Agenda, decisions and minutes

There was no urgent business.

There was no exempt business.

Members were requested to intimate any declarations.

There were no declarations of interest intimated.

The Committee had before it the minute of its previous meeting of 7 December 2021, for approval.

The Committee resolved:-

to approve the minute as a correct record.

The Committee had before it the Committee Business Planner prepared by the Chief Officer – Governance.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)             to note that Police Scotland - Thematic Report: Mental Health & Wellbeing Support report had been delayed to the meeting on 12 October 2022; and

(ii)           to otherwise note the content of the planner.

There were no notices of motion.

There were no referrals.

The Committee had before it the Police Scotland Performance Report April - September 2021.

Kate Stephen, Chief Superintendent – Police Scotland, spoke to the report and took questions from Members.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)             to welcome Chief Superintendent Kate Stephen to her first meeting of the Committee and to thank her predecessor George MacDonald;

(ii)           to request that the Chief Superintendent submit a report to the Committee in relation to Operation Armour;

(iii)          to request that the Chief Superintendent submit a report to the Councillor Lesley Dunbar in relation to recent road fatalities in her ward; and

(iv)          to otherwise endorse the report.

The Committee had before it the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service year to date for April to December 2021 Performance Report, presenting the performance of SFRS against the objectives contained within the Aberdeen City Local Fire and Rescue Plan.

Chay Ewing, Local Senior Officer – SFRS, spoke to the report and took questions from Members.

The Committee resolved:-

to note the information provided in the report.

The Committee had before it the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service Thematic Report – Rescue and Specialist Support.

Chay Ewing, Local Senior Officer – SFRS, spoke to the report and took questions from Members.

The report recommended:

that the Committee:-

(a)           note the information provided in the report; and

(b)           note that the Local Senior Officer would make arrangements with the clerk to facilitate a visit(s) to SFRS facilities in Aberdeen.

The Committee resolved:-

to agree the recommendations.

The Committee had before it the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service Thematic Report on New Scottish Government Legislation for Fire Detection in Domestic Properties.

Chay Ewing, Local Senior Officer – SFRS, spoke to the report and took questions from Members.

The report recommended:

that the Committee consider and note the information provided in the report.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)             to note the information provided in the report;

(ii)            to note that the Local Senior Officer, SFRS would provide an update report to Committee concerning the responsibilities of Airbnb properties with regard to the new fire detection legislation;

(iii)          to note that the Operations Manager, Operations And Protective Services would provide an update report to Committee concerning the responsibilities of private landlords’ properties with regard to the new fire detection legislation; and

(iv)          to instruct officers to bring a progress report on the installation of the new fire detection systems to Council housing stock to Committee on 12 October 2022.

The Committee had before it the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service Thematic Report - Reducing Unwanted Fire Alarm Signals: Approved Response Model for Automatic Fire Alarms.

Chay Ewing, Local Senior Officer – SFRS, spoke to the report and took questions from Members.

The report recommended:

that the Committee consider and note the information provided in the report.

The Committee resolved:-

to agree the recommendation.

The Committee had before it for information a letter from HM Chief Inspector of the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service regarding a Review of Inspection Arrangements across Local Authority Areas.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)             to note the information provided; and

(ii)            to instruct the Local Senior Officer, SFRS to provide an update to a future Committee.

The Committee had before it a report on the Storm Arwen Response and Recovery, detailing the Council’s response to and recovery from Storm Arwen in order to provide assurance that lessons had been learned and actions identified for similar future incidents. The report also touched upon the very recent Storms Malik and Corrie which were similar in nature to Arwen.

Fiona Mann, Emergency Planning, Resilience and Civic Lead – Governance introduced the report.  Steven Shaw, Environmental Manager – Operations and Protective Services spoke in furtherance of the report in respect of the environmental impact of tree damage and took questions from Members.

The report recommended:

that the Committee:-

(a)           note that the Council’s emergency planning structures responded well to the challenge of Storm Arwen, as well as during subsequent Storms Malik and Corrie;

(b)           note that, whilst officers are yet to complete the debrief of Malik and Corrie, it was likely that this would be consistent with the findings of the review of Arwen due to the similar nature of the incident; and

(c)           note the priority workstreams identified which would be overseen by the City Resilience Group during 2022.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)             to commend all of the relevant staff in their response to the storms;

(ii)           to the instruct the Chief Executive to write to the Scottish Government seeking support for the recovery process; and

(iii)          to otherwise agree the recommendations.

The Committee had before it a report on Brothers and Sisters Legislation, the purpose of which was to provide to the Committee assurances that Children’s Social Work were taking full cognisance of the new duties set out in the legislation relating to the relationship between brothers and sisters.

Graeme Simpson, Chief Social Work Officer, introduced the report and took questions from Members.

The report recommended:

that the Committee:-

(a)           note and endorse the intentions within the report in relation to realising legislative duties and how they would be reported;

(b)           note that the Council would continue to ensure brothers and sisters children who were safe and were loved would remain within their families; and

(c)           note the presumption that brothers and sisters remain together would be reported annually to the Public Protection Committee within the Corporate Parenting Annual Report.

The Committee resolved:-

to agree the recommendations.

The Committee had before it the Corporate Parenting Annual Report which had been provided in response to the Committee’s request for an annual report on the progress of the Council’s Corporate Parenting responsibilities outlined in part 9 of the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014.

Graeme Simpson, Chief Social Work, introduced the report.

The report recommended:

that the Committee:-

(a)           note and endorse progress and activities against key Corporate Parenting duties;

(b)           note the Corporate Parenting Policy and Plan 2021-2023;

(c)           note the Champions Board Plan 2021-2023;

(d)           note the Aberdeen Care Experienced Participation Report June –December 2021;

(e)           note the progress update from Care Experienced Young People on delivery of the Corporate Parenting and Champions Board Action Plans; and

(f)             note that further opportunities for care experienced young people to share their experiences of Corporate Parenting activity would be explored, in collaboration with our young people, for a future Committee.

The Committee resolved:-

to agree the recommendations.

The Committee had before it an update report on the Adult Support and Protection Inspection.

Val Vertigans, Lead Strategic Officer Adult Public Protection – ACHSCP, spoke to the report and took questions from Members.

The report recommended:

that the Committee note the preparations being made for the forthcoming Joint Inspection of Adult Support and Protection in Aberdeen.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)             to agree the recommendation; and

(ii)            to instruct officers to bring the final published report to Committee on 12 October 2022.

The Committee had before it the Adult Protection Committee Annual Report 2020-21 which was presented in order to provide assurance about the impact and effectiveness of partnership working to support and protect vulnerable adults at risk of harm in Aberdeen during the period.

Val Vertigans, Lead Strategic Officer Adult Public Protection – ACHSCP, introduced the report.

The report recommended:

that the Committee:-

(a)           note the Adult Protection Committee Annual Report 2020-21; and

(b)           note that the Biennial Report for the period April 2020 to March 2022 would be submitted to the Scottish Government in October 2022.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)             to agree the recommendations; and

(ii)            to note that the Biennial Report for the period April 2020 to March 2022 would be submitted to the Scottish Government in October 2022 and thereafter shared with Committee in March 2023.

The Convener stated that this was the last meeting of the Public Protection Committee for this electoral term.  She thanked the Chief Executive whose idea it had been to create the Committee, and also Councillors Lesley Dunbar and Graham for their time as Vice Convener.  The Convener also expressed her gratitude to Councillors Townson and Alphonse as former members of the Committee, Graeme Simpson and his Team, Police Scotland and Scottish Fire and Rescue colleagues and the clerks.

Councillor Lesley Dunbar paid tribute to the Convener for her role as Convener of the Committee since its inception.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)             to note the comments: and

(ii)            to note the date of the next meeting.

- COUNCILLOR JENNIFER STEWART, Convener.