Agenda and minutes

Venue: Council Chamber, Kilmory, Lochgilphead

Contact: Sandra Campbell Tel: 01546 604401 

Items
No. Item

The Provost announced that Dunoon Grammar had won the prestigious European Entrepreneurial School of the Year, Dunoon pupils and staff have excelled on a range of enterprise activities over the last couple of years, and have scooped a variety of national awards in recognition of their creative flair and enterprising spirits from a number of national bodies. The Provost on behalf of the Council extended congratulations to all of the pupils and staff, in particular to David Mitchell, Head Teacher and Paul Gallanagh, Principal Teacher of Business and Computing at Dunoon Grammar School for all of their hard work.

 

The Provost on behalf of the Council acknowledged the achievements of Scotland Rugby Union star Magnus Bradbury a former pupil of Oban High School who started playing rugby with Oban Lorne RFC.

 

Magnus had represented Scotland U17 and Scotland U18 and made his U18 international debut against England in March 2013 and his Scotland U20 debut came in January 2014. On the 19th November 2016 Magnus earned his first cap at full Scotland international level. On Sunday Magnus played his part in an epic Rugby World Cup match which unfortunately ended in a 28 – 21 defeat to an exciting Japanese pack.

 

The whole of Argyll and Bute can be proud of what Magnus has achieved and the Council wished him well for the future.

 

Congratulations also to the Mid Argyll “Gerry Hattricks” on winning an international walking football tournament in Portugal.

1.

APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were intimated from Councillors Anderson, Devon, Forrest, McCuish, McGrigor, McKenzie, Morgan and Paterson.

2.

DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest intimated.

3.

BUDGET 2020/21 SAVINGS OPTIONS pdf icon PDF 168 KB

Report by Head of Financial Services to the P&R Committee and recommendation by P&R Committee (will be provided to the meeting)

Minutes:

The Council considered a recommendation by the Policy and Resources Committee with regard to savings options identified by officers for consideration for financial year 2020-21 and beyond.

 

Motion

 

The Council:-

 

1.     Agree as part of the 2020-21 budget process, to endorse the management/operations savings identified.

 

2.     Note the policy options that had been identified with further information on the options to be brought forward to Council as part of the 2020-21 budget papers.

 

3.     Note that officers would continue to identify further savings over the coming months to bridge the gap.

 

4.     Note that the Head of Customer and Support Services would take forward a statutory consultation process with the Trade Unions for those savings options that could have a direct impact on jobs.

 

5.     Note that the Policy and Resources Committee and Council meeting in February 2020 have been postponed by one week to allow officers time to finalise the budget pack assuming that there are similar delays to knowing the final funding settlement as has been the case over the last three years.

 

6.     Agree to endorse COSLA’s ask of the Scottish Government, that present budgets have a minimum uplift of inflation plus 3% and additionally all new commitments and duties are fully funded by the Scottish Government; noting that even this doesn’t necessarily address the challenges we face delivering services across such a geographically diverse area.

 

Moved by Councillor A Morton, seconded by Councillor Mulvaney

 

Amendment

 

Agree the recommendations from the Policy and Resources Committee with the deletion of the word “endorse” in paragraph 1 of the recommendations and the substitution of “note” in recommendation 1.

 

Moved by Councillor Taylor, seconded by Councillor Douglas.

 

Councillor Freeman moved a further Amendment which failed to find a seconder.

 

The requisite number of members required the vote to be taken by calling the roll and members voted as follows:-

 

Motion

 

Amendment

Councillor Colville

Councillor Armour

Councillor Currie

Councillor Douglas

Councillor Good

Councillor Findlay

Councillor Green

Councillor Freeman

Councillor Hardie

Councillor Horn

Councillor Kinniburgh

Councillor Kelly

Councillor MacMillan BEM

Councillor Lynch

Councillor McNeilly

Councillor Moffat

Councillor A Morton

Councillor Philand

Councillor E Morton

Councillor Taylor

Councillor Mulvaney

Councillor Trail

Councillor Redman

 

Councillor Reid

 

Councillor Robertson

 

Councillor Scoullar

 

 

Decision

 

The Motion was carried by 15 votes to 11 and the Council resolved accordingly.

 

(Ref: Report by Head of Financial Services dated 17 September 2019, submitted)

4.

BUDGET CONSULTATION pdf icon PDF 949 KB

Report by Executive Director with responsibility for Customer Support Services to the P&R Committee and recommendation by P&R Committee (will be provided to the meeting)

 

Minutes:

The Council considered a recommendation by the Policy and Resources Committee with regard to proposing a budget consultation exercise.

 

Decision

 

The Council agreed to carry out the consultation exercise proposed within the report, noting that the presentation of the consultation would be developed prior to publication.

 

(Ref: Report by Executive Director of Development and Infrastructure dated 17 October 2019, submitted)

5.

NOTICE OF MOTION UNDER STANDING ORDER 13

Moved by Councillor Aileen Morton, seconded by Councillor Gary Mulvaney.

 

Argyll and Bute Council has been working with public and private sector partners for over three years now to develop our Rural Growth Deal proposals. On Wednesday 2nd October we received confirmation that a total of £50million will be available from the UK and Scottish Governments to support transformational projects across Argyll and Bute, delivering economic growth over the next ten years.

 

The Council:

 

·         Welcomes the commitment to our area, our communities and our businesses which will allow us to make the most of our outstanding natural resources.

 

·         Agrees that reaching the Heads of Terms stage is an absolute priority to bring clarity on how our growth deal will move forward.

 

·         Thanks all of our public and private sector partners for their support.

 

·         Acknowledges the efforts of officers across the Council who worked to pull our proposals together, with particular thanks to the Economic Growth officers who had direct responsibility: Fergus Murray, Moya Ingram, Jonathan Welch.

 

·         Notes that we will continue to work with partners and both governments to identify additional opportunities to address the key challenges we face such as connectivity and depopulation.

Minutes:

Councillor A Morton, seconded by Councillor Mulvaney had given notice of the following motion:-

 

Motion

 

Argyll and Bute Council has been working with public and private sector partners for over three years now to develop our Rural Growth Deal proposals. On Wednesday 2nd October we received confirmation that a total of £50million will be available from the UK and Scottish Governments to support transformational projects across Argyll and Bute, delivering economic growth over the next ten years.

 

The Council:

 

·        Welcomes the commitment to our area, our communities and our businesses which will allow us to make the most of our outstanding natural resources

·        Agrees that reaching the Heads of Terms stage is an absolute priority to bring clarity on how our growth deal will move forward

·        Thanks all of our public and private sector partners for their support

·        Acknowledges the efforts of officers across the Council who worked to pull our proposals together, with particular thanks to the Economic Growth officers who had direct responsibility: Fergus Murray, Moya Ingram, Jonathan Welch

·        Notes that we will continue to work with partners and both governments to identify additional opportunities to address the key challenges we face such as connectivity and depopulation

 

Decision

 

The Council agreed the terms of the Motion.