Glasgow City Council Agenda - 21 February 2008, 13:30 
A meeting to be held at at 13:30 on 21 February 2008.
| Number | Item |
|---|---|
| 1897 | Minutes of Council meeting of 13th December 2007 (Print 5, pages 609 to 614). View Papers |
| 2 | Print 5 - Committees' minutes - Consideration of paragraphs marked "C", remaining paragraphs being submitted for information only (page 615 onwards). |
| 3 | Consideration of minutes previously objected to. |
| 4 | Changes to committees etc. |
| (a) | Autism Working Group - Remove Ruth Black and add James Dornan; |
| (b) | Business Bureau - Remove Ruth Black; |
| (c) | Direct and Care Services Policy Development and Scrutiny Committee - Remove Ruth Black and add Dr Nina Baker; |
| (d) | Education and Social Work Policy Development and Scrutiny Committee - Remove Ellen Hurcombe and add Iris Gibson; |
| (e) | Energy Working Group - Remove Ruth Black and add Craig Mackay; |
| (f) | Licensing and Regulatory Committee - Remove Paul Carey and add Martha Wardrop; and |
| (g) | Local Licensing Forum - Add Dr Linda de Caestecker, Greater Glasgow & Clyde NHS Board, Mr Mark Gallagher, Greater Glasgow Hotels' Association, and Mr David Maguire, Glasgow Restaurateurs' Association. |
| 5 | Representation on outside bodies |
| (a) | City Building (Glasgow) LLP - Remove Mr George Black and appoint Craig Mackay and Mr Ian Drummond; |
| (b) | City Parking (Glasgow) LLP - Appoint Grant Thoms; |
| (c) | COSLA Resources & Capacity Executive Group - Remove Jean McFadden and appoint Stephen Curran; |
| (d) | Glasgow City Marketing Bureau - Appoint James Dornan; |
| (e) | Glasgow Clyde Regeneration Ltd - Appoint Alison Thewliss; |
| (f) | ICT/Property Joint Venture - Appoint Jonathan Findlay and David McDonald; |
| (g) | Royal Glasgow Institute of Fine Arts - Appoint Jean McFadden and Paul Coleshill; |
| (h) | South West Community Health and Care Partnership - Remove Ruth Black and appoint Patricia Gibson; and |
| (i) | Surplus Land and Property LLP - Appoint Kenny McLean. |
| 6 | Notices of motion |
| (a) | by Councillor Irfan Rabbani "Glasgow City Council is committed to the social inclusion of groups of citizens who are marginalized and who experience discrimination. We believe that Glasgow's diversity is a strength but we often see evidence of discrimination, inequality and hostility towards minority groups. It is unacceptable that sections of our community should experience harassment or discrimination. As a Council, we take our responsibilities for promoting equality seriously through a range of action plans and we have embedded the equalities agenda into our policy and practice and whilst we have made every attempt to ensure this covers all areas, we are aware that the issue of equality and inclusion is a constantly shifting landscape. Each of our Policy Development and Scrutiny Committees has equalities included in its core remit and the importance of this agenda is recognized by the appointment of an Executive Member to lead on equalities. While we have made a lot of progress in the Council and in work with our partners, we know that we still have a lot of work to do. This Council resolves to establish an Equalities Commission to enable elected members to review policy and practice across the city, with a view to reporting on the key strategic issues, identifying outcomes and enabling this Council's work to continue in the most effective manner." |
| (b) | by Councillor Patricia Gibson "Council congratulates the Scottish Government and COSLA on the concordant reached in November 2007 which will breathe new life into local democracy. In particular Council commends the removal of ring fencing which will reduce the amount of unnecessary bureaucracy and allow for more efficient and effective delivery of local services. Council condemns the view expressed by Labour MSPs that local authorities will not allocate resources for the benefit of vulnerable people. Council agrees with Councillor Pat Watters, President of COSLA, that the argument that the most vulnerable groups in our society would be better protected by central government than local government is a 'slur on local government'." |
| (c) | by Councillor Dr Christopher Mason "The Council believes that Scottish Ministers were wrong to call in the Trump planning application after the planning committee in Aberdeenshire Council had voted to reject it, because (i) the developer already had a right of appeal; (ii) the Minister appears to have taken a partisan position on the application that he must now determine; and (iii) their action has injected uncertainty into the whole Scottish planning system. The Council accordingly resolves to submit a petition to the Scottish Parliament requesting it to enact legislation that will establish beyond doubt that the power conferred on Scottish Ministers by section 46 (1) of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997 to give a direction requiring a particular planning application to be referred to them instead of being dealt with by the planning authority does not give ministers a power to call in an application after the date on which the planning authority actually decided whether the application should be granted or refused, regardless of the provisions in section 37 (4) of the Act regarding the date on which the planning authority's decision bears to have been signed on behalf of the authority." |
| (d) | by Councillor Martha Wardrop "Glasgow City Council notes the broad base of support from across the Scottish Political spectrum in support for Mordechai Vanunu. Glasgow City Council further notes that Mordechai Vanunu: " Has made a huge contribution to the cause of removing nuclear weapons from the Middle East, " Has served as the elected rector of the University of Glasgow since 2005, " Was sentenced to 18 years in prison following his revelations about Israel's nuclear weapons programme, " Was held in solitary confinement for more than 11 years, " Remains subject to severe travel restrictions within Israel/Palestine, " Has been sentenced to a further 6 months in prison for 'speaking to foreigners', many of whom are Scots. Glasgow City Council resolves to: " Support ongoing campaigns for the release of Mordechai Vanunu from detention, thus enabling him to travel to Scotland, " Work closely with cross-party organisations campaigning for his release, " Recognise Mordechai Vanunu's role as Rector of the University of Glasgow, a role he has maintained despite the restrictions he had been placed under." |
| (e) | by Councillor Alex Dingwall "Council notes the failure of the previous Labour and Liberal Democrat led Scottish Executive to deliver on their previous assurances to extend Hate Crimes legislation to protect the Disabled and Lesbian, Gay and Transgendered communities, despite the fact that similar legislation was already in place in England and Wales. Council therefore welcomes the statement by SNP Justice Minister, Kenny McAskill MSP, that the Scottish Government has given its backing to Green MSP Patrick Harvie's proposal for a Sentencing of Offences Aggravated by Prejudice (Scotland) Bill which will expand hate crime legislation to protect disabled people, and people from the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered community, as recommended by the Working Group on Hate Crimes. Council believes that such leadership on equalities issues is important given the rise in attacks upon Scotland's minority communities and the need for Scotland's elected representatives at all levels to actively work together to tackle discrimination and to promote the benefits for all citizens from Scotland's diverse cultures and communities. Council believes that an important part of that work is best served by elected members taking strategic ownership of the issues on a cross party basis by establishing an Equalities Committee." |
| (f) | by Bailie David McDonald "Glasgow City Council recognizes and celebrates the cultural and linguistic importance of the Gaelic language on this the 2008 UNESCO International Mother Language Day. This Council supports the efforts of the Scottish Government in its attempts at; expanding Gaelic-medium education, working towards the launch of a Gaelic digital TV service, ensuring the implementation of Bord na Gaidhlig's National Plan for Gaelic, promoting the Gaelic arts and generally raising the profile and visibility of Gaelic. Council calls on the Leader of the Council to write to Scottish Government Ministers to offer this Council's full support for the Gaelic language and for the Scottish Government's plan to secure the language's long term future." |
| (g) | by Councillor John Mason "Council recognises that recent consultations with the public concerning controlled parking in the West End, the G1 proposals for the Botanic Gardens and the Go Ape project in Pollok Park have underlined failures in the way in which Glasgow consults with its citizens on major local or city issues. Council believes that given the Council's stated aim of 'Listening to Citizens' there is an urgent need to identify the reasons behind these failings within current procedures. Therefore Council instructs the Chief Executive to bring a report to the appropriate Policy Development and Scrutiny Committee considering ways of improving our consultation processes." |