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.

There is an exempt appendix in the Exempt Appendices section below.

This report was withdrawn by officers to obtain further information and would be submitted to a future meeting of the Committee.

With reference to article 10 of the minute of meeting of the Education and Children’s Services Committee of 16 September 2025, the Committee had before it a report by the Executive Director for Families and Communities which presented a Strategic Outline Case, which summarised the findings of the recent Northfield Area Asset Review, and included high level options for improving future primary and secondary education and potential consolidation of other assets in the Northfield area, to bring about improvements in the delivery of Council services to members of the Northfield community.

The report recommended:-

that the Committee -

(a)      approve the Strategic Outline Case included at Appendix A of this report; and

(b)      note the decision of the Education and Children’s Services Committee on 16 September 2025, to:

·            Instruct the Chief Officer – Corporate Landlord to develop an Outline Business Case, to present detailed options and costings for the creation of new community campus facilities to serve the Northfield Area, which would support the delivery of the Family Support Model in Northfield, allow for the reduction of excess school capacity, and provide opportunities for the consolidation of existing Council buildings in Northfield; and

·            Instruct the Chief Officer – Corporate Landlord to submit the completed Outline Business Case for approval to the budget setting process for 2026/27.

The Committee resolved:-

to approve the recommendations.

There are exempt appendices in the Exempt Appendices section below.

The Committee had before it a report by the Executive Director for Corporate Services which presented procurement work plans where expenditure was included for the Corporate Services, Families and Communities and City Regeneration & Environment Functions for review and (2) sought approval of the total estimated expenditure for the proposed contracts as contained in the work plans and Procurement Business Cases appended to the report.

The Procurement Business Case related to the following:-

·       Production Partner for Events;

·       Festive Lighting;

·       Vehicle Telematics & CCTV;

·       Free Period Products;

·       Bottled Gas;

·       Furniture Storage; and

·       Security Services.

The report recommended:-

that the Committee –

(a)      review the Corporate Services, Families and Communities, City Regeneration & Environment and Cross Function work plans as detailed in the appendices;

(b)      approve the procurement business cases (Appendix 5 – 11), including the total estimated expenditure for each of the proposed contracts; and

(c)      note the content of Appendix 3 – 3.10 Memo Approvals and Appendix 4 – 4.1.3 Technical Exemption Approvals.

The Committee resolved:-

to approve the recommendations.

TRANSPARENCY STATEMENT

During discussion of the following item, Councillor Brooks advised that he had a connection by virtue of him having previously ran a Foodbank from Inchgarth Community Centre for a number of years prior to Covid. Having applied the objective test, he did not consider that he had an interest and would not be withdrawing from the meeting, however he indicated that he would not be voting on the matter.

The Committee had before it a report by the Executive Director for City Regeneration and Environment which sought approval for the proposed allocation of grant funding from the Place Based Investment Programme (PBIP) Fund 2025/26 and to reallocate underspend from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.

The report recommended:-

that the Committee –

Place Based Investment Programme 2025/26

(a)      approve an allocation to Aberdeen Hindu Temple Trust of up to £41,041.00 for the Improving Energy Efficiency Project;

(b)      approve an allocation to Aberdeen City Council of up to £36,126.46 for the Smart and Clean Street project;

(c)      approve an allocation to Aberdeen City Council – Business Support of up to £37,400.00 for the Empty Shops Activation Kit Project;

(d)      approve an allocation to Albury Community Sports Hub of up to £60,676.90 for the Refurbishment of Tennis Courts and Replacement of Existing Fencing Project;

(e)      approve an allocation to Camphill Wellbeing Trust of up to £71,500.00 for the Compass Project - Road Resurfacing and Accessible Path (Phase 3 Infrastructure) Project;

(f)       approve an allocation to CFINE of up to £65,889.90 for the CFINE Pantry + project;

(g)      approve an allocation to Code the City of up to £19,537.00 for The Soap Factory Community Facilities Project;

(h)      approve an allocation to Fersands and Fountain SCIO of up to £14,300.00 for the Fersands Youth Zone Renovation Project;

(i)       approve an allocation to Aberdeen Association of Social Service (operating as VSA) of up to £34,137.70 for the Fields of Opportunity: Barn Refurbishment & Learning Hub Project;

(j)       approve an allocation to Aberdeen Performing Arts of up to £78,750.00 for the Music Hall Energy Saving Encore Project;

(k)      approve an allocation to Aberdeen City Council of up to £130,641.04 for the Inchgarth Community Centre Project, pending confirmation of Tranche 2 of the proposed 2025/26 PBIP funding from the Scottish Government;

(l)       authorise the Chief Officer – City Development and Regeneration to approve the reallocation of funding within previously approved projects should any underspends be reported, following consultation with the Convener and Vice Convener of Finance and Resources Committee;

(m)     authorise the Chief Officer – City Development and Regeneration to approve new projects up to a value of £30,000 should any underspends be reported, following consultation with the Chief Officer – Finance, Chief Officer – Commercial and Procurement Services and Convener of Finance and Resources Committee.

UK Shared Prosperity Fund 2025/26 - Communities and Place

(n)      note that the Station House Media Unit: Phase 2 Extension Project is now no longer viable to be complete by March 31st 2026; and consequently

(o)      approve the reallocation of up to £110,000 from Station House Media Unit's Phase 2 Extension Project to Station House Media Unit’s Phase 1 Redevelopment Project.

The Convener, seconded by Councillor Allard, moved:-

that the Committee approve the recommendations contained within the report.

Councillor Malik, seconded by Councillor Tissera, moved as an amendment:-

that the Committee –

(1)    approve the recommendations contained within the report, with the exception of recommendation 2.11; and

(2)    approve Tillydrone  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

There is an exempt appendix in the Exempt Appendices section below.

With reference to article 13 of the minute of the previous meeting of 6 August 2025, the Committee had before it a report by the Executive Director for City Regeneration and Environment which provided an update on the progress and next steps on a Partnership bid to host the World Rally Championship (WRC) and sought approval to enter a Memorandum of Understanding with Motorsport UK.

The report recommended:-

that the Committee –

(a)      note the support for the North East of Scotland to host the World Rally Championships (WRC) by regional partners and Tourism Levy development partners, and the associated benefits. Appendix A;

(b)      note the competitive bidding process and timeline partners are following to apply to host this event in the North East of Scotland;

(c)      agree that Aberdeen City Council will contribute to the costs outlined by Motorsport UK for three Councils at £3M over three years, with the intention that Aberdeen City’s share will be reimbursed by the Visitor Levy;

(d)      instruct the Chief Officer – City Development & Regeneration to enter a Memorandum of Understanding with Motorsport UK, Appendix B, which will allow Motorsport UK to submit an application to host the World Rally Championships in Aberdeen City Boundaries; and

(e)      should the bid be successful, instruct Chief Officer – City Development & Regeneration to provide an update on planning proposals and council governance at a future Finance and Resources Committee.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)       to approve recommendations (a) to (d); and

(ii)      that should the bid be successful or otherwise, instruct Chief Officer – City Development & Regeneration to provide an update on planning proposals and council governance at the first meeting of the Finance and Resources Committee following the outcome of that bid. 

With reference to article 11 of the minute of the Finance and Resources Committee of 7 August 2024, the Committee had before it a report by the Executive Director for City Regeneration and Environment, which provided an update with an interim evaluation of the Tall Ships Races Aberdeen 2025 including contracted and additional elements of the event, and an interim budget.

The report recommended:-

that the Committee –

(a)      note that a designed evaluation document will be circulated in the new year with full budgets included in the year end budget pack;

(b)      instruct the Chief Officer – City Development and Regeneration to engage with cultural and heritage partners to develop Festival of the Sea 2026, in order to build upon the legacy of Tall Ships and by allocating monies from the Coastal Communities Fund and seeking further grants and private sponsorship to support; and

(c)      instruct the Chief Officer – City Development and Regeneration to work with regional youth sail training partners to ensure opportunities for young people from Aberdeen to take part in the Tall Ships Races 2026 on a fully-funded basis; and to seek grants and sponsorship to widen this programme as far as possible.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)       to approve the recommendations contained within the report;

(ii)      instruct the Chief Officer – City Development and Regeneration, in consultation with Port of Aberdeen and Sail Training International, to take the necessary steps to bid to host the Tall Ships Races in Aberdeen as early as 2030; and

(iii)      instruct the Chief Officer – Finance to include an additional  £30,000 in the General Fund Revenue budget from 2026/27 onwards to continue to build upon the legacy and story established by The Tall Ships Races Aberdeen 2025, to provisionally cover costs of 10 Sail Trainees participating in the Tall Ships Races each year moving forward.

In accordance with the decision taken at Article 1 of the minute of 5 November 2025, the following items were considered with the press and public excluded.

The Committee had before it a report by the Executive Director for City Regeneration and Environment provided an update on the implementation of the Aberdeen City Region Hydrogen Strategy 2015–2025 and outlined key achievements to date including the recent success of the H2 Valley bid proposal to reach grant agreement stage and award of funding from Transport Scotland to secure training of hydrogen technicians.

The report recommended:-

that the Committee –

(a)      note progress to date in delivering the Aberdeen City Region Hydrogen Strategy and Action Plan 2015-2025 as detailed in Appendix A;

(b)      note the success of the H2 Valley Th2istle bid that has now progressed to the grant agreement stage with the Clean Hydrogen Partnership for a €9m grant that is expected to leverage total regional spend of €22m;

(c)      delegate authority to the Chief Officer – City Development and Regeneration to sign documentation relating to accepting and delivering this grant funding, including Consortium Agreement with all other Partners and any other associated legal agreements as required for delivery of the project provided that terms and conditions have been approved by Chief Officer - Finance and Chief Officer - Commercial and Procurement Services;

(d)      note the success in receiving £60,000 grant funding from Transport Scotland through the Heavy Duty Vehicle Skills Challenge Fund that will progress Aberdeen City Council hydrogen technician training for Fleet colleagues;

(e)      delegate authority to Chief Officer – City Development and Regeneration and Chief Officer – Operations, following consultation with the Chief Officer – Commercial and Procurement Services and with the Executive Director of Corporate Services for approval of business cases for procurement, legal agreements and associated spend, subject to available budget, in relation to the operation of the Council owned hydrogen buses; and

(f)       delegate authority to the Chief Officer – City Development and Regeneration following consultation with Chief Officer – Commercial and Procurement Services to approve the proposed subsidy to First Bus as detailed in the report.

The Convener, seconded by Councillor Allard, moved:-

that the Committee approve the recommendations contained within the report.

Councillor Malik, seconded by Councillor Tissera, moved as an amendment:-

that the Committee –

(1)    note the report;

(2)    agree the hydrogen strategy adopted and approved by the previous administration before the UK government had a Hydrogen Strategy has been neglected by the SNP, leading to other cities overtaking ACC on Hydrogen and putting Aberdeen’s position as the energy capital of Europe in jeopardy. The reasons are set out in Appendix A, A3 of the report; 

(3)    agree it is an absolute disgrace from the SNP that the much-envied hydrogen production and refuelling Stations have been out of action for over 12 months.  meaning the 25 Hydrogen buses have been out of use for all of that time;

(4)    agree, under the Councillors’ Common Law right of access to information (the “need to know” principle), details of the contract between ACC and First Bus must be disclosed to Members so they better know the position on liability in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

The Committee had before it a report by the Executive Director for Families and Communities which provided details regarding the proposed sale of a brownfield site located at Granitehill Road and extending to 2.59 hectares (6.4acres).

The report recommended:-

that the Committee –

(a)      instruct the Chief Officer - Corporate Landlord to accept the proposal in principle; and

(b)      instruct the Chief Officer - Governance to conclude missives for the sale of the property, incorporating various qualifications as are necessary to protect the Council’s interests, together with any other matters required to complete the transaction.

The Committee resolved:-

to approve the recommendations.

The Committee had before it an exempt appendix relating to the World Rally Championship Bid report. (Article 5 of this minute refers)

The Committee resolved:-

to note the information contained within the exempt appendix.

This item was withdrawn. (Article 1 of this minute refers)

The Committee had before it exempt appendices relating to the Work Plan and Business Cases report. (Article 3 of this minute refers)

The Committee resolved:-

to note the information contained within the exempt appendices.

-         COUNCILLOR ALEX MCLELLAN, Convener