Agenda, decisions and minutes

The persons undermentioned were admitted into the presence of the Council and passed as Burgesses of Guild in respect of their respective Acts of Admission in the Guild Burgess Book:-

Professor Ferdinand von Prondzynski, University Principal/Vice Chancellor, Aberdeen

Angela Taylor, Active Workforce Development Co-ordinator, Aberdeen

Wilma Gillespie Taylor, Board Member, Aberdeen

Councillor Mason MSP declared a general interest as a Member of the Scottish Parliament for North East Scotland.

Councillor Hutchison declared an interest in relation to item 9(f) (Local Authority Community Covenant) (Article 13 of this minute refers) by virtue of his position as a serving member of the Armed Forces Reserves. Councillor Hutchison did not consider that the nature of his interest required him to leave the meeting.

The Council had before it the minute of meeting of Aberdeen City Council of 23 August 2017.

The Council resolved:-

to approve the minute.

The Council had before it a statement of Council business.

The Council resolved:-

to note the business statement.

The Council had before it a list of outstanding motions.

The Council resolved:-

to note the motions list.

The Council had before it a tracker document which identified reports that were due to be considered by the Council at its forthcoming meetings.

The Council resolved:-

to note the tracker subject to amending the dates of reports for the next Council meeting to 11 December 2017.

The Council had before it the minute of meeting of the Guildry and Mortification Funds Committee of 29 August 2017.

The Council resolved:-

to approve the minute.

With reference to Article 15 of the minute of its meeting of 23 August 2017, the Council had before it a report by the Chief Executive which advised of revisions to the Council’s Strategic Business Plan to reflect commitments and priorities set out within the Policy Statement “Stronger Together: Prosperity for Aberdeen 2017 - 2022”.

The report recommended:-

that the Council note the amended Strategic Business Plan.

The Council resolved:-

to note the amended Strategic Business Plan subject to:-

(i)            the Interim Director of Communities, Housing and Infrastructure providing a response in terms of the number of affordable houses built annually, in connection with the objective ‘We will build new council houses and work with partners to provide more affordable homes’ on page 72 of the report;

(ii)          the Interim Director of Communities, Housing and Infrastructure providing a response in terms of how success would be measured in connection with the objective ‘We will expand the provision of school holiday meals to primary school children’ on page 78 of the report; and

(iii)         the Director of Education and Children’s Services amending how success would be measured in connection with the objective ‘We will explore how the approaches of the Sistema project can be shared and spread across the city’ to make it city-wide rather than specific to Torry.

The Council had before it a report by the Chief Executive which provided details of the arrangements that had been put in place for governance of the Integration Joint Board.

The report recommended:-

that the Council note the content of the report.

The Council resolved:-

to approve the recommendation.

The Council had before it a report by the Head of Legal and Democratic Services which advised that there was a vacancy in the membership of the Aberdeen City Licensing Board as a result of the resignation of Councillor Mason MSP and that the Council had a statutory duty to elect a new member.

The report recommended:-

that the Council -

(a)          note Councillor Mason MSP’s resignation from Aberdeen City Licensing Board; and

(b)          elect a new member to the Aberdeen City Licensing Board to fill the vacancy created.

The Council resolved:-

(i)           to approve recommendation (a);

(ii)          to elect Councillor John to the Aberdeen City Licensing Board to fill the vacancy.

The Council had before it a report by the Head of Legal and Democratic Services which detailed the nomination from Aberdeen City Parent Councils Forum of a replacement parent representative for secondary school on the Education and Children’s Services Committee following the tenure of the current representative, Mr Rafferty, concluding.

The report recommended:-

that the Council -

(a)          approve the appointment of Mr Colm O’Riordan as the secondary school parent representative; and

(b)          note that Mr Anthony Rafferty would be a substitute member for both the primary and secondary parent representatives on the Education and Children’s Services Committee.

The Council resolved:-

to approve the recommendations.

With reference to Article 22 of the minute of its meeting of 21 June 2017, the Council had before it a report by the Interim Head of Human Resources which presented further information in connection with the number of disciplinary cases involving employees with a disability.

The report recommended:-

that the Council note the responses in relation to the equality figures on the number of disciplinary cases involving employees with a disability.

The Council resolved:-

(i)           to note that the Chief Executive would look at the disciplinary cases involved;

(ii)          to note that the Interim Director of Communities, Housing and Infrastructure would work with the Interim Head of Human Resources to address any specific issues relating to the Directorate;

(iii)         to note that the Head of Legal and Democratic Services would work with the Interim Head of Human Resources to carry out a review of the relevant policies and procedures to ensure that they complied with the Council’s obligations in terms of legislation with particular reference to equalities legislation;

(iv)         to request the Interim Head of Human Resources to investigate whether equivalent data was available from other local authorities on a national basis for comparative purposes;

(v)          to request the Interim Head of Human Resources to report back to Council in approximately six months in terms of progress with the actions above; and

(vi)         to otherwise note the responses in relation to the equality figures on the number of disciplinary cases involving employees with a disability.

The Council had before it a report by the Chief Executive which provided an update on Aberdeen’s Local Authority Community Covenant with the Armed Forces Community.

The report recommended:-

that the Council -

(a)          note the content of the report; and

(b)          instruct the Chief Executive to work with relevant groups representative of the armed forces community and its interests, the business community and Community Planning Partners to develop a refreshed Armed Forces Covenant for the city, delegating authority to the Chief Executive to sign the Covenant along with the Lord Provost on behalf of the Council.

The Council resolved:-

(i)           to approve the recommendations; and

(ii)          to request the Chief Executive to report back to Council on progress in March 2018.

The Council had before it a report by the Interim Director of Communities, Housing and Infrastructure which sought approval for the Greenferns Development Framework (Aberdeen Local Development Plan 2017 sites OP28 and OP33) to be issued for public consultation over a six week period.

The report recommended:-

that the Council -

(a)          approve the Draft Greenferns Development Framework for public consultation over a six week period; and

(b)          instruct the Interim Director of Communities, Housing and Infrastructure to report the results of the public consultation and any proposed revisions to the Draft Development Framework to the next Council meeting.

The Council resolved:-

to approve the recommendations.  

The Lord Provost advised that this was the last Council meeting for Mr Ciaran Monaghan, Head of Service - Office of Chief Executive, before he left the organisation, and highlighted that he had been a most effective decision maker in his own understated manner. The Lord Provost emphasised that he was very sorry to see Mr Monaghan leaving the Council and wished him well in his future endeavours.

Councillor Yuill also paid tribute to Mr Monaghan and thanked him for his good humour, patience and professionalism whilst dealing with elected members.

The Council resolved:-

to concur with the remarks of the Lord Provost and Councillor Yuill.

- BARNEY CROCKETT, Lord Provost.