A major shake up of top jobs at Aberdeen City Council has been agreed.
The authority’s Labour-led administration voted through the reshuffle in a restructuring of the committee system.
Leader Jenny Laing said the new set-up, with a total spend of £405,737 on senior councillor salaries, would ensure the leadership would “deliver for the people of Aberdeen”.
Mrs Laing will give up her education brief, which passes to deputy Labour group leader Angela Taylor.
As expected, former leader Barney Crockett was ditched as convener of enterprise, planning and infrastructure, with fellow Labour councillor Neil Cooney to lead the new wide-ranging new Communities Housing and Infrastructure Committee.
Len Ironside, former convener of the Social Care and Wellbeing Committee takes a step down and moves into the vice convener role in the Education and Children’s Committee.
Conservative Fraser Forsyth is replaced as convener of the Licensing Committee by Labour’s Scott Carle.
Labour councillor Ross Grant will be given the new post of spokesman for regeneration and transport, which prompted some debate at the full council meeting.
Callum McCaig, leader of the main opposition SNP group, said it was an exercise in “filling posts for the sake of it to keep people happy”.
Liberal Democrat group leader Ian Yuill put forward an amendment, backed by the SNP, to split the new Communities Housing and Infrastructure Committee into two.
However, the alternative proposal was voted down by 23-18.