Agenda, decisions and draft 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 proposed that the Committee consider items 9.1 (Countesswells Primary School – paragraph 3.6); and 9.2 (Torry Heat Network – section 4) with the press and public excluded from the meeting.

The Committee resolved:-

in terms of Section 50A(4) of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, to exclude the press and public from the meeting during consideration of the above items so as to avoid disclosure of information of the classes described in the following paragraphs of Schedule 7(A) to the Act:- article 14 (paragraph 6) and article 15 (paragraph 8).

Members were requested to intimate any declarations of interest in respect of the items on today’s agenda, thereafter the following was intimated:-

(1)      Councillor Yuill declared an interest in item 8.4 (Replacement Milltimber School) due to a family member being involved with a contract for the school. He considered that the nature of his interest did not require him to leave the meeting, therefore he remained in the meeting at that item.

The Committee had before it the minute of its previous meeting of 25 May 2021.

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:-

to note the content of the business planner.

With reference to article 6 of the minute of its meeting of 24 March 2021, the Committee had before it a report by the Director of Resources which provided an update on the progress of works to refurbish Provost Skene’s House.

The report recommended:-

that the Committee notes the progress achieved in the delivery of Provost Skene’s House refurbishment and that the internal fit-out works are now nearing completion.

At this juncture, Councillor Hutchison declared an interest in the remainder of the item by virtue of a recent referral to the Standards Commission.  He decided that the nature of his interest required him to leave the meeting.  Councillor Radley substituted for Councillor Hutchison for the remainder of the item.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)       to note that:

(a)  all work carried out externally/internally had been done in accordance with the Listed Building Consent;

(b)  the lime mortar mix was carefully specified to match the original mortars used in the building, even down to hot mixing on site in the traditional manner. Moreover, the work was carried out by experienced masons; and

(c)  a local North East specialist contractor was appointed with experience in working on historical buildings using traditional skills by highly competent stonemasons and operatives to carry out this work;

(ii)       to instruct the Director of Resources to put the Provost Skene’s House Redevelopment forward for appropriate national awards; and

(iii)      to otherwise approve the recommendation contained in the report.

With reference to article 5 of the minute of its meeting of 24 March 2021, the Committee had before it a report by the Director of Resources which provided an update on the progress of the delivery of Union Terrace Gardens project which had an anticipated completion date of Winter 2021.

At this juncture, Councillor Yuill declared an interest by virtue of his involvement with the reporting of the missing granite from the site.  He decided that the nature of his interest required him to leave the meeting to allow the Director of Resources to respond to a question.  Councillor Radley substituted for Councillor Yuill during this part of the item.

Following the response to the question, Councillor Yuill returned for the remainder of the item.

The report recommended:-

That the Committee notes the progress achieved to deliver the Union Terrace Gardens redevelopment.

The Committee resolved:-

(ii)       to note that a Service Update in relation to the allocation of the monies transferred from Union Terrace Gardens Project to the Queen Street Project would be circulated at a future date; and

(ii)       to otherwise approve the recommendation contained in the report.

With reference to article 10 of the minute of its meeting of 24 March 2021, the Committee had before it a report by the Director of Resources which provided an update on the progress of the Torry Community Hub and Primary School.

The report recommended:-

That the Committee -

(a)      note that the project formed part of the Education New Build Programme presented to the Capital Programme, Strategic Commissioning and City Growth and Resources Committees in September 2018 and that the project would also contribute to the delivery of Aberdeen City Council’s Early Learning and Childcare Expansion Programme of works; and

(b)      note the current on-going work leading to the anticipated completion of the construction of the Torry Community Hub and Primary School by summer 2023.

The Committee resolved:-

to approve the recommendations contained in the report.

With reference to article 8 of the minute of its meeting of 24 March 2021, the Committee had before it a report by the Director of Resources which provided an update on the progress of the replacement Milltimber School.

The report recommended:-

That the Committee -

(a)      note that the project formed part of the Education New Build Programme presented to the Capital Programme, Strategic Commissioning and City Growth and Resources Committees in September 2018 and that the project would also contribute to the delivery of Aberdeen City Council’s Early Learning and Childcare Expansion Programme of works; and

(b)      note the current on-going work leading to completion of the construction of the Replacement Milltimber Primary School in spring 2022.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)       to note that the Chief Officer – Capital would circulate a response by email relating to whether there were additional developer contributions available for the project;

(ii)       to note that the interim Chief Officer – Strategic Place Planning would circulate a response by email relating to the whether the developer contributions that were agreed were based on the construction costs at the time of application; and

(iii)      to otherwise approve the recommendations contained in the report.

With reference to article 9 of the minute of its meeting of 24 March 2021, the Committee had before it a report by the Director of Resources which provided an update on the progress of the replacement Riverbank Primary School.

The report recommended:-

That the Committee -

(i)       note that the project formed part of the Education New Build Programme presented to the Capital Programme, Strategic Commissioning and City Growth and Resources Committees in September 2018 and that the project would also contribute to the delivery of Aberdeen City Council’s Early Learning and Childcare Expansion Programme of works; and

(ii)      note the current on-going work leading to completion of the construction of the Replacement Riverbank Primary School in Summer 2023.

The Committee resolved:-

to approve the recommendations contained in the report.

With reference to article 8 of the minute of its previous meeting, the Committee had before it a report by the Director of Resources which provided an update on the progress of ELC Capital Projects. These projects would help to meet Aberdeen City Council’s Early Learning and Childcare Delivery Plan objectives by working with the Education Operations teams to help meet the Councils commitment to expand funded early learning and childcare from 600 hours to 1,140 hours.  The timeline for delivery was originally in 2020, however due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the timeline had been extended to August 2021.

The report recommended:-

That the Committee -

(a)      note that the Early Learning and Childcare Expansion Programme of works fored part of the overall Council Capital Programme; and

(b)      note the significant progress made with the overall delivery of projects despite the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)       to congratulate all staff involved with the project; and

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

With reference to article 7 of the minute of its meeting of 24 March 2021, the Committee had before it a report by the Director of Resources which provided an update on the progress made with regards to the construction of the Ness Energy Project.

The report recommended:-

That the Committee -

(a)      note the progress achieved to date; and

(b)      note the financial position for the project.

The Committee resolved:-

to approve the recommendations contained in the report.

With reference to article 14 of the minute of its meeting of 24 March 2021, the Committee had before it a report by the Director of Resources which provided an update on the progress of the new Countesswells Primary School.

The report recommended:-

That the Committee -

(a)      note that the project formed part of the Education New Build Programme presented to the Capital Programme, Strategic Commissioning and City Growth and Resources Committees in September 2018 and that The project will also contribute to the delivery of Aberdeen City Council’s Early Learning and Childcare Expansion Programme of works;       

(b)      note the current on-going work leading to the anticipated completion of the construction of the Countesswells Primary School by summer 2023; and

(c)      note that the Council has provided a temporary school to meet the current need of this community.

The Committee resolved:-

to approve the recommendations contained in the report.

The Committee had before it a report by the Director of Resources which provided an update on the progress of the Torry Heat Network.

The report recommended:-

That the Committee note the current on-going work leading to the anticipated completion of the construction of the approved phase of the Torry Heat Network by late 2023.

The Committee resolved:-

to approve the recommendation contained In the report.

In accordance with the decision recorded under article 1 of this minute, the following items of business were considered with the press and public excluded.

The Committee had before it exempt information in relation to the Countesswells Primary School report (article 12 of this minute refers).

The Committee resolved:-

to note the exempt information.

The Committee had before it exempt information in relation to the Torry Heat Network report (article 13 of this minute refers).

The Committee resolved:-

to note the exempt information.

-       COUNCILLOR MARIE BOULTON, Convener