Issue - meetings

To consider the report of the Chief Executive & Growth Director.

The Chief Executive & Growth Director presented the Corporate Peer Challenge (CPC) Feedback Report and recommendations arising from on-site visit by the peer team from 4to 7 December 2017.

The Chief Executive & Growth Director highlighted the Executive Summary in particular the following:-

“Exeter City Council can justifiably take pride in its leadership role, over the last 15 years, in promoting economic growth. The council’s mission has been to “enhance Exeter as the regional capital …” and the level of growth, development and inward investment has transformed the city into one of the leading economies in the South West.”

“The council has managed a period of change since 2010 in response to austerity. These include: setting aside unitary government proposals; reducing staff numbers (by 100) to 685 over the last five years; delivering the spending cuts needed without detrimental impact on services and, more recently, restructuring to establish a strategic management board (SMB) to move away from a ‘silo’ structure and style of working. This backdrop of reduced resources and managing significant change makes the achievements of economic growth even more impressive.”

He brought attention to the areas of work that required attention and the recommendations, in particular to the consideration of the splitting the Growth Director from the Chief Executive role. In light of this, the Chief Executive & Growth Director proposed a change to the recommendation that the feedback report and the peer team’s recommendations be noted. A subsequent report would be brought back with an action plan which would address capacity issues.

Members welcomed the review and positive comments with regards to the City Council’s partnership working, management of resources in these times of austerity, the approach to communications and its community engagement. They noted the areas of work that the report had highlighted and supported the proposed change to the recommendation with regards to noting the peer’s team’s recommendation and that the Chief Executive & Growth Director would bring forward a detailed report in due course.

RESOLVED that the Feedback Report and peer team’s key recommendations be noted.