Agenda Document Pack - Moray Council - 19/02/2025
Moray Council · 19 February 2025
Back to Moray Council — 19 February 2025 and its agenda
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Moray Council Wednesday, 19 February 2025 NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that a Meeting of the Moray Council is to be held at Council Chambers, Council Office, High Street, Elgin, IV30 1BX on Wednesday, 19 February 2025 at 09:30. BUSINESS 1. Sederunt 2. Declaration of Group Decisions and Members Interests * 3. Resolution Consider, and if so decide, adopt the following resolution: "That under Section 50A (4) and (5) of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, as amended, the public and media representatives be excluded from the meeting for Item 15 of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information of the class described in the relevant Paragraphs of Part 1 of Schedule 7A of the Act.” 4. Minutes 4a. Minutes of Meeting of 4 December 2024 7 - 16 4b. Minutes of Special Meeting of 6 December 2024 17 - 18 4c. Minute of Special Meeting of 21 January 2025 19 - 26 5. Moray Integration Joint Board Summary Report Report by Chief Officer, Health and Social Care Moray 27 - 46 6. Revenue Expenditure to 31 December 2024 Report by Depute Chief Executive (Economy, Environment and Finance) 47 - 88 Page 1
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7. Capital Plan 2024-25 - Quarter 3 Report by Depute Chief Executive (Economy, Environment and Finance) 89 - 104 8. Offer of Grant for School Meal Debt Fund Report by Depute Chief Executive (Economy, Environment and Finance) 105 - 110 9. Charging for Services Report by Depute Chief Executive (Economy, Environment and Finance) 111 - 134 10. A96 Corridor Review Report by Depute Chief Executive (Economy, Environment and Finance) 135 - 186 11. Local Visitor Levy Introduction Stage 1 Report by Depute Chief Executive (Economy, Environment and Finance) 187 - 202 12. Moray Growth Deal Annual Report - 2024 Report by Depute Chief Executive (Economy, Environment and Finance) 203 - 252 13. Political Balance Update Report by Depute Chief Executive (Education, Communities and Organisational Development) 253 - 256 14. Update on Councillor Remuneration Report by Depute Chief Executive (Education, Communities and Organisational Development) 257 - 260 Watching the Meeting You can watch the webcast live by going to: http://www.moray.gov.uk/moray_standard/page_43661.html Webcasts are available to view for 1 year following the meeting. You can also attend the meeting in person, if you wish to do so, please come to the High Street entrance door and a member of staff will be let into the building. Page 2
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Item(s) which the Committee may wish to consider with the Press and Public excluded 15. Libraries Learning Centres and Heritage Service Redesign and Savings Delivery Update [Para 1] • 1. Information relating to staffing matters; Page 3
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GUIDANCE NOTES * Declaration of Group Decisions and Members Interests - The Chair of the meeting shall seek declarations from any individual or political group at the beginning of a meeting whether any prior decision has been reached on how the individual or members of the group will vote on any item(s) of business on the Agenda, and if so on which item(s). A prior decision shall be one that the individual or the group deems to be mandatory on the individual or the group members such that the individual or the group members will be subject to sanctions should they not vote in accordance with the prior decision. Any such prior decisions will be recorded in the Minute of the meeting. ** Written Questions - Any Member can put one written question about any relevant and competent business within the specified remits not already on the agenda, to the Chair provided it is received by the Proper Officer or Committee Services by 12 noon two working days prior to the day of the meeting. A copy of any written answer provided by the Chair will be published on the Council’s committee management system by 4pm the day before the meeting. The Member who has put the question may, after the answer has been published, ask one supplementary question directly related to the subject matter at the meeting, but no discussion will be allowed. No supplementary question can be put or answered more than 10 minutes after the Council has started on the relevant item of business, except with the consent of the Chair. If a Member does not have the opportunity to put a supplementary question because no time remains, then he or she can submit it in writing to the Proper Officer who will arrange for a written answer to be provided within 7 working days. Page 4
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MORAY COUNCIL Moray Council SEDERUNT Councillor Kathleen Robertson (Chair) Councillor Donald Gatt (Depute Chair) Councillor James Allan (Member) Councillor Peter Bloomfield (Member) Councillor Neil Cameron (Member) Councillor Tracy Colyer (Member) Councillor Theresa Coull (Member) Councillor John Cowe (Member) Councillor John Divers (Member) Councillor Amber Dunbar (Member) Councillor Jérémie Fernandes (Member) Councillor David Gordon (Member) Councillor Juli Harris (Member) Councillor Sandy Keith (Member) Councillor Elaine Kirby (Member) Councillor Scott Lawrence (Member) Councillor Marc Macrae (Member) Councillor Paul McBain (Member) Councillor Neil McLennan (Member) Councillor Shona Morrison (Member) Councillor Bridget Mustard (Member) Councillor Derek Ross (Member) Councillor John Stuart (Member) Councillor Draeyk van der Horn (Member) Councillor Sonya Warren (Member) Councillor Ben Williams (Member) Clerk Name: Tracey Sutherland Clerk Telephone: 07971 879268 Clerk Email: committee.services@moray.gov.uk Page 5
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MORAY COUNCIL Minute of Meeting of the Moray Council Wednesday, 4 December 2024 Council Chambers, Council Office, High Street, Elgin, IV30 1BX PRESENT Councillor James Allan, Councillor Peter Bloomfield, Councillor Neil Cameron, Councillor Tracy Colyer, Councillor Theresa Coull, Councillor John Cowe, Councillor John Divers, Councillor Amber Dunbar, Councillor Jérémie Fernandes, Councillor Donald Gatt, Councillor David Gordon, Councillor Juli Harris, Councillor Sandy Keith, Councillor Elaine Kirby, Councillor Scott Lawrence, Councillor Marc Macrae, Councillor Paul McBain, Councillor Neil McLennan, Councillor Shona Morrison, Councillor Bridget Mustard, Councillor Kathleen Robertson, Councillor Derek Ross, Councillor John Stuart, Councillor Sonya Warren, Councillor Ben Williams APOLOGIES Councillor Draeyk van der Horn IN ATTENDANCE The Interim Chief Executive, Depute Chief Executive (Economy, Environment and Finance), Depute Chief Executive (Education, Communities and Organisational Development), Chief Officer, Health and Social Care Moray, Head of Governance, Strategy and Performance, Chief Financial Officer, Interim Head of Service/Chief Social Work Officer, Head of Environmental and Commercial Services, Head of HR, ICT and Organisational Development, Head of Education, Head of Housing and Property Services, Legal Services Manager, Moray Growth Deal Programme Manager, Principal Climate Change Strategy Officer and Democratic Services Manager. 1. Chair The meeting was chaired by Councillor Kathleen Robertson. 2. Best Wishes The Council joined the Chair in wishing Hazel Lawson best wishes for her future, this was the last meeting that Hazel would be attending as the area's democracy reporter. 3. Declaration of Group Decisions and Members Interests * In terms of Standing Orders 21 and 23 and The Councillors' Code of conduct the Council noted that there were no declarations for Group Leaders or Spokesperson in regard to any prior decisions taken on how members will vote on any item on the agenda. Item 4a. Page 7
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Councillor Coull declared she had an interest in para 5.17 of Item 20 - Short to Medium Term Financial Plan and in the wider public interest would not leave the chamber during discussion of the item but would not take part in any discussion on that particular paragraph. There were no other declarations of Member's interests in respect of any item on the agenda. Transparency Statements: Councillor Gatt in respect of Item 9 stated he was the Chair of Grampian Valuation Joint Board. Councillor Warren in respect of Item 9 stated that she was a member of Grampian Valuation Joint Board. 4. Resolution The meeting resolved that in terms of Section 50A (4) and (5) of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, as amended, the public and media representatives be excluded from the meeting for Items 10 and 11 of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information of the class. Para number of the minute Para Number of Schedule 7a 18 Para 1 Information relating to staffing matters 19 Para 1 Information relating to staffing matters 20 Para 1 Information relating to staffing matters 21 Para 1 Information relating to staffing matters 22 Para 9 Information on terms proposed or to be proposed by or to the Authority 24 Paras 6, 8 and 9 Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person(s) Information on proposed terms and/or expenditure to be incurred by the Authority 5. Minute of Meeting of 25 September 2024 The minutes of the meeting of Moray Council on 25 September 2024 were submitted and approved. Page 8
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6. Minute of Special Meeting of 22 October 2024 The minute of the special meeting of Moray Council on 22 October 2024 were submitted and approved subject to a small amendment at paragraph 18 recommendation v) to read 'a maximum of £3.9million'. 7. Notice of Motion - Gaza The meeting noted that the Notice of Motion had been withdrawn prior to the meeting. 8. Written Questions ** The meeting noted that no written questions had been submitted. 9. Moray Integration Joint Board Summary Report The meeting had before it a report by the Chief Office, Health and Social Care Moray informing the Council of the latest approved minutes of the meetings of the Moray Integration Joint Board and an up to date overview of activities. Following lengthy consideration the Council unanimously agreed to note the content of the report. 10. Medium to Long Term Financial Strategy The meeting had before it a report by the Depute Chief Executive (Economy, Environment and Finance) asking Council to consider an updated financial strategy to facilitate medium to long term financial planning. Following consideration the Council unanimously agreed to approve the updated Medium to Long Term Financial Strategy at Appendix 1 of the report. 11. Revenue Expenditure to 30 September 2024 The meeting had before it a report by the Depute Chief Executive (Economy, Environment and Finance) advising the Council of the revenue budget monitoring position to 30 September 2024 and the current estimated out-turn for 2024/25. Following lengthy consideration the Council unanimously agreed to note: i) the budget monitoring position of £3,693,000 over budget for 2024/25 as at 30 September 2024; ii) that this position consists of an underspend on Devolved School budgets of £686,000, an overspend of £1,879,000 on Adult Social Care and Children’s Services delivered on behalf of the Moray Integration Joint Board (MIJB), an overspend on Environmental Services of £1,486,000, and overspend on non-devolved Education budgets of £438,000, Strain on Fund costs of £252,000 and an overspend within other services of £324,000; iii) movement of a £1,315,000 increase in General Revenue Grant, as detailed in paragraph 3.4; Page 9
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iv) the current estimated out-turn for 2024/25 of an overspend in Council services including Health and Social Care of £1,406,000 after adjusting for the cost sharing agreement with NHS for MIJB, with overspends across services including Education of £680,000, Environmental and Commercial Services £818,000, other services £680,000 in total, MIJB £2,620,000 and reduction in requirement of provisions of £3,933,000, and planned use of non-working earmarked reserves (DSM, Transformation and other earmarked) of £2,889,000, and that balance of funding from working earmarked reserves is currently showing higher than planned use due to unconfirmed funding allocations expected; v) that Heads of Service will be tasked with reducing overspends and generally reducing expenditure to bring expenditure back into line with budget; and vi) the emerging budget pressure noted in paragraph 6.2. 12. Capital Plan 2024-25 Quarter 2 The meeting had before it a report by the Depute Chief Executive (Economy, Environment and Finance) advising the Council of expenditure to 30 September 2024 under the capital plan for financial year 2024/25 and of estimates of projected expenditure profiled into quarters. Following consideration, the Council unanimously agreed to: i) note expenditure to 30 September 2024 of £7,087,000; ii) note the current projected full year out turn of £42,292,000, prior to approval, and £43,350,000 following approval of amendments, as set out in APPENDIX 1; iii) notes the projected overall expenditure for projects spanning more than one financial year, as set out in APPENDIX 2 iv) notes the amended projected expenditure in the year as detailed in section 7 of the report; v) notes the latest affordability indicator outturn of 8.77% against an upper limit of 10% as set out in paragraph 8.1; and vi) approve further net amendments of £6,798,000 for 2024/25, including carried forward requests to 2025/26 of £8,088,000 to the capital plan as detailed in section 5. 13. Capital Strategy The meeting had before it a report by the Depute Chief Executive (Economy Environment and Finance) asking Council to approve the amended Capital Strategy presented in draft as Appendix 1 to this report. Following consideration, the Council unanimously agreed to approve the amended Capital Strategy as set out in Appendix 1. Page 10
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14. Corporate Asset Management Plan The meeting had before it a report by the Depute Chief Executive (Economy, Environment and Finance) providing Council with a report on progress made against the Corporate Asset Management Plan for 2024/25 and with a revised Corporate Asset Management Plan reflecting the cap on capital expenditure. Following consideration, the Council unanimously agreed to: i) note the work done to meet the targets set in the Corporate Asset Management Plan for 2024/25 as set out in paragraphs 4.1 to 4.6; ii) note that an updated Corporate Asset Management Plan fulfils one of the actions in the Best Value Action Plan; and iii) approve the amended Corporate Asset Management Plan for 2024/25 as set out in Appendix 2. 15. Committee Changes - Roles and Outside Bodies The meeting had before it a report by the Depute Chief Executive (Education, Communities and Organisational Development) asking Council to consider the number of members on Committees, Outside Body vacancies and changes to roles and responsibilities. Prior to the meeting, alternative recommendations had been circulated to the Council and in her introduction, Councillor Robertson moved the recommendations in the following terms. 2.1 It is recommended that Council agree to note: i) the change in political balance as referred to in para 3.2 as a result of the recent by election; and ii) that a review on Councillor membership on Outside Bodies will be carried out and a report brought back to the March 2025 meeting to determine a position. 2.2 it is recommended that Council agree: i) that Councillor Gatt becomes the Depute Chair of Planning and Regulatory Services Committee; ii) to appoint Councillors to the vacant positions on outside bodies detailed in paragraph 4.1 as follows • Local Space Leadership Group – Councillor Macrae • Moray Economic Partnership – Councillor Warren • NESS Energy From Waste Project – Elected Members Engagement Group – Councillor Gordon • NHS Grampian nominated member- Councillor Robertson • One MIJB nominated member and MIJB Chair – Councillor Kirby; and Page 11
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iii) an amendment to the Council Roles and Responsibilities document to allow deputising for the Civic Leader as detailed in paragraph 7.1 below and paragraph 7.4 of Appendix 1. This was seconded by Councillor Lawrence. Following consideration, the Council unanimously agreed: i) to note the change in political balance as referred to in para 3.2 as a result of the recent by election; ii) to note that a review on Councillor membership on Outside Bodies will be carried out and a report brought back to the March 2025 meeting to determine a position; iii) that Councillor Gatt becomes the Depute Chair of Planning and Regulatory Services Committee; iv) to appoint Councillors to the vacant positions on outside bodies detailed in paragraph 4.1 as follows • Local Space Leadership Group – Councillor Macrae • Moray Economic Partnership – Councillor Warren • NESS Energy From Waste Project – Elected Members Engagement Group – Councillor Gordon • NHS Grampian nominated member- Councillor Robertson • One MIJB nominated member and MIJB Chair – Councillor Kirby; and v) an amendment to the Council Roles and Responsibilities document to allow deputising for the Civic Leader as detailed in paragraph 7.1 below and paragraph 7.4 of Appendix 1. Councillor McLennan left the meeting during the consideration of this item. 16. Proxy Voting by Councillors Consultation The meeting had before it a report by the Depute Chief Executive (Education, Communities and Organisational Development) advising Council of a consultation by the Scottish Government on a proposal to allow proxy voting by Councillors. During lengthy discussion in which there were varying opinions on the proposals across the chamber Councillor Macrae moved the recommendations as printed in the report. This was seconded by Councillor Lawrence. Councillor Ross seconded by Councillor Divers proposed a response stating that the Council were not in favour of the proposals. The Depute Chief Executive (Education, Communities and Organisational Development) suggested that it may be possible for the response from the Council to be neither in agreement or disagreement and that the response stated that opinion was divided. In response, the Head of Governance Strategy and Performance confirmed that response would allow for a divided view to be submitted and should it be the view of the Council, he could submit the response with a list of the key points raised during the consideration. Page 12
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On confirmation of this option, Councillors Macrae, Lawrence, Ross and Divers withdrew their motion and amendment and there being no one otherwise minded, the Council unanimously agreed that a response would be submitted confirming the division of views in the Chamber and for the Head of Governance, Strategy and Performance to be granted delegated authority to respond with a list of the key points raised during consideration. 17. Climate Change Plan and Routemap to Net Zero 2024 Update The meeting had before it a report by the Depute Chief Executive (Economy, Environment and Finance) asking the Council to approve the update to the Climate Change Plan and Routemap to Net Zero, to note the Council’s progress to date and actions required to meet targets and statutory duties, to agree the scope and process of updating the Climate Change Strategy in 2025. Following consideration, the Council unanimously agreed: i) approves the Climate Change Plan and Routemap to Net Zero (Appendix 1); ii) to note that if the Council’s targets and statutory duties are to be met, action is required to accelerate the pace of building decarbonisation, progress in waste reduction, and development of a delivery model for natural capital enhancements, the groundwork for which has now been completed or is currently underway; iii) notes that significant funding opportunities are available to the Council to make progress in these areas, including the Scottish Government’s £500m North East Just Transition Fund; iv) that existing decarbonisation project groundwork be built upon by working up projects in detail with a view to submitting funding bids for committee approval and progressing spend-to-save opportunities, noting that funding bids should align with aspirations for the pathway to net zero that emerges as the review progresses; v) that a member and officer Climate Change Working Group be established to oversee the Climate Change Strategy update (Appendix 2); vi) to note that on 18 April 2024, the Scottish Government removed the target of a 75% reduction by 2030 while retaining the statutory target of net zero carbon emissions by 2045; vii) that the Climate Change Strategy update should move away from committing the Council to a 2030 net zero target and adopt decarbonisation targets for each area within the council. As set out in para 6.6 of this report, these should at least align to national targets and could show greater ambition where this is felt to be practically and financially achievable; and viii) that a briefing for members will be provided as high-level work on Just Transition and socio-economic benefits is developed. Page 13
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18. Information Reports - if called in The meeting noted that no information reports had been called in. 19. Applications For Voluntary Early Retirement - Voluntary Severance [Para 1] The meeting had before it a report by the Depute Chief Executive (Education, Communities and Organisational Development) asking the Council to consider two applications under the terms of the agreed Voluntary Early Retirement (VER) Scheme and 2 applications under the Voluntary Severance Scheme. Following consideration the Council unanimously agreed to approves the applications for Voluntary Early Retirement and Voluntary Severance detailed in Appendix 1. 20. Collaborative Leadership Development Work Update [Para 1] The meeting had before it a report by the Interim Chief Executive informing the Council of further progress made in relation to Collaborative Leadership, Recommendation 2 from the External Adviser’s report to this Committee on 4 October 2023 and Action 1.1 in the Council’s Best Value Action Plan. Following consideration the Council unanimously agreed: i) to note the further progress made relative to the implementation of Collaborative Leadership as detailed in Appendix 1; ii) that progress on collaborative Leadership will continue to be monitored through the regular reporting on Action 1.1 in the Council’s Best Value Action Plan; iii) that an anonymised survey for Members and Senior Managers will be issued in January to establish the extent of additional support and further development work required; and iv) that the annual Best Value self-assessment previously agreed by the Corporate Committee on 23 April 2024 is scheduled to be completed in March 2025. 21. Smarter Working Project Report- Phase 2 Update [Para 1] A report by the Depute Chief Executive (Economy, Environment and Finance) provides Council with details of the Smarter Working Project’s progress and achievements to date, future opportunities, challenges, and sets out actions being undertaken to mitigate these challenges. Following consideration, the Council unanimously agreed: i) to note progress on the project to date; ii) to note that a recurring revenue saving of £45k has been achieved under Phase 1 by completing the closure of 13 Cluny Square, with the building declared surplus and pending disposal; Page 14
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iii) notes that a recurring revenue saving of £30k has been achieved to date under Phase 2, comprised of £27k from property rationalisation and £3k of income generated; and iv) agrees the investment of £65k revenue to be funded from Council reserves ear-marked for Transformation and £50k capital to facilitate the delivery of further savings in Phase 3, as set out in paras 7.3-7.6. 22. Short to Medium Term Financial Plan [Para 1] The meeting had before it a report by the Depute Chief Executive (Economy, Environment and Finance) seeking approval of proposed savings, subject to consultation where appropriate, for implementation in 2024/25 and 2025/26, in accordance with the Council’s Short to Medium Term Financial Strategy. Following consideration, the Council unanimously agreed: i) to note the financial update summarised APPENDIX 1 ii) to note the savings options set out in APPENDIX 2, having due regard to the Integrated Impact Equalities Assessments summarised in APPENDIX 3; iii) the greatest level of savings possible, subject to Stage 2 public communications as indicated in APPENDIX 2 and/or workforce consultation as required; and iv) to note that there is still significant uncertainty around budget assumptions for 2025/26 which may alter the budget gap. 23. Residential Property Acquisition [Para 9] The meeting had before it a report by the Depute Chief Executive (Economy, Environment and Finance) apprising the Council of issues pertaining to a derelict property in Keith and considerations relating to its acquisition for Council housing. Following consideration, the Council unanimously agreed: i) notes the work undertaken to date to develop a proposal for acquisition and refurbishment of the property as set out in paragraph 5.4 (Option 2); ii) notes the financial implications should risks and contingencies arise as detailed in paragraph 5.6 and approves up to £30k of expenditure from ear- marked reserves for Council priorities if these materialise; iii) instructs Officers to engage with those with an interest in the property to negotiate terms of acquisition if agreeable; and iv) delegates authority to the Head of Housing and Property and Legal Services Manager to acquire the property on terms which represent best value to the Council. Councillor McLennan joined the meeting during the consideration of this item. Page 15
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24. Suspension of Standing Orders Under reference to Standing Order 83 the Chair sought agreement from the Council to suspend Standing Order 75 to continue the meeting after 12.45pm. This was unanimously agreed. 25. Moray Growth Deal Full Business Case - Cultural Quarter [Paras 6 8 and 9] The meeting had before it a report by the Depute Chief Executive (Economy, Environment and Finance) noting that a final version of the Cultural Quarter Full Business Case be submitted to Council for approval following the conclusion of amendments from the Government review process. This updated version also includes the amendments requested at the Moray Council meeting on 22 October 2024. Following concern from Councillor Keith regarding the nature of the commitment which the Council was making for the hotel investment, for clarity it was noted that regarding phase 3 of the project (securing private sector investment in a hotel), the commitment is to facilitate this as a leveraged benefit and it will not involve the use of Growth Deal or Council funds. Instead, it is intended that activity at Elgin Town Hall and Grant Lodge, along with the establishment of a Trust and collaborative working with other economic development programmes like the Elgin Town Board, will create an optimal environment that enables private investment to be secured. Following consideration, Council unanimously agreed to approve: i) the final version of the Cultural Quarter full business case (Appendix 1); and ii) governance and risk arrangements relating to the phase 2 financial issues. Page 16
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MORAY COUNCIL Minute of Special Meeting of the Special Moray Council - Chief Executive Recruitment Friday, 6 December 2024 Council Chambers, Council Office, High Street, Elgin, IV30 1BX PRESENT Ms Amy Billington, Councillor Peter Bloomfield, Councillor Neil Cameron, Councillor Tracy Colyer, Councillor John Divers, Councillor Amber Dunbar, Councillor Donald Gatt, Councillor David Gordon, Councillor Juli Harris, Councillor Sandy Keith, Councillor Elaine Kirby, Councillor Scott Lawrence, Councillor Marc Macrae, Councillor Paul McBain, Ms Pippa Milne, Councillor Shona Morrison, Mr John Mundell, Councillor Bridget Mustard, Councillor Kathleen Robertson, Councillor Derek Ross, Councillor John Stuart, Councillor Sonya Warren APOLOGIES Councillor James Allan, Councillor Theresa Coull, Councillor John Cowe, Councillor Jérémie Fernandes, Councillor Neil McLennan, Councillor Draeyk van der Horn, Councillor Ben Williams IN ATTENDANCE The Interim Chief Executive, Amy Billington, SOLACE (External Adviser), Pippa Milne, Argyll and Bute Council (External Adviser) and the Democratic Services Manager. 1. Chair The meeting was chaired by Councillor Kathleen Robertson. 2. Declaration of Group Decisions and Members Interests * In terms of Standing Orders 21 and 23 and The Councillors' Code of conduct the Council noted that there were no declarations for Group Leaders or Spokesperson in regard to any prior decisions taken on how members will vote on any item on the agenda. There were no declarations of Member's interests in respect of any item on the agenda. 3. Resolution The meeting resolved that in terms of Section 50A (4) and (5) of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, as amended, the public and media representatives be excluded from the meeting for Items 10 and 11 of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information of the class. Para number of the minute Para Number of Schedule 7a 5 Para 1 Information relating to staffing matters Item 4b. Page 17
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4. Recruitment Procedure The Chair advised the Council of the format for the meeting and introduced Pippa Milne, Chief Executive (Argyll and Bute Council) and Amy Billington, Executive Recruitment and Assessment Senior Consultant (SOLACE) who were advisers to the Recruitment Panel during the process so far and will provide independent advice and guidance for Council. 5. Appointment of Chief Executive [Para 1] Following an interview process based on recommendations from the Recruitment Panel for the post of Chief Executive, it was agreed to appoint Karen Greaves to the post of Chief Executive. Page 18
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MORAY COUNCIL Minute of Special Meeting of the Moray Council Tuesday, 21 January 2025 Council Chambers, Council Office, High Street, Elgin, IV30 1BX PRESENT Councillor James Allan, Councillor Peter Bloomfield, Councillor Neil Cameron, Councillor Tracy Colyer, Councillor Theresa Coull, Councillor John Cowe, Councillor John Divers, Councillor Amber Dunbar, Councillor Jérémie Fernandes, Councillor Donald Gatt, Councillor David Gordon, Councillor Juli Harris, Councillor Sandy Keith, Councillor Elaine Kirby, Councillor Scott Lawrence, Councillor Marc Macrae, Councillor Paul McBain, Councillor Neil McLennan, Councillor Shona Morrison, Councillor Bridget Mustard, Councillor Kathleen Robertson, Councillor Derek Ross, Councillor John Stuart, Councillor Draeyk van der Horn, Councillor Sonya Warren, Councillor Ben Williams IN ATTENDANCE Interim Chief Executive; Depute Chief Executive (Education, Communities and Organisational Development); Depute Chief Executive (Economy, Environment and Finance); Chief Financial Officer; Head of Governance, Strategy and Performance; Legal Services Manager; Sport and Culture Service Manager; Acting Head of Economic Growth and Development; June Burnett, Development Officer; Head of Human Resources, ICT and Organisational Development and Caroline O'Connor, Committee Services Officer. 1. Chair The meeting was chaired by Councillor Kathleen Robertson. 2. Declaration of Group Decisions and Members Interests * In terms of Standing Orders 21 and 23 and the Councillors' Code of Conduct, there were no declarations from Group Leaders or Spokespersons in regard to any prior decisions taken on how Members will vote on any item on the agenda or any declarations of Member's interests in respect of any item on the agenda. With regard to Item 8 "Elgin Business Improvement District - Ballot Renewal", Councillor Divers stated, for transparency, that he was on the Board of Directors for BID and would be taking part in the debate. 3. Resolution The meeting resolved that in terms of Section 50A (4) and (5) of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, as amended, the public and media representatives be excluded from the meeting for Item 11 of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information of the class described in the relevant Paragraphs of Part 1 of Schedule 7A of the Act. Item 4c. Page 19
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Para Number of the Minute Para Number of Schedule 7a 12 Paras 1 and 11 Information relating to staffing matters and information relating to any consultations or negotiations in connection with any labour relations 4. Order of Business In terms of Standing Order 29, the meeting agreed to vary the order of business set down on the agenda to take Item 8 "Elgin Business Improvement District - Ballot Renewal" at the end of the public session to allow the relevant officer to attend the meeting. 5. Proposals for Revised Committee Reports Format and Processes The meeting had before it a report by the Interim Chief Executive recommending the introduction of a revised reports format and a consistent more efficient and effective process for the timely submission to the Pre-Agenda meetings stage for formal Committees and Council Meetings. The Interim Chief Executive referenced paragraph 6.4 of the report stating it was correct that reports should always be written in the name of the respective member of the Corporate Management Team however this was with the exception of the Audit and Risk Manager to protect his essential independence and it is a fundamental requirement from a governance perspective. In stating this was an omission from the report, the Interim Chief Executive apologised and asked if the recommendations were approved, that clarification on this point be included in the minute. The Chair noted that the reference in recommendation a) should read paragraph 5.8 rather than paragraph 5.7 as stated. With reference to paragraph 5.8, Councillor Van Der Horn asked if the timescale for issue and publishing of agendas and reports could be changed from 7 days as noted to 7 working days to give Elected Members more time to consider papers and seek clarification from officers on relevant points, if required. He further asked that in Summary of Implications at 7.1, the implication entitled “Climate Change, Biodiversity and Sustainability” be amended to read “Climate Change, Biodiversity and Environmental Sustainability” as it would be beneficial to demonstrate the importance of sustainability and would link to the outcome in the Local Outcome Improvement Plan referenced at 7.2(b). In response to Councillor Van Der Horn’s query regarding the working in the Summary of Implications, the Depute Chief Executive (Economy, Environment and Finance) advised the Council had recently approved their Sustainable Development Sustainability Statement and Framework. She confirmed the reference to sustainability in the Summary of Implications is an action currently under review and given, that sustainability in the context of the Statement referred to environmental, social and economic wellbeing, it would prove challenging to amend the wording to be specific to environmental sustainability. She further confirmed officers are working on guidance to provide report authors with more information. Page 20
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Due to online technical issues, the meeting was adjourned during consideration of this item to allow those attending remotely time to attend the meeting in person if they were able to do so. The meeting resumed at 11am. Councillors Cowe, McLennan, Stuart, Warren and Williams had previously attended remotely however were unable to join in person and therefore left the meeting at this juncture. Councillor Stuart and Councillor Warren’s disappointment at being unable to join online was noted. The Chair apologised for the technical issues experienced and confirmed due to the ICT issues the meeting was unable to progress with online participation however the meeting would be webcast for the public and those Elected Members unable to participate enabling them to observe the meeting. The Chair advised the meeting was quorate in terms of Standing Orders and the business of the Council would therefore proceed. In response to the request from Councillor Van Der Horn prior to the adjournment regarding the wording in the Summary of Implications relating to Sustainability and the comments from the Depute Chief Executive (Economy, Environment and Finance) regarding the review being progressed, the Interim Chief Executive recommended continuation of the heading currently used in reports namely “Climate Change and Biodiversity Impacts” until such time as the sustainability work was concluded. In response to Councillor Van Der Horn’s suggestion that the timescale for publication and issue of agendas in paragraph 5.8 be amended from 7 days to 7 working days, the Interim Chief Executive advised it would be possible to extend the timescale however it would increase pressure on officers who were already working to tight timescales. Councillor Mustard suggested the timescales for issue/publication of agendas could be reviewed in 6 months’ time to allow time for the new report formats and process to bed in. The Interim Chief Executive agreed that would be a helpful way to proceed. In relation to paragraph 4.4, Councillor Keith stated he felt policy development is not as strong as it could be and while paragraph 5.11 states the process does not detrimentally affect or curtail the rights of opposition Members, however he was aware a report on committee sizes was being prepared and expressed concern regarding any impact on policy scrutiny and undermining the role of opposition Members resulting from any reduction in committee sizes. Given the increased role of Chair and Vice Chairs in the process, Councillor Keith suggested adding a section in Summary of Implications for budget papers and policy development to clearly set out the views of the Administration. In response to Councillor Keith’s query regarding 5.11, the Interim Chief Executive confirmed the Council is working on the recommendations from the External Advisor’s report including strategic leadership. Draft policy papers are submitted to the Strategic Leadership Forum, the membership of which reflects proportionate political representation, and while not a decision making body, the views of Members on the Strategic Leadership Forum are used to guide officers in the recommendations they include in reports. He further advised whilst cultural change takes time to embed, improvements are being worked through on an incremental basis. In response to the request for the request for a section to be Page 21
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added setting out the views of the Administration, the Interim Chief Executive stated in his view it was not appropriate for political views to be included in reports. Councillor Lawrence, seconded by Councillor Robertson, moved to approve the recommendations in the report. Following consideration and there being no-one otherwise minded, the Council unanimously agreed:- (i) the revised process and timetable at 5.8 for the preparation, submission and approval of Council and Committee reports as described in the report be implemented; (ii) a revised format and style of reports be introduced and consistently adopted throughout the Council as described in the report with the exception at 6.4 of reports submitted in the name of the Audit and Risk Manager; and (iii) to continue with the heading currently used for up to six months in the implications section of reports namely “Climate Change and Biodiversity Impacts” until such time as the previously approved sustainability work is concluded. 6. Short to Medium Term Financial Plan The meeting had before it a report by the Depute Chief Executive (Economy, Environment and Finance) updating the Council's projected financial position for 2025/26 and 2026/27 following the local government settlement announced in December 2024. The Chief Financial Officer apologised for a discrepancy in the figures contained in the financial implications at 6.1 and the figures contained in the Conclusion suggesting the gap to find is different. She explained it arises from the suite of options in Appendix 3 where different options used in calculating those figures. Councillor Fernandes indicated he was minded to propose an amendment to delete recommendation (iii) as the SNP Group did not support the closure of libraries and given that the Administration had issued press releases indicating they did not support libraries closures, there would not be support to close libraries. As an alternative he suggested replacing recommendation (iii) with "recommends that the libraries review is not progressed further". In response the Chief Financial Officer confirmed the Council was being asked to note the options for progress and that a report would be brought to a further meeting for a decision rather than the Council being asked to make any decisions at this meeting. In support the Depute Chief Executive (Economy, Environment and Finance) stated the views stated publicly do not equate to a democratic decision of the Council and information was being pulled together in the report which would come before the meeting of the Council in February. The Head of Governance, Strategy and Performance questioned the competency of the proposed motion in that it did not provide fair notice for this meeting and there was a process ongoing which would be reported to Council in February for a decision to be made. Page 22
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In terms of Standing Order 47 and having considered the advice of the Head of Governance, Strategy and Performance, the Chair ruled the amendment as incompetent. In light of the emerging pressures highlighted in paragraph 3.18 relating to the increase in employers National Insurance Contributions not being fully funded specifically in respect of the Moray Integration Joint Board, Councillor Morrison proposed that the Council Leader write to the UK government highlighting the concerns around the amount not being fully funded and the emerging pressures on the Council. Following consideration and there being no-one otherwise minded, the Council unanimously agreed:- (i) to note the financial update summarised in Appendix 1; (ii) to note the results of community engagement carried out via a survey and summarised in Appendix 2; (iii) to note the options for progress for the libraries review will be developed following consideration of the consultation responses and will be the subject of a separate report; (iv) to note the options for closing the budget gap as set out in Appendix 3; and (v) the Council Leader write to the UK Government in relation to the increase in employers National Insurance Contributions specifically in respect of Moray Integration Joint Board, to highlight concerns around the amount not being fully funded and highlighting the emerging pressures on the Council. 7. 2025-28 Capital Plan and Indicative Capital Plan 2025 - 2035 The meeting had before it a report by the Depute Chief Executive (Economy, Environment and Finance) asking the Council to agree the Council's three year capital budget for 2024/25-2027/28 and to consider the Council's indicative ten year Capital Plan for 2025 to 2035. In response to concerns raised by a number of Councillors in relation to the Council being unfairly treated in terms of the COSLA Distribution Policy, the Interim Chief Executive confirmed he would contact COSLA to arrange an Elected Members Briefing on the Distribution Policy. Following consideration the Council unanimously agreed to approve:- (i) the introduction of a three year capital plan to better facilitate the forward planning of capital spend; (ii) prioritisation of named projects as set out in paragraph 3.16; and (iii) capital expenditure of £212.464m for the three year period 2024/25 to 2027/28 as set out in Appendix 1. The Council further unanimously agreed to note:- Page 23
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(i) the indicative ten year capital plan inclusive of cap set out in Appendix 3; (ii) the application of the cap methodology to years 1 to 3 of the plan as set out in Appendix 2 and the reduction in planned cap on capital vs the anticipated slippage from the previous iteration of the ten year capital plan as set out in Appendix 4; and (iii) the risk and impact associated with a reduction in the capital plan, alongside the underlying need to reduce the Council's asset base. 8. Authorisation Policy Review The meeting had before it a report by the Depute Chief Executive (Economy, Environment and Finance) inviting the Council to approve changes to the Council's Authorisation Policy. Following consideration the Council unanimously agreed to approve the revised Authorisation Policy set out in Appendix 1. 9. Common Good Consultation - Roysvale Park The meeting had before it a report by the Depute Chief Executive (Education, Communities and Organisational Development) asking the Council to consider the results of a public consultation, seeking court authority for a short term disposal to provide a construction area and the appropriation of a 12m strip of land for a bus drop off area for the proposed site for the new Forres Academy. Councillor Lawrence, seconded by Councillor Macrae, moved to approve the recommendations in the report. Following consideration and there being no-one otherwise minded, the Council unanimously agreed to:- (i) note the outcome of the public consultation in relation to the proposed short term disposal of part of Roysvale Park to provide a construction area, and the proposed change of use of part of Roysvale Park to provide a bus drop off area; (ii) authorise the Legal Services Manager to apply to the Court for permission to proceed with the short-term disposal of part of Roysvale Park to provide a construction area, and appropriation of part of Roysvale Park to provide a bus drop off area; and (iii) note the proposed management proposals comprising (i) the laying of a new 2.5m wide footpath adjacent to the pavilion to improve accessibility through the Park and (ii) laying of new drainage and ground improvement works to facilitate the drainage of the new Forres Academy and improve the drainage of the new Forres Academy and improve the drainage and condition of the Park (subject to any necessary planning permission being granted. 10. Moray Sport and Leisure Asset Review Update The meeting had before it a report by the Depute Chief Executive (Education, Communities and Organisational Development) informing the Council of the findings of the external Moray Sport and Leisure Asset Review and based on these Page 24
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findings to propose recommendations in regard to income generation and future service direction. Following consideration the Council unanimously agreed:- (i) to note the findings of the external Moray Sport and Leisure Asset Review report; (ii) based on the findings of the report, to increase service charges as detailed in the report to maximise income generation; (iii) to realign service direction based on Scotland's National Framework for Physical Activity for Health and our local approach - focussing on health and wellbeing and the prevention agenda; (iv) the proposed draft weighting criteria for further development in regards to rationalisation of the Sport and Leisure Estate; (v) to hold an Elected Members workshop to discuss rationalisation, governance and service direction; and (vi) a report come back to Council with a proposal that will contribute to the long term financial sustainability of the Council. In terms of Standing Order 83, the Chair sought agreement from the Committee to suspend Standing Order 75 and continue beyond 12.45pm in order to conclude the business on the agenda. This was unanimously agreed. 11. Elgin Business Improvement District - Ballot Renewal The meeting had before it a report by the Depute Chief Executive (Economy, Environment and Finance) informing the Council of the renewal ballot for the Elgin Business Improvement District (BID) and to seek the Council's approval to support the proposals. With reference to the Financial Implications, Councillor Mustard asked what the major impact would be if the Council decided to either not vote or vote no in the ballot on the likelihood of a successful outcome of the renewal ballot. In response Ms Burnett advised that due to the rateable value of the Council buildings within the BID area which equate to circa 10% of the total rateable value of properties within the BID area, the outcome of the ballot could be significantly impacted due to there requiring to be a minimum turnout of 25% in terms of numbers and rateable value of which the number of votes and rateable value would require to be 50% in favour for the ballot to be successful. Councillor Keith stated he had strong views and that the Council had a unified business voice through Elgin BID and referenced positive work they have undertaken including relating to seagull prevention. He suggested the Council cannot be neutral on the economic development on Elgin Town Centre particularly following the recent closure of the St Giles Centre and the Council should be using its votes in the ballot. Councillor Macrae agreed with some other Members who had suggested not all businesses considered BID to be of benefit to them. He stated the unified business voice includes the Moray Chamber of Commerce and Federation of Page 25
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Small Businesses and that whilst one of the main objectives of BID is to remain cost neutral for each business, due to it being a compulsory levy, businesses may be choosing not to operate in Elgin. He stated it should be a decision for businesses to make as to whether or not to continue with BID. Councillor Macrae, seconded by Councillor Fernandes, moved to approve recommendations (i) and (ii), replace recommendation (iii) with "agree to abstain from the vote", delete recommendation (iv) resulting in recommendation (v) becoming recommendation (iv). Councillor Keith, seconded by Councillor Divers, proposed agreeing the recommendations as printed in the report. On a division there voted:- For the motion (16) Councillors Macrae, Fernandes, Allan, Bloomfield, Colyer, Coull, Dunbar, Gatt, Gordon, Harris, Kirby, Lawrence, McBain, Morrison, Mustard and Van der Horn For the Amendment (3) Councillors Keith, Divers and Ross Abstain (2) Councillors Cameron and Robertson Accordingly the Motion became the finding of the meeting and Council agreed to: (i) approve the Elgin BID proposal and business plan for 2025-2030; (ii) approve the assessment made in Appendix 4 and agree not to exercise the Council's right of veto; (iii) abstain from the vote; and (iv) note that subject to a positive ballot outcome the BID levy contributions for Council owned properties within the defined Elgin BID area total £16,524 per annum, as outlined in 3.10 of the report. In terms of Standing Order 65, Councillors Keith and Divers requested that their dissent be recorded. 12. Application for Voluntary Early Retirement [Para 1 and 11] The meeting had before it a report by the Depute Chief Executive (Education, Communities and Organisational Development) asking the Council to consider one application under the terms of the agreed Voluntary Early Retirement (VER) Scheme. Following consideration the Council unanimously agreed proceed with the proposed reduction of the post outlined in Appendix 1 and to approve the application for Voluntary Early Retirement contained therein. Page 26
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REPORT TO: MORAY COUNCIL ON 19 FEBRUARY 2025 SUBJECT: MORAY INTEGRATION JOINT BOARD CHIEF OFFICER UPDATE BY: CHIEF OFFICER, HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE MORAY 1. REASON FOR REPORT 1.1 To inform the Council of the latest approved minutes of the meetings of the Moray Integration Joint Board and an up to date overview of activities. 1.2 This report is submitted under Section II (22) of the Council's Scheme of Administration relating to the Moray Integration Joint Board (MIJB). 2. RECOMMENDATION 2.1 The Council is invited to consider and note the content of this report. 3. BACKGROUND 3.1 The MIJB was established on 6 February 2016 under the terms of the Public Bodies (Joint Working) (Scotland) Act 2014 with full delegation of functions and resources to enable integration of primary and community health and social care services effective from 1 April 2016. The MIJB is a separate legal organisation and acts as principal in its own right. The principal ambitions of health and social care integration are to: • Support the improvement of the quality and consistency of services for patients, carers, service-users and their families. • Provide seamless, joined-up quality health and social care services in order to care for people in their homes or a homely setting where it is safe to do so. • Ensure resources are used effectively and efficiently to deliver services. 4. KEY MATTERS RELEVANT TO RECOMMENDATION 4.1 The approved minutes from the MIJB meetings held on 26 September 2024 and 28 November 2024, which were accepted as correct records of the meetings on 28 November 2024 and 30 January 2025, respectively, can be found at Appendix 1 and Appendix 2. A few key highlights from the meetings for the Moray Council to note were, the MIJB: Item 5. Page 27
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26 September 2024 • Noted a report by the Interim Chief Officer which detailed activities that support the delivery against the MIJB’s strategic priorities as set out in the Strategic Plan. • Noted the financial position of the Board as at 30 June 2024 as showing an overspend of £2,541,109 on core services and noted the progress against the approved savings plan. The Board noted the budget pressures and emerging budget pressure as detailed in the report at paragraph 7. • Following consideration, the Board agreed to note the reports from the External Auditor. • Following consideration, the Board agreed to approve the Audited Annual Accounts for the financial year 2023/24. • Endorsed the description of services and pathways within Moray, and links to wider Grampian services as set out in a report by the Deputy Head of Service and Consultant in Public Health which provided the Board with assurance on progress towards delivery of the Moray Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy 2016-2026. • Approved the Moray Mental Health and Wellbeing Delivery Plan 2024-26 and approved the proposed governance structure in Moray. • Approved the Adult Joint Strategic Needs Assessment 2024 for Moray. • Noted a report by the Locality Manager which provided an update to the Board on the content of the Scottish Governments ‘Independent Report on Moray Coast Branch Surgeries Closure’. The Board noted the resultant actions relating to the recommendations outlined in the Independent Report. • Noted a recent Accounts Commission report, published by Audit Scotland in July 2024. • Approved the publication of the Health and Social Care Moray Annual Performance Report 2023/24. • Approved the publication of the Health and Social Care Moray Annual Complaints report 2023/24. 28 November 2024 • Noted a report by the Interim Chief Officer which detailed activities that support the delivery against the MIJB’s strategic priorities as set out in the Strategic Plan. • Noted the financial position of the Board as at 30 September 2024 as showing an overspend of £4,795,686 on core services. Noted the provisional forecast position for 2024/25 of an overspend of £9,530,074 on total budget for core services. Noted the progress against the approved savings plan and the budget pressures and emerging budget pressure. • Approved the draft Public Sector Climate Change submission to Sustainable Scotland Network for the reporting year 2023/24. • Noted the progress update on the replacement Social Work and social care case management system and the outline business case. The Page 28
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Board approved the amended timescale for the outline business case to be reported to the Board in January 2025. • Noted the publication of Moray’s Adult Support and Protection Biennial Report 2022/24 and recognised, as detailed in the Biennial Report, the success of the Adult Protection Committee over the reporting period in making significant progress in relation to the findings of the 2022 Joint Inspection of Adult Support and Protection. . 4.2 The link to the webcast and reports submitted to the MIJB meeting on 26 September 2024 can be found here: https://moray.cmis.uk.com/moray/CouncilandGovernance/Meetings/tabid/70/ct l/ViewMeetingPublic/mid/397/Meeting/2320/Committee/18/Default.aspx 4.3 The link to the webcast and reports submitted to the MIJB meeting on 28 November 2024 can be found here: https://moray.cmis.uk.com/moray/CouncilandGovernance/Meetings/tabid/70/ct l/ViewMeetingPublic/mid/397/Meeting/2322/Committee/18/Default.aspx 4.4 It is recognised that providing a summary of approved MIJB minutes alone offers limited value to the Council. With the aim of providing the Council with an up to date overview of activities please find attached the Chief Officer report, at Appendix 3, which was presented to MIJB on 30 January 2025. The intention is to develop a quarterly report for the Council on the work of the Moray Integration Joint Board and progress with key workstreams within the Health and Social Care Partnership. 4.5 Approved minutes, reports and link to webcast library for all MIJB meetings can be found here: https://moray.cmis.uk.com/moray/CouncilandGovernance/Committees/tabid/6 2/ctl/ViewCMIS_CommitteeDetails/mid/381/id/18/Default.aspx 5. SUMMARY OF IMPLICATIONS (a) Corporate Plan and 10 Year Plan (Local Outcomes Improvement Plan (LOIP)) This report forms part of the governance arrangements of MIJB; good governance arrangements will support the Board to fulfil its objectives. (b) Policy and Legal There are no policy or legal implications associated with this report. (c) Financial implications There are no financial implications associated with this report. (d) Risk Implications There are no risk implications associated with this report. (e) Staffing Implications There are no staffing implications arising from this report. (f) Property There are no property implications arising from this report. Page 29
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(g) Equalities/Socio Economic Impact An Equalities Impact Assessment is not required as there is no change to policy and procedures resulting from this report. (h) Climate Change and Biodiversity Impacts There are no climate change or biodiversity implications arising from this report. (i) Consultations Consultation on this report has taken place with Corporate Manager, Health and Social Care Moray who is in agreement with the content in relation to their area of responsibility. 6. CONCLUSION 6.1 This report provides a summary of the business addressed by the MIJB at their meetings on 26 September 2024 and 28 November 2024 and an up to date overview of activities. Author of Report: Isla Whyte, Corporate Business Support Manager, Health and Social Care Moray Background Papers: available online Ref: SPMAN-305227695-164 Page 30
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MINUTE OF MEETING OF THE MORAY INTEGRATION JOINT BOARD Thursday, 26 September 2024 Remote Locations via Connect Remote, PRESENT Mr Ivan Augustus, Councillor Peter Bloomfield, Mr Sean Coady, Councillor Tracy Colyer, Councillor Scott Lawrence, Dr Robert Lockhart, Ms Deirdre McIntyre, Mr Derick Murray, Mrs Jeanette Netherwood, Ms Deborah O'Shea, Ms Judith Proctor, Mr Sandy Riddell, Mr Dennis Robertson, Ms Elizabeth Robinson, Dr Malcolm Simmons, Mr Alex Stephen, Mr Kevin Todd Councillor Sandy Keith (for Councillor Ben Williams) APOLOGIES Professor Duff Bruce, Mrs Sheila Brumby, Dr Adam Coldwells, Ms Jane Ewen, Mr Jim Lyon, Mr John Mundell, Ms Janette Topp, Councillor Ben Williams IN ATTENDANCE Interim Chief Officer, Andrew Wallace, Audit Manager (Grant Thornton), Chief Financial Officer, Mr Coady, Service Manager, Mr Chute, Chief Technology Officer (DHI), Consultant in Public Health, Mr Macdonald, Locality Manager, Corporate Programme Manager and Mrs L Rowan, Committee Services Officer as Clerk to the Committee. 1. Chair Councillor Tracy Colyer chaired the meeting. 2. Welcome The Board joined the Chair in welcoming Mr Alex Stephen, Director of Finance, NHS Grampian to his first meeting of the Moray Integration Joint Board. 3. Declaration of Member's Interests Mr Riddell stated for transparency that he was Chair of the Mental Welfare Commission Scotland. APPENDIX 1 Item 5. Page 31
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The Board noted there were no other declarations of member's interests. 4. Minutes of meeting of 27 June 2024 The minute of the meeting of 27 June 2024 was submitted and approved. 5. Action Log of 27 June 2024 The Action Log of the meeting of 27 June 2024 was discussed and updated accordingly. 6. Minute of meeting Audit, Performance and Risk Committee of 29 February 2024 The Board noted the minute of the Audit, Performance and Risk Committee of 29 February 2024. 7. Minute of meeting Clinical and Care Governance Committee of 30 May 2024 The Board noted the minute of the meeting of the Clinical and Care Governance Committee of 30 May 2024. 8. Membership of Board and Committees The meeting had before it a report by the Corporate Manager informing the Board of changes to Membership of the Moray Integration Joint Board (MIJB), Audit Performance and Risk (APR) Committee and Clinical and Care Governance (CCG) Committee. During discussion, it was noted that the recommendation at 2.1 iv) referred to the appointment of Chief Social Work Officer when it should be Interim Chief Social Work Officer. Following consideration, the Board agreed to note the: (i) appointment of NHS Voting member from 1 July 2024; (ii) appointment of NHS Voting member substitute from 1 July 2024; (iii)appointment of Interim Chief Officer from 15 July 2024; (iv)appointment of Interim Chief Social Work Officer from 3 June 2024; and (v) updated membership of Board and committees as set out in Appendix 1 of the report. 9. Chief Officer Report The meeting had before it a report by the Interim Chief Officer informing the Board of the Chief Officer activities that support the delivery against the Moray Integration Joint Board's (MIJB's) strategic priorities articulated in the Strategic Plan and the delivery against the 9 Health and Wellbeing outcomes. Page 32
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During discussion, it was noted that the external inspection of Children's Services had revealed that the inspection for Children at Risk of Harm, in particular, indicator 2.1 which focuses on the experience and feelings of children and young people at risk of harm, had been rated as adequate. It was recognised that the MIJB has a governance responsibility for Children and Social Work Services assurance was sought that progress would be made in that area. In response, the Interim Chief Officer agreed to provide an update in this regard through the governance structures of the MIJB. During further discussion, it was acknowledged that there are 700,000-800,000 unpaid carers across Scotland providing an essential service and it was queried whether future reports could include how the rights and supported needs of unpaid carers are being met. In response, the Interim Chief Officer agreed that unpaid carers provide a vital service across our communities and agreed to provide an update to the Board in this regard to a future meeting of the MIJB. With regard to the Digital Health and Care update, it was queried whether there was a way in which more effective communication could be made in this area, perhaps with the use of plain english and it was asked if, rather than the Chief Officer Report including a update in relation to Digital Health and Care, a full update report specifically on this matter could be provided to a future meeting of the MIJB. In response, Mr Chute, Chief Technology Officer from the Digital Health, and Care Innovative Centre suggested that a demonstration of progress made may be more beneficial. This was welcomed by the Board, and it was suggested that a demonstration of progress made in Digital Health and Care be provided at a future development day of the MIJB. In response, the Interim Chief Officer agreed to take this request forward with the Corporate Programme Manager. Thereafter, the Board unanimously agreed: (i) to note the content of the report; (ii) that transforming services to meet the aspirations of the MIJB’s Strategic Plan remains a priority; (iii)that the Interim Chief Officer provide an update in relation to progress made resulting from the external inspection of Children's Services in relation to children and young people at risk of harm, through the governance structures of the MIJB; (iv)that the Interim Chief Officer would provide a report in relation to how the rights and supported needs of unpaid carers are met in Moray; and (v) that the Interim Chief Officer would arrange a development day for a demonstration in relation to Digital Health and Care. 10. Revenue Budget Monitoring Quarter 1 for 2024-25 Page 33
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The meeting had before it a report by the Chief Financial Officer updating the Moray Integration Joint Board (MIJB) of the current Revenue Budget reporting position as at 30 June 2024 for the MIJB budget. During discussion, it was recognised that the aspirations detailed within the report in terms of savings were mid-long term and, as this was a significant concern for the public, it was suggested that consideration be given to having a standing item on the agenda detailing how the MIJB is engaging with communities to ensure that the public are made aware of any progress made in meeting the aspirations of the MIJB in terms of budget savings. This was agreed. Thereafter, the Board agreed: (i) to note the financial position of the Board as at 30 June 2024 is showing an overspend of £2,541,109 on core services; (ii) to note the progress against the approved savings plan as set out in paragraph 6, and Appendix 4 of the report; (iii)to note the budget pressures and emerging budget pressure as detailed in paragraph 7 of the report; (iv)to note the revisions to staffing arrangements dealt with under delegated powers and in accordance with financial regulations within the Council (MC) and NHS Grampian (NHSG) for the period 1 April to 30 June 2024 as shown in Appendix 3 of the report; and (v) that consideration be given to having a standing item on future MIJB agendas in relation to how the MIJB is engaging with communities to ensure that the public are made aware of any progress made in meeting the aspirations of the MIJB in terms of budget savings. 11. External Auditors Report to Those Charged with Governance The meeting had before it a report by the Chief Financial Officer requesting that the Moray Integration Joint Board (MIJB) consider the reports to those charged with governance from the Board's External Auditor for the year ended 31 March 2024. Following consideration, the Board unanimously agreed to note the reports from the External Auditor within Appendices 1 and 2 of the report. 12. 2023-24 Audited Annual Accounts The meeting had before it a report by the Chief Financial Officer submitting the Audited Annual Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2024. Mr Riddell, Chair of the Audit, Performance and Risk Committee advised that the Audited Annual Accounts had been considered at the earlier meeting of the Audit, Performance and Risk Committee where it had been agreed to recommend the Audited Annual Accounts to the MIJB for approval. Following consideration, the Board unanimously agreed to approve the Audited Annual Accounts for the financial year 2023/24 and the letter of Representation. Page 34
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13. Moray Mental Health and Wellbeing System Delivery Plan and Proposed Governance Structure The meeting had before it a report by the Deputy Head of Service and Consultant in Public Health providing the Board with assurance on progress towards delivery of the Moray Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy 2016-2026. During discussion surrounding the governance of the Moray Good Mental Health for All Strategic Group, it was noted that the group consisted of 24 members from various groups and partnerships however the quorum for decision making was only 6 representatives, a quarter of the Strategic Group and it was queried whether this was the correct number. In response, Mr Macdonald, Deputy Head of Service agreed to give this further consideration at the next meeting of the Moray Good Mental Health for All Strategic Group. This was noted. Thereafter, the Board agreed to: (i) endorse the description of services and pathways within Moray, and links to wider Grampian services; (ii) approve the Moray Mental Health and Wellbeing Delivery Plan 2024 – 2026; and (iii)approve the proposed Governance Structure for Mental Health and Wellbeing in Moray as set out in Appendix 3 of the report whilst noting that the quorum for the Group would be considered further at its next meeting. 14. Adult Joint Strategic Needs Assessment for Health and Social Care Moray The meeting had before it a report by the Consultant in Public Health presenting the 2024 Adult Joint Strategic Needs Assessment to Moray Integration Joint Board. Following consideration, the Board agreed to approve the Adult Joint Strategic Needs Assessment 2024 for Moray as set out in Appendix 1 of the report. 15. Lossiemouth Locality Independent Report on the Moray Coast Branch Surgeries Closure The meeting had before it a report by the Locality Manager providing an update to the Board on the content of the Scottish Governments 'Independent Report on Moray Coast Branch Surgeries Closure'. The Board joined the Chair in commending the work of Mr Macdonald, Locality Manager and other officers who had been involved in this process from the beginning and for the professionalism displayed by all involved and thereafter agreed: i) to note the contents of the report; ii) to note the resultant actions relating to the recommendations outlined in the Independent Report; iii) to note the ongoing engagement activity taking place with community members/groups across the Lossiemouth Locality area; and Page 35
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iv) that further updates will be submitted to the Board within the Forres and Lossiemouth Locality section of the wider 6 monthly Moray Locality Planning report. 16. Audit Scotland Report - Integrated Joint Boards Finance and Performance 2024 The meeting had before it a report by the Chief Financial Officer providing the Board with an overview of the recent Accounts Commission report, published by Audit Scotland in July 2024. Following consideration, the Board unanimously agreed to note the report. 17. Annual Performance Report 2023-24 The meeting had before it a report by the Interim Chief Officer which presented the Board with the draft Annual Performance Report 2023/24. During discussion, it was suggested that the Annual Performance Report would benefit from an executive summary summarising the key points in the report. In response, the Interim Chief Officer agreed to review the Annual Performance Reports from other Integration Joint Boards to see if any have a more effective way of reporting. Thereafter, the Board unanimously agreed: (i) to note the draft Annual Performance Report 2023/24 as set out at Appendix 1 of the report; and (ii) to approve the publication of the Annual Performance Report 2023/24 by 30 September 2024. (iii)that the Interim Chief Officer would review the Annual Performance Reports from other Integration Joint Boards to see if any have a more effective way of reporting. 18. Health and Social Care Moray Annual Complaints Report 2023-24 The meeting had before it a report by the Chief Nurse (Moray) providing the Board with the Health and Social Care Moray (HSCM) Annual Complaints Report for 2023/24. Following consideration, the Board unanimously agreed to: (i) note the contents of the annual report; and (ii) approve the publication of the annual report on the Health and Social Care Moray website. Page 36
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MINUTE OF MEETING OF THE MORAY INTEGRATION JOINT BOARD Thursday, 28 November 2024 Council Chambers, Council Office, High Street, Elgin, IV30 1BX PRESENT Mr Ivan Augustus, Councillor Peter Bloomfield, Mrs Sheila Brumby, Mr Sean Coady, Ms Jane Ewen, Councillor Elaine Kirby, Councillor Scott Lawrence, Dr Robert Lockhart, Mr Jim Lyon, Ms Deirdre McIntyre, Mr Derick Murray, Mrs Jeanette Netherwood, Ms Deborah O'Shea, Ms Judith Proctor, Mr Sandy Riddell, Mr Dennis Robertson, Ms Elizabeth Robinson, Dr Malcolm Simmons, Mr Kevin Todd, Councillor Ben Williams APOLOGIES Professor Duff Bruce, Dr Adam Coldwells, Mr John Mundell, Mr Alex Stephen, Ms Janette Topp IN ATTENDANCE Corporate Manager; Consultant Practitioner, Adult Support and Protection Lead Officer; Corporate Business Support Manager and Caroline O'Connor, Committee Services Officer. 1. Chair The meeting was chaired by Mr Dennis Robertson. 2. Welcome The Board joined the Chair in welcoming Councillor Elaine Kirby to her first meeting of the Board. 3. Declaration of Member's Interests Mr Riddell stated for transparency that he was Chair of the Mental Welfare Commission Scotland. The Board noted there were no other declarations of member's interests. Item 5. Page 37
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4. Minute of meeting of 26 September 2024 The minute of the meeting of 26 September 2024 was submitted and approved. 5. Action Log of 26 September 2024 The Action Log of the meeting of 26 September 2024 was discussed and updated accordingly. During discussion, it was noted in respect of the mental health inpatient bed base review collaborative working was ongoing linking with the strategic delivery plan and a progress update report on the strategic delivery plan was due to come back to the Board in 6 months time. The Chief Officer suggested a development session be scheduled to be held before the progress update comes back to the Board, to engage with Board members and provide more details on progress. This was agreed. 6. Minutes of meeting Audit, Performance and Risk Committee of 27 June 2024 The Board noted the minute of the meeting of the Audit, Performance and Risk Committee of 27 June 2024. 7. Congratulations The Board joined the Chair in congratulating Ms Judith Proctor, Interim Chief Officer on her permanent appointment to the post of Chief Officer. 8. Chief Officer Report The meeting had before it a report by the Chief Officer informing the Board of the Chief Officer activities that support the delivery against the Moray Integration Joint Board's (MIJB's) strategic priorities articulated in the Strategic Plan, and the delivery against the 9 Health and Wellbeing outcomes. Following consideration the Board unanimously agreed:- (i) to note the content of the report; and (ii) that transforming services to meet the aspirations of the MIJB's Strategic Plan remains a priority. 9. Revenue Budget Monitoring Quarter 2 for 2024-25 The meeting had before it a report by the Chief Financial Officer updating the Moray Integration Joint Board (MIJB) of the current Revenue Budget reporting position as at 30 September 2024 for the MIJB budget. Mr Murray asked if it would be possible to hold a session for members of the Board to explain the terminology used in the report and provide better understanding for members of the Board of the details and how it all links together. In response, the Chief Officer confirmed it was proposed to hold a development session in January to provide further understanding relating to how the budget is constructed along with the forecast for the following year's savings. Following consideration the Board unanimously agreed to:- Page 38
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(i) note the financial position of the Board as at 30 September 2024 is showing an overspend of £4,795,686 on core services; (ii) note the provisional forecast position for 2024/25 of an overspend of £9,530,074 on total budget for core services; (iii) note the progress against the approved savings plan in paragraph 6, and Appendix 4; (iv) note the budget pressures and emerging budget pressure as detailed in paragraph 7; and (v) note the revisions to staffing arrangements dealt with under delegated powers and in accordance with financial regulations within the Council (MC) and NHS Grampian (NHSG) for the period 1 June to 30 September 2024 as show in Appendix 3. 10. Public Sector Climate Change Duties Reporting Submission 2023-24 The meeting had before it a report by the Chief Officer presenting the Moray Integration Joint Board (MIJB) Climate Change Duties Report submission for 2023/24. Following consideration the Board unanimously agreed to approve the draft Public Sector Climate Change submission to Sustainable Scotland Network (Appendix 1) for the reporting year 2023/24. 11. Carefirst Replacement - Update The meeting had before it a report by the Interim Head of Service and Chief Social Work Officer informing the Board of the progress of the replacement Social Work and social care case management system and the outline business case. Following consideration the Board unanimously agreed to:- (i) note the update on progress; and (ii) approve the amended timescale for the outline business case to be reported to the Board in January 2025. 12. Adult Support and Protection Biennial Report 2022-2024 The meeting had before it a report by the Consultant Practitioner, Adult Support and Protection Lead Officer providing the Board the Adult Support and Protection Biennial Report for the period from 2022-2024. The Board joined the Chair in commending the work of the team in response to the recent Adult and Support Protection Progress Review which highlighted significant improvement within the service, reflected in the Biennial Report. Following consideration the Board unanimously agreed to:- Page 39
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(i) note the publication of the Moray's Adult Support and Protection Biennial Report 2022-2024; (ii) acknowledge from the Biennial Report, the work of the Adult Protection Committee (APC) and practitioners across the Partnership to ensure adults in need of support and protection are appropriately supported; and (iii) recognised, as detailed in the Biennial Report, the success of the APC over the reporting period in making significant progress in relation to the findings of the 2022 Joint Inspection. 13. Moray Integration Joint Board Meetings 2025-26 The meeting had before it a report by the Corporate Manager asking the Board to agree the meeting dates for 2025/26. Following consideration the Board unanimously agreed to endorse the schedule of meetings for the Moray Integration Joint Board (MIJB), the Audit, Performance and Risk (APR) Committee and the Clinical and Care Governance (CCG) Committee for 2025/26. 14. Financial Recovery Plan - Confidential The meeting had before it a report by the Chief Financial Officer providing the Board with an update on the financial recovery action plan that addressed the 2024/25 budget gap between income and forecast expenditure. Following consideration the Board unanimously agreed to:- (i) note the expected financial position at the end of the current financial year and the implications for 2025/26; (ii) note the updated recovery action plan highlighted at Appendix 1 and in paragraph 6; and (iii) approve the amendments to the savings proposals detailed at para 6.11 to 6.17. Page 40
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REPORT TO: MORAY INTEGRATION JOINT BOARD ON 30 JANUARY 2025 SUBJECT: CHIEF OFFICER REPORT BY: CHIEF OFFICER 1. REASON FOR REPORT 1.1 To inform the Board of the Chief Officer activities that support the delivery against the Moray Integration Joint Board’s (MIJB’s) strategic priorities articulated in the Strategic Plan, and the delivery against the 9 Health and Wellbeing outcomes. 1.2 Strategic planning needs to maintain a focus on transformational change to deliver services to our community within the resources we have available. 2024/25 is a very challenging year for delivering within the budget, with our two funding partners, Moray Council and NHS Grampian, under considerable financial pressure as well. 2. RECOMMENDATION 2.1 It is recommended that the Board: i) consider and note the content of the report; and ii) agree that transforming services to meet the aspirations of the MIJB’s Strategic Plan remains a priority. 3. BACKGROUND Home First 3.1 The numbers of patients whose discharge is delayed remains challenging, but they have reduced, and the position is better than at this time last year. Our current position at time of report is 32 patients delayed, our target is 26. Our Discharge to Assess Team (D2A) have joined forces with our START team (care at home enablement team) and early indications of this test of change are positive. 3.2 Ongoing work around identifying those whose care needs are critical continues. Weekly meetings take place to ensure that the Moray MDT are sighted on each case and are able to pull together to ensure care packages are secured as quickly as possible. APPENDIX 3 Item 5. Page 41
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3.3 We continue with our daily strategic MDT which has now become business as usual and is now recognised as the place that MDT members can get support with any challenges or risks. 3.4 We are working on ensuring that the DGH MDT meetings can liaise with the patient's own practice MDT in order to maximise early discharges. Vaccination Programme 3.5 It has been requested that the Annual Vaccination Report be added to the January agenda as a separate item for Moray IJB. The same report will be shared with the Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire IJBs in early February. Ward 4 3.6 Two workshops set up by the MHLD Portfolio Board took place in November 2024 as part of the Mental Health Bed Base Review for Grampian. Representatives from Moray participated in these events. 3.7 Following the workshops each Health and Social Care Partnership submitted a storyboard which outlined: people, places and pathways. Moray submitted their response on 20 December 2024. 3.8 A small Moray working group will continue to participate in the overall Bed Base Review and coordinate wider Moray responses as required. The working group will report to the Moray Mental Health Strategic Group. 3.9 It is anticipated that the Mental Health and Learning Disability Programme Board will reach its conclusions on the way forward within the current financial year. 3.10 The Moray Mental Health Strategic Group will report back to the Moray IJB on 29 May 2025. Aberlour Medical Centre Update 3.11 The GMS contract process has been completed. News release circulated to patients of the practice and staff all aware. The process to transfer Aberlour Medical Practice to Speyside Medical Group is now in progress. The transfer date of the 1st April 2025 has been agreed and the practice will remain under the running of Health & Social Care moray (HSCM) until that date. Lossiemouth Locality Update 3.12 The Lossiemouth Locality Planning Group met on 8 November 2024 to evaluate progress to date and to set priorities for the following two years. 3.13 The Head of Service and Deputy Head of Service Health and Social Care Moray met with the SOS group on the 10 December 2024 to continue to explore opportunities to progress Recommendation 2 within the Scottish Government report titled ‘Independent Report on the Moray Coast Branch Surgeries Closure’. At this meeting the Head of Service confirmed that there is no additional funding available to pilot a nurse led project within the coastal village area. This position has also been confirmed by Scottish Government in regard to any new SG funding in a Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Secretary on the 18th December 2024. Page 42
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3.14 The primary structure for service planning will continue to be progressed through the Lossiemouth Locality Planning Group to ensure a 'whole system' approach is taken to service delivery. Management capacity 3.15 The Programme Management Office (PMO) has been established to co- ordinate and support progress of savings projects and the delivery of agreed savings plans for 2024/25 with the re-deployment of a service manager and part time support manager. Management capacity to progress actions to release savings remains a challenge, and opportunities for development have been identified for circulation with wider staff groups, that are intended to provide additional capacity in key project areas. The Mental Welfare Commission (MWC) 3.16 The Mental Welfare Commission (MWC) announced visit to Ward 4, Dr Gray's Hospital took place on 16 October 2024. The report is due to be published on 15 January 2025 and an action plan will require to be completed to take forward the recommendations. The action plan will go to SMT on 19 March 2025 for approval before being submitted to the MWC by the deadline of 2 April 2025 Festive Working 3.17 Our Teams were at times under significant pressures during the Festive Period. Everyone worked together to ensure we continued with patient flow in Dr Gray’s and Community Hospitals. Dr Gray’s Hospital had significant challenges with capacity. All parts of the system are holding debriefs to learn from this period for future planning. GMED 3.18 The GMED service continues to observe recurring difficulties in staffing shifts across its centres. It is not always possible to secure staff through the bank system to cover unplanned absences and staff may decline requests to redeploy to other areas which are short-staffed. 3.19 Contingency protocols activated by GMED in October have included:- • Fraserburgh operations: Clinician and driver relocated to Peterhead. • Huntly operations: Following a review of protocols, Huntly remains in full operations. • Introduction of a HCSW on overnight shifts when MIUs are not operational to manage lone working risks. • There is no change to the way patients access the GMED service across the Grampian region. 3.20 Health and Social Care Moray continue to engage with Aberdeenshire Health and Social Care Partnership to review the GMED Service’s position and remit across the urgent and unscheduled care system following the closures of their MIUs in the overnight period. 3.21 Early in 2024, Chief Officers for Moray, Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire health and social care partnerships requested a review of the GMED model. The review, led by a programme board, aims to enhance the quality, safety and efficiency of the service while ensuring sustainable workforce levels and promoting staff wellbeing. Page 43
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3.22 The review will be completed by the end of January 2025 with review findings due to be presented to the three Integration Joint Boards in March 2025. A programme of engagement and consultation will be included as informed by the national Planning with People guidance. Review of Social Work Governance & Assurance Arrangements across Scotland 3.23 The Scottish Government has undertaken a review on social work governance and assurance in Scotland between July to December 2024, carried out by the Care Inspectorate on their behalf under Section 53 of the Public Services Reform (Scotland) Act 2010. The review seeks to address, nationally, how well social work governance and assurance arrangements support leaders to: • Ensure statutory duties are carried out safely and effectively:- • Enable social work staff to be supported, accountable and effective in their practice • Assist social work staff to uphold core social work values • Highlight areas of influence for CSWOs and key social work leaders • Identify challenges, improvements and what is working well 3.24 The review was conducted on a regional basis using the European Framework for Quality Management (EFQM) model and a National Report is expected on the Care Inspectorate website in March 2025 notwithstanding slippage. The findings will be reported back to committee following publication of the report. Reserves Policy 3.25 The Reserves Policy was approved at MIJB on 25 January 2024 and the recommendation was that it would be reviewed annually with the next review being due before March 2025. The policy has been reviewed and there are no amendments recommended this year and the current policy will remain valid. With the financial climate this financial year there will be no reserves by the end of 2024/25. 4. KEY MATTERS RELEVANT TO RECOMMENDATION 4.1 To support the acceleration of the MIJB ambitions set out in the Strategic Plan the Delivery plan is currently being refreshed to support next steps 4.2 The challenge of finance persists and there remains the need to address the underlying deficit in core services. The development of a Programme Management Office is in progress to support our financial savings. 5. SUMMARY OF IMPLICATIONS (a) Corporate Plan and 10 Year Plan (Local Outcomes Improvement Plan (LOIP)) and Moray Integration Joint Board Strategic Plan “Partners in Care 2022 – 2032” Working with our partners to support people so they can cope with, and where possible, overcome the health and wellbeing challenges they may face. Page 44
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Ensuring that the right care is provided at the right place at the right time when people are in need. Ensuring that our systems are as simple and efficient as possible. (b) Policy and Legal The Chief Officer continues to operate within the appropriate level of delegated authority, ensuring that the MIJB is sighted on key issues at the earliest opportunity, and continues to influence and agree the strategic direction. (c) Financial implications There are no financial implications arising directly from this report. The Chief Finance Officer continues to report regularly. There is an ongoing requirement to find efficiencies and to demonstrate best value for money. (d) Risk Implications and Mitigation The risk of not redesigning services will mean that HSCM and the Moray Portfolio cannot respond adequately to future demands. (e) Staffing Implications Staff remain the organisation’s greatest asset, and engagement with all sectors must continue to ensure full involvement, which will create the best solutions to the challenges faced. HSCM staff are facing continued pressures on a daily basis, and effort into ensuring staff well-being must continue. (f) Property There are no issues arising directly from this report. (g) Equalities/Socio Economic Impact Any proposed permanent change to service delivery will need to be impact assessed to ensure that HSCM are not disadvantaging any section of our community. HSCM will continue to work closely with all our partners to ensure that we contribute to the health and well-being of the community and support the recovery phase of the Covid-19 pandemic. (h) Climate Change and Biodiversity Impacts Care closer to and at home, delivered by teams working on a locality basis, will reduce HSCM’s reliance on centralised fixed assets and their associated use of utilities. (i) Directions There are no directions arising from this report. (j) Consultations The Moray Portfolio Senior Management Team, the Legal Services Manager and Caroline O’Connor, Committee Services Officer have been consulted in the drafting of this report. 6. CONCLUSION Page 45
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6.1 The MIJB are asked to acknowledge the significant efforts of staff, across in-house providers, externally commissioned services, the Independent and Third Sector, who are supporting the response to the recovery, and the drive to create resilience and sustainability through positive change. 6.2 The size of the financial challenge facing the MIJB, and also its two funding partners, means that redesign and transformation is not an option but a necessity. HSCM’s approach will be to prioritise quality, safety and good outcomes in all service redesigns. Author of Report: Judith Proctor, Chief Officer, Moray Portfolio Page 46
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REPORT TO: MORAY COUNCIL ON 19 FEBRUARY 2025 SUBJECT: REVENUE BUDGET MONITORING TO 31 DECEMBER 2024 BY: DEPUTE CHIEF EXECUTIVE (ECONOMY, ENVIRONMENT AND FINANCE) 1. REASON FOR REPORT 1.1 To advise Council of the revenue budget monitoring position to 31 December 2024 and the current estimated out-turn for 2024/25. 1.2 This report is submitted to Council in terms of Section III B (10) of the Council’s Administrative Scheme relating to monitoring current revenue expenditure against approved budget. 2. RECOMMENDATION 2.1 It is recommended that the Council considers and notes: (i) the budget monitoring position of £864,000 over budget for 2024/25 as at 31 December 2024; (ii) movement of a £8,597,000 increase in General Revenue Grant, as detailed in paragraph 3.3; (iii) the current estimated out-turn for 2024/25 of an overspend in Council services including Health and Social Care of £2,423,000 after adjusting for the cost sharing agreement with NHS for MIJB, which would result in additional use of the working reserve of £1,592,000 above planned use of that reserve, with £831,000 funded from the ear-marked reserve for Council priorities; and (iv) that Heads of Service have been tasked with reducing overspends and generally reducing expenditure to bring expenditure back into line with budget. 2.2 It is recommended that Council approves re- allocation of part of a budget pressure provision as outlined in paragraph 6.1 Item 6. Page 47
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3. BACKGROUND 3.1 When the revenue budget for 2024/25 was approved by Moray Council on 28 February 2024 (paragraph 7 of the minute refers), General Revenue Grant of £215,396,000 was estimated for the year, based on the latest amount notified to the Council and included an increase of £9,167,000 for the transfer of Early Learning and Childcare from specific grant, as well as estimates for further distributions of grant expected during the year. Council Tax receipts of £51,375,000 were anticipated. Budgeted expenditure of £278,794,000 was agreed, and this required use of ear-marked reserves totalling £731,000 for transformation, £1,136,000 for Moray Growth Deal cash flow and of £10,156,000 from working (covid) reserves to balance the budget. 3.2 In addition to the Council’s core budget, monies allocated to schools through the Devolved School Management (DSM) scheme and not spent are brought forward from previous years. The DSM balance brought forward in 2024/25 is £753,000 (2023/24 £853,000). Unused Pupil Equity Fund of £677,000 received in 2023/24 and £76,000 funding for nursery snacks and fundraising have been carried forward into 2024/25 in accordance with the grant conditions. On 26 June 2024 Council approved additional expenditure of £192,000 to be funded from the working ear-marked reserve. All these adjustments have been posted to departmental budgets. 3.3 Additional General Revenue Grant (GRG) of £8.6 million has been included on Appendix 3 after being confirmed by the Scottish Government in the latest Finance Circular 10/2024 received on 12 December 2024. Further redeterminations of funding have been announced and are reflected in the revised budget, including: £2,440,000 for Teacher Numbers, £1,011,000 for Teacher Induction, £248,000 for Scottish Welfare Fund, £65,000 for No-one Left Behind, £53,000 of Ukraine funding, and £15,000 for Temporary Accommodation. Confirmation of funding for the Local Government and SNCT Teacher’s pay deal has also been included (£1,283,000 and £515,000 respectively). Total revenue funding (net of specific grant) for Moray Council in 2024/25 is now confirmed at £225,308,000. 3.4 Additional funding from the Scottish Government to support the Local Government Teachers’ Pay deal was recently notified in January 2025 at £507,000. 3.5 With these adjustments to use of reserves and GRG, the Council’s overall General Services revenue budget currently stands at £286,636,000. 3.6 Reconciliation of the movements in the base budget from that which was approved by the Moray Council on 28 February 2024 is shown in APPENDIX 3 and allocations to departments from the provisions for Inflation and Contingencies, Additional Costs and Savings are listed in APPENDIX 4. 3.7 The format of the report has been amended following members comments to incorporate more figures presented in tabular format. Further comments from members on presentation are welcomed. Page 48
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4. BUDGET POSITION 4.1 APPENDIX 1 summarises the current position for each service, comparing actual expenditure with budget to 31 December 2024. The variance per service is also summarised below and further analysed in paragraph 4.16. Service Para ref Total variance £000s Education Resources & Communities 4.4 52 Schools 4.5 321 Housing & Property 4.10 62 Environmental & Commercial 4.6 (176) Economic Growth & Development 4.7 236 HR, ICT & OD 4.8 (16) Financial Services 4.12 (476) Governance, Strategy & Performance 4.9 289 Other 4.11 (593) MIJB 4.13 (645) Other Health & Social Care 4.14 82 TOTAL (864) Note: in this and all tables which follow figures in brackets are overspends. Overall the budget position at 31 December 2024 is expenditure over budget to date of £864,000 or 0.4% of budget to date, which includes services delivered on behalf of the Moray Integration Joint Board (MIJB). This compares to the first estimated out-turn report to Council on 4 December 2024 (para 11 of the minute refers) of £3,693,000 over budget to date for quarter 2. The first of two main changes in the year to date variances is in Environmental & Commercial Services, with a current £176,000 overspend to date compared to £1,486,000 reported last quarter. While budgets are profiled to align as much as possible with actual spend, these can cause variances and within Roads Maintenance the overspend was due to a processing time lag for the works recharged to capital. This was processed early in quarter 3. The second is an overspend in Health & Social Care (MIJB) at quarter 2 of £1,879,000, and is currently £645,000. Further supernumerary and strain on fund costs in quarter 3 have also impacted on the variance, and these will be funded from the Council Priorities reserve. 4.2 The principal areas of overspend and underspend across the Council at quarter 3 are summarised below. 4.3 In Education, Resources and Communities there is an underspend to date of £52,000. Much of this relates to over achievement of income in Sport and Leisure services which totals £69,000 and underspends in the Learning Estate operational budget of £16,000. Libraries have an underspend on energy costs of £26,000 to date and under achieved on income by £8,000. There are overspends on licences within Leisure, along with underachievement of budgeted Public Private Partnership (PPP) contract deductions. Page 49
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4.4 Education has a £321,000 underspend to date. Devolved School budgets are underspent by £697,000 at the end of the third quarter; £245,000 in primary schools and £452,000 in secondary schools. There is flexibility in DSM budgets to allow for planning for the sessions ahead and where spend is planned on the academic year, and budgets are held in an earmarked reserve for this purpose. Non-devolved schools budgets are £124,000 underspent to date, primarily due to staffing oncosts £97,000 and energy £28,000. In Early Learning and Childcare, there is a £37,000 underspend on the snack and fundraising account (again funded from an earmarked reserve) alongside an £8,000 training underspend. Partner provider payments are over budget by £92,000 against budget to date. Underspends in Schools and Curriculum Development include: free sanitary products £23,000, advertising £9,000 and disturbance mileage £5,000. Central supply continues to be over budget and is currently £269,000 over to date; a cost which is difficult to forecast due to being cover for maternity and sick leave. In ASN there is a redundancy payment of £55,000, a cost which is unbudgeted and which will be met from the ear-marked reserve for Council priorities. Out of Area placements is showing a £220,000 overspend; this is due to the extension of placements until the end of the financial year. A summary is shown below of the impact on reserves of the current Education variances. Working reserve £000s Other ear-marked reserves £000s Schools 124 697 ELC (81) 37 Schools & Curriculum Development (219) - Central education budgets 4 - ASN 34 (55) Out of Area (220) - TOTAL (358) 679 4.5 Environmental and Commercial Services are presenting a £176,000 overspend to date across sections within the service. Roads Maintenance There is a net overspend of £545,000 within the Roads Maintenance revenue budget. There are variances throughout the budget. Staffing underspends are due to vacancies, which necessitates the use of external contractors at a higher cost. Materials are over budget to date due to rising costs and so the planned programme will be adjusted to ensure it is delivered within the available budget. This will inevitably reduce both the recharges to capital and revenue maintenance. Recharges to capital have been processed to quarter 3 and the variance in recharges to capital has reduced from quarter 2 £1,050,000 under to £506,000 under achieved. The bulk of the revenue maintenance budget is allocated to items such as carriageway repairs/footway repairs/gully cleaning/grass cutting and ditching maintenance which are Page 50
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slightly lower than budget to date at £40,000. Works charged out for external work has generated £134,000 of income to date. Winter Maintenance is currently £147,000 over budget to date and will rise in the final quarter with the recent winter conditions. Fleet Services Fleet are currently £386,000 under budget. In a similar situation to Roads, there are long term staffing underspends in Fleet due to vacancies. Recent recruitment success, however, means the workshop can return to in-house work on areas that had to be outsourced at higher prices and this should gradually filter through to reduce overspends on sub-contractors. Overspends in spare parts, hire of additional vehicles for departments and accident damage are reflected against Fleet expenditure budgets, however Fleet recharge income to departments for ad hoc maintenance work done in the workshop and hire of additional vehicles exceed budget; the overspends will be reflected in user departments. There is underachieved income from MOTs and Taxi licences of £8,000. Building Cleaning and Catering Catering and Cleaning are £116,000 under budget to date. Within School Catering the underspend of £90,000 is mostly due to overachievement of income. Facilities Management is under budget by £16,000 on free sanitary products, and building cleaning by £9,000. Open Spaces Open Spaces are under budget by £66,000 to date. Within this the Lands & Parks operational budget is £129,000 under budget to date, with variances including supplies and services underspends of £18,000 (materials and equipment) and overspends on vehicle hire charges of £29,000. Income has exceeded budget; external income from service users is back within budget due to the recharge to Common Good and HRA. Burial Grounds has an overspend of £88,000, primarily due to an income shortfall to date on interment fees and sale of lairs, partly offset by a small underspend in grounds maintenance recharge from Lands & Parks. Other Grounds Maintenance is under budget by £25,000 including: War Memorials maintenance over by £12,000, Dorenell Core Paths project £5,000 (unspent funding for these projects will be carried forward in an earmarked reserves at the end of the year), and underspends on Outdoor Access of £27,000 and GM rental income above budget by £13,000 part of which will be transferred to Trusts at year end as the land is under the ownership of Trusts. Waste Management Waste is £67,000 under budget to date. Variances include overspends on the NESS Energy from Waste budget of £99,000, which are anticipated to come back in line with budget, also leachate of £13,000 and insurance excess of £9,000. Underspends are on fuel £34,000, energy costs £14,000 and Waste royalties £18,000. Income variances include surplus of gas income at Dallachy £72,000 and tipping and street sweeping income £39,000, and recycling income £52,000 against income shortfalls in Trade Waste of £40,000. Page 51
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Transportation An overspend of £249,000 to date: £83,000 in car parks of which £17,000 is one off spend on upgrade of 25 car park machines to 4G and will be capitalised, £11,000 of charges for pay by phone income, along with £56,000 shortfall in car parking income. A £58,000 overspend on the Dredger is due to repairs from the mid-term loadline survey £35,000 (again the potential to capitalise), and £166,000 overspend on Harbours due to agency cover for staff absences, higher energy cost only partially recoverable and additional licence fees for deep dredging of Buckie Harbour. Underachievement of income in Harbours of £78,000 (although some of this is this is due to invoicing falling behind due to staff sickness). There is an income surplus in Traffic of £82,000. Engineering Design An overspend to date £35,000 in Bridge Works and Flood Prevention budgets is due to timing of commitments against the budget for future years. Directorate and Admin Together these budgets are under by £18,000 to date, due to energy costs and advertising. A table summarising the position at quarter 3 for Environmental and Commercial Services is shown below: Overspend £000 Underspend £000 Net Variance £000 Roads Maintenance (545) Fleet Services 386 Building Cleaning & Catering 116 Open Spaces 66 Waste Management 67 Transportation (249) Engineering Design (35) Directorate & Admin 18 TOTAL (829) 653 (176) 4.6 Economic Growth and Development Services have a £236,000 underspend. Income from building standards and Environmental Health is ahead of target by £77,000 and £10,000 respectively. Funding of £150,000 for Elgin long term town fund planning capacity has been received and any underspend will go to an earmarked reserve at year end. Other underspends include community safety £8,000 and supplies and services £6,000. There is a shortfall in Planning income of £21,000 for Q3 and it is expected that this will be reversed in Q4. 4.7 HR, ICT and Organisational Development are net £16,000 overspent to date; overspends on ICT hardware and software £33,000, central telephones costs Page 52
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£28,000 and other variances £30,000. The underspend on training at quarter 3 is £75,000. 4.8 Governance, Strategy and Performance have an underspend of £289,000 which is primarily due to an underspend in the Scottish Welfare Fund (SWF) of £309,000, largely due to additional and unexpected funding from Scottish Government being remitted in December. Any underspends on SWF must be retained for future use in an earmarked reserve. Other underspends include; Civic Licensing fee income of £38,000, mainly from Short Term Lets, and Licensing Board income of £44,000. Licence fees are calculated to cover cost; the Council cannot make a profit from licence fees and if income is above budget at the year end fees for future years must be adjusted to reflect this. Overspends are within Housing Benefits of £12,000 and Discretionary Housing Payments £68,000, along with software costs £52,000 higher than budget. 4.9 General Services Housing and Property is underspent by £62,000 in total to date, with over and under variances; overspends on corporate buildings repairs and maintenance of £52,000, schools repairs and maintenance £85,000 and surplus property running costs £34,000. Underspends within Homeless temporary accommodation £117,000, a surplus of Industrial Estate rental income £134,000 and Improvement Grants £19,000. 4.10 Other expenditure is over budget to date by £593,000 including £151,000 for supernumerary posts and voluntary redundancy payments which will be funded from Council Priorities reserve. Additional pension costs were £322,000 over budget, including Strain on Fund £281,000 which will also call upon the Council Priorities reserve. 4.11 Financial Services has a net overspend of £476,000 due to the payment of an uninsured loss that was incurred during the year. This is a corporate cost but recorded under Financial Services. 4.12 Health and Social Care is reporting an overspend across services at the end of quarter 3 of £1,239,000 in total. The figures included in this report relate purely to the services delivered by Moray Council on behalf of the MIJB for Adults and Children’s Services which is £645,000 over budget. There are overspends in most areas; the significant variances include Learning disability service of £1,575,000 for purchasing of care; older people and physical sensory disability of £1,224,000 which relates to purchasing of care and permanent care placements; £170,000 relating to children’s and justice services for continuing care placements and residential placements for children with a disability; which is being reduced by underspends in the care services provided in-house of £1,616,000 due to the challenges of recruitment in this area. 4.13 Health and Social Care (non IJB) is £82,000 under budget. 4.14 Income budgets across the Council are showing both positive and negative variances and the main variances have been identified above in paragraphs 4.1 - 4.14. Page 53
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4.15 The quarter 3 position is summarised in the table below. With a net overspend of £864,000, the impact on the reserves at this current point is a net increase in use of the working reserve of £1,129,000, an increase in the Council Priorities reserve for strain on fund and redundancy costs £432,000 and a decrease in the use of the schools DSM reserve by £697,000. Overspend £000 Underspend £000 Impact on working reserve £000 Impact on other earmarked reserves £000 Schools - DSM 697 697 Schools - Non-devolved costs 124 124 Central Supply teachers (269) (269) Out of Area (220) (220) Roads Maintenance (545) (545) Environmental & Commercial Services income (182) 624 442 Other Environmental & Commercial Services 279 279 Building Control & Planning fee income 252 252 Property repairs & maintenance (137) (137) Costs of early retirement/ supernumerary/strain on fund (432) (432) MIJB - Health & Social Care and Children’s Services (645) (645) Other Council Services (753) (753) Other Income (29) 372 343 TOTAL (3,212) 2,348 (1,129) 265 4.16 Budget managers were tasked with bringing projected overspends within budget and a comparison with the projections made at the end of quarter 2 indicates a measure of success in achieving this (see paragraph 8.2 below). 5. BUDGET PRESSURES AND ADDITIONS 5.1 Budget pressures recognised when the budget was approved on 28 February 2024 are released when the pressure builds up to the extent that it can be accurately quantified. Provisions to meet budget pressures and new duties totalling £6,987,000 have been released in quarter 3 and these are itemised in APPENDIX 4. Page 54
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5.2 Provisions still held centrally at the end of quarter 3 total £8,269,000 and are detailed in APPENDIX 5 and given a RAG assessment for likelihood of requirement. 5.3 Provisions assessed as red at quarter 3, as no longer being required, were adjusted for within the budget and either reduced or removed. 5.4 Three provisions are assessed as red at this point and are no longer required: NDR revaluations balance carried forward from 2023/24 of £14,000; £40,000 for Scottish Welfare Funding was budgeted but additional revenue grant from the Scottish Government has been confirmed so the council funding is not needed; the Revised Improvement and Modernisation Plan (IMP) (now Transformation Strategy) of £596,000 for Raising Attainment was carried over from 2023/24 to fund expenditure in April to August 2024 - the balance of £402,000 is not required. 5.5 Nine provisions, totalling £5,210,000, are assessed as amber and have yet to be taken, or uncertain if required. Three have had no draw down of budget this year to date and they were all confirmed as additional funding from the Scottish Government in the finance circular received in December 2024: School Milk Subsidy Scheme £19,000, Educational Psychologists £6,000, Temporary Accommodation £15,000. The others are the Moray Growth Deal contribution to Early Years Science Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (EY STEM) balance of £18,000, £60,000 balance from the NDR liability following the increase in Uniform Business Rates, of which approximately £40,000 is required for the small number of accounts queries outstanding; the Free School Meals expansion project has been marked as amber, with a balance of £54,000 although this is not expected to be required in full this year; Teacher Induction redetermination of £1,011,000 was confirmed and to date £733,000 has been drawn down to department budgets with the balance not required. The budget pressure allowed for the Council’s 47% share of the MIJB overspend will remain as amber until final year figures are known. At this point the anticipated variance, including the adjustment to reflect the cost sharing agreement, is estimated to be £2,592,000. 5.6 All other provisions are expected to be required in full at this juncture. 6. EMERGING BUDGET PRESSURES / RE_ALLOCATION OF BUDGET PROVISION 6.1 A service development budget of £176,000 is included in this year’s budget as part of the Levelling Up Fund (LUF) original capacity funding. Now that the LUF funding allocations have been confirmed with the UK Government, with Moray receiving £18 million from the LUF Round 3 for the Elgin City Masterplan, this service development provision is no longer required. It is therefore recommended that £50,000 be directed towards a parking study which would inform and support both the LUF and Moray Growth Deal (MGD) projects by commissioning a capacity review of car parking in and adjacent to Elgin City Centre. The requirement for this comes from a combination of additional pressures identified on current capacity arising from: • additional parking demand generated from projects within the MGD, LUF and Elgin Town Board Investment Plan and other development proposals Page 55
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• Limitations on capacity of the St Giles shopping centre car park due to structural issues. 6.2 The balance of the budget provision will be removed from the budget and reduce the call on the working reserve by £116,000. 7. SAVINGS 7.1 Savings and increased charges of £9,370,000 were approved when the budget was set. These savings comprised one-off savings of £112,000 and other permanent savings of £8,916,000. The increase in charges per the budget paper was £342,000. 7.2 In addition to the savings approved when the budget was set, additional savings/income of £1,216,000 were carried forward from 2023/24 to be actioned in the current year. Further recurring savings/additional income of £225,000 were approved at Moray Council on 26 June 2024; £75,000 leisure services income and £150,000 energy costs saving (paragraph 14 of the minute refers), £50,000 approved at Moray Council on 25 September 2024 (paragraph 16 of the minute refers) and £70,000 approved at a Special meeting of Moray Council on 22 October 2024 (paragraph 12 of the minute refers). These are included on APPENDIX 6. Savings provisions were also updated following reporting of quarter 2 revenue monitoring to Moray Council on 4 December 2024, with some savings being moved forward into 2025/26. 7.3 A balance of £2,651,000 remains in central provisions as at the end of June. These are detailed in APPENDIX 6 and given a RAG assessment for anticipated achievement. The balance consists of savings not yet posted to services (£1,282,000) less additional savings found in year (£75,000). 7.4 Eighty two savings marked as green have been achieved, or will be achieved in the year, totalling £9,151,000. 7.5 Fifteen savings classed as amber totalling £1,995,000 remain outstanding. Of these, £1,348,000 are still expected to be achieved in full this year. Several savings within Environmental and Commercial Services have been delayed and their positions being confirmed: increase in garden waste permit income has been adjusted to reflect the actual income to date and a reduction in the saving will be reflected; £165,000 of increased income/savings in Parks and Open Spaces have yet to be taken from departmental budgets for the uplift in burial charges to full cost recovery; and the recharge for the maintenance of Common Good/Trust land and parks is to be posted against budgets; an amount of £65,000 has been identified as available funds in 2024/25 but the Common Good and Trust Funds are high risk savings in that the disbursable income in the year is linked to the interest rate, as well as repairs and maintenance and other expenditure, and if this is sufficient funding to cover the costs of grounds maintenance. Fleet have identified externally leased vehicles that can be ended and therefore reduce costs as user departments will share existing vehicles/plant. When vehicles have been collected, savings will then be generated and processed. A one off saving of £73,000 is anticipated to accrue from the refund due from Grampian Valuation Joint Board, the amount of which will be confirmed when the accounts for 2023/24 are audited and approved by the Board at their meeting on 31 January 2025. Page 56
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Indicative savings from the Improvement and Modernisation Programme (now Transformation Strategy) have a variety of classifications; Stream 4: Review and expansion of flexible working, now Smarter Working,£44,000, Reduction in investment costs £4,000 which are both expected to be posted to budgets in quarter 4, and LEAN review £125,000, a project which has been reprioritised for the Future Council work and put back into future years. 7.6 Savings carried forward from 2023/24 are still showing as amber but are all expected to be achieved and posted to the ledger: the review of purchasing card £30,000, which will be across services to ensure that VAT receipts are submitted per financial regulations and therefore all input VAT reclaimed; reduction in reinvestment costs in Children’s Services of £18,000; and the balance of the schools PPP service concession which requires detailed calculations to be carried out to confirm the exact saving. 7.7 Approved savings that are now not expected to go ahead, marked in red on the APPENDIX 6, total £533,000: The expected increase in vacancy factor in line with pay awards has been calculated and budgets increased now the pay award has been posted. The estimated saving of £640,000 has not been achieved in full with a balance of £447,000; Welfare Benefits and Money Advice, co-location of Citizen’s Advice Bureau (CAB) savings will not be achieved as not agreed with CAB, with discussions continuing; Health & Safety Specialist Advice has already been taken as a saving last year; £56,000 for the Stream 2: ICT and Digital, the schools admin review will not be realised. These will be adjusted for in quarter 4. 8 ESTIMATED OUT-TURN 8.1 APPENDIX 2 summarises the second estimated out-turn position for each service area, comparing the estimated expenditure with the budget to 31 March 2024. The forecast variance per service is also summarised below and further analysed in the following paragraphs. Service Para ref Total variance £000s Impact on working reserve £000 Impact on other earmarked reserves * £000 Education Resources & Communities 8.4 226 226 Schools 8.5 113 113 Housing & Property 8.11 76 76 Environmental & Commercial 8.6 (474) (474) Economic Growth & Development 8.7 408 408 HR, ICT & OD 8.8 (92) (92) Financial Services 8.9 1,367 1,367 Governance, Strategy & Performance 8.10 109 109 Other 8.12 (817) 14 (831) Loans Charges 8.13 (3,000) (3,000) Page 57
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Service Para ref Total variance £000s Impact on working reserve £000 Impact on other earmarked reserves * £000 MIJB 8.14 (2,592) (2,592) Other Health & Social Care 8.15 108 108 Central Provisions 8.16/ 8.17 2,145 2,145 TOTAL (2,423) (1,592) (831) * Excluding slippage to be carried forward 8.2 Overall the estimated out-turn position for 2024/25 is expenditure over budget of £2,423,000 or 0.8% of budget for the year, including services delivered on behalf of the MIJB. This compares to the first estimated out-turn report to Council on 4 December 2024 (para 11 of the minute refers) of £1,406,000 over budget, which is summarised below. The main movement in the estimated out-turn arises from: an increase in the overachievement of the staff vacancy target in Education with a movement of £683,000 (see para 8.5); a reduction in the forecast overspend on corporate buildings and schools repairs and maintenance since quarter 2 of £25,000 and £50,000 respectively; a reduction in the overspend on Environmental & Commercial Services primarily due to a reduction in the Fleet overspend forecast at quarter 2 to an underspend at quarter 3: overspends are still projected in transport costs but will be offset by underspends in external hires and sub contractors. An in- depth analysis of the Interest on Revenue Balances (IORB) has changed the forecast in Financial Services and Loans Charges (see paras 8.9 and 8.13). The projected use of working reserves at quarter 2 was distorted because funding allocations were unconfirmed and the forecast use of working reserves was £10,858,000, higher than the available balance. Variations in General Revenue Grant totalling £8,597,000 have been confirmed in quarter 3 and the estimated use of the working reserve in 2024/25 is £6,494,000. Quarter 2 Forecast Outturn (reported to Moray Council 4 December 2024) Service Initial estimated variance £000s Impact on working reserve £000 Impact on other earmarked reserves £000 Education Resources & Communities 174 174 Schools (680) (680) Housing & Property (142) (142) Environmental & Commercial (818) (818) Economic Growth & Development 679 225 454 HR, ICT & OD (112) (112) Page 58
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Financial Services (412) (412) Governance, Strategy & Performance (252) (252) Other (649) (649) Loans Charges (800) (328) (472) MIJB (2,626) (2,626) Other Health & Social Care 74 74 Central Provisions 4,158 4,158 TOTAL (1,406) (1,388) (18) 8.3 The principal area of forecast overspends and underspends across the Council reflect the major variances mentioned in section 4 of this report. Details of projected out-turn variances are summarised below. 8.4 In Education, Resources and Communities there is a projected underspend of £226,000, most of which relates to the current position explained in paragraph 4.4; forecast over achievement of income in Sport and Leisure services of £65,000 and underspends due to staff vacancies £210,000 and the learning estate operational budget £18,000. Shortfall in income Libraries of £9,000. There are forecast overspends on licences within Leisure £20,000, library books £10,000 along with underachievement of budgeted Public Private Partnership (PPP) contract deductions of £25,000. 8.5 In Education there is a projected underspend of £113,000. The overspends to date detailed in paragraph 4.5 are projected to be significantly higher by year end; central supply £600,000 and Out of Area £430,000. Underspends include spend on school sanitary products £23,000, clothing grants £5,000, disturbance mileage £6,000, staff advertising £9,000, rental income from LEC partners in schools of £9,000 and a review of the Speech and Language Therapy service generating a projected £45,000 underspend. Oncosts are forecast to be under budget by £120,000 across primary and secondary. Staffing vacancies also expected to generate an overachievement of vacancy target by £995,000 by year end; this is a substantial increase since the quarter 2 forecast of a £312,000 over achievement of vacancy target and is mainly due to a delay in the restructure of the service from the Change Management Plan and so vacant positions have not been filled along with further staff leaving and posts unlikely to be filled this year. 8.6 Environmental and Commercial Services currently projecting an overspend of £474,000 for the year and are summarised in the table below Estimated Overspend £000 Estimated Underspend £000 Net Variance £000 Staff vacancies above target - 51 Roads Maintenance (607) - Fleet Services - 200 Building Catering & Cleaning - 114 Page 59
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Estimated Overspend £000 Estimated Underspend £000 Net Variance £000 Open Spaces (18) - Waste Management - 97 Transportation (4314) - Engineering Design - 103 TOTAL (1,039) 565 (474) Roads Maintenance Roads Maintenance have a current overspend against budget to date of £545,000 (para 4.5) and the reasons for this are expected to continue to year end. There is a forecast underspend on the Roads Maintenance capital programme which is mainly due to an ongoing lack of resources. In previous years the service have utilised external contractors to ensure the completion of the capital programme but to ensure the budget doesn't overspend the decision was made not to go external this year which means that the income recharge on the revenue side will be a shortfall and will not recover the budgeted income. The revenue maintenance programme is going to plan and fully expected to be complete on budget. Certain variable costs prevail and include insurance claims and infrastructure maintenance costs due to an increase in emergency/ad hoc repairs and also winter maintenance costs from the recent prolonged snow and frost conditions. Current forecasts are for the service to outturn a £607,000 overspend. Fleet Services Currently projecting a net £200,000 underspend with overspends in transport costs including spare parts, materials, external vehicle hire for user departments (not staff car hire), trackers/radio contracts and accident damage. Shortfall in income from a reduction in the number of taxi licence fees of £10,000. This will be offset by underspends in staff transport costs due to reduced car hires and an increase in recharges to departments. Recent recruitment success furthers efficiencies by returning to in-house work on areas that have been outsourced. Building Catering and Cleaning Within catering there are projected underspends on income of £114,000, due to an increased in secondary school meal income, with an associated overspend on catering supplies of £13,000 and also transport of £13,000 due to inflationary increases that should be reflected in the budget. Facilities are projected to be under budget by £10,000 on free sanitary products. Open Spaces Open Spaces are projecting an £18,000 overspend for the year. Overspends in operational costs of £35,000 include property costs and vehicle running costs. Increased income from Common Good, HRA of £163,000, which is still to be adjusted for in the budget, is offset by income shortfall in external income including annual inspections of play equipment of £49,000, which are restricted by staff resources. The shortfall in Burial Ground income from sale Page 60
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of lairs is anticipated to reach £68,000, while a further shortfall in work recharged to departments of £29,000 is expected due to restricted staffing resources. Waste Management Waste is forecasting to be under budget by £97,000. Income surpluses include gas at Dallachy £86,000, tipping income £24,000 and one off street sweeping income £11,000. Underspend on Waste royalites due to less deposits at Dallachy are estimated at £24,000 and Recycling advertising which is now done internally is a possible £10,000 saving, and fuel £45,000. Overspends in Leachate of £10,000 are forecast and income shortfalls of trade waste income £93,000. The shortfall in Green Waste permit income was adjusted following quarter 2 estimated actuals. The budget reflects income actually achieved and is a realistic starting point for 2025/26. The shortfall in budget is captured in the central provision for savings. Transportation An overspend forecast of £414,000 is partly due to a shortfall in income from car parks of £174,000, Harbours income £100,000 and Bus Revolution £75,000. Other operational overspends include in car parks, fees for Pay by Phone car parking charges £14,000, and in Harbours/Dredger: Harbours staffing/agency costs and allowances £12,000, Dredger repairs from the mid- term loadline survey £60,000, £50,000 electricity charges for Pier 3, Buckie (partly rechargeable externally), Deep dredging licence £5,000, additional van hire for harbours £4,000, management consultants for Harbours review £10,000. School transport (ASN) costs are under budget by £30,000 and there is an estimated income surplus in Traffic of £60,000. Engineering Design With an underspend to date, Engineering Design is forecasting a £103,000 underspend at year end. Minor variances offset within the operational budget while there is a surplus income forecast of £96,000 from service users and £12,000 to other departments. 8.7 Economic Growth and Development Services are projecting an underspend of £408,000 for the year. Variances forecast include income surplus in building standards £30,000 and Environmental Health £26,000. Underspends on budgets: CCTV £10,000, Moray Economic Partnership £13,000, Local heat & Energy Efficiencies Strategies (LHEES) Climate Change £25,000, Museums conservation budget £15,000 (work being funded by the Shared Prosperity Fund this year), Moray Development Plan £25,000 and Business Gateway workshop budget £5,000. Overspends are for redundancy costs of £27,000 which will be funded from the Council Priorities reserve. In addition to this underspend, a further £412,000 of earmarked funds will be carried forward in earmarked reserves for future years (£125k Long Term Town Plan Capacity Funding, £30k Scotland Loves Local Moray, £257k Coastal Communities grant funding). 8.8 HR, ICT and Organisational Development have a projected overspend of £92,000, including a staff vacancy target shortfall £32,000 and central phones overspend £40,000. Underspends within training are forecast at £50,000. Page 61
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8.9 Financial Services has a net underspend of £1,340,000 projected. Overspends include postages, NDR reliefs and banking charges, and the payment of an uninsured loss that was incurred during the year. Forecasts in quarter 3 were updated for Interest on Revenue Balances (IORB) and a surplus of £2,054,000 is currently estimated. This is a substantial increase in the IORB income previously forecast due to a review of the average interest rates applied to revenue balances. Whilst this is a positive change within this service, the counterbalance is reflected by an increase in loans charges, explained below in paragraph 8.13. 8.10 Governance, Strategy and Performance have a net £109,000 underspend projected. Overspends on housing benefits of £50,000, software costs £52,000, as well as by-election costs £24,000. Underspends include Members allowances and expenses £20,000, Money Advice – Accountant in Bankruptcy (AIB) income £13,000, Registrars income £10,000, Licensing Board income £45,000, Civic License fee income (mainly Short Term Lets) £40,000 plus other supplies and services budgets £15,000. Staff savings are higher than budget by £92,000. 8.11 In General Services Housing and Property a small underspend in total is forecast. As mentioned earlier in this report (paragraph 4.11) there is an overspend in corporate buildings and schools repairs and maintenance. These are forecast to outturn at overspends of £100,000 and £150,000 respectively. Other projected overspends include Property fee income less than target by £130,000, and surplus property running costs and less income from miscellaneous land sales £70,000. Underspends are expected on Homeless temporary accommodation £130,000, a surplus of industrial estate rental income and wayleaves £140,000, and staff savings higher than budgeted £256,000. The full year effect is a projected underspend on General Services Housing of £76,000. 8.12 In Other expenditure, an overspend of £817,000 is forecast. This includes £640,000 of supernumerary, additional pension and strain on fund costs, external advisor costs and one-off higher than budgeted salaries which are to be funded from the earmarked reserve for Council Priorities and reflected in funding section of Appendix 2. 8.13 Loans charges had an £800,000 budget pressure approved as part of budget setting which has now been drawn down and is reflected in the budget. At quarter 3 an overspend of £3,000,000 is forecast; this is due to the latest forecasts for IORB being higher than previously estimated (per paragraph 8.9) plus an increase in forecast interest and expenses payable on external Council borrowing, the total of which are allocated in full across the Council’s internal loans pool. The increase in loans charges are partly offset by the increase in IORB income in Financial Services (paragraph 8.9). 8.14 The estimated out-turn position of 2024/25 for the MIJB is an overspend of £5,514,000. The Council’s share of funding for MIJB is now 47% of the total following the full delegation of Children’s and Justice services from 1 April 2024, therefore the Council’s share of this projected overspend is £2,592,000. The forecast deficit is considered by MIJB to be the worse case scenario and work is still on going to produce savings in the last quarter of the year. The Council included a budget pressure of £5,000,000 at budget setting time, Page 62
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based on the recurring overspend position at the end of 2023/24. The MIJB have worked hard to achieve a proportionate amount of savings to date to reduce this deficit in 2024/25. 8.15 Health and Social Care (non IJB) is projecting to be £108,000 under budget. 8.16 Centrally held provisions are expected to underspend by £2,075,000. Additional Costs including the remaining budget pressure requirements as discussed in section 5 are estimated to be £5,369,000 under by the end of the year when taking into account the Council’s share of the MIJB forecast overspend from the £5,000,000 in provisions; as discussed in paragraph 8.15 the outturn currently estimated by the MIJB would result in £2,592,000 of this overspend to be funded by the Council. 8.17 Savings outstanding were discussed in section 7 and the amber savings expected to be achieved this year of £1,348,000 (paragraph 7.5) have been included in the estimated outturn figure in APPENDIX 2. If these are realised there will be an underachievement of the balance of savings of £1,303,000 in the year. 9 RESERVES 9.1 The Council needs to retain a certain level of free reserves in case of unforeseen contingencies or emergencies. The balance on free general reserves (excluding DSM and ear-marked reserves) as at 1 April 2024 was £6,000,000. This is the minimum level of reserves that can be held on free general reserves in terms of the Council’s financial reserves policy, recently reviewed and approved by Council on 25 September 2024 (paragraph 15 of the minute refers). 9.2 APPENDIX 7 itemises the movements on reserves during the year to date and gives the free balance on the reserves at 31 December 2024. The working reserve had a balance of £8,686,000 on 1 April (£8,721,000 reported to Moray Council on 26 June which was reduced by a DSM adjustment of £35,000) and has a commitment to balance the 2024/25 budget. Moray Council on 26 June 2024 approved an additional use of working ear marked reserves totalling £192,000 (paragraph 14 of the Minute refers) and a further £13,000 for School catering Fusion app upgrade approved at Corporate on 27 August 2024 (paragraph 10 of the minute refers). Savings were approved at Council on 25 September (paragraph 16 of the minute refers) and 22 October 2024 (paragraph 12 of the minute refers), and these have been implemented in full. As explained in paragraph 3.3, further funding allocations have been confirmed this quarter thus reducing reliance on working reserve. Considering the planned use of reserves of £6,477,000 brings the anticipated balance at the year end to £2,209,000. No further funding is expected before the end of the financial year. 9.3 APPENDIX 2 summarises the estimated out-turn position for the year and overall an overspend of £2,423,000 is forecast. The forecast use of working reserves is currently £6,477,000 9.4 Earmarked reserves for project slippages are held to keep track of funding for projects where reserves balances have built up and need to be drawn down Page 63
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as and when the expenditure is incurred. These include Refugee resettlement funding, Education Attainment Fund, Whole Family Wellbeing Fund, Employability, Dorenell Windfarm fund, Sanquhar Loch. The current balance of these is £4,621,000. This excludes DSM reserve. 9.5 The earmarked Council Priorities reserve will be used for costs of redundancy, strain on fund (Voluntary Early Retirement) and supernumerary staff in the year. The opening balances of the reserve was £3,134,000 and approved costs are £831,000, leaving a balance of £2,303,000 9.6 Balances on 31 December 2024 for other ear marked reserves include £5,739,000 for Transformation, £4,000,000 for Moray Growth Deal cash flow funding and £7,526,000 for the newly created reserve at 2023/24 closedown for the PPP Service Concession. 10 SUMMARY OF IMPLICATIONS (a) Moray 2026: A Plan for the Future and Moray Corporate Plan Effective budget management is an essential component of delivery of Council priorities on a sustainable basis. (b) Policy and Legal No policy or legal implications arise directly from the contents of this report. (c) Financial implications The financial implications are addressed throughout the report. (d) Risk Implications There are no risk implications arising directly from this report. Budget managers are aware of their responsibilities for managing their budgets in accordance with the Council’s Financial Regulations. There is a risk to the Council arising from the agreement that if the Moray Integrated Joint Board overspends the Council will meet 47% of the additional costs incurred. Variable inflation presents a risk to the Council’s budget; latest information from the Council’s Treasury advisors is that CPI rose by 2.5% in the 12 months to December 2024, down from 2.6% in November 2024. On a monthly basis, CPI rose by 0.3% in December 2024, down from 0.4% in December 2023. (e) Staffing Implications No staffing implications arise directly from this report. (f) Property No property implications arise directly from this report. (g) Equalities/Socio Economic Impact No equalities implications arise directly from this report. (h) Climate Change and Biodiversity Impacts No climate change and biodiversity impacts arise directly from this report. Page 64
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(i) Consultations Consultation concerning Revenue Budget Monitoring is an on-going process with budget managers across the Council. CMT and Heads of Service have also been consulted in the preparation of this report and any comments incorporated. 11 CONCLUSION 11.1 The financial position of the Council at the end of September 2024 is an overspend against General Services Revenue Budget of £864,000, including services delivered on behalf of the Moray Integration Joint Board. 11.2 Variations in General Revenue Grant totalling £8,597,000 have been notified to the Council. 11.3 There is one reallocation of budget provision totalling £50,000 for quarter 3, noted in section 6. 11.4 The estimated out-turn position for 2024/25 is for an over spend of £2,423,000. 11.5 The Council has estimated use of £6,477,000 from the working reserve in 2024/25. Author of Report: Susan Souter, Senior Accountant Background Papers: Held by author Ref: SPMAN-1293228629-1254 Page 65
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MORAY COUNCIL - APPENDIX 1 BUDGET MONITORING REPORT QUARTER 3 TO 31 DECEMBER 2024 Service Revised Budget 2024/25 £000s Budget to 31 December 2024 £000 Actual & Committed to 31 December 2024 £000s Year to date variance £000s Education, Resources & Community 13,278 10,296 10,244 52 Education 118,688 88,378 88,057 321 General Services Housing & Property 4,469 3,477 3,415 62 Environmental & Commercial Services 29,429 20,961 21,137 (176) Economic Growth & Development Services 3,771 4,537 4,301 236 HR, ICT & Organisational Development 5,973 5,179 5,195 (16) Financial Services 1,742 2,039 2,515 (476) Governance, Strategy & Perfomance 6,273 5,691 5,402 289 Other Services 2,509 1,956 2,549 (593) SERVICES excl HEALTH & SOCIAL CARE 186,132 142,514 142,815 (301) Health & Social Care and Childrens Services (MIJB) 81,782 59,215 59,860 (645) Health & Social Care (Non MIJB) 460 344 262 82 TOTAL SERVICES incl HEALTH & SOCIAL CARE 268,374 202,073 202,937 (864) Loans Charges 17,207 0 0 0 Provision for Contingencies and Inflation (4,564) 0 0 0 Additional Costs 8,270 0 0 0 Unallocated Savings (2,651) 0 0 0 TOTAL PROVISIONS 1,055 0 0 0 TOTAL GENERAL SERVICES EXPENDITURE 286,636 202,073 202,937 (864) Commentary on Quarter 3 Performance Health & Social Care: H&SC is reporting an overspend of £645k for services delivered on behalf of the MIJB. APPENDIX 1 Overall the budget position at 31 December 2024 is expenditure over budget to date of £0.864m, or 0.4%, which includes services delivered on behalf of the Moray Integration Joint Board (MIJB). Education: Devolved School budgets are underspent by £697k at the end of the third quarter; £245k in Primary schools and £452k in Secondary schools. Non-devolved budgets are under budget primarily due to staffing oncosts and energy costs. Central supply continues to be over budget and is currently £269,000 over to date. Out of Area is £222k over due to the extension of secure care and new placements. Environmental & Commercial Services: A net overspend to date of £176k to date across services, including Roads Maintenance £545k where recharges to capital have been processed to quarter 3 and the variance in recharges to capital has reduced to from quarter 2 to £506,000 under achieved. Winter Maintenance is currently £147,000 over budget to date and will rise in the final quarter with the recent winter conditions. 5.1% 43.7% 1.7% 10.4% 2.2% 2.6%1.0% 2.8% 1.0% 29.3% 0.2%0.0%Budget YTD % of Total Education, Resources & Community Education General Services Housing & Property Environmental & Commercial Services Economic Growth & Development Services HR, ICT & Organisational Development Financial Services Governance, Strategy & Perfomance Other Services MIJB Health & Social Care (Non IJB) Loans Charges 5.0% 43.4% 1.7% 10.4% 2.1% 2.6%1.2% 2.7% 1.3% 29.5% 0.1%0.0% Actual YTD % of Total Education, Resources & Community Education General Services Housing & Property Environmental & Commercial Services Economic Growth & Development Services HR, ICT & Organisational Development Financial Services Governance, Strategy & Perfomance Other Services MIJB Health & Social Care (Non IJB) Loans Charges (800) (600) (400) (200) 0 200 400 £000's YTD Actual Variance to Budget (excl Loans & Provisions) Education, Resources & Community Education General Services Housing & Property Environmental & Commercial Services Economic Growth & Development Services HR, ICT & Organisational Development Financial Services Governance, Strategy & Perfomance Item 6. Page 67
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MORAY COUNCIL - APPENDIX 2 BUDGET MONITORING REPORT QUARTER 3 TO 31 DECEMBER 2024 Service Revised Budget 2024/25 £000s Estimated Outturn 2024/25 £000s Anticpated Variance 2024/25 £000s Variance vs Base Budget % Education, Resources & Community 13,278 13,052 226 1.7% Education 118,688 118,575 113 0.1% General Services Housing & Property 4,469 4,393 76 1.7% Environmental & Commercial Services 29,429 29,903 (474) (1.6)% Economic Growth & Development Services 3,771 3,363 408 10.8% HR, ICT & Organisational Development 5,973 5,995 (22) (0.4)% Financial Services 1,742 375 1,367 78.5% Governance, Strategy & Perfomance 6,273 6,164 109 1.7% Other Services 2,509 3,326 (817) (32.6)% SERVICES excl HEALTH & SOCIAL CARE 186,132 185,146 986 0.5% Health & Social Care and Childrens Services (MIJB) 81,782 82,619 (837) (1.0)% Adjustment to reflect cost sharing agreement 0 1,755 (1,755) - Health & Social Care (Non MIJB) 460 352 108 23.5% TOTAL SERVICES incl HEALTH & SOCIAL CARE 268,374 269,872 (1,498) (0.6)% Loans Charges 17,207 20,207 (3,000) (17.4)% Provision for Contingencies and Inflation (4,564) 20 (4,584) 100.4% Additional Costs 8,270 308 7,962 96.3% Unallocated Savings (2,651) (1,348) (1,303) 49.2% TOTAL PROVISIONS 1,055 (1,020) 2,075 197% TOTAL GENERAL SERVICES EXPENDITURE 286,636 289,059 (2,423) -0.8% Funded By: Scottish Government Grant 225,308 225,308 0 0.0% Council Tax 51,854 51,854 0 0.0% Funded From Reserves: DSM c/f 1,465 1,465 0 0.0% Transformation 784 784 0 0.0% Working 4,885 6,477 (1,592) (32.6)% Other Earmarked 1,204 1,204 0 0.0% MGD Cash Flow 1,136 1,136 0 0.0% Council Priorities 0 831 (831) 0.0% TOTAL FUNDING 286,636 289,059 (2,423) (0.8)% OVERALL VARIANCE 0 0 0 Commentary on Quarter 3 Performance APPENDIX 2 The estimated out-turn for 2024/25 is an overspend in Council services including Health and Social Care and CHildrens Services of £2.055m after adjusting for the cost sharing agreement with NHS for MIJB, with overspends across services including Environmental and Commercial Services £0.491m, Strain on Fund costs £0.469m, Loans Fund charges £3m, MIJB £2.592m and other services £0.44m. Underspends are forecast in Economic Growth and Development Services £0.408m, Financial Services £1.34m and other service underspends of £0.524m. Planned use of reserves of £6.477m and non-working earmarked reserves (DSM, Transformation and other earmarked) of £5.42m. 4.6% 41.4% 1.6% 10.3% 1.3%2.1% 0.6% 2.2% 0.9% 28.5% 0.0% 0.2%6.0%Budget 2024/25 % of Total Education, Resources & Community Education General Services Housing & Property Environmental & Commercial Services Economic Growth & Development Services HR, ICT & Organisational Development Financial Services Governance, Strategy & Perfomance Other Services MIJB Cost sharing agreement Health & Social Care (Non IJB) Loans Charges 4.5% 41.0% 1.5% 10.3% 1.2% 2.1% 0.1% 2.1% 1.1% 28.6% 0.6% 0.1% 7.0%Est Outturn % of Total Education, Resources & Community Education General Services Housing & Property Environmental & Commercial Services Economic Growth & Development Services HR, ICT & Organisational Development Financial Services Governance, Strategy & Perfomance Other Services MIJB Cost sharing agreement Health & Social Care (Non IJB) Loans Charges (2,000) (1,500) (1,000) (500) 0 500 1,000 £000's Est Outturn Variance to Budget (excl Loans & Provisions) Education, Resources & Community Education General Services Housing & Property Environmental & Commercial Services Economic Growth & Development Services HR, ICT & Organisational Development Governance, Strategy & Perfomance Other Services MIJB Health & Social Care (Non IJB) Item 6. Page 69
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Allocated Budget Provisions for Contingencies and Inflation Additional costs Savings Budget Loan Charges Depreciation Total Budget £000s £000s £000s £000s £000s £000s £000s £000s MC 28 Feb 2024 256,525 4,504 11,944 (10,586) 262,387 16,407 278,794 School carry forwards 753 753 753 PEF/SEF carry forwards 840 840 840 ELC carry forwards 34 34 34 Funded from Transformation Earmarked Reserve (43) (43) -43 Funded from Other Earmarked Reserves 822 822 822 Additional GRG 0 0 Adjustment 1 - release to departments (3,677) (2,399) (2,639) 8,715 0 0 Corporate Committee 27/8/24 255,254 2,105 9,305 (1,871) 264,793 16,407 0 281,200 Additional GRG: Redeterminations 315 315 315 Additional Funding (to rec to overview) 1,000 1,000 1,000 Additional Council Tax (increase to Ctax base) 429 429 429 Savings approved at MC 25/9/24 (50) 50 0 0 Funded from Working Reserves (1,318) (1,318) -1,318 Funded from Transformation Earmarked Reserve 96 96 96 Funded from Other Earmarked Reserves 219 219 219 Adjustment 2 - release to departments 656 (469) (801) 614 0 0 Moray Council 4/12/24 256,286 1,636 8,819 (1,207) 265,534 16,407 0 281,941 Additional GRG: Redeterminations 1,376 1,376 1,376 Additional Funding 7,221 7,221 7,221 Additional Council Tax 50 50 50 Budget pressures Adj in Qtr 3 (5,061) 5,061 0 0 Further savings in Qtr 3 1,837 (1,837) 0 0 Funded from Working Reserves (3,997) (3,997) (3,997) Funded from Transformation Earmarked Reserve 0 0 0 Funded from Other Earmarked Reserves 45 45 45 Adjustment 3 - release to departments 11,993 (6,200) (6,986) 393 (800) 800 0 Moray Council 19/2/25 268,374 (4,564) 8,270 (2,651) 269,429 17,207 0 286,636 APPENDIX 3 Item 6. Page 71
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ALLOCATIONS FROM PROVISIONS Provision for Contingencies and Inflation Committee reference £000s £000s Balance at 30 September 2024 MC 4/12/24 1,636 Pay Awards (6,023) Fostering Allowances (33) Education DSM adjustment 64 Insurance contract (159) Regradings/Redundancy (17) Other inflation increases (20) Contingency (inc postages, central telephones) (12) (6,200) Balance at 31 December 2024 (4,564) Additional Costs Committee reference £000s £000s Balance at 30 September 2024 MC 4/12/24 8,819 Movements in General Revenue Grant Redeterminations No-one Left Behind 65 Building Standards Hub (22) Ed Psych Refund 6 Scottish Welfare Fund 248 Ukraine funding 53 Teacher Induction 1,011 Temporary Accommodation 15 1,376 Additional Budget Pressures approved/removed since budget set Free School Meals Expansion (1,014) Levelling Up Fund (176) (1,190) Budget Pressure adjustments in Quarter 3 Remove red category (Qtr 2) 4.12.24 (722) Moray Leisure Centre Management Fee 49 Increase BP for pay awards above budget 2,376 H&SC - Personal & Nursing Care (alloc of £11.5m) 135 H&SC Uplift (alloc of £230m) 4,104 Discretionary Housing Payment (addl GRG) 209 LDP Transport study (BP approved 4.12.24) 100 6,251 Budget pressures drawn down in Quarter 3 (5,919) Additions drawn down in Quarter 3 Scottish Welfare Fund (217) Teacher Induction (733) Other Additions (117) (1,067) Balance at 31 December 2024 8,270 APPENDIX 4 Item 6. Page 73
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Savings & Charges Committee reference £000s £000s Balance at 30 September 2024 MC 4/12/24 (1,207) Additional Savings/income identified since budget set: Savings approved at MC 22.10.24 MC 22/10/24 Further Savings in Quarter 3 Adjust for Red/Amber category Savings Quarter 2 965 Increase savings from NESPF rate decrease (1,895) Increase savings - additional savings identified (907) (1,837) Savings posted to departments Environmental & Commercial Services savings 91 Economic Growth and Development savings 55 Education 62 Education Resources and Communities 9 Governance, Strategy and Performance 35 HR, ICT & Organisational Development 14 Financial Services 104 GS Housing & Property 23 393 Balance at 31 December 2024 (2,651) Page 74
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APPENDIX 5 BUDGET PRESSURES Ref Description Revised Amount Drawn Down Balance Status Comments RECOGNISED WHEN BUDGET SET £000 £000 £000 2023/24 opening position adj NDR Revaluation 37 23 14 Balance not required Education School Roll numbers 243 238 5 Teacher's Pension increase from 23% to 26% (wef 1 April 2024) 1,500 1,517 (17) Education Resources & Communities Moray Leisure Centre Management Fee 49 49 0 Economic Growth & Development MGD revenue contribution STEM 62 44 18 Local Development Plan transport study (MC 4.12.24) 100 100 0 Environmental & Commercial Fusion App upgrade - School catering 13 13 0 HR, ICT & Organisational Development ICT Software subscription 36 36 0 Governance, Strategy & Performance Discretionary Housing Payment additional revenue grant 209 209 0 Other Uprating Personal & Nursing Care (share of £11.5m) 215 215 0 Additonal Funding to the Scottish Welfare Fund - one year only 40 0 40 Additional SG redetermination funding provided so £40k council contribution returned Item 6. Page 75
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Cross Service Revised IMP 596 194 402 Nothing further should be required to be drawn down. End of year drawn down from Transformation reserves for Smarter Working. Increase in Loans Charges 800 800 0 NDR Liabilities increase in Uniform Business Rates (UBR) 290 230 60 Small number of queried accounts outstanding; estimate approx £40k. Electricity/Gas increase 0 240 (240) ASN - MC 28/6/23 perm £0.7m 434 434 0 ASN - MC 28/6/23 temp £1.1m 325 325 0 Health & Social Care MIJB Share of core overspend 5,000 0 5,000 H&SC Uplift (£230m) 4,104 4,104 0 increase BP for pay awards above budget 2,376 0 2,376 Budget drawn down from inflation Total 16,429 8,771 7,658 Funded from Transformation Earmarked Reserves Joint Transition Plan 30 15 15 Balance won't be required. External funding received from HIE. Total 30 15 15 Free School Meals Expansion 190 136 54 Estimated £7k required in Qtr 4 Expansion of UFSM 79 79 0 SERVICE DEVELOPMENTS Levelling Up Fund 0 0 0 No longer required in 24/25. £50k proposed for car park survey 25-26 Detached Youth Workers (8x0.69FTE) 200 62 138 Community Wardens (2FTE) 90 87 3 FUNDING FOR NEW DUTIES Page 76
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REDETERMINATIONS School Milk Subsidy Scheme 19 0 19 Children's Social Care Pay uplift 296 296 0 No-one Left Behind 65 65 0 Building Standards Hub (22) (22) 0 Ed Psych Refund 6 0 6 Scottish Welfare Fund 248 217 31 Admin grant element £31k not req'd /drawn down Ukraine funding 53 0 53 To be carried forward as part of earmarked reserve Teacher Induction 1,011 733 278 Balance not required Temporary Accommodation 15 0 15 To be drawn down Q4 - staff time on open market purchases Total 2,250 1,653 597 Total 18,709 10,439 8,270 No longer required/slipped into future years Not taken and uncertain if required - more detail to be given Not taken but still required - more detail to be given Taken in full, or if more than original allocation Page 77
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SAVINGS APPENDIX 6 Update Q3 Ref Description Revised Amount Posted Balance Status Reason for balance £000 £000 £000 2023/24 opening position adj Service Concession PPP (1,168) - (1,168) Will be adjusted in quarter 4 Reduction in reinvestment costs (18) - (18) Review of purchasing card (30) - (30) Council wide VAT saving Approved when 2023/24 budget set: Environmental & Commercial Services Stop School Transport on In Service Days (6) 6 0 Harbours commercial income (30) 30 0 Building cleaning HQ (20) 20 0 Waste Management - Increase charges for garden waste to £50 (308) 177 (131) Initial tonnage set too high Open Spaces - Uplift burial charges to full cost recovery (165) 0 (165) Open Spaces - Maintain parks of Common Good/Trust land from income from CG/Trusts as far as possible (92) 0 (92) Catering - Dynamic Pricing (6) 6 0 Catering - Withdraw from Food for Life (70) 70 0 Fleet - Lease Specialist Vehicles (76) 0 (76) Waste Management - Reduce HWRC opening hours (close 1 weekday) 0 3 3 Admin - Remove 1fte (28) 31 3 Roads Maintenance - Reduce street lighting maintenance budget (25) 25 0 Roads Maintenance - Reduce operational staff by 3fte (100) 102 2 Elgin Car Parking Review - fye (311) 311 0 Energy from Waste reduced gate fee due to Electricity generation (minimum £300k) (150) 150 0 Sponsorship income (10) 0 (10) Lands and Parks - reduce Glyphosate use (8) 8 0 Catering - Bakery contract (part year saving) (2) 2 0 Item 6. Page 79
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Economic Growth and Development Statutory fees for planning applications (40) 40 0 Employability - restructure the service so 1 keyworker is externally funded (13) 14 1 Economic Development - Reduce budget for Business Gateway Advisor by 0.2fte reflecting current level of staffing (11) 12 1 Environmental Health and Trading Standards - Remove 1 Animal Services Officer post (30) 30 0 Planning Income (4) 4 0 Building Standards (24) 24 0 Building st - enforcement (18) 18 0 Fair Trading (38) 38 0 Perfomance monitoring (36) 36 0 Fraud post (24) 24 0 Money Advice (95) 95 0 Moray Training - VER (102) 100 (2) Strategic Planning (Appendix 4 item 10) (33) 33 0 Environmental Health (Appendix 5 item 10) (12) 0 (12) Post terminated in December. Will be one off redundancy cost of £27k. Balance of saving to be taken next year. Corporate/Cross service Increase vacancy factor in line with pay awards (640) 193 (447) NESPF rate decrease from 19.3% to 14.3% from 1 April 2024 (4,455) 4,455 0 Empty Property Relief (338) 338 0 Discretionary NDR Relief (27) 27 0 Corporate Training (56) 57 1 Budget templates Primary Advisor role (15) 15 0 Housing and Property Homelessness - Negotiate discount for block pourchased temporary accommodation (96) 96 0 Homelessness - Allocate a further 5 flats for homelessness accommodation (5) 5 0 Page 80
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Housing Needs - Allocate 50% of Housing Support costs to HRA (220) 220 0 Housing General Services - Reallocate duties to HRA, reflecting general pattern of support reqd for Gypsy Travellers (8) 8 0 Property - Take a more commercial approach to rent reviews (65) 65 0 Property - Close two corporate offices (44) 44 0 Savings for closure of offices are being taken as soon as confirmed. Sale of 30/32 High St (MC 25.9.24) (2) 2 0 Additional property saving taken Langstane rental (8) 8 0 Education Early Learning & Childcare (ELC) - Delete Early Years PSA (12) 12 0 ELC - Reduce Early Years teaching team by 2 posts (83) 83 0 Primary - Pupil teacher ration move to statutory requirement (42) 41 (1) Secondary Schools - Reduce DSM (192) 192 0 Central Education - Remove 1QIM (85) 85 0 Learning Technologist (43) 43 0 Schools Energy saving (150) 150 0 St Thomas & St Peters pairing fm Apr 24 (5) 5 0 Knockando PS unpairing from Apr 24 (48) 48 0 Amend Cullen/Portgordon/Portknockie pairing fm Aug 24 (fye 2025-26) (10) 10 0 East End/St Sylvester Federation Model (fye 2025- 26) 15 (15) 0 MGD EY Stem PM end of funding (58) 58 0 ELC CMP - NM's wks & 36.25-35hrs saving (62) 62 0 ELC CMP - YR to TT savings 24/25 (81) 81 0 ELC CMP YR to TT saving 24/25 - Addition (2) 2 0 ELC rental income (31) 32 1 Page 81
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Education Resources and Communities Business Admin - Remove 4 fte posts (111) 111 0 Primary School FM - Delete PAT testing post and contract out (27) 27 0 Sport and Culture - Replace mobile library with redesigned service (20) 20 0 Sport and Culture - Remove Health and Wellbeing Officer post (51) 51 0 Communities Team - Remove 1 Outdoor Learning post (59) 59 0 Communities Team - Remove 1.75fte from the Community Support Unit (88) 88 0 Communities Team - Reduce community capacity training budget (4) 4 0 Elgin Community Centre closure - VER (123) 123 0 The balance of the saving will not be achieved until the building is sold. Library contract management systems (7) 7 0 Relocate staff from Auchernack plus Forres Community Centre staff restructure (23) 23 0 Governance, Strategy and Performance Customer Service - Print contract (13) 13 0 Customer Service - Reduce Contact Centre staff by 4fte (114) 114 0 Welfare Benefits & Money Advice - Co-locate Citizen's Advice Bureau (20) 0 (20) Unlikely to happen in 2024/25 Democratic/Legal Services (inc Members) savings 0 18 18 HR, ICT and Organisational Development HR - Cease central short leating (50) 48 (2) Financial Services Procurement - Reduce the Buying Team by 1fte (31) 32 1 Childrens Services Children's Services savings target (454) 454 0 Page 82
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Savings approved at MC 25.9.24 Economic Growth and Development - misc (2) 2 0 Strategic Planning - misc (15) 15 0 HR, ICT and OD - misc (3) 3 0 Taxation - recharges to outside bodies (10) 10 0 Internal Audit - recharges to outside bodies (20) 20 0 Savings approved at spec MC 22.10.24 F6-14 Increase CTX collection rate (30) 30 0 D11-3 FRA and DIA - charges (20) (20) D11-4 COMAH fee (20) (20) Savings approved SMTFP App 2 (MC 4/12/24) HR, ICT and OD F8-7 Health and Safety - Specialist advice (10) 0 (10) This was already taken as saving in 2023/24 Financial Services F6-15 Accountancy - Principal Accountant post (15) 15 0 F6-16 Payments - AP post (29) 31 2 F6-16 Payments - AP Software (6) 6 0 F6-17 Financial systems - Development (6) 6 0 F6-18 Misc Finance - Purchasing card rebate (10) 10 0 Economic Development and Growth E2-6 Planning - post (49) (49) E9-2 Admin - Restructure (34) (34) Education Resources and Communities A6-5 Community Support - Youth Workers (100) (100) Indicative Savings from I&M programme Stream 2: ICT & Digital - Schools Admin (56) 0 (56) Stream 4: Review & Expansion of Flexible Working (44) 0 (44) Care placements (245) 245 0 Reduction in reinvestment costs (4) 0 (4) LEAN review (125) 0 (125) Page 83
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TEMPORARY SAVIINGS Approved when 2023/24 budget set: Grampian Valuation Joint Board - refund 2018/19, 2020/21, 2021/22, 2022/23 (62) - (62) Amount will be confirmed when the accounts for 2023/24 are audited and approved by the Board ( £73k anticipated) LHEES saving 23/24 (50) 50 0 CHARGES Income target per budget paper (342) 281 (61) Increase to Leisure income target (MC 26/6/24) 0 75 75 Total Approved when budget set (9,370) 9,822 (1,435) Further savings/adjustments approved in 24/25 (1,887) 0 Savings c/fwd from 2023/24 (1,216) 0 (1,216) Balance at Qtr 3 (12,473) 9,822 (2,651) * Status Saving not taken and wont be achieved this year - if slipped into future years please give details in Col I Saving not taken and uncertain if it will be achieved in full this year Saving taken, or will be taken, in full Page 84
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APPENDIX 7 General Reserves Committee reference Approved £000s Budget released £000s General Reserves @ 1 April 2024 6,000 Free balance @ 31 December 2024 6,000 Transformation Ear marked Reserve Committee reference Approved £000s Budget released £000s Balance @ 1 April 2024 6,152 Funding from reserves approved in 2024/25: Raising Attainment (195) Project Management revenue costs for closure of tSMC 25/10/23 (105) Plan for Just Transition Moray MC 28/2/24 (30) Smarter Working Phase 3 (16) Out of Hours (14) Clear Transfrom rolled budgets 24/25 to reserves 174 174 Reinstate Transform budget - PMO Admin (45) (45) Reinstate Transform budget - Snr Proj Officer (Office Review) (69) (69) Reinstate Transform budget - to cover costs 1377 PROP 2 2 Alliance Leisure Review (27) (27) BIM (64) (64) ECLS 19.9.23 - IMP Digital Snr ICT Officer to Sept24 (24) (24) (413) (53) Free balance @ 31 December 2024 5,739 Item 6. Page 85
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Working Ear marked Reserve Committee reference Approved £000s Budget released £000s Balance @ 1 April 2024 8,686 Less commitments against reserves when budget was set: To balance budget MC 28/2/24 (10,156) Adjustments Qtr 1: Increase use of reserve (122) Decrease use of reserve - Adjustments Qtr 2: Increase use of reserve (113) Decrease use of reserve 1,479 Adjustments Qtr 3: Increase use of reserve: Adjust Uprating PNC (£11.5m) (135) DHP tranche 1 (209) H&SC Uplift (£230m) (4,104) increase BP for pay awards above budget (2,376) LDP Transport Study MC 4.12.24 (100) MLC Mgt Fee increase per recovery plan (49) Qtr 2 Savings MC 4.12.24 (389) Decrease use of reserve: Qtr 2 Budget Pressures MC 4.12.24 722 Funding confirmed Dec 2025 Scottish Govt 7,221 Savings - Bakery budget part yr 2 Savings - NESPF addl saving 1,895 Savings approved MC 4.12.24 259 Savings approved SMC 22/10/2024 70 New Burden - reduce FSM 1,014 Remove LUF Service Development 176 Approved use of reserves (4,915) Impact of estimated actuals Q3 MC 19.2.24 (1,562) Free balance @ 31 December 2024 2,209 Page 86
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Other Earmarked Reserves Committee reference Approved £000s Budget released £000s Balance @ 1 April 2024 5,826 Budgets drawn down to date (1,205) Free balance @ 31 December 2024 4,621 Council Priorities Earmarked Reserve Committee reference Approved £000s Budget released £000s Balance @ 1 April 2024 3,134 Supernumerary, Redundancy and Strain on the Fund costs (831) Free balance @ 31 December 2024 2,303 MGD Cash Flow Reserve Committee reference Approved £000s Budget released £000s Balance @ 1 April 2024 4,000 Free balance @ 31 December 2024 4,000 Service Concession (PPP) Committee reference Approved £000s Budget released £000s Balance @ 1 April 2024 7,526 Free balance @ 31 December 2024 7,526 Page 87
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REPORT TO: MORAY COUNCIL ON 19 FEBRUARY 2025 SUBJECT: CAPITAL PLAN 2024/25 – QUARTER 3 BY: DEPUTE CHIEF EXECUTIVE (ECONOMY, ENVIRONMENT and FINANCE) 1. REASON FOR REPORT 1.1 To advise the Committee of capital expenditure to 31 December 2024 and of updated estimates of projected expenditure under the capital plan for 2024/25 profiled into quarters. 1.2 This report is submitted to Committee in terms of Section III (B) 9 of the Council’s Administrative Scheme relating to monitoring progress of projects in the approved capital plan including any revisions to the price or phasing on a quarterly basis. 2. RECOMMENDATION 2.1 It is recommended that the Council considers and notes: (i) expenditure to 31 December 2024 of £14,901,000 which is 38% of the annual budget for 2024/2025, as set out in APPENDIX 1; (ii) the current projected expenditure of £22,541,000 for 2024/25, which is 74% of the proposed amended budget; (iii) the projected overall expenditure for projects spanning more than one financial year, as set out in APPENDIX 2; and (iv) the latest affordability indicator outturn of 7.94% against an upper limit of 10%. 2.2 It is recommended that the Council approves (i) further amendments to the 2024/25 capital plan as detailed in section 5 of this report. Item 7. Page 89
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3. BACKGROUND 3.1 The capital plan for 2024/25 totalling £49,662,000, (excluding Moray Growth Deal projects) was approved by Moray Council on 24 January 2024 (paragraph 11 of the Minute refers). The Council approved carried forward budget and reprofiling amendments to future years of £12,529,000 on 26 June 2024 (paragraph 13 of the Minute refers), amendments of £3,047,000 at Corporate Committee on 27 August 2024 (paragraph 9 of the Minute refers) and further amendments of £6,789,000 (including Moray Growth Deal on 4 December 2024 (paragraph 11 of the minute refers). The Council on 21 January 2025 (paragraph 7 of the minute refers) agreed the three-year capital plan for 2025-27/28 which included amendments of £4,134,000 from 2024/25. The results of these amendments are an amended capital plan for 2024/25 of £39,216,000. 3.2 No amendments have been made to the format of this report as no comments have been made by members but if there is any feedback on suggested amendments Financial Services would be pleased to have this. 4 CAPITAL PLAN 2024/25 4.1 A copy of the summary capital plan is included as APPENDIX 1 showing actual expenditure to 31 December 2024 of £14,901,000 This is just over 38% of the currently approved Capital Plan. General Capital Grant of £6,105,000 has been received from the Scottish Government. Capital receipts of £368,500, for the sale of land and buildings and vehicles have been generated during 2024/25 to date. In addition to this, Developer Contributions of £967,000, have been received in this financial year to date. 4.2 The following table provides a breakdown of variances to date. For budgets with a variance of +/- £10,000 further narrative is provided. Estimated full year figures, and variances, are set out in APPENDIX 1. Area Para ref Annual Budget £000 Budget to Date £000 Spend to Date £000 (Over)/ Under Spend £000 Bridges 4.3 933 660 657 3 Car Parks - 417 82 85 (3) Climate Change - 200 0 0 0 Corporate Buildings 4.4 231 95 106 (11) Fleet 4.5 4,168 1,754 1,358 396 Flood Risk & Coastal Protection 4.6 507 479 175 304 Harbours 4.7 1,483 1,365 1,226 139 ICT 4.8 618 323 262 61 Industrial Portfolio 4.9 279 226 40 186 Learning Estate 4.10 7,229 3,899 2,981 918 Libraries & Leisure 4.11 3,300 1,890 162 1,728 Parks & Open Spaces 4.12 976 652 486 166 Road Improvements 4.13 4,319 2,802 3,287 (485) Street Lighting 4.14 656 484 669 (185) Page 90
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Area Para ref Annual Budget £000 Budget to Date £000 Spend to Date £000 (Over)/ Under Spend £000 Traffic & Road Safety 4.15 277 144 87 56 Waste Management 4.16 3,275 390 204 186 Spend to Save Projects 4.17 82 162 22 140 Active Travel Infrastructure 4.18 434 434 231 203 Economic Development 4.19 1,276 311 382 (71) Moray Growth Deal 4.20 8,496 4,488 2,481 1,967 TOTAL 39,216 20,598 14,901 5,698 4.3 Expenditure on Bridges was £657,000 against a budget to date of £660,000. The Bridges programme is now complete with the exception of Blackhill’s Culvert. As approved by Council on 21 January 2025 (paragraph 7 of the Minute refers), Cloddach Bridge has been removed from the capital plan. 4.4 Expenditure on Corporate Buildings was £106,000 against a budget to date of £95,000. The overspend is primarily due to spend on the installation of SSEN funded back-up generators being ahead of schedule. 4.5 Expenditure on Fleet was £1,358,000 against a budget to date of £1,754,000. The underspend is due to delays in delivery from manufacturers over the festive period with delivery now expected in February. Profiling for vehicle delivery has continued to be a challenge given market demand and supply issues, however, there has been more stability in the current financial year. 4.6 Expenditure on Flood Risk Management and Costal Protection was £175,000 against the profiled budget of £479,000 resulting in an underspend to date of £304,000. Delays due to continued licensing requirements for coastal erosion works and studies has pushed the programme back a quarter. 4.7 Expenditure on Harbours for the period was £1,226,000 against a budget of £1,365,000. The underspend for the period is primarily due to contractor disputes. These have now been resolved and revised invoices received. The spend will show in Q4. 4.8 Expenditure on ICT for the period was £262,000 against budget of £323,000. The underspend is attributable to continued delays from suppliers. The spend profile has been updated to reflect this. 4.9 Expenditure on the Industrial Estate portfolio for the period was £40,000 against a budget of £226,000. The underspend is due to delay to the programme (which has been reprofiled to Q4) as the tenants needed to be informed prior to work commencing. Expenditure has been re-profiled for the year and is projected to be on budget. 4.10 Expenditure on the Learning Estate for the period was £2,981,000 against planned spend of £3,889,000. The underspend is due to continued delays in the ‘preparatory’ design stage of the BB Programme along with delays to both Page 91
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the Future Forres Academy and Elgin High School Extension builds. The programme of works has been reprofiled with a request to carry forward budget into future years. Further detail is provided in paragraph 5.9 4.11 Expenditure on Libraries and Leisure was £162,000 against planned spend of £1,890,000. The underspend was predominantly on the refurbishment and upgrade of pools, which has now been postponed until 2025/26. £1,353,0000 is being recommended for removal from the 2024/25 Capital Plan. See Paragraph 5.10. There was also an underspend £350,000 on Moray Leisure Centre which is a contingency for potential asset failure. It is recommended the budget is carried forward into the future years. 4.12 Expenditure on Parks and Open Spaces was £486,000 against planned spend of £652,000. The underspend for the period is attributed to play area equipment initially scheduled for delivery in December being delayed until mid-January. 4.13 Expenditure on Roads Improvements is recorded as £3,287,000 against a budget of £2,802,000. The overspend is attributed to higher than anticipated material cost as well as agency staff costs. The service has highlighted additional costs associated with landslips may result in a minor overspend.. 4.14 Expenditure on Street Lighting for the period was £669,00 against planned spend of £484,000 and exceeds the annual budget Corrective action has been taken and no further street lighting works are planned for Q4. 4.15 Expenditure on Traffic & Road Safety was £87,000 against a budget of £144,000. The underspend of £56,000 was primarily driven by capacity issues as Roads DLO were unable to deliver planned works. 4.16 Expenditure on Waste Management was £204,000 against anticipated spend to date of £390,000. The underspend was due to delays in acquiring land at Moycroft caused by an extended legal process, supplier delays in delivering new bins, and budget for abatement equipment identified as possibly needed not yet needed. 4.17 Expenditure on Save to Spend projects was £22,000 against anticipated spend to date of £162,000. The £140,000 underspend is on the new Salt Barn at Keith depot and was due to supply issues. The project has now been postponed to next year and a carry forward is being recommended in paragraph 5.12. 4.18 Expenditure on Active Travel Infrastructure, which is fully funded by specific grant, was £231,000 against anticipated spend of £434,000. Initial profiling has been updated to reflect more accurate timings following a review of the project profile. Funding is expected to be fully spent during the year. 4.19 Expenditure on Economic Development was £382,000 against anticipated spend to date of £311,000. This is a profiling mismatch against the Placed Based Investment fund. Remaining budget on this fund is expected to be committed and carried forward to 2025/26. Budget for spend to be funded by the Just Transition Fund had incorrectly been carried forward from 2023/24 Page 92
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but the grant funding has been fully claimed and there is no further planned spend against this project. An amendment to the capital plan is recommended in paragraph 5.13. 4.20 Expenditure on Moray Growth Deal was £2,481,000 against anticipated spend to date of £4,448,000. The £1,967,000 underspend was primarily due to delays in full business case approval for the Business Enterprise Hub Project and minor slippage across the rest of the Growth Deal portfolio apart from Housing Mix Delivery which is progressing with the South Street Regeneration Project ahead of schedule. 5. CAPITAL PLAN AMENDMENTS 5.1 The following amendments are recommended for approval. Area Para ref Amendment Of which Carry Forward Increase £000 £000 Levelling Up Fund (LUF) 5.2 962 - Smarter working project 5.3 22 - Buckie Harbour Weigh Bridge 5.4 18 - Total Increase 1,002 - Decrease Car Parks 5.5 (212) - Fleet 5.6 (133) 133 CCTV Replacement 5.7 (27) - Learning Estate 5.8 (3,152) 2,563 Libraries and Leisure 5.9 (3,005) 1,292 Waste Management 5.10 (140) 40 Spend to Save – Salt Barn 5.11 (65) 65 Economic Development 5.12 (737) 457 Moray Growth Deal 5.13 (2,930) 2,930 Total Decrease (10,341) 7,840 TOTAL NET AMENDMENTS (9,339) 7,840 5.2 The UK government confirmed the award of £18,029,000 of Levelling Up Fund (LUF) monies in November 2024. The current spend projections show the majority of spend being incurred from 2025/26 onwards, with an allowance of £962,000 being recommended for Q4 2024/25 as part of enabling works being carried out as part of the South Street Regeneration Project. 5.3 The Short to Medium Term Financial Planning report to Council on 25 October 2023 (paragraph 9 of the Minute refers) made a recommendation for £60,000 to be made available for Smarter Working projects which had not been previously incorporated into the capital plan. Capital spend to date, including prior year, on Smarter Working projects was £38,000 leaving a balance of £22,000. It is recommended this balance is included in the capital plan for 2024/25. Page 93
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5.4 Additional budget of £83,000 for Buckie Harbour Weighbridge is required. The service has utilised underspend on other harbours projects resulting in a net shortfall of £18,000. It is recommended that £18,000 is added to the 2024/25 capital plan. 5.5 It is recommended that £212,000 for car parks is removed from the 2024/25 capital plan. The budget was set aside for works at Batchen Lane Car Park. This work is now expected to be carried out next financial year and has already been incorporated into the three-year 2025/28 Capital Plan. 5.6 It is recommended that £133,000 is carried forward to the three-year 2025/28 capital plan to account for expected delivery delays of vehicles ordered mid- 2024. 5.7 It is recommended that £27,000 is removed from the 2024/25 capital plan for the replacement CCTV programme. A budget of £72,000 had been carried forward from the 2023/24 capital plan with final costs amounting to £45,000. 5.8 It is recommended that £3,152,000 is removed from the Learning Estate budget with £2,563,000 being carried forward to the three-year 2025/28 capital plan. Carried forward amounts relate to committed contract spend on the BB programme that will not be delivered in the year. The balance of spend recommended to be provisionally removed pending assessment relates to internal design fees that will not be spent in the year. This element may also be recommended to be carried forward if it does not impact the overall affordability of the capital plan and this will be confirmed at the year-end and reported to Council in June 2025. 5.9 It is recommended £3,005,000 is removed from the Libraries and Leisure budget with £1,652,000 being recommended for carry forward. Continued delays with the Leisure Estate review means budget for the refurbishment and upgrade of swimming pools will not be spent in the year with the same amount already being included in the 2025/28 capital plan. Unspent budget set aside for potential asset failure at Moray Leisure (£700,000) new 3G pitches (£845,000) and libraries refurbishment (£107,000) are recommended to be carried forward given there is no planned spend this financial year as budgets were based on condition surveys and therefore likely to be required. Carried forward amounts will be added to the final year of the three-year 2025/28 capital plan given current spend uncertainty, pending finalisation of the Leisure Review and concomitant plans. 5.11 £40,000 for the acquisition and development of land at Moycroft Waste Centre, which is currently being processed and now expected to conclude early 2025/26 is being recommended as carry forward. A further £100,000 is recommended to be removed from the plan and re-instated only if there is a requirement to invest in abatement equipment for processing Persistent Organic Pollutant (POPs) waste. 5.12 £65,000 is recommended to be carried forward to allow completion of the Salt Barn Keith Depot which is expected to now be complete by July 2025. Page 94
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5.13 It is recommended that £737,000 of budget for Economic Development projects is removed from the capital plan with £457,000 recommended to be carried forward. The 2024/25 funding allocation of £414,000 for Place Based Investment is programmed to be fully committed by 31 March 2025 with spend to be incurred in early 2025/26. It is recommended £202,000 is carried forward to meet these planned commitments. Budget of £241,000 previously carried forward under the Town Centre Initiative Fund is being recommended for carry forward to 2025/26 for the Forres Conservation and Heritage Scheme. Budget of £14,000 for the Nature Restoration Fund is also recommended for carry forward. Given the uncertainty of future Nature Restoration Fund budget the service retained some budget to ensure a continuation of programme. As explained in paragraph 4.19 a budget of £280,000 had been incorrectly carried forward for the Just Transition Fund. All grant claims had been made before 31 March 2024. It is recommended this budget is removed from the 2024/25 capital plan. 5.14 It is recommended that £2,930,000 is carried forward for Moray Growth Deal Projects. Delays across Business Enterprise Hub, EY STEM and Manufacturing Innovation Centre have resulted in a change request being made to Scottish Government. 6. ESTIMATED OUTTURN 6.1 The spend projected provided by budget managers are based on the best information available at this time. Budget managers also grade projects for confidence of achieving projected expenditure with high confidence rates as green, medium confidence as amber, and low confidence as red. A summary of the ratings is given in the table below. Risk Status RAG No of Projects Budgeted Expenditure 2024/25 £000 High confidence of spend to estimate G 115 25,446 Medium confidence of spend to estimate A 32 4,376 Low confidence of spend to estimate R 6 562 Total Projected Expenditure 153 30,384 6.2 Red Rating - £562,000 has been given low confidence in spend to estimate in year. Most of this balance is with Roads Improvements and other projects that are reliant on Roads DLO to deliver the works given the current staffing issues as noted in paragraph 4.13 6.3 Amber Rating £ 4,376,000 has been given medium confidence in spend to estimate in year. Most of this balance relates to fleet services where vehicle delivery delays have been previously noted. Amber rating has also been applied to a number of projects that have a construction element attached and where project slippage is most prevalent. Page 95
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6.4 Total spend to date totals £14,901,000. A further £15,483,000 is currently profiled for the final quarter of 2024/25. Whilst it is anticipated there will be a strong effort to incur spend by the end of the year, the historic optimism bias from budget managers must be accounted for. Applying judgement and based on historic underspends alongside recent conversations with budget managers on project progress, a deduction for optimism bias has been applied at each confidence level. £000 Spend to date 14,901 Projected Q4 spend 15,483 R - Low confidence of spend @ 100% (562) A - Medium confidence of spend @ 70% (3,063) G - High confidence of spend @ 40% (4,218) Total Projected Expenditure (bias removed) 22,541 6.5 The estimated projected overall expenditure for 2024/25 is now £22,541,000 against the previously reported projection of £25,882,000. A table of the movement is provided below. Q2 Q3 Movement Spend to date 7,087 14,901 Remaining Spend 35,205 15,483 Full year projection 42,292 30,384 (11,908) R - Low confidence of spend @100% (6,681) (562) A - Medium confidence of spend @ 35% / 70% (7,784) (3,063) G - High confidence of spend @ 15% / 40% (2,005) (4218) Full year projection (bias removed) 25,822 22,541 (3,281) 6.6 The full year projection before optimism bias saw a decrease of planned spend of £11,908,000. This is primarily made up of Q3 amendments (£9,339,000) as noted in section 5 of the report. 6.7 The level of optimism bias has increased on both medium and high confidence spend. From experience budgets that are not highlighted as potential carry forward but remain largely unspent by the end of Q3 have a higher likelihood of underspend in the year than in Q2. 7. AFFORDIBILITY INDICATOR 7.1 The most recent estimated affordability indicator as at 31 December 2024 has been calculated. The estimated indicator now sits at 7.94%. Ratio of Financing Costs to Net Revenue Budget Estimated Financing Costs £22,016m Estimated Net Revenue Budget £277.162m Affordability Indicator 7.94% 7.2 The indicator saw a reduction from 8.77% in Q2 to 7.94% in Q3. This is because of lower expected new borrowing in the year, given the reduction in Page 96
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planned spend as noted in section 5 of the report as well as increased general capital grant as notified in December 2024. Further funding settlements from Scottish Government and minor increased income projections for Council tax have also been incorporated in the estimated Net Revenue Budget. An omission from the Q2 figure was the estimated loans fully repaid in the previous year, which has now been included as part of the calculation. 8. EMERGING ISSUES 8.1 The capital plan for 2024/25 includes a slippage factor of £9m. The slippage factor was a precursor to the cap on capital that has been applied to the capital plan going forward from 2025/26. The basis for the slippage was based on historic underspends and budget manager optimism bias. 8.2 In the financial year to date, carry forward requests already equate to £17.229m. Whilst the reason for each carry forward request is different it raises challenges in properly forecasting for future years. This is particularly challenging when working within the confines of the affordability indicator, which must be calculated against annual net revenue budget. There is a risk that too much carry forward may create a spike in spending in any one year, exceeding the affordability indicator. Further guidance will be provided to budget managers emphasising the importance of correct profiling and the associated impact of incorrect figures. 8.3 Areas where consistent reprofile and carry forward requests are being made are the major projects: Moray Growth Deal, Learning Estate and the Leisure Review. The pace of progress on these projects is not consistent with the spend profiles being provided. This is particularly true of projects that are still in pre-construction stages. However, acknowledgment is given to the challenges in forecasting early in a project. 8.4 As noted in the report to Council on 21 January 2025 (paragraph 7 of the minute refers) the three-year capital plan for 2025/28 is hoped to provide greater certainty to budget managers on their likely funding over the period. It is also hoped that budget managers will be more realistic in terms of spending, spreading project costs over multiple financial years rather than the current single year forecast. A project planning tool will be introduced for budget managers to complete when profiling major projects from 2025-2028 onwards. 9. SUMMARY OF IMPLICATIONS (a) Corporate Plan and 10 Year Plan (Local Outcomes Improvement Plan (LOIP)) Effective budget management is an essential component of delivery of Council priorities on a sustainable basis. The capital plan is one of the vehicles through which the Council’s priorities can be delivered. The approved capital plan for 2024/25 and the outline ten year plan incorporates measures designed to address the LOIP priorities of building a better future for our children and young Page 97
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people, empowering and connecting communities and developing a diverse, inclusive and sustainable economy. (b) Policy and Legal There are no policy or legal implications arising directly from this report. (c) Financial implications The financial implications are highlighted within the report and Appendices 1 and 2 to the report. (d) Risk Implications Budget managers are aware of their responsibilities for managing budget allocations and approval for variance will be sought from Council in line with the financial regulations. (e) Staffing Implications There are no staffing implications arising directly from this report (f) Property There are no property implications arising directly from this report. (g) Equalities/Socio Economic Impact There are no equalities issues arising from this report. (h) Climate Change and Biodiversity Impacts There are no climate change or biodiversity issues arising directly from this report. Achieving net zero will have significant implications for future planned capital expenditure (i) Consultations Capital budget managers and all Heads of Service have been consulted and any comments incorporated in the report. 10. CONCLUSION 10.1 Capital expenditure for 2024/25 amounts to £14,901,000 to the end of December 2024. 10.2 Capital expenditure for 2024/25 is currently projected to be £22,541,000 but with a medium degree of uncertainty due to current pace of spend and increasing number of requests to carry forward projects to future periods. 10.3 Amendments to the Capital Plan amounting to a decrease of £9.339,000 in 2024/25 and an increase of £7,840,000 across 2025/28 are recommended. 10.4 The affordability indicator outturn is projected to be 7.94%. This is within the agreed threshold of 10%. Page 98
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Author of Report: Jamie Fraser, Finance Manager Background Papers: Held by author in Accountancy section Ref: SPMAN-1293228629-1231 Page 99
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Moray Council Capital Programme 2024/25 As at 31 December 2024 Section 3. Section 5. Current Capital Plan 2024/2025 Budget to Date Actual to Date Variance to Date Full Year Projection Full Year Variance Amendments to QTR 3 for approval Amended Capital Plan Estimated Over / (Under Spend) £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 Bridges 993 660 657 3 1,047 (54) 0 993 54 Car Parks 417 82 85 (3) 205 212 (212) 205 (0) Climate Change 200 0 0 0 200 0 0 200 0 Corporate Buildings 231 95 106 (11) 230 1 22 253 (23) Fleet 4,168 1,754 1,358 396 4,035 133 (133) 4,035 (0) Flood Risk Management & Coastal Protection 507 479 175 304 560 (53) 0 507 53 Harbours 1,483 1,365 1,226 139 1,635 (152) 18 1,501 134 ICT 618 323 262 61 591 27 (27) 591 (0) Industrial Portfolio 279 226 40 186 93 186 0 279 (186) Learning Estate 7,229 3,899 2,981 918 4,077 3,152 (3,152) 4,077 (0) Libraries & Leisure 3,300 1,890 162 1,728 295 3,005 (3,005) 295 0 Parks & Open Space 976 652 486 166 976 (0) 0 976 0 Road Improvements 4,319 2,802 3,287 (485) 4,333 (15) 1 4,320 14 Street Lighting 656 484 669 (185) 669 (13) 0 656 13 Traffic & Road Safety 277 144 87 56 285 (8) (1) 276 9 Waste Management 3,275 390 204 186 3,120 155 (140) 3,135 (15) Spend to Save 82 162 22 140 84 (2) (65) 17 67 Other Funded Projects 434 434 231 203 434 0 0 434 (0) Economic Development 1,276 311 382 (71) 539 737 (737) 539 0 Moray Growth Deal 8,496 4,448 2,481 1,967 6,014 2,482 (2,930) 6,017 (3) Levelling Up Fund 0 0 0 0 962 (962) 962 962 0 39,216 20,598 14,901 5,698 30,384 8,832 (9,399) 30,268 116 Target Funding Prudential Borrowing 25,308 4,762 15,355 General Capital Grant (exc PSHG and CYPA) 7,959 6,105 7,959 Moray Growth Deal 6,238 2,698 6,238 Other Grants & Contributions 411 368 526 Developers Contributions 35 967 35 Useable capital receipts b/f 0 0 0 Receipts generated in year 155 0 155 40,106 14,901 30,268 APPENDIX 1 Section 4. Item 7. Page 101
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Major Capital Projects spanning more than 1 financial years (as at 31 Dec 2024) Appendix 2 Approved budget Total Expenditure in previous years Current budget 24- 25 Actual spend 24- 25 Remaining budget 24- 25 Projected future years budget required Estimated Final Cost Projected Variance £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 Learning Estate 198,454 4,526 7,299 2,981 4,318 186,629 198,454 - Moray Growth Deal Bus Revolution 4,000 1,015 997 4 993 1,988 4,000 - Early Years STEM 4,800 66 2,077 177 1,900 2,657 4,800 - Housing Mix Delivery 7,500 1,385 - 1,266 1,266- 6,115 7,500 - Cultural Quarter 23,802 458 2,340 819 1,521 21,004 23,802 - Business Enterprise Hub 5,000 - 1,550 - 1,550 3,450 5,000 - Moray Aerospace, Advanced technology and Innovation Campus 27,035 - 1,032 - 1,032 26,003 27,035 - Manufacturing Innovation Centre 6,832 - 1,920 60 1,860 4,912 6,832 - Digital Health Innitiative 5,000 3,185 126 215 89- 1,689 5,000 - Levelling Up Fund 18,029 - 962 - 962 17,067 18,029 - TOTAL 300,452 10,635 18,303 5,522 12,781 271,514 300,452 - Notes: Learning Estate Budget is indicitive based on 10 year plan approved 20 Jan 2025. Item 7. Page 103
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REPORT TO: MORAY COUNCIL ON 19 FEBRUARY 2025 SUBJECT: OFFER OF GRANT FOR SCHOOL MEAL DEBT FUND BY: DEPUTE CHIEF EXECUTIVE (ECONOMY, ENVIRONMENT AND FINANCE) 1. REASON FOR REPORT 1.1 To inform the Council of the grant offered by Scottish Government to clear school meal debt up to 31 March 2024. 1.2 This report is submitted to Council in terms of the Council's Scheme of Administrative section (III) (D) (1) relating to functions of the Council as Education Authority, and Section II (23) of the Council's Scheme of Administration relating to revenue expenditure. 2. RECOMMENDATION 2.1 It is recommended that the Council: (i) consider and note the contents of the report; (ii) accept the one-off grant funding of up to £38,295.85 to clear school meal debt until March 2024; and (iii) to note that any unused funding will need to be returned to Scottish Government. 3. BACKGROUND 3.1 The Scottish Government has allocated £1.5m in financial year 2024/25 to support Local Authorities who wish to cancel the school meal debt with one off funding while adhering to the COSLA Good Practice Principles for School Meal Debt Management. The debt to be written off is debt accrued up until the 31 March 2024. 3.2 The purpose of the COSLA principles is to promote good practice in the management of school meal debt, whilst retaining a level of flexibility to enable local authorities to design and implement approaches which align with the unique needs and circumstances of their communities. Decisions around school meal debt management, including all aspects of policy and practice, remain at the discretion of each local authority. Item 8. Page 105
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3.3 A bid for the funding was required that contained: • The amount of debt accrued up to 31 March 2024 • The amount of funding the authority was requesting • A demonstration of how the Authority followed the COSLA Good Practice Principles for School Meal Debt Management. 4. BID FOR FUNDING 4.1 The amount of accrued school meal debt for the Council up to 31 March 2024 was a total of £38,295.85. When the application was submitted the debt comprised of outstanding invoices of £27,989.46 and debt on the Ipayimpact system of £10,306.39 (Some of this debt could have been already cleared by parents and carers since the bid was submitted). 4.2 The amount of funding that was requested was the total amount £38,295.85. 4.3 The Council demonstrated how they are following the 12 principles of the COSLA Good Practice Principles for School Meal Debt Management as part of the funding application. An example on meeting the principles includes engagement with families on school debt through a weekly notification, and sign posting to information regarding entitlement to free school meals. 4.4 The bid for funding has been successful, and the Council have been awarded the full amount of £38,295.85. The money is to be claimed by the end of the 2024/25 financial year. 4.5 A condition of the award is that by 30 April 2025 the Council is to provide a report to the Scottish Government which: • Provides evidence as to how the COSLA Good Practice Principles have been adhered to (for example, advising on engagement with relevant families and providing examples of the support offered). • Confirms the total amount of School Meal Debt cleared by the end of the 2024/25 financial year. • Confirms the total amount of grant used to clear the School Meal Debt. • Confirms how many families/children have benefitted from the clearance of the School Meal Debt. • Advises which financial years School Meal Debt was incurred. 4.6 Upon receipt of the funds, if the total debt up until the 31 March 2024 is less than the £38,295.85, any unused funding will need to be returned to the Scottish Government. This funding cannot be used to support other purposes. 5. CURRENT UNPAID DEBT PROCESS 5.1 Unpaid school meal debt is pursued in the first instance by the school catering service via emails and letters to the pupil’s parent / guardian. These letters also contain information on how to pay, and about how to apply for Free School Meals if they are eligible. Should this prove unsuccessful and the debt Page 106
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continues to grow the issue is transferred to the Council’s Sundry debt system and invoices raised for the total value outstanding. The resultant debt is then subject to the Councils Sundry Debt Policy and pursued accordingly. 5.2 Each case is taken on its own merits, and affordable means of repayment are pursued wherever possible. Support from the Money Advice team can also be offered. The current school meal debt as of 13 January 2024 in total is £49,526.10. This is made up of £38,157.92 in unpaid invoices and £11,368.18 of debt on Ipayimpact. 5.3 Across Moray, in line with Scottish Government policy, all Primary 1–5 pupils are eligible for free school meals. From Primary 6 through to S6 free school meals are provided for those pupils who meet the eligibility criteria set by Scottish Government. 5.4 In Primary 6-7, 57% of those pupils eligible for free school meals are currently taking up the provision. For those pupils paying for their school meals, schools and the catering service have arrangements in place that mean that if a pupil is unable to pay for their meal on a particular day they are still provided with a lunch, and payment is dealt with separately to ensure that no child goes without food. 5.5 The anticipated full expansion of universal free school meals for P6-7 is yet to be confirmed. However, additional capital monies to support the expansion for children in years P6-7 who are in receipt of Scottish Child Payment (SCP), has been provided by Scottish Government. It was agreed at the Education Children’s and Leisure Service committee (ECLS) in November 2024 that a detailed report on universal free school meals (UFSM) would be submitted in May 2025 at the ECLS committee. 5.6 The Scottish Government have recognised that there will be delays to the roll out due to data sharing issues with regards children in receipt of the SCP (to be sorted at a national level), as well the upgrade to catering equipment (cookers/dining tables) needed within school estates to take account of the additional demand in the provision of meals. The Council are in a position to support a gradual uptake based on the assumed numbers from March 2025. 6. SUMMARY OF IMPLICATIONS (a) Corporate Plan and 10 Year Plan (Local Outcomes Improvement Plan (LOIP)) This report supports the Councils priority to tackle poverty. (b) Policy and Legal The Education (Scotland) Act 1980 provides that: 1.The authority must provide free lunch to qualifying pupils. And 2.The authority is given the additional power to provide other food and drink to qualifying pupils or indeed any other pupils either free of charge Page 107
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or on payment. This additional power can be exercised any time and on such conditions as the authority thinks reasonable (c) Financial implications There are no direct financial implications arising from this report as any school meals debt from 2023/24 or earlier written off will be recompensed to the Council by the grant funding if accepted. However, there may be indirect financial implications if non-payment of school meal debt becomes legitimised in the minds of some parents or carers. (d) Risk Implications Any decision relating to the write-off of debt needs to be considered in relation to the wider policy on debt management. Whilst child welfare must always be the primary concern, careful consideration must also be given to any unintended inference that deliberate non-payment for school meals is an acceptable position. This risk is best managed through national initiatives based on a robust understanding of the issues and effective communication strategies, the work ongoing through Cosla supporting such an approach. (e) Staffing Implications No staffing issues. (f) Property No Property Issues. (g) Equalities/Socio Economic Impact Whilst there are wider socio-economic matters relating to provision of school meals and the management of debt, the ability to write off the outstanding debt does not present any negative equalities or socio- economic issues. (h) Climate Change and Biodiversity Impacts No climate change issues. (i) Consultations Depute Chief Executive (Economy, Environment and Finance), Depute Chief Executive (Education, Communities and Organisational Development), Chief Financial Officer, Head of Governance Strategy and Performance, Head of Environmental and Commercial Services, Legal Services Manager, Programme Manager (Learning Estate), Democratic Services Manager and Equalities Officer have been consulted and their comments incorporated into the report. 7. CONCLUSION 7.1 The Scottish government has offered a one-off payment of £38,295.85 to clear the school meal debt up to the 31 March 2024. Following the receipt of the grant, a report is required that: • Provides evidence as to how the COSLA Good Practice Principles have been adhered too (for example, advising on engagement Page 108
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with relevant families and providing examples of the support offered). • Confirms the total amount of School Meal Debt cleared by the end of the 24/25 financial year. • The total amount of grant used to clear the School Meal Debt. • Confirms how many families / children have benefitted from the clearance of the School Meal Debt. • Which financial years School Meal Debt was incurred. 7.2 Any unused grant will need to be returned to the Scottish Government and cannot be used for other purposes. Author of Report: Elaine McRae, Catering Manager Background Papers: Ref: SPMAN-524642768-1201 Page 109
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REPORT TO: MORAY COUNCIL ON 19 FEBRUARY 2025 SUBJECT: CHARGING FOR SERVICES BY: DEPUTE CHIEF EXECUTIVE (ECONOMY, ENVIRONMENT AND FINANCE) 1. REASON FOR REPORT 1.1 To ask Council to approve revised charges for Council services for 2025/26. 1.2 This report is submitted to Council in terms of Section III (B) (1) and (48) of the Council's Scheme of Administration relating to financial policy and the setting of charges. 2. RECOMMENDATION 2.1 It is recommended that Council: (i) approves the charges for Council services for 2025/26 set out in paragraphs 3.6 to 3.14 and listed in APPENDIX 1; and (ii) notes the list of charges including those uplifted by the default of 3.6% and those outwith the control of the Council. 3. BACKGROUND 3.1 The current Charging for Services Policy was approved by Council on 12 December 2023 (paragraph 7 of the minute refers). Under the policy, an annual revision of charges is required. In order to preserve the Council’s financial position, charges within the control of this council generally have an inflation uplift applied each year. As part of the approved Charging for Services Policy Council agreed that the default increase for 2024/25 and 2025/26 would be the Consumer Price Index including owner occupiers housing costs (CPIH) as at the October prior to the start of the financial year plus 1%. CPIH published in October 2024 was 2.6% (figures are published a month in arrears). Consequently for 2025/26 the default increase in charges for services is 3.6%. 3.2 Per the Policy, charges which have had the default increase applied to them do not require to be brought back to Council for approval. Only charges which depart from the default position require approval by Council. Item 9. Page 111
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3.3 The Charging for Services Policy assumes a default position of full cost recovery, recognising that there will be exceptions to that rule. In cases where the Council offers a service where there are alternative service providers then market conditions should be taken into account. In other instances benchmarking with other local authorities may be a good test of reasonableness. There may be policy reasons for charging at less than full cost recovery for some services. However, charging for services is an important tool when considering the Council’s overall budget as maximising income helps to reduce the need to make savings by service reduction. 3.4 Not all charges are within the Council’s control. Some charges levied by the Council for services provided are set by statute, some are limited by statute and some have the method of calculation prescribed by statute – these are included in the list of charges for Council services for the sake of completeness. 3.5 The reason behind any recommended charges for 2024/25 not recommended to be increased by 3.6% (with rounding up or down if appropriate), where these are within the Council’s control, are discussed on a section-by-section basis below. A full list of charges is provided in the separate Information Report on Charging for Services published with the meeting agenda. 3.6 A: Corporate / cross departmental Most charges within the control of the Council are proposed to be increased by the default of 3.6%. The exceptions are mainly licensing fees levied under the Civic Government (Scotland) Act and other legislation in A6(ii) These charges have been benchmarked and the proposed increases are to bring them to a level consistent with our comparator authorities. These charges will be subject to further review as part of a comprehensive review of civic licensing fees. A12 – Use of marriage room in registrars office. Following the relocation of the Registrar’s service to Council Headquarters, the maximum number of guests which can be accommodated is 20 and it is proposed to remove the banded charges (5 – 10 guests, over 10 guests) and replace with one flat rate of £145, which is the average of the two rates previously charged. A13a – Saturday surcharge for marriages in the Marriage room. It is proposed to increase the surcharge from £145 to £250 to cover the additional cost of having 2 members off staff in attendance following the relocation. A 18 - The other exception is charges for photocopying, which are generally proposed to be frozen for 2025/26. Such small charges are impractical to increase by inflation annually. However, it is proposed to increase the charge for a colour A3 photocopy from 70p to 90p so that both black and white and colour A3 photocopies are twice the cost of an A4 photocopy. Page 112
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3.7 B: Social Care Services The Council delivers social care in partnership with NHS Grampian as directed by Moray Integration Joint Board (MIJB). The ability to set charges is a function of the Council and not of MIJB. However, as in previous years the Council has requested MIJB to make recommendations regarding the level of charges, so that a holistic view can be taken of charges for social care and their relation to service issues, and in the spirit of partnership working. Contributions towards social care services, which are generally means tested (as opposed to charges which are flat rate) fall within the remit of MIJB. B1 – Moray Lifeline / telecare: an increase of 8.65% to £48 per quarter (inc VAT) is proposed. This is an interim measure towards approaching full costs recovery: migration from an analogue system to a digital one is ongoing. A more in-depth approach to charging is needed to develop a tiered pricing structure. Factors like the increased cost of the digital roll out and SIM costs need to be considered in a future restructure of the pricing. B6 (a) – meals at day centres and B6 (b). The charges are proposed to be increased from £5.50 to £6.00, which is above the default rate but keeps the charge at a round sum. B12 – hire of room in day centres. This facility was removed during the pandemic and it is proposed that offer of rooms for hire is discontinued permanently and the charge removed. B14 – the Speyside lunch club has been disbanded and it is proposed that this charge is removed. 3.8 C: Leisure facilities Charges for the use of Leisure facilities were reviewed as part of the Leisure review and approved for 2025/26 by Council on 21 January 2025. 3.9 D: Libraries and Information Services The recommended exceptions to the default rate are: D1d – replacement readers’ card. Increased last year and recommended no increase in 2025/26. D1g – print outs, scanning etc – no increase recommended to these minimal charges, which are not practical to be increased on an annual basis. 3.10 E: Education There is one exception to the default rate recommendation: E3 – Primary School meals. The default rate rounded up to the nearest 5p is recommended, an increase from £2.45 to £2.55 (4.08%). This is consistent with other areas where charges have been rounded, but brings the increase to 10p, which has previously been reported as likely to be the maximum increase practicable without impacting on uptake. 3.11 F: Economic Growth and Development Services The majority of charges within the Council’s control are recommended to be increased by the default rate. Exceptions are where charges are full cost Page 113
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recovery of staff time and the impact of the pay award for 2024/25 is higher than 3.76%: F1c – Regulation 2 samples (paid on invoice); Regulation 2 request sample; verification samples (payment on invoice). Regulation 2 samples and verification samples paid in advance are recommended to be increased by the default rate only as an incentive for people to pay in advance, minimised administration costs and reducing the likelihood of bad debts. 3.12 G: Waste Management, Open Space Waste Management G1b – Bulky waste. The current charge is significantly lower that neighbouring authorities and does not cover the cost of the service. It is proposed to uplift the charge from £32 to £40, a rate comparable to neighbouring authorities, with a view to increasing to full cost recovery in future. The charge is considered to be competitive compared to private contractors. G1e and G1f – trade waste. An uplift of 5% is proposed to cover anticipated increases in the cost of service. The proposed charges are deemed to be competitive within the local market. G1g – trade waste recycling pass. This is aimed at customers requiring small quantities of excess recycling on an occasional basis. It is being used for larger deposits of materials by some businesses. The proposed increase from £300 to £400 is intended to act as a disincentive and to encourage customers to increase their provision of trade waste bins for kerbside recycling. G1j – commercial green waste. To avoid subsidising commercial gardeners this service must achieve full cost recovery, covering the cost of shredding, cost of haulage and cost charged by the re-processor. An increase from £38 to £55 is recommended to achieve full cost recovery of increased operating costs. G1l – household garden refuse collection. The default rate rounded upwards is recommended for household garden refuse collection (G1l), an increase from £50 to £52 (4%). G1o – trade waste agreement cancellation fee. There is provision within the trade waste agreement to charge the uplift of bins from premises where the business has cancelled their agreement but no fee has been set. It is proposed that the fee is set to cover the cost of a driver and a 3.5 tonne vehicle for an hour, as the average cost of uplifting bins and returning them. Open Spaces G2a – G2e – burial fees Council agreed that from 2024/25 this service would be charged at full cost recovery. The charges set for 2024/25 used current costs divided over the average number of burials over the previous three years. Updating for current costs, particularly increased costs of headstone safety measures and Page 114
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additional work being introduced by the Burial and Cremation Act 2016 such as the production of cemetery management plans, and revised number of burials based on the last two years requires an above default rate uplift. The proposed charges would likely see the Council move higher up the cost rating comparison with other local authorities although if others also increase charges as is likely the comparative impact will be muted. The charge made for electricity at events in Open Spaces (G8) is recommended to be frozen at 36p per kWh, which covers cost. 3.13 H: Fleet, roads and transportation No exceptions to the default rate (rounded) as recommended apart from H3 car parks which are recommended to be frozen at the recently revised rates. 3.13 I: Harbours The only exception to the default rate recommended is for the cost of electricity per unit (I10) to be frozen at 36p per kWh as in G8 at paragraph 3.12 above. 3.14 K: Housing and Property The default rate has been applied, rounded in the case of Property charges to the nearest £5. 4. SUMMARY OF IMPLICATIONS (a) Corporate Plan and 10 Year Plan (Local Outcomes Improvement Plan (LOIP)) The levying of charges for Council services is an essential component of delivering Council priorities on a sustainable basis. (b) Policy and Legal The current policy for charging for Council services was approved by the Council on 25 October 2023. There are no legal implications arising from this report. Some charges levied by the Council are set or limited by legislation. (c) Financial implications Increased income from charges will contribute to the Council’s financial sustainability. (d) Risk Implications There are no risk implications arising directly from this report. (e) Staffing Implications There are no staffing implications arising directly from this report. (f) Property There are no property implications arising from this report. Page 115
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(g) Equalities/Socio Economic Impact There are no equalities implications or implications for the socio- economic duty arising from this report. (h) Climate Change and Biodiversity Impacts There are no implications for climate change or biodiversity arising from this report. (i) Consultations All services have been consulted as to recommended charges and reasons for any departures from the default increase. Heads of Service have been consulted in the preparation of this report. 5. CONCLUSION 5.1 Charges within the Council’s control not following the default increase of 3.6% are itemised above and listed in APPENDIX 1. Author of Report: Lorraine Paisey, Chief Financial Officer Background Papers: Ref: SPMAN-1293228629-1234 Page 116
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APPENDIX 1 SECTION A: CORPORATE SERVICES / CROSS DEPARTMENTAL CODE: S Set by Statute/Scottish Government M At legal maximum SD Statutory duty of full cost recovery REF SERVICE CODE S/M/SD BUDGET 2024/25 CHARGE 2024/25 CHARGE 2025/26 DATE OF LAST CHANGE A6. Licensing (i) Licences under the Civic Government (Scotland) Act and other miscellaneous pieces of legislation – All charges for licences managed under the authority of the Licensing Committee as Licensing Authority will be reviewed in full in 2024 by the Committee. A full review has generally been undertaken each 5 years with inflationary increases in between Animal Boarding Establishments £2,400 £138 £150 April 2024 Animal Breeding £122 £130 April 2024 Cinema Licence £368 £175 £185 April 2024 Copy Licence £23 £25 April 2024 Dangerous Animals £650 £301 £325 April 2024 HMO (5 occupants or under) £1,903 £1,972 April 2024 HMO (10 occupants or under) £17.905 £2,719 £2,817 April 2024 HMO (over 10 occupants) £3,536 £3,663 April 2024 HMO Change of Circumstance £275 £285 April 2024 Itinerant Metal Dealer’s Licence £722 £748 April 2024 Itinerant Metal Dealer’s Exemption Warrant £722 £748 April 2024 Performing Animals £116 £125 April 2024 Pet Shops £237 £260 April 2024 Public Charitable Collections No Fee No Fee April 2019 Public Entertainment (under 200 attendees)* £333 £365 April 2024 Public Entertainment (between 200 and 299 attendees)* £416 £455 April 2024 Public Entertainment (between 300 and 399 attendees)* £18,522 £542 £595 April 2024 Item 9. Page 117
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Page 2 of 17 REF SERVICE CODE S/M/SD BUDGET 2024/25 CHARGE 2024/25 CHARGE 2025/26 DATE OF LAST CHANGE Public Entertainment (between 400 and 499 attendees)* £709 £775 April 2024 Public Entertainment (over 500 attendees – commercial)* £1,467 £1,610 April 2024 * Discounts apply for charitable events Second Hand Dealers Licence £1,288 £154 £165 April 2024 Sexual Entertainment Venue new licence SEV fees set Sept 2020 £1,617 £1,775 April 2024 Sexual Entertainment Venue licence grant fee TBD TBD Sexual Entertainment Venue licence renewal £1,617 £1,775 April 2024 Sexual Entertainment Venue licence variation £539 £558 April 2024 Sexual Entertainment Venue licence transfer £297 £325 April 2024 Sexual Entertainment Venue issue duplicate licence £43 £45 April 2024 Venison Dealer Licence £56 £61 April 2024 Zoo Licence £349 £380 April 2024 A12. Use of marriage room in Registry Office 5 – 10 guests Over 10 guests 5 – 20 guests Non-returnable deposit paid when making a booking for a ceremony. This fee is deducted from the final charge. £5,250 £87 £203 New £80 N/A N/A £145 £83 April 2024 Page 118
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Page 3 of 17 REF SERVICE CODE S/M/SD BUDGET 2024/25 CHARGE 2024/25 CHARGE 2025/26 DATE OF LAST CHANGE A13a Saturday surcharge for Marriages in Marriage Room £149 £250 April 2024 A18. Photocopying A4 Black & white A3 Black & white A4 colour A3 colour Plus staff costs £nil 15p 30p 45p 70p Up to £20 per person per hour 15p 30p 45p 90p Up to £20 per person per hour April 2023 April 2023 April 2023 April 2024 April 2023 Page 119
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Page 4 of 17 SECTION B: SOCIAL CARE – MIJB and Moray Training REF SERVICE CODE S/M/SD BUDGET 2024/25 CHARGE 2024/25 CHARGE 2025/26 DATE OF LAST CHANGE B1. Moray Lifeline / Telecare per quarter including VAT £108,000 £44.18 £48 April 2024 B6. Meals at Day Care Centres (Older People) and Shared Lives: £82,826 B6a. Meal – per meal £5.50 £6 April 2024 B6b. Tea & Biscuits – per cup £0.85 £1 April 2024 B12. Hire of Day Centre rooms TO BE REMOVED £5.71 per hour £6.00 per hour April 2023 B14. Speyside Lunch Club TO BE REMOVED £6.50 inc VAT £6.87 inc VAT April 2023 SECTION D: LIBRARIES AND INFORMATION SERVICES Page 120
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Page 5 of 17 REF SERVICE CODE S/M/SD BUDGET 2024/25 CHARGE 2024/25 CHARGE 2025/26 DATE OF LAST CHANGE D1 Libraries and Information Services £39,656 D1c D1d Inter-Library Loan Reader’s Tickets – Replacement Computer Card £ Full cost recovery (will vary for each item) £1.50 Full cost recovery (will vary for each item) £1.50 April 2023 April 2023 D1g Photocopies: Per A4 copy b/w Per A3 copy b/w Per A4 copy colour Per A3 copy colour Microfilm/fiche per A4 sheet Internet: Computer printouts Computer printouts (colour) Digital Scanning/Emailing, for first sheet thereafter £0.10 per sheet £16.090 £11,756 Please See Section A18 £2.50 £0.15 £0.45 £2.20 for first sheet Please See Section A18 £2.50 Align with Section A18 £2.30 for first sheet April 2023 April 2023 April 2023 April 2024 3D Printing, minimum charge Standard Setup Fee - £2.50 plus £1 per 50g used. (Minimum charge of £3) Standard Setup Fee - £2.65 plus £1 per 50g used. (Minimum charge of £3.50) April 2024 Page 121
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Page 6 of 17 SECTION E: EDUCATION REF SERVICE CODE S/M/SD BUDGET 2024/25 CHARGE 2024/25 CHARGE 2025/26 DATE OF LAST CHANGE E3. SCHOOL MEALS Primary School Meals £378,655 £2.45 £2.50 April 2024 Page 122
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Page 7 of 17 SECTION F: ECONOMIC GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT SERVICES REF SERVICE CODE S/M/SD BUDGET 2024/25 CHARGE 2024/25 CHARGE 2025/26 DATE OF LAST CHANGE F1 Environmental Health F1c. Water Sampling Type B Risk assessment / review of risk assessment Type B sampling including preparatory work and admin charge includes cost of analysis Regulation 2 Samples – payment on invoice Regulation 2 Samples – payment in advance Regulation 2 request sample (in addition to statutory sample) Verification samples (to check corrective works) payment on invoice Verification samples (to check corrective works) payment in advance M M £85,080 £50 –stat max £132 + VAT per sample – stat max £276 (no VAT) £276 (no VAT) £250 + VAT Analysis costs + £113 Analysis costs + £113 £50 –stat max £132 + VAT per sample – stat max £290 (no VAT) £286 (no VAT) £263 + VAT Analysis costs + £119 Analysis costs + £119 April 2017 April 2019 April 2024 April 2024 April 2024 April 2024 April 2024 F4l Pre-application advice on Major Development proposals £3,500 £3,626 April 2024 Page 123
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Page 8 of 17 SECTION G: WASTE MANAGEMENT, OPEN SPACE REF SERVICE CODE S/M/SD BUDGET 2024/25 CHARGE 2024/25 CHARGE 2025/26 DATE OF LAST CHANGE G1 Waste collection and disposal All charge are net of VAT G1b Collection of bulky household refuse (white and non-white goods) £37,561 £26.67 £32.00 £40.00 April 2024 G1e. Residual Waste per bin per week 140 ltr bin 240 ltr bin 360 ltr bin 660 ltr bin 1100 ltr bin 1280 ltr bin Assessed per sack or equivalent £934,266 £5.60 £9.55 £14.40 £25.25 £41.60 £49 £4.80 £5.88 £10.03 £15.12 £26.51 £43.68 £51.45 £5.04 April 2024 G1f. Recyclable Trade Waste per bin per week 140 ltr bin 240 ltr bin 360 ltr bin 660 ltr bin 1100 ltr bin Assessed – Cardboard packaging £246,747 £2.25 £3.80 £5.75 £10 £16.50 Based on equivalent bin size £2.36 £3.99 £6.04 £10.50 £17.33 Based on equivalent bin size April 2024 G1g. Recycling Centre Pass £300 £400 April 2024 Page 124
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Page 9 of 17 REF SERVICE CODE S/M/SD BUDGET 2024/25 CHARGE 2024/25 CHARGE 2025/26 DATE OF LAST CHANGE G1j. Disposal of green waste from landscape gardeners per tonne £14,357 £38 £55 April 2024 G1l Household garden waste permits, per annum per bin £1,154,000 £50 £52 April 2024 G1o Trade waste agreement cancellation fee £ NA £55 New Charge G2 Burial Grounds All charges are net of VAT G2a. Sale of Lair Non-Resident Sale of Lair Fee for transfer of lair Non-Resident Fee for transfer of Lair £137,844 £1,119 £2,370 £60 £120 £1,311 £2,776 £73 £144 April 2024 April 2024 April 2024 April 2024 G2b. Interment Charges Under 18 years of age Over 18 years of age Fee for 2nd/3rd interment for Non-Moray Resident Fee for Non-Moray Resident £ Nil £1,228 NA £2,254 Nil £1,495 £1,495 £2,745 April 2024 New Charge G2c. Additional charge for interments Saturday (over 18 years) Non-Moray Resident Sunday (over 18 years) Non-Moray Resident Included above £614 £1,12 £1,228 £2,254 £748 £1,373 £1,495 £2,745 April 2024 Page 125
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Page 10 of 17 REF SERVICE CODE S/M/SD BUDGET 2024/25 CHARGE 2024/25 CHARGE 2025/26 DATE OF LAST CHANGE G2d. Purchase of Cremated Remains Lair in Garden of Remembrance Non-Moray Residents Fee for interment of casket Fee for 2nd/3rd interment for Non-Moray Resident Fee for Non-Moray Resident Additional charge for Caskets: Saturday Non-Moray Resident Sunday Non-Moray Resident Scattering of Ashes on Grave Non-Moray Resident £ £643 £1,453 £290 NA £659 £145 £330 £290 £659 £70 £140 £753 £1,702 £353 £353 £802 £177 £401 £353 £802 £85 £170 April 2024 New Charge G2e. Fee for digging foundations for headstone Non-Resident Fee for digging foundations for headstone £36,578 £144 £415 £175 £504 April 2024 G8 Electricity Charge for Events Full cost recovery. £0.31 p/kWh @ 1 April 2024 Full cost recovery. £0.36 p/kWh @ 1 April 2025 April 2024 Lets for advance units and for approved non-operating days due to inclement weather will be charged at a third of the above prices. (1) TBC – To be confirmed on application subject to potential risk of ground damage Page 126
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Page 11 of 17 SECTION H: FLEET, ROADS AND TRANSPORTATION H3. CAR PARKING CHARGES £ Inclusive of VAT High Turnover Sites Moray Street, Ladyhill Road, St Giles levels 5 & 6, Cooper Park 8am- 12 noon (first 30 mins free - Cooper Park only) Period: Up to 1 hour Up to 2 hours Up to 3 hours Up to 4 hours £288,841 £432,569 £223,784 £1 £2 £2.50 £3 £1 £2 £2.50 £3 January 2024 Medium Turnover Sites Northfield Terrace, South Street, Hall Place, St Giles Levels 1-4, North Port, North College Street West Period: Up to 1 hour Up to 2 hours Up to 3 hours Up to 4 hours 4+ hours £1 £2 £2.50 £3 £5 £1 £2 £2.50 £3 £5 January 2024 Low Turnover Sites Lossie Green, Lossie Wynd, Batchen Lane - all levels All Day Weekly Ticket £2 £10 £2 £10 January 2024 Page 127
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Page 12 of 17 Elgin Railway Station (all day) Elgin Railway Station (weekly) Parking Notices Parking Notices (if paid within 14 days) £22,563 £74,958 £2 £10 £80 £60 £2 £10 £80 £60 April 2024 April 2018 Staff Car Parks – per day £80,809 £2 £2 April 2024 Season Tickets includes VAT High Turnover Site Medium Turnover Site Elgin Railway Station Low Turnover Site £55.476 n/a no all day parking £50 £40 £40 n/a no all day parking £50 £40 £40 January 2024 May 2018 January 2024 Page 128
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Page 13 of 17 SECTION I: HARBOURS REF SERVICE CODE S/M/SD BUDGET 2024/25 CHARGE 2024/25 CHARGE 2025/26 DATE OF LAST CHANGE Commercial harbours Leisure harbours £ All charges are net of VAT unless indicated £ I10 Supply of electricity - cost per electrical unit Up to 3 hours Per Electrical unit £23,500 £12 + VAT £0.35 + VAT £12.43 + VAT £0.36 + VAT April 2024 April 2024 Page 129
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Page 14 of 17 SECTION K: HOUSING AND PROPERTY REF SERVICE CODE S/M/SD BUDGET 2024/25 CHARGE 2024/25 CHARGE 2025/26 DATE OF LAST CHANGE K1. Housing Support: Warden’s Service: The Moray Council Sheltered Housing £104,470 £35.42 £37 April 2024 K2. Homeless Temporary Accommodation Service £1,290,488 £189.25 £196 April 2024 K3 Recharge of Council’s Estates’ costs £12,527 K3a Applications to purchase ground for incorporation into gardens: Initial fee (confirming ownership, valuation, preparing plan, title check by Legal Section) Final fee (processing application) Committee report preparation £370 £580 £475 £385 £600 £490 April 2024 April 2024 April 2024 K3b Applications for Site Compounds and Mobile Trading on Council land Initial fee (confirming ownership, consultation with Council officers and local members, drafting of licence) £185 £190 April 2024 Page 130
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Page 15 of 17 REF SERVICE CODE S/M/SD BUDGET 2024/25 CHARGE 2024/25 CHARGE 2025/26 DATE OF LAST CHANGE Complex transactions – Hourly Rate £52 - £106 £55 - £110 April 2024 K3c. Consents: (a) Assignations of lease (b) Sub leases: standard leases (c) Early lease terminations: standard charge Complex transactions – Hourly Rate Discount for not-for-profit tenants £475 minimum £300 minimum £350 £52 - £106 £26 - £53 £490 minimum £310 minimum £365 £55 - £110 £27 - £55 April 2024 K3d Utility companies: Scottish Water/Gas - Electricity Telecoms Electricity/Telecoms (complex) – hourly rate 200% Rydes Scale £370 minimum £370 minimum £52 - £106 200% Rydes Scale £385 minimum £385 minimum £55 - £110 April 2024 K3e Private parties Water and Sewerage 200% Rydes Scale 200% Rydes Scale April 2011 Page 131
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Page 16 of 17 REF SERVICE CODE S/M/SD BUDGET 2024/25 CHARGE 2024/25 CHARGE 2025/26 DATE OF LAST CHANGE K3f Public consultations for common good property transactions Standard transaction – alienable property Complex transactions – hourly rate as well as expenses incurred £265 minimum. £52 - £106 £275 minimum. £55 - £110 April 2024 K3g Recharge of Council’s Estates’ costs in relation to discretionary property transactions/work – hourly rate £52 - £106 £55 - £110 April 2024 K4 Late Payment of Commercial Rents April 2023 K4a Initial investigation and contact with tenant and issue of correspondence pursuing payment £65 £67 K4b Negotiate and issue Payment Arrangement £100 £105 K4c Instruct legal action £106 £110 K4d Copy documents £75 £80 K4e Sheriff Officers Recovery of actual cost to the Council Recovery of actual cost to the Council Page 132
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REPORT TO: MORAY COUNCIL ON 19 FEBRUARY 2025 SUBJECT: A96 CORRIDOR REVIEW BY: DEPUTE CHIEF EXECUTIVE (ECONOMY, ENVIRONMENT AND FINANCE) 1. REASON FOR REPORT 1.1 This report summarises the review and proposes the Council response to the Scottish Government’s draft A96 Corridor Review (Appendix 1) which answers the consultation questions and provides additional information on the Council’s views. 1.2 This report is submitted to the Council in terms of Section II (19) of the Council's Scheme of Administration relating to any new policy matter which does not fall within the terms of reference for any Committee. 2. RECOMMENDATION 2.1 It is recommended that Council: (i) note the draft summary of the A96 Corridor Review (Appendix 1). (ii) consider and agree the proposed response on the A96 Corridor Review set out in Appendix 3; and (iii) agree to request that the findings of the A96 Corridor Review are published and a decision made on the future of the A96 dualling scheme as soon as possible to minimise uncertainty for communities and businesses in Moray. 3. BACKGROUND 3.1 In 2011 Scottish Government announced its intention to provide dual carriageway connections between all of Scotland’s cities as part of the Infrastructure Investment Plan, including the A96 between Inverness and Aberdeen. A Strategic Business Case was completed in 2014 which identified that the full dualling of the route would deliver significant wider economic and accessibility benefits, and recommended progression to Outline Business Case. Item 10. Page 135
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3.2 The project progressed, starting with the appraisal of the options for the route of the first section of dual carriageway through Moray, from Hardmuir to Fochabers. A preferred route for this section was announced at the end of 2018, with detailed design work reaching the stage where Council Officers were content with how the proposed dual carriageway interfaced with the local road network along with the details of the proposed Active Travel infrastructure. 3.3 The A96 Corridor Review was commissioned by the Scottish Government in 2021 to provide a transparent evidence-based review of the corridor. Whilst the government stated, and continues to state, a commitment to full dualling of the A96 between Inverness and Aberdeen, this review has been a detailed and lengthy process and has superseded the previous work on detailed design. 3.4 The objectives of the A96 Corridor Review are different to the objectives set out in the original business case for dualling the A96 in 2014, with an emphasis now on net zero, transport accessibility, the enhancement of communities and inclusive growth, rather than the original objectives around improved inter-urban connectivity, journey times and the regional economy. The objectives reflect the objectives for the Strategic Transport Project Review 2 (published in 2022) and the National Transport Strategy (published in 2020). 3.5 The corridor review process began with a ‘Case for Change’ being prepared and consulted on at the end of 2022. This initial appraisal investigated transport data, problems and opportunities, developed the new objectives, and generated a series of options for transport interventions. Consultation on the Case for Change took place in early 2023 and resulted in the generation of further options which were considered as part of the next part of the review. 3.6 Following the consideration of the additional options, thirteen transport options (Appendix 2) were taken forward for review, which involved a qualitative review of the benefits/disbenefits. This was followed by the detailed transport appraisal, which grouped the options into themed ‘packages’ (Appendix 2), with a qualitative and quantitative assessment undertaken, with and without a 20% reduction in car-km by 2030 which is a Scottish Government policy position. 3.7 The review considers five ‘packages’ of transport options. Within each of the packages there were options which performed well against the objectives and made a significant contribution towards the benefits. A Refined Package was therefore considered which comprised of higher performing options, with an aim to delivering value for money. It is the Refined Package which is the focus for the consultation questionnaire. 3.8 The review is accompanied by a suite of documents, the Strategic Business Case, Transport Appraisal, Strategic Environment Assessment and Climate Compatibility Assessment which are all available for scrutiny on the consultation website at: A96 Corridor Review | Transport Scotland Page 136
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4. A96 CORRIDOR REVIEW PROPOSALS 4.1 The A96 Corridor Review presents a ‘refined package’ of interventions for consideration. These are: • Active Communities Networks of active travel routes in key communities along the corridor. For Moray this would be in Forres, Elgin, Fochabers and Keith. • Improved Public Transport Passenger Interchange Facilities which would focus on enhancements to existing bus stations and railway stations as opposed to building new facilities. • Investment in Demand Responsive Transport (DRT) and Mobility as a Service (MaaS) to improve access to travel opportunities in locations with low bus network connectivity, this could also include Community Transport. • Linespeed, passenger and freight capacity improvements on the Aberdeen to Inverness rail line. The interventions would reduce passenger journey time / increase service frequency and enable intermodal rail freight. • Targeted Road Safety Improvements which are focussed on the A96 and could include safety improvements at specific locations and corridor wide improvements to road markings and signage. • Elgin Bypass • Keith Bypass • A96 Electric Corridor through the provision of refuelling infrastructure/facilities along the A96 and interfacing local roads, which could include other low carbon fuel options. 4.2 The refined package is a multi-modal package of interventions. It focuses on Active Travel interventions within settlements which can be facilitated by the removal of through traffic by the provision of bypasses for Elgin and Keith. This reflects the sustainable investment hierarchy set out in the National Transport Strategy. 4.3 The package limits additional emissions and the wider environmental impact – the impacts of the two bypasses being off-set somewhat by the improved environment and safety within Keith and Elgin. It proposes active travel measures within settlements which were not part of the A96 dualling proposal (long distance route alongside dualling with connections back into settlements). The Refined Package would also include road safety improvements where identified and includes rail and public transport improvements – which to date have been considered separately. 5. A96 CORRIDOR REVIEW CONSULATION 5.1 The A96 Corridor Review consultation opened on 28 November 2024 with a closing date of 21 February 2025. An Elected Member’s briefing session was held on 14 January 2025 which summarised key points from the suite of consultation documents. 5.2 Officers from Strategic Planning attended a stakeholder workshop run by Transport Scotland on 27 January 2025 which focussed on the environmental Page 137
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considerations of the review. Whereas officers from Transportation attended a transport planning focussed workshop the following day. 6. PROPOSED CONSULATION RESPONSE 6.1 A copy of the proposed consultation response is contained within Appendix 3. The consultation questions are written to focus on gathering the views of the public. However, there is scope to provide additional information when responding to Question 6. Comments from subject matter experts in the Council with respect to transport, environmental assessments, flooding, climate change and equalities have been incorporated into the proposed response, along with comments received from elected members during the member briefing in January. 6.2 The key points made within the draft consultation response are: • The full dualling of the A96 between Aberdeen and Inverness remains a priority for Moray residents and businesses and would support the economic development of the region, providing enhanced access to employment opportunities and improved journey times for deliveries. • The Objectives for the Corridor Review differ from those considered for the A96 Dualling business case and appraisal. Whilst this change in objectives places net zero and climate change as the priority for the Corridor Review, it comes with a de-prioritisation of journey time reduction and regional connectivity which are important for the regional and local economy and have been the reason that many members of the public supported the full dualling of the A96. Furthermore, it is unclear to what extent access to significant employment opportunities such as the Aberdeen Green Investment Zone and Cromarty Greenport have been considered within the review. • The proposals within the draft Refined Package include active travel and public transport infrastructure (both new and proposed), along with a Pilot Project for a corridor wide provision of DRT/MaaS. It is unclear as to what extent these measures identified in the refined package will be delivered via existing Scottish Government funding or will have dedicated funding. There appears to be no revenue funding proposed to support the provision of public transport services. • Transport Scotland are currently consulting on a National Speed Management Review which includes proposals to lower the national speed limit on single carriageway roads from 60 mph to 50 mph and to increase speed limits for goods vehicles over 7.5 tonnes on single carriageway roads from 40 mph to 50 mph and on dual carriageways from 50 mph to 60 mph. Given that the majority of the A96 is and would remain single carriageway as part of the draft Corridor Review, there would be an increase in journey times and driver frustration should the reductions be made. It is unclear to what extent the proposed reduction has been modelled within the draft Transport Appraisal and what the impacts would be on the local and regional Page 138
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economies should the reduction be pursued and the full dualling of the A96 not proceed. • The Moray Local Development Plan 2020 (LDP) safeguards the preferred route of the A96 Hardmuir to Fochabers dualling. LDP is currently under review and will need to take into account the final decision from the Scottish Government on the future of the dualling project. Delays to this decision from Scottish Government will have an impact on the timing of the new LDP, the consideration of development sites and the cost of the Transport Appraisal supporting the LDP, as a series of scenarios would need to be tested. If bypasses are taken forward for Elgin and Keith then their alignment may impact on existing allocated sites, including how they are to be accessed. • The Climate Compatibility Assessment includes information on flooding which is at a very high level and more work would be required as any transport intervention, dualling, bypasses or other infrastructure, is taken forward. 7. SUMMARY OF IMPLICATIONS (a) Corporate Plan and 10 Year Plan (Local Outcomes Improvement Plan (LOIP)) The A96 Corridor Review supports the Corporate Plan priority ‘building thriving, resilient, empowered communities’ through the draft Refined Package which includes active travel and public transport interventions along with the provision of bypasses for Elgin and Keith, which would reduce the severance and environmental impacts of the A96 passing directly through these communities. (b) Policy and Legal National Planning Framework 4 refers to ‘improvements to the A96 to improve safety’ but does not specifically mention the dualling of the A96 from Inverness to Aberdeen. Moray Local Development Plan 2020 safeguards the preferred route of the A96 Hardmuir to Fochabers dualling scheme. (c) Financial implications There are no financial implications arising at this stage. However, further information and discussion is required regarding the future use, responsibility and maintenance of the existing A96 which may be removed from the Trunk Road network as part of any improvements, bypasses or dualling, as this will be a significant cost to the Council. (d) Risk Implications As noted above under financial implications. (e) Staffing Implications As any project associated with improving and/or dualling the A96 progresses there will be staffing implications for officers from Transportation, Planning, Consultancy, Environmental Health, Legal and other Services, which may impact on other workloads. Page 139
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(f) Property There are no property implications relating to this report. (g) Equalities/Socio Economic Impact The draft Transport Appraisal, which accompanies the A96 Corridor Review consultation, has considered each option and package of options against the Fairer Scotland Duty, Child Rights and Wellbeing and Equalities. Draft impact assessments have been carried out by independent consultant Jacobs AECOM, on behalf of Transport Scotland. The draft assessments set out any identified potential impacts in relation to the proposed Refined Package and are available as part of the consultation. More detailed assessment will be carried out as the design stage develops to better understand the extent of any identified impacts and recommend any effective mitigations. The responsibility for undertaking these Integrated Impact Assessments for transport interventions, improvements, bypasses or dualling of the A96 lies with Scottish Government at this stage. (h) Climate Change and Biodiversity Impacts There are no climate change or biodiversity impacts arising from this report. The draft Climate Compatibility Assessment which accompanies the A96 Corridor Review consultation has considered the climate impacts of each option and package of options. The implementation of any transport intervention, improvement, bypass or the dualling of the A96 will require further assessment at the detailed design stage to fully consider the environmental impacts and climate change implications. The responsibility for undertaking these further assessments lies with Scottish Government. (i) Consultations Depute Chief Executive (Economy, Environment and Finance), Head of Environmental and Commercial Services, Chief Financial Officer, Head of Governance, Strategy and Performance, Head of Economic Growth and Development, Strategic Planning and Development Manager, Legal Services Manager, Consultancy Manager, Democratic Services Manager and Equalities Officer have been consulted and their comments incorporated into the report. 8. CONCLUSION 8.1 The draft Refined Package set out in the corridor review has transport interventions which are broadly welcomed, particularly in relation to public transport. However, these are supported in addition to the full dualling of the A96, and not instead of. 8.2 The transport interventions should be in addition to existing programmes and project commitments and properly funded to deliver meaningful and long-term transport improvements e.g. revenue funding be provided where necessary and long-term investment rather than pilot project funding. Page 140
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8.3 Finally, any decision on the future of the A96 dualling corridor scheme should be made by Scottish Government ministers as soon as possible, to minimise uncertainty for the communities and businesses in Moray and the wider region. Author of Report: Diane Anderson, Senior Engineer (Transportation) Background Papers: Ref: SPMAN-524642768-1216 Page 141
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INVERNESS ABERDEEN HUNTLY KEITH ELGIN A96 A96 A96 NAIRN FORRES INVERURIE A96 Corridor Review Draft Summary Report 2024 Prepared by for Item 10. Page 143
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A96 Corridor Review Draft Summary Report 2 Contents What is the A96 Corridor Review? 3 A96 Corridor Review Process 4 How has the A96 Corridor Review been developed? 5 Summary of Outcomes 12 The Refined Package 18 Summary of Refined Package Interventions 20 Next Steps 27 Page 144
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A96 Corridor Review Draft Summary Report 3 What is the A96 Corridor Review? The A96 is a trunk road linking Inverness and Aberdeen, connecting several communities along its length, including Nairn, Forres, Elgin, Fochabers, Keith, Huntly, Inverurie and Kintore. The intention to dual the A96 was announced in December 2011, when the Scottish Government published its Infrastructure Investment Plan which contained a commitment to dual the A96 between Inverness and Aberdeen. This was supported by the Scottish Government’s Agenda for Cities, which focused on developing and promoting economic growth through the key assets of Scotland’s cities and their regions. In August 2021, it was agreed by the Scottish Government to take forward a transport enhancements programme on the A96 corridor that improves connectivity between surrounding towns, tackles congestion and addresses safety and environmental issues. While the current plan is to fully dual the A96 route, it was also agreed as part of this process there would be a transparent, evidence-based review of the programme, to include a climate compatibility assessment and other statutory assessments. As it has already received Ministerial consent following a Public Local Inquiry, dualling of the A96 from Inverness to Nairn as well as a bypass of Nairn is separate from the wider A96 review process. The A96 Corridor Review has considered all relevant transport modes within the A96 corridor, including roads-based transport, rail, public transport and active travel modes. The draft outcomes of the A96 Corridor Review’s appraisal and assessment work sets out that a package of interventions (referred to as “Refined Package”) across a range of modes of transport have been identified as the best performing in terms of the assessment criteria. This Refined Package aims to maximise the level of potential benefits by combining the best performing interventions considered within the Review whilst optimising investment within the corridor and delivering the best value for money. The draft outcomes of the A96 Corridor Review have now been published for public consultation before a final decision can be reached by the Scottish Government. Page 145
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A96 Corridor Review Draft Summary Report 4 A96 Corridor Review Process Page 146
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A96 Corridor Review Draft Summary Report 5 How has the A96 Corridor Review been developed? The A96 Corridor Review followed the Scottish Transport Appraisal Guidance (STAG), which is an objective-led, evidence-based transport appraisal process. An appraisal using STAG is required whenever Scottish Government funding, support or approval is needed to change the transport system. This process also ensures alignment with Transport Scotland’s second Strategic Transport Projects Review (STPR2) and industry best practice. The four key stages of the STAG process are illustrated below. The approach includes identification of problems and opportunities, development of transport planning objectives based on these, option generation and sifting and appraisal of options against a series of criteria. STAG process Page 147
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A96 Corridor Review Draft Summary Report 6 A96 consultation and engagement A public consultation exercise and engagement with stakeholder groups across the corridor have been key to informing the Review. The first stage of the STAG process (Case for Change (2022)) included identification of problems and opportunities linked to all modes of transport for the A96 corridor, drawing upon relevant data analysis, policy review and stakeholder engagement including workshops and online public consultation. At this stage a set of Transport Planning Objectives (TPOs) were developed, in alignment with Scotland’s second National Transport Strategy (NTS2) and STPR2, but with a particular focus on the specific evidence-based problems and opportunities for the corridor. TPOs are of central importance to the STAG process, providing a clear and transparent appraisal of transport options, from initial option identification and sifting, through to the next stages of preliminary and detailed appraisal and subsequent monitoring/evaluation. Key statistics from the public consultation 8 stakeholder briefing sessions held 25 stakeholder groups engaged 4,687 public consultation responses received over 11,000 suggestions for options considered Page 148
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A96 Corridor Review Draft Summary Report 8 CO2 A96 Corridor Review Transport Planning Objectives (TPOs) and sub-objectives Transport Planning Objective 1: A sustainable strategic transport corridor that contributes to the Scottish Government’s net zero emissions target. Sub objectives: • Reduce transport related emissions through a shift to more sustainable modes of transport. • Increase the active travel mode share for shorter everyday journeys. Transport Planning Objective 2: An inclusive strategic transport corridor that improves the accessibility of public transport in rural areas for access to healthcare, employment and education. Sub objectives: • Increase public transport mode share by improving connections between sustainable modes of transport. • Reduce the reliance on private car for access to healthcare, employment and education. • Improve mobility and inclusion, recognising the specific needs of disadvantaged and vulnerable users. Transport Planning Objective 3: A coherent strategic transport corridor that enhances communities as places, supporting health, wellbeing and the environment. Sub objectives: • Reduce demand for unsustainable travel by enhancing place-making within settlements along the A96. • Increase active travel mode share for both shorter and longer distance journeys. • Reduce real and perceived severance caused by the strategic transport network both between and within communities. • Protect or enhance the natural environment and heritage. Page 150
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A96 Corridor Review Draft Summary Report 9 ! Transport Planning Objective 4: An integrated strategic transport system that contributes towards sustainable inclusive growth throughout the corridor and beyond. Sub objectives: • Increase sustainable access to labour markets and key centres for employment, education and training. • Increase the mode share of freight by sustainable modes. • Increase competitiveness of key sectors by improving journey time reliability for commercial transport. Transport Planning Objective 5: A reliable and resilient strategic transport system that is safe for users. Sub objectives: • Reduce the accident rates and severity of transport related casualties in line with reduction targets. • Improve resilience to disruption (from climate change events and maintenance activities) through adaptation of the corridor’s trunk road and rail infrastructure. Page 151
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A96 Corridor Review Draft Summary Report 10 Development and assessment of options Although over 11,000 ideas were generated and considered, these included duplicates, options that were out of scope, options considered in other projects such as STPR2, options that did not address the identified problems and opportunities and options which were considered undeliverable. This ‘cleaning’ and ‘sifting’ process resulted in 16 options across all modes progressing to Preliminary Appraisal. Preliminary appraisal of options was undertaken against the A96 Corridor Review TPOs, the STAG criteria (Environment, Climate Change, Health, Safety & Wellbeing, Economy, Equality & Accessibility), and established policy objectives as well as other deliverability criteria such as feasibility, affordability and public acceptability. As part of the appraisal, options were aligned with NTS2 to ensure consistency with current national transport strategy, in particular the sustainable travel hierarchy and sustainable investment hierarchy. Walking and wheeling Sustainable Travel Hierarchy Cycling Public transport Private car Taxis & shared transport Sustainable Investment Hierarchy Maintaining and safely operating existing assets Reduces the need to travel unsustainably Make better use of existing capacity Targeted infrastructure improvements Page 152
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A96 Corridor Review Draft Summary Report 11 Following consideration at Preliminary Appraisal, 13 options were taken forward to Detailed Appraisal. In recognition that several of the retained options were complementary, and therefore may give greater net benefit if delivered as a package rather than stand alone options, multimodal ‘packages’ were developed and appraised against the TPOs, STAG criteria, deliverability criteria and Statutory Impact Assessment criteria. As Full Dualling of the A96 is the current plan, it has also been considered as part of the Detailed Appraisal to assess its performance against current criteria. Parallel to the STAG appraisal, a statutory Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) has been undertaken to ensure the potential significant effects of the options and packages on the environment are considered. Statutory Impact Assessments (SIAs) covering aspects such as equality and children’s wellbeing have also been undertaken. A Climate Compatibility Assessment (CCA) has also been prepared, which seeks to establish the alignment or otherwise of the packages and Full Dualling with the identified climate change criteria, in addition to the assessments undertaken as part of the STAG appraisal. The packaging approach identified the benefits or otherwise for a series of locations throughout the A96 corridor. However, it was acknowledged that there would be added value in separating out the benefits of individual options within each package to determine which provide the greatest contribution for both local communities and the wider corridor. An assessment of the benefits and contribution of the individual options has been undertaken, with the better performing ones combined to form an additional package, referred to as the ‘Refined Package’. Further details of the options that performed less well and the rationale for them not being included in the Refined Package can be found in the Strategic Business Case – Transport Appraisal Report (Draft). The Refined Package seeks to maximise the level of potential benefits in terms of contribution to the TPOs, STAG criteria and impact assessments, whilst optimising investment within the corridor and delivering the best value for money. A description of the options forming the Refined Package can be found on Page 18. This Refined Package outperformed the majority of other packages whilst optimising investment within the corridor. It also outperformed the Full Dualling option, particularly in terms of impacts on the environment and climate change. Page 153
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A96 Corridor Review Draft Summary Report 12 Summary of Outcomes Summary of Transport Appraisal Outcomes The following provides a comparative overview of the key outcomes from the appraisal of the Refined Package and Full Dualling against the appraisal criteria. Each assessment criterion was evaluated without applying any weighting, and both the Full Dualling and Refined Package options were independently appraised against a Reference Case (i.e. assuming no improvements or enhancements to the corridor). Transport Planning Objectives (TPOs) TPO1 – A sustainable strategic transport corridor that contributes to the Scottish Government’s net zero emissions target The Refined Package would result in a marginal increase in vehicle kilometres travelled (with a marginal increase in greenhouse gas emissions), however the Refined Package includes measures to promote a shift towards sustainable transport modes throughout the corridor. Full Dualling would have a much larger increase in vehicle kilometres travelled and an increase in emissions approximately 15 to 65 times larger than the Refined Package. TPO2 – An inclusive strategic transport corridor that improves the accessibility of public transport in rural areas for access to healthcare, employment and education The Refined Package would make public transport more accessible, especially with improvements to rail services and investment in Demand Responsive Transport (DRT) and Mobility as a Service (MaaS). This would help encourage people to use public transport instead of driving. Full Dualling would not significantly improve access to public transport. However, it might slightly reduce traffic and congestion in towns, leading to minor improvements in public transport travel times. TPO3 – A coherent strategic transport corridor that enhances communities as places, supporting health, wellbeing and the environment The Refined Package would have some environmental impact during construction, but it would benefit communities by encouraging more walking and cycling in towns, which supports better health, wellbeing, and environmental outcomes. Improvements in public transport would also help reduce social isolation and make it easier for people to access healthcare services. Full Dualling would have more significant adverse environmental effects and outweigh any benefits to communities such as improved air quality, reduced division and the potential for increased active travel within the bypassed town centres. Page 154
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A96 Corridor Review Draft Summary Report 13 TPO4 – An integrated strategic transport system that contributes towards sustainable inclusive growth throughout the corridor and beyond Both provide minor positive contributions. The Refined Package would provide a degree of journey time benefits to business road users and would provide businesses with sustainable access to job opportunities and improved rail freight capacity encouraging more sustainable movement of goods. Full Dualling would provide greater benefits in terms of reliability and efficiency for business road users and road freight movements, however it would predominantly benefit road users and would be unlikely to increase sustainable transport choices. TPO5 – A reliable and resilient strategic transport system that is safe for users The Refined Package would reduce accidents at specific locations through the targeted road safety improvements intervention and the bypasses of Elgin and Keith, whilst also enhancing the resilience of the road and rail networks. Full Dualling would result in a larger reduction in accidents overall as well as a greater reduction in high severity accidents and would improve the resilience of the road network to disruption through the provision of a new dual carriageway. Scottish Transport Appraisal Guidance (STAG) Criteria Environment The Refined Package would have a minor negative impact on the environment although the scale of infrastructure and the physical works required would be much less significant than Full Dualling. This would outweigh any benefits of reduced noise and air quality impacts, such as those resulting from traffic reductions within Elgin and Keith. Full Dualling would have major negative impacts on the environment as the scale of physical works required for the new infrastructure is much greater than for the Refined Package. This would significantly outweigh any benefits attributed to reduced noise and air quality impacts from the traffic reductions created as a result of bypassing communities along the route. Climate Change The Refined Package would result in an increase in greenhouse gases including emissions from the materials and energy used in construction associated with the Elgin and Keith bypasses and the rail intervention, and through the minor increase in vehicle kilometres travelled during operation. There would be some benefits in terms of adaptation of the transport network to the effects of climate change where infrastructure improvements are introduced. Page 155
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A96 Corridor Review Draft Summary Report 14 Full Dualling would result in a significantly greater increase in greenhouse gases in comparison to the Refined Package, including both emissions from the materials and energy used from construction and through the larger increase in vehicle kilometres travelled during operation. Similarly, the new route would provide benefits in terms of adaptation of the trunk road network to the effects of climate change. Health, Safety and Wellbeing The Refined Package would reduce accidents, improve health outcomes through active travel improvements within towns, and improve access to health services by active modes and public transport. There would be some adverse impacts on visual amenity through the construction of selected interventions including the Elgin and Keith bypasses. Full Dualling would provide greater accident reductions and improved reliability to access health services by road but would have a much greater negative impact on visual amenity and a more limited effect on improving health outcomes. Economy The Refined Package would provide a lower value of economic benefits but at a significantly lower estimated cost than Full Dualling, and the benefits are largely derived from the sustainable transport modes, including rail journey time savings and health benefits from the active travel intervention. Full Dualling is estimated to cost significantly more than the Refined Package and although it would provide a higher value of total benefits, these predominantly arise from road journey time savings as well as accident benefits and a reduction in driver frustration. Equality and Accessibility The Refined Package would increase the active travel network coverage and make it easier to access key services by public transport, which would be of particular benefit for disadvantaged and vulnerable users. The rail and DRT interventions would contribute to expanding public transport accessibility into more rural areas along the corridor. Full Dualling would largely benefit those who have access to a private car and although bypassing communities could enable placemaking to encourage more active travel, it is unlikely to have a direct impact on improving the accessibility to key services by public transport, with improvements in rural areas likely to be minimal. Page 156
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A96 Corridor Review Draft Summary Report 15 Statutory Impact Assessments (SIAs) Equality Impact Assessment The Refined Package would provide safer and more affordable access to key services through improvements to active travel and public transport modes, benefiting those in transport poverty and more vulnerable users. The Elgin and Keith bypasses would provide air quality benefits by reducing through traffic but would also have negative impacts on noise, vibration, air quality and division during construction and in operation. Full Dualling would also improve safety of road users and air quality in bypassed settlements by reducing through traffic, but the accessibility benefits of the option would mostly impact those with access to a car. It would have negative impacts on noise, vibration, air quality and severance during construction and in operation. Child Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessment The Refined Package would improve public transport connectivity to education for children and young people, with the public transport improvements also benefitting leisure travel as children and young people are more likely to depend on buses. The Elgin and Keith bypasses would reduce traffic-related health impacts where through trips are removed and there is an uptake in active travel, though there could also be adverse health outcomes for children living in local communities close to the realigned routes. Full Dualling would improve access to education for children and young people however this is likely to be minor and would mainly affect those with access to a car. It would reduce traffic-related health impacts in bypassed communities with reduced traffic volumes, but the provision of a dual carriageway could also result in adverse health outcomes for children living in local communities close to the realigned route. Fairer Scotland Duty Assessment The Refined Package would improve public transport access to essential services such as education and employment that would particularly benefit socio- economically disadvantaged groups across the corridor. The improved public transport connectivity would help to reduce social isolation and the active travel interventions in conjunction with bypasses could remove barriers to the uptake of active travel and reduce health inequalities in disadvantaged communities through improved air quality. Full Dualling would improve access to employment and education for those from socio-economically disadvantaged groups through reductions in journey times and improved reliability, but this would mainly benefit those with access to a car. There would be limited direct benefits for public transport and active travel through reduced levels of congestion. Page 157
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A96 Corridor Review Draft Summary Report 16 Overall, the Refined Package performs better than Full Dualling in terms of the appraisal criteria, particularly with respect to the impact on the environment, sustainability, equality and inclusivity. A summary of the Transport Appraisal outcomes can be found in the Table below. Scoring in the table represents the ‘With Policy’ Scenario only. For full details on information on the ‘With Policy’ and ‘Without Policy’ scenarios and scoring, please refer to the Strategic Business Case - Transport Appraisal Report (Draft). Page 158
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A96 Corridor Review Draft Summary Report 17 Summary of Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) Outcomes This section summarises the appraisal of the Refined Package and Full Dualling against the SEA objectives. The Refined Package is likely to have a cumulative minor negative effect. Moderate negative effects are predicted for natural resources and biodiversity, whereas minor negative effects are predicted for air quality, water quality, cultural heritage, and landscape and visual amenity. Due to the predicted greenhouse gas increases associated with constructing and operating transport infrastructure, a minor negative cumulative effect is predicted for the greenhouse gases SEA objective. As there is considerable uncertainty associated with the future impacts of climate change and any construction design is yet to be developed, an uncertain score was assigned for the climate adaptation SEA objective. Full Dualling of the A96 would be considered to have a cumulative major negative effect. There will be opportunities to improve safety, placemaking, and accessibility, hence some minor positive effects are predicted for these SEA objectives. However, there are still likely to be major negative effects on many environmental receptors. This is mainly due to the construction footprint but also adverse effects of greenhouse gas emissions and local air quality from traffic emissions during the operational phase. As there is considerable uncertainty associated with the future impacts of climate change and any construction design is yet to be developed, an uncertain score was assigned for the climate adaptation SEA objective. For the Refined Package, the likely minor and moderate negative effects are expected to arise from some of the physical works, mainly due to the construction of two bypasses, public transport, freight capacity and road safety improvements and their potential impact on the natural environment. In general, the Refined Package has fewer negative effects and lower magnitude negative effects than Full Dualling in terms of potentially significant cumulative effects. Both the Refined Package and Full Dualling have positive effects predicted for the Population and Human Health topics, for example due to targeted road safety improvements. For Full Dualling, the considerable amount of land-take, raw materials requirements and greenhouse gas emissions associated with constructing a fully dualled road has led to this being assessed as having major or moderate negative effects for most of the SEA Objectives. In contrast, the Refined Package was assessed to be likely to lead to minor negative effects for most SEA Objectives, albeit with moderate negative effects predicted for natural resources and biodiversity due to the raw material demand and land-take associated with constructing the Refined Package bypasses. There are also several minor positive environmental effects predicted for the Refined Package, including for the Population and Human Health SEA objectives focused on quality of life and sustainable access, high quality places and the Material Assets SEA objective relating to sustainable transport networks. Moderate positive effects were also predicted for the SEA objective relating to safety due to the proposed road safety improvements. Page 159
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A96 Corridor Review Draft Summary Report 18 The Refined Package The Refined Package includes eight options, which are listed below along with a description and a selection of their key benefits. All individual interventions are assumed to be introduced corridor wide; where specific locations are identified at this stage, these are noted. Refined Package ■ Active Communities ■ Improved Public Transport Passenger Interchange Facilities ■ Investment in Demand Responsive Transport (DRT) and Mobility as a Service (MaaS) ■ Linespeed, Passenger and Freight Capacity Improvements on the Aberdeen to Inverness Railway Line ■ Elgin Bypass ■ Keith Bypass ■ Targeted Road Safety Improvements ■ A96 Electric Corridor Page 160
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A96 Corridor Review Draft Summary Report 20 Summary of Refined Package Interventions Active Communities Delivery of networks of high-quality active travel routes and placemaking improvements within key communities along the A96 corridor such as Nairn, Forres, Elgin, Lhanbryde, Mosstodloch, Fochabers, Keith, Huntly, Inverurie, Kintore and Blackburn. These active travel interventions would: ■ Drive modal shift and reduce the need to travel unsustainably ■ Help reduce the number of short-distance car journeys ■ Improve air quality in town centres, contributing to Scotland’s net zero emissions target ■ Contribute to place-making and 20-minute neighbourhoods ■ Deliver improvements to physical and mental wellbeing of those who adopt active travel modes ■ Potentially deliver economic benefits through increased cycling and walking tourism Page 162
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A96 Corridor Review Draft Summary Report 21 Improved Public Transport Passenger Interchange Facilities Improvements to public transport passenger facilities, including accessibility and quality enhancements at bus stations and railway stations. Improvements are likely to include smaller scale interventions such as placemaking enhancements, improved wayfinding, enhancements to the waiting environment and / or improved accessibility, including lifts and step-free access, however, they may also include the construction of new interchange facilities. These interventions would: ■ Deliver accessibility and inclusivity enhancements to the public transport network ■ Contribute towards Scottish net zero emissions targets by encouraging the use of public transport ■ Encourage modal shift away from car ■ Improve actual and perceived user safety and security ■ Promote interchange between sustainable travel modes Page 163
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A96 Corridor Review Draft Summary Report 22 Investment in Demand Responsive Transport (DRT) and Mobility as a Service (MaaS) Improved access to flexible travel opportunities in locations with low bus network connectivity or where conventional fixed route services may not be suitable or viable. Includes digital transport service improvements. New DRT and MaaS would: ■ Improve travel accessibility and inclusivity by delivering more flexible transport options for those without access to a car or with limited transport options ■ Result in faster journeys and increased affordability for users due to improved integration of modes ■ Encourage modal shift away from car ■ Pilot a corridor-wide DRT and MaaS scheme, combining flexible services with a digital transport platform Page 164
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A96 Corridor Review Draft Summary Report 23 Linespeed, Passenger and Freight Capacity Improvements on the Aberdeen to Inverness Rail Line Three distinct improvements to the railway between Aberdeen and Inverness - linespeed improvements to reduce end-to-end journey times to two hours (currently approximately two hours and 25 minutes), the provision of passing loops to enable a more frequent passenger service and the provision of freight facilities to enable intermodal freight growth. These rail interventions would: ■ Deliver faster and more frequent journeys ■ Improve access to key settlements containing a rail station ■ Enhance reliability and network resilience ■ Improve connectivity between communities along the corridor ■ Contribute towards Scotland’s net zero emissions targets by encouraging the use of public transport ■ Encourage modal shift away from car ■ Enhance freight capacity by introducing intermodal facilities Page 165
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A96 Corridor Review Draft Summary Report 24 Targeted Road Safety Improvements Improvements to the A96 Trunk Road to address both real and perceived road safety concerns. This could be achieved through the provision of improved overtaking opportunities, junction improvements and improvements to the alignment of the carriageway at targeted locations along the route. These safety interventions would: ■ Increase road safety through reduction of accidents and their severity ■ Improve resilience and reliability through reduction of disruption during incidents ■ Deliver economic benefits due to improved reliability and less road closures Page 166
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A96 Corridor Review Draft Summary Report 25 Elgin and Keith Bypasses Provision of a bypass around the towns of Elgin and Keith. These bypasses would: ■ Improve safety, resilience and reliability of the A96 ■ Improve air quality in the town centres ■ Support access to tourism and employment opportunities ■ Improve connectivity between towns ■ Deliver economic benefits for all car users through shorter journeys, reduced congestion and fewer delays ■ Potentially increase attractiveness of active travel and enhance placemaking by reducing through-traffic in town centres, thus facilitating the Active Communities intervention ■ Address real and perceived severance within these communities by removing through trips Page 167
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A96 Corridor Review Draft Summary Report 26 A96 Electric Corridor Improve the provision of alternative refuelling infrastructure and facilities along the A96 corridor and its interfacing local roads. The Electric Corridor would: ■ Support the decarbonisation of the transport sector ■ Improve resilience and standard of charging infrastructure along the route ■ Increase confidence and uptake of using zero- emission vehicles ■ Contribute towards Scotland’s net zero emissions targets ■ Improve air quality across the corridor Page 168
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A96 Corridor Review Draft Summary Report 27 Next Steps The draft outcomes of the A96 Corridor Review have now been published for public consultation. Your feedback is important and will help a final decision to be reached on the A96 Corridor Review by the Scottish Government and in turn assist Scottish Ministers in planning how transport improvements along the corridor are prioritised. A96 Corridor Review Project Pages You can share your views on the new A96 Corridor Review consultation Address details: Transport Scotland George House 2nd Floor 36 North Hanover Street Glasgow G1 2AD Email: a96corridorreview@jacobs.com This summary report is part of a series of materials produced as part of the A96 Corridor Review, including: ■ A96 Corridor Review, Strategic Business Case - Transport Appraisal Report (Draft) ■ A96 Corridor Review, Strategic Business Case - Summary of Main Report (Draft) ■ A96 Corridor Review, Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) Draft Environmental Report ■ A96 Corridor Review, Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) Draft Environmental Report Non- Technical Summary ■ A96 Corridor Review, Climate Compatibility Assessment Report (Draft) ■ A96 Corridor Review, Fairer Scotland Duty Assessment (FSDA) Report (Draft) ■ A96 Corridor Review, Child Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessment (CRWIA) Report (Draft) ■ A96 Corridor Review, Equality Impact Assessment (EqIA) Report (Draft) ■ A96 Corridor Review, Partial Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment (BRIA) Report (Draft) ■ A96 Corridor Review Initial Appraisal: Case for Change (Dec 2022) ■ A96 Corridor Review Stakeholder & Public Engagement Consultation Report (Dec 2022) Page 169
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A96 Corridor Review Draft Summary Report 29 Further copies of this document are available, on request, in audio and visual formats and in community languages. Any enquiries regarding this document / publication should be sent to us at info@transport.gov.scot © Copyright 2024 Jacobs UK Ltd and AECOM Limited. The concepts and information contained in this document are the property of Jacobs and AECOM. Use or copying of this document in whole or in part without the written permission of Jacobs and AECOM constitutes an infringement of copyright. Limitation: This document has been prepared on behalf of, and for the exclusive use of Jacobs’ and AECOM’s client, and is subject to, and issued in accordance with, the provisions of the contract between Jacobs, AECOM and the client. Jacobs and AECOM accept no liability or responsibility whatsoever for, or in respect of, any use of, or reliance upon, this document by any third party. Page 171
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30 A96 A96 A96 INVERNESS ABERDEEN HUNTLY KEITH ELGIN NAIRN FORRES INVERURIE Page 172
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Options Considered in Transport Appraisal Active Communities - interventions which support Active Travel within the settlements along the A96 corridor. Active Connections - the provision of active travel infrastructure between the settlements. Bus Priority Measures and Park and Ride - Improved PT interchanges - the improvement of existing facilities but does state that if there was a specific case, new facilities could be provided. Investment in DRT/MaaS – this is for a corridor wide pilot project. There is no revenue support proposed for existing services. Introduction of Rail Freight Terminals - Rail Line improvements – to provide additional capacity for passenger and freight trains and reduce journey times. Targeted Road Safety Improvements - there are no specific proposals for road safety improvements within the appraisal. Forres Bypass Elgin Bypass Keith Bypass Inverugie Bypass (it should be noted that there are specific details or proposed alignments for the bypasses within the draft Transport Appraisal) A96 Electric Corridor - details of the electric corridor are very high level and refer to other low carbon fuelling options. A96 Full Dualling between Hardmuir and Crabiestone Packages of Options For the detailed assessment, which is both quantitative and qualitative, the options were packed into groups which followed themes and supported each other. Package 1 focuses on the main towns which are to be bypass, with Active Travel interventions within the towns, public transport interventions and the electric corridor. Package 2 focuses on the smaller settlements along the corridor, including Active Travel and Public Transport interventions, the electric corridor and targeted road safety improvements. Package 3 relates to the rural sections between the settlements and includes Active Travel connections between them, the targeted road safety improvements and Public Transport interventions and the electric corridor. Package 4 considers the longer distance journeys and would provide high quality Active Travel routes linking settlements along the corridor, Public Transport interventions, Rail Freight terminals, the electric corridor and targeted road safety improvements. Package 5 comprises all of the options brought forward from the preliminary appraisal. Item 10. Page 173
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A96 Corridor Review - Summary of Packages in Transport Appraisal Option A96 (D) RP P1 P2 P3 P4 P5 A96 Full Dualling between Hardmuir and Crabiestone X Active Communities X X X X X Active Connections X X X Bus Priority Measures and Park and Ride X X X X Improved Public Transport Passenger Interchange Facilities X X X X X Investment in DRT and MaaS X X X X X Introduce Rail Freight Terminals X X Linespeed, Passenger and Freight Capacity Improvements A2I Rail Line X X X X X X Targeted Road Safety Improvements X X X X X Forres Bypass X X Elgin Bypass X X X Keith Bypass X X X Inverugie Bypass X X A96 Electric Corridor X X X X X X Estimated Cost £2,501m - £5,000m £501m - £1,000m £501m - £1,000m £501m - £1,000m £501m - £1,000m £501m - £1,000m £1.001m - £2,500m Present Value Benefits ‘with Policy’ (2010 Values) £570m – £690m £180m – £220m £100m – £250m £90m – £115m £120m – £150m £180m – £220m £180m – £220m Present Value Benefits ‘without Policy’ (2010 Values) £770m – £890m £190m – £230m £110m – £135m £100m – £125m £130m – £160m £200m – £240m £190m – £230m Page 174
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A96 Corridor Review – Proposed Consultation Response Section 1: A96 Corridor Review Question 1: How did you hear about this round of consultation on the A96 Corridor Review? Other – notification email Question 2: To what extent are you satisfied with the outcomes of the A96 Corridor Review? Very satisfied Satisfied Neither satisfied/nor dissatisfied Dissatisfied Very Dissatisfied Don’t know/not applicable. Propose not to answer this question. Question 3: How satisfied are you with the Refined Package? Very satisfied Satisfied Neither satisfied/nor dissatisfied Dissatisfied Very Dissatisfied Don’t know/not applicable. Propose not to answer this question. Question 4: What interventions are your priority/priorities within the Refined Package? (Select all that apply). Active Communities Item 10. Page 177
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Improved Public Transport Passenger Interchange Facilities Investment in Demand Responsive Transport (DRT) and Mobility as a Service (MaaS) Linespeed, Passenger and Freight Capacity Improvements on Aberdeen to Inverness Rail Line Targeted Road Safety Improvements Elgin Bypass Keith Bypass A96 Electric Corridor Propose not to answer this question. Question 5: Do you feel that the Refined Package will improve your experience of living, working and travelling along the A96 corridor? Yes No Don’t know/not applicable. Propose not to answer this question. Question 6: Do you have any further comments? Moray Council welcomes the opportunity to provide comments on the draft documents associated with the A96 Corridor Review. We note that the full dualling of the A96 from Inverness to Aberdeen is the current plan and would like to re-iterate our support for this project which will bring significant journey time savings and safety benefits to those travelling along the route and wider economic benefits to the northeast. There is overwhelming support within the Moray community for the full dualling of the A96 and its associated benefits, as highlighted in the Press and Journal survey (www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/news/aberdeen-aberdeenshire/6645299/a96-dualling-poll- elgin-keith-aberdeenshire/) and within the wider north-east region as indicated in the responses to the A96 Corridor Review Case for Change consultation in 2023, which reported that 55% of respondents highlighted the A96 dualling as their top priority (www.transport.gov.scot/publication/stakeholder-public-engagement-consultation-report- december-2022-a96-corridor-review/). Moray Council considers that the proposed transportation interventions within the Refined Package should be in addition to the full dualling of the A96, and not as an alternative, and Page 178
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genuinely provide ‘additionality’ and move beyond existing programmes and project commitments. Comments on the Strategic Business Case Transport Appraisal (draft) It is noted that the transport planning objectives for the A96 Corridor Review reflect those set out in the National Transport Strategy (NTS) and the Strategic Transport Projects Review 2 (STPR2). These objectives are focus on net zero, accessibility of public transport in rural areas to healthcare, education and employment, enhancing communities, and providing a resilient and reliable strategic transport system that is safe to use. Whereas, for the consideration of the A96 dualling the appraisal and business case included objectives which focussed on improving journey times and their reliability, safety, and provide an opportunity to grow the regional economy. This shift away from journey time savings, whilst understandable in the light of policy changes, would not fully capture the local, regional and national benefits associated with improving connectivity to future and emerging opportunities, including Aberdeen Green Investment Zone, Cromarty Greenport, and Scotwind. The draft Transport Appraisal assesses each option against two policy scenarios, with a 20% reduction in car-km by 2030 and without the 20% reduction. This target applies to Scotland as a whole and would require significant shifts in travel behaviours which would be challenging to achieve in rural areas such as the north-east where public transport provision is not comparable to the Central Belt area and distances to facilities and employment may be too far to be made by active modes. The likely level of reduction which could be achieved in the north-east would be smaller than the 20% target (see NESTrans report www.nestrans.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Nestrans-car-km-and-carbon-reduction- Report-100723.pdf) The timing of the review means that the emerging proposals around a reduction in the national speed limit for single carriageway roads to 50mph is not considered. Should this proposed policy come into being, there are significant journey time implications for rural communities within the corridor if the A96 remains for the most-part a single carriageway road. When assessed against a base scenario, the benefits of the full dualling associated with the journey time savings, journey time reliability and accident reduction would increase should a 50mph speed limit for single carriageway roads be introduced. In the draft Transport Appraisal, ‘scoring’ of the economic benefits is the same for A96 Full Dualling as the Refined Package. However, we understand that the economic benefits associated with the Refined Package mainly come from the proposed improvements to the Aberdeen to Inverness railway line. It is noted that the proposed rail line improvements would provide the same benefits (reduced journey time and increased capacity) as the previously promoted Phase 2 Page 179
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improvements to the railway, which due to be completed by 2030 but were not taken forward as part of the Strategic Transport Projects Review 2 (STPR2). We therefore would like to understand why the Phase 2 rail improvements were removed from STPR2 but then became part of the corridor review? What would be the economic benefits if the rail line improvements were including in the base scenario against which both the Refined Package and the A96 Full dualling were assessed? Furthermore, when monetary values are considered the full dualling of the A96 is forecast to provide core benefits of £300m - £350m (with policy) and £350m - £400m (without policy). Moray Council appreciates the level of work which has been required to undertake the corridor review, however there are areas within the appraisal work which require clarity as noted above. Comments on the Refined Package Interventions Active Communities This proposal is welcomed as an addition to the A96 dualling and funding already provided through the ATIF Tier 1 and Tier 2 grants. Whilst it is appreciated that Transport Scotland would be the lead authority for active travel projects for the existing A96 and any de-trunked sections as part of any bypass, the delivery of the active travel projects in the wider areas within the identified settlements would lie with the Local Authorities and Regional Transport Partnerships. Local Authorities are unlikely to have capacity to deliver these projects, and for many rural authorities (including Moray) ATIF Tier 1 funding for resources has been significantly reduced, so the resourcing requirements of any such interventions needs to be fully factored into any proposed investment. Improved Public Transport Passenger Interchange Facilities It is noted that the proposed improvements are to be existing passenger interchange facilities but could include new facilities if there were significant benefits. This opportunity for improvements/new facilities is welcomed as the existing Elgin Bus Station has been capacity constrained for some time, exacerbated by the location and volumes of traffic on the A96 routing through the centre of Elgin. The recent closure of the St Giles Shopping Centre (which provided the key pedestrian route between the bus station and the main shopping area of the town centre) further highlights the need for significant improvements/a new bus station for Elgin. Investment in Demand Responsive Transport (DRT) and Mobility as a Service (MaaS) There have been a number of DRT and MaaS pilot projects across the region, including the Moray Growth Deal Bus Revolution project. Whilst the capital investment in buses and Page 180
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infrastructure is welcomed for these projects, the long-term challenge of funding operating costs for bus services remains. Without revenue support such pilot projects are unable to deliver long-term meaningful benefits. It is unclear in the draft Transport Appraisal how the benefits of the pilot project have been determined, particularly in relation to long term behaviour change and whether there has been an assumption that operating costs will be covered by passenger fares. There is a well established evidence base that revenue funding is a key issue for sustainable public transport, particularly bus services, and that this is more critical in rural areas where the contribution of existing revenue support mechanisms is proportionately lower in relation to operating costs. Given the extensive nature of the current DRT offer within Moray it is also unclear how additionality is provided above baseline, particularly without revenue investment. Linespeed, Passenger and Freight Capacity Improvements on the Aberdeen to Inverness Rail Line The proposed improvements would deliver the same benefits as Phase 2 of the previously promoted improvements to the Aberdeen to Inverness rail line to reduce journey times to less than 2 hours (www.transport.gov.scot/publication/strategic-transport-projects-review- report-4-summary-report/j10194c-24/). This project was not taken forward as part of the Strategic Transport Projects Review 2 (STPR2) in 2022. Moray Council supports the proposed improvements to the rail line in addition to the full dualling of the A96. Moray Council would also welcome further consideration of freight improvements, including freight terminals to enable mode shift from road to rail from key manufacturing hubs, including Elgin and the wider Moray area. Moray has a strong food & drink production industry with a number of national and international brands, as well as agriculture for the supply of raw ingredients. Targeted Road Safety Improvements When the dualling of the A96 was announced in 2011, previously promoted road safety interventions for the A96 were removed from the programme. It is unclear from the draft Transport Appraisal if these previous interventions, which in Moray would include the Threaplands junction improvements, would be included in the proposed Refined Package. The benefits associated with targeted road safety improvements on the A96 would be localised and would not realise the same level of safety benefits as the full dualling of the Page 181
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A96 (with grade-separated interchanges) which could reduce casualties over the 60-year appraisal period by 970 (with policy) and 1680 (without policy). Elgin Bypass The inclusion of a bypass for Elgin within the proposed Refined Package is welcomed and Moray Council considers the removal of Trunk Road traffic from Elgin as essential to deliver the full benefits of the town centre regeneration projects in the Moray Growth Deal and those being funded through the UK Government Levelling Up Fund. It is our understanding that the promotion of a bypass will take around 6 years and with construction taking 2 to 3 years, it could be 2033/4 before a bypass was in place. However, Hardmuir to Fochabers Section of the A96 dualling had already progressed to Stage 3 of DMRB and a detailed design has been completed. The timescales to deliver this section of the route, which would provide the required bypass for Elgin, are therefore likely to be significantly shorter than those associated with a standalone bypass. However, it is not clear from the Corridor Review what route would be chosen for an Elgin bypass, nor the design standard to which it would be delivered. Moray Council is clear that this should be to full dual carriageway standard to provide journey time benefits and safe overtaking opportunities. Furthermore, there are housing sites within the current Moray Local Development Plan which are subject to conditions ‘capping’ the number of completions until the A96 dualling between Hardmuir and Fochabers is complete. Delays in the bypassing of Elgin may therefore have an adverse impact on the delivery of housing in Elgin, including affordable housing which is a Scottish Government priority. Keith Bypass The inclusion of a bypass for Keith is welcomed. Route assessment work for the Fochabers to Huntly section of the A96 dualling has not commenced and there are currently no constraints on development within Keith. However, there are a number of planning proposals for energy related development around Keith which may have an impact on the consideration of the route of any bypass. Should the Refined Package be taken forward instead of the A96 dualling, we would urge early consideration of the route of the Keith Bypass to allow for safeguarding as part of the 2027 Moray Local Development Plan. Similarly to our comments on an Elgin bypass this should be to full dual carriageway standard to present the best journey time benefits and safe overtaking opportunities. Page 182
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Electric Corridor The Electric Corridor proposal within the draft Refined Package appears to overlap with the Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Fund (EVIF) Pathfinder Project which covers the Highland, Moray, Aberdeenshire and Aberdeen City Council areas. This project has already identified expansion sites for the provision of additional publicly available electric vehicle chargers and is in the process of procuring an operator and expansion partner. There is likely to be some overlap between these two projects and it is unclear as to how much additionality there would be. Furthermore, Moray Council has developed a Hydrogen Strategy (www.moray.gov.uk/downloads/file148757.pdf ) which identifies locations along the A96 corridor for the long-term production/distribution of hydrogen. With the opportunity for Councils to apply for Just Transition funding for alternative fuel projects and the EVIF Pathfinder Project soon to be moving into delivery phase, it is unclear as to how much additionality there would be from pursuing the Electric Corridor? Summary Moray Council reiterates our support for the full dualling of the A96 between Inverness and Aberdeen which will bring significant journey time savings and safety benefits to those travelling along the route and wider economic benefits to the northeast. The proposed interventions within the Refined Package will provide localised benefits with respect to active travel infrastructure provision and, with additional revenue support, could provide long-term enhancements to public transport provision in the region. However, the Council considers that the measures within the Refined Package should be in addition to the full dualling of the A96 and not as a replacement. Clearly this means that in relation to the Refined Package, the bypass (to full dual carriageway standard) of both Elgin and Keith have a priority. Section 2: Strategic Environmental Assessment and Statutory Impact Assessments Question 7: Please note here any comments you wish to make on the overall findings of the Draft Strategic Environmental Assessment Report for the A96 Corridor Review. The level of detail in the options means that the draft SEA report overall findings are relatively broadbrush. The findings that full dualling has more impacts (with some of these classed as major) than the “refined option” is not surprising given the difference in the extent of physical interventions. Page 183
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It is recognised that further assessment would be required when more detail on the interventions is available e.g. by-pass routes, rail passing and active travel routes. At this stage it will be clearer what the potential impacts on aspects such as landscape, heritage, biodiversity and designations will be. We therefore do not have any specific comments on the overall findings of the draft SEA Environmental Report. Question 8: Are there any particular environmental issues, problems or opportunities you would like to mention that you feel have not been captured within the Draft Environmental Report? Moray Council were part of the environmental stakeholder group and took part in the SEA scoping workshop held in February 2023. The key environmental issues raised/discussed at the workshop have been considered in the report. It is noted that the potential flooding impacts are set out for each route in the Climate Compatibility Report, which is included in the consultation document. Overall, there is a clear understanding of the risk but there are some inconsistencies and omissions in the data provided and further detail is needed to allow us to fully assess the flood risk and drainage impacts of the proposal. We will welcome the opportunity to work with Transport Scotland to ensure that all flood risk concerns are addressed. Question 9: Do you have any feedback or comments on the draft Equality Impact Assessment, Child Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessment and/or Fairer Scotland Duty Assessment? Draft impact assessments have been carried out by independent consultant Jacobs AECOM, on behalf of Transport Scotland. The draft assessments set out any identified potential impacts in relation to the proposed Refined Package and are available as part of the consultation. More detailed assessment will be carried out as the design stage develops to better understand the extent of any identified impacts and recommend any effective mitigations. Section 3: About You Question 10: Please provide the first part (3 or 4 characters) of your home or business postcode. IV30 Question 11: Please indicate if you are responding as: An individual Page 184
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On behalf of a business or organisation. Question 12: What is the name of your organisation? Moray Council Question 13: What is your role in the organisation? Head of Environmental and Commercial Services Question 14: How were the views of those you represent gathered for your organisation? Elected Member’s briefing on 14 January 2025 and consultation with relevant officers who are subject matter experts. Question 15: Were you aware of the A96 Corridor Review extent prior to this consultation? Yes No Don’t know. Section 4: Equality monitoring questions Proposed not to answer this section as it is not relevant to Moray Council as an organisation. Page 185
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REPORT TO: MORAY COUNCIL ON 19 FEBRUARY 2025 SUBJECT: LOCAL VISITOR LEVY INTRODUCTION STAGE 1 BY: DEPUTE CHIEF EXECUTIVE (ECONOMY, ENVIRONMENT AND FINANCE) 1. REASON FOR REPORT 1.1 To inform Council that the Visitor Levy (Scotland) Act 2024 was passed by the Scottish Parliament in May 2024 with Royal Assent on 5 July 2024; and to seek approval to start developing a Moray Visitor Levy Scheme in line with the recommendations. 1.2 This report is submitted to Council in terms of Section III A (2) of the Council's Scheme of Administration relating to long-term financial plans. 2. RECOMMENDATION 2.1 It is recommended that the Council: (i) notes the provisions of the Visitor Levy (Scotland) Act 2024 and the requirements for implementing a Visitor Levy (VL); (ii) approves the initiation of Stage 1 of the development process (forecasting, pre-consultation, preparation of draft outline proposal and Moray Tourism Strategy); (iii) approves the formation of a joint Member and cross-departmental Officer working group to manage the VL development process; and (iv) agrees to allocate £15,000 to commission specialist expertise to support the development process 3. BACKGROUND 3.1 The Visitor Levy (Scotland) Act 2024, enacted in July 2024, empowers local authorities to apply a levy on overnight accommodation. It is critical to note that the Act requires a local authority operating a VL scheme to use the net proceeds of a scheme for certain specified purposes. Those purposes are that the funds must facilitate the achievement of a scheme’s objectives and that they should develop, support and sustain facilities and services for, or Item 11. Page 187
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used by visitors to a local authority area for leisure or business purposes. The aim of the levy is to provide local authorities with additional funds to support tourism infrastructure, environmental sustainability, and the local economy, especially in areas heavily impacted by tourism. The revenue can be used to fund infrastructure and facilities essential to tourism such as car parks, core paths, and public toilets and enable town centre flower beds, open spaces and parks and amenities to become more attractive. This has the potential for Council revenue savings to be made whilst also enhancing our tourism offer and benefiting residents. Local authorities can set the levy as a percentage of accommodation costs, allowing revenue flexibility based on occupancy and pricing. Motor Homes and Cruise Ships are outwith the scope of the Act and therefore not currently liable to pay a VL charge despite their associated impact. Local authorities can set out additional exemptions where the levy is not payable or can be reimbursed however this could prove to be cumbersome and more complex to administer. 3.2 At a meeting on 27 September 2023, the Council agreed to support in principle the concept of raising funds through a VL (para 13 of the minute refers). The introduction of a VL scheme in Moray has the potential to generate multi-year funding to develop, support and sustain tourism related infrastructure and facilities. A VL scheme could sustainably fund local infrastructure and improve visitor experiences. With considered planning, the levy can support the local economy through economic growth, improve the visitor experience, and support sustainable tourism. 3.3 However, it may also face opposition from accommodation providers and visitors concerned about higher costs, in addition to the recent increases to the cost of doing business. Businesses may include administration and remittance costs within the overall charge which will raise market costs and visitors may choose areas which have not introduced a levy. Other regions are proposing to provide support to businesses and although not a statutory requirement, VisitScotland considers this may result in higher levels of compliance, a reduction in potential disputes and a more efficient VL scheme overall. The impact of a visitor levy scheme will require to be assessed, monitored and reviewed to ensure it benefits tourism and supports the local economy without adverse effects. This monitoring could include tracking tourism numbers. It is important that Council has resources to deliver a robust consultation exercise on the proposal and to ascertain viability before deciding whether to introduce it. During pre-consultation, Argyll and Bute Council faced significant push back from the industry, with mistrust of the Council and negative comments dominating the feedback. Similarly in Highland, negativity from the industry is at the forefront of the current consultation. Responding appropriately can be resource intensive. 3.4 Edinburgh City Council was the first to propose introduction of a VL at a rate of 5% and whilst this is forecast to generate £100 million by 2030 for the city, the same percentage in Moray is likely to generate an estimated annual return of around £950,000 (based on STEAM Tourism Economic Impacts 2022 Report and the tourism trends research undertaken for Moray Speyside Tourism by Global Tourism Solutions (UK) Ltd. 2021, there is £19.03M spent annually on local accommodation in Moray). Argyll and Bute Council agreed that the draft Argyll and Bute Visitor Levy Scheme would go out to a formal Page 188
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12-week consultation in early January 2025 at a Special Council meeting on 20 December 2024 with a maximum of 4% levy. Highland Council went live with its 12-week consultation period on its draft Highland Visitor Levy Scheme on Friday, 15 November 2024 further to approval at the Council’s Economy and Infrastructure Committee on 14 November and is consulting on a 5% levy. It is therefore considered that the benchmark of maximum 5% has been set and any increase on this will attract negative criticism. 3.5 Visit Moray Speyside are currently preparing to undertake a renewal ballot for a new 5-year term of operation and are looking to develop an updated Moray Tourism Strategy in partnership with Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE). An ambitious 5-10 year Tourism Strategy is also a key requirement to underpin the objectives of a Visitor Levy scheme, which should be informed by ambitions for the region and align with Visit Scotland’s Outlook 2030. It is important that a cohesive approach to tourism in the region is taken, and duplication of strategies is avoided for reasons of best value. Therefore, UK Shared Prosperity Funding of £15,000 has been allocated by the Moray Economic Partnership towards developing a new Moray Tourism Strategy. Visit Moray Speyside will contribute £2,000 and it is expected that HIE will be able to support the strategy via their specialist contractor framework. Other related local, regional and national strategies directly linked to the visitor economy will be referenced e.g. Moray’s Routes (strategic development plan approved by VisitScotland for long distance path development) and the draft Moray Forestry and Woodland Strategy (Moray Council in partnership with Scottish Forestry and Highlands and Islands Enterprise). 3.6 Forecasting of revenue from a Visitor Levy is an important part of the process to help understand the viability of introducing a scheme. It is acknowledged that at the outset, the quality of information and business intelligence available to local authorities for forecasting purposes may be of variable quality, with many assumptions in the data, as well as external variables such as fluctuations in occupancy rates, dynamic pricing and unforeseen events. VisitScotland recognises that it can be difficult to obtain information on occupancy rates and recommends a mix of approaches to enable the most accurate information to be gathered. VisitScotland can assist with the provision of some data, albeit this may not de driven down to a regional level. 3.7 Clear guidance for Local Authorities on introducing a VL including statutory and non-statutory requirements has been produced by the Expert Group, led by VisitScotland and can be seen in the background paper links. Additional support from VisitScotland is available to help with forecasting, consultation and engagement with the industry. It is important to note that whilst other schemes are already in place outside Scotland, each scheme is tailored to the area it applies to making each scheme different. 4.0 KEY PROVISIONS OF THE ACT 4.1 Levy Structure: The VL must be charged as a percentage of the cost of accommodation only, allowing adaptability to market fluctuations. Seasonal rates and exemptions are permitted. Page 189
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Proposal: Local authorities must prepare and publicise an outline of the proposed scheme, a statement about the objectives of the proposal, including how the authority intends to measure and report on the achievement of those objectives, an assessment of the impacts of the proposal in the authority’s area, and a statement about the cases or circumstances where a visitor levy will not be payable or may be reimbursed. Tourism Strategy: Local Authorities must draw a clear link to the objectives of its local tourism strategy and other related local, regional and national strategies when developing their VL proposal, clearly setting out how the use of the funds will develop, support and sustain the local visitor economy. Revenue Allocation: Funds generated by the levy (expected to around £950,00 per annum) must be allocated to projects supporting tourism infrastructure and environmental improvements. Implementation Timeline: An 18-month notification period is required, following council decision to implement a VL, making 2027 the earliest feasible implementation year for Moray. Visitor Levy Forum: A Forum must be established by the local authority no later than six months after the date of the decision to introduce a VL scheme. Reporting: For every 12-month period the Council will have to prepare a report which must cover: the amount of money collected; how the net proceeds have been used and the performance of a scheme in relation to its objectives. There will also be a requirement to review a VL scheme within 3 years of one coming into force and ongoing within 3 years of the previous review. Administration: The administrative costs to a local authority of a VL scheme can be taken from the funds raised by a scheme. 4.2 Requirements prior to implementing a VL The development process is time consuming and in addition to having dedicated staffing resource from within the Economic Growth and Regeneration Team (estimated to be 0.6 FTE Grade 9), it will also require dedicated, specialist tourism expertise that is not available within Council to underpin what the levy will deliver in line with need, to consult with stakeholders, to carry out impact studies and to design a levy proposal aligned with regional goals and objectives. In addition, it is recommended that the following short-life working groups are established to guide the development process and monitor progress: • Cross-departmental officer working group • Joint Member and cross-departmental officer working group • Key stakeholder working group/shadow forum (statutory requirement within 6 months of decision to implement a levy) Proposed Terms of reference for the Joint Member and cross-departmental officer working group (Visitor Levy Working Group) have been added as Appendix 2. The Visitor Levy Working Group will be structured to reflect the council’s existing practices for working groups and will provide oversight, Page 190
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guidance, and coordination in developing the potential for a Visitor Levy Scheme for Moray. The Group will focus on ensuring the levy’s alignment with the council’s strategic objectives, including sustainable tourism, economic growth, and community benefits. 4.3 Proposed stages for establishing a Visitor Levy are: STAGE 1 – Develop the Outline Proposal based on: 1. Accurate Forecasting 2. Early Engagement/Pre-consultation feedback 3. Tourism Strategy (presented for approval at committee meeting and via Community Planning Partnership) 4. Council feedback on draft (presented at committee meeting) STAGE 2 – Introduction of VL 5. Consultation on proposed Visitor Levy Scheme (12 weeks) 6. Implementation – minimum of 18 months (as set out in the legislation) 7. Visitor Levy Scheme comes into force 4.4 Indicative timelines for introducing a Visitor Levy are: Action Start Earliest Completion Stage 1 (6-12 months) January 2025 September 2025 Stage 2 (12 weeks consultation) October 2025 January 2026 Stage 3 (18 months to implement) February 2026 July 2027 VL comes into force August 2027 4.5 Detailed timeline is included as Appendix 1 5 SUMMARY OF IMPLICATIONS (a) Corporate Plan and 10 Year Plan (Local Outcomes Improvement Plan (LOIP)) The project will contribute to achieving the corporate plan priority to build thriving, resilient, empowered communities through ensuring investment in the infrastructure that supports tourism and the LOIP priority of a growing and sustainable economy. (b) Policy and Legal This proposal is in accordance with the Visitor Levy (Scotland) Act 2024. The Council considers support for economic development issues on their merits, against the objective to facilitate sustainable economic growth and the desired outcomes of the Ten-Year Plan and Corporate Plan. (c) Financial implications According to the Scottish Tourism Economic Activity Monitor (STEAM) in 2021, 326,380 visits were made by visitors staying in Moray as part of a holiday or short break. On average, visitors staying in Moray stay 3.7 nights and spend £19.03 million on local accommodation. Based on this figure and a levy of 5%, it is estimated that a VL in Moray could Page 191
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potentially generate an annual revenue of around £950,000 to invest in local tourism related infrastructure, marketing and cultural and heritage services expanding the event schedule in Moray, helping to attract more visitors to Moray. All revenues generated in Moray will be spent in Moray. Costs for set up and administration will be required but although the up-front set-up and decision-making costs will need to be financed within existing local authority budgets; it should be borne in mind that these costs could be offset against future revenues raised through a VL scheme. The VL would only progress if it was expected to generate a net return and at this stage that is the assumption given the potential income. Income and expenditure estimates will be refined if/when VL proceeds through its various stages. For Stage 1 in the development process, it is estimated that at least £15,000 will be required from Transformation Reserve in 24/25 to secure specialist expertise to develop the information and carry out the pre- consultation required to move to Stage 2. Sector feedback and financial viability will be tested during Stage 1 and if considered favourable, a further £15,000 from Transformation Reserve will be sought via committee approval in 25/26 to proceed with the 12-week consultation. The administration cost is unknown at this stage and currently the Improvement Service is developing a new collection system which may provide a fixed cost for all; however, this approach may be more beneficial to larger councils. If Moray Council chose to administer the scheme the financial implications would include: • initial set-up costs for procuring an IT system, or upgrading an existing one • recruitment and training of staff for administering the scheme in addition to an awareness raising campaign • ongoing administration costs, including costs associated with monitoring and enforcement and communications • reviewing the visitor levy scheme every 3 years Council Project Management methodology is being followed, and a Project Mandate (additional meeting document) has been prepared. The Act requires that local authorities: a. keep a separate account for a VL scheme b. credit the account with the net amount of money received under a VL scheme (including penalties) minus refunds issued c. debit the account with the expenses of operating a scheme d. observe any other accounting guidance that may relate to the levy e.g. Local Authority Scotland Accounts Advisory Committee (LASAAC) accounting guidance or similar. (d) Risk Implications The following points are considered to present risk: Page 192
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• Implementing a VL scheme in Moray could raise accommodation costs for visitors, affecting tourism patterns and visitor choices. It is important that visitors are consulted. • A benchmark of 5% has been set by Edinburgh City Council and any increase on this rate could be rejected by stakeholders during consultation, or indeed by Scottish Ministers. It is important that the percentage rate is consulted on. • If not introduced there is a risk that Moray’s tourism offer, and associated infrastructure will suffer in future years given the ongoing financial constraints facing the Council. It is important that all income generating avenues are explored. • Budgetary constraints may impact on staffing resource available to support development of a VL. It is important that existing levels are maintained if VL is to be progressed. • There is a risk that Council Officers will face negative feedback if involved in the consultation process. It is important that the use of consultants is supported for this complex process. • There is a risk if Ministers consider that the statutory elements of the process have not been followed, the process will need to start from the beginning of the timeline again. It is important that sufficient time and resource is allowed for the development process. (e) Staffing Implications Support for the development process (anticipated 0.6 FTE Grade 9) can be accommodated within the existing resources of the Economic Growth and Regeneration Team if current staffing levels are maintained, and existing workload is rebalanced across the team. However, it is important to note that Highland Council has employed a permanent Visitor Levy Portfolio Manager (1 FTE Grade 10) due to the complexity and associated level of responsibility. Without this level of dedicated resource to oversee and manage the scheme in Moray, there will be reliance on external consultancy support due to the specialist nature of the work. The extent of any administrative and staffing burden originating from the introduction of VL is unknown at this time due to the uncertainty about the way any VL scheme will operate, however it is unlikely that it could be absorbed within existing staffing and budgetary structures. Indicative staffing numbers, as highlighted in the Visitor Levy (Scotland) Bill – financial memorandum (background paper), is a requirement for 3-5 full- time equivalent members of administrative staff however implementing the new national system could lessen this requirement. It is estimated that this cost could be recouped from the income generated however viability would be tested at Stage 1 based on detailed forecasting. (f) Property None arising from this report, however if a VL is established it would allow investment in tourism related facilities and infrastructure. Page 193
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(g) Equalities/Socio Economic Impact The Act does not place specific equality duties on a local authority in relation to a VL scheme. However, as public bodies there are requirements related to equalities that will impact on a local authority as it develops, introduces, and administers a VL scheme and an Equality Assessment will therefore be required as part of Stage 1. (h) Climate Change and Biodiversity Impacts Tourism can cause carbon emissions through transport, accommodation etc. The impacts of climate change as well as the impacts of higher tourist numbers can place stress on vulnerable areas of nature and the environment. The environment of Moray is a main factor behind the decision of many to visit the area and to experience the beauty of our coasts, forests and mountains. Revenue from a visitor levy could include a focus on mitigating carbon emissions by providing resources to invest in Moray’s footpaths, coasts, forests, rivers and biodiversity as well as the promotion of sustainable tourism. In addition, supporting tourism businesses to reduce their carbon footprint will assist in preventing some of the impacts of tourism on the climate. (i) Consultations Consultation has taken place with the Depute Chief Executive (Economy, Environment and Finance), Strategic Planning and Development Manager, the Head of Economic Growth and Development, the Legal Services Manager, the Equal Opportunities Officer, the Head of Financial Services, Taxation Manager and the Democratic Services Manager have been consulted and comments received have been incorporated into the report. 6. CONCLUSION 6.1 The establishment of a Visitor Levy (VL) in Moray represents a strategic opportunity to strengthen the region's tourism infrastructure and sustainability while promoting economic growth. It offers Moray Council a reliable funding source at a time of financial uncertainty to invest in tourism infrastructure and support the long-term viability of its visitor economy, benefiting both residents and visitors alike. 6.2 The intensive development process depends on member support, sufficient resource in terms of available staffing and additional funds to cover the external expertise required. Without this capacity, introduction of a Moray VL will not be possible. Author of Report: Kirsty Conti, Economic Growth & Regeneration Manager June Burnett, Development Officer Economic Growth & Regeneration Background Papers: Visitor Levy (Scotland) Act 2024 Financial Memorandum Page 194
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Visitor Levy Guidance 27 September 2023 Committee Report Appendix 1 Detailed Timeline Appendix 2 Visitor Levy Working Group Terms of Reference Project Mandate (additional meeting document) Ref: Page 195
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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z AA AB AC AD AE AF AG AH AI AJ 2028 STAGE 1 January February March April May June July August September Committee report to seek approval for funding the procurement of suitable companies or research institutes to carry out the consultations Establish Cross-Departmental Officer Working Group - to understand the local accommodation sector Establsih Cross-Departmental Officer and Member Working Group - to understand the local accommodation sector Engage with stakeholders in the eco-system to support development of tourism strategy Prepare tourism strategy Tourism Strategy to VisitScotland for consideration/comments Committee report for approval of tourism strategy Prepare tender brief Procurement of suitable companies or research institutes to carry out the consultations Consultation with stakeholders to develop visitor levy proposal, which may include considerations such as exemptions and their potential impact Cross-Departmental Officer Working Group discussion on consultation stage Cross-Departmental Officer and Member Working Group discussion on consultation stage Local authorities to prepare for consultation Objectives of Visitor Levy scheme to be developed Impact studies to be carried out as required Develop draft Visitor Levy scheme to be proposed Plans for the use of net proceeds of a VL scheme to be developed Draft VL scheme to be considered by Committee 2028 STAGE 2 October November December January February March April May June July August September October November December January February March April May June July August Public consultation on entire draft VL scheme proposal (standard practice is 12 weeks) Analyse and report findings to Committee, including potential changes to a VL scheme in light of consultation. Formal public announcement of decision on whether or not to introduce a VL scheme (if the decision is to introduce a VL scheme, the proposed start date for a scheme must be set out). Minimum 18-month implementation period begins Scottish Ministers to be notified of decision to introduce Levy. Establish Visitor Levy Forum (within six months of formal public announcement of a decision to introduce a VL scheme) Local authorities to advise businesses of their liability and prepare administration of VL scheme. Implementation period expires. VL scheme comes into force, and the visitor levy is collected and remitted to the local authority. Annual report on the scheme 2027 2026 20272025 2025 2026 Item 11. Page 197
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Terms of Reference: Visitor Levy Working Group 1. Purpose The Visitor Levy Working Group (the Group) is established to provide oversight, guidance, and coordination in developing the potential for a Visitor Levy Scheme for Moray. The Group will focus on ensuring the levy’s alignment with the council’s strategic objectives, including sustainable tourism, economic growth, and community benefits. 2. Membership Membership of the Group will be structured to reflect the council’s existing practices for working groups and will include: • The Depute Chief Executive (Economy, Environment and Finance) • Head of Service (Economic Growth & Development) • Relevant officers from the cross-departmental Officer Working Group (OWG) • Nominated representatives from the member body Nominations: • Membership will reflect the council’s political balance and include members of the parent committee (e.g., Economic Development & Infrastructure Committee). 3. Structure and Governance The Group will serve as the primary coordinating body and will meet bi-monthly. Officer Working Group A cross-departmental Officer Working Group (OWG) will be established to focus on specific aspects of the potential for a Visitor Levy Scheme for Moray. These include, but are not limited to: • Forecasting, Revenue Collection and Management • Community Engagement and Benefit • Tourism Development and Sustainability • Governance, Monitoring, and Reporting • Risks Management (e.g. economic risks, operational risks, reputational risks) Outcomes from the OWG will: • Collate information on best practices, existing strategies, and relevant actions Item 11. Page 199
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• Identify governance processes and financial implications • Identify barriers to progress and suggested solutions to address these • Provide recommendations to the Group 4. Roles and Responsibilities • Visitor Levy Working Group The Group will: • Oversea the development of a potential Visitor Levy Scheme for Moray • Ensure collaboration across departments and external stakeholders • Review the findings from the Officer Working Group to assess their relevance for implementing a visitor levy scheme in Moray • Officer Working Group OWG will: • Conduct in-depth exploration of their focus areas • Collaborate officers and stakeholders to identify opportunities and challenges • Report findings and recommendations to the Group 5. Meetings The Group will meet bi-monthly with meetings focusing on: • Initial scoping of tasks and processes (including governance and monitoring frameworks) • Revenue collection and management • Community engagement and benefit allocation • Tourism development and sustainability • Governance, monitoring, and financial reporting • Cross-cutting themes and long-term strategic alignment Officer working group will meet monthly/as required. 6. Engagement Strategy The Group will adopt a comprehensive engagement plan to inform this phase/stage in developing the potential for a Visitor Levy Scheme for Moray Page 200
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Key groups for engagement include: Internal Engagement • Elected Members: Briefings and committee reports • Key Services: Workshops and focus groups to share information and refine action plans • Operational Staff: Engagement activities to gather insights and ensure inclusivity External Engagement • Tourism Stakeholders: Workshops, surveys, and consultations to gather input and foster collaboration • Community Groups: Workshops and events to ensure community priorities are reflected • Wider Public: Formal consultation and engagement opportunities to build awareness and support 7. Principles The Group’s work will adhere to the following principles: • Positive: uplifting, motivating, relatable, co-benefits • Putting people first: communities play a key role • Participative: conversation and discussion • Just: understanding and engaging with those most affected • Inclusive: equal and accessible engagement • Evidence based: using sound learning, improving engagement through active reflection • Open and transparent: ensuring our actions are seen and understood 8. Timeline Indicative timeline for introducing a Visitor Levy (VL) Action Start Earliest Completion Stage 1 (6-12 months) January 2025 September 2025 Stage 2 (12 weeks consultation) October 2025 January 2026 Stage 3 (18 months to implement) February 2026 July 2027 VL comes into force August 2027 Page 201
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REPORT TO: MORAY COUNCIL ON 19 FEBRUARY 2025 SUBJECT: MORAY GROWTH DEAL ANNUAL REPORT - 2024 BY: DEPUTE CHIEF EXECUTIVE (ECONOMY, ENVIRONMENT AND FINANCE) 1. REASON FOR REPORT 1.1 To provide the Council with a draft copy of the Moray Growth Deal’s Annual Report – 2024 for consideration. 1.2 This report is submitted to Council in terms of Section (II) (20) of the Council’s Scheme of Administration relating to a new policy matter which does not fall within the terms of reference of any Committee. 2. RECOMMENDATION 2.1 It is recommended that the Council: (i) consider and note the draft annual report; and (ii) delegate authority to the Depute Chief Executive (Economy, Environment and Finance) in consultation with the Council Leader and Chair of the Economic Development and Infrastructure Services (EDIS) Committee to approve a final iteration of the draft report, following engagement with key stakeholders and the Scottish and UK Governments. As in previous years, this will then be submitted as an Information Report to a future Moray Council meeting for noting with the final iteration approved unless the report is called in. 3. BACKGROUND 3.1 A condition associated with Growth Deal funding is that a report is produced annually providing an overview of work undertaken in the past 12 months, with a forward look at the year ahead. This paper introduces the annual report covering the 2024 calendar year, looking ahead to activity planned during 2025. Item 12. Page 203
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4. STEPS ASSOCIATED WITH DEVELOPING THE 2024 ANNUAL REPORT 4.1 During January 2024 the Moray Growth Deal Programme Management Office (PMO) prepared a first draft of the annual report using information provided from Project Senior Responsible Officers (SROs) and Project Managers (PMs). This draft (found in appendix 1) was presented and approved subject to minor amendments by the Moray Growth Deal Board on 30 January 2025 4.2 The annual report forms the basis of the Deal’s Annual Conversation, which is scheduled to take place on 27 March 2025. This is an opportunity for Senior Officers from the Council and both Governments to discuss the status of the Deal. 4.3 During February the report will also be shared with the Moray Economic Partnership and the Growth Deal Business Assembly, with a final version due to be submitted to the Moray Growth Deal Board on 24 April 2025 for approval before submission to Council for noting on 21 May 2025. 5. OVERVIEW OF THE ANNUAL REPORT (v1.0) . 5.1 Appendix 1 contains a draft copy of the Moray Growth Deal’s 2024 annual report. 5.2 With only 2 of the Deal’s 8 projects in delivery during January 2024, by the end of the year this had increased to 6. Alongside the progression of full business cases, a number of other key milestones were achieved. Q4 2023/24 ▪ Housing Mix Delivery and Manufacturing Innovation Centre for Moray projects receive Council and Government clearance to enter delivery. Q1 2024/25 ▪ Planning permission granted for South Street regeneration (involving the Housing Mix Delivery and Business Enterprise Hub projects). ▪ Page \ Park architects appointed as lead design partner for the redevelopment of Grant Lodge as part of the Cultural Quarter project. ▪ Digital Health project is the best up and coming innovation category winner at the March 2024 International Technology Care (ITEC) awards. Q2 2024/25 ▪ The Council approves Bus Revolution phase 2 expansion plans. ▪ Morrison Construction awarded the construction tender for phase 1 of the Manufacturing Innovation Centre project, business incubator spaces and demonstrator suite for showcasing the latest concepts in advanced manufacturing technology and equipment. Q3 2024/25 ▪ Cultural Quarter and Early Years STEM projects receive Council and Government clearance to enter delivery. ▪ Planning permission granted for Elgin Town Hall. ▪ Revenue shortfall addressed for Business Enterprise Hub project, enabling assurance of the full business case to progress. Page 204
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5.3 Looking ahead to 2025, Deal activity is expected to pivot from developing business cases to delivery on the ground, with the investment and associated services becoming more visible to residents and businesses of the region. Q4 2024/25 ▪ South Street site clearances and enabling works in preparation for Housing Mix Delivery and Business Enterprise Hub construction activity. ▪ Launch of tender for Elgin Town Hall redevelopment. ▪ Conclusion of skills and innovation workshops that aim to identify what will replace the Moray Aerospace and Advanced Technology Innovation (MAATIC) project. Q1 2025/26 ▪ Opening of phase 1 of the Manufacturing Innovation Centre for Moray (MICM) – hub and business incubator units. ▪ Launch of phase 2 of Bus Revolution services. ▪ Anticipated start of construction work at Elgin Town Hall and South Street. Q2 2025/26 ▪ Commencement of EY STEM services, including the opening of the first hub in Elgin and the provision of a mobile service covering the region. Q3 2025/26 ▪ Aspiration to have prepared a draft business case of the new skills and innovation project. 5.4 Whilst positive progress continues to be made, the Deal is currently managing a number of risks and issues. The most significant strategic entries are noted below. - Tender prices come in higher than forecast: During the development of full business cases, Project Managers have worked to ensure proposals are viable within budget allocations including pre-tender cost reviews. That said, there is a risk tender activity to be progressed during 2025 will generate higher than anticipated pricing. A range of measures will be considered including value engineering construction plans to reduce cost and identifying alternative sources of funding. - Budget shortfall associated with Grant Lodge redevelopment activity: With this phase of construction activity carrying an estimated £6m financial shortfall, the PMO and Project Team are working to determine how this phase of activity can be progressed, with a report due to be presented to the Moray Council in autumn 2025. - Communications capacity: With a significant number of Growth Deal projects having moved into delivery during 2024, this has the potential to create a significant increase in demand for support from the Council’s Communications Team. Whilst a part time resource was allocated during 2024, there is the potential that work activity will need to be prioritised depending on demand from other work areas the post holder covers. 5.5 Alongside Growth Deal activity, the October UK Government budget reaffirmed the commitment of investment from the Levelling Up Programme and Long Term Fund for Elgin. Collaboration between these different sources Page 205
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of funding will continue throughout 2025 to ensure the benefits they can bring to Moray are maximised. 6. SUMMARY OF IMPLICATIONS (a) Corporate Plan and 10 Year Plan (Local Outcomes Improvement Plan (LOIP)) Moray Growth Deal projects contribute to the Corporate Plan priority of promoting economic development and growth, whilst meeting the LOIP vision of raising aspirations, reducing inequalities in educational attainment, providing access to employment, expanding choices for residents, and improving livelihood and well-being. (b) Policy and Legal Each MGD project has been developed to meet local, regional and national policy agendas in line with legal requirements where relevant. (c) Financial implications The production of the 2024 Moray Growth Deal annual report in itself does not present any financial implications, but it does contain a section relating to the finances of the programme. With a tripartite agreement in place with the Governments for the provision of their funding, the Council has committed to cash flowing peaks in spend. The Council’s Head of Financial Services sits on the monthly Moray Growth Deal Programme Board at which a report is submitted for review setting out spend against budget allocation and takes an overview of the financial implications of the Deal for the Council as s95 Officer. (d) Risk Implications The production of the 2024 Moray Growth Deal annual report in itself does not present any risk implications, but it does reference risks being managed by the Moray Growth Deal PMO that have the potential to affect successful delivery. Risk is a standing item at monthly Moray Growth Deal Programme Boards and is covered in meetings that the PMO has with each Project Manager. (e) Staffing Implications None. (f) Property None. (g) Equalities/Socio Economic Impact Equalities and socio-economic impact assessments for each project will be updated as part of full business case development and any subsequent, significant change control activity. Page 206
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(h) Climate Change and Biodiversity Impacts As part of their review process with the Governments, Growth Deal projects need to take account of carbon and environmental considerations in full business cases, with net zero aspirations being integrated into design briefs for new properties. (i) Consultations The Depute Chief Executive (Economy, Environment and Finance), Head of Economic Growth and Development, Chief Financial Officer, Legal Services Manager and Democratic Services Manager have been consulted and comments received have been incorporated into the report. In parallel with the above, a final version of the annual report will be prepared following extensive consultation and review with: - Moray Growth Deal Programme Board - Moray Economic Partnership (MEP) - Moray Growth Deal Business Assembly - The Scottish and UK Governments - The Council Leader and Chair of EDIS Committee A final version of the annual report will be provided to Council for noting at its meeting on 21 May 2025. 7. CONCLUSION 7.1 This paper provides a draft copy of the Moray Growth Deal’s 2024 annual report for the Council to review and comment upon. 7.2 The Council is asked to delegate authority for the Depute Chief Executive (Economy, Environment and Finance) in consultation with the Council Leader and Chair of EDIS Committee to approve a final iteration of the report. 7.3 A final draft of the annual report will be provided to the Council for noting (unless called in) once engagement with Key stakeholders including the Scottish and UK Governments has concluded. This is in line with previous practice. Author of Report: Michael Kelly, Moray Growth Deal Programme Manager Background papers: Appendix 1: Annual Report ▪ Full Deal documentation (December 2021) which includes the Cultural Quarter Outline Business Case (OBC) ▪ Moray Growth Deal 2021/22 Annual Report o 8 March 2023 Page 207
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o 24 May 2023 ▪ Moray Growth Deal 2022/2023 Annual Report o 6 March 2024 o 22 May 2024 ▪ 2024 internal audit report on the Moray Growth Deal, presented to Moray Council on 20 November 2024 Page 208
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1 Annual Report (covering the 2024 calendar year) Version 1.0 (February 2025) Item 12. Page 209
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2 Document control Version Date Individuals / groups consulted v0.1 17/12/2024 Initial draft circulated for review: - Beverly Smith (Interim Head of Economic Growth and Development) - Lynne Owen (MGD Programme Officer) v0.2 13/01/2025 Draft circulated to Rhona Gunn (Depute Chief Executive and Growth Deal SRO) v0.3 04/02/2025 Revised draft prepared following the January MGD Programme Board V1.0 04/02/2025 Version of the report prepared for issuing to the Moray Council meeting on 19th February 2025 Page 210
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3 Contents 1 1.1 1.2 Programme headlines 2024 achievements Key 2025 milestones 4 4 2 Statement from Moray Council’s Growth Deal Lead 5 3 3.1 3.2 Progress made throughout 2024 Programme overview: 3.1.1 Summary of what the Deal is working to achieve 3.1.2 Status of Deal activity Project updates: 3.2.1 Bus Revolution 3.2.2 Business Enterprise Hub 3.2.3 Cultural Quarter 3.2.4 Digital Health 3.2.5 Early Years STEM 3.2.6 Housing Mix Delivery 3.2.7 Skills and innovation project, formerly MAATIC 3.2.8 MICM 6 7 8 11 15 19 24 28 30 32 4 4.1 4.2 4.3 Programme Management Office activity planned for 2025 PMO milestones to be achieved Factors that require action or future delivery could be impacted Monitoring the benefits to be realised by the Deal 35 35 36 5 5.1 5.2 Financial summary Funding sources for Deal activity Government funding drawn down Q4 23/24 to Q3 24/25 38 38 6 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 6.7 6.8 2024 communications activity Bus Revolution Business Enterprise Hub Cultural Quarter Digital Health Early Years STEM Housing Mix Delivery Skills and innovation project, formerly MAATIC MICM 39 39 39 39 40 40 40 40 7 7.1 7.2 7.3 Programme structure and governance activity Structure of Moray Growth Deal activity and Officers involved Summary of assurance activity progressed during 2024 Audit activity undertaken during 2024 41 41 42 Appendix A 2024 internal audit report on the Moray Growth Deal Attached Page 211
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4 1. Programme headlines 1.1. 2024 achievements Q4 23/24 ▪ Housing Mix Delivery and Manufacturing Innovation Centre for Moray projects receive Council and Government clearance to enter delivery. Q1 24/25 ▪ Planning permission granted for South Street regeneration (involving the Housing Mix Delivery and Business Enterprise Hub projects). ▪ Page \ Park architects appointed as lead design partner for the redevelopment of Grant Lodge as part of the Cultural Quarter project. ▪ Digital Health project is the best up and coming innovation category winner at the March 2024 International Technology Care (ITEC) awards. Q2 24/25 ▪ Moray Council approves Bus Revolution phase 2 expansion plans. ▪ Morrison Construction awarded the construction tender for phase 1 of the Manufacturing Innovation Centre project. This will deliver business incubator spaces and a demonstrator suite for showcasing the latest concepts in advanced manufacturing technology and equipment. Q3 24/25 ▪ Cultural Quarter and Early Years STEM projects receive Council and Government clearance to enter delivery. ▪ Planning permission granted for Elgin Town Hall redevelopment. 1.2. Key 2025 milestones Q4 24/25 ▪ Cultural Quarter project to commence tender process for Elgin Town Hall construction works. ▪ EY STEM project to commence tender process for construction of Elgin Hub. ▪ Housing Mix Delivery project to appoint lead developer for Dallas Dhu Q1 25/26 ▪ Launch of m.connect phase 2 services. ▪ Elgin Town Hall construction activity scheduled to commence. ▪ Housing Mix Delivery project to commence construction at the South Street (Elgin) site. ▪ Phase 1 of the Manufacturing Innovation Centre to open at the Forres Enterprise Park. Q2 25/26 ▪ On the assumption BE Hub’s FBC is approved during Q4 24/25 and the project enters delivery, construction activity will commence. ▪ Launch of EY STEM project phase 1 activity (opening of the Elgin Hub, mobile solution and outreach activity). Q3 25/26 ▪ Update to be provided to Moray Council Elected Members on design and funding progress regarding Cultural Quarter’s Grant Lodge. ▪ Digital Health living labs to reach real world evidence stage. ▪ Housing Mix Delivery project to commence construction at the Speyview (Aberlour) site. Page 212
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5 2. Statement from Moray Council’s Growth Deal Lead A key 2024 objective for the Growth Deal Team was to generate more certainty around what individual projects would deliver, when and where for the region. To achieve this, it was imperative more projects completed work on their business cases and clearances were received to enter delivery. In January 2024 two of the Deal’s eight projects were in delivery, by December this stood at six, with number seven expected to reach this stage in early 2025. This means as we enter the fourth year of the Deal we will see a significant step change in ‘on the ground’ activity. There will also be increased engagement as new services start to be offered and more communication activity to raise awareness of project achievements. Key milestones I’m looking forward to in 2025 include: - Ground clearances early in the year to commence regeneration work at the South Street site in Elgin. - Spring opening of the Manufacturing Innovation Centre in Forres. - An expansion of m.connect on demand bus services. - Opening of the first STEM Hub in Elgin in autumn. Whilst significant progress continues to be made, challenges have been experienced. The withdrawal of our lead partner for the Moray Aerospace and Advanced Technology project was a difficult moment. This has required the Deal Team to undertake work to develop a revised scope for the skills and innovation initiative. The process started in late 2024 and further clarity on the direction to be taken is expected during the first half of 2025. Turning this situation into an opportunity, the process allows the Deal to reassess demand and need amongst key stakeholders with a view to creating a strong proposition for Moray. I’m excited by what 2025 has in store and look forward to there being increased activity for citizens and businesses to see and engage in. Cllr Marc Macrae Page 213
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6 3. Progress made throughout 2024 3.1. Programme overview 3.1.1. Summary of what the Deal is working to achieve All Moray Growth Deal activity has been developed based on two foundations. ‘Pillars’ that set out the local change that is required: - Connections: Improving transport (particularly rural transport within Moray), driving digital collaboration and expanding the number of exports. - Business support, skills and employability: Ensuring fair opportunity for jobs, increasing skills and maximising productivity / competitiveness. - Moray, the place: The marketing of Moray to reference natural assets, the attractiveness of the area for hospitality / tourism, quality of life / lifestyle available, the cohesive community that can be found and the quality of the local environment. - Developing Moray’s key business sectors: Building on traditional strengths in areas like food and drink, manufacturing and construction, but also looking at growth areas such as renewables, tourism and aviation. Inclusive growth indicators that frame what the funding needs to deliver improvements against. Productivity Keeping businesses competitive and delivering economic growth that’s resilient and sustainable. Population Ensure Scotland has a sustainable working age population. Participation Reducing inequality of opportunities to access work and ensuring jobs are fulfilling, secure and well-paid. People Help keep Scotland's population healthy and skilled, spreading economic benefits more widely with lower levels of inequality. Place Improve resiliency of Scottish communities by ensuring they have the natural and physical resources to ensure they are strong and sustainable. Fairer Scotland duty Reducing inequality caused by socio-economic disadvantage. Taking the above into account, when looking across the eight projects that make up the Deal, the following programme level benefits were identified at Full Deal signing in 2021. Direct and indirect creation of over 3,500 jobs 450 of the 3,500 jobs will result directly from Growth Deal projects 50,000 more tourists will be attracted to Moray Over 300 new affordable homes will be constructed 450 businesses will be supported to scale, increasing Moray’s economic productivity by £82m Creation of new and improved educational, cultural and business innovation facilities Page 214
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7 3.1.2. Status of Deal activity With 2024 being the third year of Growth Deal activity (the programme is due to run to 2031), project teams and the PMO have been focusing on advancing business case development and the associated governance approval work. The PMO recognises that these processes, whilst very time consuming, do not typically show a significant amount of progression externally. The positive news is that looking ahead to 2025, now six of the Deal’s eight projects have reached the delivery stage, the focus can instead be on making facilities and services operational so citizens and businesses can start realising benefits from the investment being made throughout Moray. Partners are to be commended for the time, energy and resources committed to mobilising at this level in 2025. High level phases of the lifecycle of projects: SOC → OBC → FBC → Delivery → Closure Strategic outline case Outline business case Full business case Project in delivery Project complete and being closed Project Lifecycle stage SOC OBC FBC Delivery Closure Bus Revolution Complete Complete Complete In delivery Business Enterprise (BE) Hub Complete Complete Assurance of FBC underway Expected early 2025 Cultural Quarter Complete Complete Complete In delivery Digital Health Complete Complete Complete In delivery Early Years (EY) STEM Complete Complete Complete In delivery Housing Mix Delivery Complete Complete Complete In delivery MAATIC Complete Complete Work in progress to develop a new project scope MICM Complete Complete Complete In delivery Page 215
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8 3.2. Project updates 3.2.1. Bus Revolution Value £4m (Capital: £4m SG) Lead Body Moray Council Current status Entered delivery in March 2023, with the first rebranded m.connect on demand services starting in May 2023. Project vision Increase the number of people using public transport to get to and from rural areas for work, education and leisure. Project summary Bus Revolution is an innovative project that aims to increase the number of people using public transport to get to and from rural areas to places of work, education and leisure, providing a step change in availability of public transport right across rural Moray. The project will provide a flexible demand responsive service, operating when and where needed in an easy-to-use way, utilising app-based technology that will allow journeys to be booked up to one hour before they’re needed. Bus Revolution will receive £4.3m in funding from the Scottish Government. This will be used to cover capital investment required to: - Set-up operational systems - Provide branding and marketing. - Purchase electric vehicles - Provide associated charging infrastructure to deliver an efficient and robust transport network. Achievements made during 2024 - Passenger journeys: Target of 4,286 additional journeys to be realised from previous years total journey figure. FY23-24 evidenced just short of 10,000 additional passenger journeys in year one of delivery, exceeding the annual target set. - Carbon emissions: 4.3 tCO2e savings per year to be realised from previous years savings. FY23-24 evidenced an 18% growth in passenger journeys. The additional mileage used to accommodate the passenger growth was used to validate the car equivalent mileage average, which was then used to calculate the tCO2e generated by car travel. This work evidenced a 11.6 tCO2e saving for year one of project delivery. 2025 milestones Milestone Due Date Driver recruitment and training for phase 2 expansion By Q4 24/25 Contingency driver and training activity By Q1 25/26 Charging infrastructure commissioned Q4 24/25 Marketing activity for phase 2 services to launch Q4 24/25 m.connect launch date for Phase 2 services Q1 25/26 Page 216
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9 Uncertainties being managed Summary of the risk, issue or opportunity Effect (positive or negative) How it will be managed Risk: Evidence from delivery activity supersedes projected figures in the project financial model - Actual annual passenger numbers, fare income, income from employers and the council subsidy level may vary from assumptions built into FBC model. - Any variance between actual and projected data used in the FBC financial model may impact the council's revenue commitment required to support the service. - Regular scrutiny and review of the financial model, with a view to ensuring assumptions that underpin further phases of activity are based on evidence gathered from Years 1 & 2 delivery. - Project in-life reviews will take a detailed look at data, providing an opportunity to review the service model or future vision to ensure it remains aligned with capital and revenue budget allocations. Risk: Vehicle availability. Supply chain issues have /are creating lead times. - Review completed in mid- 2024, still evidencing long delivery times for new vehicles. - Concern remains over limited market choice of smaller EV buses (16 seat minibus). - Agreement reached that the project will source Euro VI diesel vehicles as interim measures due to concern with vehicle performance, reliability and availability of charging infrastructure. Aspiration to return to the electric supply chain for future orders in 2027. - Phase 2 vehicles ordered as Euro VI diesels. This is due to concerns with performance and reliability of existing electric vehicle purchases, market choice of electric vehicles and infrastructure readiness. - Time frame for delivery estimated at 8-10 months. - Working group will monitor immediate impact of additional maintenance burden on ageing vehicles if retained to manage delivery impacts. Risk: Recruitment of staff (drivers and vehicle technicians) could prevent or limit service expansion plans. Potential for capacity issues to run services, if drivers are not recruited in sufficient numbers, and maintain vehicles or the cost increases as the work needs to be carried out externally. Continuous advertising of positions, analysing data from different stages of the process to better understand and mitigate challenges faced. The team will also work to minimise staff turnover. Page 217
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10 Focus on….development activity that underpins phase 2 service expansion plans The focus of the project team between January and July 2024 was to evidence transport needs, review data (historic and current) and conduct an evaluation of the current bus network. This was to develop a comprehensive options pack for appraisal by the project board, which included service cancellations / changes or amendments, weekend service options and new service routes. Activities to evidence need included: - Annual transport survey response and analysis - Engagement with Moray Pathways, Department of Work and Pensions (DWP), Developing the Young Workforce Moray (DYW), early years education groups and Moray Chamber of Commerce. - Community engagement feedback from Elgin, Lossiemouth, Hopeman, Burghead, Kinloss, Findhorn and Forres communities. - Annual bus network review (Moray) - Understanding gaps, weaknesses in current network provision, whilst assessing service changes from commercial suppliers - Detailed analysis of m.connect services, reviewing service performance, app performance and use, demand profiles, ride sharing, trip optimisation and vehicle utilisation opportunities, booking success rates and missed demand rates. On completion of the board’s appraisal, the following operational plan was designed and costed, before being circulated through the varying governance processes for approval. The plan contained the following: - Network redesign in Speyside – merging four eclectic services into 2 x five day a week (Mon-Fri 0700-1930hrs) services, connecting to the bus and rail networks more frequently. - Extend an existing service into the centre of Elgin, alleviating swells of demand that the current on-demand service can’t currently match. - Introduce a five day a week bus service connecting the coastal communities of Burghead, Hopeman and Lossiemouth to employment, education and health locations. - Increase operational hours of the on-demand bus service in Speyside to accommodate growing customer demand between 1700-2030hrs (Mon-Fr) - Introduction of weekend services in Buckie and Speyside (Saturdays only). Approval of the operational plan was granted on 25 September 2024. The project team and the public transport unit are now focussed on the enabling activities to deliver the plan during Q1 25/26. Page 218
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11 3.2.2. Business Enterprise Hub Value £6.3m (Capital: £3.3m SG, £1m HIE. Revenue: £2m SG) Lead Body University of Highlands and Islands, Moray College Current status Although delayed due to a need to resolve a revenue shortfall during 2024, assurance of the project FBC has restarted and the project is aiming to enter delivery during in early 2025. Project vision Provision of education, research, and business support functions to support new business start-ups, whilst helping to upscale existing micro businesses. Project summary A key characteristic of Moray is that it has over 3,000 small and medium sized enterprises. This represents a considerable growth potential if these businesses can be helped to scale- up. Supporting the upskilling and growth of these businesses, the Business Enterprise Hub (BE Hub) will be a flexible space for business innovation that is accessible to businesses and students alike, providing an inspirational environment that encourages entrepreneurial thinking. Capital funding for the facility will be provided by the Scottish Government (£3.3m), Highlands and Islands Enterprise (£1m), and the Elgin Long Term Town Plan (£0.15m). Revenue funding to support the service delivery will be provided by the Scottish Government (£2m), UHI (£0.75m), and the Elgin Long Term Town Plan (£0.6m) (funding from the ELTTP is still to be confirmed as the investment prospectus for the UK Government is revised). It will be a productive environment where learning spaces and real work environments coincide, where flexibility of usage allows students, lecturers, researchers, and practitioners to share the same space, and where business support functions can be located with teaching and research skills to develop and support Moray’s future entrepreneurs and their workforce. There are synergies between the BE Hub and other Growth Deal projects including the Manufacturing Innovation Centre for Moray (MICM) and the Digital Health programme. Collaboration is ongoing to understand the target audience for each facility and any potential for overlap to ensure they’re effectively managed. Achievement made during 2024 - Full Business Case (FBC): At the start of the year, the FBC progressed to an advanced stage of Government review, with only two remaining points to address. Unfortunately, the withdrawal of philanthropic revenue funding in February resulted in a hold being put on the approval process until the revenue gap was filled. - Revenue gap: Options were reviewed and explored to fill the revenue gap. As part of this process a review of the financial model was also undertaken resulting in a reduction in the supplementary revenue from £2m to £1.35m. This has subsequently been resolved Page 219
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12 due to the provision of £0.6m revenue from the Long Term Fund for Elgin and £0.75m from UHI-Court. - RIBA stage 3: Final sign off for RIBA stage 3 occurred in April, allowing the planning application to progress for review in May 24. - Planning application: The BE hub forms part of the South Street Regeneration project and was included as part of this planning application. Planning was approved subject to the completion of minor conditions progressed by Robertson Construction Ltd. - RIBA stage 4: Final designs were agreed in principle with Robertson Construction Ltd and Oberlander Architects in September. - Levelling up Funding: The UK Government announcement in October confirmed that Moray will receive this funding, with South Street enabling works being one of the transformational activities due to be progressed. - HIE capital funding: The funding agreement with HIE for £1m capital funding contribution to the BE hub was signed in November, subject to the same conditions as the UHI Moray Board. 2025 milestones Milestone Due Date Full Business Case approval Q4 24/25 DFA contract drawings, specification issued for review Q4 24/25 Enabling work commencement Q4 24/25 DFA (Robertsons & UHI Moray) complete Q4 24/25 RIBA Stage 4 Costs Q1 25/26 RIBA Stage 4 sign off Q1 25/26 BE hub brand development commence Q1 25/26 Accredited course proposals/research and innovation programme further developed Throughout 2025 Land transaction Q1 25/26 Enabling works completion Q2 25/26 RIBA Stage 5: Construction commences Q2 25/26 In the expectation that FBC approval and enabling works proceed as planned, construction will start in July 2025 and last for approximately 16 months. The Hub “working” model is under development to enable a smooth transition upon building opening/launch with plans in 2025 to develop the BE hub brand. In the background regular project board and stakeholder meetings will support the development of the Hub function. Page 220
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13 Uncertainties being managed Summary of the risk, issue or opportunity Effect (positive or negative) How it will be managed Risk: Escalation of build costs A fixed price contract will be agreed by the parties prior to final legal agreements and is expected to be in place to prevent cost over runs. Cost mitigation through design specification and realisation of efficiencies due to co-location with a Housing Mix Delivery site. Risk: Potential site issues e.g., ground works and protection / integration of existing heritage (as yet unknown) Could result in delays to construction activity or the need to revise the vision for the site, both of which could affect time, quality, and cost project parameters. Contingency integrated into the budget to offset any potential issues identified. Focus on….emerging RIBA stage 4 design vision for the facility RIBA Stage 4 was the focus from Q2, during which the detailed design requirements for the BE hub, including the security strategy, were developed. Meetings to review and refine detailed design versions were held between UHI Moray, Oberlanders Architects, Robertsons Construction Ltd and Moray Council (design images included below). The BE Hub will be located on South Street in Elgin and will form part of the South Street regeneration project. Spread over three floors, the hub will occupy the site where Junners Toy Shop previously stood. The building size from the original plan has been reduced by one-third to fit the present value of the fixed capital funding allocated. Design was, therefore, critical to ensure the maximisation of space available. Reducing the size does not disadvantage the project, spaces have been designed to allow for maximum flexibility. The BE Hub will be an open, inclusive space with relevant security features in place that are effective yet unobtrusive. The front area will be a welcoming space, accommodating hot desks and hosting small, bespoke events. Two large classroom areas, located at the back of the ground and first floors, will provide large teaching spaces where required but also have the ability to be partitioned for smaller, bespoke sessions or events. A flexible training/ event space on the first floor will look out onto South Street providing an ideal focal point and a welcoming hot desk resource. Further focus and quiet rooms throughout the hub provide for specialist meeting/ research areas as required. Returning to the original focus to co-locate business agencies in the BE Hub has also been a key focus in RIBA stage 4. The second floor space is designed for this purpose, with Business Gateway involved in the development of the design requirements for a dedicated space at the front. Through the development of designs for RIBA stage 4, flexibility has been at the forefront to ensure the best use of the space in the Hub within fixed cost parameters. The hub will have a high profile in the town centre as it is sited near the main UHI Moray campus and the city centre with an aim to make engagement accessible. The hub will provide an inspirational environment, both externally and internally, and one that really encourages entrepreneurial thinking. Page 221
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15 3.2.3. Cultural Quarter Value £28.2m with £22.1m of funding already secured. (Capital: £12.7m SG, £3.5m UKG, £2m HIE and £3.9m Moray Council) Lead Body Moray Council Current status In delivery. Full Business Case approved in Q3 24/25. Project Team working to address a funding shortfall associated with phase 2 (Grant Lodge) Project vision Investment in key local heritage assets, including the refurbishment of Grant Lodge, Elgin Town Hall, and investment in the region’s culture and tourism infrastructure designed to leverage private sector investment in a new hotel. Project summary The Cultural Quarter project is working to advance the development of inspirational, accessible, public facing cultural attractions in the centre of Elgin. Funding will be used to redevelop two important B listed historic buildings in Elgin: Elgin Town Hall (Phase One, fully funded) and Grant Lodge (Phase Two, £6m shortfall with funding streams to be developed). Combined, these phases of activity will provide an enhanced cultural offering which increases city centre activities day and night, and highlights the region as an inspirational destination of choice. Each element will be linked together by improved public spaces and physical connections, creating a vibrant space in the heart of Elgin which supports inclusive economic growth and cultural expansion within the city and wider region. Collectively they’ll help to attract and retain talent whilst increasing tourism region wide. Working with key stakeholders throughout Moray, these vibrant new spaces will act as a springboard for cultural place-based regeneration, providing opportunities for local people and visitors alike whilst supporting the creative, heritage and tourism sectors in Moray to collaborate, thrive and grow. The creation of modern fit for purpose venues and a visible, aspirational cultural centre in Elgin will encourage private sector investment in a new hotel at a complementary site (Phase Three), meeting a longstanding requirement for additional, quality, hotel accommodation in Moray. Achievements made during 2024 - Page \ Park appointed to lead design team for Grant Lodge - Up to date business plans, CQ Governance Options appraisal and Economic Appraisal completed by EKOS / Creative Services Scotland Ltd - CQ Doors Open Day Tours of Grant Lodge, pre-planning drop in consultation at Elgin Town Hall - Elgin Town Hall redevelopment granted planning permission and listed building consent. - CQ Full Business Case approved by all MGD investment partners and project has entered delivery - Project team work together to progress plans for Elgin Town Hall for the Community decant to Elgin Community Centre during works. Page 223
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16 2025 milestones Milestone Due Date Grant Lodge RIBA Stage 2 report approved Q4 24/25 Elgin Town Hall works tendered; Elgin Town Hall for the Community decant to temporary location for work period Q4 24/25 CQ Phase 2 working group, terms of reference and action plan established Q4 24/25 Grant Lodge Trust Deed Variation Process Begins (9-12months) Q4 24/25 Elgin Town Hall Works start on site Q1 25/26 Grant Lodge Design, Fundraising and Business Plan Update Q3 25/26 CQ Governance Model / Moray Culture & Heritage Trust Set Up Q4 25/26 Hotel site identification 2025-26 Elgin Town Hall works complete Q4 26/27 Uncertainties being managed Summary of the risk, issue or opportunity Effect (positive or negative) How it will be managed Issue: The available budget through MGD investment is not adequate to renovate both buildings and additional funds must be secured. - The project is now phased, however there is a risk that full funding for Grant Lodge cannot be secured and a reduced or phased scheme cannot deliver the benefits remains. - Secure support of an experienced Phase 2 working group to steer the project forward and input to an action plan - RIBA Stage 2 clearly analyses the impacts of a reduced/phased scope on cost and business scope - Embark on a capital funding campaign from a range of sources - Report back to MGD Board and Council in autumn 2025 Risk: External factors such as interface with utility companies, neighbouring sites, planning conditions leads to increase in costs and delays - Impact on deliverability of the project which could in turn affect outcomes and benefits. - Working with QS and design teams to regularly review survey requirements / risks - Maintain regular and effective relationships with all key stakeholders and consultees - Where possible, include detailed information of all requirements in tender documentation Page 224
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17 Risk: Lack of revenue funding means business propositions set out in the FBC become unsustainable, particularly for the Elgin Town Hall Charity during the works to the Town Hall and/or the establishment of the Trust - Any impact to the sustainability of the ETH charity could negatively affect the project’s ability to deliver full project outcome and benefits. - If a trust cannot be established, Grant Lodge may not have an operator, and the wider benefits could not be realised. - Sub-group of the Cultural Quarter Project Board established to oversee transitional arrangements for Elgin Town Hall, with significant effort made to align capital and operational programmes to limit loss of income - Working across partners, Moray Council, Highlands and Island Enterprise, Elgin Town Hall for the Community to resource transition, temporary occupation solution and forecast income generation from special events - Phase 2 (Grant Lodge and Trust) working group established utilising a range of specialist knowledge and skills to establish action plan - External fundraising for both projects, capital and revenue, underway Focus on….activity led by Page \ Park Architects to bring Grant Lodge back into use Moray Council is making plans to bring Grant Lodge, a historic mansion house in Elgin which has been vacant and derelict for over 20 years, back into use as Phase 2 of the Cultural Quarter. Following an open tender process, Moray Council appointed award winning Scottish Architectural practice Page \ Park Architects in May 2024 to lead a multi-disciplinary design team in developing these plans. Since then, The design team has been working with a range of Page 225
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18 stakeholders and Moray Council. Initial concepts were positively received by members of the public at Doors Open Day in September 2024, and we are now nearing the completion of RIBA Stage 2. The project is to deliver a sensitive restoration of one of Elgin's most cherished heritage buildings, reinstating Grant Lodge as the Gateway to Cooper Park and providing a warm Moray welcome to the region. Once completed, Grant Lodge will become a lynchpin of the Cultural Quarter and a destination for local people and visitors alike. Its proximity to the cathedral and other attractions means it has the potential to become a thriving hub, signposting visitors to places of interest in Elgin and beyond. The project aspires to carefully blend restored heritage spaces with thoughtfully designed contemporary extensions to provide a range of flexible, high-quality spaces and services. These will include a café/bar, gallery, exhibition area, retail space, function rooms, corporate entertainment areas, and private dining facilities within a thriving heritage and tourism hub for the region. The stories of Moray will be interwoven throughout the building, while enhancements to Grant Lodge’s setting will establish it as a place of arrival, gathering, and onward journey. This will shine a light on Moray’s unique, historic, and contemporary offerings while reinstating the building to the heart of the community – both now, and for generations to come. Grant Lodge is an important part of the story of Moray, and a much-loved community building that has been derelict for over 20 years. After many years of trying, the real work has now started to bring this building back to life. Page 226
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19 3.2.4. Digital Health Value £5m (Capital: £5m UKG) Lead Body Rural Centre of Excellence (RCE) for Digital Health & Care Innovation Current status Project entered delivery in Q3 21/22, with all 5 Living Labs active and progressing towards Real World Evidence (RWE). Project also working to move forward the skills agenda and promoting RCE internationally as a rural test bed. Project vision Creation of an anchored demonstration and simulation environment (DSE) and Living Lab testbeds for the Moray region. Project summary The Rural Centre for Excellence (RCE) is a complex programme of Research & Development based assets (DSE and R&D infrastructure) in Moray. It links to developing a portfolio of five Living Labs (developing digital applications) as a vehicle for exploring novel concepts, iterating solutions and evaluating innovations to complex health and care challenges. The £5m of capital investment for this R&D project is being provided by the UK Government Strategic Landscape The health and care sector continues to face challenges as increasing demand for services exceeds the ability of services to accommodate this. That said, the innovation landscape in the UK is experiencing significant momentum with various initiatives underway to harness technology, data and collaborative efforts to enhance healthcare delivery. The main trends to note are: - Increasing technology integration to bring digital health solutions into healthcare systems and provide more personalised care. - Data utilisation efforts to leverage vast amounts of data to explore ways to identify trends, predict changes, personalise care and optimise resource allocation via data- driven approaches. - Focus on prevention and well-being: There is a growing shift toward preventative care and holistic well-being. Initiatives aimed at promoting healthy lifestyles, mental health support, and early intervention to prevent chronic conditions are gaining traction. - Linking with the Innovation strategy and new Industrial strategy to enhance productivity using digital for Health and Social Care. - International opportunities for inward investment The landscape in the health and care sector is ever evolving. Advancements in technology, changes in policy, and societal needs continue to shape the direction of innovation in the UK, against an uncertain funding backdrop. Achievements made during 2024 - At the end of 2024, all five living labs have been activated, with two in the real-world testing phase and the other three set to progress to this stage during 2025: o At the start of 2024, Living Lab 1 (Supported Self-Management) was aligned with Living Lab 2 (Long Term Condition Co-Management) due to an identified need for Page 227
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20 a unified technical infrastructure, stemming from an overlap in the target user groups related to weight management and type 2 diabetes. In addition to targeting the prevention and management of increasing obesity rates and its impact on health and care services, this new and exciting approach has gained national interest for its potential economic impact on the struggling leisure industry. More information can be found here: https://heartof.co.uk/. o Living Lab 2 (Long Term Condition Co-Management) community pathway has now reached the development stage with two new industry partners joining the project. Focusing on the Community Occupational Therapy (OT) service, it aims to develop self-management tools to help citizens find their own solutions in the first instance, while releasing clinical capacity through digital referral and triage for those requiring a professional service. o Living Lab 3 (Care in Place) has progressed to the real-world evidence stage, with two key infrastructure assets now being tested by unpaid carers and those they support. The Community Connections platform (CC@M) spotlighted in last year’s report, now includes over 450 community support entries, many with easy in-system self-referral links for a seamless user experience The second asset is the development and testing of a Personal Data Store (PDS), which is the focus of this year’s spotlight below. o Living Lab 4 (Smart Housing/Smart Communities) is progressing four workstreams. Working closely with H&SC Moray, the project seeks to demonstrate the proactive and preventative benefits to both users and services by developing a more personalised technology enabled care pathway using next generation devices. This replaces the like for like button and box style telecare as part of the national analogue-to-digital switchover required by January 2027. Scoping activities are also being progressed to develop a modular low carbon smart home, supporting both the housing shortage, and digitally supported independent living in an integrated solution. An additional workstream under living lab 4 will see the creation of a holistic data analysis platform based on the social determinants of health. This platform, via the personal data store, will integrate data generated from current and future RCE tools with other available data sources across health, care, third sector, housing and self-reporting. o Living Lab 5 (Mental Wellbeing) is being developed in partnership with the Moray H&SC Mental Health Strategic Delivery Group. In the first phase, mental wellbeing/mental health resources and services will be added to the Community Connections platform. Phase 2 will utilise the PDS and broader data analysis platform to generate personalised recommendations and service navigation support. - The RCE won the national ITEC award for Up-and-Coming TEC innovation in Birmingham in March - National and international interest in the project has grown significantly with many countries facing similar challenges, with investment from other authorities starting to emerge - DHI led a successful bid in partnership with Moray Wellbeing Hub, securing £1million in funding for a 5-year Community Research project in Moray, and was the only Scottish award Page 228
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21 2025 milestones Milestone Due Date All 5 Living labs to reach real- world evidence stage Oct 25 All procurement/grant calls currently in scope to be completed May 25 Academic evaluation to be completed for Living Labs 1,2,3, 4A, 4D & 5 Dec 25 Skills modules to be developed and launched Dec 25 Technical and knowledge assets to be completed and available for handover for Living Labs 1,2,3, 4A, 4D & 5 May 26 Uncertainties being managed Summary of the risk, issue or opportunity Effect (positive or negative) How it will be managed Risk: Ability for key local and regional stakeholders to support project innovation activity. Has the potential to cause slower uptake in support for the project which may cause delays in reaching milestones. Codesign and delivery activities have been streamlined to minimise impact on frontline service staff. Focus on….personal data store (developed under living lab 3 (Care in Place) The Personal Data Store (PDS) is a key infrastructure asset which underpins the living labs, and if successful will contribute significantly to the transformation of health and care services and capacity building supported by digital. Previous consultation work in Moray and across Scotland highlights that citizens using services and professionals working within them want to improve communication, prevent duplication, enhance decision making and ensure better access to services when required. The PDS addresses two key issues: 1. User frustration as citizens often need to repeatedly share their story with each service or organisation they engage with, particularly during periods of change or stress 2. Health, care, third sector and housing operate their own patient systems and are unbale to share information due to data protection, resulting in no once central place to store and access the user’s full history, support, and needs The PDS aims to overcome both issues by putting citizens at the heart of securely owning, receiving, contributing to, and sharing their relevant health, care and wellbeing information with individuals and services who support them. The PDS is a secure, cloud-based data storage and sharing platform provided by Mydex CIC. Using the PDS, individuals can more easily access relevant statutory and community services when needed, while also sharing details such as appointments with friends or family who support them. The PDS enables instant population of service referrals with existing data, improving efficiency. Services given access to view a PDS or receive a referral can more accurately triage referrals to understand and focus on the user’s current needs and required support rather than spending time on history taking. Through the living labs, the RCE will connect services to enable the collation of multiple sources of information in one place. Ongoing analysis of the content can establish the Page 229
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22 individual’s normal health and activity patterns, alerting services to early indicators of change. This allows for earlier intervention with the right support at the right time. It is hoped that this approach can reduce the frequency and length of hospital admissions, promote independent living, and enable the very limited statutory resources to be directed to those most in need. The images below show the pathway from both a citizen and service perspective and will continue to be developed to integrate additional services and data sources. Figure 1: Citizen’s Pathway Figure 2: Professionals Pathway Page 230
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23 Initially trialled with unpaid carers and frail older people, feedback from participants has been captured below. Figure 1: Codesign feedback Page 231
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24 3.2.5. Early Years STEM Value £6.4m (Capital: £3.5m SG, £1.3m Moray Council. Revenue: £1.6m Moray Council) Lead Body Moray Council Current status Full business case approved during Q3 24/25 and the project has entered delivery. RAG is due to the construction activity and the associated financial draw down likely to slip from 24/35 FY into 25/26 Project vision To raise the aspirations of children age 3-8 in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM), and to grow the STEM talent pipeline to ensure Moray is resilient in the future. Project summary The Early Years STEM project will invest £6.4m in STEM education in Moray, with Moray Council committing £2.9m (£1.3m in capital and £1.6m in revenue), and the Scottish Government committing £3.5 million in capital funding. Early Years STEM aims to encourage young people to enter into a STEM related career when they leave education and focuses on STEM engagement with children in their early stages of learning (age 3-8). The project will develop a STEM learning ecosystem in the Moray area, through the creation of specialist learning environments and experiences, access to training and resources, and the creation of a STEM learning network involving key delivery partners, upskilled staff, and volunteers from industry and the wider community. Early Years STEM aims to inspire and enhance the STEM learning experience of children and staff through age appropriate, curriculum aligned and industry related STEM experiences, while offering accessibility to parents, employers, and the wider community, thereby allowing inter- generational learning to take place. The aspiration of this strategy is to close the equity gaps in participation and attainment in STEM, ultimately leading more young people to choose STEM occupations at a later stage in their lives. The project will deliver a comprehensive package of investment over 10 years that includes: Phase 1 (2024 to 2025) - State-of-the-art STEM learning centre hosted within Elgin library. - Mobile facility fitted out with equipment that can be transported to and used in any suitable venue. - Outreach offering, consisting of a repository of STEM resources. - Comprehensive learning programme aligned to the Scotland’s Curriculum for Excellence. - Dedicated team of STEM Coordinators to all project activity. Phase 2 (2026 to 2028) - Two satellite STEM hubs in the areas of Forres and Buckie, to enhance the reach of engagements. - Environmental sciences and outdoor STEM learning centre, developed and delivered in partnership with a local environmental charity and focusing on learning for sustainability. Phase 3 (2029 to 2032) - STEM Grant Scheme to support partnership activity and community focused STEM programmes. - Budget to update and refresh equipment. Page 232
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25 Achievements made during 2024 - The project’s Full Business Case (FBC) was formally approved in November 2024, enabling it to enter delivery. - A multi-disciplinary design team led by Moray Council was appointed in 2023, and 2024 saw proposals develop through RIBA stage 4 for the first STEM centre location at Elgin Library. - Exhibition designers Glasgow Science Centre in collaboration with Unusual Projects were appointed in early 2024 to progress the interior design elements of the Elgin facility, including exhibition, interpretation, and bespoke learning content. A design manual was finalised in December 2024 with proposals developed to RIBA stage 3 equivalent. - Glasgow Science Centre commissioned to develop project branding and visual identity. Work commenced in September 2024 and is ongoing. - A building warrant for the Elgin development was granted in October 2024, with tender documentation prepared in Q3 ahead of tender action planned for Q4. 2025 milestones Milestone Due Date Procure STEM materials and develop outreach resources Q4 24/25 Publish tender and appoint construction contractor Q4 24/25 Library decant and mobilisation Q4 24/25 Pilot outreach resources and develop learning programme Q1 25/26 Recruit STEM Coordinators Q1 25/26 Launch STEM Starts website Q2 25/26 Vehicle and equipment purchase Q2 25/26 Construction and fit out works complete at Elgin Q2 25/26 Official launch of Elgin STEM Centre and mobile offer Q2 25/26 Phase 2 feasibility planning Q3 25/26 Phase 2 public consultation Q3 25/26 Uncertainties being managed Summary of the risk, issue or opportunity Effect (positive or negative) How it will be managed Risk: Rising construction costs and scope change. - Potential to affect the scale and ambition of the project that could affect outcomes and benefits. - Re-develop existing space to reduce costs. - Experienced architectural team to provide budgets and sound project management. - A phased approach to implementation of facilities. - Close liaison between teams. - Adopt value engineering approach. Page 233
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26 Risk: Insufficient operational planning and budgets. - Inability to realise outreach activities. - Delivery model designed to fit the capital and revenue budget available. - Build in elements to the project that will attract future funding opportunities to support core staffing and continued refreshment of the project. - Grow partnerships with other STEM providers. - Develop a delivery network of volunteers and industry ambassadors to ensure the longevity of the project. Risk: No change in community attitudes or regular repeat visitations to STEM centre infrastructure. - Improvements in STEM attainment levels not realised. - Consultations with education staff, young people and the community throughout the design process to understand need. - Engagement with other STEM providers, partnering and providing a web of joined up inspiring and age appropriate experiences - Identify barriers to participation and seek to remove where possible. - Flexible and dynamic approach to curriculum development and project delivery. - Implement CPD training to benefit all schools through the Associated School Group (ASG) network Risk: Inability to acquire sites or secure strategic partnerships - Project delay or failure to deliver phase 2 developments as planned - Engage legal support at an early stage - Develop partnership agreements. - Engage community at an early stage for support. Page 234
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27 Focus on….the project’s first STEM hub in Elgin library The first phase of the Early Years STEM Project will see development of an Early Years STEM Discovery Centre and Community Learning Hub, hosted within Elgin Library at Cooper Park. The facility will serve as a focal point for early years STEM education in Moray, offering innovative STEM learning experiences, opportunities for training and skills development and coordinating STEM activity across the region. The centre will act as a shared STEM resource for local nurseries, schools, and home educators; while offering accessibility to the wider community, including weekend family sessions and support for community groups to host STEM events and clubs. Throughout 2024, a multi-disciplinary design team, led by Moray Council, has been developing plans for this facility, supported by exhibition designers Glasgow Science Centre. Design concepts are being finalised, with construction and fit-out set to begin in March 2025, ready for opening in September 2025. The STEM Discovery Centre will host a series of interactive exhibitions themed around life and work in Moray, and will offer STEM workshops linked to the Scottish Curriculum for Excellence. Activities include science investigations, engineering challenges and coding with LEGO® and other digital resources. This facility will offer an inspirational learning experience outside of the school or home environment and will provide opportunity for community, employer, and family engagement. A robust outreach provision and mobile facility will extend the reach of engagements into the classroom setting. Design concepts are shown below. Page 235
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28 3.2.6. Housing Mix Delivery Value £7.5m (Capital: £5m SG, £2.5m Moray Council) Lead Body Moray Council Current status The full business case was approved during Q4 23/24 and the project has entered delivery Project vision Stimulating housing development in town centres, unlock constrained sites and promote the integration of pilot exemplar sustainable design and construction techniques. Project summary The Housing Mix Delivery is a £7.5m project with a commitment of £5m from the Scottish Government and £2.5m from Moray Council. The project supports the delivery of up to 360 affordable houses and plots; 150 short-term construction jobs annually; stimulates the private housebuilding sector to deliver up to 500 market houses; supports town centre regeneration of brownfield sites; and provision of housing in rural towns and villages. Achievements made during 2024 - South Street, Elgin: Delivery of 38 affordable homes. Planning consent was obtained. Funding package has been confirmed. Properties comprising the overall site have all been purchased. Development Funding Agreement for the enabling works has been agreed. Enabling works are anticipated to commence early January 2025. - Dallas Dhu, Forres: Delivery of 24 affordable homes along with a housing innovation area. Planning application for phase 1 was submitted in July 2024. - Hillside Farm, Dufftown: Masterplan has been drafted and initial costings received. - Speyview, Aberlour: Investment has been made towards the enabling works for first phase of 39 affordable homes. Uncertainties being managed Summary of the risk, issue or opportunity Effect (positive or negative) How it will be managed Risk: Inflation and construction costs continue to rise. - The project is able to invest in fewer sites throughout Moray as the budget was fixed in 2021 and will not be adjusted for inflation. - Whilst this is a risk, it is still expected that the full suite of benefits will be realised. - A cost consultant has been engaged to control the investment costs for each site. - Funding from additional sources will be sought. Risk: Budget cuts to Scottish Government Affordable Housing grant funding - Delivery of sites can be delayed due to funding not being available until later years. - Discussions with partners involved in Phase 1 sites to identify potential front funding options and timings of the flow of funds. Page 236
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29 Risk: Conflict with partner initiatives, lack of commitment and alignment of other MGD projects - Potential for other activity to impact the ability for HMD to create the right environment for success with stakeholders and realise all of the benefits sought. - Good working relationships have been established between Project Managers for the Moray Growth Deal projects. Continue working together to ensure the projects are complementary rather than conflicting. 2025 milestones Milestone Due Date South Street, Elgin: Enabling works to commence Q4 24/25 South Street, Elgin: Construction to commence Q2 25/26 Dallas Dhu, Forres: Planning permission obtained Q3-Q4 24/25 Dallas Dhu, Forres: Appointment of lead developer Q4 24/25 Hillside Farm, Dufftown: Consider costed options appraisal and agree next steps Q4 24/25 Speyview, Aberlour: Construction to commence Q3 24/25 Focus on….South Street (Elgin) regeneration project This is a partnership project between Moray Council, UHI Moray and Robertson Property Ltd and forms part of two Moray Growth Deal projects: Housing Mix Delivery and Business Enterprise Hub. The overall site comprises five separate ownerships. • M&Co, 51 South Street • Elgin Furniture & Carpet Store, 53-55 South Street • Junners, 57-61 South Street • Jailhouse, 130 High Street • Newmarket Bar, 130 High Street This regeneration project will deliver the Business Enterprise Hub, 38 one and two bed flats and opportunities for three retail units. Planning application was submitted in early 2024, and permission was subsequently granted in May 2024. During 2024, the site acquisition of the five properties listed above was completed and the funding package for the overall project was confirmed. Development funding agreement for the enabling works between Moray Council and Robertson Property Ltd was discussed and agreed with the aim to sign in Q3 24/25. Enabling works are anticipated to commence in Q4 24/25. Design for the hoarding system to cover the construction site and give a background into the project was developed and agreed, incorporating the Elgin wide branding and will be installed on site in Q4 24/25. Page 237
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30 3.2.7. Skills and innovation project, formerly MAATIC Value £21m (Capital: £21m UKG) Lead Body To be confirmed Current status In 2024 the lead partner for the MAATIC project withdrew. The Deal Team have advanced a series of workshops to identify a new project, with this process due to conclude in Q4 24/25. It will be followed by assurance activity to secure approval for the option. Project vision Likely to vary significantly from the previous MAATIC project, but will the aim is that it retains focus on generating high value skills needed for key Moray employers. Project summary The vision was that the University of Highlands and Islands (UHI) would progress a project aimed at delivering high value skills and innovation relating to the Aerospace and Advanced Technology sectors, working in conjunction with Boeing. In early 2024, UHI informed the MGD Board of their intention to withdraw from the project, sighting a number of issues relating to financial affordability and a wider context of falling student numbers across the UK Higher Education sector. Achievements made during 2024 - Change request approved by the MGD Board in September 2024 that removes UHI as lead partner in the MAATIC skills and innovation project. - Series of workshops commenced in September (running until January 2025) to help identify a re-imagined scope for a skills and intervention project. The workshops have been supported by a diverse range of stakeholders including businesses, business organisations, academia, public agencies and elected members ‘Aspirational’ project milestones Milestone Timescale Agreement on option to be progressed Q4 24/25 Government issues report process Q1 25/26 Business case development Q3 25/26 Government change request process Q4 25/26 Page 238
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31 Uncertainties being managed Summary of the risk, issue or opportunity Effect (positive or negative) How it will be managed Risk: Inability to identify a financially viable proposition. Negative. With the project only attracting capital funding, a sustainable revenue model will be needed to underpin the proposal. Flagged early with stakeholders and partners who are working to develop proposals that can avail of existing or new revenue funding opportunities. Opportunity: Skills and innovation focus for re- imagined project could better fit issues currently being experienced throughout Moray. Positive. With the MAATIC scope developed pre-Covid, the ability to re-imagine a project vision enables the Deal to re-evaluate and identify the biggest demand and need for Growth Deal funding. Clear objectives to be set that any re-imagined project would need to realise, with scrutiny by the MGD Board and both Governments regarding the scope of the proposed project. Risk: Inability to secure a suitable partner(s) to support the project and act as lead Negative. Project unlikely to progress if an appropriate partner is not identified. Work to secure indicative support as potential projects are identified. Firmer commitments required for the strategic outline case. Page 239
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32 3.2.8. Manufacturing Innovation Centre for Moray Value £6.859m (Capital: £0.61m SG, £2.442m UKG, £2.557m HIE. Revenue: £1.25m SG) Lead Body Highlands and Islands Enterprise Current status In Delivery Stage: - FBC approved March 2024 - Change requests approved that adjust delivery timescales and the financial profile following construction tender activity. Project vision A focal point for manufacturing businesses to learn best practice and collaborate to stimulate the creation of new processed, products and growth of existing manufacturing businesses throughout Moray. Project summary The Manufacturing Innovation Centre for Moray (MICM) will act as a local focal point for manufacturing businesses to access best practice, collaborate with universities and other research institutes, and be quickly supported to access the relevant support from organisations such as Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE), National Manufacturing Institute Scotland (NMIS), Scottish Manufacturing Advisory Service (SMAS), Interface (the knowledge connection for business), Business Gateway and other service providers to improve their businesses. The project’s purpose is to build expertise for growing the manufacturing sector in Moray. The aim of MICM’s service is to: - Play an active role in advanced manufacturing/ multi-sector - Provide services that are customised to the needs of rural manufacturing business - Support manufacturing businesses to develop detailed assessment and baseline of productivity and net zero performance - Co-ordinate service delivery and guide/steer businesses to the best solution for them and the most suitable providers (HIE, UHI, NMIS, SMAS, Interface, Innovation Centres, Business Energy Scotland etc.) - Support businesses to innovate their processes and products and adopt new technologies leading to improved productivity and profitability Achievements made during 2024 - Planning approval in place (February 2024) - Completed design stage for Unit 9, and submitted building warrant (March 2024) - Full Business Case (FBC) approved by the MGD Programme Board (April 2024) - Approval of the FBC by HIE Board (April 2024) - Building warrant in place (September 2024) - Construction Contract Awarded (Oct 2024) - Market engagement undertaken, for Service Operator contract, via a Prior Information Notice (PIN) on Public Contract Scotland (PCS) 7 responses received (October 2024) - Construction commenced (Nov 2024) Page 240
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33 2025 milestones Milestone Due Date Key staff recruited May 2025 Complete construction May 2025 Operational stand-up June 2025 Uncertainties being managed Summary of the risk, issue or opportunity Effect (positive or negative) How it will be managed Risk: Lack of productive engagement with the business community. Negative. Vision for MICM diverges from what the business community would like to see. Consultation events with the Moray Growth Deal, Business Assembly and Chamber of Commerce, as well as a broader business survey. Ensure involvement with Project Board. Risk: Revenue assumptions are overoptimistic. Negative. Could result in a revenue shortfall for the project. Sensitivity analysis in FBC. Develop alternative revenue sources. Focus on….how the project will support businesses to grow and innovate The ambition for MICM is to create a grassroots cultural shift in efficiency and innovation for Moray’s manufacturing businesses. MICM’s services will include a range of tenancy options (incubator space, desk space, and grow-on space), but at the heart of MICM’s objectives is engagement with indigenous manufacturing SMEs in Moray and across Scotland, focussing on product and process innovation as well as supporting net zero transition in their operations. It is anticipated that the engagement process for many of these services will raise MICM’s profile with potential service users through events, referrals and direct engagement. MICM will organise a programme of relevant, targeted events, which will be coordinated closely with other service providers (e.g. CeeD and NMIS). The MICM service operator will provide follow-up diagnostics and advisory services to help manufacturing businesses understand their business operations, establish their current baseline in product / process innovation and net zero transition terms. From there, an action plan will be developed, quantifying key issues and highlighting specific improvement projects which will demonstrably bring benefits to the bottom line. In some cases, MICM will actively support engagement with relevant innovation service providers (e.g. NMIS, CeeD or Innovation Centres) to meet specific needs. In other cases, MICM itself will provide more in-depth advisory and support services to the manufacturing businesses, either on a specific projects or to support them in working up applications for funding from other providers. These services will be paid for by the businesses receiving the support. Page 241
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34 HIE work with manufacturing businesses across our region to support their development, and we see a clear and growing need for local support to access the best practice required to make the leap to the next level. Page 242
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35 4. Programme Management Office activity planned for 2025 4.1. PMO milestones to be achieved The PMO expects to deliver the following milestones during 2025: Milestone Target date Deals’ first annual audit discussion meeting with partners delivering projects. Q4 24/25 Growth Deal annual conversation with the Scottish and UK Governments Q4 24/25 Assessment of programme and project monitoring and evaluation requirements, with options for how the Deal could progress. Q1 25/26 2025/26 grant offer letter to be agreed with the Scottish Government, confirming the level of funding to be provided during the financial year. Q1 25/26 Publication of the Deal’s 2024 annual report Q1 25/26 Review of benefits realisation progress Q1 and Q3 25/26 Report to Council on progress made securing additional funding for phase 2 of the Cultural Quarter project. Q3 25/26 Schedule of in-life reviews of project activity Ongoing 4.2. Factors that require action or future delivery could be impacted Risk management processes are integrated into both project and programme board discussions to ensure factors that could affect the successful delivery of activity are appropriately managed. Looking into 2025, the most pertinent entries that require a specific focus are: - Projected v actual procurement costs: Project Managers have worked with cost consultants and design teams to develop the most accurate costings possible for construction activity. With significant procurement activity expected to be progressed during 2025, due to constrained capital allocations, it is critical actual costs do not significantly vary from projections. Value engineering will be progressed in the event of a significant variance. - Ability to find a viable project to replace MAATIC: Work undertaken in late 2024 has identified potential options for a replacement skills and intervention project. More detailed work will be required during 2025 to undertake a detailed analysis of demand and need, secure confirmation of the partner(s) who could lead this activity and the anticipated capital and revenue costs. With only capital available from the Growth Deal, there is the potential that a viable revenue proposition cannot be developed or that a lead partner for the project cannot be identified. The PMO continues to work collaboratively with a range of stakeholders to explore options for a viable, sustainable proposition. - Construction activity in Elgin: Significant activity is expected in the coming years, due to projects from several different funding programmes commencing construction activity. The PMO will work closely with Project Managers across these programmes to ensure effective co-ordination of activity and minimise the disruption. Growth Deal activity will also adopt standardised designs for hoardings etc that aim to provide consistent messages to businesses and citizens irrespective of funding source. Page 243
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36 - Messaging in a challenging financial climate: With the Growth Deal delivering activity that will realise benefits in the medium to long term, there is a potential conflict with the current financial pressures faced by public agencies. It will be important to manage when and how communications related to Growth Deal activity are released. This is to ensure messages about changes to council or partner budgets are separate from news about Growth Deal investment and that there is a focus on the benefits that will be realised for citizens and businesses. A recent example of this is when the Council issued proactive communications relating to the closure of the St Giles shopping centre. - Support and uptake of services being offered: As Growth Deal activity progresses during 2025, more services will become operational. Engagement activity will be critical to maximise participation, and Project Managers will need to undertake continual improvement assessments, learning from feedback to evolve and strengthen offerings to ensure they remain as attractive and relevant as possible. 4.3. Monitoring the benefits to be realised by the Deal Prior to 2024, the Moray Growth Deal only had two of the eight projects in delivery and with significant work in progress to develop full business cases, there was a lack of granularity on the exact nature of the outcomes that would be generated. Since January 2024, there has been a significant increase in the number of projects in delivery. Currently six projects have reached this stage, with the figure expected to rise to seven during early 2025 (assurance of the Business Enterprise Hub FBC has restarted). In light of this, monitoring plans that have and are being produced for projects are creating increasing certainty about the outputs to be delivered and outcome targets to be realised. That said, the Programme Management Office has been conscious that a number of projects have submitted change requests to the board, altering parameters such as the timing of milestones and outputs to be delivered. Initial consultancy support was provided in 2024 to generate evidence regarding the Deal’s ability to achieve programme benefits set out at Full Deal signing in 2021, and this will be finalised once there is clarity on the scope of a replacement skills and intervention project (late 2025, early 2026). The PMO recognises there needs to be regular updates on benefits realisation work, underpinned by a strong foundation of data. In light of this, the key work areas that are expected to be advanced during 2025 are: - Bi-annual focus on benefits: Projects will report progress against their monitoring plans to MGD Programme Board meetings in May and November. - Generating clarity around benefits arising from a new skills and intervention project: Work is in progress to identify a skills and intervention project to replace MAATIC. This in turn will generate an increased understanding of the benefits to be realised and how these affect projections associated with overall programme level targets. - Monitoring plan for the Business Enterprise Hub: The assurance process of the business case has now resumed and the project is expected to enter delivery during early 2025. An output from this work will be the production of a monitoring plan that will be reported to the MGD Board in May 2025. Page 244
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37 - Central co-ordination of benefits monitoring and evaluation activity: With a view to driving process and financial efficiencies, work will be advanced in the first half of 2025 to both identify requirements at project and programme levels, with a view to scoping options for how this could be delivered. Page 245
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38 5. Financial summary 5.1 Funding sources for Deal activity Project Scottish Government investment (£’000) UK Government investment (£’000) Local partner investment including the Moray Council (£’000) Total investment (£’000) Capital Bus Revolution 4,000 - - 4,000 BE Hub 3,300 - 1,000 4,300 Cultural Quarter 12,700 3,500 15,400 A 31,600 Digital Health - 5,000 - 5,000 Early Years STEM 3,500 - 1,300 4,800 Housing Mix Delivery 5,000 - 2,500 7,500 MAATIC - 21,000 - B 21,000 MICM c 610 2,442 2,557 5,609 TOTAL 29,110 31,942 22,757 83,809 Revenue Bus Revolution - - 322 322 BE Hub 2,000 - 1,350 3,350 Early Years STEM - - 1,600 1,600 MICM 1,250 - 110 1,360 TOTAL 3,250 - 3,382 6,632 A: Includes a value of £9.5m which relates to the estimated amount of private sector investment sought to develop a new hotel in Elgin. The shortfall, £6m has not been included, with a review point in Autumn 2025 due to evaluate progress made securing this. B: MAATIC was due to receive £3m in funding from HIE. With the project being rescoped, a new application to HIE would be required to seek funding for the new proposition. In light of this the funding contribution has been reduced from the total. C: The project is carrying an underspend of £1,283m (made up of £0.14M from SG, £0.558m from UKG and £0.585m from HIE). Options for how the Deal will seek to use this funding will be set out in the Government change request that will seek approval to integrate a new project to replace MAATIC. 5.2 Government funding drawn down Q4 23/24 to Q3 24/25 In line with the conditions associated with Scottish and UK Government funding, projects can only draw down funding once their full business cases have been approved by the MGD Board, both Governments and Moray Council. During 2024, six projects had reached this stage: Project Government investment (£’000) Draw down (all figures £’000) Previous draw down (up to Q3 23/24 inclusive) Period covered (Q4 23/24 to Q3 24/25) Total draw down to date Bus Revolution 4,000 738 290 1,028 Cultural Quarter 16,200 0 0 0 Digital Health 5,000 2,798 886 3,684 EY STEM 3,500 0 184 184 Housing Mix Delivery 5,000 0 2,781 2,781 MICM 3,052 0 107 107 TOTAL 36,752 3,536 4,248 7,784 Page 246
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39 6. 2024 communications activity With more projects having entered the delivery phase there will be an increased level of communications activity to raise awareness of project achievement, including media releases, social media posts and an overhaul of project pages on the My Moray website. 6.1. Bus Revolution The m.connect service has continued its momentum this year as details were released through media and social media activity highlighting the significant growth the project has seen since launch. In November 2024, phase two service delivery marketing began with details on future development of the project given online and in person at public drop-in sessions throughout Moray. These sessions will run until March 2025 and communications will continue ahead of phase two launching in Spring 2025. A new driver recruitment campaign began in November 2024, featuring events promoted in collaboration with Jobcentre Plus. This campaign will extend into 2025 across all media channels, leading up to the launch of phase two. A wider transportation survey was promoted throughout November until January across all media channels. 6.2. Business Enterprise Hub Details of the Business Enterprise Hub were shared as part of the wider promotion of regeneration activity planned for South Street in Elgin. Further communications are planned as part of the launch of the ground clearance on South Street in January 2025 and to signal the beginning of the construction works on the Business Enterprise Hub. This includes storyboard designs installed on the construction hoardings around the South Street site in January 2025, providing the public with key details about the regeneration project and highlighting the area’s history and future. 6.3. Cultural Quarter The progress and development of plans for Elgin Town Hall were shared online and in person at a local public drop-in event in August 2024. For a second year in a row, the Cultural Quarter participated in the Doors Open Day tours in September 2024 where they shared updates on Elgin Town Hall and Grant Lodge with the public. A further significant milestone was marked when Page \ Park were appointed as the design team for Grant Lodge in May 2024. We have worked closely with the Press and Journal throughout the year to share updates on the project, including an exclusive look inside Grant Lodge in May 2024 and a rundown of the designs for Elgin Town Hall in September 2024. 6.4. Digital Health Following the opening of the Demonstration and Simulation Environment (DSE) in 2023. it has hosted several visiting international delegations in addition to regular local events and workshops. A PR campaign was delivered across local press and online in March 2024 in partnership with the Moray Health and Social Care Partnership to increase awareness of the reasons for Page 247
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40 pressures on health and care services and the role and importance of digital. This was positively received and was followed up with open session in each of the Moray localities Engagement with citizens has continued through pop up events and workshop has been facilitated by Glasgow School of Art (GSA) colleagues who support on engagement activity, with feedback used to inform the iterative development and direction of the projects 6.5. EY STEM Communications activity has been limited as the project worked to develop their full business case. Following approval in November 2024 the project entered delivery and details of the service were released across all media channels over Christmas 2024. 6.6. Housing Mix Delivery The progress and updated plans for the Dallas Dhu phase of the Housing Mix Delivery were shared at drop-in exhibitions in January and February 2024. Following the announcement that construction terms for Aberlour’s affordable housing were agreed, the Scottish Government Minister for Housing, Paul McLennan MSP, visited the development. Details of the visit were shared through a media release and social media activity in August 2024. Updates on the South Street development were shared in December 2024 ahead of groundwork clearances in January 2025. This will propel communications on progress of the South Street project throughout 2025, including regular video and photo updates through social media. 6.7. Skills and innovation project, formerly MAATIC An update on the project was delivered in September 2024, when the lead for the project announced a strategic decision to step down. Due to this development in the project communications have been limited, however, workshops to determine the future of the project started in Autumn 2024. Further information will be communicated during 2025, once there is clarity on the vision for this skills intervention project. 6.8. MICM The project entered delivery in early 2024 and a significant milestone was marked when Morrison Construction were awarded the construction tender for phase one which will include the creation of business incubator spaces and a demonstrator suite for showcasing the latest concepts in advanced manufacturing technology and equipment. Further communications across all media platforms are planned as the service hub offering is established in time for it’s opening Q1 25/26. Page 248
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41 7. Programme structure and governance activity 7.1. Structure of Moray Growth Deal activity and Officers involved Executive oversight of the Moray Growth Deal • Rhona Gunn, Depute Chief Executive and Moray Growth Deal Senior Responsible Officer (SRO) (Moray Council) • Beverly Smith, Interim Head of Economic Growth and Development (Moray Council) – day to day oversight Programme Management Office • Michael Kelly, Programme Manager (Moray Council) • Lynne Owen, Programme Officer (Moray Council) Project Delivery Teams in place within different organisations working to deliver the eight projects that make up the Moray Growth Deal. Bus Revolution (led by Moray Council) • PM: Stevie Robertson, Senior Project Manager • SRO: Nicola Moss, Head of Environmental and Commercial Services Business Enterprise Hub (led by UHI-Moray) • PM: Samantha Scott, BE Hub Project Manager and Deputy Head of Academic Partnerships at UHI-Moray • SRO: David Patterson, UHI-Moray Principal Cultural Quarter (led by Moray Council) • PM: Claire English, Senior Project Manager • SRO: Beverly Smith, Interim Head of Economic Growth and Development Digital Health (led by the Digital Health Institute) • PM: Marie Simpson, Programme Manager • SRO: Janette Hughes, Director of Planning and Performance Early Years STEM (led by Moray Council) • PM: Sarah Barnes, Senior Project Manager • SRO: Hazel Sly, Early Years Service Manager Housing Mix Delivery (led by Moray Council) • PM: Hilda Puskas, Senior Project Manager • SRO: Gary Templeton, Principal Planning Officer MICM (led by HIE) • PM: Chantal Geyer, Senior Project Manager • SRO: David Reid, Area Manager (Moray) 7.2. Summary of assurance activity progressed during 2024 Assurance activity considered by the MGD Board is structured using a series of ‘gates’ that, when triggered, require Project Managers to make submissions for approval to progress. Gate A B C D E F Approval of Strategic Outline Case (SOC) Approval of Outline Business Case (OBC) Approval of Full Business Case (FBC) Closure of a project Change request to previous baseline In-life review Page 249
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42 Below is a summary of the activity that has been submitted to the MGD Board during 2024. Date Work stream Assurance gate Description Status Jan 2024 EY STEM E: Change Request to extend the date when the project FBC is submitted to the MGD Board by 2 months (from January 2024 to March 2024) Approved Feb 2024 Bus Revolution E: Change Request to make a series of revisions and updates, including to the management structure, financial model and benefits indicators. Approved Mar 2024 EY STEM C: FBC Project FBC submitted for approval. Approved June 2024 EY STEM E: Change Formalising a minor reprofile of at risk spend from 23/24FY to 24/25. Approved June 2024 Cultural Quarter C: FBC Project FBC submitted for approval. Approved June 2024 DHI F: In-life review Project in-life review. n/a Jul 2024 Bus Revolution E: Change Requesting a change to procurement plans for phase2 (temporary move to diesel vehicles instead of EVs until support and infrastructure issues have been resolved). Approved Jul 2024 Bus Revolution F: In-life review Project in-life review. n/a Jul 2024 Programme E: Change Collation of minor changes in the financial profiles of Bus Revolution, Digital Health and Housing Mix Delivery. Approved Aug 2024 MICM E: Change Update to the FBC with actual figures from construction procurement activity. Approved Sep 2024 MAATIC D: Closure Report that seeks to close the project as it stands currently due to the withdrawal of UHI as lead partner. Approved Nov 2024 MICM E: Change Change request to project timeline and financial profile in light of a delay securing the building warrant. Approved 7.3. Summary Audit activity undertaken during 2024 Building on routine scrutiny provided by the MGD Programme Board, which has included the establishment of an in-life review process for projects in delivery, it’s expected that activity will be the subject of periodic audits. During the term of this report, the following internal audit activity has been progressed: ▪ Moray Council internal audit: Appendix A sets out the audit report, prepared in October 2024. The programme secured a ‘substantial’ rating, with several actions to be progressed namely: Page 250
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43 Audit recommendation Activity that will be progressed Further use should be made of the My Moray website and social media sites to ensure effective communication of any developments concerning the Moray Growth Deal. Capacity is now in place within the Communications Team to resource this and the website will be updated regularly going forward. The Stakeholder Engagement Plan should be reviewed and, if required, updated. A review of the plan will take place during Q4 24/25 and a reviewed version prepared if required. All fields within the Communications Planner spreadsheet should be completed to aid the communication management needs of the Deal. A retrospective review of the document has taken place to ensure all fields are populated and this will be maintained going forward. All communications related activities, where documented, e.g., press releases, should be saved on the Moray Growth Deal SharePoint site. From 2025 the Communications Team will document activity on the MGD SharePoint site. All partner organisations should be informed that supporting evidence must be provided for all expenditure claimed from Moray Growth Deal funding. Further to the findings noted within the audit and subsequent discussions with the Chief Financial Officer, a review of the types of payments claimed by the partner organisation should be undertaken to ensure the correct classification of expenditure. Partners will be reminded of the evidence that needs to be provided when submitting claims and a review of payment types will be undertaken to ensure compliance with European System of Accounts 10 and funding grant conditions. Partner organisations' internal audit services should be reminded to forward copies of their annual audit plans to the Council regarding planned internal audit activity of Growth Deal activity. This will allow the Moray Council, as the Accountable Body, to be consulted and contribute to the scope of the reviews. During Q4 24/25 the first annual audit meeting will take place involving representatives from the audit teams in partners leading Growth Deal projects. This will retrospectively review audit activity undertaken in the previous year and look review audit plans for the year ahead. ▪ Digital Health Internal Audit: The University of Strathclyde undertook their second internal audit of the project and awarded a ‘substantial assurance’ rating, the highest category of compliance. Key findings related to: o Update the membership table of RCE Project Board members o Improve record keeping of whom attended RCE Board meetings o Provide dates for when risk register entries have been reviewed DHI has committed to resolving the outstanding actions by the end of February 2025. Primarily this will be through the revision of key project documents, namely the Board meeting minute template and a review of the Project Board terms of Reference. Page 251
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REPORT TO: MORAY COUNCIL ON 19 FEBRUARY 2025 SUBJECT: UPDATE ON POLITICAL BALANCE BY: DEPUTE CHIEF EXECUTIVE (EDUCATION, COMMUNITIES AND ORGANISATIONAL DEVELOPMENT) 1. REASON FOR REPORT 1.1 To inform the Council of a change in the political balance of the Council. 1.2 This report is submitted to Committee in terms of Section I (2) of the Council's Scheme of Administration relating to exercising the functions conferred on it in complying with Standing Orders 2. RECOMMENDATION 2.1 It is recommended that the Council: (i) notes the change to the political balance as detailed in paragraph 4.1; and (ii) notes the change in Committee allocation as a result of the change as detailed in paragraph 4.2. 3. BACKGROUND 3.1 At the meeting of Moray Council on 4 December 2024 the Council agreed to note the change in political balance as a result of the by-election on 7 November 2024 (para 15 of the minute refers) 3.2 The current political balance is detailed below: Conservative SNP Labour Green Independent Non-Aligned Conservative 9 7 3 1 4 2 3.3 This political balance results in principal committees with a membership of 15 with the following seats allocated: Conservative SNP Labour Green Independent Non-Aligned Conservative 5 4 2 1 2 1 Item 13. Page 253
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4. UPDATED POSITION 4.1 Councillor Colyer has re-joined the Administration Group as a Conservative Councillor which results in the following change to the political balance. Conservative SNP Labour Green Independent Non-Aligned Conservative 10 7 3 1 4 1 4.2 This change means the membership of principal committees with a membership of 15 is as follows: Conservative SNP Labour Green Independent Non-Aligned Conservative 6 4 2 0.5 2 0.5 4.3 This results in the Green and Non-Aligned Conservative Councillors sharing 1 place on each Committee. It will be for Councillors Allan and van der Horn to agree which Committees they each wish to sit on. 5. SUMMARY OF IMPLICATIONS (a) Corporate Plan and 10 Year Plan (Local Outcomes Improvement Plan (LOIP)) None (b) Policy and Legal None (c) Financial implications None (d) Risk Implications None (e) Staffing Implications None (f) Property None (g) Equalities/Socio Economic Impact None (h) Climate Change and Biodiversity Impacts None (i) Consultations Consultation has taken place with the Interim Chief Executive, Depute Chief Executive (Economy, Environment and Finance), Depute Chief Executive (Education, Communities and Organisational Development and the Head of Page 254
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Governance, Strategy and Performance, whose comments have been incorporated into the report. 6. CONCLUSION 6.1 Council is asked to note the change to the political make up of the Council. Author of Report: Tracey Sutherland, Democratic Services Manager Background Papers: Ref: Page 255
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REPORT TO: MORAY COUNCIL ON 19 FEBRUARY 2025 SUBJECT: UPDATE ON COUNCILLORS REMUNERATION BY: DEPUTE CHIEF EXECUTIVE (EDUCATION, COMMUNITIES AND ORGANISATIONAL DEVELOPMENT) 1. REASON FOR REPORT 1.1 To inform the Council of changes to Councillor remuneration. 1.2 This report is submitted to Committee in terms of Section I (2) of the Council's Scheme of Administration relating to exercising the functions conferred on it in complying with Standing Orders 2. RECOMMENDATION 2.1 It is recommended that the Council: (i) notes the statutory increase in councillor remuneration rates payable from 01 April 2025 as detailed in regulations published on 23 January 2025; and (ii) agrees to retain the current number of Senior Councillor positions (detailed in paragraphs 5.4 and 5.5 below) with payment for these positions at the maximum rate specified in the regulations; 3. BACKGROUND 3.1 Following a recommendation from the Scottish Local Authorities Remuneration Committee (SLARC), the Scottish Parliament have just approved regulations: • Increasing the amounts for Councillors remuneration based on a median employee cost. • Reducing the number of bands for Councils in Scotland (which link Councillor remuneration to the size of Council) from 4 to 3. As one of the smaller Scottish local authorities Moray effectively moves up a band. • Allowing the Councils within the lowest band (including Moray) to increase the number of remunerated senior councillors from 9 to 10. Item 14. Page 257
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3.2 The purpose of the SLARC recommendations were to ensure the diversity and sustainability of Councillors throughout Scotland by removing barriers to holding elected office and enabling wider representation. 3.3 The revised rates are as follows: Fixed amounts 2024 2025 Leader £35,580.00 £50,063.00 Councillor £21,345.00 £25,982.00 Chair of Joint Board £26,686.00 £37,458.00 Discretionary amounts 2024 2025 Civic Head maximum £26,686.00 £37,458.00 Senior Councillor maximum* £26,686.00 £37,458.00 *the amount is subject to a cap on total spend on Senior Councillors of £317,646.25. This means the total amounts which could be paid would be: • 8 Senior Councillor positions: £37,458.00 • 9 Senior Councillor positions: £35,294.00 • 10 Senior Councillor positions: £31,764.00 3.4 At the meeting of Moray Council on 10 August 2022 (para 7 of the minute refers), in addition to payments for the Council Leader, Civic Leader and Chairs of Joint Boards, the Council agreed the allocation of 9 Senior Responsibility Allowances as follows: • Civic Leader • Chairs of Corporate, EDIS, Licensing, Housing and Community Safety, Planning and Regulatory, Police and Fire Committees • Leader of largest opposition party • Chair of Audit and Scrutiny 3.5 Due to recent changes within the SNP group, the group Leader and Chair of Audit of Scrutiny are both held by one individual. This means that the total number of senior councillor payments currently paid is 8. There is no change proposed to this number in the recommendations at paragraph 2.1 (ii). 4. SUMMARY OF IMPLICATIONS (a) Corporate Plan and 10 Year Plan (Local Outcomes Improvement Plan (LOIP)) None Page 258
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(b) Policy and Legal Councillors remuneration is regulated by the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004 (Remuneration) Regulations with amounts being updated annually by further regulations. (c) Financial implications Based on the Council agreeing to retain 8 senior councillor positions the increase in gross cost (including NI and superannuation) would be around £256,000.00. (d) Risk Implications None (e) Staffing Implications None (f) Property None (g) Equalities/Socio Economic Impact None (h) Climate Change and Biodiversity Impacts None (i) Consultations Consultation has taken place with the Interim Chief Executive, Depute Chief Executive (Economy, Environment and Finance), Depute Chief Executive (Education, Communities and Organisational Development and the Head of Governance, Strategy and Performance, whose comments have been incorporated into the report. 5. CONCLUSION 5.1 The Council are asked to Consider and agree the amount which Senior Councillor positions should be remunerated at. Author of Report: Tracey Sutherland, Democratic Services Manager Background Papers: Ref: Page 259
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