Committee round-up: Policy and Resources Committee 11.09.14

Multi-million pound investment in housing, flood protection in Stonehaven and a Gaelic Language Plan for Aberdeenshire were all discussed when the Policy and Resources Committee of Aberdeenshire Council met on Thursday, September 11.Scottish Fire & Rescue Service – the committee opened with a report from SFRS on their performance for the period April to June 2014. David Meldrum from SFRS introduced the report, highlighting a positive direction of travel for performance and applauding work undertaken by Police Scotland in Garioch and Buchan for apprehending people starting deliberate fires. One accidental death, and a number of ‘near misses’ was noted and the committee was assured that Scottish Fire and Rescue Service continued to work with partners to ensure that they are identifying those people most vulnerable from risk of fire and delivering home fire safety visits to address issues. Mr Meldrum also advised that home fire safety visits continued to improve, increasing from 147 in 2012/13 to 224 in 2013/14.Police Scotland – Chief Inspector Andrew Todd introduced a report on performance monitoring and an operational update from Police Scotland. He advised committee of a drop in speeding offences and driving whilst using a mobile phone, but also noted that the figures did not reflect the 496 warnings that had been issued to drivers.

CI Todd advised that £2.67 million had been collected in Aberdeenshire and Moray as a result of the seizure of proceeds of crime from April to June 2014. He advised that the money was collected through the Courts and the Scottish Government had established a clear route for the money to be used in communities. Groups and charities can apply for grants via organisations like Creative Scotland, The Princes Trust Development Awards, Youth Scotland/Small Grants Scheme, YouthLink Scotland and Facilities through Cashback for Communities.Revenue Budget Monitoring – Aberdeenshire Council’s Revenue Budget Monitoring report was considered as of July 31 2014. Head of Finance Alan Wood highlighted the council’s total revenue budget of £518 million, which was forecast to be slightly over budget by £731,000. Chief Executive Colin Mackenzie stressed the scrutiny that officers gave to the budget and that all employees were encouraged to squeeze value out of every pound. He also provided the results of the August reputation tracker, which reveals overall public satisfaction with council services at 95%. Significant variances in budget were reported by Education & Children’s Services for out of authority placements; and in Social Work due to the increased cost and number of care packages. Directors outlined the work taking place to address and mitigate the impact on budgets.Capital Plan – Councillors heard that Aberdeenshire Council is spending nearly £3 million per week building new schools and community facilities and making major improvements to infrastructure. Councillors approved a revised Capital Plan with a total expenditure for 2014/15 of £150,900,000.

Members receive regular updates on the progress of major projects like the construction of Mearns Academy Community Campus, the new primary school at Hillside, Portlethen and community and sports facilities at Banff and Macduff.Gaelic Language Plan – Councillors also agreed a Gaelic Language Plan for Aberdeenshire which sets out how the council will support the use of Gaelic in a proportionate and relevant way to communities.Housing investment – Councillors considered a number of reports related to investment in housing and agreed over £6.5 million of projects including door and window upgrades, structural repairs and electrical upgrades.Retail Plus Scheme – Councillors agreed to extend the Retail Plus project in Fraserburgh by increasing the available grant provision by £80,000. The project was approved in April 2014 and supports retail businesses in Fraserburgh through expert advice and improvement grants of up to £5,000 per business, with businesses required to contribute a minimum of 25% against the council’s contribution. The project has exceeded all expectations, attracting 46 businesses to participate in the scheme.Stonehaven Flood Protection Scheme – Funding for the Scheme was approved in principle at a provisional estimate of £14 – 16 million.

Officers were asked to pursue all possible funding opportunities from the Scottish Government. Director of Infrastructure Services Stephen Archer

advised that the council is in talks with Cosla which has been given responsibility for identifying areas of priority for funding from underspends. Cllr Hamish Vernal also gave his full support to working with the Administration to make the Council’s case as strong as possible. Committee recognised the importance of progressing flood prevention activity across a number of communities in addition to Stonehaven and all were keen to see work progress as quickly as possible.

Councillors heard that the scheme could be confirmed early in 2015 if the current rate of progress continues and if there are no objections to the legal Flood Order. If this were the case, construction could begin by late 2015, with a construction period of around 18 to 24 months. Chief Executive retirement – following the announcement of the retirement of Colin Mackenzie, committee considered a report on the recruitment of a new Chief Executive. Committee agreed to recommend variations to procedures to a meeting of Full Council on Thursday, September 25. The recommendation includes the creation of a Special Appointments Committee of 11 councillors, with six from the Administration, four from the Opposition and one other. Executive Search will be delivered by the in-house HR team, and external support provided by a local authority chief executive and a senior officer from community planning.

Recruitment adverts will be published following full council in September with final interviews in mid-November.