Decisions

The Committee heard the deputation and will be recoreded in the minute.

The Committee resolved:-

to note the report.

The Committee resolved:-

to agree that the following priorities are taken forward in the new Local Fire and Rescue Plan for Aberdeen City area:

1: Domestic Fire Safety and Unintentional Harm in the Home Priority

2: Non-Fire Emergencies and respond to the impact of Climate Change Priority 3: Deliberate Fire Setting Priority

4: Non-Domestic Fire Safety Priority

5: Unwanted Fire Alarm Signals Priority

6: Operational Preparedness and Community Resilience.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)            to note the content of this report

(ii)          to instruct that a verbal update as indicated in paragraph 3.2 should be provided to each meeting of the Committee and that such an update should be included as a standing agenda item until the Committee otherwise instructs;

(iii)         to agree that, in the event that the recommended option arising from the future options appraisal results in remedial works to the impacted homes, any existing council tenant rehomed due to the impact of RAAC, should have first refusal of returning to one of the homes with the remedial works completed that meets their housing needs;

(iv)         to agree that, in the event that the recommended option arising from a future options appraisal results in demolition of the impacted homes and future rebuilding on the same sites, recognising that this will take several years, any existing council tenant rehomed due to the impact of RAAC should have first refusal of returning to one of the replacement homes that meets their housing needs; and

(v)          to instruct the Chief Officer – Corporate Landlord, Chief Officer – Capital and Chief Officer - Housing, to explore any available funding opportunities to support private owners and report back to the next committee meeting.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)             to note the report;

(ii)            to note many within the public and the media have great concerns that the implementation of the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021 will criminalise freedom of thought, freedom of speech, and freedom of belief; and requests the Chief Superintendent Graeme Mackie, North East Division, Police Scotland bring forward a thematic report to the meeting on 21 November 2024 on the implications to the media and the public from this new Act;

(iii)          to request that Police Scotland report back to the meeting on 30 May 2024, in regards to a previous action which was to look at breaking down the figures in relation to crimes committed and victim numbers to highlight the percentage of men and women who carried out the crime/were victims of the crime rather than an inclusive figure;

(iv)          to request that Police Scotland feedback to the next meeting of the Committee, with details of the engagement that was previously undertaken with 200 members of the public, to include details on issues that people may require help or assistance with, as well as the new various locations where anti social behaviour has taken place;

(v)           to request that Police Scotland provide details of the Scottish Government website, which had been set up to provide guidance in regards to the new Hate Crime Act, which could be shared with elected members; and

(vi)          to note that work was underway with Police Scotland and Community Safety Partnership in regards to the new Hate Crime Act and to request that the Executive Director – Corporate Services, liaise with elected members in regards to the new Act.     

The Committee resolved:-

to note the Cluster Risk Registers and Assurance Maps set out in Appendices A and B.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)            to approve the criteria and management procedure of the Pilot Rent Assistance Fund detailed in Appendix 1;

(ii)          to instruct the Chief Officer – Early Intervention and Community Empowerment to make any changes to the criteria and management procedure of the Pilot Rent Assistance Fund as appropriate during the pilot phase and inform Members of any such changes through a Service Update;

(iii)         to instruct the Chief Officer – Finance to present an evaluation of the impact of the Pilot Rent Assistance Fund as part of the 2025/26 HRA Budget Report to Council in December 2024; and  

(iv)         to instruct the Chief Officer – Finance to present a further evaluation covering the full 12 months of the pilot to be presented to the Communities, Housing and Public Protection Committee after one full year of operation. 

The Committee resolved:-

(i)             notes the progress to deliver the programme of social housing sites across the city; and

(ii)            to request that the Chief Officer – Capital, liaise with the contractor for the works at 206 Union Street into possible advertising on the scaffolding.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)            to note the progress made in further embedding the Council’s resilience arrangements during another busy year for emergency response;

(ii)          to note the updated Generic Emergency Plan which has received minor alterations under the relevant delegated powers; and

(iii)         to instruct the Interim Chief Officer – Education to submit a response to the Rule 8 request from the Scottish COVID-19 Inquiry, following consultation with the Convener of the Education and Children’s Services Committee and the Interim Chief Officer - Governance.

The Committee resolved:-

to note the planner.

The Committee resolved:-

to approve the minute as a correct record.

The Committee resolved:-

to note the report.

(i)       to note the content of the report on full opening of the project and the outcomes of monitoring and evaluation;

(ii)       to note the Transport Scotland Bus Partnership Fund programme will be unable to fund project expenditure from 2024/25 onwards and that the Council has included budget provision in the recently approved General Fund Capital Programme to fund the remaining project close activities; and

(iii)      to note the circumstances considered when programming major roadworks and the steps taken to limit their impact on road users.

(i)       to note the findings and outcomes of the South College Street Junction Improvements Project (Phase 2) - Option Appraisal Report (Appendix 1);

(ii)       to agree that Option 3 Signalised Junction (All movements permitted), described in paragraph 3.11 of the report, is the preferred option and should proceed to further development work, along with the wider active travel improvements on North Esplanade West identified in section 9 of Appendix 1;

(iii)      to instruct the Chief Officer – Strategic Place Planning to seek external funding to allow the continued development of the option agreed in (ii), including the development of an Outline Business Case, and report the Outline Business Case to the Finance and Resources Committee once completed;

(iv)      to note the findings of the option testing for the Riverside Drive active travel improvements (as described in paragraph 3.12 of this report) and instruct the Chief Officer – Strategic Place Planning to seek external funding to allow for the continued development of wider active travel connectivity improvements adjacent to and across the River Dee at this location and report any findings to a future meeting of this Committee.

(i)       to note the findings and outcomes of the A92 Murcar North Active Travel Infrastructure STAG-Based Appraisal (Appendix 1);

(ii)       to agree that the Active Travel option on the East side as identified in the STAG report (Appendix 1) for A92 Murcar North is the preferred Active Travel option for the route; and

(iii)      to instruct the Chief Officer – Strategic Place Planning to progress the preferred option for the A92 Active Travel scheme to the completion of an Outline Business Case (OBC) and report this to the Finance and Resources Committee in May 2024.

The Committee resolved:

(i)       to replace 2.1 with “instruct the Chief Officers – Strategic Place Planning and People and Citizen Services, in consultation with the Chief Officer- Finance, to set up an internal officer working group to review and refresh the Council’s Staff Travel Policy with the emphasis on walking and cycling”;

(ii)       to instruct the Chief  Officer – Strategic Place Planning to update the Council’s Travel  Plan  to  align  with  any proposed changes to the Staff Travel Policy resulting from (i);

(iii)      to  instruct  the  Chief  Officers  –  Strategic Place Planning and People and Citizen  Services to thereafter undertake consultation with Council staff and trade unions on any proposed changes to the Staff Travel Policy and/or the Council Travel Plan; and

(iv)      to instruct the Chief Officers – Strategic Place Planning and People and Citizen Services, following analysis of the consultation and finalisation of the documents, to report both the updated Staff Travel Policy and Council Travel Plan back to this Committee and / or other relevant committees by Summer  2025 for approval.

(i)       in relation to item 16 (Local Transport Strategy), to note that officers would circulate information to Members outwith the meeting on the number of responses received;

(ii)       to agree to remove item 22 (Net Zero Aberdeen Partnership Leadership

Board / Delivery Unit Structure);

(iii)      to note that officers would add the regular Bus Lane Enforcement report into the planner for a future meeting; and

(iv)      to otherwise note the updates to the planner.

(i)       to note that officers were finalising the service update on the Den Burn and this would be circulated to Members shortly; and

(ii)       to approve the minute as a correct record.

(i)       to note the report for assurance; and

(ii)       to instruct the Chief Officer - Operations to report the review of the waste strategy through this Committee starting in Autumn 2024.

(i)       to note that the Environmental Manager would circulate information to Members outwith the meeting on whether any elm trees would be part of replanting schemes, or whether this would not be possible due to Dutch Elm disease;

(ii)       to note that the Chief Officer – Operations had undertaken to discuss with colleagues in People and Citizen Services as to whether training could be made available for staff on the Substance Misuse Policy;

(iii)      in relation to the target completion date for the Substance Misuse risk of 30 May 2025, to note that the Chief Officer – Operations had advised that work was ongoing in this area and he would ascertain whether it was possible to change the target completion date to make this clearer;

(iv)      to otherwise note the report.

(i)       to instruct the Chief Officer - Operations to carry out informal consultation with Garthdee and Kaimhill communities regarding the continuation of the CPZ;

(ii)       to instruct the Chief Officer - Operations to assess responses to the informal consultation and to report back to a future meeting of this Committee with the results and recommendations for the future of the CPZ; and

(ii)       to instruct the Chief Officer – Operations to engage with RGU on the basis of the undertaking given by the then Principal of RGU on 27 March 2015 that, before the end of the current arrangement, the University would engage with Council and community “to seek to agree on a framework for the period after the ten years that will be acceptable to all and will meet the needs of the Community”.

(i)       to note Transport Scotland’s intention to pause funding of the Bus Partnership Fund programme in 2024/25;

(ii)      to agree that positive progress has been achieved in the North East under the programme and that work should continue during 2024/25, with alternate methods of funding to be sought;

(iii)      to instruct the Chief Officer – Strategic Place Planning to continue with the programme of work described in section 3 of this report, as funding permits;

(iv)     to note that, subject to appropriate change control processes, the City Region Deal Joint Committee has agreed an allocation of £1,740,000 between 2024/25 and 2026/27 for progressing work on Aberdeen Rapid Transit (ART) and the associated corridor studies,as an element of the Strategic Transport Appraisal workstream, and instruct the Chief Officer – Strategic Place Planning to pursue all other relevant external funding opportunities to support continued progression of the Bus Partnership Fund programme;

(v)      to instruct the Chief Officer – Strategic Place Planning to continue to engage with Transport Scotland on future plans for the Bus Partnership Fund;

(vi)     to instruct the Chief Officer – Strategic Place Planning to, as funding permits, undertake public and stakeholder consultation on the options established through the Inverurie to Aberdeen (A96) corridor study options appraisal, and to report the preferred option or options relevant to Aberdeen City Council back to this Committee once completed;

(vii)     to instruct the Chief Officer – Strategic Place Planning to proceed with public and stakeholder consultation on the options established through the Dyce to Bucksburn (A947) corridor study options appraisal, and to report the preferred option or options relevant to Aberdeen City Council back to this Committee once completed;

(viii)    to instruct the Chief Officer – Strategic Place Planning to proceed with public and stakeholder consultation on the options established through the Banchory to Aberdeen (A93) corridor study options appraisal, and to report the preferred option or options relevant to Aberdeen City Council back to this Committee once completed;

(ix)     to instruct the Chief Officer – Strategic Place Planning to report the outcomes of the ART routeing analysis to this Committee in June 2024;

(x)      to note that funding from Nestrans has been established to progress active travel connections between Westhill and Aberdeen city centre, and instruct the Chief Officer – Strategic Place Planning to work with Aberdeenshire Council and Nestrans to progress with public and stakeholder engagement on a preferred option and report the preferred option or options relevant to Aberdeen City Council to this Committee in September 2024;

(xi)     to note the report provided to the Nestrans Board in February 2024 on progress on the Laurencekirk to Aberdeen study and the decision of the Nestrans Board to proceed with Detailed Options Appraisal; and

(xii)     to instruct the Chief Officer – Strategic Place Planning to continue to provide quarterly Service Updates on Bus Partnership Fund progress.

(xiii)    to instruct the Chief Officer – Strategic Place Planning, following consultation with the Convener of the Net Zero, Environment & Transport Committee and consultation with the Convener of the Finance and Resources Committee, to write to the Cabinet Secretary expressing concern about the pause to Bus Partnership funding for 2024/25 and asking for reassurance regarding future funding of sustainable transport initiatives in particular for projects which are identified in Annex B of National Planning Framework as of national significance such as the Aberdeen Rapid Transit; and

(xiv)    to agree that the Committee should see sight of Fiona Hyslop's response once received.

(i)       to note that officers would arrange a workshop session for Members on the Scottish Climate Intelligence Service once the service was further developed;

(ii)       to note the summary of key collaborative actions progressed in 2023/24; and

(iii)      endorse the content of the Appendix A - Net Zero Aberdeen and Aberdeen Adapts Summary of Progress 2023/24.

(i)       to note the report and agree that the report indicates Sickness Absence at Environmental, Roads and Waste to be well above average and of concern to officers; and

(ii)       in light of the high sickness absence within these services, agree to instruct the Chief Officers – Operations and People and Citizen Services to bring back a report to the June Staff Governance Committee on why sickness absence is so high within those services and what the Council is doing to reduce such absence; and for future updates to be incorporated into the relevant sickness absence report to Staff Governance Committee.  

(i)            to approve the revised job profile attached at Appendix 1 of the report;

(ii)          to note the indicative timeline for the recruitment and selection process;

(iii)         to approve the proposed selection process set out within the report;

(iv)         to establish a temporary Committee of the IJB, to be called an Appointment Panel, constituting the Chair and Vice Chair of the IJB and the Chief Officer (who will act as Chair of the Appointment Panel), to interview candidates and make an appointment;

(v)          to agree that in the absence of the Chair or Vice Chair of the IJB, that the IJB agrees that a voting member of the IJB from the relevant constituent body, substitutes for the Chair or Vice Chair of the IJB at the Appointment Panel;

(vi)         to agree that the appointment of the Chief Finance Officer shall be determined by the Appointment Panel, subject to the approval of the IJB;

(vii)        to agree that the Chief Officer makes arrangements for an Interim Chief Finance Officer should they consider it necessary to do so; and

(viii)       to instruct the Chief Officer to update the members of the IJB on any interim appointment.

(i)            to agree the Integration Joint Board’s Audited Accounts for 2022/23, as attached at Appendix A of the report;

(ii)          to instruct the Chief Finance Officer to submit the approved audited accounts to NHS Grampian and Aberdeen City Council;

(iii)         to instruct the Chief Finance Officer to sign the representation letter, as attached at Appendix B; and

(iv)         to note the recommendations and management comments on the Annual Audit Report, as attached at Appendix C of the report.

(i)           to note the anticipated financial out-turn for 2023/24 and the impact on the Reserves position of the IJB (at paragraph 3.1 of the report);

(ii)          to note the financial allocations proposed to be allocated by the partner organisations (at paragraph 3.9 of the report);

(iii)         having regard to the integrated impact assessment at Appendix 5, approve the 2024/25 budget and the Aberdeen City IJB Medium Term Financial Framework included as Appendix 1 of the report;

(iv)         to note that £2.5 million was held in a risk fund (as per paragraph 3.35 of the report);

(v)          to approve the Bon Accord Contract level for 2024/25 of £34,921,000 and budget assumptions (at paragraphs 3.38 and 3.39 of the report);

(vi)         to instruct the Chief Finance Officer to apply the national guidance to calculate the level of increase on non-National Care Home Contract services and pass this increase across to providers (at paragraph 3.41 of the report);

(vii)       to instruct the Chief Finance Officer to uplift the direct payments for clients with a staffing element included in their payment by the amount calculated using the national guidance (at paragraph 3.42 of the report);

(viii)      to make the budget directions contained in Appendix 2 of the report and instruct the Chief Finance Officer to issue those directions to the constituent authorities; and

(ix)         to approve the Year 3 Delivery Plan as detailed at Appendix 3 of the report.

(i)            to approve the vision and objectives for General Practice in Grampian as set out in Appendix A of the report;

(ii)          to instruct the Chief Officer to report back to the Integration Joint Board by end of March 2025 with a progress update on the implementation of the vision and objectives;

(iii)         to instruct the Chief Operating Officer to provide an update on the governance arrangements to the IJB meeting on 7 May 2024; and

(iv)         to note that the Risk, Audit and Performance Committee would monitor the risks identified within the report and that a Deeper Dive may be requested should it be deemed necessary.

to note the date of the next meeting.

there was no exempt business.

(i)            to approve the appointment of Fiona Mitchelhill as Chief Officer of Aberdeen City Health and Social Care Partnership with effect from 19 February 2024;

(ii)          to note the appointment, by Aberdeen City Council, of Councillor Christian Allard as a voting member of the Integration Joint Board; and

(iii)         to appoint Councillor Christian Allard to the Clinical and Care Governance Committee.

there was no exempt business.

there were no declarations of interest or transparency statements.

to note the Chair’s remarks.

(i)             to note the information from the Interim Executive Director - Families and Communities, with regard to the Scottish Government update and guidance in respect of Early Learning And Childcare Funding for 2024-25;

(ii)            to agree that the correspondence from the Scottish Government referred to by the Interim Executive Director be circulated to the Committee; and

(iii)          to note that Councillor Kusznir had withdrawn his Notice of Motion in light of the update by the Interim Executive Director.

(i)             to note the report with information provided by Aberdeen Cyrenians;

(ii)            to thank all those at Aberdeen Cyrenians, including the many staff and volunteers, who welcomed the Committee and provided an informative and interesting visit; and

(iii)          to instruct the Executive Director - Corporate Services, to formally write to Aberdeen Cyrenians expressing the Committee’s thanks for the visit.

(i)            to note the report; and

(ii)          to instruct the Chief Officer - Early Intervention and Community Empowerment to liaise with the Department of Work and Pensions and update the Memorandum of Understanding in line with current priorities and submit it back to Committee for approval.

There was no Exempt Business.

There was no Urgent Business.

to approve the minute.

(i)             to note the progress made in delivering the Aberdeen City Integrated Children’s Services Strategic Plan and associated work to address child poverty from April 2023 to date;

(ii)            to note and comment on the changes evident in data sets released over the reporting period;

(iii)          to delegate authority to the Interim Executive Director - Families and Communities, to submit the Annual Report, which was inclusive of the Local Child Poverty Action Report (LCPAR), to Scottish Government; and

(iv)          to agree in future years that the Plan would be presented to the Anti Poverty and Inequality Committee for its input in advance of being presented to the Education and Children’s Services Committee for formal approval.

The Committee had before it the planner of committee business, as prepared by the Interim Chief Officer – Governance (Assurance).

The Committee resolved:-

(i)            to note that the External advisors would participate in the creation of the criteria for allocating funding as well as recommendations for the allocation of £1million to mitigate against the ongoing cost of living crisis and contribute to alleviating poverty in the city and that suggestions from members would be welcome;

(ii)          to instruct the Executive Director - Corporate Services, to issue a Service Update on the potential criteria to be considered in order to make recommendations for the allocation of the £1million funding outlined at line 13; and

(iii)         to otherwise note the Planner.

Members were requested to intimate any Declarations of Interest or Transparency Statements in respect of the items on the agenda.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)     to note that Councillor Brooks advised that he had a connection in relation to agenda item 9.2 (Fairer Aberdeen Fund Annual Report) as he was founder and Chairman of the TLC Charity which was part of the Trussell Trust family of food banks however, having applied the objective test he did not consider that his connection amounted to an interest which would prevent him from participating in the discussion on the items;

(ii)    to note that Councillor Kusznir advised that he had a connection in relation to agenda item 9.2 as he was a Board Member of Aberdeen Citizens Advice Bureau however, having applied the objective test he did not consider that his connection amounted to an interest which would prevent him from participating in the discussion on the items;

(iii)   to note that the Convener advised that he had a connection in relation to agenda items 9.1 (Six monthly update on the Memorandum of Understanding with the Department of Work and Pensions) and 9.2 as he was a European Economic Area national and a Board Member of Fairer Aberdeen respectively, however, having applied the objective test he did not consider that his connection amounted to an interest which would prevent him from participating in the discussion on the items; and

(iv)  to note that Dr Bone advised that he had a connection in relation to agenda item 9.2 as he was a Board member of CFINE however, having applied the objective test he did not consider that his connection amounted to an interest which would prevent him from participating in the discussion on the items.