Agenda item

To consider the report of the Director Culture, Leisure and Tourism

The Service Lead Active and Healthy People presented the report which provided an update for Members on work undertaken and planned under the Live and Move Strategy, across Exeter and Cranbrook, with the aim of increasing health inequality and physical activity. The report also provided an opportunity to highlight the Council’s programme of work around physical activity and well-being in local communities as well as an update on the Sport England delivery pilot. The Strategy targeted 12 locations across the city, supporting those communities that suffer from the poorest health outcomes and the highest level of inactivity across the city. The three specific outcomes were to:-

·      increase everyday physical activity

·      increase walking and cycling use,  and

·      physical activity to improve community connectivity.

The team were about to oversee an Active Lives survey for 2023 which Sport England used to obtain a tangible benchmark. A review of the 2022 survey had already helped identify the levels of physical activity of residents in the priority locations. The Service Lead Active and Healthy People would share the survey results, but he wished to highlight three significant things that they noted from last year’s survey:-

·      Exeter had a stronger bounce back from Covid, with good levels of physical activity, testament to the investment made with local partners such as Exeter City Community Trust.

·      the narrowing of the gender gap in terms of more women and girls being physically active in Exeter than the national average. Campaigns such as ‘This Girl Can’ had helped to raise activity levels. 

·      investment in a local charity had resulted in an increase physical activity rates in the city’s culturally diverse communities using the Wonford Sports Centre.

Other areas of note included:-

·      field work for the next Active Lives survey would be launched shortly.

·      the Council will be invited to submit an application to secure a long term place partnership with Sport England later this year. Their investment and support would enable the Strategy to extend beyond the 2025 date to continue until 2030. 

·      a report to create a Wonford Community Wellbeing Hub with a proposed design and future management model would be presented to a future Executive and Council meeting.

·      work was due to take place in Newtown on a low traffic neighbourhood project with local consultation on a design for the public realm and walking and cycling infrastructure as well as creating a new outdoor community space. 

·      a new 12 week well-being and social prescribing programme working with the NHS, for more vulnerable residents to have opportunity to connect and access the facilities with a broader programme than just relating to physical long term conditions.

·      consultation by Devon County Council relating to the local walking and cycling offer to increase those activities through relatively low cost infrastructure projects. 

·      work on the Green Circle had improved signage, and access with a digital app to track the route, as well as looking at ways to improving ownership of local sections.

The Service Lead Active and Healthy People responded to the following Members’ comments:-

·      the Live and Move team have been involved throughout the development of the LCWIP (the Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan) with colleagues from Planning and will make a formal response to the consultation. The Assistant Service Lead (Local Plan) advised that his team had worked with Devon County Council in preparing the LCWIP. It was an important transport policy document for the city, and may help to inform the routes and future development and the location of some of the suggested priority routes. He made an offer to summarise comments received by a Member from the public, to capture those in the City Council’s response. 

·      funding for the current Sport England Programme runs out in 2025, but it is anticipated that the Sport England delivery pilot will run into a longer term partnership, with bids being made up to 2030.

·      the live surveys offered a wealth of data and information, and included a profile of age, gender, and levels of disability across the wards, which he was happy to share with Members

·      applications could be made for placed based funding to offer a targeted resource to support programmes or develop ideas and activity coming through the community builders and community physical activity organisers.

·      referencing activity levels the criteria for fairly active was 30 to a 150 minutes exercise and active levels were more than 150 minutes a week. The team will continue to invest in those areas of the city that identified will make a difference to the mainstream activity levels of the population across the whole of Exeter. 

The Director stated that he had no further information on the Water Lane site, but the basic principles on active design and walking in terms of the Liveable Exeter sites would be adhered to. He invited Members to pass on any comments to the City Development and Live and Move teams.

The Chair thanked Officers for the report and proposed a further recommendation to support the aspirations for long term funding with Sport England.

Strategic Scrutiny Committee noted the following:-

(1)    progress made against the strategy, and its contribution towards key priorities in the City Council’s Corporate Plan;

(2)   an update on progress be made to Strategic Scrutiny twice a year; and

(3)   support for the aspirations for long term funding with Sport England.