Printed minutes
Argyll and Bute Council · 4 December 2024
Back to Mid Argyll, Kintyre & the Islands Area Committee — 4 December 2024 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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MINUTES of MEETING of MID ARGYLL, KINTYRE & THE ISLANDS AREA COMMITTEE held ON A HYBRID BASIS IN THE KNOCKSCALBERT SUITE, KINTYRE COMMUNITY EDUCATION CENTRE, CAMPBELTOWN, AND BY MICROSOFT TEAMS on WEDNESDAY, 4 DECEMBER 2024 Present: Councillor John Armour (Chair) Councillor Garret Corner Councillor Anne Horn Councillor Jennifer Kean Councillor Tommy MacPherson Councillor Dougie McFadzean Councillor Alastair Redman Attending: Shona Barton, Governance Manager Charlotte Craig, Business Improvement Manager, Argyll & Bute Health and Social Care Partnership Mark Calder, Project Manager Lorna Pearce, Senior Development Officer Colin Young, Strategic Transportation Delivery Officer James Lafferty, Lochgilphead Conservation Area Regeneration Scheme (CARS) Project Officer 1. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting. Apologies for absence were intimated on behalf of Councillors Jan Brown and Dougie Philand. 2. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST There were no declarations of interest intimated. 3. MINUTE OF THE MID ARGYLL, KINTYRE AND THE ISLANDS AREA COMMITTEE MEETING HELD ON WEDNESDAY, 4 SEPTEMBER 2024 The Minute of the meeting of the Mid Argyll, Kintyre and the Islands Area Committee, held on 4 September 2024, was approved as a correct record. 4. PUBLIC QUESTION TIME As a result of technical issues which affected the sound quality of the meeting, the Chair briefly adjourned the meeting at 10:08am to allow time to resolve the issues. The meeting reconvened at 10:12am, with all those present as per the sederunt. The Governance Manager advised that there had been questions submitted by members of the public in advance of the meeting, and details of these questions were provided to the Committee. David Moncrieff The Governance Manager advised that Mr Moncrieff had submitted four questions in advance of the meeting. It was noted that the first two of these questions related to an individual employee of the Council, and as such it would not be appropriate for the questions to be shared in this forum. It was noted that the fourth question from Mr
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Moncrieff related to issues which had been addressed on a number of previous occasions and as such it would not be appropriate for these to be raised again in this forum. The Governance Manager provided details of Mr Moncrieff’s third question to the Committee: “Can you tell me and all other Council Taxpayers when questions are asked at MAKI meetings nonsense and ridiculous answers such as ‘that answer has been given before’ and when asked to produce said ‘given before answer’ there is no answer forthcoming but there never was an answer, so can you now give full and proper answers to the previously asked questions at MAKI public questions?” The Chair advised that, in preparation for this meeting, he had asked Officers to look back at the questions Mr Moncrieff had submitted to the Area Committee at previous meetings and asked the Governance Manager to provide details of this correspondence. The Governance Manager advised that Mr Moncrieff attended the Area Committee meeting on 6th September 2023 and asked a question in regard to matters which related to Health and Safety Executive (HSE) regulations. The Governance Manager undertook to feedback Mr Moncrieff’s questions to relevant officers. On 21st September 2023 confirmation was received from the Head of Legal and Regulatory Support that an e-mail confirming the position had been issued to Mr Moncrieff. At meetings on 6th September 2023 and 6th December 2023, Mr Moncrieff asked a question in relation to Councillor expenses. At these meetings the Chair advised Mr Moncrieff that he had already received an answer to the question and he declined to accept it on both occasions. Information in relation to Councillor Expenses is publicly available to view on the Council website. Mr Moncrieff attended the Area Committee meeting on 6th December 2023 and asked a question in regard to the record of reportable accidents/incidents which had been sent to the HSE in the last 3 years. Having established that Mr Moncrieff had submitted this question in a number of formats already, the Governance Manager undertook to establish whether such a request had been received and its current status for response in terms of the Freedom of Information (FOI) legislation. Confirmation was received from the Customer Engagement and Transformation Manager on 13th December 2023 that the question had not been raised as an FOI request and had not been submitted by Mr Moncrieff in an acceptable format in terms of his unacceptable behaviour restrictions. Mr Moncrieff was referred to take the matter up with the HSE. Mr Moncrieff attended the Area Committee meeting on 28th February 2024 and asked the Council to investigate safety concerns in relation to the use of urban buses on school bus routes. The Governance Manager agreed to feedback Mr Moncrieff’s question to relevant officers. On 15th March 2024 a response was circulated to Members and to Mr Moncrieff via the Council’s Customer Service Centre as follows: “The safety and wellbeing of our children and young people are a top priority for the council. The vehicles we use to transport pupils comply with all relevant legislative requirements. This includes, of course, the 428 service which is a local registered service, as required for public use, with the Office for the Traffic Commissioner for Scotland.
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Transport legislation makes services like the 428 available to help children and young people, not just adult customers, to get to where they need to be. Our focus is on providing safe, efficient school transportation services for our young people and it would be wrong to suggest otherwise.” At the meeting on 28th February 2024, Mr Moncrieff advised that he had attended a number of recent meetings of the Area Committee and did not believe that he had received answers to the questions which he had previously raised. The Governance Manager confirmed that answers to the questions had been provided via the Council’s Customer Service Centre. The Chair also agreed to investigate and provide a response. Confirmation was provided to the Chair on 15th March 2024 that responses had been sent to Mr Moncrieff in regard to all of his questions via the Customer Service Centre. At the meeting on 5th June 2024 Mr Moncrieff indicated that he did not believe he had received answers to the questions he had raised at previous meetings of the Area Committee. The Chair confirmed that, in light of the information which has been outlined, the Chair was content that responses had been provided to Mr Moncrieff. Mr Moncrieff requested a summary of the responses that he had previously been provided, and one was provided to Mr Moncrieff via the Council’s Customer Service Centre on 12th June 2024. The Chair confirmed that Mr Moncrieff was welcome to ask any further questions which did not relate to those which had previously been answered. At that point, Mr Moncrieff raised a question around child safety seats on Council’s school transport vehicles and requested confirmation that these were fit for purpose and being used in accordance with the manufacturers recommended dates of use. The Governance Manager agreed to feedback this question to the relevant Council officer and provide a response to Mr Moncrieff via the Council’s Customer Service Centre following the meeting. A response in this regard was provided to Mr Moncrieff via the Council’s Customer Service Centre on 12th June 2024, as follows: “The transport team are currently reviewing the inventory of child safety seats in line with current stock. This will be completed prior to the schools returning in August. Any safety seats nearing their end of life are removed and replaced in line with manufacturers guidelines. All child safety seats are purchased specifically for the age and needs of the children that require them.” In light of all of this information, the Chair was content that all of Mr Moncrieff’s questions had been answered. The Chair advised that he would be happy for Mr Moncrieff to ask further questions that do not relate to those that have been fully answered. The Governance Manager agreed to provide this response to Mr Moncrieff via the Council’s Customer Service Centre, following the meeting. Ian Mitchell The Governance Manager advised that a question had been submitted to the Committee by Ian Mitchell. Details of the question were provided as follows: “Having looked quickly at the documents sent by the Council, it is clear that nobody is interested in public opinion in Campbeltown. They are concentrating on spending as much taxpayers’ money as they can get away with. It is a form of corruption that is becoming
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common in an increasingly bureaucratised Britain. The sooner we can establish local self- government in Campbeltown the better – but that will never happen as socialism never changes, just degenerates and ruins the lives of everyone who does not have a corrupt interest in plundering the public purse. I would like to know how much money has been spent on the Kilkerran road path extension that is being constructed now under (it would seem) this same scheme? How does that compare with the Jubilee path which was completed with minimal fuss and considerable user satisfaction for what, I am sure, was a tiny fraction of the cost of the current works? More importantly, I bet if we asked the Council, we’d find the nobody knew how much the Kilkerran road extravagance is actually costing. That is the worst of it because it prevents anyone taking an independent view of the cost/benefit trade-off. The esplanade circus will be the same. It is an entrepreneurial mugging of the public purse for no practical purpose whatsoever.” The Governance Manager agreed to forward this question to the appropriate Council officer, and to circulate a response to Mr Mitchell and Members of the Committee following the meeting. 5. HEALTH & SOCIAL CARE PARTNERSHIP - PERFORMANCE REPORT - FQ1 2024/25 (APR-JUN) Consideration was given to the Argyll and Bute Health and Social Care Partnership Performance Report for financial quarter 1 of 2024/25 (April to June 2024). Decision The Mid Argyll, Kintyre and the Islands Area Committee noted the performance report for financial quarter 1 of 2024/25 (April to June 2024). (Reference: Report by Senior Manager - Performance and Improvement, Argyll and Bute Health and Social Care Partnership, dated 21 November 2024, submitted) 6. TARBERT HERITAGE REGENERATION SCHEME (HRS) DEVELOPMENT PHASE UPDATE The Committee gave consideration to a report which provided an update on the Development Phase for a potential Tarbert Heritage Regeneration Scheme (HRS). Decision The Mid Argyll, Kintyre and the Islands Area Committee: 1. considered and noted the contents of the report; and 2. noted that the Council would be required to identify funding towards the Delivery Phase costs in advance of the submissions being made. (Reference: Report by Executive Director with responsibility for Development and Economic Growth, dated 24 October 2024, submitted)
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7. CAMPBELTOWN ESPLANADE AND KINLOCH PARK ACTIVE TRAVEL PROGRESS REPORT The Committee gave consideration to a report which provided an update to Members on the progress made in relation to the initial feasibility and concept design of improved active opportunities and wider public realm infrastructure on the Campbeltown Esplanade and in the vicinity of Kinloch Park. Decision The Mid Argyll, Kintyre and the Islands Area Committee: 1. instructed Officers, subject to securing external funding, to continue development of the designs for this option to Developed Design (stage 3) and Technical Design (stage 4); and 2. instructed Officers to submit a further paper to Members on the completion of the Technical Design. (Reference: Report by Executive Director with responsibility for Development and Economic Growth, dated 11 November 2024, submitted) Councillor Anne Horn left the meeting prior to discussion of the foregoing item. 8. ROADS AND INFRASTRUCTURE SERVICES UPDATE The Committee gave consideration to a report which provided links to helpful resources and weekly briefings relating to the recent activities of Roads and Infrastructure Services. Decision The Mid Argyll, Kintyre and the Islands Area Committee considered and noted the contents of the report. (Reference: Report by Executive Director with responsibility for Roads and Infrastructure Services, dated November 2024, submitted) 9. AREA PERFORMANCE REPORT - FQ2 2024/25 The Committee gave consideration to the Area Performance Report for financial quarter 2 of 2024/25 (July to September 2024) which illustrated the agreed performance measures for this period. Decision The Mid Argyll, Kintyre and the Islands Area Committee noted the performance and supporting commentary as presented in the report. (Reference: Report by Executive Director with responsibility for Customer Support Services, dated 7 November 2024, submitted) 10. CHARITABLE TRUSTS, BEQUESTS AND TRUST FUNDS
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The Committee gave consideration to a report which provided details relating to the ongoing management of Charitable Trusts, Bequests and Trust Funds for which the Mid Argyll, Kintyre and the Islands Area Committee are Trustees. Decision The Mid Argyll, Kintyre and the Islands Area Committee: 1. noted the financial position of all the Charitable Trusts, Bequests and Trust Funds as of August 2024; 2. agreed that the Hutcheon Memorial Trust and May Paterson Trust prizes be limited to £30; 3. agreed that all other charities and trust funds, that have historically been awarded to Council departments and allied partners, are awarded on the basis outlined in paragraph 5.5 and defined within appendix 1 of the report; 4. agreed to open applications to the Kintyre Youth Fund with awards of £100 being offered; and 5. noted that an application to the Fisher Bequest remains outstanding and Officers are considering appropriate distribution arrangements for the McAllister Mortification and that a report will be submitted in this regard to a future meeting. (Reference: Report by Executive Director with responsibility for Legal and Regulatory Support, dated November 2024, submitted) 11. MID ARGYLL, KINTYRE AND THE ISLANDS AREA COMMITTEE WORKPLAN The Committee gave consideration to the Mid Argyll, Kintyre and the Islands Area Committee workplan for future meetings. Decision The Mid Argyll, Kintyre and the Islands Area Committee considered and noted the contents of the workplan. (Reference: Mid Argyll, Kintyre and the Islands Area Committee Workplan, dated 4 December 2024, submitted) The Committee resolved in terms of Section 50(A)(4) of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 to exclude the press and public for the following items of business, on the grounds that it was likely to involve the disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 8 of Part 1 of Schedule 7A to the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973. E 1 12. LOCHGILPHEAD CARS - RECOMMENDATION OF GRANT AWARD The Committee gave consideration to a report which asked Members to agree grant awards as part of the Lochgilphead Conservation Area Regeneration Scheme (CARS).
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Decision The Mid Argyll, Kintyre and the Islands Area Committee agreed the recommendations outlined within the report. (Reference: Report by Executive Director with responsibility for Development and Economic Growth, dated 17 October 2024, submitted)