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 19 April 2018 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.  Members asked a number of questions in respect of items on the planner.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)        to agree to remove item 11 (Development of Models for Civic Leadership and Engagement) and to note that any future proposals would be presented to the Strategic Transformation Committee;

(ii)       to note that a report on the spend for the Pupil Equity Fund would be presented to Committee later in the year; and

(iii)      to otherwise note the updates provided.

With reference to the meeting of the Capital Programme Committee of 23 May 2018, the Committee had before it, by way of referral, a report by the Director of Resources which had provided an update on the work undertaken by officers to review plans for repairs to Braeside School.

At its meeting, the Capital Programme Committee had:-

(a)       approved the business case detailing proposals to carry out refurbishment work at Hazlewood School, and for the Braeside School building to be permanently closed;

(b)       approved the removal of the Braeside School improvements project from the Condition and Suitability programme, and the addition of a new project within the Condition and Suitability programme to carry out improvements at Hazlewood School, with an allocation of funding as outlined in section 6.1 of the business case, and with the balance of the budget from the Braeside School project to be returned to the Condition and Suitability contingency fund;

(c)       instructed the Director of Resources to liaise with the developer to formulate a timetable for the building of the first primary school at the Countesswells development and report back to the Capital Programme Committee in September 2018; and

(d)       referred the matter to the Education Operational Delivery Committee to (i) reconsider the earlier decision by the Education and Children’s Services Committee in January 2018 to declare the Hazlewood site surplus to requirement; and (ii) to agree to the proposals to use Hazlewood School to temporarily accommodate pupils enrolled at Countesswells School prior to the new Countesswells School building opening, and also for Hazlewood School to be used to accommodate the Inclusion Team.

The Education Operational Delivery Committee was therefore asked to consider recommendation (d) above.

The Convener, seconded by Councillor Boulton, moved the recommendation as set out in the report.

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

that Committee:-

(a)      expresses its wish to open the new Countesswells Primary School to admit pupils by the start of the 2020/2021 school year so that Countesswells pupils are located at Hazlewood School for a maximum of two school years; and

(b)      expresses its wish to instruct officers to undertake further detailed discussions around the construction timeline, anticipated school rolls and related issues as a matter of urgency.

On a division, there voted:- for the motion (9) – the Convener; and Councillors Boulton, Donnelly, Imrie, Macdonald, Malik, Stewart, Mr Murray and Mr O’Riordan; for the amendment (9) – Councillors Greig, Henrickson, Catriona Mackenzie, McLellan, Nicoll, Samarai, Mrs Brock, Ms Scott and Reverend Steel.

There being an equality of votes, in terms of Standing Order 31.6 the Convener exercised her casting vote in favour of the motion.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)        to request that officers circulate figures to Members outwith the meeting in relation to the amount spent on any upgrades to Braeside School;  and

(ii)       to approve the motion.

With reference to article 3 of the minute of its previous meeting, the Committee had before it a report by the Chief Operating Officer which provided Members with a summary of the key outcome and operational performance indicator information in respect of in-house educational services for the period to 1 April 2017 to 31 March 2018.  Appended to the report were the Education and Inclusion Services performance improvement scorecard and the Education and Inclusion Services performance improvement trend charts.

Members asked a number of questions of officers in respect of the report.

The report recommended:-

that Committee note the content of the report and attached appendices.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)        to note that a report would be presented to the Staff Governance Committee in August in relation to modifications to the Maximising Attendance Policy and to request that the report be circulated to Members as a service update following consideration by the Staff Governance Committee;

(ii)       in relation to page 27 (Percentage of Activity Agreement Completers in a Positive Destination); to commend the improvement in the figures and to request that officers circulate information to Members outwith the meeting as to how they would be working to continue this improvement in the coming year; and

(iii)      to approve the recommendation.

With reference to article 10 of the Education and Children’s Services Committee of 16 November 2017, the Committee had before it a report by the Chief Operating Officer which provided an update on the actions taken in response to instructions issued by the previous Committee to address road safety concerns for pupils travelling to Lochside Academy.

The report recommended:-

that Committee –

(a)       welcome the briefing sessions in May, June and July and in particular the session in June with Police Scotland regarding speeding, and instructs the Director to bring back a report after six months of the school being opened to ensure concerns regarding speeding were being addressed; and

(b)       instruct the Director to continue support to Lochside Academy’s six associated group primary schools with P4-7 and in particular P7 pupils who will continue to transition to Lochside Academy in 2019/20 and during the following school year until 2021/22.

The Convener, seconded by Councillor Boulton moved:-

That the Committee:-

(a)   welcome the briefing sessions for May, June and July and in particular the session in June with Police Scotland regarding speeding, and instruct the Director to bring back a report on 17 January 2019 to ensure safety concerns are being addressed; and

(b)   instruct the Director to continue support to Lochside Academy’s six associated group primary schools with P4-7 and in particular P7 pupils who will continue to transition to Lochside Academy in 2019/20 and during the following school year until 2021/22.

Councillor Nicoll, seconded by Councillor Catriona Mackenzie moved as an amendment:-

            That the Committee:-

(i)     welcome the briefing session in May and notes the proposed sessions to be held on June and July.  Further welcomes the proposed session in June with Police Scotland representatives regarding speeding vehicles on the safe routes to school for Lochside Academy and instructs the Director of Operations to bring back a report after six months of the school being opened to ensure concerns regarding speeding vehicles are being addressed;.

(ii)    instruct the Director of Operations to continue support to Lochside Academy’s six associated primary schools with P4-7 and in particular P7 pupils who will transition to Lochside Academy in 2019/20 and during the following school years until 2021/22.

And to recommend to the Operational Delivery Committee that the following are considered -

(iii)      instruct the Chief Officer for Operations and Protective Services to proceed with the installation of a puffin crossing on Cove Road between its junctions with Charleston Road and Cove Crescent using funding from the Lochside Academy Infrastructure capital budget to an estimated cost of £35,000;

(iv)      note the proposed costs of upgrading the path between Charleston Drive and Charleston Crescent and instructs the works be undertaken at the earliest opportunity to meet the opening of Lochside Academy in August this year using funding from the Bus Lane Enforcement – 2019/20;

(v)       instruct the Chief Officer of Operations and Protective Services to proceed with the installation of the lighting along South Loirston Road and commence the flood alleviation works required  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

The Committee had before it an exempt appendix relating to the Proposals for the Future of Braeside School report referred to at article 4.

The Committee resolved:-

to note the information contained within the exempt appendix.