Leisure, Arts And Communities Committee - 14/02/2005

At a MEETING of the COMMUNITIES COMMITTEE held at Dundee on 14th February 2005.

 

Present:-

 

Lord Provost John R LETFORD

 

 

 

BAILIES

 

C D P FARQUHAR

John CORRIGAN

Bruce D MACKIE

Helen WRIGHT

 

Ian BORTHWICK

 

COUNCILLORS

 

Jill SHIMI

Nigel DON

Jim BARRIE

Kevin KEENAN

Bob DUNCAN

Will DAWSON

George REGAN

Richard BEATTIE

Elizabeth F FORDYCE

Fiona M GRANT

Andrew DAWSON

Roderick A J WALLACE

Christopher HIND

Willie W SAWERS

Charles A WEBSTER

Fraser MACPHERSON

Christina ROBERTS

Derek J SCOTT

 

Councillor HIND, Convener, in the Chair.

 

The minute of meeting of this Committee of 10th January 2005 was held as read.

 

Unless marked thus * all items stand delegated.

 

I SOCIAL INCLUSION PARTNERSHIP - ALLOCATION OF RESOURCES 2004/2005

 

There was submitted Report No 98-2005 by the Head of Communities noting the allocation of funding for SIP1 from Communities Scotland and making recommendations for allocation of SIP 1 funding for the financial year 2004/2005.

 

The Committee noted the outcome of the SIP decision-making process and agreed the proposals contained in Section 6 of the report detailing the re-allocation of slippage.

 

II SOCIAL INCLUSION PARTNERSHIP - ALLOCATION OF RESOURCES - DRUGSMISUSE FUNDING

 

There was submitted Report No 99-2005 by the Head of Communities making recommendations for the allocation of Drugs Misuse funding for the financial year 2004/2005.

 

The Committee noted the allocations from SIP 2 Drugs Misuse funding allocation outlined in Appendix A of the report.

 

III SOCIAL INCLUSION PARTNERSHIP - ALLOCATION OF RESOURCES - EMPOWERING COMMUNITIES 2004/2005

 

There was submitted Report No 100-2005 by the Head of Communities making recommendations for the allocation of Empowering Communities funding for the financial year 2004/2005.

 

The Committee noted the allocations from SIP 1 Empowering Communities allocation outlined in Appendix A of the report.

 

IV SUPPLY OF LIBRARY RESOURCES

 

There was submitted Report No 96-2005 by the Head of Communities seeking approval of proposals for the supply of library resources.

 

The Committee approved the proposals for the supply of library resources set out in Paragraph 7.3 of the report.

 

V ACCEPTABLE USE OF COMPUTERS POLICY

 

There was submitted Report No 112-2005 by the Head of Communities seeking Committee approval for an amendment to the Acceptable Use of Computers Policy which was previously approved by the Neighbourhood Resources and Development Committee on 10th March 2003 (Article VII refers).

 

Following the introduction of the Acceptable Use of Computers' Policy in March 2003, there had been rapid developments in the availability of information on the Internet. Access to the Internet was open to misuse and abuse and accordingly the policy required amending in order to ensure that the information on good practice and guidelines when accessing the Internet were relevant and current.

 

The Committee approved the introduction of a statement in the policy regarding the management by library staff of the public's use of the Internet through an electronic system, which would monitor access to Internet sites (Appendix 1 of the report refers). It was noted that, as a result, the numbers of levels of Internet access would be reduced from four to three levels.

 

VI ARTHURSTONE LIBRARY CENTENARY EVENTS - 7TH-12TH FEBRUIARY 2005

 

There was submitted Agenda Note AN49-2005 inviting the Committee to note the Centenary of

Arthurstone Library which took place on Thursday, 10th February 2005.

 

The occasion was marked by an event in the library which was hosted by the Lord Provost and which included some background on the development of Carnegie Libraries in Scotland, a public exhibition on the history of the Arthurstone Library and a short talk by Clair Marie Watson, local author. There were also exhibitions and displays mounted by community groups and organisations in the Stobswell area including the International Women's Centre, Dundee Action Team for Jobs and the Baxter Park Ranger Service.

 

Other activities which took place during the week included: Baby Rhyme Time with visit from Book start Bear; author Elizabeth McNeil held a session encouraging participants to start up an Arthurstone Reading Group; and Angela Knowles provided Storytelling to invited school classes.

 

The Committee noted the Centenary of the Arthurstone Library which had originally been funded by the Carnegie Trust and built on land donated by Miss Symers.

 

VII DEVELOPMENT OF EUROPEAN COMPUTER DRIVING LICENCE TEST CENTRE

 

There was submitted Agenda Note AN50-2005 advising that an application to "Communities Scotland - Learning Connections" for funding to support the development of an ECDL Test Centre had been successful. The grant of 3,000 would enable the purchase of learning materials for the project.

 

An area of the upper foyer in the Central Library had already been identified for this purpose and Committee approval had already been received for the establishment of the test centre.

 

The Committee noted these positive developments.

 

 

 

 

CHRIS HIND, Convener.