Policy And Resources Committee - 20/05/2013

At a MEETING of the POLICY AND RESOURCES COMMITTEE held at Dundee on 20th May, 2013.

 

Present:-

 

Lord Provost Bob DUNCAN

 

Depute Lord Provost Christina ROBERTS

 

BAILIES

 

Willie SAWERS

Helen WRIGHT

Derek J SCOTT

 

COUNCILLORS

 

Ken GUILD

Stewart HUNTER

Lesley BRENNAN

John ALEXANDER

Ken LYNN

Georgia CRUICKSHANK

Jimmy BLACK

Vari McDONALD

Tom FERGUSON

David BOWES

Craig MELVILLE

Brian GORDON

Bill CAMPBELL

Gregor MURRAY

Richard McCREADY

Kevin CORDELL

Kevin KEENAN

Norma McGOVERN

Will DAWSON

Mohammed ASIF

Fraser MACPHERSON

 

Laurie BIDWELL

 

 

Councillor Ken GUILD, Convener, in the Chair.

 

The minute of meeting of this Committee of 22nd April, 2013 was held as read.

 

Unless marked thus * all items stand delegated.

 

I DECLARATION OF INTEREST

 

Lord Provost Duncan and Councillors Hunter, Gordon and McCready declared non-financial interests in Article XIV by virtue of being the Council's representatives on Leisure and Culture Dundee.

 

II MINUTE - PERSONNEL APPEALS SUB-COMMITTEE - 29TH APRIL, 2013

 

The minute of meeting of the above Sub-Committee, a copy of which is appended hereto, was submitted for information and record purposes (Appendix I).

 

III CHANNEL SHIFT AND WEBSITE STRATEGY

 

There was submitted Report No 206-2013 by the Head of Information Technology regarding a corporate strategy and detailed Action Plan for growing web transactions, delivering channel shift and developing a means of website secure authentication.

 

The Committee:-

 

(i) approved the recommendations outlined in paragraph 5.0 of the report;

 

(ii) approved the Action Plan in Appendix 1 to the report;

 

(iii) approved the adoption of the channel shift principles outlined in Appendix 2 of the report; and

 

(iv) approved the adoption of the communications strategy outlined in Appendix 3 of the report.

 

IV SUPPLY OF IT EQUIPMENT

 

There was submitted Report No 205-2013 by the Head of Information Technology relative to the above.

 

The Committee:-

 

(i) noted the IT purchases amounting to 487,434 for the period 22nd October, 2012 to 26th March, 2013; and

 

(ii) noted ongoing engineering maintenance costs of 31,823 per annum.

 

V TENDER FOR MOBILE COMMUNICATIONS

 

After considering Report No 207-2013 by the Head of Information Technology relative to the above, the Committee approved acceptance of the tender submitted by EE (T-Mobile).

 

VI COMMONWEALTH GAMES - GLASGOW 2014 - DUNDEE'S PRE-GAMES, GAMES DELIVERY AND LEGACY PLANS

 

On a reference to Article III of the minute of meeting of the Leisure, Arts and Communities Committee of 13th September, 2010, there was submitted Report No 42-2013 by the Director, Leisure and Communities, relative to the above.

 

The Committee:-

 

(i) noted the completion of the majority of the actions in the previous Legacy Plan reported to Committee;

 

(ii) noted the actions and planning currently being undertaken for the Commonwealth Games - Glasgow 2014 within Dundee as one of the host cities; and

 

(iii) approved the proposed themes and principles of the Pre-Games, Games Delivery and Legacy Plans 2013-2019 for the Commonwealth Games - Glasgow 2014.

 

VII COMMON GOOD FUND - USE OF UNALLOCATED BALANCES 2013/2014

 

On a reference to Article XVII of the minute of meeting of this Committee of 11th March, 2013, there was submitted Report No 235-2013 by the Director of Corporate Services providing elected members with details of proposals for use of unallocated Common Good Fund expenditure for the financial year 2013/2014.

 

The Committee approved the proposals for the use of unallocated Common Good Fund expenditure in 2013/2014 as shown below:-

 

 

2013/

2014

000

Tay Rail Bridge Disaster Memorial Trust

 

5

Dundee Heritage Trust

 

25

Tayforth Veterans' Project

 

15

Discovery Credit Union

 

20

One World Centre

 

5

Total Proposals For Unallocated Common Good Fund Expenditure

70

 

VIII REPLACEMENT OF HARRIS ACADEMY

 

On a reference to Article II of the minute of meeting of the Education Committee of 20th May, 2013, there was submitted Report No 184-2013 by the Chief Executive and Director of Education outlining the process leading to financial close and seeking approval to enter into an enabling package of advance works with Hubco.

 

The Committee noted the report and approved the setting up of an enabling package of advance works with Hubco as described in paragraphs 4.13 and 4.14 of the report.

 

IX INVOLVING YOUNG PEOPLE IN DECISION-MAKING

 

On a reference to Article VI of the minute of meeting of this Committee of 12th December, 2011, there was submitted Report No 204-2013 by the Director, Leisure and Communities advising the Committee on progress being made in the development of opportunities for young people to be involved in decision-making.

 

The Committee:-

 

(i) noted the progress being made in the development of opportunities for young people to be involved in decision-making as described in Appendix 1 of the report.

 

(ii) acknowledged the election of Dundees members of the Scottish Youth Parliament:-

 

- Daniel Coleman

- Sibelius Erskine-Smith

- Louise Dunnin

- Louise Doak

 

(iii) acknowledged the election of Daniel Coleman and Matthew Roud as Chair and Vice‑Chair respectively of Dundees Youth Council.

 

(iv) approved the following improvement actions:-

 

- Expand the reach of the Youth Council to include local and thematic youth advisory groups and thus develop greater involvement by more young people in meeting the commitments in the Youth Councils Manifesto.

 

- Develop a consistent programme of support for young people to engage with decision‑making bodies in each of the Ward areas. This includes exploring the possibility of securing a guaranteed place for a youth representative at every LCPP.

 

- Include support for young people to develop the skills, knowledge and confidence to become more involved in local decision-making as an important agenda item for Local Learning Partnerships.

 

- Develop opportunities for young people to progress as volunteers within Youth Work.

 

- Develop accreditation opportunities, including SQAs Volunteering Award.

 

X DUNDEE COMMUNITY REGENERATION FUND 2013/2014

 

There was submitted Report No 208-2013 by the Chief Executive relative to the above.

 

The Committee approved the funding proposals contained in Section 5.2 of the report appended hereto (Appendix II).

 

XI COUNTER-FRAUD REPORT - FOR YEAR ENDING 31ST MARCH, 2013

 

There was submitted Report No 230-2013 by the Director of Corporate Services informing the elected members on the Revenue Division's Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit Counter-Fraud activity as at 31st March, 2013.

 

The Committee approved the Counter-Fraud Performance Report.

 

XII RELIEF OF RATES - CHARITY RELIEF

 

There was submitted Report No 224-2013 by the Director of Corporate Services relative to the above.

 

The application from Mr Doug McLaren was deferred at his request. In addition, the Committee declined to hear a deputation from Mr McLaren in respect of the application by TFCR Ltd.

 

The Committee approved the undernoted applications.

 

Applicant

Subjects

 

T F C R Ltd

t/a Tayside Recyclers

Units 1 & 2

South Dudhope Mill

Douglas Street

Dundee

 

Shop

109-111 High Street

Lochee

Dundee

Action for Children

368 Alexandra Parade

Glasgow

G/1, G/2, 1/1

7 St Clement Terrace

Dundee

 

XIII SCOTTISH CLIMATE CHANGE DECLARATION YEAR 5 - 2012/2013

 

There was submitted Report No 200-2013 by the Director of City Development intimating that along with each of Scotland's other local authorities, Dundee signed Scotland's Climate Change Declaration in early 2007. The Declaration was a public statement wherein local authorities acknowledged the reality and implications of climate change and their responsibility to respond effectively. The Declaration also welcomed the actions of the UK and Scottish Governments and the opportunities for local authorities to work in partnership with others in responding to climate change.

 

The report was accepted by the Committee as an accurate summary of the Council's current response to climate change.

 

The Convener agreed that the undernoted item be considered as a matter of urgency in terms of Standing Order No 17(b) in view of the timescales involved.

 

XIV REVIEW OF CONCESSIONS AND PROMOTION OF DISCOUNTED SWIMMING

 

On a reference to Article XX of the minute of meeting of this Committee of 22nd April, 2013, there was submitted Report No 234-2013 by the Director, Leisure and Communities giving the findings of a review of current policy on concessions and seeking agreement for ways in which concession policy should be developed to assist with the implementation of Dundee's Fairness Strategy.

 

The Committee agreed:-

 

(i) to simplify the criteria for income related concession and that all people living in households (address data held in Citizen Account/CRM system in customer services) entitled to Council Tax reduction be accepted as eligible for concessionary benefits;

 

(ii) that Dundee City Council increase its promotion of the National Entitlement Card (NEC) as a key mechanism for verifying entitlement to concessions;

 

(iii) that the National Entitlement Card be extended to children under the age of 12, through the implementation of the KIDZ Card;

 

(iv) that City Council departments develop more targeted approaches, such as social prescribing, as identified in the Lochee Pathfinder, for delivery using the NEC Card, and ask NHS Tayside/Dundee Community Health Partnership to work with the Council on these approaches;

 

(v) that a concession discount scheme for swimming admission be introduced for those living in households entitled to Council Tax reduction;

 

(vi) that the Concession Policy be extended to any current or former member of the Armed Forces entitled to the Community Covenant (and who was not already receiving concession through one of the other existing categories); and

 

(vii) that the Council and its partners adopt a pro-active approach to ensuring that individuals and households eligible for concessions were advised and assisted to obtain these.

 

The Committee resolved under Section 50(A)(4) of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 that the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the undernoted item of business on the grounds that it involved the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraphs 6 and 9 of Part I of Schedule 7A of the Act.

 

XV PROPOSED REDEVELOPMENT OF DUNDEE RAILWAY STATION CONCOURSE BUILDING

 

On a reference to Article IX of the minute of meeting of this Committee of 23rd April, 2012, there was submitted Report No 220-2013 by the Director of City Development updating the Committee on progress towards the redevelopment of Dundee Railway Station concourse.

 

The Committee approved the recommendations detailed therein.

 

 

 

 

Ken GUILD, Convener.

 

At a MEETING of the PERSONNEL APPEALS SUB-COMMITTEE held at Dundee on 29th April, 2013.

 

APPENDIX I

 

Present:-

 

COUNCILLORS

 

Jimmy BLACK

David BOWES

Mohammed ASIF

 

Councillor Jimmy BLACK, Convener, in the Chair.

 

The minute of meeting of this Committee of 25th April, 2013 was held as read.

 

Unless marked thus * all items stand delegated.

 

The Sub-Committee resolved under Section 50(A)(4) of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 that the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the undernoted items of business on the grounds that they involved the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 1 of Part I of Schedule 7A of the Act.

 

I DECLARATION OF INTEREST

 

There were no declarations of interest.

 

II APPEAL AGAINST DISMISSAL

 

It was reported that an appeal against dismissal from an employee of the Chief Executive's Department had been submitted.

 

The Sub-Committee heard the Council's representative and witnesses and, thereafter, the Appellant and his representative.

 

After questions had been put and answers given by both parties to each other and the witnesses, and by members of the Sub-Committee, the parties withdrew.

 

Thereafter, following careful consideration of all the information, the Sub-Committee agreed that the grounds of the appeal had not been substantiated and that the appeal be not upheld.

 

Councillor Asif intimated his dissent from the foregoing decision.

 

 

 

 

Jimmy BLACK, Convener.

 

APPENDIX II

 

Applicant

Description of Project

Forum Decision Amount

The MAXwell Centre

To be used to establish a community garden project in the grounds at the rear of the centre. Funding will enable purchase of composters, raised beds, rain water collection tools and initial planting requirements.

 

6,874

Douglas Festival Association

To contribute towards a local community festival with 500+ local residents expected to attend and approximately 29 projects/local service providers participating.

 

1,500

St Pius X Church

Contribution towards phase 2 of hall refurbishment. This will bring the hall in line with relevant safety standards and enable the promotion of wider use by community groups and local residents.

 

10,000

Active Schools

To provide free after school sports and physical activities such as tennis, free running, fit for girls fitness and active8 to approximately 80 children attending Clepington PS, Glebelands PS or Morgan Academy.

 

1,309

Dura Street Sheltered Housing Social Group

To fund 44 sessions of Aromatherapy, Reiki and Chair Aerobics for the 49 residents using the Sheltered Housing Complex lounge.

 

2,750

St Marys Over 55s Club

To fund travel costs for a summer outing for 49 older people to enjoy scenery of Scotlands coast and a boat trip to Rothesay.

 

390

Chuckle Club

To provide travel costs to enable 30 group members to participate in a bus excursion and enable less physically fit members to travel with us.

 

360

Baldragon Academy

To run a leadership weekend, where 35 senior pupils will learn and develop skills of leadership. This is part of a larger programme involving use of these skills for work with younger pupils and charitable fund raising.

 

2,000

Kirkton Newsletter Group

To produce three issues of a newsletter for residents of Kirkton which will inform them of local activities, events and developments in the area. Circulation of the newsletter will reach approximately 3,000 local people.

 

1,458

Kirkton Community Centre LMG

To conduct a study into the feasibility of converting the recently vacated Community Safety Base into a fitness centre for use by the whole community.

 

2,000

Downfield Primary School

To provide funding to purchase safety matting and improve access routes to play equipment bought with Big Lottery funding. This will improve safe use by approximately 450 children at the school and also the out of school club.

6,038