Issue - meetings

The Governance Manager advised that there had been no public questions submitted in advance of the meeting. Having noted that there were members of the public in attendance, the Chair invited them to submit any questions they may have.

Rickeera Kaur (Present)

Ms Kaur asked the following question to the Committee:

“Given the appalling racist opinions that have been shared publicly by some Councillors, how can residents of Argyll be assured that these prejudices do not affect decision making forums within Council processes? We’re particularly concerned given the targeting of minority groups. Our community are concerned about the influence that that will have on our resettlement projects that have been successful in Argyll, and we’re seeking to know the Council’s views and actions relating to this and views and actions relating to the ongoing genocide in Gaza.”

The Governance Manager agreed to feedback this question to the Council Leader and Council Administration, and to provide a response to this query following the meeting. Ms Kaur asked for clarification of how this information would be shared with the community, and the Governance Manager confirmed that an answer would be provided following the meeting to Ms Kaur and the Committee Members by e-mail which could be disseminated by them to any interested parties. 

David Moncrieff (Present)

Mr Moncrieff advised the Committee that he had asked a question about school transport safety concerns at the last meeting, and had received a response from the Council advising that the safety and wellbeing of children were the Council’s top priority. He advised that following this response, he had sent further e-mails to Elected Members, which he had discovered were being intercepted by the Council. He advised that he would be taking this forward as a Data Protection concern. Mr Moncrieff confirmed that he had received clarification from the Scottish Government that school transport was the responsibility of local government authorities. Mr Moncrieff outlined the reasons that he disagreed with the Council’s response to his question, and advised that he felt that the Council were knowingly endangering school children, and deliberately thwarting Scottish Government guidance in relation to seatbelts on school transport. The Chair and Governance Manager advised that a response had already been provided to this question by the Council, even if Mr Moncrieff did not agree with the answer provided.

Mr Moncrieff advised that, at the last meeting of the Committee, the previous Chair of the Committee had provided assurances to Mr Moncrieff that an answer would be provided to all of his questions, however he felt that only of the questions had been answered. The Chair advised that a response had been provided to Mr Moncrieff via the Council’s Customer Contact Centre on 15 March 2024, and on this basis he was content that all of Mr Moncrieff’s previous questions had been responded to. The Chair advised that he was happy for Mr Moncrieff to ask any further questions that did not relate to the questions to which an answer had already been provided.

Mr Moncrieff advised that he had not been provided with answers to the questions which he had raised previously. The Governance Manager outlined a history of the responses which had been provided to Mr Moncrieff previously, and agreed to provide a summary of this to Mr Moncrieff by e-mail via the Council’s Customer Contact Centre following the meeting.

Mr Moncrieff asked the Committee to confirm that all child safety seats on the Council’s school transport vehicles were being checked to ensure that they were fit for purpose and only being used within the manufacturer’s recommended dates of use. The Governance Manager agreed to feedback this question to the relevant officers following the meeting, and to provide a response to Members and Mr Moncrieff via the Council’s Customer Contact Centre.