Agenda item

With reference to Article 5 of the minute of meeting of the City Growth and Resources Committee of 28 October 2020, the Council had before, by way of remit, it a notice of motion by Councillor Lumsden which had been referred to it by that committee.

The City Growth and Resources Committee had resolved:-

(1)           to note with pride that Aberdeen City Council, has been named as the United Kingdom’s Local Authority of the Year 2020 at the MJ Achievement Awards, an outstanding achievement given we were the only Scottish local authority shortlisted and we beat off competition from 6 other local authorities;

(2)           to note the Local Authority of the Year category recognised success across the organisation, including strong performance in major services, innovation, good synergy between the executive and political functions, and sound financial stewardship;

(3)           to note this UK award is a first for Aberdeen City Council since its creation in 1996, under the Local Government etc. Act 1994 and reflects the hard work of the Council since 2012 onwards;

(4)           to note the finalists were selected based on evidence of having delivered

meaningful and positive change to the communities they serve;

(5)           to note the judges said the council had “an impressive story to tell in terms of its changing economic context and the bold steps it is taking to deliver an unprecedented transformation of the city through a pioneering capital programme and significant investments in the social and cultural future of its communities”;

(6)           to note the judges described the Council as bold, brave, impressive and ambitious, commending them on the collaboration between officers and politicians who have worked together and created partnerships, focusing with a clarity of purpose for the sake of the city as a whole;

(7)           to agree that this award is dedicated to all council employees, citizens and businesses in Aberdeen as well as the council’s public, private and voluntary sector partners including the trade unions;

(8)           to agree that this award could not have been achieved without the endeavours of our hardworking council staff, both past and present, and the political foresight of the Administration who have adopted a programme of investing in the people and the place in order to secure Aberdeen’s long-term future prosperity;

(9)           to agree that an email or letter, if no email is available, be sent from the Co-Leaders of the council to every council employee; recognised trade unions; and the council’s public and private sector partners, thanking them for the part they have played in helping Aberdeen City Council secure the Local Authority of the Year 2020 award;

(10)        to agree that this motion be referred to the Full Council meeting in December to afford all elected members the opportunity to comment and reflect on this success and the fact that Aberdeen City Council is also the only Scottish finalist in the running for the Council of the Year Award at the LGC National Awards;

(11)        to note that Councillor Jenny Laing and Councillor Bill Cormie have been

shortlisted for awards at the Local Government Information Unit (LGIU)

Scotland Councillor Awards, which is due to take place on 24 November;

(12)        to congratulate Councillor Laing on being shortlisted for Leader of the Year; and

(13)        to congratulate Councillor Cormie for being shortlisted in recognition of his community work as an Urban Community Champion.

At this juncture, a video was shown entitled “This is Aberdeen”, which had originally been intended for the City Growth and Resources Committee in October, however the decision had been taken not to show it at that meeting due to pre-election guidance.

The Council resolved:-

(i)             to note with pride that Aberdeen City Council had been named as the United Kingdom’s Local Authority of the Year 2020 at the MJ Achievement Awards, an outstanding achievement given we were the only Scottish local authority shortlisted and we beat off competition from 6 other local authorities;

(ii)           to note the Local Authority of the Year category recognised success across the organisation, including strong performance in major services, innovation, good synergy between the executive and political functions, and sound financial stewardship;

(iii)          to note this UK award was a first for Aberdeen City Council since its creation in 1996, under the Local Government etc. Act 1994 and reflected the hard work of the Council since 2012 onwards;

(iv)          to note the finalists were selected based on evidence of having delivered meaningful and positive change to the communities they served;

(v)           to note the judges said the Council had “an impressive story to tell in terms of its changing economic context and the bold steps it is taking to deliver an unprecedented transformation of the city through a pioneering capital programme and significant investments in the social and cultural future of its communities”;

(vi)          to note the judges described the Council as bold, brave, impressive and ambitious, commending them on the collaboration between officers and politicians who had worked together and created partnerships, focusing with a clarity of purpose for the sake of the city as a whole;

(vii)        to agree that this award was dedicated to all Council employees, citizens and businesses in Aberdeen as well as the Council’s public, private and voluntary sector partners including the trade unions;

(viii)       to agree that this award could not have been achieved without the endeavours of our hard working Council staff, both past and present, and the political foresight of the Administration who had adopted a programme of investing in the people and the place in order to secure Aberdeen’s long-term future prosperity;

(ix)          to agree that an email or letter, if no email was available, be sent from the Co-Leaders of the Council to every Council employee; recognised trade unions; the Council’s public and private sector partners, thanking them for the part they had played in helping Aberdeen City Council secure the Local Authority of the Year 2020 award;

(x)           to congratulate Councillor Cormie on being shortlisted as Urban Community Champion at the (LGIU) Scotland Councillor Awards;

(xi)          to congratulate Councillor Laing, Co-Leader of the Council, on winning the prestigious Local Government Information Unit (LGIU) Scotland Leader of the Year 2020, following on from her success in winning the Herald Local Government politician of the year award in 2017;

(xii)        to agree that the Council continue to extensively promote itself and the city via the “This is Aberdeen” video on all social media and other outlets using existing budgets; and

(xiii)       to agree that the target reach of the promotional video be the subject of a report from the Chief Officer - City Growth at the next City Growth and Resources Committee.