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 was no urgent business.

There was no exempt business.

The Convener asked the members to declare any interests and none were declared.

The Convener welcomed all to the meeting and expressed appreciation to Police Scotland and the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service for their continued partnership engagement with Council and this Committee. Recent examples of positive operational activity were highlighted.

The Committee had before it the minute of the meeting of 10 October 2019.

The Committee resolved:-

to approve the minute as a correct record

The Committee had before it the business planner as prepared by the Chief Officer – Governance.

The Committee resolved :-

to note the content of the business planner.

The Committee had before it a report by the Local Senior Officer, Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) which presented a Post Incident Report arising from the Grenfell Tower Fire in London.

The report recommended: -

that the Committee consider and note the information provided in this report in relation to prevention and protection.

The Committee heard an overview of the report which included reference to the inherent safety present within high rise buildings in Aberdeen. The Committee heard that SFRS also visited all such buildings annually and were complimentary of the additional fire prevention and detection measures applied by Aberdeen City Council.

The Committee resolved:-

to approve the recommendation.

The Committee had before it a report by the Chief Officer – Integrated Children’s and Family Services which presented the Chief Social Work Officer Annual Report.

The report recommended: -

that the Committee note the content of the Annual Report, as attached at Appendix 1.

The Committee heard an overview of the report and an explanation was provided regarding referral increases. The Committee also heard of activity during the recent National Adoption Week.

The Committee resolved:-

to approve the recommendations.

The Committee had before it a report by the Chief Officer – Integrated Children’s and Family Services which provided an updated Action Plan as requested following presentation of the Aberdeen City Joint Inspection Report  to committee on 10 October 2019.

The report recommended: -

that the Committee –

a)            note the report

b)            note the action plan attached at Appendix A; and

c)            instruct the Chief Officer – Integrated Children and Family Services to provide a service update on progress made on the Action Plan, to the Public Protection Committee by 7 October 2020

The Committee resolved:-

to approve the recommendations with direction that at recommendation c); -    ‘service update’ be amended to ‘report’.

The Committee had before it a report by the Chief Officer – Integrated Children’s and Family Services which arose from the conclusion of a Significant Case Review (SCR) which had been presented to the Aberdeen City Child Protection Committee. The report also provided a summary of the recently published Triennial Report on national SCRs from the Care Inspectorate.

The report recommended: -

that the Committee -

a)            note the content of the Aberdeen City Child Protection Committee’s update in relation to the SCR and that the learning from this case will be incorporated into the Child Protection Programme 2019-2021;

b)            note that the case in relation to the SCR is sub-judice and therefore no further information can be shared at this time;

c)            note the next steps in relation to the SCR are to compile an Executive Summary which can be published once the case is no longer sub-judice and to produce a detailed analysis of the Welsh Methodology that was used to conduct the SCR; and

d)            note the summary of the Triennial report on national SCRs from the Care Inspectorate.

The Committee resolved: -

to approve the recommendations.

The Committee had before it a report by the Chief Officer – Integrated Children’s and Family Services which provided the Corporate Parenting Annual Report.

The report recommended: –

that the Committee -

a)            note the Corporate Parenting Policy and Plan (appendix 1);

b)            note the Aberdeen Care Experience (ACE) six month report (appendix 2);

c)            instruct the Chief Officer Integrated Children and Family Services to bring Aberdeen City’s refreshed Corporate Parenting Action plan to the Public Protection Committee in April 2021; and

d)            instruct the Chief Officer Integrated Children and Family Services to support Care Experienced Young People to present a progress update on delivery of the Corporate Parenting Action Plan to the Public Protection Committee on 1 July 2020.

The Committee heard a summary of the report which included reference to the software application – Mind of My Own – which had been introduced to assist Local Authority Young People within Aberdeen City. The application developer had been significantly impressed by the manner and speed with which Aberdeen City adopted the product. This resulted in three awards being presented to those involved in the project.

The Committee were also advised that Care Experienced Young People (CEYP) throughout Scotland have previously been able to participate in Christmas Day Dinner activities held in Edinburgh or Glasgow and arranged by various charity and voluntary organisations.

The Committee were further advised that this year, CEYP in Aberdeen City would benefit from a locally hosted Christmas Day Dinner, which was being hosted by Aberdeen City Council volunteer staff. The City is the only local authority to arrange such an event.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)            to approve the recommendations; and

(ii)          to note the beneficial impact on the development of the Champions Board of the Life Changes Trust award with confirmation of the additional funding of £50,000 per annum, from 2019-2021 and to support continued match funding from within agreed existing budget lines.

The Committee had before it a report by the Chief Officer – Early Intervention & Community Empowerment which provided an update on the Child Poverty Plan

The report recommended: -

that the Committee note that the Operational Delivery Committee (ODC) has approved the Local Outcome Improvement Plan as the Child Poverty Action Plan for 2019-22.

The Committee heard that having been approved by the ODC, the report was now presented to provide assurance to the Committee on the Council’s activities in respect of Child Poverty.

The Committee resolved: -

to approve the recommendation.

The Committee had before it a report from the Chief Officer – Governance which presented the Aberdeen City Council Generic Emergency Plan.

The report recommended: -

that the Committee -

a)            note the Generic Emergency Plan which will become effective from 31January 2020; and

b)            agree to receive an update on implementation of the Plan at its 13 May 2020 meeting as part of the Resilience Annual Report.

The Committee resolved:-

to approve the recommendations including that the report was welcome.

-       Councillor Jennifer Stewart, The Depute Provost, Convener