Leisure, Arts And Communities Committee - 18/04/2005

At a MEETING of the COMMUNITIES COMMITTEE held at Dundee on 18th April 2005.

Present:-

BAILIES

COUNCILLORS

Councillor HIND, Convener, in the Chair.

The minute of meeting of this Committee of 14th March 2005 was held as read.

Unless marked thus * all items stand delegated.

I HMIe INSPECTION OF KIRKTON AND DUNDEE CENTRAL

There was submitted Report No 215-2005 by the Head of Communities providing a summary of the findings of Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Education who had inspected Communities Department management systems and delivery of community learning and development (CLD) in Dundee Central and Kirkton areas over the first two weeks in December 2004.

Community learning and development was targeted at those individuals and groups in society who were more likely to experience disadvantage. As part of the inspection, HMIe looked specifically at the Department's delivery in respect of equality and diversity and had made favourable comment on this.

The Committee approved the following recommendations:-

(a) to note the positive feedback from HMIe on the delivery of community learning and development by the City Council's Communities Department. Since the introduction of the current inspection framework for community learning and development work in Scotland, no other authority had had a report with all indicators scoring either good or very good (see Appendix 1 of the Report);

(b) to note that HMIe had identified a number of areas for continuous improvement - the most significant relating to community provision in the Hilltown; and

(c) to note that there were no formal requirements which would be the subject of a follow up inspection.

II ARDLER COMPLEX - CAFI BAR EXTENSION

There was submitted Agenda Note AN159-2005 whereby reference was made to Article XI of the meeting of the Communities Committee held on 8th November 2004 when the Committee authorised the City Architectural Services Officer to obtain offers, tenders or partnership agreements for the Ardler Complex Cafi Bar Extension and the Depute Chief Executive (Support Services), in conjunction with the Head of Communities, be authorised to accept the offers, tenders/partnership agreements as recommended by the City Architectural Services Officer up to a total cost of 440,000.

Competitive tenders had now been received from five contractors and the total cost of the project brought out using the lowest offer, that of Hall and Tawse Limited T/A Mansell, Dundee, was as follows:-

The Committee noted that an acceptance would be issued as soon as possible to the successful contractor.

III SOCIAL INCLUSION PARTNERSHIP - ALLOCATION OF RESOURCES 2004/2005

Councillors Grant and W Dawson declared a non financial interest in this report being City Council representatives on the Grey Lodge Settlement Association.

There was submitted Report No 227-2005 by the Head of Communities detailing proposals from the SIP Board for the allocation of funding for SIP 1 from Communities Scotland.

It was reported for the information of the Committee that the Head of Communities, after consultation with the Convener and Spokespersons of the Other Groups, had approved payments of the grants detailed in Appendices A, B and C of the Report in view of the timescales involved.

IV ROOFING REPAIRS

There was submitted Report No 247-2005 by the Head of Communities seeking approval for the carrying out of urgent roofing works to Coldside Library up to a total cost of 47,000 as part of the Capital Roofing Works Programme for 2005/06.

The Committee agreed that the City Architectural Services Officer be authorised to obtain offers, tenders or partnership agreements for the roofing work and the Depute Chief Executive (Support Services), in conjunction with the Head of Communities, be authorised to accept the offers, tenders/partnership agreements as recommended by the City Architectural Services Officer.

V PROPERTY UPGRADES 2005/2006 - PHASE 1

There was submitted Report No 248-2005 by the Head of Communities seeking approval for the City Architectural Services Officer to obtain offers, tenders or negotiate partnerships and for the Depute Chief Executive (Support Services), in conjunction with Head of Communities, to accept these offers/tenders/partnership agreements for Property Upgrades up to an total cost of 85,000 as detailed in Appendix 1 of the report. It was noted that a project for Kirkton heating upgrade had been approved by the Communities Committee at its meeting on 19th April 2004. However, in order to make the savings requirement in 2004/2005, the project timeline had been amended to enable Phase 1 to be split over financial years 2004/05 and 2005/06. The estimated cost of this upgrade was 50,000. Additional proposals totalled 35,000 for the installation of water chillers at various sites and the refurbishment of toilet block to storage area at Kirkton Community Centre and Library.

The Committee agreed that the City Architectural Services Officer be authorised to obtain offers, tenders or partnership agreements for the Property Upgrades and the Depute Chief Executive (Support Services), in conjunction with the Head of Communities, be authorised to accept the offers, tenders/partnership agreements as recommended by the City Architectural Services Officer for works to be undertaken.

VI GRANT AWARDS UP TO £500 2004/2005

There was submitted Report No 223-2005 by the Head of Communities detailing awards up to the value of 500 that were made during the financial year 2004/2005.

The 31 grant awards totalling 12,378 had been met from the Department's Revenue Budget 2004/2005.

The Committee noted the payments made as detailed in the report.

VII NATIONAL ORGANISATIONS FUND 1 2005/2006

There was submitted Report No 222-2005 by the Head of Communities making recommendations for grant awards from the National Organisations Fund. The grant awards would be met from the Department's Revenue Budget 2005/2006.

The Committee approved payment of the following recommended grants:-

Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO) - 350

Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP) - 554

Lead Scotland (Linking Education and Disability) - 1,272

VIII NON RECURRING REVENUE GRANTS FUND 1 2005/2006

There was submitted Report No 152-2005 by the Head of Communities making a recommendation for a grant award from the Non Recurring Revenue Grants Fund.

The grant award would be met from the Department's Revenue Budget 2005/2006.

The Committee approved payment of the recommended grant of 1,000 to Youth Scotland.

Chris HIND, Convener.