Agenda item

Details of questions should be notified to the Corporate Manager Democratic and Civic Support at least three working days prior to the meeting - by 10am on Thursday 15 October 2020. Further information and a copy of the procedure are available from Democratic Services (Committees) (Tel: 01392 265115) with details about speaking at Council to be found here: Public Speaking at Meetings.

The Lord Mayor reported the receipt of three questions from the public.

Mrs. C Thompson to Councillor Bialyk, Leader.

Mrs Thompson was not present and her question was read out by the Corporate Manager Democratic and Civic Support.

The Audit and Governance meeting reported funding for Pinhoe Hub was approved at Council, although Minutes state -‘Whilst the funding has been set aside Council also needs to approve an expenditure budget to enable the funding to be used’, -could the Leader advise when the required expenditure budget was presented to Council for approval?

Response

Thank you Mrs. Thompson for your question. 

Minute 114 to which Mrs Thomson refers begins:-

The report of the Assistant Director Finance was submitted which sought approval for an expenditure budget of £100,000, to enable the funding set aside for the new Community Hub in Pinhoe to be allocated.

The resolution of the Council was to adopt the recommendation below:-

RECOMMENDED that Council approves an expenditure budget of £100,000 as Exeter’s contribution to the new Community Hub planned for Pinhoe.

Therefore the expenditure budget was approved at the Council meeting on 18 October 2016.

Mrs. C Thompson to Councillor Bialyk, Leader.

Mrs. Thompson was not present and her question was read out by the Corporate Manager Democratic and Civic Support.

Following the conclusion of the objection to the City Council’s 2018/19 annual accounts, could the Leader advise when the findings of the objection noted in the Statement of Reasons letter by the External Auditor will be presented to the Audit and Governance Committee and made available to the public?

Response

The Leader stated that the Statement of Reasons is a letter from Grant Thornton to Mrs. Cynthia Thompson.  It is not directed to Exeter City Council.  It will not therefore be presented to Committee or published as it is not our document.

Marilyn Spurr to Councillor Sutton, Deputy Leader and Portfolio Holder for Climate and Culture

Marilyn Spurr was unable to present her question due to Zoom connection difficulties and therefore the question was read out by the Corporate Manager Democratic and Civic Support.

On 21st July I asked the Council if it would give the climate emergency the same prominence on its web site as the Coronavirus information.  From the response, I was led to believe that the answer was 'yes' and I expected to see it given a position on the home page.  Would the Councillors agree that the site still does not convey a sense of urgency?

Response

Since this was last brought to Council, the Leader of the Council has designated the Deputy Leader of the Council in charge of Net Zero, a Director has been tasked with responsibility for delivering and resourcing it, and it has been added as a core corporate priority for the Council to deliver on.  There is no doubt of its importance in our Autumn update of Our Strategy.

The Council took a proactive stance in communicating Net Zero to residents and continues to take the lead.

It was placed on the Home Page with a link to the news item as requested but subsequently changed when it needed to. There may be continued cosmetic changes to the front page of the website and services as information around the pandemic needs to be communicated to residents which is a priority. The Net Zero Carbon ambitions are crucial to the City Council going forward.