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 noted the following declaration of interest intimated at this stage:-

Councillor Imrie declared an interest in item 10.5 (Summer of Play) by virtue of her appointment to the Board of Sport Aberdeen but did not consider that the nature of her interest required her to leave the meeting for this item.

The Committee had before it the minute of its previous meeting of 17 March 2021 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(i)       to note that item 4 (Education Improvement Journey and National Improvement Framework) which had been withdrawn from the agenda would be reported to the September meeting;

(ii)       to note that the Clerk would amend the description at item 21 (Campus Model for School Provision) to include the update provided by the Chief Officer – Corporate Landlord at the March meeting in respect of Bucksburn and Countesswells; and

(iii)      to otherwise note the planner.

With reference to article 4 of the minute of its previous meeting, the Committee had before it a report by the Director of Customer Services which presented an update on the status of key performance measures relating to the Education Operational cluster.

Members asked a number of questions in relation to the data.

The report recommended:-

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

The Committee resolved:-

(i)       to note that the Chief Officer – Education would circulate information on the Equity Framework when it was available (expected around August 2021);

(ii)       to note that further information on the ABZWorks website, a website being launched to clarify routes in growth areas, would be provided in the next update on the Senior Phase, due in September;

(iii)      to thank all officers and teaching staff for their efforts in respect of the cancellation of exams / assessment process; and

(iv)      to otherwise note the report.

The Committee had before it a report by the Chief Operating Officer which sought approval for the refreshed Parental Involvement and Engagement Plan 2021-2024.

Mrs Bruce thanked officers for what she said was an excellent Plan and asked that it be put on record that it was important that there was buy-in from all schools to use parents as partners.

The report recommended:-

that Committee –

(a)      note the evaluation of the existing plan;

(b)      approve the new Parental Involvement and Engagement Plan 2021-2024; and

(c)      instruct the Chief Education Officer to report progress through the regular updates provided to Committee on the service’s delivery of the National Improvement Framework Plan.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)       in relation to the query from Mr Sansom in respect of the use of remote parents’ evenings, to note that officers would ensure that professional associations would also be consulted in any further discussions on the use of these; and

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

The Committee had before it a report by the Director of Customer Services which provided an annual update on the uptake of free school meals for the period 2020/21.

The report recommended:-

that Committee note the increase in the registration for free school meals during 2020/21.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)       to thank all of the officers who had been involved in working to obtain the necessary information to ensure children receive their free school meal entitlement;

(ii)       to welcome the increase in uptake of free school meals across the city as a result of positive intervention from both the Scottish Government and officers within Aberdeen City Council; and

(iii)      to note that secondary school free school meals uptake is still below primary school level and instruct the Chief Officer – Early Intervention and Community Empowerment to further investigate how to improve uptake in our secondary schools and report back to a future meeting of the committee.

The Committee had before it a report by the Director of Resources which sought approval to launch a statutory consultation on proposals to establish catchment areas for Gaelic Medium Education provision at Hazlehead Academy and Gilcomstoun School.

The report recommended:-

that Committee –

(a)      instruct the Chief Officer - Corporate Landlord to undertake a statutory public consultation commencing in August 2021, on proposals to establish catchment areas for the existing Gaelic Medium Education provision at Hazlehead Academy and Gilcomstoun School, as defined within the maps at Appendix 1 of the report, and

(b)      instruct the Chief Officer - Corporate Landlord to report back to the Committee on the outcomes of the consultation at its next available meeting following conclusion of the consultation process.

The Convener, seconded by the Vice Convener moved the recommendations as set out in the report.

Councillor Greig, seconded by Councillor Cameron, moved as an amendment:-

That the Committee:-

(a)            instruct the Chief Officer - Corporate Landlord to undertake a statutory public consultation commencing in August 2021, on proposals to establish the city boundary as the catchment area for the Gaelic Medium Education provision; and

(b)            instruct the Chief Officer - Corporate Landlord to report back to the Committee on the outcomes of the consultation at its next available meeting following conclusion of the consultation process.

On a division, there voted:- for the motion (8) – the Convener; the Vice Convener; the Lord Provost; Councillors Boulton, Lesley Dunbar, Mason and Macdonald; and Reverend Dicks; for the amendment (8) – Councillors Alphonse, Cameron, Greig, Hutchison, MacGregor and Mennie; and Mrs Bruce and Mr Murray; declined to vote (3) – Mr Paul, Mr Sansom and Miss Scott.

There being an equality of votes, in terms of Standing Order 32.7, the Convener exercised his casting vote in favour of the motion.

The Committee resolved:-

to agree the motion and thereby approve the report recommendations.

The Committee had before it a report by the Chief Operating Officer which provided the annual update on the performance of the transport services and arrangements for pupils accessing Lochside Academy and on the success of provisions in relation to the safe walking routes to Lochside Academy.

The report recommended:-

That Committee –

(a)      note the outcome of the 2021 annual review for transport and safe routes to school for Lochside Academy;

(b)      note that a Service Update will be submitted on 23 September 2021, providing detail on the newly contracted services for the 2021/22 Academic Year; and

(c)      agree that no further annual update reports are required to be submitted.

The Convener, seconded by the Vice Convener, moved the recommendations as contained in the report.

Councillor Mennie, seconded by Councillor Radley, moved as an amendment:-

That Committee:-

(a)      notes that significant numbers of children attending Lochside Academy continue to cross Wellington Road outwith the safe crossing points by climbing over the vehicle guard rail separating the north and southbound carriageways between the Souterhead Roundabout and the junction with Charleston Road North;

(b)      refers the matter to the Operational Delivery Committee, with the recommendation that they instruct the Chief Officer - Operations and Protective Services to investigate potential measures that could prevent pedestrians crossing Wellington Road between these two junctions, and report to City Growth and Resources Committee with costed proposals and funding options;

(c)      notes the impact of the pandemic and the unforeseen disruption caused in 2020 as a result of the pandemic;

(d)      instructs the Chief Officer – Operations and Protective Services to undertake a further annual update next year on Lochside Academy transport and safe routes to school and report back to committee; and

(e)      notes that the Lochside Parent Voice have expressed concerns regarding the pick up and drop off arrangements for parents at the school, whereby unnecessary vehicle movements have taken place within the school grounds during drop off and pick up times and that this is a common problem across the City school estate, and instructs the Chief Officer - Education to consult with parents, carers, school staff and other interested parties to ascertain where there may be issues in the school estate as a result of additional vehicles during drop off and pick up times, and in conjunction with the Chief Officer - Operations and Protective Services, report back to committee in two cycles on the findings with proposals for any measures which could be implemented to address these problems.

On a division, there voted:- for the motion (8) – the Convener; the Vice Convener; the Lord Provost; Councillors Boulton, Lesley Dunbar, Mason and Macdonald; and Mr Sansom; for the amendment (8) – Councillors Alphonse, Cameron, Greig, Hutchison, Mennie and Radley; and Mr Murray and Miss Scott; absent from the division (3) – Mrs Bruce, Reverend Dicks and Mr Paul.

There being an equality of votes, in terms of Standing Order 32.7 the Convener used his casting vote in favour of the motion.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

The Committee had before it a report by the Chief Operating Officer which sought approval for a proposed summer programme to support the wellbeing of children and young people across Aberdeen City who had been most impacted by the pandemic.

The report recommended:-

that Committee –

(a)      note the consultation undertaken to help inform the Summer of Play

programme as contained in Appendix A;

(b)      approve the skeletal Summer of Play programme outlined in Appendix B and note that the full grant awarded by Scottish Government would be used to fund the programme;

(c)      note that the Scottish Government was to fund free school meal vouchers during the summer holidays;

(d)      instruct the Chief Social Work Officer and Chief Education Officer to develop and implement an awareness raising campaign across all partners involved in the Summer of Play programme, designed to, ‘make every contact count’ in order to further safeguard children and young people;

(e)      approve the establishment and launch of a Children’s Giving Appeal across the city in order to ensure that children can access the Summer of Play programme;

(f)       instruct the Chief Officer Early Intervention and Community Empowerment to work with the Fairer Aberdeen Board to manage the distribution of monies to community groups; and

(g)      instruct the Chief Education Officer to finalise, publicise and implement a programme in keeping with the skeletal Summer of Play programme and provide a service update to members of the Education Operational Delivery Committee on the impact of the programme on the health and wellbeing of those children who participated in the programme.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)       to note that the Chief Officer – Education would liaise outwith the meeting with Councillor Alphonse in relation to sponsorship opportunities;

(ii)       to note that the Chief Officer – Education would liaise with the Lord Provost and Depute Provost in respect of their involvement in promoting the Summer of Play programme;

(iii)      to note that officers would be required to report to the Scottish Government on the outcomes from the funding received and so would report those outcomes to the Committee at a future meeting;

(iv)      to thank all officers and partners who had worked together to create the programme; and

(v)      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 progress of the Supporting Learners Workstream, including the ongoing work to better understand the changing needs of children and young people in Aberdeen City in the context of data analysis.

As requested at the meeting of the Committee of 20 January 2021, the report also included information about the approaches adopted to better secure flexibility and agility within the system.

The report recommended:-

that Committee –

(a)      note the approach being taken and progress made to date; and

(b)      instruct the Chief Education Officer/Programme Manager to report on the programme within 3 committee cycles.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)       to note that officers would include an update on the work being done to promote the use of the Early Intervention Consultation option and the impact of this in the next report back to Committee; and

(ii)       to approve the recommendations.

The Committee had before it a report by the Chief Operating Officer provided oversight of the outcomes of the reviews that had been undertaken by Education Scotland over the course of the pandemic.

The report recommended:-

that Committee –

(a)      note the contents of the report; and

(b)      instruct the Chief Education Officer to continue to engage positively with National Overviews of Practice and ensure key learning is taken account of in education service delivery.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)       to note that the report on the Alternative Certification Model had just been published and that officers would circulate this to Members outwith the meeting; and

(ii)       to approve the recommendations.

-          COUNCILLOR M. TAUQEER MALIK, Convener