Agenda, decisions and minutes

The agenda and reports associated with this minute can be found here

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 welcomed everyone to the meeting and indicated her appreciation for the continuing support and good work of the committee.

The Convener advised that it was Mental Health Day, a subject she was very aware of and had been fortunate to attend Child and Adolescence Mental Health Services (CAMHS) at the City Hospital. The Convener advised that it had been a very good visit and members were able to attend if they so wished.

There were no declarations of interest. 

The Committee had before it the minute of the previous meeting of 13 June 2019.

The Convener advised that since the last meeting, Sandy Stuart had sadly passed away and re-intimated her appreciation of his positive input to this Committee.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)            to pay tribute to Sandy Stuart, and to recognise his positive input as a former member of the Committee; and

(ii)          to otherwise approve the minute as a correct record. 

The Committee had before it the Committee Planner presented by the Chief Officer - Governance.

The Committee commented on the continued delay to the presentation of Item 15 (Generic Emergency Plan) on the planner and sought explanation. They heard of the increase in the volume of material generated by officers which had not been anticipated. This was now being consolidated and the report would be presented to the December meeting.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)            to note that in regard to item 15 on the planner, (Generic Emergency Plan), that the report due to come to Committee next cycle would be a consolidated document, which would consolidate various different documents that officers were currently using;

(ii)          to agree to remove items 7 (Police Scotland Performance Report Full Year), 11 (Building Standards Activity Report), 12 (Child Protection Committee Annual Report), 13 (Scottish Fire and Rescue Strategic Plan 2019-22), 14 (Scottish Fire and Rescue Q1 Public Protection Report and 16 (Scottish Government Consultation Update; and

(iii)         to otherwise note the information contained within the business planner.

The Committee had before it the Strategic Plan presented by the Local Senior Fire Officer, Bruce Farquharson. 

The Committee heard that the plan had been laid before the Scottish Parliament and identified the changing needs of the service.

The plan presented 4 Key Outcomes arising from feedback

1.    Prevention – SFRS aimed for collaborative and targeted prevention and protection activities that would improve community safety and wellbeing and support sustainable economic growth.

2.    Response – SFRS aimed for a flexible operational model which would provide an effective emergency response to meet diverse community risks across Scotland.

3.    People – feedback indicated the fire service was a great place to work where people were safe, supported and empowered to deliver high performing innovative services; and

4.    Public value – SFRS remained fully accountable and maximised their public value by delivering a high quality, sustainable fire and rescue service for Scotland. 

Mr Farquharson spoke in furtherance of the report and answered various questions from members.  Mr Farquharson explained that the next steps would be for a review of the Local Plan which would involve Community Planning Aberdeen and this committee for approval.

The Committee resolved:-

to note the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service Strategic Plan 2019-22 Consultation Update.  

The Committee had before it the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service Quarter 1 Performance Report presented by the Local Senior Fire Officer.

The report recommended:-

that the Committee consider and note the performance data provided in Appendix A in relation to the SFRS 2019/20 Performance Report.

The Committee received an overview from Mr Farquharson which included information on a downward trend in deliberate fire setting which had involved considerable amount of work with partners including schools for education and the council where combustible materials were known to be dumped. The partnership approach also assisted with low instances of non-domestic fires.

The rise in deliberate property fires indicated no apparent trend and the service remained vigilant to these.

The Committee heard that home fire prevention visits continue and that engagement with vulnerable individuals was ongoing.

The Committee also heard of the actions of Diesel, a service search and rescue dog who was to be recognised at the House of Lords.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)            to note that Diesel, one of the search and rescue dogs for the fire service, as well as his handler Gary Caroll, were due to be recognised at the House of Lords at the Animal Action Awards due to their specialist skills which had been used by the UK International Search and Rescue team in order to assist in disasters across the world; and

(ii)          to otherwise note the performance data provided in appendix A in relation to the SFRS 2019-20 Performance Report. 

The Committee had before it a report by the Local Commander, Police Scotland.

The report recommended:-

that the Committee discuss, comment on and endorse the report.

The Committee heard that the ‘ask Angela’ campaign was operating well and was being adopted throughout Europe where evidence of its use had been seen recently in Spain.

The Committee were provided with a summary of the report which resulted from the second year of the Local Police Plan. Tribute was given to police officers and staff but also acknowledged positive partnership working. The report outlined a percentage of the work carried out during a busy summer where many events had passed safely, thus enhancing the city as a place of safety.

Information on ‘cuckooing’, a national issue whereby drug and crime groups coerce vulnerable people to carry out their business, was presented to the Committee.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)            to request that a report be brought back to this Committee in regard to Cuckooing;

(ii)          to convey thanks to all staff throughout Police Scotland for their continued efforts and hard work; and

(iii)         to endorse the content of the report. 

The Committee received a presentation from Inspector Jon Millar, Police Scotland regarding Digitally Enabled Policing.

The Committee heard an overview on the project journey, which indicated the time, cost and resources deployed to deliver approximately 10,000 devices to front line officers across Scotland. Inspector Millar advised that the intention was to provide officers with digital content without the need to return to offices to carry out such tasks. This would not diminish nor change the way in which local policing was delivered, but would make it more efficient.

The Committee were very impressed at this developing technology and looked forward to a progress update to a future meeting.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)            to request that an update presentation be provided to the Committee in regard to the progress on Digitally Enabled Policing, which would include details on the amount of police officers trained to use the device; and

(ii)          to otherwise thank Inspector Jon Millar for this presentation and to note the information provided. 

The Committee had before it a report by the Chief Officer - Integrated Children's Services, which presented the Aberdeen City Joint Inspection Report.

The report recommended:-

that the Committee:

(a)          note the findings of the ‘Report of a joint inspection of services for children and young people in need of care and protection in Aberdeen’ – September 2019 (Appendix A), and

(b)           note the requirement on the Community Planning Partnership to prepare a plan detailing the action it intended to take in response to the Inspection Report, to submit this to the Care Inspectorate within 6 weeks of publication (15October 2019) and for this to be shared with Members via a Service Update.

The Committee heard from the Chief Officer – Integrated Children’s Services, who spoke in furtherance of the report.  Mr Simpson explained that the report would also be submitted to the Chief Officer Group for approval and he would report back to the committee with a finalised version. 

The Committee were provided with a summary of the report’s findings which indicated positive partnership working with no significant areas for improvement that had not already been identified locally.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)            to approve the recommendations;

(ii)          to request that a finalised report be submitted to the December meeting for information; and

(iii)         to extend thanks to all staff involved with the Joint Inspection Report

The Committee had before it a report by the Chief Officer - Integrated Children's Services, which presented the Aberdeen Child Protection Committee’s Annual report for 2018-19, in order to provide information and assurance. 

The report recommended:-

that the Committee:

(a)          note the content of the CPC’s Annual Report 2018-19, including the Child Protection Improvement Programme for 2019 – 2021;

(b)          note the positive impact and effectiveness of child protection improvement initiatives;

(c)          note the effective working across child protection; and

(d)          note the use of statistical information to inform practice and improvement initiatives relating to child protection.

The Committee received a brief overview of the report from Kymme Fraser, Programme Development Manager, and heard that this was the first presentation of the Aberdeen City Child Protection Committee Annual Report which was very welcome.

The report contained the current improvement programme and objectives, and, in that respect, remained a live document.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)            to welcome the content of the Child Protection Committee’s Annual Report 2018-19, including the Child Protection Improvement Programme for 2019-21;

(ii)          to endorse the positive impact and effectiveness of child protection improvement initiatives;

(iii)         to note the effective working across child protection; and

(iv)         to note the use of statistical information to inform practice and improvement initiatives relating to child protection.

The Committee had before it a report by the Chief Officer – Operations and Protective Services, which updated members on changes to the Grampian Joint Health Protection Plan, and highlighted achievements under the sections relevant to the council. 

The report recommended:-

that the Committee:

(a)          note any updates and achievements in relation to the Grampian Joint Health Protection Plan; and

(b)          note that the Grampian Joint Health Protection Plan would be reviewed in 2020.

The Committee heard an overview of the report which highlighted that two Environmental Health Officer Trainees were progressing towards their final exams which would bring welcome additions to the team.

The Committee heard of Scottish Government guidance on caravan sites which would be circulated to all members.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)            to request that Scottish Government guidance on caravan sites be circulated to members in due course;

(ii)          to note that an update report would continue to be submitted to this Committee, following the Scotland Public Health reform which was due in 2020; and

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

The Committee had before it a report by the Chief Officer – Strategic Place Planning, which provided assurance and an overview of Council responsibilities in relation to securing dangerous buildings and protectiing public safety, as well as activity on unauthorised building work and unauthorised occupation of buildings. 

The report recommended:-

that the Committee:-

(a)          note the contents of the report and appendix; and

(b)          agree to 6 monthly assurance reporting – next update April 2020.

The Committee heard that the service was proactive in their activities which did see an increase in Notices served and highlighted the challenges to some of the enforcement work.

The Committee resolved:-

to approve the recommendations contained in the report.

The Committee had before it a report by the Chief Officer – Strategic Place Planning, which provided an update on Scottish Government Ministerial Working Groups on Fire Safety and Compliance & Enforcement. 

The report recommended:-

that the Committee note the contents of the report and agrees to receiving a future update in Autumn 2021.

The Committee heard an overview of the report, some of which arose from the publicly highlighted Grenfell Fire and school building issues, which included a synopsis of the main changes around cladding. It was intended to update this Committee as and when further developments occured, and in the interim that the Scottish Government Update would be circulated to members.  A link to this information could be found here. 

The Committee resolved:-

(i)            to request that information on the Scottish Government Update on new Building Regulations be circulated to members which would include a summary of changes to Building Regulations; and

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

The Committee discussed the continuing requirement to gain oversite of the Adult and Child Protection areas of work and the need to have an understanding to enable the committee to fulfil its Terms of Reference. The Committee noted that a workshop session would be arranged, and Members notified accordingly.

- COUNCILLOR JENNIFER STEWART, Convener