Agenda item

Councillors R.M. Hannaford (Portfolio Holder for Housing and Community Involvement) and Councillor G.N. Sheldon (Portfolio Holder for Environment and Leisure) will present a verbal report on the priorities for the forthcoming year in light of the Committee’s work programme.

Councillor Hannaford presented the annual report for 2012/13 and the priorities for 2013/14 within the Housing and Community Involvement Portfolio for the forthcoming year. The reports are attached to these minutes.

The following responses were given to Members’ questions:-

• consideration was being given to the introduction of a voluntary licensing scheme for houses in multiple occupation similar to that operated by Oxford. Ideally, Parliamentary legislation was required to introduce a national scheme and it was hoped that this would be progressed in the same way that the Mobile Homes Act 2013 has been introduced to tighten up the operation of mobile home parks;
• the intention was to introduce 150 extra care bedspaces across the City which would be undertaken in conjunction with Devon County Council, the primary provider. The City Council would assist with facilitation and development;
• a more joined up approach to property management would be developed to increase savings; and
• changes to the housing allocations system would be considered as a result of the flexibility offered by the Localism Act.

Councillor Sheldon presented the priorities within the Environment and Leisure Portfolio for the forthcoming year. The report is attached to these minutes.

The following responses were given to Members’ questions:-

• because of budgetary restrains there is no schedule of improvements for play areas. Works are largely funded by Section 106 Agreements;
• a start date for the replacement of the Arena track will be known after the receipt of tenders. The Council will work further with regional bodies to attract more regional events to the City once refurbishment is completed;
• drainage works are being undertaken to the Higher Cemetery Children’s burial area but not a general upgrade at this stage;
• building on the ‘looking good’ redesign pilot, the potential for place-based service delivery, including partnerships with the County Council to deliver services on their behalf would be explored;
• there will be proactive work with businesses to increase the number engaging with the City Council as their Primary Authority. There will also be work with Trading Standards to enhance the Primary Authority offering to businesses;
• Marsh Barton was chosen for an ‘Estates Excellence’ initiative focussing on health, safety and welfare of employees as it had a greater critical mass and possessed better economies of scale than smaller estates such as Pinhoe;
• a project, in conjunction with Gas Safe, will be introduced to encourage and ensure regular maintenance of gas appliances using qualified gas engineers as over 46% of catering premises had been found to be lacking in some way following routine food inspections;
• the Taxi Marshall scheme, a pilot funded by the Exeter Community Safety Partnership (Baroness Newlove’s “Alcohol Fund”) had proved a success to date with reported incidents much reduced and with the trade noting an increase in customer use. It was the intention to extend the scheme, potentially through the licensing regime;
• if the City Centre BID is successful, businesses will be further encouraged to opt for a single trade waste collector in order to co-ordinate collections;
• Museum attendance figures have levelled off but are substantially higher than before the re-development. The legal problems and over-run of the project are still being pursued and Members will be kept informed of progress; and
• the review of the Licensing Policy is a programme of work for the Licensing Committee Members, however, it was right to notify this Committee that this was one of the Portfolio Holder’s priorities.