Dundee City Council Committee Meetings – 19th February 2024

Find the agenda for these meetings here: https://www.dundeecity.gov.uk/reports/calendar

Would all members please mute their microphones when not speaking to avoid background noise and turn off any smart speakers please start the meeting with your camera on your face will appear on the screen when you are speaking if your connection is poor You may wish to turn

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Through the chat otherwise the item will be agreed please with members not use the chat for any other purposes as those joining the meeting by telephone cannot see the chat and therefore will not be able to follow the debate although we are operating in a different way this is still a formal

Meeting of the council and the required standards of behavior and discussion are the same as in a face-to-face meeting standing orders apply to the proceedings and the terms of the councilor’s code of conduct also apply in the normal way does any member have any queries regarding the procedure there are no queries Lord

Provest though biley Roberts has indicated in chat that she has no sound and is to leave and come back in I will now ask the committee Services officer to take a roll call for the minute thank you thank you as indic I only take a roll call for the minute I would ask

That members confirm their presence when I call their names Lord Provest present thank you councelor Alexander I’m present councelor Anderson good evening I’m here Deputy Lord provest Cordell present Billy Dawson I’m here councelor alaka hi I’m present councelor Flynn good evening I’m here councelor Hunter good evening I’m here councelor Lynn president Bailey Roberts she she thank you councelor room

Apologies good evening I’m present thank you Bailey SARS yes I’m here councelor short evening I’m here councelor Smith I’m here thank you councelor toand hi am here Bailey Kenan present thank you councelor K shank present councelor finan good evening I’m here councelor MCU present councelor McAn George is having problems uh

Logging in uh but he is coming on he’s trying to get in thank you Bailey right councelor Malone I’ll Mark has absent councelor scullin evening president canor Shear Al Mark is absent Bailey right sorry I’m present but H councelor shears H is not back till next week um

And uh there’s all should be apologies already and for Charlie I’ll record apologies really right thank you okay Bailey mcferson uh good evening present councelor Coleman good evening councelor Katon I am here councelor Duncan here and Bailey Scott here thank you that concludes the r call thank you elen Roger

Please thank you again Lord provis just to confirm that councelor mcin has also joined the meeting Lord provest members of the council there are three items of business this evening the first item of business is the minutes for information and record purposes thank you Roger are there any questions is that

Agreed thank you Roger thank you Lord provest item three General business a vacancy outside bodies it is reported that councelor Rome has intimated his resignation from tatran which requires to be filled by the administration group the council’s instructions are requested as to the filling of this vacancy thank you Roger Bailey Dawson

Thanks Lord provest uh nominating councelor toand please okay thank you for nominating councelor toand are there any other nominations don’t see anything anywhere um yep don’t see anything any questions on this this agreed congratulations councelor toen Roger thank you Lord provest the final item of business fifth statutory review

Of pooling places and pooling districts you have a report before you thank you Roger any questions on this I see nothing is this agreed thank you everyone that’s Council business good evening thank you Lord provest the next committee is the climate environment and biodiversity committee good evening um we’ve just got

One main item on this agenda but we’ll look for Declarations of Interest first any Declarations of Interest can’t see anyone so if you take us to the main item of business please thank you convener item two is dundy climate fund delivering Community choices through participatory budgeting and you have the report before

Thank you um the point of this report is to essentially ensure that all the counselors are aware of our climate fund um this is the first participatory be budgeting Fund in Scotland with a focus on tackling climate change um and we set up the fund with £750,000 to run over

Four years A couple of years ago there are five themes in the fund energy transport waste resilience and building capacity and a review panel was established um with experts on it to enable people to have their bids assessed um the we just report in in this report that round one had been has

La was launched in August sorry I’ve got sore throat was launched in August 2022 um with £385,000 66 in it we received 29 bids which was quite good going for the first fund of its kind in Scotland they were assessed by the review panel 23 bids made it to

The public vote and 12 of those projects were successful um one of the projects withdrew but the 11even who did received funding are detailed in appendex one to the reports we just wanted to make sure that you were aw Ware of the first round of funding and how successful that had

Been the second round funding was launched in April last year um we had a rather Innovative approach had a speed dating ideas generation workshop and involved over 200 people in coming up with ideas for projects we worked with Community larders cafes Faith groups and worked through all the community

Centers 15 bids were assessed and 10 have now been put forward to the public vote um so the real point of this report is to make sure that all the counselors know that that fund is open um there is a document show you um and the basically

The Voting is open until the 15th of March and I would really urge every counselor here to make sure that they vote you can either vote online directly or go to the libraries and get assistance with voting so I’m just wonder if anyone has any questions on

The report or they’re happy to note it and promise to Vote and Sir Alexander thanks convenor um yeah just a comment for me and I use the chat function as his Bailey Dawson Just for information um first of all just to commend the work that’s been undertaken in this because I think when you look at the extent of the organizations who have

Benefited from this funding uh some of those funding BS might be relatively small amounts of money but the positive impact they can have on more than one issue so of course the driver for this was about supporting people supporting our communities to deliver benefits that have a positive impact on the climate

And the environment in dundy and Beyond but of course the benefit of deploying um this model through a PB model is that it has other benefits as well so if we look at some of those projects on the list from campy Growers to the Douglas food Community uh group group dundy

Heritage Trust fairm your community green uh the Scottish Association for mental health D train and Community Gardens there are so many other objectives and benefits that have been delivered as a result of this funding that I really have to commend yourself um and the deputy convenor and the

Broader uh service for taking that approach because ultimately we’ve benefited the climate yes uh in positive terms but we’ve also enabled some of these organizations to do more proactive work to engage with more of their Community to deliver foods to support people most in need and even things like

The dundy burns electric fan that is now enabling them not only to reduce their overheads which means more money uh is being used to support people in need in this city but it also means they can do more uh with less and again for all of those reasons and more it has social

Economic and uh environmental benefits and I think again it goes to show that dund does these things very well when it talks about uh connecting with communities connecting with organiz ations and understanding what small pots of money can do and of course it would be remiss of me not to also mention the

Fact that dundi was recognized as one of only 119 cities in the entire world for its bold leadership on environmental action and transparency uh despite the global challenges that we’ve been facing of late and I think that’s a testament to initiatives and projects like this but also the work that we do with

Communities for communities um and hopefully that work will continue so thanks very much for bringing it to uh committee and again showcasing not just what the council’s done but what each of these organizations are doing within their Community as well thank you really appreciate that um climate change can be very overwhelming

We know that we have breached the 1.5 degree increase in temperature over the last year and the thing about this fund is it enables people to do very pragmatic practical things in their communities to actually feel that they’re doing something to make a difference so that’s the real success of

It thanks very much for your comments uh Bailey Dawson thanks convenor sorry it’s just an apology it completely slipped my mind when this came up that I probably should declare a non-financial interest in relation to the dundy rep application so just with apologies yes I forgot to do

That I won’t see whether I voted for you then right um any other comments are people happy to endorse the report thank you I think that’s our business for this evening thanks thank you convenor the next committee is the fairw work economic growth and infrastructure committee thank you Roger good evening

And welcome everyone uh can we have the first item of business please Al thank you convener item one is Declaration of Interest are there any declarations to the agenda as it stands uh councel kryon I can see you’ve got a declaration thank you conv um I just wish to declare a non-financial interest

In relation to item five um although my employer have no involvement in the detail of the report and I work in the EV industry um so I just feel it’s appropriate to make a declaration at this time thank you councilor Kon that’s appreciated uh any other declarations I

Can’t see any further just give it a second no okay thank you very much next item please elen item two is contract for the treatment of mixed glass so this is an agenda note which updates the committee on progress made with a new tender for the treatment of mck glass

And following evaluation which consider both price and quality aspects recommends the contract is awarded to celco Green Solutions um I wonder Mr Bole are you on the call tonight hello K yes I’m on the call thank you do I have any questions at all for this item I’ve

Got I don’t see any questions in the chat I’m looking for hands I’m not seeing any can this item be agreed then please or noted rather thank you um next item please elen thank you item three environmental Improvement Works 20232 24 and this is for approval so this item seeks approval

For further environmental improvements involving General improvements within C and park and installation new park signage in a number of boundary welcome points in the city do we have any questions on this item okay I’ll just give it a minute can’t see any questions and I can’t see any hands can this be agreed

Then thank you I’ll take that as agreement next item please item four is variation of waiting restrictions 2024 and this is for approval so this item seeks approval as Al says to vary parking restrictions at six locations to improve Road Safety unenhanced environmental amenity do I have any questions on this item

I can’t see any this could be a quick name um that being said can this be agreed thank you I’ll take that as agreement next item please item five electric vehicle charging infrastructure operation and maintenance procurement sourcing strategy you have the report before you so this item seeks approval to

Commence a procurement exercise for the operation and maintenance of EV charging infrastructure the procurement will include the provision of back office administration Services routine maintenance life cycle renewable assets and will accommodate option for improvement and expansion of the charging asset the cost will be recovered from the EV tariff charges and

Details of the tenders received will be reported to a future committee meeting for approval do you have any comments on this item or questions let’s give another minute no we’ll just before we move on I just like to um highlight my gratitude to officers in the department because I

Think that we can’t see enough how much of a leading like the city is in terms of EV infrastructure uh and our placement for the future so I just want to place my thanks on record for the team for all the work they’ve done and hope this continues into the future so

Thanks and I hope this can be agreed then thank you next item please elen thank you here item six home to school transport procurement sourcing strategy you have the report before you so this item seeks approval to procure and award contracts for the provision of home to school transport

Services do you have any questions on this item I don’t see any questions can this be then agreed thank you next item please alyn thank you convener item seven sourcing strategies by head of design and property and this is for approval so this item seeks approval of seven sourcing strategies to commence

With the procurement exercises for each workstream the strategies contained in the report comprise inspection inspection testing and service contracts for air compressor equipment local exhaust ventilation and for systems electrical equipment across the city medical bath and lifting equipment boilers chps burners and flu and the replacement of lifts of the cared hog

Comp Lex uh and finally the supply installation and maintenance of decorative relating features for the festive period um councelor colan please thank you mror can I please ask about the Christmas decorations contract on page 33 of the papers does this recommendation in any way alter the amount and placing of decorations on

Streets in 2024 onwards in comparison to previous years and does this cover only hanging decorations in streets or will it also cover other aspects like like Christmas trees thank you K com I’ll bring in Mr Hamilton if he’s available thank you convenor um the intention is that we seek to work with

An organization to put Christmas decorations up throughout the city center as has been the case in the past but members will note that the budget remains unchanged uh from previous years so we will need to go out to the market to see what we can get in terms of coverage of Street

Uh in period from 2024 onwards um at the moment we are still um finalizing the creative part of the the tender uh and I have not yet made a decision about the the Christmas tree element to that but that will be subject to further discussion before we go out to

Tender thank you does answer your question C Coleman yes thank you thank you uh councilor Lyn please yeah just a quick comment it’s not on the Christmas lights but it’s about Lighting in general in the city center might I just say how wonderful uh the city center particularly around sler

Gardens Exchange Street that kind of area looks with the the permanent year round lighting uh which has been installed really really uh contributes to to the the good look of of the the city center and the Waterfront so well done on that thank you Kor and um I’m sure you

Speak for a lot of people I must say that I’ve thought the being myself and city center and especially the the new cath exchange stre is very nice and it very much compliments the entire area so thank you for your kind comments do you have any further questions on this item

B MC Fon please thanks just a quick one following on from Mr Hamilton’s helpful reply to counselor Coleman I assume and I I’ll I assume it will be a yes that uh when decisions are taken on the aspects that are that are yet to be decisions about things like Christmas trees

Can can I ask that all members are updated regarding that before we get to the Christmas period itself I I I I think that’s a fair ask and I think it’s fair to say there’s a bit of work to do as uh Mr Hamilton has alluded to but Mr

Hamilton convenor yes it is a yes that’s much appreciated Mr Hamilton thank you thank you I keep muting myself I don’t know why I’m going have to stop doing that um but moving on that being said I can’t see other questions so can this be agreed thank you I’ll take that as

Agreement next item please elen this item eight tenders received by head of design and property and this is for approval so the item is seeking approval for except a total of 10 tenders the combined expenditure in the region of 5.9 million for construction and infrastructure Works across the city

These tenders include upgrades of kitchen uh ventilation T of house environmental improvements to locky High Street installation and plate equipment of various sites across the city including the replacement of Castle green Junction improvements and puffing Crossing installations as part of the links to the BR fairy to Mony active

Travel route enabling works at Bell Street Car Park uh convening the transition to a green transport Hub and repairs improvements of brought Harbor walls and slipway uh and I can see I have a number of questions on this item so I’ll start I believe it’s councelor Duncan First councelor

Duncan uh yeah thanks uh thanks for that convener uh just um obviously i’ certainly welcome the uh forthcoming investment to the play Park Improvement such as Castle green Bridge Street and orer Park um and I’ve been asked by a number of residents to kind of qualify the castle green

Proposals um specifically in relation to the uh very popular Splash poool feature I think it’s fair to say it’s probably the most popular feature at that attraction uh I think people there might recall that previously there was something like a a £700,000 uh Capital plan in the you know on offer

In a previous draft where there’s obviously this expenditure is a somewhat less impressive 220,000 uh so I’m really just wondering will this decreased budget actually stretched to uh covering the uh renewal and or repair repair upkeep of the splash po uh I’ll bring in Mr Bo to answer this uh Mr

Bo nice could be thanks councel Duncan for the question know this um proposal just involves the play equipment installation it does not cover budget to cover Splash Pool thanks K thank you Mr B um does that answer your question b h sorry councelor Duncan uh it does although I mean I would

Simply make a plea that if at all possible that you know um whatever can be done to address the future of the splash pool should be done and myself and I’m sure W colleagues would be interested in anything that can be done on that front thanks for your comments councelor

Duncan um Bailey Scott next please my question is about castle green as well convener and it’s about the time scales for doing the work because the report says that the construction Works will be undertaken in the summer and I just wondered if there was any way of

Bringing the works forward so they’ll be completed in time for the school summer holidays or if it has to happen during the summer period whether it can be done in such a way that parts of the park will be still be available for the children to to use over the summer H Mr

B thanks Billy Scott for the question yeah we’ll do everything we can to ensure that parts of Castle green are left open uh there’ll be obviously issues with a 12we build program for the actual U main play unit itself but we’ll do everything we can to to minimize that

Time where possible thanks conv thank you Mr B did that your question Billy Scott yes thank you very much thank you um that all being said can this item be agreed thank you I believe that’s the last item of the fair workk entprise and growth and infrastructure committee L you could just

Confirm thank you convenor that concludes Fair work economic growth and infrastructure thank you Elan and thanks everyone thank you convenor the final committee this evening is the city governance committee my apologies came up saying I didn’t have a signal so I was getting my second piece of Kit just to make sure

That it works um um I went blank for 30 seconds so did you introduce Mr W thanks very much convenor so you’ve got the city Governor’s agenda before you firstly are there any Declarations of Interest see nobody rushing for the keyboard so we’ll take that as a no

Thank you very much there been no declarations takes you on to item two Council housing crisis this item has been placed on the agenda the request of Bailey Keenan and straight over to Bailey Keenan Kevin okay convenor thank you conv coun will likely be aware that a number of local authorities have

Declared the hous emergency and I actually feel that dundy based on the mail bag that I receive and that of my colleagues that dundy should be almost in that position themsel but I’m giving this and hope that there is cross party agreement on it that it allows officers to come back

And Report exactly where we are in Rel to housing I mean at the moment you would see that there’s almost 8,000 on the waiting list uh there is uh an excess of 400 voids and there’s a number of things where we failed in our statutory Duty and left people in uh

Beding breakfast longer than than need be uh getting repairs uh seems to be a a real problem and I seem to be continually chasing repairs uh and no doubt others are as well we also know that there is a rack uh problem that’s around the corner that

Will no doubt potentially cost a lot of money to repair and I think that that’s the type of thing that I would hope would uh would be included in officers report as they come for come back we need to take into account of course that uh the the affordable housing Grant is

To be cut by the Scottish government by 26% and the effect of that’s likely have on any new build property or any chance that we get ourself away for a housing crisis so um at that I’m happy to leave it at that I know that others will um

Will maybe want to say something as well but I’m hoping that that’s acceptable to council and and that we could move forward and uh see that report coming from officers I would indeed like to have use some of the uh uncommitted reserves uh to invest in housing but see

That as a real problem at the moment but so many of the things like the rack issue is unknown and the cost of that so I appreciate that officers have a job to do and uh you know I would like to see a report coming back here that shows wats

And all where we are in relation to housing thanks very much Kevin thanks for your brevity as well um can I just say I you know certainly from my perspective you won’t require a second or um happy to support the thrust of what you’re looking for there I think uh

The reality is on broadly speaking on many of those issues um we are always almost always certainly uh unanimous in taking that approach forward in terms of making sure that we maximize the resources that we have available to improve and expand the housing options available to people and we’re always

Pretty proactive in terms of representations to uh governments plural um when it comes to resources and any other measures um there’s a few things that probably happened in Ving period which may be helpful for for uh colleagues to be aware of um but of course again they’ll come back more

Fully in a report from officers but if I can just maybe uh itemize a couple of those because it is relevant to the conversation um so on the land and business sorry buildings transaction tax for example there has been a special instrument laid in Parliament which would exempt councils uh if approved

From the 1st of April 2024 so again hopefully that will be an issue that will be no more going forward and we will be exempt from that and I think again it’s helpful to be aware of that and in respect of housing voids I think members will remember that I think it

Was the 22nd of January uh where we agreed to bring forward more information in terms of the Improvement plan for voids and repairs as well so that is something as you rightly comment on that is being taken forward and I know my colleague uh Mark Flynn in particular

Has been uh taken a pro active approach in terms of Engagement with housing associations as well as internally within uh the department and also made representations to Scottish government as well on a few of the issues that you’ve raised today so on that basis I

Think we are uh agreed that we want to do more we are uh aiming to do more and improve the situation and that is where our Focus has to be and on that basis I’m happy to to agree to your Amendment but I can see that Bill mcferson wants

To come in as well so I’ll come to you Fraser thanks conven and um just really to concur with really everything that Kevin had to say there um and I think the the the tenor of his um request in terms of the four bullet points um in a

Way hit the nail on the head in relation to the sort of feedback that would be very much appreciated from officers we actually looked as a group at the um the Motions that have appeared in other councils in relation to housing emergency but I think in the first

Instance what uh coun sorry Bailey Keenan is suggesting in terms of a feedback from officers would be very helpful I think um we we all and and and Kevin’s absolutely correct in terms of the um volume of repairs requests I think we’re all seeing that right across

Um the city and you know I I I I pay tribute to um particular officers who are very good at responding to uh Deluge no doubt of uh repairs requests is appreciated but I think I think we all know the challenge um facing uh that particular area and clearly the slashing

Of the affordable housing uh Grant is is frankly to be deeply regretted I I I noticed um social media from shelter on that very issue today actually as it happens but as I say very supportive of what Billy Keenan is putting forward and I’m hoping and I suspect we’re going to

Get um all party agreement on that so thanks convenor thanks very much um again for your brevity Fraser and I think there are no other comments so on that basis as you say I think we’ll move forward on the basis of consensus so can I take this item as

Agreed okay thank you very much we’ll move on will thank you very much item three then before he acts of kindness and this item has been placed on the agenda the request of councelor mchu councel mchu Dorothy the floor is yours thank you on Christmas Eve morning I watched a

Short video of Fairfield Community hub’s Christmas preparations there was a room full of Christmas hampers a room full of carrier bags containing all the ingredients needed for a family Christmas dinner and a room piled high with wrapped Christmas presents for local children at Christmas 2023 Fairfield spread kindness to 200 families managing

To give every child a minimum of six gifts to open on Christmas morning it made me weep and not just because of this wonderful display of kindness from a you yourself onute was going to say the same thing Dorothy sorry sorry um and not just because of this wonderful display of

Kindness from a community stepping up to helping its own but from the Stark reminder to us all that this work is so desperately needed and not just in the Northeast but right across our city it’s heartwarming to remind ourselves of course that this is Dundee a city with a proud record of

Helping its own and a huge Army of volunteers you’ll remember how our people stepped up during the covid pandemic and just as they did then all across our city people are responding stepping up to help those who need it in the most practical of ways and this is happening of course not

Just at Christmas but every day of the year good people like fans supporting food banks whose volunteers stand outside football stadia every week in all kinds of weather collecting food toiletries and money donations to distribute to cross food banks good people people like Gram’s kitchen whose volunteer teams have been

Providing a hot meal snacks and hot drinks to homeless people every Saturday night from behind the overgate car park for the last 12 years they also distribute sleeping bags blankets warm clothing and hygiene products to people who are absolutely at Rock Bottom good people like Loi Community

Larder who offer not just a food Larder but a cafe and a Cozy Corner serving most days around 120 free hot meals and like Fairfield Loi operate a system where customers can make their own choice from a wide selection of foods all of this good work is truly amazing in its geographical spread

Across our city in its sheer volume and depth and in its capacity to support people in difficult circumstance ances to provide some level of Peace of Mind to relieve some of the emotional stress that comes with poverty and to restore a degree of dignity and empowerment to communities offering help without

Judgement the numbers are sobering Fairfield estimate that over, 1600 people benefit from their services Loi Larder is supporting around 4,000 people every week there are Community laders Food Banks Community cafes in every area of Dundee meaning thousands of people are being helped every day by hundreds of

Volunteers reaching out of hand and a listening ear and of course these good people do so much more than offer practical help all of our network of food banks and laders Community cafes and homeless Outreach projects work with volunte statutory agencies to provide welfare benefits housing and other advice and

Support they work with supermarkets and bakeries to harvest and recycle good quality food that might otherwise be destroyed and they’re supported in this good work by agencies such as fair share dundy baren faith in community and of course this Council these are not random acts of kindness this is collaborative and coop

Operative partnership working of the be very best kind this is our communities recognizing the needs of our people and working together to tackle inequalities fueled by the cost of living crisis this is kindness and we have it in abundance in dande these projects illustrate the goodness at the heart of our communities

They deserve to be acknowledged they deserve to be celebrated they deserve to be supported nothing is more important than a decent home and food on the table nothing food and shelter without these our people have nothing and wash they have no hope and no aspiration for themselves or their

Children the good people of dunde recognize this and have stepped up to do something about it I’m asking all of you you this Collective body to continue to do the same thanks very much Dorothy um and again certainly endorse everything you’ve said there in terms of the

Commitment of so many people and I think we’ll all have our own personal experiences and interactions with different groups and individuals and it’s absolutely tremendous to know that we’ve got so many passionate people um in every single one of our communities that are doing amazing work and I’m

Reminded by I suppose a couple of things that have happened uh over a while and most recently I suppose I was just looking yesterday at some of the coverage for S Bruce at the LOI Larder one of the ones you mention and receiving through Lord provest that

Citizen of the year and her uh long overdue reception H as well and I think there’s there’s so much work to commend and of course and we’ll all have different as I say insights and interactions and I’m constantly uh humbled by the interactions from some of the organizations that I’ve connected

With over uh the last few years particularly organizations like togs and dundy burns the Food Network more broadly and of course again the Lord provest uh hosted a reception last year to to thank all of those that were involved and some of that working in volunteering their time and I think that

Is uh your right to raise it your right to highlight that and it’s something that we need to continuously do because the thanks doesn’t stop once we’ve delivered it it’s a daily uh occurrence and of course the commitment by so many uh is absolutely incredible the Stark realities that we Face are also

Something we need to recognize and uh working alongside councelor KR shank and councelor Tolen through the fairness uh leadership panel as well we talk about the impact upon volunteers and uh voluntary organizations frequently in particular burnout and the pressure uh that we’re seeing across the board and I

Think it’s wor not just recognizing the incredible efforts but the strain it puts on many of those individuals who volunteer in their own time out with work with their own family commitments as well um and again uh I would certainly want to align myself with everything uh that you’ve said because

Um any thanks that we can give through this process uh and and through our various meetings is is never going to be enough but I think it’s it’s right that we continue to to put the the spot light on that H and with that I will come to H

Counselor short can I just check sorry Dorothy I should have asked before now I got caught up but is there a motion to be circulated via committee services and if so can I ask them to do that just to make sure no there’s no motion John I

Don’t I’m just speaking to to everyone Grant no thank you Dorthy okay and Lynn can short thanks um Dorothy none of those will have been a surprise for you um seeing as during Co J and I were the uh the top judges for The Telly when they had their uh Community Champions Award

Um and that obviously came from uh Co and the heart and soul and just share um amazing opportunities that were seen taken up and delivered by people in our communities and to be honest may be a little bit like the communities ourself I’m a little bit

Worn down because what we do as every single day as we do this we see communities who are struggling and they’re struggling because the cost of living crisis and the cost living crisis is not something that was um made other than by people who make economic decisions and continue to make them and

They’re making them and they’re making the people in this city suffer um and so yes um I totally agree that we should have andom rats of kindness but be those who sit in number 10 should start and be the kindest of all thanks very much Lynn certainly

Agree with that when we see the issues and we know the issues that we’re seeing and I think we can all recognize that um there’s much more work that needs to happen um across the board and what we do locally is important but of course it’s impacted by national events and

International events as well I’ll come to coun El next n yeah thank you um thanks dthy for raising such a an important issue um not just of kindness but of of real Unity across sectors that support each other through really difficult times I might be going on a

Bit of a tangent here but I can only talk about my reflection on your on your beautiful words Dorothy about how Safety and Security and food and a home are so important and it just at that point I can’t help but mention the fact that we have so many Global conflicts it’s

Coming up for 2 years um of the Ukrainian war and we’re seeing also a genocide in Gaza so just that reflection of dundy being such a city of kindness I’ve always felt you know as a Scottish Palestinian raised in dunde that we always stand up for justice and we

Always put out our hand of kindness to anyone that needs it so as Lynn mentioned about number 10 I really hope that all our parties get behind a ceasefire vote and um I just think it was because I just I felt like I couldn’t let this moment pass I just

Really wanted to mention it so thank you dthy it’s been a really good opportunity just to reflect on why we all do the work that we do thanks n and I think everybody would absolutely agree with those sentiments because we know that that kindness extends far beyond just those that are

Within the city and we need to make sure that we’re always outward looking as well as um looking after the Denon that are uh here in the city as well so thanks very much for those comments and I will come to H counselor ly next Ken yeah I really liked your uh your

Comments about all the organizations you mentioned that do such uh good work uh in the city Dorothy you’re a very kind person and I really appreciate you and I appreciate the contribution you make to the igb and probably the only thing we would disagree on is the Constitution

Many other things we’d be in total agreement on I think it’s really nice of you to acknowledge the work that these organizations do uh I know I know that you don’t have a motion but I think it’d be nice if someone important like maybe the leader of the council or or or the

Chief officer Greg Greg colan could maybe just write out to these organiz organizations and say that the the contribution they make and the acts of kindness that they perform to people in the city have been acknowledged in the chamber uh by yourself and commented on by a number uh of counselors so no

Motion but I think it’d be nice if we could do that and just briefly I’d also like to to remind members that you may not think it it’s necessary to formalize kindness but the igb or or is it the ADP or is it both I’m not entirely sure to

Be honest uh have plans to inaugurate a year of kindness in the in the very near future which is in particular reference to the issues that we have with with drug use in the city and the the devastation it causes but I’d like to think we could broaden that out a way

Bit to promote kindness uh in general so I think the last update we had at the igb was probably two or three months ago have a meeting on Wednesday Dorothy and Shon as you’ll know and I’ll certainly I ask for an update on that so that’s

Something uh that we we’ve got coming up which will further promote the the kindness that already exists in the city so well said Dorothy thanks very much thanks very much Ken um I’m certainly happy to pick that up and members might recall that previously uh Lord proest and I did uh indeed reach

Out to a lot of people and we also provided certificates of appreciation I think is how they were termed at the time to recognize that incredible support so again happy to look at that and take that off table and perhaps keep all elected members a breast of that um

Because I think we’re all unanimous in this we all recognize that the challenges out there right now are getting even more difficult and we’re asking more of people who are giving up their time their efforts and organizations are doing all that they possibly can and we as 29 elected

Members of course have to help in any way that we can um but beyond that it’s also worth celebrating every single one of those in our communities as well um I don’t think there are any other contributions um at this point so I just want to say thank you to Dorothy for

Highlighting the issue and thanks for all the contributions because I think it’s really useful to just highlight uh all that positive work that’s going on and recognize um the efforts of so many as I’ve said thanks very much okay Willie we’ll move on to the next item please okay thank you item

Four then joint inspection of adult support and protection D partnership findings and Improvement plans you’re ask recomendations sorry yeah I’m very pleased to receive this report which highlights a lot of the positive work that’s been under taken to protect and support adults at risk of harm across the city and of course it’s

Part of a much wider uh piece of work looking at the protecting people partnership and you know we’ve got to be grateful for all of those that play a part in supporting this work and of course other scrutiny Partners as well from the care inspector Health Improvement Scotland and a whole host of

Others uh who have a vital role in that broader uh spectrum of work and making sure that it is done in the way that we all hope it is uh as well I think it’s also worth mentioning that as well as providing the chance to recognize the successes uh the inspection process is

Also an opportunity to consolidate ongoing Improvement activity and of course we learn just as much from areas where we haven’t perhaps succeeded or delivered what we wanted as much as we do from the areas uh that are uh successful so it’s it’s a really useful process to continue to challenge

Ourselves to continue to look internally at how we’re providing those Services uh and improve them to deliver better outcomes for the people that the service is there to do um with all of that said I think it’s probably uh appropriate for me to uh pass over to elain Torrance if

That’s all right elain to say a few words by way of further introduction and then I’ll come to Bailey Keenan for his question thanks El okay thank you and uh yeah that that last item was really really um moving wasn’t it because actually there’s so much work that goes

On to support adults at risk by the community that prevents um uh getting into so many difficulties so um I I I really appreciated that that item as well so thank you for that um yeah this is our inspection Improvement plan which you’re able to see uh we um have um

Discussed I think before the the findings of the inspection which um kind of clearly said that the adults um at risk processes and Leadership were effective um as uh Council Alexander said but with areas for improvement and we need to build on the areas for improvement so the Improvement plan

Really covers um the areas that the uh care inspector highlighted um and um with as many clear actions as we were able to do and also with um uh identified leads so people know who’s responsible for these actions and time skills and we will be reporting back on

The time scales and our progress on this plan um in due course I think um October we’ve taking it back uh to the igb and to the chief officers group and and and clearly you will be um part of um that reporting process as well um so we we’re

We’ve done a lot of work already um all the agencies are very much signed up to this Improvement plan so it’s a multi- agency Improvement plan um there’s some key priority areas in it particularly our redesign of the uh new adults at risk committee which is highlighted in

The report and also the redesign of our multi- agency pathway for adults at risk which is again multi- agency with with all agencies involved in that uh we’ve tried to keep the Improvement plan as strategic as we possibly can there’s obviously a lot of actions sitting below

That and there’s more detail in the development plan which we have for the adult support and um protection committee which incorporates some other priority areas particularly some of the findings from our re um significant case reviews and case reviews and learning from that um so I I think um you know

Happy to take any questions on the plan um hopefully people are finding it helpful um but just to reassure people um as the independent uh convenor of the committee I will be making sure that we have um uh detailed reporting on this and that we’re uh working together to uh

Make the improvements and again we do report up to the chief officers group who are also very very helpful in identifying Ing and assisting with resources and Improvement action so um I’m I’m I’m quite positive that we’ll be able to move uh swiftly in this agenda and and make some um positive progress

So I’m happy to take any questions thank you thanks very much alen and just to reiterate that point I think it’s abundantly clear that there’s no complacency here um and that everybody is working towards that end and as you say and adult protection committee is there to ensure that this is taken

Forward and and robustly dealt with as well so we appreciate that and we appreciate uh your role as independent convenor as well and all that you do so I’ll come to the questions and then perhaps come back to yourself elen and other officers as appropriate so

Kevin uh first of all alen I’m pleased to hear that you’ll push for that uh level of resource that you need uh to to make that difference it’s doesn’t make very good reading that we’ve no managed to take care of everything that was picked up in the

2017 and suggesting that not all the things that we should have been putting into place have been embedded and then I suppose the other comments or or questions I’d like to ask the you know in in relation to 26% of chronologies were rated good or better 70 73% them

Adequate or wor uh and then you know further down with risk assessment of adult protection plan 27 7% of risk assessment were rated good or or better it’s it’s quite low numbers uh you know and I suppose if we’ve got a a written report on something that somebody

Reflects back on it and can’t understand what it was about then we’ve got a serious problem uh so how how do we address the lake of that elen I’ll come to you and then bring Dian perhaps after that yeah um I I think we’re starting from a very low base councelor Keenan um

And a lot of the background work around um setting um the chronologies the whole process of of what a chronology looks like has all gone into the IT system that staff then have to report on so we we’re done a lot better than we did at the previous one if you remember the

Previous inspection we really hadn’t got any chronologies that were um uh were fit for purpose so we are on a journey um I would like to set um some targets around improvements and you’ll see in the um you’ll see in in the Improvement plan and the that there are there’s

Quite a lot about quality assurance and case File auditing and I would hope that each time we do a case File audit we’re able to see some improvements in that that area there’s a lot of Staff training also going on around what constitutes a um a chronology and what

Constitutes a risk assessment so that staff are very clear um would also just add this is a national issue it’s not just a dunde issue it seems to be one that we’re grappling with right across Scotland so there’s National work also G on that but um I’m I’m I’m I’m hoping

Well I’m not hoping I’m going to be looking out to see that actually the the number of um chronologies and risk assessments do improve um each time we do a case File audit so that would be my expectation um but um uh dth um uh Diane

May wish to come in in terms of the operational element of that Diane absolutely yes thank you um the inspection went back two years so some of that work relates to um areas after we put in some of the changes that we made so looking at it over quite a broad

Period of time alen’s absolutely correct a lot of the work was focused on trying to get these tools embedded um in relation to our mosic training our mic system um they had actually promised as well a new tool that would be um arranged to the service and actually put

Through and so we have done quite a bit of work to get staff to start to use what is an add-on kind of tool but we’re waiting on our client case system actually being put right through um alen’s absolutely correct this is a national issue in terms of chronologies

What it means what it looks like the way the system pulls the information through is if you take a box it pulls the information automatically through so you end up with quite a mix of different ways of actually um reading through echnology as opposed to it being

Something which is really set for the staff to be able to work with so we continue to work with the staff around that we’re seeing improvements in terms of the way that it works but we need to get that tool and the training absolutely correct so staff are very

Clear in relation to the work that they’re doing so it’s it’s one of our priorities going forward Bailey Keenan yeah can can I just say that there seems to be a number of items or or issues within here that are coming up fairly low results and and it looks very much

Like the work that we put in in child protection many years ago and wonder how we didn’t manage to sort of learn for the mistakes of one area and feed them across the others and wonder if that’s still the case we other area protection

In the city uh you know given that we we spent a great deal of time on child protection and making sure that we embedded uh sort of good practice and quality assurance in there so you know now we seem to be revisiting a few year on uh which to me is abolutely

Disappointing thanks Kevin Dian do you want to come back in yes um bil Keenan um originally when we did this work with started in children’s services and um came up with the approach that we needed to take and started to roll that out so Adult Services were were behind and absolutely

Confirm that that we were behind in terms of the lessons that we did and the work that we did in children’s services first um so we’re on a bit of a catch up in regards to that what I would say is that in relation to the Rapport there

Were and the care inspector fed back to us that when it came to actually looking at the work that the staff have done the practice the support the care the the safety of the people in dunde that they had absolutely no concerns so this is absolutely about us getting our

Procedures right about getting our tools right and making sure that our staff have a good understanding of what they need to do and we’re we’re rolling that out as we as we speak we had improved because we’ve done quite a bit of work already what we need to do is get that

Consistent and absolutely about being embedded in the service so it’s second nature to staff rather than at this point it still felt like a bit of an add-on The Way They Were reporting it so that’s the the shift in that culture is what we need to do thanks Dian um thanks for the

Questions Kevin I’ll come to councelor Kon next Michael um thank you convenor it’s just a quick comment um and a question um on behalf of our group and i’ would like to welcome this report and it’s very positive findings and I would also like to thank all the staff involved um elen

And her team and everyone else um in delivering positive improve improvements in this area um I have a question in relation to the C areas um of improvement and specifically the need for Change and Improvement um needing further accelerating um further to the positive statement in appendix 2 of the

Report and can I ask what the competence is that we will get this acceleration in the short term due to financial um challenges that we all know are going on at this current time thanks Michael I’ll go to elain first El yeah um I I think as Diana’s already indicated this is

About a culture shift rather than necessarily additional resources although additional resources to help uh to take things forward are always welcome and you’ll notice uh that there’s some um a post in the Health and Social care partnership that’s been recruited to and also the lead offic

Post is is also um um being recruited to so that that will actually help with all of that but for me um it’s it’s actually about the way we do our business rather than necessarily um more res resources our Learning and Development service is really good and there’s a lot of

Training and staff training that was commented very positively in the report and I think that boards really well um it sometimes it’s actually the releas in staff when you’re really busy that can be a challenge uh but there is an awful lot of um Learning and Development

Activity which I’m quite proud of in dundi I think it’s a really um a leader in terms of what we do um so I I think yeah I’m quite confident it’s not all about resources it’s actually about us leading the change making sure that people know what’s required and

Supporting them to to take things forward although resources are always uh helpful when we get them so thank you that’s what I would say thanks elen I think would would Echo that on every conversation at this point in time more resources across the board would be uh welcome but Michael are you

Happy with that response yeah thank you thank you very much appreciate it thank you thanks very much and again just to Echo those comments I think again thanks on record to the old team for the work that they do because we know how important it is and I think um elen

You’re getting off lightly cuz there’s no more questions at this point so thank you and thank you Diane for answering those questions and as I say thank you to the entire team as well much appreciated can I take this report as agreed silence his agreement thank you very much okay

Willie y Finly standard Report with some updates on move within the Caple plan so I’ll just go straight to questions uh Bill mcferson thanks conven my questions about the information in 5.1 and 5.2.1 in relation to the Harris Academy extension where it indicates that uh a reduction of Point uh

350,000 in relation to the planned expenditure um is is is reported now it was I’m very conscious of the fact that that 350,000 isn’t our 300 50,000 because the the project has been funded by our our colleagues in Pon can Ross Council my understanding and I’m just it

Might be my over 60 memory so officers will correct me if I recall incorrectly but I had understood that there were some minor you might say snagging or some work still required to be done which was being left till the summer uh holidays um is that actually correct and

Is the um or is um as far as offic are concerned and no further work required on the extension which I have to say I have now seen realmed in is a considerable Improvement in terms of the amount of facilities that are available for the Harris School Community thanks very much for the

Question phaser I’ll go to officers in just a moment my understanding was there was some electrical work um during the summer months in particular and you’ll remember that that had an impact just in terms of some of the community use for the facilities during a a fairly uh

Limited period of time but perhaps if I could just bring in Audrey May in the first instance to give an overview in any other officers as required Audrey um thanks convenient and thanks for the question ba mcferson yeah it’s my understanding if there some Works to be

Completed that would be done during the summer holidays but I see that Neil Martin’s come on a has come on the call so he’s probably better to give a more technical response than that thank you thanks Audrey Neil thanks convor thanks Billy mcferson and just to confirm your

Memory as correct there are there are Works to be carried out and they were delayed due to the substation installation so in terms of the sequencing they’ll be carried out next summer holidays okay that’s that’s very helpful I I presume the 350,000 um is net of that I presume

That’s that’s included in the substantive amount uh that the the build uh actually costs correct yeah that’s all inclusive yeah that’s much appreciated you thanks indeed thanks for the question phraser and I think there are no other questions on this item so can I take the report as

Agreed thanking you very much move on to the next item Willie Again standard update report on any variances in terms of the revenue um budget so any questions on this nope okay can I take this as agreed thank you very much next item please okay again hopefully this is

Relatively self-explanatory um there has been elected member briefings organized to go into a bit more detail and to allow uh members to ask some further questions of officers in regard to the capital plan and some of the variances uh of course I think it’s worth recognizing that we all know and we’ve

Had previous reports to this committee on some of the significant challenges in regard to the capital plan not just cost cost escalation inflationary pressures uh and supply issues um and procurement challenges so that we know that has a significant impact across the board on different projects and we’ve had to make

Some difficult decisions as a result and of course this Capital plan is no different where we’ve tried to ensure that the envelope continues to be affordable whilst also recognizing that more resources are required in particular areas for examp ex Le uh Western Gateway Primary School uh and

Again I know that elected members will be pleased to see that there has been further uh resources allocated uh as part of uh this Capital plan taking that amount up to 25 million and not withstanding those points uh the challenges remain and of course uh we’ll be asking and monitoring the Capal plan

Moving forward uh to make sure it continues to be affordable and deliverable uh across the board and I’m sure all elected members will will welcome further reports coming forward that details how that money is going to be uh allocated and when projects will come forward but I’ll just go to

Questions so I think Bailey Keenan you’ve got a question yeah it’s it’s really in relation to tackling climate change uh monies that are mentioned within the report and a great deal of it is uh less external funding which would suggest to me that it’s ring fed money

Coming from government and can only be spent on that part particular area and I’m wondering if there a very to house agreement is uh off the ground if it’s broken and as to whether that would make a difference on how we spend things going forward given that you know in a

In a climate change scenario perhaps the walking cycling safer streets that would be painting lines in the middle of pavement or or whatever might not be the type of choice we’d want to make given the number of houses that were flooded just recently within the city and it may

Be something that we want to direct funds differently to than than see it all ring fenced to particular areas that might not me making the best uh decision for for those homes and families that were affected through flooding and self you can make a comment at the very housing agreement and officers tell

Where it is in relation to that funding yeah thanks Kevin I I’ll come back on on both points first of all I think it’s really important to perhaps make a distinction between uh some of the terminology and ring fence and some projects of course and and cycling

Infrastructure is a good example of that are through a bid process so not ring fenced money as part of the general settlement but actually direct funding that we have sought and bid for for a specific purpose so I think we’ve got to be clear on the distinction between the

Two uh that’s not to say there won’t be some funding that fits into the the description that you’ve made but of course there are plenty of examples and I go back to some of the cycling infrastructure that has recently been installed money Fe brought Fairway for

Example which was part of an ongoing uh piece of national work and we bid into that so that successful bid has generated monies uh to take forward that work but of course there’s other benefits not just the improvements in terms of cycling infrastructure which benefits everyone uh in terms of looking

At air quality and some of those other issues um but also the infrastructure and the construction benefits the economy as well so I think we we can’t just take a linear View at these things we need to see them in in the broader spectrum of issues on very house

Agreement I don’t think it would be appropriate to to ask officers uh for a comment on that but clearly through Coy and there’s been a lot of dialogue and debate around that uh I’m very much committed to seeing the very house uh agreement uh continue and to hopefully

Um uh improve going forward uh notwithstanding in the the current challenges which all L members will be very much aware of but part of the B house agreement is being really honest uh with national government and of course um from their perspective perhaps being very honest with local government

And we’ve got to continue to challenge we’ve got to continue to sometimes agree to disagree on particular issues and I will be as robust as I always am in those conversations either uh individually with uh ministers uh or via KLA of course because ultimately uh local government works well when it

Works in tandem with national government and other agencies and organizations and that is absolutely where my focus is uh I’ll perhaps go to Robert in the first instance just to comment on the question around that ring fenc uh aspect so thank you conven um and thank you Billy Keenan so clearly obviously

The council’s taken advantage of opportunities secure funding for specific projects often it is um councilor Kean is just saying ring fence for the specific project that we’re taking forward and clearly as a council we want to make the best of the opportunities that are available to us

Um as I think the leader was alluding to the more flexibility the council has in leading its priorities um the better but obviously um we want to take forward as much of that work as we can and climate change is one of the priorities that the

Council has set out for its term in office thanks very much uh Robert Kevin you got a supplementary no I’m I’m happy to have further discussions with the the uh Robert at a later date okay thanks very much Kevin uh Fraser come to you next thanks convenor uh first of all

Could I thank the officers for the very helpful briefing uh given last week uh corporate services are always very good around budgets uh engaging with elected members and I felt it was very useful um at that um meeting I uh briefing rather I raised a question regarding the shortfall in capital receipts

2324 mainly because of the shortfall that we’re trying to deal with um in in in this report um that is the biggest area uh the biggest single area of um shortfall and um I I I was told further information would be circulated and that Julie was uh issued around um elected

Members the following day and I’m grateful for that uh my my question really is about that response because um what I I think maybe I didn’t frame my question quite right um um because what I was really looking for was um a little bit of detail of the process used um to

Come to a conclusion of estimating what capital receipts are likely to be um the the reply given and I’ll just read you the first sentence given the invariable factors um that are out with the council’s Direct Control in terms of when these deal finally conclude the

Target set for 23 24 was not based on specific expected sales to be honest I wasn’t really expecting a list of we expected to sell this bit of land or this building and that that didn’t quite happen what I was really wondering was if officers could give and I’m I don’t

Necessarily need a h full response tonight but what I’d be very interesed in knowing is what is the process that is used to estimate what we expect in terms of asset receipts and I have a very good reason for asking that because obviously there was a significant um

Shortfall um and that’s not a criticism I think we all know the climate um that has existed in the in in in the past Financial year and perhaps a little bit more than that but um I think what I’m looking for is a little bit of detail as

The how officers conclude what they’re going to estimate in terms of asset receipts um because we we need to have confidence that the revised targets which I understander 2 million for General services and 7 million uh for the housing revenue account um receipts for 2425 I think we need some confidence

That these will be met I know they’re lower to take account of um the uh climate in which we now are but I think it would be useful and perhaps not for tonight but maybe a followup um email to members to just give some indication as to how the calculation is actually made

Because at the end of the day what we don’t want is a situation where we’re having to revise the capital plan yet again because of a shortfall in capital receipts much as I understand how we got to the situation that we are tonight given the volatility in the

Market yeah thanks for the question frer I’ll I’ll go to Robert and then perhaps bring in Robin as well and as you say um we need to ensure as much as possible that future forecast are as accurate as possible and given the situation where we’ve now had it confirmed that the UK

Was in recession then clearly the climate that we’re operating in is fairly challenging as you rightly acknowledge but nonetheless we need to have some degree of uh certainty that the numbers are as accurate as possible so uh if we can go to robber in the first instance thank you cavina and

Thank you B mcferson so I think the first thing to say is we’ve tried to look at this the the reality of a downturn in terms of the market I think you recognize um we’ve tried to look at it in a in a aad of judgment and science

I suppose trying to identify what are the properties that we’re in the process of disposing of um what’s the likelihood perhaps of them being disposed of what’s the likely receipt going to be um and and when is it likely to happen and what we have seen I think over the last um 12

To 18 months probably is a slowing down at the pace of which sales have taken place I’m happy to share a bit more of the detail with um members about how we work that through there’s a real judgment I think to be made around making sure we’ve got a realistic figure

For receipts and I think we more comfortable with a figure that we’ve got for next year than we did have um perhaps in hindsight for this year um and also not underplaying it though so we don’t end up with a big receipt and we’ve taken something out of the program

Um too pessimistically so we’ll keep it under um close review and keep reporting back on that but I’m happy to share um some more information conven thanks very much or maybe bring in Robin as well freezer and then I’ll come back Robin many thanks conven I think um

Certainly to to reemphasize number of the points that you made and that Roberts made the climate at the moment is very challenging um the the approach that we take is a collaborative one between finance and City development to try and build up a picture of what capital receipts are going to be like

Over the the coming two or three years it’s important to understand that the time scales will always vary because of the nature of the development sector so even if we were in a boom period um there would be challenges predicting the the rate at which the sites would be

Drawn down because of course committee agrees the principle of disposal uh it then goes into the planning system and as you’re well aware there can be significant variances within the planning system depend on uh depending on feedback from strategy consulties and obviously Community input as well uh and

Then finally the developer decides at which point they are committing to the scheme and want to pay for it and to secure the uh the land and many of these things are simply out with the council’s uh control um the the the final point to

Say is that we have sold many of the largest strategic assets that we own um there are still a small number of um important ones but many of these um disposals are now six figures rather than seven figures for example and that requires a lot of management to actually

Control and to anticipate the the pace that they’ll be drawn down because it’s it’s perhaps easier to control a single one than multiple smaller ones so hopefully that helps thanks very much Rob I’m very grateful to both and Robert for the responses I think as I made

Clear I think I do understand this is an inexact science in terms of timing and control and certainly the the the the economic climate has clearly had a bearing I’m grateful for both the responses from Robert and and Robin thank you much I’ll come to councel

Malone next Charlie good to see you okay well sorry dist you then Ben I appreciate that okay thanks L then byebye just my comment to this section is ended because it really is a comment rather than a question about the report but it’s just I want to intimate my

Gratitude to um some of the responses I’ve had to where I’m give an update if that was okay with you CH I’d like to do that yeah of course Charlie if you can be two6 them so um there’s no other questions on this report so can I take this as

Agreed yeah um Charlie I’ll I’ll let you come in I just like to obviously say that I’ve been out for some time been in hospital since December um start off the fra so uh then up in grara we’re charging ,000 a night and if anybody wants to see the

Difference between the private and public sector okay follow for money you get it here and um obviously there’s members of all parties have written to me expressing um their concerns and best wishes and I’d like to thank everybody for Ping up with my absence um I will if

Necessarily appear in a wheelchair next week for the budget meeting uh but if not I I’ll I’ll attend online but I just want to share my gratitude and John can to say a personal thank you to yourself all the email you thank you thanks Charlie and uh as I’ve said

Before we’re all thinking of you and looking forward to you coming back uh and hopefully being fit as a fiddle and your usual uh cheeky robust self back in these committee meetings and in other forums as well so look after yourself and we’ll catch you up very soon okay take

Care okay and we will we move on to the next item with that so willly report here for noting any questions or comments on this standard report nope can I take that as agreed thank you very much back to you Willie uh of course some of us particularly

Group leaders had the opportunity to sit down with members of the accounts Commission in regards to the report and the assessment of dundy city council it’s fair to say it was a very positive meeting uh and their U praise was very wellcome uh despite all of the

Challenges that we know are are alive and well uh in our city and I think it’s worth recognizing a few points that came out of that process both the recognition that uh we didn’t beat around the bush in the sense that we know what the issues are we were very honest about the

Scale of those challenges the issues and also what we wanted to do H to mitigate and improve them uh they also commended the effective leadership by officers and elected members and of course they uh watched a few of our proceedings uh and again were very uh very complimentary in

Terms of the level of scrutiny and the level of Engagement and also cross-party working I think that’s something that we should all be proud of and take something uh from they also recognized the commitment to engagement at a community level the financial management of the council particularly in very difficult circumstances and and

Difficult Financial Times and so with all of that I think it’s a very very good report and something that we should all be proud of because we all have a role in this Council whether that is in administration opposition or or indeed officers on the operational day-to-day

Delivery of the council and its services and this report was very good in that regard but one thing and I’ll repeat myself or on what I said uh on item four which is we can never become complacent we know that the challenges continue uh to grow we know that the cumulative

Effect of 13 years of austerity at UK level will continue to have an impact across our communities and what we do is a stick and plaster for some of those issues but it’s an important one uh and we need to be laser focused on continuing uh that Improvement so with

All of that said I will come to questions and comments um uh councelor short just very quickly um Andrea CER um shared with us the advertisement that was going to go into the newspaper um prior to um this coming to committee and often not everybody nowadays um has

Access to the newspaper so I shared it I had one engagement um normally I put up something and you get people raging and one engagement and I guess that’s what happens when you’ve got something that’s really genuinely positive I think one of the most important things that Sean

Through and it was the relationship between the officers and the elected members and that’s obviously elected members across the board and I think what we’ve just heard recently um the fact that we do care across um the parties is also really important so keep up the good work everybody and keep

Talking because I guess at the end of the day it’s communication that’s the important thing so thank you and uh and well done to everyone and uh hopefully it will continue thanks very much Lynn appreciate that and uh frer thanks convenor I would concur with everything that has been said obviously

Yourself Council Kook shant myself attended the meeting with the um members of the accounts commission and what struck me about it uh was um frankly they they asked some very pertinent questions and were very engaged in the whole process but I was also very impressed specifically by the way in

Which Chief officers in particular um dealt in depth with these respons oners showing our um real commitment to um the work of the city council and moving the city um forward I was actually Andrea cder was mentioned a moment ago and I felt there was one thing that often is

Overlooked when we do these thanks to our chief officers and all elected members who took part in in this process because we have a very positive result at the end of it and I feel that at the end of the day the the engagement with the accounts commission has to take

Place but also you have to evidence your data you have to prove your point and I think the head of chief executive services and colleagues uh put a lot of effort into ensuring that that we could evidence uh where we were making a point and so I’m very grateful for that as

Well but extremely grateful as to say and it’s not just Chief officers it’s also the 7,000 and more staff who provide the services day-to-day um of dundy city council and our partner organizations like Health and Social care partnership Leisure and culture dundy toi contracts and so on who

Provide services for the people of dunde they do Sterling work and I think we should all be very appreciative of that because it’s that sort of work that leads to positive reports from the accounts commission as we’ve seen in this particular case h thank you convenor thanks very much uh for those

Comments and you’ll not be surprised I wholeheartedly agree I think Andrea the broader team and as you say every single U member of the D city council family um has an important role to play and I think what we’ve seen over consecutive reports not just tonight but in other

Reports is that there is a huge amount of work being undertaken to affect positive change in the city and sometimes or more often than not these days it’s with one hand tied behind your back H and I think we’ve got to commend all of the people that are involved in

That and this report reflects their hard work uh and again that’s why it’s celebrating and highlighting so thanks for both your comments Lynn and Fraser um I think that’s all of the comments on this item so can I take this report as agreed please thank you very much move on to

The next item will yep thank you very much I think again it’s really important that we have the ability to scrutinize uh this Rapport and just to set out some of the context in which Legion culture are operating of course they deliver a huge array of really vitally important uh

Services to communities and individuals and uh indeed today my own boys were visiting one of our libraries and again it’s really important uh that these services are recognized in the same way that we’ve done else uh elsewhere this evening on the agenda H in terms of celebrating what they deliver and the

Important role that they have um of course it’s also about uh making sure that we are live to and aware of um the challenges in those Services as well both financial and practical we’ve seen some of the challenges as a result of Co in terms of usage and some of that is

Pulled out within this report as well and of course recognizing some of the huge achievements within leure culture and all of the various uh elements to the organization and what they provide in partnership with many others uh as well so with all of that said I will

Come to questions comments and uh motion uh councelor Duncan First Craig uh thanks K yeah just uh I’d like to First with thank the head of democratic and legal services for getting the corrected attendance figures at appendix one emailed to all of us there was obviously a considerable discrepancy between the original figures

And the ones that we’ve now uh got to see uh my question actually uh goes to these collected figures and those at 5.2 in the reports um it seems to me in the majority of areas for example liaries uh similar way museums Halls active schools Etc I think the footfall

Figures for 2022 to 23 were still wagging behind the pre the prepandemic ones of 2019 to 20 albe on a positive trajectory which is good obviously we’re now near the end of the 2023 to 24 Financial year and um therefore would like to ask if that positive uh trajectory

In attendance figures is still continued and is footall now or at least not exceeding the 200 19 to 20 uh figures in many many areas of the werland culture thanks for the question Craig and I think it’s probably worth noting before I come to Judy in the first instance

That I know from speaking to those that are on Boards of other cultural organizations for example that similar challenges uh are are there and it’s not local to either it’s it’s across the board and we haven’t seen everything return to normal whatever that is in inverted Comm so Judy I’ll come to you

To offer a response thanks convener thanks for the question councelor Duncan um the figures that we have for the most recent quarters of of this year are showing that we’re still on that upward trajectory but I do have to say it’s it’s it’s slower than we would like but

We are still showing positive um Trends and I can certainly share the details of that with with members if that’s appropriate thanks very much jul I’m sure that’ll be helpful Craig yeah yeah I think both John and Judy I think that would be helpful and um you know I

Certainly take your point John that you know obviously across a range of uh sectors in what used to be normal we’re still not quite back to normal but uh it’s still worth asking the questions who I think oh absolutely agree with you and I think actually the more that we

Can all collectively do to encourage people H to visit these venues cuz uh again um I’m I’m not just saying this cuz J’s on the call but last weekend I took my boys to MCM Maris and um every time I go I see a new item and it really

Keeps my interest the boys want to stay in the section with all the stuffed animals I should say but um I think beyond that we all need to practice what we preach and encouraging people to visit the Fantastic offer that we have in the city H and of course much of it

Free uh to enter and and again hopefully we see not only Us return to normal but beyond that because you know dundy is a very small well-connected City and I think the more that people can benefit from Leisure C culture sport is is to their benefit in The Wider city as well

So your Point’s well made Craig and I appreciate your question um I’ll come back to you Kevin since you’ve got a motion if that’s all right and I’ll go straight to Billy Scott DK thanks can I think it’s quite useful to have this report in front of us the week before

The council sets its budget because it gives an indication of just how much um some of the the um uh the visit their attractions that is one of the options and including the options that the administration were considering um closing and um uh and for instance in in

Bry Castor Museum it would be uh Madness to to close that given the multi-million pounds that have been spent on the the Waterfront and the the active travel uh for the sake of 80,000 which is the cost of broughty cast Museum so I’m going to assume conven that it’s going to stay

Open uh and and that won’t be something that will be closed and so my question is in relation to going forward with Bry Castle um it’s really is the anchor for visited attractions in in Bry Ferry and I think it’s underutilized at the moment and far more visitors can can come to it

As a result of all the work that’s been done in Bry fery to make um Bry fery a prime a visitor destination so my question is um will um Leisure and culture dunde be able to work with historic environment Scotland to make most of make better use of the castle

And to AB absolutely maximize its potential as a visitor attraction thanks for the question Derek I’ll just go to Judy I’m sure there’s ongoing engagement um quite regularly with historic environment Scotland but Judy do you want to offer a response um yes thanks for the question Bailey Scott

Um certainly dependent on the outcome of of the budget discussions um if if it’s decided that leure culture continue to operate a museum from the castle will certainly continues the work that we already do with historic environment Scotland and and dundy city council as a sort of try away partnership to see what

Other the developments we could put in place okay thanks very much J DK no thank you thanks thanks very much okay uh Kevin I’ll come back to you and your motion uh for the motion to be circulated I’ll just uh I’ll just start speaking as that’s done just to make

Sure we get through the business really quickly obviously labor group has always recognized that that Leisure and culture needed a bit of support through Co and over the last few years have put additional funds into their budget in the attempt to try to get uh individuals

Through the door stir a bit of money around the pot and hope that in the hope that leure and culture gets back to full health much quicker than it has um and and and then putting this motion forward I attempt to do very similar and it’s really calling upon the

Chief executive uh to or or given given the fact that we’re seeing slight still decline in the the numbers of people using our uh laser and sports facilities that is calling upon the chief executive uh to enter into conversation with uh with the NHS and with a view to some of

Their charitable funds being released so into social prescribing so that our facilities were move moved are used much greater than they are at the moment and I do that in taking into account this report and Its Reflection that it shows uh some use to be down uh and in taking

Into account the director of Public Health Report that suggests people in Dundee uh live 14.1 years less in areas of multiple deprivation and they live in Greater ill health for very much longer so there’s obviously a duty on the Health Service or us in Partnership to work better in

The attempt to improve health outcomes for the citizens in Dundee and in hoping that in in trying to do that that we could get our sports facilities used greater through social prescribing and I’m sure it would the Beyond Leisure and culture to be able to work with health

To produce the type of program that would make a real difference to people so I’m hoping that as I did the last time that there’ll be a cross Party Support of this and we just uh with its best intentions will make a difference to the quality of life of people in

Dundy thanks Co Kevin before I offer a comment I just want to clarify something and perhaps Roger as had illegal and Democratic Services can come on the call for a moment so not only am I a board member of nhst side but I sit as a member of the charitable Foundation

Uh on which you are um predicating I suppose the motion as well so I’m very conscious that I don’t necessarily want to agree something in this forum that then compromises my position elsewhere so Roger can I perhaps just ask for a view if I need to dip out and hand the

Chair to Willie for this item in relation to the the first item you mentioned councelor Alexander I wouldn’t suggest that would be necessary but in relation to the second I think that would be advisable okay that’s fine uh on that basis Billy can give me a moment we’re

Going to kind of Shuffle screens because I’ll hand over uh to Bailey Sawyers and not take part on the item uh on that basis so Willie sorry I’m landing you in it here but if you can take over the chairing of the meeting for this

Item no not a problem I wonder if we could if um wo could maybe take the Kevin’s motion off the screen please bit easier for me to see Folk so um six ja I saw you coming in saying you’d be willing to Second be Keenan but um

Happy for you to speak but um I don’t think in terms of uh well certainly on behalf of the administration we’re quite happy to accept what’s been said but happy for you to come in no that’s okay I was only going to speak as a health professional anyway on

The benefits of social prescribing but also the fact that um we have this huge resource in Leisure and cultures and their best place to help us deliver uh care to promote healthy outcomes for individuals and reducing Health inequalities so it was really just reiterating that okay thanks for

That I don’t see any other indications um Kevin anything else you want to say I’m just quite happy I hope that I hope that it’s taken serious by the charitable uh organization and I hope that the rest of the dundy partnership could get behind it uh when the director

Of Public Health uh spoke to her report I tried to put her under a bit of pressure to deliver this uh this appears to be about an opportunity for work in Partnership to achieve it I think it would make a big difference and as a counselor that’s been around a

While the qu the length of time that people living done these something that’s been concerning me for years and I would like to make a difference for that if we can okay thanks for that um Council short we in like kind of formal situation but since I don’t get to chair

My meetings very often I’ll indulge you as long as it’s a short question and you never usually indulge me it’s very short I just want to check um I don’t know if maybe any body in the call can clarify this or not is this the um NHS tside Innovation funding that we’re discussing

At the moment to my knowledge to my knowledge it’s a charity fund that they’ve got it’s a foundation charity and if you recall it wasn’t all long ago that the uh the Health Service used it to buy a computer system that people created about so you know I’m hoping that

There’s sufficient funds in there to help us out think I saw the chief executive put his hand up so maybe he can clarify that point thanks convenor um it’s the charitable Foundation which I think recently has been relaunched and was previously the benevolent foundation so there’s been quite a lot of

Communication recently around the different approaches which they’re seeking to fund so hopefully that clarifies the question counselor short it does it’s donees it’s one that I often uh recommend that people uh go to when they’re looking for repits and pieces so that’s perfect thank you okay so if there’s nothing else in

That item I will hand back to the convenor who hopefully is still here hasn’t sneaked away for his tea be pleased to hear I did not um counselor Sawyers and that’ll be the last time you chair uh as a result of your Indulgence but um thank you very

Much for doing that and thanks very much uh Kevin for uh bringing it forward as well we’ll move on to the next item then Willie um this report obviously provides an update on antisocial Behavior stats across uh the city so happy to take any particular questions on this item I think councel Coman

Daniel I apologize Mr more of a comment than a question um but thank you for calling me in I just want to comment on the related positive actions that have taken place in our war award around the lead up to Halloween and bonfire night as reported at 4.9 of the report thanks

Go to all involved on the AFC Community Trust on the US football club downfield football club uh c community center and police youth volunteers and all others who helped deliver these activities which showed really positive Community activity in the area and although there were still sadly some scenes of

Antisocial behavior issues around that time here the significant reduction was quite evident and that’s very much a positive sign and I hope the positive side of community activity and events can be continued this year and future years thanks very much for your comments Daniel and again completely Echo what

You’ said there I think there was a huge amount of effort in the the runup and of course ongoing um and our youth work team in particular I know do a sterling job across not only our W but uh across the rest of the city as well and and I

Think we should commend that work because of course it’s really important it’s it’s about ongoing engagement it’s not just about one particular day or one particular event but the ongoing work to support young people who in some instances are disaffected disengaged or perhaps uh dealing with other issues and

And Trauma and challenges and again there’s a hell of a lot of work that goes on across the board to support people uh in those types of situations as well and and again it’s worth uh highlighting so thanks very much for your comment um if there’s no other

Comments or questions on this I’ll take that as agreed noted thank you very much Willie okay hopefully the detail of the report before you is self-explanatory but happy to take any questions or comments on this nope okay can we take this as agreed then thank you very much okay

Willie again hopefully self explanatory in terms of the approval of the process of cloud computing and the migration of applications desktop it and uh sorry and IT services over to the cloud and the resilience that goes along with that to make sure that all of our systems work

As effectively as we hope they do uh not withstanding some very minor issues that occasionally happen so can I take this item as agreed okay thank you very much well can we deal with this in the usual way see no D heads and nobody reaching for the keyboard so thank you that item

Uh is agreed and that is all the items for consideration tonight so thank you all for your participation uh and I hope that the Fantastic unanimous way in which we worked continues into the budget uh next week as well but we’ll see you all very soon take care have a

Good week thanks very much thank you good night have a nice evening night night thanks good night all good night all that