Agenda, decisions and draft minutes

The agenda and reports associated with this minute can be located 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.

Members were requested to intimate any Declarations of Interest or Transparency Statements in respect of the items on the agenda.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)           to note that Councillor Macdonald advised that she was a member of Aberdeen Women’s Alliance and GREC however, having applied the objective test she did not consider that her connections amounted to an interest which would prevent her from participating in the discussions;

(ii)          to note that Councillor Brooks advised that he was the emergency cover Chairman of the TLC Charity which was part of the Trussell Trust family of food banks however, having applied the objective test he did not consider that his connection amounted to an interest which would prevent him from participating in the discussions; and

(iii)         to note that Professor Bone advised that he was on the Board of CFINE however, having applied the objective test he did not consider that his connection amounted to an interest which would prevent him from participating in the discussions.

The Committee had before it the minute of the previous meeting of 6 November 2024.

In respect of Article 8 (No Recourse to Public Funds), Members noted that additional information regarding this had been circulated as instructed.

The Committee resolved:-

to approve the minute.

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

The Committee resolved:-

(i)        to note the information provided; and

(ii)        to otherwise agree the Planner.

The Committee had before it a report outlining the work undertaken by the Children’s Services Board during 2024/25 and incorporating the Local Child Poverty Action Report for 2024/25. The report outlined proposed changes to be made to the agreed Aberdeen City Integrated Children’s Services Strategic Plan to support Community Planning Partners to positively respond to changes in published data and changed national policy intent.

The report recommended:-

that the Committee:

(a)         note the progress made in delivering the Aberdeen City Integrated Children’s Services Strategic Plan and associated work to address child poverty from April 2024 to date; and

(b)         comment on the report in advance of it being presented to the Education and Children’s Services Committee for internal approval and thereafter Community Planning Aberdeen for full ratification.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)            to instruct the Executive Director – Families and Communities, to circulate the ABZWorks commissioned Rocket Science study looking at barriers into employability for parents;

(ii)          to instruct the Executive Director – Families and Communities, to circulate an update in respect of the study period stated for reporting of breastfeeding;

(iii)         to instruct the Executive Director – Families and Communities, to circulate details of the national Childminding Recruitment campaign;

(iv)         to instruct the Executive Director – Families and Communities, to follow up with the Asthma and Allergy Foundation as part of the further investigations in respect of the increasing local trend around hospitalisations due to asthma; and

(v)          to otherwise approve the recommendations.

Appendix 3:Equality Outcomes Employee Experience Survey Analysis – EDI Focus – will follow as additional circulation.

The Committee had before it report updating on the progress made on the current set of Equality Outcomes from 2021-2025 and seeking approval for the proposed Equality Outcomes for 2025-2029 with the aim of mainstreaming Equality within the organisation and the city. The report also provided evidence of compliance with the duties as contained in the Equality Act 2010 and accompanying regulations.

The report recommended:-

that the Committee:

(a)          note the progress on mainstreaming equality and the current set of Equality Outcomes as detailed in Appendix 1 of the report;

(b)          note the report findings from surveys and engagement with staff and with communities as contained in Appendix 2 and 3 of the report;

(c)          approve the draft Equality Outcomes for Aberdeen City Council for 2025 –2029 including:

·         Equality Outcomes as a Service Provider

·         Equality Outcomes for the Council as an Employer

·         Equality Outcomes as an Education Authority

all detailed in the Equality Outcomes and Mainstreaming Progress Report 2021-2025 as contained in Appendix 1 of the report;

(d)          note the progress report and proposed equality outcomes for the Licensing Authority pending approval by the Licensing Board;

(e)          note the Council’s Employee information as contained in Appendix 4 of the report;

(f)           approve the Equality Outcomes Mainstreaming Report 2021-2025 and refreshed outcomes; and

(g)          instruct the Chief Officer - People and Citizens Services to publish the Equality Outcomes and Mainstreaming Report for 2021-2025 on the Council’s website by April 2025 as per the statutory obligation.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)            to note the report findings from surveys and engagement with staff and with communities as contained in Appendix 2 of the report;

(ii)          to note that the full results of the Equality Outcomes Employee Experience Survey would be analysed then presented to the Staff Governance Committee in the first instance;

(iii)         to instruct the Chief Officer - People and Citizen Services, to issue a Service Update in respect of the outcomes and results of the Employee Experience Survey following its publication to the Staff Governance Committee;

(iv)         to note that the Equality Outcomes: Community Action Plan would be added to the committee business planner for September 2025; and

(v)          to otherwise approve the recommendations.

The Committee had before it a report presenting the response to the recommendations set out in the Accessing Advice Services Report CORS/24/149 from 12 June 2024 which instructed a further report to consider with partners the provisions of other advisory services in the city.

The report recommended:-

that the Committee:

(a)         approve the proposed improvement actions; and

(b)         instruct the Chief Officer – People and Citizen Services to report back on progress within 12 months.

The Committee had before it an amendment from Councillor Blake:-

that the Committee -

(1)          agrees the proposed improvement actions with the following additions:

(2)          notes the response rate to the survey. Though there were overall 560 respondents, for virtually all questions more than two thirds of respondents gave no answer;

(3)          instructs the Chief Officer – People and Citizen Services to work with the Chief Officer - Data Insights to improve the response and enhance the insights for the next survey;

(4)          notes that the report highlights that lack of awareness is a key issue with over two thirds of respondents unaware of the services. The committee notes the actions proposed to raise awareness, but also noting the concerns about digital exclusion;

(5)          instructs the Chief Officer – People and Citizen Services to speak to service users about how they receive information and sources they trust and to report back to committee via a service update; and

(6)          instructs the Chief Officer – People and Citizen Service to report back on progress within 12 months.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)            to approve the proposed improvement actions;

(ii)          to instruct the Chief Officer – People and Citizen Services, to report back on progress within 12 months;

(iii)         to instruct the Chief Officer – People and Citizen Services, to work with Chief Officer - Data Insights to improve the response and enhance the insights for the next survey; and

(iv)         to instruct the Chief Officer – People and Citizen Services, to speak to service users accessing the Council’s money advice services about how they received information and sources they trusted and to report back to committee via a service update.

The Committee had before it an update report following the visit to AberNecessities on 29 January 2025.

The report recommended:-

that the Committee:

(a)         note the report and actions identified during the visit to AberNecessities and work done to date; and

(b)         thank all those at AberNecessities, including the staff and volunteers, who welcomed the Committee and provided an informative and interesting visit.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)            to instruct the Community Planning Manager to work with the Public Health External Adviser to produce a service update in respect of developments taking place at a national level on the issue of infant formula;

(ii)          to instruct the Community Planning Manager to provide further information on the location of washing machines and tumble driers within the Council’s communal housing stock; and

(iii)         to otherwise approve the recommendations.

-           COUNCILLOR CHRISTIAN ALLARD, Convener.</AI13>

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