Agenda item

With reference to Article 2 of the minute of its meeting of 3 November 2023, the Council had before it a report by the Chief Officer - Commercial and Procurement which satisfied the instruction to report on the benefits of bringing the associated services in relation to Bon Accord Care in-house and incorporating them into the Council structure, and provide indicative delivery milestones within an Outline Business Case for consideration. The report also satisfied the instruction for the Chief Officer - Finance to explore the potential for the Council and the University of Aberdeen to amend the shareholder agreement and ownership with regard to Aberdeen Sports Village Ltd, and to report back to align with the Council budget setting process.

The report recommended:-

that the Council -

(a)           agree, in respect of Bon Accord Care, that given the current financial arrangements between the Council and the Integration Joint Board (IJB) outlined in the report, not to develop a full business case to bring Bon Accord Care back in-house and integrate into the Council structure;

(b)           note that the National Care Service (Scotland) Bill was currently undergoing parliamentary process and if there was any change to the operating environment for Bon Accord Care resulting from this legislation then a report would be prepared by the Chief Executive and submitted to Council;

(c)           note that the redesign opportunities highlighted in the outline business case, appended to the report, would be taken forward by the IJB’s annual commissioning of Bon Accord Care; and

(d)           note, in respect of Aberdeen Sports Village, that neither partner had the financial resources to enable a change in ownership model, and therefore the Joint Venture Agreement should be maintained on the basis of the Council and the University of Aberdeen being equal partners, 50:50.

Councillor Cooke moved, seconded by Councillor Greig:-

          That the Council approve the recommendations.

Councillor Bonsell moved as an amendment, seconded by Councillor Blake:-

          That the Council -

(1)       note the decision of the SNP agreed motion at Council in November 2023 which stated “in relation to Bon Accord Care (i.e. Bon Accord Care Ltd, and Bon Accord Support Services Ltd), note that the Options Appraisal process highlighted potential benefits in bringing the associated services in-house  and  integrating them into the Council structure;  and instruct the Head of Commercial and Procurement Services,  following consultation with the Managing Director of Bon Accord Care,  to outline the benefits of this potential option and provide indicative delivery milestones within an Outline Business Case for consideration by Council in February 2024”;

(2)       agree the option appraisal process in November 2023 highlighted potential benefits in bringing Bon Accord Care in-house;

(3)       agree that if the Administration is serious about how our ALEOs fit into the approach taken by the Council to embed Prevention and Early Intervention into the Commissioning cycle then they should have listened to and supported Labour’s amendment at the November 2023 meeting;

(4)       agree this screeching U-turn by the Administration proves beyond all reasonable doubt that they are making up policy on the hoof without considering the consequences of their actions; and

(5)       instruct the Chief Officer - Commercial and Procurement to bring forward a full business case and report it to Council by the end of 2024, subject to the financial implications being referred to the 2024/25 budget process.

During the course of debate, the Council agreed to exclude the press and public for a short period in order to allow Councillors to be able to refer to information contained within the exempt appendix. The press and public were then readmitted to the meeting.

On a division, there voted:-

For the motion  (31)  -  Lord Provost; Depute Provost; and Councillor Al-Samarai, Allard, Alphonse, Boulton, Bouse, Brooks, Hazel Cameron, Clark, Cooke, Copland, Cormie, Cross, Davidson, Farquhar, Greig, Henrickson, Houghton, Hutchison, Kusznir, MacGregor, McLellan, McLeod, Massey, Mennie, Nicoll, Radley, Mrs Stewart, van Sweeden and Yuill.

For the amendment  (10)  -  Councillors Ali, Blake, Bonsell, Crockett, Graham, Grant, Lawrence, Macdonald, Thomson and Watson.

Absent from the division  (1)  -  Councillor Tissera.

The Council resolved:-

to adopt the motion.