2019 FC 166
THE FIFE COUNCIL - FIFE COUNCIL - GLENROTHES
27th June, 2019
10.00 a.m. – 12.25 p.m.
and 1.20 p.m. – 3.45 p.m.
PRESENT:
Councillors Jim Leishman (Convener), David Alexander, Lesley
Backhouse, Alistair Bain, David Barratt, John Beare, Tim Brett, James
Calder, Ken Caldwell, Alistair Cameron, Ian Cameron, Alex Campbell,
Rod Cavanagh, Bobby Clelland, Dave Coleman, Bill Connor, Altany
Craik, Neil Crooks, Colin Davidson, Dave Dempsey, John Docherty,
Gavin Ellis, Linda Erskine, Ian Ferguson, Julie Ford, David Graham,
Fiona Grant, Mick Green, Gary Guichan, Garry Haldane, Jean Hall-Muir,
Judy Hamilton, Andy Heer, Zoe Hisbent, Linda Holt, Gordon Langlands,
Helen Law, Kathleen Leslie, Rosemary Liewald, Jane Ann Liston, Mary
Lockhart, Donald Lothian, David MacDiarmid, Karen Marjoram, Alice
McGarry, Lea McLelland, Tony Miklinski, Derek Noble, Dominic Nolan,
John O’Brien, Tony Orton, Ross Paterson, Bill Porteous, Graham
Ritchie, David Ross, David J Ross, Fay Sinclair, Ryan Smart, Sam
Steele, Kate Stewart, Jonny Tepp, Brian Thomson, Ann Verner, Andrew
Verrecchia, Ross Vettraino, Craig Walker, Darren Watt, Vikki Wilton and
Jan Wincott.
APOLOGIES
Councillors Alan Craig, Margaret Kennedy, Mino Manekshaw and
FOR
Richard Watt.
ABSENCE:
The Provost advised, in terms of Standing Order No. 1.3, that he had agreed to consider
agenda Item 10 Madras College, St Andrews Update prior to Item 8 Question Time.
125. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
Councillors Andy Heer, David Barratt and Jan Wincott all declared an interest in
paragraph 134 below - Motion 3, as they are all on the Board of Fife Resource
Solutions, however they considered that this was covered by the Specific Exclusion
so they would remain and participate.
Councillor Brian Thomson declared an interest in paragraph 131 – Madras College,
St Andrews – Update, as he had been in discussions previously with the University
of St Andrews with regard to the site.
126. DEPUTATION - CANINE CONCERN SCOTLAND
A presentation was made to members from representatives of Canine Concern
Scotland (Nick Henley Price, June Hutton, James Macdonald and Mel Hughes)
Their presentation provided members with an overview of the work carried out by
Canine Concern Scotland and the invaluable services they provide across Fife.
Following questions from members, the Provost thanked Nick, June, James and Mel
for their presentation.
127./
2019 FC 167
127. CIVIC BUSINESS BULLETIN
There was tabled at the meeting a Civic Business Bulletin, a copy of which is
appended as Appendix 1 to the minute.
128. MINUTE OF FIFE COUNCIL OF 2ND MAY, 2019
The Provost, seconded by the Depute Provost, moved that the minute of the
meeting of Fife Council of 2nd May, 2019 be approved.
Decision
The minute was approved.
129. MINUTES OF COMMITTEES AND SUB-COMMITTEES
The minutes of the undernoted Committee and Sub-Committees, as contained in the
volume of minute (available on FISH and FifeDirect), were submitted for accuracy.
(1)
Regulation and Licensing Committee of 16th April, 2019 and 7th May, 2019.
(2)
North East Planning Committee of 1st May, 2019 and 29th May, 2019.
(3)
Central Area Planning Committee of 29th April, 2019 and 27th May, 2019.
(4)
West Planning Committee of 8th May, 2019 and 5th June, 2019.
(5)
Fife Planning Review Body of 20th May, 2019.
(6)
Education and Children's Services Committee of 21st May, 2019 (together
with the minutes of the Education Appointment Committee of 21st March and
22nd March, 2019).
(7)
Assets, Property and Facilities Committee of 16th May, 2019.
(8)
Scrutiny Committee of 28th May, 2019.
(9)
Standards and Audit Committee of 30th April, 2019.
(10) Economy, Tourism, Strategic Planning and Transportation Committee of 9th
May, 2019.
(11) Environment, Protective Services and Community Safety Committee of 6th
June, 2019.
(12) City of Dunfermline Area Committee of 14th May, 2019.
(13) Glenrothes Area Committee of 24th April, 2019.
(14) South and West Fife Area Committee of 24th April, 2019.
(15) Kirkcaldy Area Committee of 23rd April, 2019.
(16) North East Fife Area Committee of 8th May, 2019.
(17) Levenmouth Area Committee of 15th May, 2019.
(18) Cowdenbeath Area Committee of 1st May, 2019.
(19) Health and Social Care Integration Joint Board of 28th March, 2019 (subject
to approval by the Integration Joint Board at their meeting on 21st June,
2019).
Decision
The minutes were noted.
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2019 FC 168
130. CO-LEADERS REPORT
The Council considered a report from the Co-Leaders on a number of strategic
issues.
The Co-Leaders provided updates on a number of issues in response to questions
from members.
Councillor Thomson left the meeting prior to consideration of the following item having
earlier declared an interest.
131. MADRAS COLLEGE, ST ANDREWS - UPDATE
The Council considered a report by the Head of Assets, Transportation and
Environment which asked members to approve progression of the purchase of the
Langlands site for the replacement of Madras College, St Andrews.
Decision
The Council agreed to authorise the Head of Legal and Democratic Services, in
conjunction with the Head of Assets, Transportation and Environment to:-
(1)
purchase the option site at Langlands, St Andrews from the University of
Stand Andrews as per the terms of the Option Agreement agreed with the
University; and
(2)
dispose of the South Street campus to University of St Andrews and lease
back at a nominal rent and for a term until completion of construction of the
new school and transfer of the school into it, again on the basis of the Option
Agreement.
Councillor Thomson rejoined the meeting.
132. QUESTION TIME
In terms of Standing Order No. 1.7, the questions put by members to the meeting,
the written answers and supplementary questions, are contained in Appendix 2 to
the minute.
Councillor Lockhart left the meeting during consideration of the above item.
The/
2019 FC 169
The meeting adjourned at 12.25 p.m.
__________________________________________________________
The meeting reconvened at 1.20 p.m.
PRESENT:
Councillors Jim Leishman (Convener), David Alexander, Lesley
Backhouse, David Barratt, John Beare, Tim Brett, Ken Caldwell, Alistair
Cameron, Ian Cameron, Alex Campbell, Rod Cavanagh, Bobby
Clelland, Dave Coleman, Bill Connor, Altany Craik, Colin Davidson,
Dave Dempsey, John Docherty, Gavin Ellis, Linda Erskine, Ian
Ferguson, Julie Ford, David Graham, Mick Green, Gary Guichan, Garry
Haldane, Jean Hall-Muir, Judy Hamilton, Zoe Hisbent, Linda Holt,
Gordon Langlands, Helen Law, Kathleen Leslie, Rosemary Liewald,
Jane Ann Liston, Donald Lothian, David MacDiarmid, Karen Marjoram,
Alice McGarry, Lea McLelland, Tony Miklinski, Derek Noble, Dominic
Nolan, John O’Brien, Tony Orton, Ross Paterson, Bill Porteous, Graham
Ritchie, David Ross, David J Ross, Fay Sinclair, Ryan Smart, Sam
Steele, Kate Stewart, Alistair Suttie, Jonny Tepp, Brian Thomson, Ann
Verner, Andrew Verrecchia, Ross Vettraino, Craig Walker, Darren Watt,
Vikki Wilton and Jan Wincott.
The Provost advised in terms of Standing Order No. 8.1 (2) that he had agreed to accept
an urgent Motion in relation to Mossmorran which would be considered under Notice of
Motions.
Councillor Holt declared an interest in the urgent motion as her husband is the Chair of
Mossmorran Action Group.
133. REVIEW OF COMMITTEE STRUCTURE
The Council considered a report by the Head of Legal and Democratic Services
which provided members with an update on the outcome of discussions with the
Governance Working Group set up to review the governance documents. The
changes proposed arose from the Governance Working Group, changes
recommended by External Audit and a review of the List of Officer Powers.
Members were provided with a list of further amendments to the governance
documentation, as follows:-
Page 20 additional recommendations:
(7) agrees that the changes to the governance documents take place from 4th July
2019, allowing the scheduled meeting of West Planning Committee to take place;
(8) agrees to appoint a Convener from amongst the relevant six Area Conveners to
the new Central and West Planning Committee; agrees that the current Convener of
the Superannuation and Pensions Sub-Committee will continue as Convener of the
Superannuation and Pensions Committee when reconstituted, and of the
coterminous Common Good and Investments Sub-Committee; Convenerships of the
new Scrutiny Committees to be decided at the next meeting of the Council;
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Page 59 – specify that the Community Safety Partnership will be politically balanced,
i.e. currently SNP 3, Labour 2, Conservative 1, and Liberal Democrats 1;
Page 71 – amend the allocation of seats on Policy and Co-ordination Committee to
reflect the current position (since the last by-election) of SNP 8, Labour 6,
Conservative 5, and Liberal Democrats 2; amend numbers accordingly in South and
West Fife Area Committee on next page accordingly;
Page 68 – the new substitution provisions shall apply to Strategic and Scrutiny
Committees only, and not to the Superannuation and Pensions Committee. Groups
shall be entitled but not obliged to nominate substitutes.
Page 72 – amend membership of Central and West Planning Committee to reflect
political balance in the 6 Areas it covers – i.e. SNP 9; Labour 8; Conservative 4;
Liberal Democrat 0.
Page 79 – delete ‘not already upon the agenda’ from the Question Time provisions
at 1.7, as the agenda will not be fixed by the time the questions are submitted;
Page 86 – add the Pensions Committee to those committees unable to continue to
meet in the event of being inquorate, following the current Sub-Committee’s
recommendation in that regard at its last meeting.
Motion
Councillor Craik, seconded by Councillor Alexander, moved as follows:-
“Accept proposed amendments circulated and revert changes to Full Council
Question Time and Area Committee question time to current position.”
Amendment 1
Councillor Brett, seconded by Councillor Lothian, moved as follows:-
“The Liberal Democrat Group supports the proposed changes in the Committee
Structure as detailed in the report but proposes the following changes: -
a. Environment and Protective Services Committee (Page 38) - move the
following functions to the new Community Safety Partnership remit, page
59.
• Assessment and approval of the adequacy and effectiveness of the
Fife Local Fire and Rescue Plan in terms of priorities, community and
engagement and Performance measures and the provision of
assurance on the effective and efficient implementation of the plan.
• Assessment and approval of the adequacy and effectiveness of the
Fife Local Policing Plan in terms of priorities, community engagement
and performance measures and the provision of assurance on the
effective and efficient implementation of the plan and monitoring of
custody visits in Fife.
• Making/
2019 FC 171
• Making recommendations on any aspects of the Fife Policing and Fire
and Rescue Plans.
• Responding to any consultation documents pertaining to policing, fire
and rescue services including making representations on the content
of the strategic police plan and the strategic fire plan.
b. Scrutiny, page 51 – Each of the new Scrutiny Committees should have 10
members. A member who is a member of a Strategic Committee should not
be a member of the Scrutiny Committee dealing with those issues.
c. New Community Safety Partnership should be included in the list of
committees on pages 71 – 73.
d. Call-in - The number of Elected Members to activate the call-in process, para
12.11 should be 10 members rather than 20 members.”
Amendment 2
Councillor Dempsey, seconded by Councillor Miklinski, moved as follows:-
“All of Liberal Democrat amendment with the removal of section B”.
With the agreement of the Provost, Councillor Brett agreed to accept Councillor
Dempsey’s amendment and Amendment 1 with the removal of Section B became
the substantive amendment for the purposes of the vote.
Vote
Amendment
-
17 votes
Motion
-
47 votes
The Council agreed in terms of the motion.
Following the agreement of the report, the Provost called for nominations for the
Convener of the newly combined Central and West Planning Committee.
Councillor Ross, seconded by Councillor Alexander, moved that Councillor McGarry
be appointed as the Convener of the Central and West Planning Committee
Decision
The Council agreed:-
(1)
the recommendations in the report and further amendments circulated as per
the motion; and
(2)
to appoint Councillor McGarry as Convener of the Central and West Planning
Committee.
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2019 FC 172
134. NOTICE OF MOTIONS
The Committee considered a report by the Head of Legal and Democratic Services
which requested the Council consider the motions submitted in terms of Standing
Order No. 8.1
Motion 1
Councillor Tepp, seconded by Councillor Brett, moved as follows:-
“Fife Council notes the work by SAMH across Scotland since its formation in 1923
supporting a wide network of local mental health services.
In 2016 Sir Chris Hoy launched work on the development of Scotland’s mental
health charter and this was launched in Feb 2018
Scotland’s Mental Health Charter for Physical Activity and Sport’ aimed to use sport
to improve equality and reduce stigma through positive conversations and action on
mental health.
The Charter calls on organisations to
“make pledges to improve equality and reduce discrimination for anyone with a
mental health problem, ensuring there is no barrier to engaging, participating and
achieving in physical activity and sport”, and to develop action plans that
demonstrate commitment to these pledges.
According to the Charter website more than 300 organisations have signed the
pledge including only 1 Council and more than 50 action plans have been
developed.
This motion proposes that Fife Council should sign the pledge now and write to Fife
Sports & Leisure Trust and Fife Golf Trust asking that it do the same and urging it to
develop an action plan to support and further develop the aims of the charter across
Fife.”
Decision
The Council agreed the motion unanimously.
Motion2
Councillor Miklinski, seconded by Councillor Haldane, moved as follows:-
“Fife Council recognises the sacrifice and bravery of the British and Allied Service
personnel who took part in the D Day invasion of Normandy on 6 June 1944. We
honour their commitment to preserve our Great British nation and the
liberal/democratic heritage that we, and Europe, enjoy today.
Tens/
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Tens of thousands of Scots, including many Fifers, some still with us, put their lives
on the line to defeat the Nazi forces and preserve our freedom and way of life. We
thank them, and all Allied participants, for that most precious of gifts.”
Decision
The Council agreed the motion unanimously.
Motion 3
Councillor Nolan, seconded by Councillor Ellis, moved as follows:-
“On 16th August 2018 the Environment, Protective Services & Community Safety
Committee considered a report on access to Household Waste Recycling Centres
which stated “Double axle trailers are primarily commercial and will be classed as a
commercial vehicle and can only access the site if the user is registered with the
commercial payment system.
It has become apparent that this is not accurate and many private householders who
own double axle trailers are now barred from taking these trailers to recycling
centres.
There is provision for owners of large vans to sign a Household Waste declaration
form to declare that their waste is household and non-commercial and Council
moves that owners of double axle trailers should now be afforded the same facility."
Amendment
Councillor Vettraino, seconded by Councillor Graham, moved as follows:-
“Council notes that the Policy to restrict access by two axle trailers to the Council’s
Civic Amenity Sites was implemented as from 1st January this year and, in common
with all changes to Policy, the outcome of the implementation of the Policy will be
reviewed by the Strategic Committee by way of an interim review, which will include
including consideration of the policy on two axle trailers, at its next meeting.
Council agrees that it would be unwise to review any policy in the absence of advice
from Officers about the outcome of the implementation of that policy and, as a
consequence, to change the current Policy prior to it being reviewed by the Strategic
Committee would be premature.”
Vote
Amendment
-
47 votes
Motion
-
16 votes
Decision
The Council agreed in terms of the amendment.
Motion/
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Motion 4
Councillor Craik, seconded by Councillor Caldwell, moved as follows:-
“Council supports the campaign by the STUC, Unite and GMB in calling for EDF to
source the turbine jackets for the NNG Wind Farm, situated only 15 miles from the
coast of Fife, with Bifab.
It calls on EDF to live up to their commitments to ‘source locally whenever possible’
and to work with all stakeholders to find a way to do so.
Council commits to work with the Scottish Government to continue with a ‘Team
Scotland’ approach to bring the work to Bifab and support the Scottish Economy
building on our capability in renewable and green energy.
It cannot be right, in this time of declared climate emergency, to be building on the
other side of the world and transporting to the coast of Fife and we urge EDF to
reconsider.”
Decision
The Council agreed the motion unanimously.
Motion 5
Councillor Craik, seconded by Councillor Noble, moved as follows:-
“Council notes with deep disappointment the proposal to remove completely the Out
of Hours service at Glenrothes Hospital which will be considered by the Integrated
Joint Board (IJB) of Fife’s Health and Social Care Partnership on Friday 21st June.
Should this proposal be agreed, the communities served by the OOH service can,
rightly, feel let down by this decision.
Council believes that a failure by the Scottish Government to recruit and train
enough GPs and other medical staff has been a key factor leading to the position
whereby, after more than a year in contingency measures, the Health and Social
Care Partnership are faced with a difficult decision on how to deploy the available
staff across Fife.
While we do not agree with the proposal to remove the Out of Hours service from
Glenrothes, we accept the need to deliver a safe service that is sustainable in the
longer term. However, it is deeply upsetting to the communities who have used the
service at Glenrothes Hospital that they are bearing the impact of poor workforce
planning at government level.
Council welcomes the proposal to introduce a revised transport policy which should
ensure that those without use of a car are still able to access Out of Hours services
without detriment.
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In light of concerns about the negative impact the closure of the Glenrothes Out of
Hours service will have on the local community, Council calls for a review of the
reconfigured service by the IJB after one year with the report to be scrutinised by the
relevant Fife Council committee.”
Amendment
Councillor Alexander, seconded by Councillor Liewald, moved as follows:-
“Council notes with deep disappointment the proposal to remove completely the Out
of Hours service at Glenrothes Hospital. Council also notes that whilst a shortage
of GPs has an impact on other areas of the NHS, it was not the main driver in the
lack of cover from GPs in the Out of Hours service.
Scotland has the highest number of GPs per head of population in the UK.
The major reduction in the number of medics preparing to cover the OOH service,
and other services throughout the NHS, is directly linked to the impact of the
Pension and Tax changes introduced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer George
Osbourne in April 2016.
The “unintended consequences” of the changes meant that medics were being hit
with big tax charges for exceeding their pension allowance limits, especially if they
do extra work. As a result, some GPs and consultants refused to take on extra
work.
In Fife, the service was hit by a perfect storm and in just one year, many medics who
were regularly putting themselves forward to do the 12 to 8 am shift stopped and in
many cases never returned.
Council urges the Co-leaders to write to Philip Hamond, the Chancellor, and Matt
Hancock, the Health and Social Care Secretary, to urgently take measures to end
this pension trap that is exacerbating the Health Service’s already severe staff
shortage.
Council also notes that the two areas that send most people to hospital per head of
population, Levenmouth and the Cowdenbeath area, also do not have a local Out of
Hours Service.
Council calls for a review of the reconfigured service by the IJB after one year, and
the monitoring of the volume of Levenmouth and Cowdenbeath area patients
accessing the service, with the report to be scrutinised by the relevant Fife Council
committee and hopes when the number of GPs start to rise and the “pension trap”
on NHS medics has been solved the OOH service in Fife may be able to devolve
further throughout Fife, with Levenmouth and the Cowdenbeath area as prime
candidates, and the re-instatement of the Glenrothes service.”
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Roll Call
On the motion of Councillor Craik, seconded by Councillor Erskine, it was agreed, by
the required majority of members, that the vote be taken by calling the roll.
Members voted as follows:-
For the Motion – 37 votes
Councillors Tim Brett, Alistair Cameron, Ian Cameron, Alex Campbell, Bobby
Clelland, Dave Coleman, Altany Craik, Colin Davidson, Dave Dempsey, Gavin Ellis,
Linda Erskine, David Graham, Mick Green, Gary Guichan, Garry Haldane, Judy
Hamilton, Linda Holt, Gordon Langlands, Helen Law, Jim Leishman, Kathleen Leslie,
Jane Ann Liston, Donald Lothian, Tony Miklinski, Derek Noble, Dominic Nolan, Tony
Orton, Ross Paterson, Bill Porteous, David Ross, David J Ross, Ryan Smart, Jonny
Tepp, Brian Thomson, Andrew, Verrecchia, Darren Watt and Jan Wincott.
For the Amendment – 24 votes
Councillors David Alexander, Lesley Backhouse, David Barratt, John Beare, Ken
Caldwell, Rod Cavanagh, Bill Connor, John Docherty, Ian Ferguson, Jean Hall Muir,
Zoe Hisbent, Rosemary Liewald, David MacDiarmid, Karen Marjoram, Lea
McLelland, Alice McGarry, John O’Brien, Fay Sinclair, Sam Steele, Alistair Suttie,
Ann Verner, Ross Vettraino, Craig Walker and Vikki Wilton.
Decision
The Council agreed in terms of the motion.
Councillor Ford left the meeting during consideration of the above item.
Councillors Leslie, Marjoram, Smart and Orton left the meeting following consideration of
the above motion.
Motion 6
Councillor Porteous, seconded by Councillor Holt, moved as follows:-
“That Fife Council commends Plastic Free Anstruther on the steps it is taking to
achieve Plastic Free Community Status, and that it supports the community on this
journey by committing to plastic-free alternatives and plastic-free initiatives in
Anstruther and throughout the whole of Fife where possible within existing
resources.”
Amendment
Councillor Vettraino, seconded by Councillor Graham, moved as follows:-
“Council commends Plastic Free Anstruther on the steps it is taking to achieve
Plastic Free Community Status and notes the motion passed by Council on 13th
December/
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December 2018, which applauded the efforts of plastic-free community groups in
championing the elimination of avoidable single use plastics and agreed to provide
support through promotion of their activities.
Council further notes the actions agreed by the Environment, Protective Services
and Community Safety Committee as part of the Zero Waste Fife Strategy to tackle
single use plastics within Fife Council and the decision to develop a register of
plastics as a tool to advise and support communities and businesses in Fife.
Council confirms its commitment in principle to supporting plastic-free alternatives
and plastic-free initiatives and remits the Environment and Protective Services
Committee to develop a practical action plan to implement this aspiration, to review
the commitments in the Plan4Fife in relation to climate change and carbon reduction
and to address the growing concern about the impacts of plastic waste.”
With the consent of the Provost, Councillor Porteous accepted Councillor Vettraino’s
amendment.
Decision
The Council agreed the amendment unanimously.
Councillors Ferguson, Ellis and Coleman left the meeting during consideration of the above
motion.
Councillor Holt left the meeting prior to consideration of the following item having
previously declared an interest.
Urgent Motion (As agreed by the Provost under Standing Order 8.1(2))
Councillor Erskine, seconded by Councillor Guichan, moved as follows:-
“Fife Council does not accept the Scottish Government’s response to our request for
an independent enquiry commissioned by the Scottish Government.
We do not accept the Cabinet Secretary’s assertion that SEPA’s independent status
would be prejudiced by the initiation of an independent enquiry.
Fife Council therefore instructs the Co-Leaders to again write to the Cabinet
Secretary to initiate the independent expert enquiry as agreed by this Council on
2nd May and invite her to come and visit communities to hear first hand the impact
the Fife Ethylene Plant is having on their lives.”
Decision
The Council agreed the motion unanimously.
135. BUSINESS BROUGHT FORWARD BY THE PROVOST AS A MATTER OF
URGENCY