Dundee City Council and Committees 14 June 2010

On Monday evening the City Council and its various committees met. Firstly the City Council heard from a delegation of Ali and Khalid El-Awasi regarding the attack on the aid flotilla to Gaza by the Israeli Defence Forces. The council passed a motion calling on the UK Government to bring pressure to bear for international efforts to find a lasting and just peace. The Labour Group will also support the Lord Provost if he wants to fly the Palestinian flag over the City Chambers and investigates the links between the City Council and Israeli companies. I am clear that in order for there to be peace in the Middle East then there must be justice.

The
Education Committee considered reports on the Scottish Government's efforts to reduce class sizes. The SNP Administration does not seem to think that it is important to deliver their manifesto promises. I agree with my colleague Laurie Bidwell on this issue.

The
Leisure, Arts and Communities Committee was pretty straightforward. There was a report on the Dundee Volunteer Centre and I was happy to support this as volunteers make a real difference to our city. I also supported a report on a grant for the Dundee International Women's Centre. There was also a report on a wide variety of diversionary activities for young people over the summer holidays. There was also a report on a £50,000 programme of works to ensure that water does not now enter the building at the McManus Galleries. The McManus has been a great success since its re-opening and this work is nearly all paid for by Historic Scotland.

The Waste Management Department presented a
report on a new graffiti policy. In the West End there has been a great deal of graffiti and I welcome this report. I think that it may go some way to dealing with this problem. I will be seeking a further briefing from officers about this important policy which can make communities feel better about themselves.

At the
Policy and Resources Committee I spoke about Local Community Planning Partnerships. I think that these partnerships are doing a good job but I think that there needs to be greater efforts made to encourage more local people to engage with these groups. I will be looking to meet with officers to ensure that there are greater efforts made.

The Policy and Resources Committee also heard about the follow up report prepared by Professor Peter Wilson regarding the 'Significant case review and independent review on Brandon Muir.' I am pleased to say that this report suggests that many of the lessons that needed to be learned have been. I have always had real concerns about accountability and scrutiny with regard to child protection. This work is carried out by partnerships and I think that we do not have robust enough scrutiny structures in place to deal with these partnerships. I asked a very specific report about the report, 'I want to draw attention to paragraph 2.3, if we can 'ask' the chief officers group to do things why can't we 'ask' them to attend City Council committees to explain their actions? How will we ensure that our request is actioned
?'