Agenda and minutes

Venue: Rennes Room, Civic Centre, Paris Street, Exeter

Contact: Howard Bassett, Democratic Services Officer (Committees)  01392 265107 or email  howard.bassett@exeter.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

18.

Election of Chair and Deputy Chair

The office of Chair and Deputy Chair alternates between the County Council and City Council, with the previous year’s Deputy becoming Chair the following year. Last year, the Chair and Deputy were Devon County Council and Exeter City Council Members respectively.

 

Minutes:

In accordance with the agreement that the Chairmanship and Deputy Chairmanship should alternate annually between the City and County Councils, it was:-

 

RESOLVED that:-

 

(1)     Councillor Bialyk be appointed Chair for 2019/20; and

  

(2)     Councillor Leadbetter be appointed Deputy Chair for 2019/20.          

 

19.

Apologies

Minutes:

These were received from Councillors Asvachin and Brennan.

 

20.

Minutes of the Meeting held on 26 November 2018 pdf icon PDF 59 KB

Minutes:

RESOLVED that, subject to Councillor Sutton not being included in the list of attendees as she had given her apologies, the minutes of the meeting held on 26 November 2018 be taken as read, approved and signed by the Chair as a correct record.

 

 

 

21.

Exeter Members of the Youth Parliament

Minutes:

The Chair welcomed Amy Bickford, Participation Worker, Freya Hope, Ella Edmonds and Leela Raz. They spoke to the following elements of the attached presentation:-

 

·         Freya Hope - Curriculum for Life Campaign - seeking to properly equip students for the future including applying for jobs, economics and discrimination and seeking a proper curriculum in Devon with over 102,000 young people voting for the need to have a Curriculum For Life;

·         Ella Edmonds - combating mental health problems to improve awareness of issues that affect young people’s mental health such as exam pressure, online bullying and body image with schools a crucial area of change; and

·         LeelaRaz - creating a greener future for Britain has been a key part of the Youth Parliament manifesto for several years. This year young people have played a huge part in raising awareness of climate change with the Fridays4Future movement and the recent school strikes.

 

Members discussed with the Youth Parliament representatives the issues raised.

 

Curriculum

 

It was recognised that curricula could become quickly outdated with Brexit and Climate Change cited as possible examples not being covered. Lobbying of MP’s through Parliament’s Education Select Committee was suggested as an avenue to seek change and inviting politicians, both local and national, to schools and colleges another. Increasingly, local authority meetings were live streamed with comprehensive on line access to agenda etc.

 

Mental Health

 

Members recognised the growing challenges around mental health noting that schools were no longer required to provide structured support in this area. They encouraged the representatives to identify best practise across Devon schools and colleges. Responding to a Member, all representatives enlarged on the reasons for mental health being the second highest issue voted for in the young people Make Your Mark ballot such as a greater understanding of, and willingness to talk about, the issues when compared with the past. Social media, often cited as a contributing factor, also offered on line support services for those who felt this avenue was the only way of obtaining help.

 

Environment

 

Recent City and County Council meetings had focused on Climate Change which could be viewed on line and visits for young people to City Council initiatives such as Exeter City Futures and the new Passivhous Leisure Centre could be arranged.

 

The Chair thanked the Youth Parliament representatives for an informative and interesting presentation and praised their commitment and the very high quality of their work.

 

The Programme Manager Communities stated that the issues raised by the Youth Parliament Members should be viewed alongside the aims of the Exeter Youth Strategy and the work and outcomes being delivered by DYS Space, the youth service commissioned by Devon County Council. Members agreed that the three issues raised in the previous presentation should be noted and that the Board should offer future support to the Youth Parliament who should be encouraged to come forward with further ideas. 

 

22.

Grant Support

Minutes:

The Chair reported that he had agreed in consultation with the Deputy Chair that the balance of the remaining Exeter Town and Parish Council Grant of £89,367, that had been passed to Exeter City Council, was to be spent to aid the transition arrangements between the old Exeter City Council grants programme and the introduction of the new programme, subject to ratification by the City Council on 23 July 2019.   

 

One–off grants were to be allocated to two organisations, based on risk assessments undertaken by officers, to provide head-room for alternative sustainable funding to be sought.  These organisations both provided services to vulnerable groups with protected characteristics under the Disability Discrimination Act (2010) and were therefore high priority areas for both councils.    

 

  1. Ex Access - £34,000 over two years 2019/20 and 2020/21 to provide support for core running costs; and
  2. Devon Rape Crisis - £6,000 for 2019/20 to provide support for core running costs

 

In addition:

 

·         £25,0000 would establish an additional Young Persons Small Grant Fund to be launched alongside the Exeter Grants programmeto support grass roots projects generated by young people (under 24); and

·         the remaining £24,369 would be held in reserve to cover any particular unidentified emergency need that could emerge in 2019/20 from a group or organisation that would not be eligible for funding from either the City Council or County Council grants programmes to be awarded as required. This process would be delegated to the City Council’s Director (JY), subject to prior consultation with the Chair and Deputy Chair of this Board.

 

RESOLVED that the grants to the bodies set out above and the process going forward be approved unanimously.

 

23.

Exeter Strategic Board - Future Way Forward for the Board pdf icon PDF 54 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Chair invited contributions on the way forward for the Strategic Board.

 

There was a general consensus that the Board had a role to play in helping foster a common approach for the benefit of Exeter’s residents and communities. One Member referred to the ongoing difficulties in the City following the re-organisation of the County Council’s youth service in response to budget cuts such as anti-social behaviour with two Members referring to Climate Change issues such as air quality, traffic congestion and the clean air agenda as areas where the work and responsibilities of both authorities overlapped and could benefit from Board input.

 

The Chair agreed that the Board had an important role to play in helping ensure the two authorities worked together but cautioned against it developing an over-arching scrutiny role given the extensive scrutiny work already undertaken in various other fora. He proposed that the City Council leadership liaise with the two County Council party leads represented on the Board to agree on appropriate agenda items such as climate change, referring also to the County Council Leader’s annual “state of the nation” presentation to this Board in November. Given the change in grant funding arrangements he asked for the removal from the terms of reference of the bullet point “to allocate community funding to projects of community or citywide relevance”

 

The County Council Head of Communities suggested briefings for Board Members on the lines of the County’s “Masterclasses”.

 

A Member referred to the forthcoming consultation by the Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service on six options as part of a re-organisation of the service, ranging from the closure of stations, through to appliances being removed from stations and changes in staffing. Topsham station was one of those under threat. Members supported the proposal to invite representatives of the Service to the Board meeting on Thursday 19 September.

 

RESOLVED that:-

 

(1)        the way forward for the Exeter Strategic Board operate, as discussed above, be supported in accordance with the revised terms of reference attached; and

 

(2)        representatives of the Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service be invited to the next Board meeting on 19 September 2019.

 

24.

Feedback from Member representation pdf icon PDF 101 KB

 

(a)  Community Safety Partnership – Executive Group

 

Minutes of the meetings held on 16 January and 23 April 2019.

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Community Safety Partnership – Executive Group

 

The Board noted the minutes of the meetings held on 16 January and 23 April 2019.

 

25.

Dates of Future Meetings

Thursday 19 September 2019

Thursday 14 November 2019

Thursday 30 January 2020

Thursday 18 June 2020

Thursday 17 September 2020

 

Minutes:

The following dates of future Board meetings were noted, all commencing at 5.30pm in the Civic Centre.

 

Thursday 19 September 2019

Thursday 14 November 2019

Thursday 30 January 2020

Thursday 18 June 2020

Thursday 17 September 2020