Agenda item

With reference to article 16 of the minute of Meeting of Council on 21 June 2021, the Committee had before it a joint report by the Directors of Commissioning and Resources which provided a detailed account of the events relating to the removal of granite and other items from the Union Terrace Gardens (UTG).

The report recommended:-

That the Committee -

(a)      notes the events leading up to the point at which it was identified that an apparent breach of contract and of a listed building condition had occurred and the subsequent response to remedy the matter;

(b)      notes that all the UTG materials which had been stored at an unapproved location have been returned and are now within safe and secure storage at an approved site;

(c)      notes that a full audit of all granite downtakings, and other similar related items including railings, heraldry shields and lamps, has been carried out by the Principal Contractor and that they have confirmed all items, as per the site start inventory, are accounted for and are now within safe and secure storage at an approved location;

(d)      notes that Police Scotland carried out their own extensive enquiries into the incident and found that no criminality had been established and their investigation is now closed, pending any new information;

(e)      notes that there was a breach of a listed building condition, that the Planning Authority is satisfied with the action taken by the Principal Contractor in response to that breach, and that the Planning Authority does not intend to take any further action at this time;

(f)       notes that there was a breach of contract on the part of the Principal Contractor, that the Principal Contractor remedied the breach, and that no further action is proposed at this time; and

(g)      notes that the Chief Officer Capital will update the outline/full business case template by October 2021 as outlined in section 8.4 of the report.

During the discussion, members sought assurance that the Council had a full inventory of all materials from the UTG site from the commencement of the project to the current date.  The Chief Officer – Capital advised that he would compile a reconciliation of all materials from the site and circulate to members.

The Convener, seconded by Councillor Greig, moved:-

          that the Committee:-

(1)       approve the recommendations contained in the report;

(2)            note the work which had been undertaken by Councillor Yuill since the matter was reported to him and thank him for his diligence and tenacity in bring it to elected member attention;

(3)       note that on completion of the project the Chief Officer – Capital      would undertake the post project review and report this to the      Capital Programme Committee, where at that stage, this      Committee could request additional assurance if required; and

(4)            note that the Chief Officer – Capital would work with the Principal Contractor to produce a reconciliation of the materials up to this point in the project and issue via Service Update to the Committee as soon as possible.

Councillor Houghton, seconded by Councillor Crockett, the Lord Provost, moved as an amendment:-

          that the Committee:-

(1)       approve the recommendations contained in the report;

(2)       note that on completion of the project the Chief Officer – Capital      would undertake the post project review and report this to the      Capital Programme Committee, where at that stage, this      Committee could request additional assurance if required; and

(3)       note that the Chief Officer – Capital would work with the      Principal Contractor to produce a reconciliation of the materials      up to this point in the project and issue via Service Update to the      Committee as soon as possible.

On a division, there voted:- for the motion (4) – the Convener and Councillors Allard, Greig and Radley; for the amendment (5) – Councillors Crockett, the Lord Provost and Councillors Graham, Houghton, MacKenzie and Reynolds.

The Committee resolved:-

to adopt the terms of the amendment.

-        COUNCILLOR ALEX NICOLL, Convener