Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Robin Currie, Amanda Hampsey, Mark Irvine, Yvonne McNeilly and Dougie Philand.

Councillor Jim Lynch advised in relation to item 7 of the agenda (Latest Update on the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race Oban Stopover Actions) that he had been appointed to the Oban BID Board by the Council.  Having taken note of the Standards Commission Guidance in relation to declarations (issued on 7 December 2021), with specific reference to section 5.4(c), he did not consider that he had a relevant connection and as such would remain in the meeting.

Policy and Resources Committee held on 15 February 2024

The Minutes of the meeting of the Policy and Resources Committee held on 15 February 2024 were approved as a correct record.

Report by Section 95 Officer

The Committee gave consideration to a report summarising the Budget Outlook covering the period 2025-26 to 2029-30, taking into consideration the budget decisions taken at the Council Budget meetings on 22 February and 15 April 2024.

Decision

The Policy and Resources Committee noted –

1.     the current estimated budget outlook for the period 2025-26 to 2028-29; and

2.     the minor changes to fees and charges and agreed to refer them to Council for endorsement.

(Reference: Report by Section 95 Officer dated 30 April 2024, submitted)

Report by Executive Director with responsibility for Customer Support Services

The Committee gave consideration to a report presenting the new corporate Customer Service Strategy 2024-27.

Decision

The Policy and Resources Committee –

1.     noted the outcomes of the consultations on the draft Customer Service Strategy and the changes made to it using the customer and employee insights gained contained at Appendix 2 to the submitted report; and

2.     approved the revised Customer Service Strategy, Charter and Action Plan contained at Appendix 1 to the submitted report, and associated EQSEIA contained at Appendix 3 to the submitted report, to proceed to the next full Council meeting in June 2024.

(Reference: Report by Executive Director with responsibility for Customer Support Services dated 9 May 2024, submitted)

Report by Executive Director with responsibility for Development and Economic Growth

The Committee gave consideration to a report which sought approval to scale up the provision of digital reviews for small businesses to assist their recovery and growth using the remainder of the funding allocated to business grants via the Local Authority COVID Economic Recovery (LACER) money from the Scottish Government.

Decision

The Policy and Resources Committee approved the use of £34,365 earmarked for business grants with existing LACER Schemes to provide additional fully funded digital reviews to assist the growth and recovery of small businesses in the area, particularly in remote rural communities.

(Reference: Report by Executive Director with responsibility for Development and Economic Growth dated 9 April 2024, submitted)

Report by Executive Director with responsibility for Development and Economic Growth

The Committee gave consideration to a report providing an update on the progress of the Clipper 2023-2024 Round the World Yacht Race Oban Stopover Actions Plan.

Decision

The Policy and Resources Committee –

1.     noted the progress on actions delivered for the Clipper 2023-2024 Round the World Yacht Race Oban Stopover contained at Table 1 within the submitted report;

2.     approved up to £50k of funding to deal with additional costs linked to the event from the Council’s priority fund; and

3.     noted the key Oban Stopover civic events including the Clipper Award Civic Ceremony on 16 July 2024, the Clipper Connect Business Event on 19 July 2024 and VIP Reception on the Clipper Race departure day on 21 July 2024.

(Reference: Report by Executive Director with responsibility for Development and Economic Growth dated 10 April 2024, submitted)

Report by Executive Director with responsibility for Development and Economic Growth

The Committee gave consideration to a report inviting the prioritisation of a long list of projects in relation to Levelling Up Partnership Funding.

Decision

The Policy and Resources Committee –

1.     acknowledged the work done by officers to prepare and develop the list of projects which span Argyll and Bute and which link to a variety of strategic and local priorities;

2.     welcomed the ongoing engagement with the UK Government at officer level;

3.     noted the process in relation to identifying the projects which would be funded through the Levelling Up Partnership, that final decisions would be made by the UK Government and, as a consequence; and

4.     agreed to submit the long list of projects provided in Table 1, without prioritisation, to the UK Government for consideration and decision as part of that process.

(Reference: Report by Executive Director with responsibility for Development and Economic Growth dated April 2024, submitted; and Motion by Councillor Jim Lynch, seconded by Councillor Audrey Forrest, tabled)

Report by Executive Director with responsibility for Commercial Services and Executive Director with responsibility for Development and Economic Growth / Section 95 Officer

The Committee gave consideration to a report providing an update on Rothesay Pavilion, specifically the Tender Report for the works to complete stages 2 and 3.

Decision

The Policy and Resources Committee -

1.     noted the content of the submitted report; and

2.     agreed that a more detailed report be brought forward for consideration and decision by the Council at its meeting on 27 June 2024.

(Reference: Report by Executive Director with responsibility for Commercial Services; and Executive Director with responsibility for Development and Economic Growth and Financial Services and the Councils Section 95 Officer, submitted)

The Chair advised that in terms of Section 50(A)(4) of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, the appendices relating to the following item of business would require the exclusion of the press and public should any Member wish to discuss the content of those appendices, on the grounds that it was likely to involve the disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 6 of Part 1 of Schedule 7A to the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973.

The Committee agreed that they wished to discuss the content of the appendices and therefore resolved to exclude the press and public for the following item of business.

The Committee gave consideration to a report providing an update on the progress of the Oban Airport Business Park Project and its relationship to the wider Lorn Arc Tax Incremental Finance (TIF) Programme.

Decision

The Policy and Resources Committee –

1.     noted that discussions were ongoing with the Scottish Government in relation to varying the TIF agreement to maximise the benefit from the scheme and that progression of this project was subject to the Scottish Government agreeing to amend the date by which works must be completed;

2.     approved the submission of the Outline Business Case (OBC) to the TIF Executive seeking funding of £8.05m (including 15% fees and 10% contingency) for the development of roads, infrastructure, servicing and site works at Oban Airport Business Park;

3.     subject to approval by the TIF Executive, approved the drawdown of borrowing for a total of £1.6m (20% of total cost) for the development of a Full Business Case and associated fees to progress the Oban Airport Business Park project;

4.     noted the additional resources that would be required to deliver this project in the form of the establishment of a Project Management Office (PMO) with Hub North Scotland providing strategic support; and

5.     noted that the Full Business Case would be reported to a future Policy and Resources Committee before moving to the implementation stage.

(Reference: Report by Executive Director with responsibility for Development and Economic Growth dated 9 April 2024, submitted)

The Policy and Resources Committee Workplan was before the Committee for noting.

Decision

The Policy and Resources Committee noted the content of the Workplan.

(Reference: Policy and Resources Committee Workplan as at 9 May 2024, submitted)

E1      Paragraph 6  Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (other than the authority).