Agenda 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.

Members were requested to intimate any declarations of interest or transparency statements in respect of the items on today’s agenda, thereafter the following were intimated:-

(1)      Councillor Greig advised that he had a connection in relation to agenda item 11.1 (Reconfiguration of working arrangements with Arm’s Length External Organisations (ALEOs) and item 13.1 (Union Street Partnership Ltd) by virtue of him being a volunteer on Our Union Street. Having applied the objective test, he did not consider that he had an interest and would not be withdrawing from the meeting;

(2)      Councillor Cooke advised that he had a connection in relation to agenda item 11.1 (Reconfiguration of working arrangements with Arm’s Length External Organisations (ALEOs) as an observer on Sport Aberdeen Board. Having applied the objective test, he did not consider that he had an interest and would not be withdrawing from the meeting;

(3)      Councillor Fairfull advised that she had a connection in relation to agenda item 11.1 (Reconfiguration of working arrangements with Arm’s Length External Organisations (ALEOs) by virtue of her being a Council appointed member on Aberdeen Performing Arts Board. Having applied the objective test, she did not consider that she had an interest and would not be withdrawing from the meeting;

(4)      Councillor Macdonald advised that she had a connection in relation to agenda item 11.1 (Reconfiguration of working arrangements with Arm’s Length External Organisations (ALEOs) by virtue of her being a Director on Aberdeen Heat and Power Board. Having applied the objective test, she did not consider that she had an interest and would not be withdrawing from the meeting; and

(5)      Councillor Hutchison advised that he had a connection in relation to agenda item 11.1 (Reconfiguration of working arrangements with Arm’s Length External Organisations (ALEOs) by virtue of him being a Director on Aberdeen Heat and Power Board. Having applied the objective test, he did not consider that he had an interest and would not be withdrawing from the meeting.

With reference to article 6 (6.1) of the meeting of Council of 1 March 2023, the Committee had before it a report by the Director of Commissioning which sought approval for officers, in conjunction with our Arm’s Length External Organisations (ALEOs) to carry out an options appraisal, considering all potential working arrangements and delivery models for our ALEOs.

The report recommended:-

that the Committee –

(a)      note the previous decisions of Council at its meetings on 22 August 2022 and 3 March 2023;

(b)      instruct the Chief Executive to carry out an options appraisal on all potential working arrangements with our ALEOs and develop an Outline Business Case with the output from that options appraisal, and for that Outline Business Case, accompanied by a draft project plan underpinning the preferred options(s), to be submitted to Full Council at its meeting on 11 October 2023;

(c)      instruct the Chief Executive to invite the Chief Executives of all ALEOs, or a nominated representative, to be a member of an Executive Steering Group to oversee the options appraisal and development of the Outline Business Case; and

(d)      instruct the Chief Executive to establish a working group to take forward the options appraisal and complete the outline business case, and invite ALEOs to nominate representatives to be part of that working group.

The Convener, seconded by Councillor Greig, moved:-

that the Committee approve the recommendations contained within the report.

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

that the Committee –

(1)    approve recommendations (a) to (c) contained within the report;

(2)    instruct the Chief Executive to establish a working group including Trade Union representation, to take forward the options appraisal and complete the outline business case, and invite ALEOs to nominate representatives to be part of that working group; and

(3)    instruct the Chief Executive as part of the instruction at recommendation 2.2 to fully consider as an option, bringing back Sport Aberdeen into Council ownership and for this option to be considered as part of the Chief Executive’s option appraisals to be discussed by full Council on 11th October 2023.

On a division, there voted:- for the motion (9) – the Convener and Councillors Allard, Bouse, Cooke, Fairfull, Greig, Hutchison, Massey and Radley; for the amendment (4) – Councillors Ali, Macdonald, Malik and Watson.

The Committee resolved:-

to adopt the motion.

With reference to article 7 of the minute of meeting of 29 March 2023, the Committee had before it a report by the Director of Commissioning which sought approval for the allocation of grant funding from the Place Based Investment Programme fund 2023/24.

The report recommended:-

that the Committee –

(a)      approve an award of up to £59,657 to Northfield Youth Hub for the Building a brighter future for our young people project, subject to the approval of planning permission;

(b)      approve an award of up to £15,212 to Scottish Women’s Institute for the Archive Room project; and

(c)      does not approve the request for £9,990 from Printfield Community Project for the Including Printfield project.

The Committee resolved:-

to approve the recommendations.

With reference to article 8 of the minute of meeting of 29 March 2023, the Committee had before it a report by the Director of Commissioning which sought approval for the proposed allocation of grant funding of UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF).

The report recommended:-

that the Committee –

(a)     note that the application for up to £167,112 to Tillydrone Community Development Trust for the Benholm’s Tower Project, has been withdrawn;

(b)      award up to £104,000 to Aberdeen Science Centre for the Community Engagement Project;

(c)      awards up to £29,390 to the Denis Law Trail Project;

(d)      award up to £11,832 to Police Scotland for the Drugs and Alcohol Education and Resilience Project; and

(e)      award up to £103,191.60 to Absafe for the Safety Training For Aberdeen City Schools Project.

The Committee resolved:-

to approve the recommendations.

With reference to article 11 of the minute of meeting of 17 May 2023, the Committee had before it a report by the Director of Commissioning which provided an update on the activities of Invest Aberdeen.

The report recommended:-

that the Committee –

(a)      note the activities of Invest Aberdeen;

(b)      instruct the Chief Officer – City Growth to work with officers in Aberdeenshire Council and regional partners to support investment promotion opportunities as noted in the report; and

(c)      instruct the Chief Officer – City Growth to circulate a service update to the Committee members by June 2024.

The Committee resolved:-

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

(ii)      to instruct the Chief Officer – City Growth to circulate a report to the Committee members by June 2024.

With reference to article 4 of the minute of meeting of the Urgent Business Committee of 21 October 2022, the Committee had before it a report by the Director of Commissioning which sought approval of proposed international travel and conference attendance by officers, required to support Tall Ships 2025 activities in 2023/24.

The report recommended:-

that the Committee –

(a)      approve proposed travel as detailed below, and subject to the maximum expenditure as detailed in paragraph 4.1. All approved travel will be reviewed when event schedules and programmes become available to ensure continued adherence to the criteria in paragraph 3.8 before bookings are made:-

(1)    One officer to attend Tall Ships Host Port Seminar in Fredrikstad, Norway between 15 and 18 July 2023 for up to three nights;

(2)    Up to three officers to attend the Tall Ships Conference in Le Havre, France between the 16 and 19 November 2023 for up to three nights; and

(3)    Up to three officers to attend an additional Tall Ships Host Port event in the UK in February or March 2024 for up to two nights.

(b)      delegate authority to the Chief Officer – City Growth to authorise necessary and appropriate travel documentation and associated expenditure for the travel noted in (a), provided the cost does not exceed the budget referred to in Section 4 of this report and that all arrangements are made in line with current Council travel policies;

(c)      agree that the Chief Officer – City Growth will (1) report the outcomes of proposed for 2023/24 trips to the Tall Ships 2025 Organising Committee and (2) provide, by way of a Service Update, an annual Project Update to this Committee.

The Convener, seconded by Councillor Greig, moved:-

that the Committee approve the recommendations contained within the report.

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

that the Committee –

(1)    agree the recommendations contained within the report, noting that two officers attended the Sail Training International (STI) Annual conference in Gran Canaria on 19 November 2022; and

(2)    agree that as part of the next budget process, instruct the Chief Officer – City Growth to make Council aware of how much of the proposed £2.7m financial spend on taking the Tall Ships to Aberdeen is to be the responsibility of the Council and how much is to be the responsibility of our partners.

On a division, there voted:- for the motion (8) – the Convener and Councillors Allard, Bouse, Cooke, Fairfull, Greig, Hutchison and Radley; for the amendment (5) – Councillors Ali, Macdonald, Malik, Massey and Watson.

The Committee resolved:-

to adopt the motion.

The Committee had before it a report by the Director of Commissioning which presented the first Development Plan Scheme for the fourth Aberdeen Local Development Plan, and a Draft Participation Statement.

The report recommended:-

that the committee –

(a)      approve the content of the Development Plan Scheme and Draft Participation Statement (Appendix 1) and instruct the Chief Officer – Strategic Place Planning to, subject to any minor drafting changes, publish the Development Plan Scheme and Draft Participation Statement for an eight-week period of public consultation, seeking comment only upon the Draft Participation Statement; and

(b)      instruct the Chief Officer – Strategic Place Planning to report the results of the public consultation and any proposed revisions to the Draft Participation Statement to this Committee on 22 November 2023.

The Committee resolved:-

to approve the recommendations.

In accordance with the decision taken at Article 1 of the minute of meeting of 5 July 2023, the following item was considered with the press and public excluded.

At this juncture Councillor Macdonald left the meeting and was substituted by Councillor Bonsell.

With reference to article 18 of the minute of meeting of Council of 4 December 2022, the Committee had before it a report by the Director of Commissioning which provided details in relation to Union Street Partnership Ltd.

The report recommended:-

that the Committee –

(a)      note the creation of Union Street Partnership Ltd (company no. SC753595);

(b)      instruct the Chief Officer - City Growth following consultation with the Convener and Vice Convener of the Finance and Resources Committee and Chief Officer - Governance, and subject to agreement with the company, to arrange on an ongoing basis for there to be an Elected Member appointed as an observer at board meetings of the company (a board observer);

(c)      in respect of the Council budget decision of 1 March 2023 to approve the use of £100,000 over the next three years to support the regeneration of Union Street, Aberdeen, authorises the Chief Officer – City Growth, following consultation with the Convenor of the Finance and Resources Committee, to allocate that sum to the company for specified activity in fulfilment of that regeneration purpose; and

(d)      instruct the Chief Officer - City Growth to arrange for the Council to enter into any legal documentation necessary to implement the recommendations above.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)       to approve the recommendations; and

(ii)      that in relation to recommendation (b), agrees to appoint Councillor Alex McLellan as the Aberdeen City Council representative to take up the position as board observer.

-         COUNCILLOR ALEX MCLELLAN, Convener