History and More Information

How did the scheme begin?

The Accord scheme was developed as part of a response to the Government paper 'Social Exclusion in Scotland,1998', which called for Local Councils to be more socially inclusive in the delivery of their services. In achieving this objective the Accord scheme has evolved into a means of service delivery relevant to all citizen's of Aberdeen and has become a nationally recognised trail-blazing citizen's card project.

Piloting of the scheme

The Accord scheme was piloted in the geographical areas of the Bridge of Don and Kincorth, where secondary school pupils used a pilot form of the Accord card for cashless catering and vending in their schools. Library membership and Access to Leisure was also delivered to a number of school pupils and residents of these areas on the pilot card

The main outcome of the pilot project was to highlight that, in order to be able to provide a much wider range of services which would benefit all Aberdeen's citizens, a more sophisticated card was required to be used and developed. This has resulted in an extensive amount of work to give Aberdeen a scheme that is comprehensive, technically sophisticated and capable of delivering a multitude of services, with the potential to expand beyond Aberdeen.

In addition, results of the pilot project in the two schools included a significant increase in the uptake of free school meals and a reduction in cash related bullying. We would like to extend our thanks to those who took part in the pilot project.

How was the scheme funded?

The majority of funding for the Accord scheme was received from the Scottish Executive following Aberdeen City Council's successful pioneeering work in the field of multi service smart cards in the public sector. Additional funding for the pilot project was drawn from the Common Good fund, and has subsequently been repaid.

As the Accord scheme is to run by an operating company, at a distance from the Council, it is intended that the scheme will become commercially sustainable in its own right.

Partnership with Young Scot

Aberdeen City Council are working in partnership with Young Scot, the national youth information and youth card charity to provide Young Scot membership to the youth of Aberdeen City. Young Scot aims to provide young people with a mixture of information, ideas and incentives that can enable them to make informed decisions and choices; turn their own ideas into action; take advantage of the opportunities available to them both in Scotland and throughout the rest of Europe; and have the confidence and knowledge to take their place as active citizens in their community. Membership includes Europe-wide discounts and special access to the Scottish Youth information Portal.

First recipients of Young Scot membership will be the pupils of Aberdeen City Council Secondary Schools, who will have their membership delivered on the reverse of the Accord card, until their 19th birthday.