Agenda item

Please note that this is a replacement report from what was originally uploaded, due to an omitted word in the first paragraph under section 3.

(A)       Deputation

As agreed at the start of the meeting (article 3 refers), the Committee heard from Mr Paul O’Connor on behalf of Inchgarth Community Centre.  Mr O’Connor advised that he managed Inchgarth and was also involved in other projects in the Garthdee area.  He referred to the decision of the Committee in May 2010 that Inchgarth manage the Kaimhill building, and the current financial situation which he said dictated that new ways of working be found.  He said that since the decision, he felt that it had not been an easy process for Inchgarth and that in his opinion there had been many obstacles which negated democracy and impacted on their work.  He stated that Inchgarth had a proven record of success.  He noted that the decision of the Committee in May should have referred to Inchgarth managing the programme at the hub and not the building itself, and that as a result, the report before Committee for consideration reflected the management of the building, rather than the programme.  Mr O’Connor advised that Inchgarth had held meetings with Kaimhill in relation to opportunities for young people to become involved in community learning.

He queried the 2,700 non core hours mentioned in the report and stated that he felt 720 hours was more accurate.  He stated that he understood that the Council had to recover the unitary charge but proposed a compromise in this regard, and queried the level of revenue generated by other 3Rs schools.  He suggested that a partnership could offset the unitary charge.  In relation to the report recommendations, he stated that he was in complete disagreement that there should be a Service Level Agreement (SLA) put in place between Inchgarth and the Council, and stressed that no other community centre had an SLA with the Council.  He advised that he was happy for there to be a management agreement but that the Council should not expect Inchgarth to be part of an SLA.

In relation to Inchgarth being required to generate revenue, Mr O’Connor stated that as a result of the Aberdeen College delivered tutors and community learning workers, there was no revenue to consider.  He felt that there were also no legal implications in relation to personnel issues.  Mr O’Connor noted that the report gave Community Learning and Development (CLD) and the Harlaw Learning Partnership control of the programme, which he felt was in contradiction to the Committee decision made in May, and meant that CLD workers could not focus on the work they should be doing.  He again stressed that Inchgarth had a proven track record and noted that they would be happy to work with the Harlaw Learning Partnership.  He advised that any perceived barriers would not be an issue, and that the community learning workers were delighted to work with Inchgarth.  He requested that Inchgarth be given the opportunity to honour the task at hand and stated that they wanted to negotiate non core hours income sharing with other services.  Mr O’Connor finished by stressing that Inchgarth had to retain the income made by the programme and asked that they be given the trust and freedom to implement the previous Committee decision.

Members then asked several questions of Mr O’Connor. 

At this juncture, the Convener advised that Members had exceeded the allotted ten minutes allowed for questions to deputations, and the Committee agreed to suspend Standing Order 10(7) to enable further questions to be asked of Mr O’Connor.

The Convener thanked Mr O’Connor for his deputation.

            (B)       Report

With reference to article 7 of the minute of its meeting of 27 May 2010, and article 2 of the minute of its meeting of 18 November 2010, the Committee had before it a report which set out the proposals for the operation of the community learning hub at the new 3Rs Kaimhill Primary School in light of the decision at the May Committee that Inchgarth Community Centre manage the Kaimhill building.

The report advised that the 3Rs contract committed the Council to an annual unitary charge over the next thirty years for the ten 3Rs schools and the Beacon Centre.  Outwith the core school hours, use of the facilities incurred a cost of £16.50 per hour plus utility costs.  The cost of facility use in non core hours was not included in the unitary charge and utility costs were additional revenue costs to the Education, Culture and Sport Directorate.  As part of the contract, the Council had a bank of 10,000 additional hours across its 3Rs facilities, which equated to 1,000 hours for each of the 3Rs schools.  The report advised that it would not be possible to make reductions or savings in the costs associated with 3Rs facilities which meant that future savings to the Directorate budget would therefore fall disproportionately on non 3Rs facilities.  3Rs facilities would only be able to achieve future savings requirements via income generation or reduction in the use of non core hour time.

It was noted that Kaimhill had the largest lettable space of any of the 3Rs schools and therefore had the greatest potential to generate income for the Council.  There were five available rooms within the community wing at Kaimhill Primary School and the annual cost to the Council of these facilities was £79,000 plus associated utility costs, with an additional cost for use outwith core hours.  The report estimated that a similar programme to that currently offered at Inchgarth Community Centre would require 2,700 hours of non core time;  1,700 hours above the notional allocation of hours per school.  This was estimated to cost approximately £120,256 which would require to be met by the Education, Culture and Sport Directorate.

The report advised that Kaimhill Community Learning and Development Centre Management Committee currently generated income of approximately £12,000 per year.  Inchgarth Community Centre would therefore also require to take on the responsibility of generating income.

The report also set out the legal implications for the Council in relation to the Kaimhill building and noted that the previous Committee decision that Inchgarth manage the Kaimhill building would also have legal implications as the 3Rs contract required that the Kaimhill building be managed by the contractor.

Finally, the report outlined the proposed operation of the Community Learning Hub and explained how other 3Rs schools housing community learning and development activity were currently operating.

The report recommended:-

(a)       that Committee note the operational plans for the Kaimhill Learning Hub;

(b)       that Committee note the financial, legal and educational implications of Inchgarth Community Centre’s management of Kaimhill community wing at Kaimhill Primary School;

(c)        that Committee agree that Inchgarth Community Centre manage a programme of activity in the five rooms of the community wing at Kaimhill Primary School specified in the report rather than managing the Kaimhill Community Learning and Development Centre building for the legal reasons outlined in the report, and that Inchgarth Community Centre be requested to provide such a programme of activity as a matter or urgency; and

(d)       that Committee instruct officers to negotiate the terms of a service level agreement with Inchgarth Community Centre Management Committee to ensure operating governance and enable monitoring of use within the operational services agreement of the 3Rs contract, and to refer the said agreement to the Finance and Resources Committee prior to the agreement of terms and conditions.

The Convener, seconded by Councillor Yuill, moved:-

            “that this Committee

(i)         agrees that Inchgarth Community Centre Management Committee manages the programme of activities in the Kaimhill community wing, with the exception of the library / IT area and Police office;

(ii)        instructs officers, in consultation with the Conveners and Vice Conveners of the Education, Culture and Sport and Finance and Resources Committees, to negotiate as a matter of urgency a management agreement with Inchgarth Community Centre Management Committee to ensure operating governance and enable monitoring of use within the operational services agreement of the 3Rs contract, and to refer the said agreement to the Finance and Resources Committee prior to the agreement of terms and conditions;

(iii)       instruct officers to report back to the Education, Culture and Sport Committee on the implementation of appropriate management agreements for community spaces in the other 3Rs buildings which ensure operating governance and enable monitoring use within the operational services agreement of the 3Rs contract;

(iv)       instructs the Director for Education, Culture and Sport to develop a programme of community learning and development activities for the Garthdee and Kaimhill communities which addresses national and local community learning priorities whilst not duplicating other provision in the area; and

(v)        to otherwise the report.”

CouncillorFarquharson, seconded by Councillor Boulton, moved as an amendment:-

            “that the decision in respect of the community learning hub at Kaimhill Primary School is deferred until the related management paper on other community hubs is completed and can be compared with Kaimhill management structures.”

On a division, there voted:-  for the motion (12) – the Convener;  the Vice Convener;  and Councillors Corrall, Cormie, Fletcher, May, Noble, Jennifer Stewart, Kevin Stewart, Kirsty West, Wisely and Yuill;  for the amendment (6) - Councillors Allan, Boulton, Collie, Cooney, Farquharson and Laing;  absent from the division (3) – Mr G Bruce, Mr P Campbell and Mr S Duncan.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)         to request that officers write to all members of the Committee with the detail of the legal advice given at the meeting about the transfer of the funds held by Kaimhill Management Committee;

(ii)        in relation to section 3 of the report (financial implications), to note that there was an error in the first paragraph, and that the report should read “the cost of facility use in non core hours is not included in the unitary charge and utility costs are additional revenue costs to the Education, Culture and Sport Directorate”; and

(iii)       to adopt the motion.

            In accordance with Standing Order 36(3), Councillors Allan, Boulton, Collie, Cooney, Farquharson and Laing requested that the matter be referred to Council for decision.  As this was not supported by at least one third of the membership of the Committee, the request fell from consideration.

In terms of Standing Order 15(6), Councillors Allan, Boulton, Collie, Cooney, Farquharson and Laing intimated that they wished the minute in respect of the above article to record their dissent in relation to the decision taken by the Committee.