Item 5(a) - Minutes of Council 25/10/23 (Ordinary)
West Dunbartonshire Council · 20 December 2023
Back to West Dunbartonshire Council — 20 December 2023 and its agenda
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WEST DUNBARTONSHIRE COUNCIL At a Hybrid Meeting of West Dunbartonshire Council held in the Civic Space, 16 Church Street, Dumbarton on Wednesday, 25 October 2023 at 4.04 p.m. Present: Provost Douglas McAllister and Councillors Jim Bollan, Karen Murray Conaghan, Ian Dickson, Craig Edward*, Gurpreet Singh Johal, Daniel Lennie, Jonathan McColl, Michelle McGinty, June McKay, John Millar, Lawrence O’Neill, Lauren Oxley, Chris Pollock, Martin Rooney, Gordon Scanlan, Hazel Sorrell, Clare Steel and Sophie Traynor. *Arrived later in the meeting. Attending: Peter Hessett, Chief Executive; Alan Douglas, Chief Officer – Regulatory and Regeneration (Legal Officer); Laurence Slavin, Chief Officer – Resources and Section 95 Officer; Peter Barry, Chief Officer – Housing and Employability; Amanda Graham, Chief Officer – Citizen, Culture and Facilities; Gail Macfarlane, Chief Officer – Roads and Neighbourhood; Victoria Rogers, Chief Officer – People and Technology; Laura Mason, Chief Officer – Education; Beth Culshaw, Chief Officer – Health & Social Care Partnership; Michelle Lynn, Assets Co-ordinator; Gillian McNamara, Economic Development Manager; George Hawthorn, Manager of Democratic and Registration Services; and Carol-Ann Burns, Senior Democratic Services Officer. Apologies: Apologies for absence were intimated on behalf of Councillors Diane Docherty, James McElhill and David McBride. Provost Douglas McAllister in the Chair STATEMENT BY CHAIR Provost McAllister advised that the meeting was being audio streamed and broadcast live to the internet and would be available for playback. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST It was noted that there were no declarations of interest in any of the items of business on the agenda. ITEM 5(a)
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PROPOSED URGENT ITEM OF RELOCATION OF BALLOCH LIBRARY The Provost advised that he had received a request from Councillor McColl for the Council to consider an urgent item of business on the proposed relocation of Balloch Library. The Provost advised that, in accordance with Standing Order 8, he was not of the opinion that the item was urgent and therefore did not agree to it being considered. RECORDING OF VOTES The Council agreed that all votes taken during the meeting would be done by roll call vote to ensure an accurate record. MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING The Minutes of Meeting of West Dunbartonshire Council held on 30 August 2023 were submitted and approved as a correct record. OPEN FORUM The Council noted that no open forum questions had been submitted by members of the public. GLASGOW CITY REGION CITY DEAL - UPDATE A report was submitted by the Chief Officer – Regulatory and Regeneration providing information on the progress with the implementation of the Glasgow City Region City Deal. After discussion and having heard the Economic Development Manager in further explanation and in answer to Members’ questions, the Council agreed to note the progress of the Glasgow City Region programme. Councillor Bollan, having failed to find a seconder for a proposed amendment asked that his dissent to be recorded in respect of this item. WEST DUNBARTONSHIRE COUNCIL ANNUAL PERFORMANCE REPORT 2022/23 A report was submitted by the Chief Officer – Citizen, Culture & Facilities presenting the West Dunbartonshire Council Annual Performance Report 2022/23 and supporting performance information.
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After discussion and having heard the Chief Officer – Citizen, Culture & Facilities in further explanation and in answer to Members’ questions, the Council agreed to note the annual report and performance information provided. FINANCIAL UPDATE A report was submitted by the Chief Officer – Resources providing an update on the financial challenges facing the Council and the estimated 2024/25 – 2028/29 revenue budget gaps. After discussion and having heard the Chief Officer – Resources in further explanation and in answer to Members’ questions, the Council agreed to note the updated position regarding projections for the Council’s estimated revenue budget gaps in 2024/25-2028/29, in particular the updated mid-range 2024/25 budget gap of £17.274m. HOUSING REVENUE ACCOUNT BUDGETARY CONTROL REPORT TO 31 AUGUST 2023 (PERIOD 5) A report was submitted by the Chief Officer – Resources providing an update on the financial performance to 31 August 2023 (Period 5) of the HRA revenue and capital budgets for 2023/24. After discussion and having heard the Chief Officer – Resources in further explanation and in answer to Members’ questions, the Council agreed:- (1) to note the revenue analysis which showed projected adverse variances of £2.309m; and (2) to note the net projected annual position in relation to the capital plan was highlighting an in-year adverse variance of £63.776m (51.1%) which was made up of re-profiling of £64.176m (51.4%) and overspend of £0.401m (0.3%) as detailed in Appendix 4 to the report. GENERAL SERVICES BUDGETARY CONTROL REPORT TO 31 AUGUST 2023 (PERIOD 5) A report was submitted by the Chief Officer – Resources providing an update on the General Services revenue budget and the approved capital programme to 31 August 2023. After discussion and having heard the Chief Officer – Resources in further explanation and in answer to Members’ questions, the Council agreed:- (1) to note a current projected annual adverse variance on the revenue account of £2.295m (0.9% of total budget); and
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(2) to note that projected expenditure on the capital account was lower than the 2023/24 budget by £8.857m (9.48% of budget), made up of £8.868m (9.49% of budget) of project re-profiling, and an in-year overspend of £0.011m (-0.01% of budget). BUDGET CONVERSATIONS RESULTS A report was submitted by the Chief Officer – Citizen, Culture & Facilities providing an overview of the key results and feedback from the recent budget prioritisation 2024/25 engagement. After discussion and having heard the Chief Officer – Citizen, Culture & Facilities in further explanation and in answer to Members’ questions, the Council agreed to note the results and feedback from early citizen consultation on broad service areas and delivery priorities as part of the 2024/25 budget setting process. REVIEW OF INTEGRATION SCHEME A report was submitted by the Chief Officer – Health & Social Care Partnership providing an update on work ongoing to review the Integration Scheme between West Dunbartonshire Council and NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, and presenting a draft revised Integration Scheme for comment and approval to go out for consultation. After discussion and having heard the Chief Executive in further explanation and in answer to Members’ questions, the Council agreed:- (1) to note the content of this report; (2) to note the draft Integration Scheme; (3) to instruct officers to consult prescribed consultees in line with the Public Bodies (Joint Working) (Scotland) Act 2014; and (4) to instruct officers to report back to West Dunbartonshire Council at its meeting on 6 March 2024. NOTICE OF MOTION (a) Motion by Councillor Lawrence O’Neill – National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) Councillor O’Neill moved:- This Council is asked to note that:
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National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) gives broad support for a range of house types to meet all needs of the community which include bungalows or dwellings on ground floor level. NPF4 does not however provide any detail on how this can be achieved or delivered and that this creates a difficulty as in planning legislation there is no distinction of house types with the exception of flats and houses. Council acknowledges that this creates a real difficulty for council planning authorities to require developers to provide a range of house types through the planning process. Council is aware of numerous observations particularly from elderly/disabled constituents as regards the shortage of bungalows on the housing market and near absence of such in new housing developments. Council therefore agrees to request the Chief Executive to write to the Planning Minister requesting this deficiency is addressed through a change to planning legislation and regulations to allow planning authorities to require specific house types in considering planning applications or in the allocation of sites in Local Development Plans. The motion was agreed by the Council. The meeting closed at 5.39 p.m.