s Integrated Services for future Performance Reports and

(viii)        to otherwise note the information provided within the Performance Report. 

The Committee had before it a report by the Chief Operating Officer which presented the annual report from the Northern Roads Collaboration Joint Committee.

The report recommended:-

that the Committee -

(a)            consider the annual report from the Northern Roads Collaboration Joint Committee as attached at appendix 1; and

(b)            note the continued role of Aberdeen City Council in the Northern Roads Collaboration Joint Committee.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)              to approve the recommendations contained in the report; and

(ii)             to offer their condolence to the family of Councillor Ellen Morton, Chair of the Northern Roads Collaboration Joint Committee, who had sadly passed away and had been instrumental in getting the collaboration to where it was.

The Committee had before it a report by the Chief Operating Officer which considered an appeal on behalf of the owner of 108 Corrennie Circle, Dyce, against the decision by the Council as Roads Authority to refuse permission for the creation of an additional footway crossing to serve a new driveway.

The report recommended:-

that the Committee -

(a)            agree that officers correctly applied the Council’s approved driveway regulations; and

(b)            agree to uphold the decision to refuse permission for an additional footway crossing at 108 Corrennie Circle, Dyce, on the grounds that it does not comply with the above regulation.

The Committee heard from Councillor MacGregor, who addressed the committee as a local member and provided information to the committee in relation to the situation experienced by the resident.  Councillor MacGregor urged members to approve the appeal.

The Committee resolved:-

to approve the recommendations contained in the report. 

The Committee had before it a report by the Chief Operating Officer, which considered objections that were submitted with respect to two proposed Traffic Regulation Orders (TROs). It was noted that the objections were received timeously at the public advertisement stage.

The report recommended:-

that the Committee –

(a)            acknowledge the objections received in respect of the proposed TROs as a result of the statutory consultation;

(b)            note the terms of the objections received and proceed to approve the order "The Aberdeen City Council (Morningside Lane, Aberdeen) (Prohibition of Waiting) Order 202(X)” as originally proposed; and

(c)             note the terms of the objections received and proceed to approve the order “The Aberdeen City Council (Northcote Avenue, Aberdeen) (Prohibition of Waiting) Order 202(X)” with the reduced 10 metre length as per the officer’s recommendation.

The Committee resolved:-

to approve the recommendations contained in the report.

The Committee had before it a report by the Chief Operating Officer, which provided an update on the performance of Aberdeen City Council’s Roads Maintenance and Roadworks Coordination teams following thepublication of the annual performance report by the Scottish RoadworksCommissioner.

The report recommended:-

that the Committee –

(a)            note the contents of the Commissioners report, dated 25 August 2020 (Appendix 3); and

(b)            acknowledge the updated information as contained within this report, following the joint meeting between representatives of Aberdeen City Council and the Commissioner’s office on the 11 November 2020, along with the latest update as received on the 23 December 2020

The Committee resolved:-

(i)              to note that the update on 23 December 2020, outlined that the commissioner was satisfied that Aberdeen City Council had attained the required level of performance and would be removed from the Improvement Plan with immediate effect and commends officers in achieving this; and

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

The Committee had before it a report by the Chief Operating Officer, which sought approval for the revised and amalgamated waste policies dealing with excess waste and additional bins, missed bins, contamination of recycling bins, assisted collections and unadopted road collections.

The report recommended:-

that the Committee approve the revised and amalgamated waste and recycling policy contained within appendix 1 Waste and Recycling Policy.

The Convener moved, seconded by the Vice Convener, Councillor Bell:-

           that the report recommendation be approved.

Councillor Yuill, moved as an amendment:-

that the words “where a permit is purchased” be deleted from page 136 of the policy and that it instead be remitted to the budget process for consideration.

Councillor Yuill’s amendment failed to attract a seconder and was therefore not put to the vote.

The Committee resolved:-

to approve the recommendations as contained within the report.

The Committee had before it a report by the Chief Officer – Early Intervention and Community Empowerment, which provided the Committee with the Child Poverty Action report for 2019/20, as required by the Child Poverty (Scotland) Act 2017.

The report recommended:-

that the Committee approve the joint Aberdeen City Council and NHS Grampian Child Poverty Action Report 2019/20 for submission to the Scottish Government.

Councillor Lesley Dunbar moved, seconded by the Depute Provost, Councillor Stewart, that the Committee:-

(i)        agrees and approves the Aberdeen City Local Child Poverty Action Report 2019 – 2020 endorsed by Caroline Hiscox Chief Executive NHS Grampian and Angela Scott Chief Executive Aberdeen City Council for submission to the Scottish Government;

(ii)       notes the commitment of the Chief Executives of Aberdeen City Council and NHS Grampian to eradicating child poverty by 2030;

(iii)      notes the decision of the Operational Delivery Committee on 17^th September 2019 to adopt the Local Outcome Improvement Plan as the Council’s Child Poverty Action Plan for 2019-2022;

(iv)      agrees that this Committee receives a half yearly report on the actions being taken by Community Planning Aberdeen to reduce and eradicate child poverty around the priorities for 2020/21 as noted in appendix 1;

(v)       notes that research from Glasgow and Edinburgh Universities which looked at socioeconomic deprivation including the evaluation of the association of residing in an area of socioeconomic deprivation with 30-day mortality following admission to critical care with COVID-19 indicates that:

People in the most deprived areas are more likely to be severely ill with and die from Covid-19 than those in wealthier areas;

(vi)      notes the Joseph Rowntree Foundation has warned Scottish Government that child poverty targets will be missed unless Scottish Ministers take bold action to ensure no child is left behind;

(vii)     notes with huge disappointment that, despite the Council agreeing at its budget meeting in February 2016 to explore the option of an Energy Service Company (ESCo), the Scottish Government has some 5 years later still failed to move forward with a Scottish ESCo as promised;

(viii)    given many children in Scotland continue to go hungry and other people are forced to go without food in order to feed other members of their family, notes with great disappointment that the legislative programme endorsed by the Scottish Government and supported by the SNP fails to include “The right to food” Bill but does include legislation on Independence;

(ix)      notes research has shown that child poverty continues to increase in Scotland and, agrees that the Scottish Government should reassess its current priorities to ensure it is doing all it can to help those children most in need through this Covid-19 pandemic and beyond, rather than prioritising a further Independence referendum;  

(x)       notes the progress made during 2019/20 and the priorities for 20/21 and instructs the Chief Executive to write to the Minister for Local Government seeking an assurance from him that the Scottish Government will support Aberdeen City Council to eradicate child poverty in the city by 2030  ...  view the full minutes text for item 13.

The Committee had before it a report by the Chief Officer – Early Intervention and Community Empowerment, which provided an update on the Housing First programme in Aberdeen and sought Committee approval on the recommended option/s for continuance.

The report recommended:-

that the Committee –

(a)            note the report at appendix 1; and

(b)            approve option 4 at appendix 1.

The Convener moved, seconded by Councillor Lumsden:-

(i)              to note the report at appendix 1;  

(ii)             to approve option 4 at appendix 1;

(iii)            to note the decision of the Scottish Government to fund the Housing First Fund by only 50% and regret that this partial funding by the Scottish government is set to end in 2022; and

(iv)           to note the comments of Kevin Stewart MSP Minister for Local Government and Housing on social media that the ‘right policies, regulations and resources ‘must be in place to combat homelessness; and therefore instruct the Chief Officer- Early Intervention and Community Empowerment to write to Kevin Stewart MSP, Local Government and Housing Minister, seeking a commitment to ensure the service is 100% funded for 2021/22 financial year and beyond. 

Councillor Yuill moved as an amendment, seconded by Councillor McLellan:-

that the motion be approved, however amended slightly in order to write to the leaders of all political parties and not just the Scottish Government. 

On a division, there voted:- for the motion (7) – the Convener, the Vice Convener Councillor Bell, the Vice Convener Councillor Graham, and Councillors Lesley Dunbar, Lumsden, Macdonald and Stewart, the Depute Provost; for the amendment (6) – Councillors Cormie, Henrickson, McLellan, Audrey Nicoll, Radley and Yuill.

The Committee resolved:-

to adopt the motion. 

-        Councillor John Wheeler, Convener