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.

There were no declarations of interest.

The Committee had before it the minute of its previous meeting of 17 January 2019 for approval.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)        in respect of article 3 (Committee Business Planner), to note that Councillor Jennifer Stewart’s name had been omitted from the list of Members who were included in the seven who had voted for the amendment;

(ii)       in relation to article 5 (Lochside Academy – Road Safety Update) to request that the report which was to be submitted to the Operational Delivery Committee later in the day be circulated to the External Members for information;  and

(iii)      to approve the minute as a correct record.

The Committee had before it the committee business planner as prepared by the Chief Officer – Governance.  Members asked questions in respect of items on the planner.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)        in respect of item 12 (St Peter’s Long-Term Educational Provision), to request that officers circulate information to Members on the budget process in respect of St Peter’s, to include detail of the timing of any approvals at other committees;  and

(ii)       to otherwise note the updates provided.

With reference to article 3 of the minute of its previous meeting, the Committee had before it a report by the Director of Resources which set out the intended scope, aims and principles of the planned 2019 School Estate Strategy document; and also sought approval of proposed updated primary school capacity figures.

The report recommended:-

that Committee –

(a)      notes the planned scope, aims and principles and findings so far from the development of the 2019 School Estate Strategy, which would be presented to Committee for approval in September 2019; and

(b)      approves the adoption of revised pupil capacity figures for primary schools in Aberdeen, as detailed at Appendix 1 to the report, with the revised figures to be used in the next and all future editions of Aberdeen City Council’s school roll forecasts, in order to inform the further development of the School Estate Strategy.

The Convener, seconded by Councillor Greig, moved:-

That Committee –

(a)      approves recommendation 2.1 as set out in the report; and

(b)      notes the revised pupil capacity figures that replaced those previously approved by Committee.

Councillor Al-Samarai, seconded by Councillor McLellan, moved as an amendment:-

That Committee –

(a)      regrets the decision taken at the Council Meeting of 5 March 2019 to remove the cap on Primary 1 class sizes;

(b)      notes the planned scope, aims, principles and findings so far from the development of the 2019 School Estate Strategy;

(c)       prior to approving the revised pupil capacity in Primary Schools, instructs the Chief Officer – Corporate Landlord to report back to the Committee within the next Committee Cycle on:-

a.            the current class room and general-purpose capacity respectively in each of the Schools together with the planning capacity and anticipated working capacity;

b.            the anticipated school rolls for the next 5 years for the Primary School Estate;

c.            the schools which presently have additional temporary accommodation in place to deliver educational provision, including a list of schools which may require additional temporary accommodation and of schools which may need temporary accommodation as result of school roll forecast, together with any proposed alternative to such a provision; and

d.            the impact of any delay in building new educational provision on existing school roll forecasts, noting that no reference has been made to educational provision as part of the zoning provisions at Countesswells or Grandholme or the new school provisions for Tillydrone, Torry and Milltimber and the proposed relocation of St Peters RC School. 

On a division, there voted:- for the motion (10) – the Convener; the Vice Convener; Councillors Bell, Boulton, Donnelly, Greig, Imrie and Macdonald; and Mrs Stephanie Brock and Mr Anthony Rafferty; for the amendment (7) – Councillors Al-Samarai, Flynn, Henrickson, McLellan and Nicoll; and Mr John Murray and Miss Pamela Scott.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)        to note the planned scope, aims and principles and findings so far from the development of the 2019 School Estate Strategy which will be presented to Committee for approval in September 2019; and

(ii)       to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

The Convener advised Members that Reverend Hutton Steel had tendered his resignation from the Committee and that information was awaited from the Church of Scotland as to his replacement.  The Convener thanked Reverend Steel for his valid contributions at Committee and added that he had enjoyed working with him.  He sought agreement from Committee to write to Reverend Steel on their behalf to express their thanks.

Finally, the Convener advised that at the recent Council meeting it had been agreed that Councillor Malik would replace Councillor Lesley Dunbar as Vice Convener of the Committee.  The Convener expressed his gratitude to Councillor Dunbar for her support during her tenure as Vice Convener.

-     COUNCILLOR JOHN WHEELER, Convener