Additional Circulation
2nd Additional Circulation
3rd Additional Circulation
ABERDEEN
CITY COUNCIL
To: All Members of the Council
Town House,
ABERDEEN, 1st April, 2008
COUNCIL MEETING
The Members of ABERDEEN CITY COUNCIL are requested to meet here in the Town House on WEDNESDAY, 9th APRIL, 2008 at 2.00pm.
RODERICK MACBEATH
HEAD OF DEMOCRATIC SERVICES
B U S I N E S S
1. Admission of Burgesses
* 2. Requests for Deputations –
(i) Aberdeen Cyrenians – This request relates to item 7(j) on the agenda.
(ii) Glencraft – This request relates to item 7(l) on the agenda.
MINUTES OF COUNCIL
3. (a) Minute of Special Meeting of Council of 7th January, 2008 – for approval (circulated separately)
(b) Minute of Meeting of Council of 13th February, 2008 – for approval (circulated separately)
(c) Minute of Meeting of Council of 14th February, 2008 – for approval (circulated separately)
MINUTES OF STANDING COMMITTEES
4. (a) Pamphlet of Minutes for 8th January – 8th February, 2008 – for information (circulated separately)
(b) Pamphlet of Minutes for 19th February – 6th March, 2008 – for information (circulated separately)
OTHER MINUTES
* 5. (a) Minute of Meeting of the Aberdeen City Alliance of 24th January, 2007 - for information
* (b) Minute of Meeting of Budget Monitoring Board of 14th March, 2008
GENERAL BUSINESS
6. (a) Chief Executive’s Progress Report
Would Members please note that this report has been circulated separately
* (b) Audit of Best Value and Community Planning - Report by Chief Executive
(c) Doonie’s Farm – Report by Head of Shelter and Environment (South) (to follow)
* (d) Charges for Social Care and Housing Support Services 2008/09 - Report by Chief Social Work Officer
* (e) Annual and Mainstream Grants to the Voluntary Sector - Report by Chief Social Work Officer
* (f)Review of Committee Structure - Report by Head of Democratic Services
* (g) Peterhead Prison Visiting Committee - Appointment of Replacement
(h) Fairer Scotland Fund Board – Appointment of Members
The Council is asked to appoint 3 members to the Fairer Scotland Fund Board, to be derived from the Council’s membership on the Aberdeen City Alliance (Councillors Collie, Dean, Donnelly, Fletcher, Graham, Noble, Penny and Kevin Stewart).
The Board has been established by the Alliance to manage the transition of funding to the Fairer Scotland Fund.
* (i) Carrying of Offensive Weapons – Motion by Inverclyde Council – Request
for support
MOTIONS
7. (a) Councillor Wisely
“That the Continuous Improvement Committee, in light of growing representation from constituents about difficulties encountered with accessing Council services, review this situation and clarify and quantify the number of services where this concern may arise”.
7. (b) Councillor Wisely
“That the Head of Performance Management and Quality Assurance undertake a full review of the festive refuse collection arrangements in place for 2007 and report its findings for improvement to the Continuous Improvement Committee. That meantime the call centre staff are told of this review and that workforce managers are consulted and informed of the conclusions”.
(c) Councillor Cormie
“That the Policy and Strategy Committee review the management rules for parks and outdoor areas to require all dogs to be kept on a lead in Victoria Park, Westburn Park, Duthie Park, Union Terrace Gardens, Johnstone Gardens and parts of Hazlehead Park and Seaton Park”.
(d) Councillor McDonald
“Aberdeen City Council rejects the upcoming North East post office consultation process as entirely unjust due to the fact that, to save a post office, a different one must be put forward for closure in its place. Furthermore, Council calls on Post Office Limited to withdraw these proposals and for the UK Government to support the post office network by restoring services which have previously been withdrawn, in order to create and sustain a vibrant post office network across the North East”.
(e) Councillor Farquharson
“The Council is requested to approve amendments to Standing Order 47 in respect of the appointment of officers. The changes are minor in format but are intended to aid the decision making process and democratic involvement of members in the short list part of the recruitment process”.
(f) Councillor Farquharson
“That this Council withdraws its pay proposals in respect of Equal Pay and Single Status as a result of the rejection of these proposals by the trades union membership, and reverts to a position reflecting the ‘status quo’. Such a course of action will reflect a changing environment relating to equal pay settlements as well as the Council’s apparent inability to pay the increased annual labour cost of £10 million that has led to the massive cutting of essential services for the people of Aberdeen”.
(g) Councillor Farquharson
“That this Council critically re-examines the current feasibility of all planned or proposed major capital projects, including Marischal College, Community Football Stadium and 50 metre Olympic swimming pool in the light of the recent downgrading of the Council’s financial position and the drastic cutbacks in many essential services in our city”.
(h) Councillor Collie
“This Council supports, encourages and contributes by putting in place efficient measures which ensure that the people of Aberdeen benefit from the Olympic and Commonwealth Games, by ensuring that sporting facilities such as ice rinks and swimming pools within Aberdeen provide direct benefit to up and coming aspiring competitors as well as the city’s Council Tax payers”.
7. (i) Councillor Young
“This Council uses the money from the Common Good fund to keep open the Ice Rink and the Bon-Accord Baths”.
(j) Councillor Ironside
“That this Council welcomes the comments by Kittybrewster School former pupil Denis Law in support of the campaign against the closure of schools; further welcomes his support for the campaign to save Bon-Accord Baths in Aberdeen; agrees with Denis Law that the administration of Aberdeen City Council should listen to the views of local people; and calls on Aberdeen City Council to abandon its closure plans for schools, Bon-Accord Baths, and many other vital services and facilities in the city”.
(k) Councillor Cooney
“That this Council calls for an urgent report on the implications for all schools of the £2.5 million cut in DEM and the implementation of 95% staffing”.
(l) Councillor Crockett
“That this Council recognises the unique role of Glencraft and its predecessors in Aberdeen’s history of providing support to our blind and disabled citizens. The Council recognises the impressive work done to transform production and to put in place a viable business plan. The Council recognises its responsibility to maintain support at current levels for the coming year to ensure that the viability of the business plan can be demonstrated”.
(m) Councillor Jennifer Stewart
“That this Council consults with homeowners in the terraced dwellings in Hazlehead Road, Hazlehead Gardens, Hazlehead Terrace, Hazlehead Crescent, Hazlehead Place and Provost Graham Avenue to find out if they wish to purchase appropriate proportions of the adjacent Council-owned land as individual garden areas, and that this Council then produces a report with recommendations to give homeowners the opportunity to purchase individual plots of land”.
QUESTIONS
8. (a) Councillor McDonald
To the Chief Executive –
(1) "What are the current requirements for shop owners to maintain the cleanliness of the frontage of their shop?”
(2) “To what extent do these requirements cover the immediate street area in front of their shop?”
(3) “If the immediate street area is not covered by present requirements, what steps would need to be taken to make this a requirement?”
8. (b) Councillor McDonald
To the Chief Executive –
(1) “How many meetings were requested with the City Chamberlain or members of her team by the Labour group to discuss the budget prior to the Council's Budget meeting on 14th February?”
(2) “What the implications for the Council would be if the £27million savings had not been proposed at the Council's Budget meeting on February 14th?”
(3) “What the position of the Council would be if it had failed to produce a balanced budget at the Council's Budget meeting on 14th February?”
(4) “If he is satisfied that the Council is capable of managing its capital borrowing in line with the strictures of the Prudential Borrowing Code?”
(5) “Whether or not he agrees with the comments made by Councillor Willie Young on February 12th on Original 106FM that opposition councillors did not have the same access to staff as the Administration and that opposition councillors did not have full access to the accounts and staff support in advance of the Council's Budget Meeting?”
(c) Councillor Graham
To the Convenor of Resources Management Committee –
(1) “How much money from the Housing Revenue Account is now being used to support services previously paid through the Non-Housing Revenue Account either partially or fully?”
(2) “What services are they supporting?”
To the Convenor of Policy and Strategy Committee –
(1) “Why has Council never been given the details or the opportunity to discuss the Concordat signed on our behalf by COSLA on 14 November 2007?”
(2) “When will Aberdeen City Council be given details of the Concordat including the benefits that the Concordat brings to Aberdeen City Council not previously enjoyed?”
(3) “Given the apparent unfair settlement given to Aberdeen City Council proclaimed by this administration, why did our representative on COSLA signed the Concordat?”
8. (c) Councillor Graham
To the Chief Executive –
(1) “When was Aberdeen City Council given details of the Accounts Commission’s findings on the Audit of Best Value and Community Planning?”
(2) “What Councillors knew of the details of the Accounts Commission’s findings on the Audit of Best Value and Community Planning prior to the budget of 14 February?”
To the Convener of Resources Management Committee –
(1) “Given the current problems with the distribution of Fairer Scotland Funding, will the Council guarantee that the funding will be maintained when it is not ring fenced in 2010/2011.”
(2) “Given the current problems with the distribution of Fairer Scotland Funding, will the Council agree to set 5 year funding programmes for the continuation of whatever form the Community Regeneration Funding takes on after 2010/2011 to enable communities to plan regeneration activities?”
To the Chief Executive –
(1) “Why didn't the Strategy for the Transformation of Waste Management, reported to the Council on 13 February 2008, specifically identify Granitehill as the key site for allowing the implementation of the Strategy?”
(2) “Is it normal practice for reports such as the Strategy for the Transformation of Waste Management to exclude information key to its implementation?”
(3) “What other strategies that have been approved by this Council did not contain key information when approved?”
To the Convenor of Policy and Strategy Committee –
(1) “Given the Accounts Commission’s Audit of Best Value and Community Planning identified that much of this Council’s problems result from decisions such as the failure to build a plant to produce energy from waste and a recycling centre, will the Council rule out the building of "energy from waste" plants such as pyrolysis, gasification etc and recycling centre in Altens or any other areas in Aberdeen?”
(2) “Given the Council’s Policy Statement opposing the disposal of waste by incineration, why is it considering sending waste to the proposed incinerator in Aberdeenshire?”
8. (c) Councillor Graham
To the Convenor of Policy and Strategy Committee –
(1) “When will the Council be presented with a progress report on the implementation of the administration’s policies detailed in "The Liberal Democrat and SNP Programme for Aberdeen City Council 2007 – 2011?"
To the Convenor of Resources Management Committee –
(1) “Has a best value analysis been conducted on the disaggregation of services to the three neighbourhoods to ensure that they lead to the delivery of more efficient services and do not add costs to the capital and revenue budgets?”
(d) Councillor Young
To the Convenor of Resources Management Committee –
(1) “How much money has been spent by the Council over the four years on Aberdeen Futures?”
(2) “How much money has Aberdeen City Council been forced to pay out over the last 4 years following decisions going against the Council at employment tribunals?”
(3) “How much money has been spent on employing outside solicitors/QC to give advice before the Tribunal or whilst representing the Council at the Tribunal?”
(4) “Why the administration he helps lead told parents of schools subject to closure/merger that the 60% occupancy rule was recommended by the Scottish Executive when Maureen Watt MSP has contradicted that advice?”
(5) “Can he advise the projected timescale in respect of obtaining planning permission for Marischal College?”
(6) “Can he confirm that Historic Scotland is happy with the projected plans for Marischal College and that they will not hold up planning permission?”
(7) “Can he advise me of the VAT implications for Marischal College?”
(8) “Can he confirm that in respect of Marischal College the costs are certain and inflation proof and that there will be no increase from the £80.4m costs?”
(9) “Can he confirm that work costs and indeed manpower needed in respect of Marischal College will not be affected by the United Kingdom hosting the Olympic Games?”
(10) “Can he advise what the projected spend of £34m on Marischal College in 2010/11 will be spent on?”
Councillor Young
(11) “Can he confirm or otherwise how much money has been spent on the Marischal College project to date using consultants?”
(12) “Can he confirm how much money from the £80.4m has been allocated to the listed features of the building?”
(13) “On whose instructions was the work step programme contract from the Department of Work and Pension signed for 2008/09?”
To the Convenor of Policy and Strategy Committee –
(1) “Does she agree with John Swinney MSP and Councillor Neil Fletcher Vice President of COSLA that the Concordat agreement between the Scottish Executive and Aberdeen City Council is a fair and just settlement?”
(2) “How much money the Council has spent in total over the last four years with regard to the masterplan for the six communities across Aberdeen?”
(3) “Does she agree with Councillor Kevin Stewart that providing assistance to Glencraft is a high risk strategy for the Council?”
(4) “Does she agree with three Aberdeen Secondary Schools who passed a vote of no confidence in the City Council?”
(5) “Can she provide a detailed account of the companies and individuals over the last three years who have received payments for doing consultancy work for the Council? Can she confirm how many of these consultants are ex-employees?”
(6) “Does she agree with her fellow Lib Dem member Nicol Stephen MSP who said after the budget meeting of the 14th February this is an incredibly bad budget for Aberdeen the worst I can remember vital public services are threatened with the axe. We have to campaign to stop the worst of these cuts?”
(7) “To provide a detailed account of how the capacities of schools that are currently being considered for closure/merger were worked out?”
(8) “To provide a detailed account of how the Administration has predicted future school rolls?”
(9) “When did she first become aware that we required £27m of budget cuts to balance our books?”
(10) “Why have they kept a slush fund of £3m within the Corporate Investment fund when this money could be used to save some of our vital Public services?”
Councillor Young
(11) “When any official or anyone within her Administration met with representatives of the disabled vulnerable sick and elderly to discuss an impact assessment and could she provide the Council with a copy of that impact study?”
(12) “As the City Council’s representative on NHS Grampian if she advised Councillor Neil Fletcher that NHS Grampian was withdrawing its funding to Albyn House?”
(13) “To provide the Council with the benchmarking information that will allow the Council to see if we are on target to reach our goal of being a leading Council in Northern Europe?”
(14) “Does she agree with the assessment of the Best Value audit by the Accounts Commission that there is poor morale within the staff and what does she attribute this to?”
(15) “To explain to elected members why the Council she led did not make planned in year savings during 2006/07 and 2007/08?”
(16) “Does she believe that her plan to cut £27m from the budget and close down leisure centres social care centres places for the disabled to work makes Aberdeen an even better place to live and work where people can expect high quality services that meet their needs?”
(17) “Who were the junior officials who visited Schools in December and advised them that they were under threat?”
(18) “What method did the Council use to calculate that we have 30,000 pupil spaces within our Schools?”
(19) “We are at point in the annual cycle where secondary schools’ managements are developing and finalising plans for session 2008-09. An essential element in planning relates to staff numbers and curricular expertise. Head teachers have now moved on from the situation where they could only deduce what would be the impact of the downwards change in staffing formula conflated with the marked reduction in their devolved budgets. They cannot yet communicate directly with their staff, to enable middle managers and others to plan effectively, or to confirm how many and who will be declared excess staff. Why are Head teachers so inhibited and when can they begin to plan with their colleagues for next session?”
(20) “Estimates vary, but the general consensus is that the staff to be ‘lost’ has increased from about 10%, to a figure that indicates that a school within a staff of 80 will lose 10 posts. The administration must have knowledge of the actual number of posts to be lost. What is the figure for schools of 600 pupils, 900 pupils and 1100 pupils?”
Councillor Young
(21) “The staffing available to a school will determine the curriculum it can deliver and how delivery is managed. What can the administration tell us about the courses and classes that will disappear from schools: the capacity of schools to deliver on classes of no more than 20 in English and Mathematics in S1 and S2; and the size of the bigger class in which a senior pupil studying at Intermediate, Higher or Advanced Higher levels will be working?”
(22) “The current cohort of Training Teachers reaching the end of their Probationary year are looking for work out with this Authority. The demographic profile of teachers currently in post means that a high number will leave through natural wastage and retirement over the next 7 or 8 years. What is the strategy that Aberdeen City will have in place to attract high calibre teachers here, when these significant numbers leave us?”
(23) “Is she aware that Article 12 and 13 of the United Nations Convention on the rights of a child detail the rights Children have when Adults are making decisions about them and they have a right for there views to be taken into consideration. Can she confirm or otherwise if their views have been taken into consideration and how this has been achieved?”
To the Chief Executive –
(1) “To provide a detailed account of his management’s workings before the budget of the 14th February 08 as to the impact the £27m budget cuts will have on those most affected?”
(2) “To ask him to consult his diary and advise me how many times a week he has spoke with the Leader of the Council over the last four years to discuss the strategy of the Council?”
(3) “Has he finished the probe into the reasons why so called junior officials visited schools in December and if so can he pass a copy to elected members so we can see the reasons also?”
(4) “To ask him if he agrees or otherwise that one of the failures of this Council has been the lack of transparent information given to Councillors?”
(5) “To ask him what is meant by the term a culture of non compliance with corporate systems and processes and to ask who if anybody is to blame for this culture of non compliance?”
(e) Councillor Donnelly
To the Convenor of Policy and Strategy Committee –
(1) Will this Administration make an urgent appeal to the Finance Secretary, John Swinney, for emergency funding to stave off the £27 million cuts, prior to him reviewing the block grant formula for Scotland’s 32 Councils.
8. (e) Councillor Donnelly
To the Convenor of Resources Management Committee –
(1) Why will this Council not consider selling off the Linx Ice Arena to private enterprise (like other Local Authorities have) whom are now revenue generating and continuing in operation, with the condition of sale made that the City Council still hosts the 2009 European Skating Championships.
(f) Councillors Donnelly and Cormack
To the Convener of Area Committee South –
(1) “Has any progress been made regarding previous requests from Ferryhill Community Council for consideration of residents parking within the city centre area of Ferryhill?”
REPORTS NOT FOR PUBLICATION
* 9. (a) Minute of Meeting of the Marischal College Monitoring and Advisory
Board of 20th March, 2008
(b) Equal Pay and Modernisation – Verbal report by Corporate Director for Resources Management
* circulated herewith
Should you require any further information about this agenda, please contact Vikki Cuthbert by telephone on 522123 or at vcuthbert@aberdeencity.gov.uk.
