Minutes for Council meeting, Oct 6 2011, 10.30AM official page

• Mr Steven Bothwell - relating to item 8(d)

(1)         To ask the Leader of the Council if he recalls voting at the December 2010 Council meeting to approve all of the recommendations as contained within the report to Council in relation to AECC (Item 31 of the agreed minute) and if so the Leader of the Council should recall that one of the recommendations he was party to approving was to “instruct officers to prepare and submit a report to both the Enterprise, Planning and Infrastructure Committee and the Finance and Resources Committee outlining the options and terms for reverting all existing leases relating to land currently leased to AECC, and transferring ownership of all currently owned buildings and assets, from AECC Ltd to the Council”. Given that it is now 11 months since Council agreed the recommendation can the Leader of the Council firstly provide Council with a detailed timescale for receiving the said report asked for by Council and secondly can he provide Council with details of what negotiations if any have taken place with the current board of AECC in relation to this matter and in support of his answer can he provide written evidence to back up any negotiation?

(2)         To ask the Chief Executive, who will be aware of Section 75 of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 as amended which deals with Disposal etc. of land forming part of the common good, what discussions if any have taken place between internal Council legal officers and/or Council appointed external legal officers and any Council employee relating to Union Terrace Gardens and what is the legal advice provided to the said employee and to further ask the Chief Executive what discussions if any have taken place between internal Council legal officers and/or Council appointed external legal officers and any person - the definition of “person” includes a body of persons corporate or unincorporated - relating to Union Terrace Gardens and what is the legal advice provided to the said person?

(3)         To ask the Convener for Enterprise Planning and Infrastructure if she agrees or otherwise with the Depute Leader of the Council and Leader of the Liberal Democrats at the City Council, a position she once held, when speaking about the proposed referendum for Union Terrace Gardens in the Press and Journal on the 14^th September 2011 that “the referendum would be a horrendous waste of money. It’s a dead duck”.

(4)         To ask the Leader of the Council if he is aware of a report by Audit Scotland into Aberdeen City Council in May 2007 and if he is aware of the Audit Scotland Report the Leader of the Council should remember that one of the findings from the report determined that “All significant property transactions should be signed off by both the Chief Financial Officer and Monitoring Officer to ensure appropriate governance and accountability” given that Aberdeen City Council has still not completed its negotiations with Hermiston Securities Limited and other interested parties in respect of land owned at  ...  view the full agenda text for item 10(a)

“Council is requested to task officers with carrying out a feasibility study into the economic viability of initiating a Corporate Bond Issue for the purpose of funding new Council houses in the city.

The current economic situation would appear to support interest bearing investments that are financed by non-risk rental proceeds from new build Council houses. As an indication of possible levels of investment, a total investment of £20 million could finance up to 150 new build houses. This would assist the Council in meeting some of its current obligation in respect of those persons on the Council housing waiting list.

Officers are asked to report back on their study findings no later than to the Council Budget meeting in February 2012.”

“Council officers are requested to substantially increase their highlighting of moderate or significant risk pertaining to any recommendations arising from reports submitted to Councillors for approval.

It is a vital part of the decision making process and any financial risk, safety risk or legal risk emanating from the implementation of the officers’ recommendation should be made clear to Councillors. It is also necessary that any amendment to the original recommendation should be subjected to the same level of scrutiny in terms of risk analysis before full approval is given to the amendment.

Council is asked to reject motions or amendments that fail to meet a high standard of scrutiny until they clearly identify reasonable potential risks posed by their implementation.”

“That a decision is taken on how much Communities and Charity Groups will be charged for Public Entertainment Licences in order to enable these groups to forward plan and ultimately decide whether they can afford to carry out their events, which are often for fund raising purposes.”

“Council is asked to set up a working party to explore the possibility of changing the whole structure of traffic speed controls within the city of Aberdeen.

Such a study should start from the principle of having all housing sub divisions designated as 20mph traffic zones with arterial or main roads being designated as 30 or 40mph maximum speed zones.

The objective is to create standardisation in the interests of road safety and to alleviate confusion in the minds of drivers. This has become necessary due to the vast array of speed bumps, mandatory 20mph roads and advisory 20mph roads. As a result of these changes it is intended to educate the public in terms of safe driving.

The working group should comprise Council officers and token Councillor representation, reporting to Council or Committee as necessary.”

“Council notes the decision of the Cosla Leaders Meeting on Friday 30^th September to protect certain Councils from a reduction of Supporting People Funding, by taking funding from other Councils.

Council notes that for many years, Cosla has declined to support similar requests from Aberdeen City Council, citing the ‘fairness’ of the distribution formula.

Council deplores Cosla’s contradictory policies regarding distribution of funding, and agrees the following actions:

1) That the Council writes to Cosla, expressing its dissatisfaction with the decision, and requesting that the Cosla President and CEO come to a meeting of the full Council to explain how Cosla can hold contradictory policies on funding distribution, which continue to treat Aberdeen City Council unfairly.

2) That the Council write to Cabinet Secretary, John Swinney, asking him not to implement Cosla’s decision.

3) Council officers shall carry out a cost-benefit appraisal of the Council’s membership of Cosla, so that Council can decide whether Aberdeen City should give notice of withdrawal from Cosla, when it’s current subscription expires.”