Meeting Details

The minute of the meeting of the Moray Council Emergency Cabinet dated 23 April 2020 was submitted and approved.

Councillors Morrison, Alexander, Brown, Divers, Edwards, R McLean and Taylor took part in the consideration of this item. 

Under reference to paragraph 12 of the minute of the meeting of the Planning and Regulatory Services Committee dated 10 December 2020, a report by the Depute Chief Executive (Economy, Environment and Finance) summarised the representations received to the consultation on the updated Developer Obligations Supplementary Guidance and asked the Emergency Cabinet to approve the responses provided to these and to delegate authority to the Head of Economic Growth and Development to finalise the Guidance for submission to the Scottish Government.

Following consideration, the Emergency Cabinet agreed:

1. to note the representations received to the updated Developer Obligations Supplementary Guidance consultation;
   
   
2. the responses provided to the representations, as set out in Appendix 1 of the report;
   
   
3. the updated Supplementary Guidance as set out in Appendix 2 of the report;
   
   
4. to note the tested pupil product ratios and evidence base for NHS Grampian provided in Appendices 3 and 4 of the report;
   
   
5. to delegate authority to the Head of Economic Growth & Development to finalise the Supplementary Guidance in accordance with Section 4 and responses in Appendix 1 of the report; and
   
   
6. that the updated Supplementary Guidance is submitted to the Scottish Government and, upon approval, forms part of the statutory Moray Local Development Plan (MLDP) 2020 when adopted.

Councillors Morrison, Alexander, Divers, Eagle, Gatt, Ross and Warren took part in the consideration of this item.

A report by the Depute Chief Executive (Education, Communities and Organisational Development) updated the Emergency Cabinet on changes to the local Devolved School Management (DSM) scheme to date.

During discussion, it was recognised that Head Teachers are under considerable pressure and that whilst it was welcomed that Head Teachers would only be class room committed for school rolls up to 119, which was a reduction from 144, 119 was still considered to be a high number and may not fully relieve this pressure.  It was also noted that Principal Teachers would be employed for primary schools where the roll is above 120 however that management time would not be included in these posts and it was queried whether management time could be allocated.

In response, the Head of Education advised that management time was not included in these posts due to cost however, if management time is required, then Head Teachers can choose to provide this from their devolved budget.

During further discussion reference was made to the Corporate Plan and how education is a priority of the Council and Councillor Warren, Chair of the Children and Young Peoples Committee and the Head of Education give were asked to give consideration to the provision of management time for Principal Teachers in the future.  This was agreed.

The Emergency Cabinet joined the Chair in commending the work of the Education Service during the challenging situation associated with the Covid-19 pandemic and thereafter agreed:

1. to note that the DSM scheme has been updated to reflect budgetary decisions from 2014;
   
   
2. the new primary school management formulae for
   
   a) schools with no enhanced provision
   b) schools with an enhanced provision
   
   
3. to note that the primary school management formulae for paired schools remains unchanged;
   
   
4. to instruct officers to implement the changes from August 2020; and
   
   
5. that Councillor Warren, Chair of the Children and Young People's Committee and the Head of Education give consideration to the provision of management time for Principal Teachers in the future.

Councillor Morrison, being Chair of the Moray Council Emergency Cabinet, chaired the meeting.

In terms of Standing Orders, the Emergency Cabinet agreed to suspend Standing Order 75 to allow the meeting to begin at 11:00 am.

The Chair advised that this was the first entirely virtual Council meeting which was being webcast live and thanked Committee Services and the ICT Service for their efforts in facilitating this.  The Chair further welcomed back Mrs Moira Patrick, Democratic Services Manager after a period of absence, who was joining the meeting remotely.

In terms of Standing Order 20 and the Councillors' Code of Conduct, there were no declarations from Group Leaders or Spokespersons in regard to any prior decisions taken on how members will vote on any item on the agenda or any declarations of Member's interests in respect of any item on the agenda.

With regard to the Recycling Service, Councillor Eagle welcomed the reinstatement of kerbside recycling for paper and plastics however sought an update as to when the glass kerbside recycling would restart.

In response, the Depute Chief Executive (Economy, Environment and Finance) advised that the Head of Environmental and Commercial Services and his team continued to work on ways to restore the glass recycling service however this is linked to recycling centres where there are issues around manpower and the logistics of ensuring a safe working environment by ensuring appropriate social distancing measures which are currently being assessed.

Councillor Eagle welcomed this information and stated that, although recycling services are reduced, fly tipping is not acceptable urged the public not to do this.

Councillor Ross raised concern in relation to the safety of Council staff as there is still no hand sanitiser or paper towels available within Council buildings following requests made by the Moray Alliance Group (MAG) following guidance from the World Health Organisation.  He further stated that the MAG group had been contacted by Trade Unions who had raised similar concerns with management in relation to the safety of employees and sought an update in this regard.

In response, the Chief Executive advised that further guidance had been received from the Scottish Government and the Health and Safety Executive with regard to hand hygiene and work was underway to take this forward.  He further stated that regular meetings are being held with Trade Unions through Human Resources and should there be any concerns, then these should be addressed via that forum.

Councillor Gatt queried whether a risk assessment had been conducted within the Council to ascertain whether there was a requirement for hand sanitisers at entrances to the buildings and if so, whether this would be made public.

In response, the Chief Executive advised that, in some areas, there is conflicting advice between the Scottish Government, UK Government and WHO and that the Facilities Services are looking into the guidance that has recently been received and how it should be implemented.