Agenda item

With reference to Article 2 of the minute of meeting of the City Growth and Resources Committee of 21 June 2022, the Council had before it the following urgent notice of motion by Councillor Houghton which had been referred to it for consideration:-

“That the Committee -

1.    Notes the announcement of the Eurovision Broadcasting Union that the organisation is considering the United Kingdom as the host of Eurovision 2023 should Ukraine be unable to host the competition due to the unacceptable Russian aggression against Ukraine. 

2.    Notes the awarding decision will be made by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) should Ukraine be unable to host the competition. 

3.    Agrees the Event Complex Aberdeen opened in 2019 is the largest capacity venue in Scotland and is well suited to host the event. 

4.    Notes Aberdeen’s success in hosting previous significant cultural events such as the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Awards. 

5.    Notes the significant interest shown by politicians of all political parties in hosting this event in Scotland, agreeing that Aberdeen is without doubt the best place to hold such a European event given Aberdeen remains the Energy Capital of Europe. 

6.    Instructs the Chief Officer - City Growth to engage with all relevant stakeholders including the BBC, UK government, the devolved Scottish Government and others to ensure a bid from Aberdeen is advanced quickly and efficiently should it become clear Ukraine are unable to host the competition. 

7.    Agrees to allocate £30,000 from contingencies to support a bid from Aberdeen and instruct the Chief Executive to write to both the UK and Scottish Government notifying them of Aberdeen’s intention and asking for their support. 

8.    Instructs the Chief Officer - City Growth to bring a report back on progress to the next meeting of this Committee.”

The Council received a verbal update from the Chief Officer - City Growth in terms of the latest situation and the likely process that would follow.

The Council resolved:-

(i)             to note the announcement of the Eurovision Broadcasting Union that the organisation was considering the United Kingdom as the host of Eurovision 2023 should Ukraine be unable to host the competition due to the unacceptable Russian aggression against Ukraine;

(ii)           to note the awarding decision would be made by the BBC should Ukraine be unable to host the competition;

(iii)          to agree The Event Complex Aberdeen opened in 2019 was the largest capacity venue in Scotland and was well suited to host the event;

(iv)          to note Aberdeen’s success in hosting previous significant cultural events such as the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Awards;

(v)           to note the significant interest shown by politicians of all political parties in hosting this event in Scotland, agreeing that Aberdeen was without doubt the best place to hold such a European event given Aberdeen remained the Energy Capital of Europe;

(vi)          to agree that the Chief Officer - City Growth continue discussions with the relevant venue operator and government agencies; and

(vii)        to agree that if the opportunity to respond to tender for hosting Eurovision arose, to instruct the Chief Officer - City Growth to report back to the next appropriate committee or request a meeting of the Urgent Business Committee setting out the implications for Council.