Agenda and minutes

Venue: Guildhall, High Street, Exeter

Contact: Sarah Selway, Democratic Services Manager (Committees)  Telephone 01392 265275 or email  sarah.selway@exeter.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

27.

Apologies

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Gottschalk and D. Henson.

 

28.

Minutes Silence - Honorary Alderman Ian Mitchell and His Honour Judge Geoffrey Mercer

Minutes:

The Council observed a minutes silence in memory of Ian Mitchell, a former Mayor of the City, City Councillor and an Honorary Alderman and his His Honour Judge Geoffrey Mercer who was the Presiding Judge at Exeter Courts and the City Recorder, both having recently passed away.

 

 

29.

Exeter Hindu Community

Minutes:

The Lord Mayor stated that as he was taking a multi-cultural and multi faith approach to his civic year, he had therefore invited representatives from the Exeter Hindu Community to attend the Council meeting this evening.

 

Mr Sival and Mr Sandhya addressed the Council.

 

The Lord Mayor presented Mr Sival and Mr Sandhya with a plaque of the Exeter City Council Crest.

 

 

30.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 127 KB

To approve and sign the minutes of the Annual Meeting held on 17 May 2018.

Ordinary Meeting held on 24 April 2018 and of the Extraordinary Meeting held on 13 June 2018.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The minutes of the Annual Council Meeting held on 17 May 2018, Ordinary Meeting of the Council held on 24 April 2018 and the Extraordinary Meeting held on 13 June 2018 were moved by the Leader, seconded by Councillor Sutton, taken as read and signed as correct.

 

 

31.

Official Communications

Minutes:

The Lord Mayor congratulated the RAMM’s shop which had won the best shop award in the National Museums and Heritage awards; Exeter College, for being awarded an AA College Rosette for its teaching restaurant (@34), together with a regional enthuse celebration award for excellence in teaching science, technology, engineering and maths. Finally,  the Corn Exchange had been awarded the TripAdvisor certificate of excellence which recognised hospitality businesses that deliver constantly great service.

 

The Lord Mayor congratulated the Exeter Chiefs and Exeter City Football Club for reaching their respective sporting finals for the second year running, thanking both clubs for helping to keep Exeter on the national sporting map and he wished them well for their respective forthcoming seasons. 

 

The Lord Mayor also congratulated Gina Awad on her well-deserved award of the British Empire Medal in Her Majesty’s birthday honours list, for services to those with dementia.

 

The Lord Mayor advised of some of the events he had attended in his first few months ranging from the inspiring Shrouds of the Somme, The Trench installation in Northernhay Gardens, to Armed Forces Day where some 350 past, present and future members of the Armed Forces marched through the City Centre, and the wonderful Wyvern 18 at Wyvern Barracks. All reinforced the City’s important links with the military community.

 

The Lord Mayor read out the reply he had received from their Royal Highnesses the Duke and Duchess of Sussex in response to his letter passing on the City’s congratulations for their wedding, and to offer an open invitation for them to visit the City at their convenience.

 

The Lord Mayor also advised that he had the pleasure of attending Itfar to celebrate the end of Ramadan at Exeter Mosque; the opening of a new dementia unit attended by the Duchess of Gloucester; the launching of Refugee week; the Devon Development Education AGM and the judging of Britain in Bloom in the city.

 

The Lord Mayor then read out and circulated a letter he would be sending to Exeter Jewish Hebrew Congregation, Exeter Synagogue expressing his sadness on learning of the events on Saturday night, offering his support and suggesting a community service at the synagogue and a multi faith reception at the Guildhall.

 

 

 

 

32.

Planning Committee : 23 April 2018 pdf icon PDF 120 KB

Minutes:

The minutes of the Planning Committee of 23 April 2018 were presented by the Chair, Councillor Sutton, and taken as read.

 

RESOLVED that the minutes of the Planning Committee held on 23 April 2018 be received.

 

 

33.

Planning Committee - 21 May 2018 pdf icon PDF 231 KB

Minutes:

The minutes of the Planning Committee of 21 May 2018 were presented by the Chair, Councillor Sutton, and taken as read.

 

RESOLVED that the minutes of the Planning Committee held on 21 May 2018 be received.

 

 

34.

Planning Committee - 25 June 2018 pdf icon PDF 402 KB

Minutes:

The minutes of the Planning Committee of 29 June 2018 were presented by the Chair, Councillor Sutton, and taken as read.

 

Councillor Thompson declared a disclosable pecuniary interest and left the meeting for Minute Nos.142-146.

 

In respect of Minute No.143 (Planning Application No.18/0534 – Land West of Ringswell Avenue) and in response to a Member, the Chief Executive & Growth Director clarified that officer advice given at Planning Committee on issues of a technical matter were to ensure that Members had all the relevant evidence to enable them to make a decision.

 

The City Solicitor and Head of HR advised that as the Local Planning Authority, the Council had a duty to act responsibly with regards to technical advice given to Members at Planning Committee.

 

RESOLVED that the minutes of the Planning Committee held on 29 June 2018 be received.

 

 

35.

Licensing Committee - 29 May 2018 pdf icon PDF 86 KB

Minutes:

The minutes of the Licensing Committee of 29 May 2018 were presented by the Chair, Councillor Owen, and taken as read.

 

RESOLVED that the minutes of the Licensing Committee held on 29 May 2018 be received.

 

 

36.

People Scrutiny Committee - 7 June 2018 pdf icon PDF 133 KB

Minutes:

The minutes of the People Scrutiny Committee of 7 June 2018 were presented by the Chair, Councillor Wardle, and taken as read.

 

In respect of Minute No.26 (Implementation Plan and Impact of the Homelessness Reduction Act) and in response to a Member, the Portfolio Holder for People stated that monies had been allocated from the “new burdens funding” from Central Government towards the Safe Sleep initiative.

 

RESOLVED that the minutes of the People Scrutiny Committee held on 7 June 2018 be received.

 

 

37.

Place Scrutiny Committee - 14 June 2018 pdf icon PDF 137 KB

Minutes:

The minutes of the Place Scrutiny Committee of 14 June 2018 were presented by the Chair, Councillor Sills, and taken as read.

 

RESOLVED that the minutes of the Place Scrutiny Committee held on 14 June 2018 be received.

 

 

38.

Corporate Services Scrutiny Committee - 28 June 2018 pdf icon PDF 256 KB

Minutes:

The minutes of the Corporate Services Scrutiny Committee of 28 June 2018 were presented by the Deputy Chair, Councillor Warwick, and taken as read.

 

RESOLVED that the minutes of the Corporate Services Scrutiny Committee held on 28 June 2018 be received.

 

 

39.

Strata Joint Scrutiny Committee - 31 May 2018 pdf icon PDF 160 KB

Minutes:

The minutes of the Strata Joint Scrutiny Committee of 31 May 2018 were presented by Councillor Lyons and taken as read.

 

RESOLVED that the minutes of the Strata Joint Scrutiny Committee held on 31 May 2018 be received.

 

 

 

40.

Strata Joint Executive Committee - 11 June 2018 pdf icon PDF 102 KB

Minutes:

The minutes of the Strata Joint Executive Committee of 11 June 2018 were presented by Councillor Edwards, and taken as read.

 

RESOLVED that the minutes of the Strata Joint Executive Committee held on 11 June 2018 be received.

 

 

41.

Executive - 12 June 2018 pdf icon PDF 5 MB

Excluding Minute. Nos. 56, 59 and 61 which were resolved at the meeting of Extraordinary Council on 13 June 2018.

 

 

Minutes:

The minutes of the Executive of 12 June 2018 were presented by the Leader, Councillor Edwards, and taken as read.

 

RESOLVED that with the exception of Minute. Nos. 56 and 61(The Build Sport and Leisure Facilities) and 59 (Transformational Budget - First tranche of proposed projects) which had been considered at the Extraordinary Council Meeting on 13 June 2018, the minutes of Executive held on 12 June 2018 be received and, where appropriate, adopted.

 

 

 

42.

Executive - 10 July 2018 pdf icon PDF 166 KB

Minutes:

The minutes of the Executive of 10 July 2018 were presented by the Leader, Councillor Edwards, and taken as read.

 

In respect of Minute No.71 (Exeter City Group Ltd Business Case (August 2018 to March 2019), the Leader proposed the recommendation subject to an amendment to recommendation (7) to read: delegate authority to the Director (David Bartram) to agree any necessary amendments to the Management Agreement in consultation with the Leader of the Council, the Chief Finance Officer and the Portfolio Holders (currently the Portfolio Holder for Place and Commercialisation; the Portfolio Holder for People, and in addition the Chair or Deputy Chair, Corporate Services Scrutiny’. This was seconded by Councillor Sutton.

 

In accordance with Standing Order No.8, Councillor Thompson put the following questions to the Leader.

 

Question - Can the City Council ensure transparency in Council business if some of Council business is transacted through private companies?

 

The Leader replied that the City Council was able to ensure transparency by a number of internal and external controls. The City Council would be the sole shareholder of Exeter City Group Limited and Exeter City Group Limited would be the sole shareholder of Exeter City Living Property Company Limited, Exeter City Living Limited and Exeter City Homes Limited. Decisions taken by any of the Companies must be in accordance with the Articles of Association (which were public documents) and the Group Management Agreement, which sets out the relationship between the City Council and the Exeter City Group of Companies. 

 

The Articles and the Group Management Agreement set out the decision making structure and the powers delegated to the Board of Directors. In particular, the Scheme of Delegation (Schedule 4 to the Group Management Agreement) sets out how and by whom different decisions could be made. 

 

The Business Case and annual Business Plans must be approved by Full Council and there was limited scope for decisions to be taken by the Board of Directors outside of these approved documents. 

 

When going through the City Council's committee process, there would be a presumption that the Business Case and Annual Business Plans would be subject to the same presumption in favour of being made publicly available, save for the same limited exceptions for Part II matters defined in the Local Government Act 1972. For example, sensitive financial modelling information or matters relating to specific tenants or employees may legitimately be withheld as Part II matters.

 

In addition to the requirements imposed by virtue of local government legislation, the Companies will be subject to the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, the Data Protection Act 2018, the General Data Protection Regulations 2018 and the Companies Act 2006, which included the transparency rules for limited liability partnerships and limited companies introduced in April 2016.

 

In short, the City Council exercises complete control over the Companies as the sole shareholder and the Companies were subject to a range of statutory reporting and disclosure requirements.

 

Councillor Thompson asked a supplementary question  - in respect of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 42.

43.

Notice of Motion by Councillor Musgrave under Standing Order No. 6

Exeter City Council notes the varied successes of community land trust (CLTs). The council therefore resolves to:-

 

(1)  facilitate the integration of community land trusts with Exeter's existing housing policy;

 

(2)  conduct an audit for the purpose of allocating a proportion of land to made available to CLTs;

 

(3)  host a forum for self builders and residents wishing to start a CLT.

 

Minutes:

Councillor Musgrave, seconded by Councillor Mitchell, moved a Notice of Motion in the following terms:-

 

Exeter City Council notes the varied successes of community land trust (CLTs). The council therefore resolves to:-

 

(1)  facilitate the integration of community land trusts with Exeter's existing housing policy;

 

(2)  conduct an audit for the purpose of allocating a proportion of land to made available to CLTs;

 

(3)  host a forum for self builders and residents wishing to start a CLT.

 

The Leader in accordance with Standing Order 6 (5) referred this motion to Executive 11 September 2018 for consideration for legal and financial reasons. He confirmed that a representative of Exeter Community Land Trust together with the mover and seconder of the motion, would be invited to this meeting.

 

RESOLVED that this motion be referred to Executive and be brought back to Council is due course.

 

 

44.

Questions from Members of the Council under Standing Order No. 8

Minutes:

In accordance with Standing Order No. 8, the following questions were put by Councillor Thompson to the Leader.

 

Question - If Exeter City Council sell the Clifton Hill Sports Centre site for residential development preventing use of purpose built student accommodation could this produce an 'undervalue' in accordance with the Local Government Act 1972 as amended by later provisions?

 

The Leader responded that selling any land with restrictions of this type had the potential to reduce the value.

 

Question - Could Community Strategy/Well Being be a justification for 'undervalue ' if the City Council presents this argument for preventing the site to be used for purpose built student accommodation?

The Leader responded that the Council’s policy on disposals of assets at less than best consideration was agreed at Executive on 7th October 2003.  This policy provided that where the Council was minded to dispose of property at a value less than the best obtainable, then the Executive may decide to do so where such disposal would contribute to the promotion or improvement of the economic, social and environmental wellbeing of the area.

 

Put simply, any disposal of land at an undervalue of up of to £2 million would be decided by formal resolution of the Executive.

 

For any proposed sale where the undervalue exceeded £2 million, the Secretary of State’s formal consent would be required.

 

Councillor Thompson asked a supplementary question  - it states in the report by Professor Darren Smith,(of Loughborough University)commissioned by Exeter City Council, student accommodation is likely to increase with developers looking to build Purpose Built Student Accommodation (PBSA) in Exeter so how can the City Council guarantee no PBSA will be built on the Clifton Hill site when suitable sites are much in demand and a possible 4150 bed spaces in addition to those already planned could be needed in the near future?

 

The Leader replied that it was acknowledged that the city did need more purpose built student accommodation and that a small working group comprising of himself, the Portfolio Holder for City Transformation and the Chair of Planning Committee would be set up to look into this and to ensure the right balance of student accommodation in the city centre did not get saturated with PBSA. There was a need for family homes.  



Question - If the City Planning Authority were prepared to allow a student block with potential for greater density than residential accommodation could this create a considerable difference in land value?

 

The Leader replied yes it could.

 

Councillor Thompson asked a supplementary question  - with a PSBA already in the location near to Belmont Park would the Clifton Hill site attract student housing investors, which could make it difficult to justify an 'undervalue'?

 

The Leader replied that student accommodation would not be built on this site, nor the rest of the Bus Station site.

 

Question - If land value proved greater with high density purpose built student accommodation how would the City Council justify a substantial loss of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 44.