260615 A&S Minute
North Ayrshire Council · 27 August 2026
Back to Audit and Scrutiny Committee — 27 August 2026 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
Page 1
Audit and Scrutiny Committee 15 June 2026 At a Special Meeting of the Audit and Scrutiny Committee of North Ayrshire Council at 10.00 a.m. involving participation by remote electronic means and physical attendance within the Council Chambers, Irvine. Present (Physical Participation) John Bell, Cameron Inglis, Tom Marshall, Matthew McLean, Donald Reid, Donald L Reid and John Sweeney. Present (Remote Participation) Davina McTiernan and Shaun Macaulay. In Attendance D. Hammond, Executive Director and K. Bell, Team Manager (Housing Strategy) (Communities and Housing); S. Anson, Executive Service (Education) M. Boyd, Head of Service (Finance); L. Cree, Head of Service (Sustainability, Transport & Corporate Property) (Place); A. Craig, Head of Service, C. Stewart, Committee Services Officer, and H. Young, Senior Committee Services Office (Democratic Services) (Corporate Services). Also in Attendance Eleanor Collier, Joe Cullinane, Robert Foster, Christina Larsen, Jim Montgomerie and Ian Murdoch. Chair Councillor Bell in the Chair. 1. Declarations of Interest There were no declarations of interest by Members in terms of Standing Order 11 and Section 5 of the Code of Conduct for Councillors. 2. Call In: Revenue Budget 2025/26: Financial Performance to 31 March 2026 Submitted report by the Head of Democratic Services to consider a call-in request in respect of the decision taken by Cabinet at its meeting on Tuesday 2 June 2026 advising of the financial performance for the Council for 2025/26. The original Cabinet report and minute from the Cabinet meeting which took place on Tuesday 2 June 2026 was attached at Appendix 1 to the report. Appendix 2 to the report contained a briefing note provided by the Head of Finance in response to the matters raised in the call-in request form. The Cabinet, on 2 June 2026, considered a report on the financial performance for Council 2025/26. Cabinet amended the recommendation to the report by determining to allocate £1.496m of underspend to the 26/27 revenue budget with the funds to be used to create an Our Places, Our Communities fund designed to benefit all North
Page 2
Ayrshire communities with details of the fund being brought to council on the 24th of June for debate and approval. Subsequently, a call-in request was received from Councillors Cullinane, Foster and Montgomerie in the following terms:- Reason for Call-In “In passing its budget, the Council set Council Tax bands at a level required to fund its expenditure requirements, including prioritising investment in areas such as education and roads. The £1.496million underspend should therefore not be spent on another of the administrations pet projects, particularly when the evidence of the last four years shows that these pots of money are not used in a timeous manner. Instead, the underspend should be returned to council taxpayers.” Desired Outcome “That the £1.496million allocated to an ‘Our Places, Our Communities fund’ be re- allocated to provide a Council Tax rebate, reflecting the fact that our expenditure requirements for 2026/27 have already been funded. Although this outcome proposes a Council Tax rebate, we acknowledge officers' advice that as matters relating to setting Council Tax levels are reserved to Council and that for this outcome to be implemented it will require a decision of Full Council, including the suspension of 15.5 and 25.1 of Standing Orders Relating to Meetings and Proceedings of the Council, as Council Tax was set within the last six months. The Audit & Scrutiny Committee is asked to accept the call in and recommend that the matter is referred by Cabinet to Council for further consideration and determination.” The Head of Democratic Services summarised the procedure for considering the call-in request in terms of Standing Orders and referred to the Cabinet decision. Thereafter, the Members who had requested the call-in were invited to speak and Councillor Cullinane addressed the Committee in support of the call-in request and was heard in response to Members’ questions. The Chair then invited Councillor Larsen, as the Cabinet Member for Finance, to address the meeting. Councillor Larsen explained the reasoning for the Cabinet decision and referred to a briefing note from the Head of Finance provided at Appendix 2 to the report. She was also heard in answer to Members’ questions. The Head of Finance was then heard in relation to the report presented to Cabinet and on issues raised by the call-in. Councillors Cullinane and Larsen were heard in summing up.
Page 3
Councillor Sweeney, seconded by Councillor D. Reid, moved that the Committee agree to accept the terms of the call-in request and refer the matter to the Cabinet for further consideration, with the recommendation that the matter is referred to Council to determine the use of the underspend and that Council suspends Standing Orders to consider the proposal regarding a Council Tax rebate. As an amendment, Councillor Macaulay, seconded by Councillor McTiernan moved that the Committee agree not to support the call-in request and that the decision of Cabinet should stand. There followed questions, debate and summing up on the motion and amendment presented for consideration. Thereafter, on a division and a roll call vote, there voted for the amendment, Councillors Macaulay and McTiernan (2) and for the motion, Councillors Bell, D. Reid, Inglis, Marshall, McLean, D.L Reid and Sweeney (7). The motion was declared carried. Accordingly, the Committee agreed (a) to support the call-in request; and (b) that the matter be referred to Cabinet for further consideration, with the recommendation that the matter is referred to Council to determine the use of the underspend and that Council suspends Standing Orders to consider the proposal regarding a Council Tax rebate. 3. Call In: North Ayrshire Housing Acquisition Strategy Submitted report by the Head of Democratic Services to consider a call-in request in respect of the decision taken by Cabinet at its meeting on Tuesday 2 June 2026 on the proposed Housing Acquisition Strategy 2026- 2031. The original Cabinet report was attached at Appendix 1 to the report. Appendix 2 to the report contained a briefing note provided by the Executive Director (Communities and Housing) in response to the matters raised in the call-in request form. The Cabinet, on 2 June 2026, considered a report on the proposed Housing Acquisition Strategy 2026-2031. Subsequently, a call-in request was received from Councillors Cullinane, Foster and Montgomerie in the following terms:- Reason for Call-In “It is wrong to suggest this policy will have no impact on the Council’s Community Wealth Building (CWB) strategy. A key component of the strategy is to increase procurement spend with North Ayrshire, and Ayrshire, businesses creating economic and socio benefits from investing in the local economy. The fact that Ayrshire based companies have won our council house building contracts has made a significant contribution to us achieving the initial procurement targets set out in the first CWB strategy published in 2020. This policy is the opposite of this approach. It will see a significant proportion of our investment in Council housing, the majority of which comes from the Council with the
Page 4
rest from Holyrood, be transferred to private housing developers, many of which are large national developers. It will see that investment extracted from the Ayrshire economy. We remain as committed to Community Wealth Building as were in 2020. We therefore reject this policy.” Desired Outcome “That the Council reaffirms its commitment to Community Wealth Building by rejecting this policy and redoubling our efforts to ensure that Ayrshire based companies can bid for, and win, the contracts to build the next generation of Council houses in North Ayrshire.” The Head of Democratic Services summarised the procedure for considering the call-in request in terms of Standing Orders and referred to the Cabinet decision. Thereafter, the Members who had requested the call-in were invited to speak and Councillor Cullinane addressed the Committee in support of the call-in request. In the absence of Councillor Hill, as the Cabinet Member for Communities, Housing and the Islands, the Chair then invited Councillor Collier to address the meeting. She was also heard in answer to Members’ questions. The Executive Director and the Team Manager (Housing Strategy) (Communities and Housing) were heard in response to Members’ questions. Councillors Cullinane and Collier were heard in summing up. Councillor Sweeney, seconded by Councillor D. Reid, moved that the Committee agree to accept the terms of the call-in request and refer the matter to the Cabinet for further consideration with the recommendation that the policy be rejected. As an amendment, Councillor Macaulay seconded by Councillor McTiernan moved that the Committee agree not to support the call-in request and that the decision of Cabinet should stand. Thereafter, on a division and a roll call vote, there voted for the amendment, Councillors Inglis, Macaulay, Marshall, McTiernan and D.L Reid (5) and for the motion, Councillors Bell, D. Reid. McLean and Sweeney (4) and amendment was declared carried. Accordingly, the Committee agreed not to support the call-in request and that the decision of Cabinet should stand.
Page 5
4. Call In: Ardrossan Campus Project Update Submitted report by the Head of Democratic Services to consider a call-in request in respect of the decision taken by Cabinet at its meeting on Tuesday 2 June 2026 to note the current progress of the Ardrossan Campus project, including current projections in relation to costs and programme. The original Cabinet report was attached at Appendix 1 to the report. The Cabinet, on 2 June 2026, considered an update report on the current progress of the Ardrossan Campus project, including current projections in relation to costs and programme. Subsequently, a call-in request was received from Councillors Stalker, Murdoch and Stephen in the following terms:- Reason for Call-In “This decision is being called in because there are some real concerns about how the Ardrossan Campus project is progressing. The report shows a significant cost increase of around £10 million, along with delays pushing completion back to May 2028. There are also questions about how risks have been handled, especially around ground contamination and the challenges of building on a contaminated site. It’s not clear if these issues were fully understood early on, or if more could have been done to avoid the impact they have had. On top of that, using additional capital funding to cover the extra costs raises concerns about what this means for and the overall budget of the campus and what more flexibility funding will be made available in future budgets. Overall, this call-in is about getting reassurance that the project is still under control, that risks are being properly managed, and that it continues to represent good value for the Council and local communities.” Desired Outcome “To provide assurance on and seek greater information on the cost, programme, risk management, governance and wider capital implications of the Ardrossan Campus project, ensuring it remains deliverable, financially sustainable and represents value for money.” The Head of Democratic Services summarised the procedure for considering the call-in request in terms of Standing Orders and referred to the Cabinet decision. Thereafter, the Members who had requested the call-in were invited to speak and Councillor Murdoch addressed the Committee in support of the call-in request and was also heard in response to Members’ questions. As a point of clarification it was confirmed that the decision of Cabinet was to note the update provided in the report presented.
Page 6
The Chair then invited Councillor Collier, as the Cabinet Member for Green Environment and Economy, to address the meeting. Councillor Collier explained the reasoning for the Cabinet decision and was also heard in answer to Members’ questions. The Executive Director (Education) and the Head of Service (Sustainability, Transport & Corporate Property) (Place) were heard in answer to Members’ questions. Councillors Cullinane and Collier were heard in summing up. Councillor Inglis, seconded by Councillor McLean, moved that the Committee agree to accept the terms of the call-in request with a recommendation that a progress report is taken to a future meeting of Council in six months for consideration. There being no amendment the motion was declared carried. Accordingly, the Committee agreed (a) to support the call-in request; and (b) recommended to Cabinet that an update report is taken to a future meeting of Council in six months. The meeting ended at 12.10 p.m. The full meeting proceedings can be viewed at https://north-ayrshire.public-i.tv/core/portal/home