2. 230221 - Cabinet Minute
North Ayrshire Council · 21 March 2023
Back to Cabinet — 21 March 2023 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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Cabinet 21 February 2023 IRVINE, 21 February 2023 - At a Meeting of the Cabinet of North Ayrshire Council at 2.30 p.m. Present Marie Burns, Tony Gurney, Alan Hill, Margaret Johnson, Christina Larsen and Shaun Macaulay; Elizabeth Turbet, Rev Mark Goodman (Church Representatives); and Jackie MacKenzie (Teaching Representative) (Agenda Item 3). Also Present Cameron Inglis, Matthew McLean, Chloé Robertson and Davina McTiernan. In Attendance C. Hatton, Chief Executive and M. Boyd, Head of Service (Finance) (Chief Executive’s Service); R. McCutcheon, Executive Director, D. Hammond, Head of Service (Sustainability, Corporate Property and Transport), N. McIlvanney, Interim Head of Service (Growth, Investment and Employability) and L. Neill, Senior Manager (Employability) and (Place); A. Sutton, Executive Director and R. Leith, Head of Service (Connected Communities) (Communities and Education); C. Cameron, Director (Health and Social Care Partnership); R. Lynch, Senior Manager and C. Cochrane, Solicitor (Legal Services), J. Hutcheson, Senior Communications Officer, and C. Stewart, D. McCaw and S. Wilson, Committee Services Officers (Democratic Services). Also In Attendance M. McPhail, L. Barrie and C. Glencorse (North Ayrshire Leisure Limited). Chair Marie Burns in the Chair. 1. Minutes The Minutes of the Meeting of the Cabinet held on 24 January 2023 were confirmed and the Minutes signed in accordance with Paragraph 7 (1) of Schedule 7 of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973. 2. Declarations of Interest In terms of Standing Order 11 and Section 5 of the Code of Conduct for Councillors, Councillor Gurney, as an employee of UWS, made a declaration during consideration of Agenda Item 6 (Apprenticeship Proposal). Having applied the objective test, the nature of the interest was such that Councillor Gurney did not require to leave the meeting for this item of business.
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3. Educational Trust Funds Submitted a report by the Executive Director (Communities and Education) on the anticipated annual income and expenditure of the Charitable Trusts administered by the Education Service and seeking approval for the level of funding to be made available for disbursement during 2022/23 academic session. The Cabinet agreed to (a) approve the 2022/23 revenue estimates for the Charitable Trusts detailed in section 2.3 of the report; (b) approve the amounts available for disbursement noted at section 2.3 of the report; and (c) the capital spend from the dormant and low value Trusts. 4. Consultation on a Proposed Freedom of Information Reform (Scotland) Bill Submitted a report by the Head of Service (Democratic Services) seeking approval for the proposed formal consultation response to the Katy Clark MSP’s Consultation on the proposal for a bill to reform Freedom of Information legislation in Scotland. The Consultation paper and proposed response were set out at Appendices 1 and 2, respectively, to the report. The Cabinet agreed to approve the submission of the proposed consultation response as set out at Appendix 2 to the report. 5. North Ayrshire Leisure Limited (NALL) Performance and Impact Report incorporating the 2023-24 Budget Submitted a report by the Executive Director (Communities and Education) seeking approval for the North Ayrshire Leisure Limited (NALL) Performance and Impact Report incorporating the 2023-24 Budget. The NALL Performance and Impact Report incorporating the 2023/24 Budget was attached at Appendix 1 to the report. The Cabinet also received a presentation from KA Leisure detailing the performance and impact work undertaken by the organisation to date to take the organisation forward and bring about recovery and improvements. Members asked questions and were provided with further information in relation to: • the significant work and effort that had been put in with regard to achieving a balanced budget position given the scale of challenge in terms of post-Covid recovery, together with collaborative working in order to achieve this; • the measures that had been taken, or were proposed to be taken, in relation to energy management and efficiency, to reduce cost thresholds as much as possible; and • the impact of various initiatives, such as the health and wellbeing service, were making in terms of bringing forward improvements and positive differences in promoting health and wellbeing, etc. to the community of North Ayrshire.
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The Cabinet agreed to (a) note (i) the North Ayrshire Leisure Limited (NALL) Performance and Impact Report incorporating the 2023-24 budget as set out at Appendix 1 to the report and (ii) the projected balanced budget position in 2022-23; and (b) authorise officers to continue to progress the recovery of the business, including the Recovery and Renewal Plan. 6. North Ayrshire Council’s Apprenticeship Proposals Submitted a report by the Executive Director (Place) providing an update on the North Ayrshire Council’s Modern Apprenticeship Programme and seeking approval to develop the Council’s apprenticeship offer and deliver an enhanced programme from April 2023 to include new entrants and support for existing employees. Feedback received from current and previous apprentices was sought to assist in the review, together with a refresh of the current apprenticeship offering, and this was set out in Appendix 1 to the report. Members asked questions and were provided with further information in relation to: • the range of apprenticeships on offer including partnerships with Ayrshire College and the University of the West of Scotland (UWS); and • partnership working to deliver on community wealth building opportunities in terms of good practice as well as being part of the Fair Work offer for employees. The Cabinet agreed (a) to note the contents of the report and (b) the Council’s apprenticeship programme on the basis set out in the report. 7. Lease Acquisition – Seabed at the Ardrossan Strategic Regeneration Site Submitted a report by the Executive Director (Place) seeking approval to lease 1,478m² of seabed from Crown Estate Scotland to enable the development of the proposed revetment works at the Ardrossan Strategic Regeneration Site. The Site Plan was attached at Appendix 1 to the report. On behalf of Members, Councillor Burns, Chair, thanked officers for bringing this report forward and noted that it was encouraging to see the pace of progress with the new campus development in accordance with the updated programme. The Cabinet agreed to approve the lease acquisition of the seabed from Crown Estate Scotland for a period of 99 years at a grassum rent of £38,850, exclusive of VAT. 8. Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Investment in Ayrshire Submitted a report by the Executive Director (Place) on the findings from the Ayrshire Public Electric Vehicle Charging Business Case and the proposed next steps. Potential locations for North Ayrshire proposed EVCI and a Commercial Model Assessment were set out at Appendices 1 and 2, respectively, to the report.
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Members asked questions and were provided with further information in relation to: • the anticipated tariff for the use of Electric Vehicle (EV) charge points, including confirmation that there would be a universal tariff across Ayrshire to assure consistency; and • any influence which could be pursued by the Council in terms of the proposals, notwithstanding the preferred delivery mechanism for expansion of the public vehicle charging network. The Cabinet agreed to (a) note the findings from the Ayrshire Public Electric Vehicle Charging Business Case including the identification of a new concession contract as the preferred delivery mechanism for expansion of the public vehicle charging network; (b) provide delegated authority to the Executive Director (Place) to develop and enter into an Inter Authority Agreement with East and South Ayrshire (represented by the Ayrshire Roads Alliance) to govern the specification, procurement, implementation and operation of the proposed concession contract; and (c) receive a further update report on completion of (b) above, prior to the procurement of the proposed concession contract. The meeting ended at 3.40 p.m.