Meeting Details

North Ayrshire Council
27 Oct 2021 - 14:00 to 20:00
Occurred
Meeting open to the public.
  • Documents
  • Members Attending
  • Others Attending
  • Declarations of Interests

Documents

Agenda

Agenda Items
Arrangements in Terms of COVID-19

In light of the current COVID-19 pandemic, this meeting will be held remotely in accordance with the provisions of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 2003.  Where possible, the meeting will be live-streamed and available to view at https://north-ayrshire.public-i.tv/core/portal/home.  In the event that live-streaming is not possible, a recording of the meeting will instead be available to view at this location.

1 Apologies
2 Declarations of Interest

Members are requested to give notice of any declarations of interest in respect of items of business on the Agenda.

The accuracy of the Minutes of the Ordinary Meeting held on 8 September 2021 will be confirmed and the Minutes signed in accordance with Paragraph 7(1) of Schedule 7 of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 (copy enclosed).

Submit report by the Provost for the period 30 August - 17 October 2021 (copy enclosed).

Submit report by the Leader of the Council for the period covering 30 August - 17 October 2021 (copy enclosed).

Submit, for noting and for approval of any recommendations contained therein, the Minutes of Meeting of committees of the Council held in the period 24 May - 1 October 2021.

Submit report by the Interim Executive Director (Communities and Education) on the Minutes of the meetings of the North Ayrshire Community Planning Partnership Board held in June and September 2021 (copy enclosed).

Submit report by the Chief Executive on the outcome of the hybrid committee meetings pilot which took place in October 2021 (copy enclosed).

9 Questions

In terms of Standing Order 12, submit:-

“Recent media speculation suggests that many Irvine residents are still not fully aware of the proposed developments in the harbour area as a result of the Ayrshire Growth Deal. Can the Leader summarise the plan for this area, highlighting the key changes and improvements that will be visible to the local community when the project is completed?”

"Our older people in Sheltered Housing complexes in North Ayrshire are living in virtual isolation, unable to access communal areas where they previously enjoyed meeting for coffee mornings or simply to chat on a daily basis. North Ayrshire Council continually say they are taking a slow and measured approach to opening communal areas because of the fear of spreading Covid, but perhaps don't fully appreciate the mental anguish caused by this restriction on normal life over the past 19 months.

 

 Our older folk have been double jabbed to reduce the likelihood of catching Covid. In Kilbirnie and Beith they tell me they want the communal areas opened up as soon as practicable.

 

 Can the Cabinet Member for Green New Deal and Sustainability advise when North Ayrshire Council will permit these areas to be opened up to residents; and what steps are being taken to keep residents advised of potential time-scales?”

“Will the Council as a matter of urgency and public safety, look into the amount of road signs and street lights that are hidden or partially hidden behind overgrown bushes or trees, and have the required remedial work done order to make them totally visible again?”

"Before the start of the next fishing season in March 2022, will the Council construct an anti-poaching fence at the weir on the River Irvine, similar to successful such fences elsewhere?”

"Concerns have once again been expressed by clergy and others in Kilbirnie about NAC plans for a future cemetery in Kilbirnie.  Can the cabinet member for Place advise of the current available capacity in Kilbirnie Cemetery and advise on what plans are in place for a future cemetery in the town?”

“Can the Cabinet Member for Green New Deal and Sustainability provide an update on current progress with the Garnock Valley Flood Plan?”

“Can the Cabinet Member for Green New Deal and Sustainability provide an update on NAC plans to resolve the recurring flooding issue on the B777 Longbar to Glengarnock Road specifically on the bend located between the Garnock Campus and the Glengarnock Railways Bridge which creates major problems for traffic and pedestrians in heavy rain?”

“Can the Cabinet Member for Green New Deal and Sustainability advise on the level and extent of domestic violence in North Ayrshire during the pandemic (March 2020 – August 2021 or figures as available) and express a view on what further steps might be taken to tackle domestic violence generally in North Ayrshire?”

"Will the Leader of the Council inform Members why the people who responded to the Public Consultation on the Future of Early Years, Primary and Secondary Education in Ardrossan were not made aware of the highly toxic content of the land before they responded to the consultation?"

Last week saw the introduction of facial recognition systems in our schools to allow children to access school dinners.

 

 These systems use technology that does not simply match "pictures" of the user. Instead aspects of each user's features are captured and recorded. It is these aspects, which in general stay constant throughout your life, that are used to complete facial recognition.

 

 In other words the data captured in our schools today can be used to identify our children for the rest of their lives. 

 

 Following the introduction of facial recognition system for children to access school dinners and the privacy issues this clearly raises would be the Member please tell me:

 

 1. Who stores the information gathered - this council or the system supplier?

2. Who is the designated data controller?

3. Is the information stored shared with any third parties?

4. Does the agreement permit sharing of this data in the future?

5. Which rights will users of the system be required to waive?

6. Following so many well publicised data breaches from all sectors, what steps are being taken to protect the data gathered?

7. In the event of a catastrophic data breach what remedies are available to users of the system?”

10 Motion

In terms of Standing Order 13, submit:-

“Scotland has a long and proud fishing history and has had access to a wide range of marine habitats that provided a wide variety of both fish and other seafood.  However, we are all aware that fishing is in crisis caused by overfishing leading to dwindling catches. To try to mitigate these losses fishing has moved to ever more mechanised and damaging ways of fishing. Whilst that provided short-term solutions it is clear that the damage caused to marine habitats is leading to further reductions in catches.

 

 So much of our coastal seas are regularly scraped by dredgers and trawlers looking for scallops and other seafood. This destructive action has destroyed and damaged vast expanses of seabed creating virtual seabed deserts that have only a fraction of the marine life they once supported. The varied marine life that used to support healthy and diverse populations of fish no longer exists, and we have an increasingly impoverished, unhealthy and unproductive marine environment. The catastrophic collapse of the once abundant fish stocks in the Clyde in the 1980s and loss of jobs and income that these fisheries supported is a graphic illustration of the problem.

 

 Changes in our climate is causing levels of CO2 in seawater to rise leading to acidification of the water further damaging and inhibiting the growth of shellfish and other marine life. Coupled with stresses caused by warmer waters it is clear that this is not a sustainable situation. Our fishing industries face an ecological crisis on many fronts. Major change is required to avert the potential total collapse of our fishing industry.

 

 Healthy inshore marine environments not only act as essential nursery areas for young fish and other sea creatures, but the carbon capture by marine animals and plants (such as seaweeds and sea grasses) capture CO2 from the water thereby reducing atmospheric CO2 and help to neutralise the water. The importance of 'blue carbon outcomes' was much discussed at COP25, and will be an important part of COP26. As a seagoing nation we must play our part in including the marine environment in our zero-carbon planning.

 

 The work and research undertaken by Community of Arran Seabed Trust (COAST) in Lamlash, in collaboration with universities and researchers, has shown that with active protection and management our coastal marine environment damaged areas recover to become naturally varied, productive and resilient habitats. This will benefit both our coastal communities and our environment. 

 

 With the current focus on the climate change crisis, it is time to press the Scottish government to take the action that it has talked about for so long. The Scottish government has over the years agreed that something needs to be done. It has published reports and had numerous discussions but very little has actually changed. There have been significant vested interests in maintaining the status quo, but the climate, biodiversity and fishing crises are now upon us. The time has come for the Scottish government to take decisive action to proactively manage Scotland's marine environment for the long-term survival of its fisheries, coastal communities and for the hugely positive contribution healthy seas have for the climate.

 

 We in North Ayrshire have announced a climate change emergency. If we are serious about that emergency, we must take a stand for positive action.

 

 I therefore move that North Ayrshire Council agrees that:

  1. The control of bottom-towed fishing within our inshore coastal waters will enable the damaged seabeds to return to varied, productive and resilient marine habitats, thereby benefiting the environment and the long-term sustainability of fishing,

  2. The Council asks Scottish Government for provision of support to existing fishing businesses which will enable them to transfer to using low environmental impact methods of fishing, thereby protecting existing fishing jobs and the provision of long-term sustainable employment in our local communities,

    and

  3. That the Chief Executive writes to the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and Islands to request that the Scottish Government implements control of bottom-towed fishing in inshore coastal waters and provides the necessary support to existing fishing businesses to enable them to change to low environmental impact and sustainable methods of fishing which directly link to the government’s objectives set out in the “Future Fisheries: management strategy 2020-2030”.

 The effect of such action will provide positive benefits for those working in Scotland's coastal communities and make a significant contribution to mitigating climate change.”

11 Urgent Items

Any other items which the Chair considers to be urgent.

Webcasting - Virtual Meeting

Please note: this meeting may be recorded/live-streamed to the Council's internet site, where it will be capable of repeated viewing.  At the start of the meeting, the Provost/Chair will confirm if all or part of the meeting is being recorded/live-streamed.

 

You should be aware that the Council is a Data Controller under the Data Protection Act 2018.  Data collected during the webcast will be retained in accordance with the Council’s published policy, including, but not limited to, for the purpose of keeping historical records and making those records available via the Council’s internet site.

 

If you are participating in this meeting by invitation, you are consenting to being filmed and consenting to the use and storage of those images and sound recordings and any information pertaining to you contained in the them live-streaming/recording or training purposes and for the purpose of keeping historical records and making those records available to the public.  If you do not wish to participate in a recording, you should leave the 'virtual meeting'.  This will constitute your revocation of consent.

 

If you have any queries regarding this, please contact dataprotectionofficer@north-ayrshire.gov.uk.

Sederunt
North Ayrshire Council

Ian Clarkson (Provost)
Robert Barr (Depute Provost)
John Bell
Timothy Billings
Marie Burns
Joe Cullinane
Scott Davidson
Anthea Dickson
John Easdale
Todd Ferguson
Robert Foster
Scott Gallacher
Alex Gallagher
Margaret George
John Glover
Tony Gurney
Alan Hill
Christina Larsen
Shaun Macaulay
Jean McClung
Ellen McMaster
Ronnie McNicol
Louise McPhater
Davina McTiernan
Tom Marshall
Jimmy Miller
Jim Montgomerie
Ian Murdoch
Donald Reid
Donald L Reid

Ronnie Stalker
Angela Stephen
John Sweeney

Declarations of Interests

Member NameItem Ref.DetailsNature of DeclarationAction
No declarations of interest have been entered for this meeting.

Others Attending

In Attendance

C. Hatton, Chief Executive; C. Cameron, Director (Health and Social Care Partnership); R. McCutcheon, Executive Director (Place); K. Yeomans, Director (Growth and Investment); R. Arthur, Head of Connected Communities (Communities and Education); M. Boyd, Head of Service (Finance), F. Walker, Head of Service and M. Lindsay, Senior Customer Officer (People and ICT); A. Craig, Head of Service, N. Shearer, Team Manager (Legal Services), M. McColm, Senior Manager (Communications), H. Clancy, A. Little and C. Stewart, Committee Services Officers and M. Anderson, Senior Manager (Committee and Member Services) (Democratic Services) (Chief Executive's Service).

Webcast



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