Issue - meetings

The two Citizens Advice Exeter items on the agenda were presented jointly. After the representatives from Citizens Advice Exeter had introduced themselves, the Chair:-

•               encouraged all participants to avoid the divisive language of “sides”;

•               reminded all attendees that this is not a Scrutiny of Council Officers, as the decision to halt the funding of Citizens Advice Exeter was a political one;

•               explained that the Strategic Director – People and Communities was present to provide points of clarity if required; and

•               requested that any Motions that Members wish to propose be formulated after the end of the debate.

She then invited Councillor Vizard, as Portfolio Holder for Communities, and Councillor M Mitchell, as originator of the Scrutiny proposal, to the table.

The Chair announced that the reports and appendices would be taken as read. She asked the originator of the Scrutiny proposal to open the debate. Councillor M Mitchell made the following comments:-

·         it was important to move forward;

·         the easy action for Members would be to take no action;

·         Citizens Advice essentially wanted Exeter City Council to look at the matter again;

·         the remit of this Scrutiny committee was to make a recommendation to the Executive;

·         this issue would be revisited for the 2025-26 Budget;

·         the present meeting did not mark the end of the conversation; and

·         every District Council in Devon contributed financially to Citizens Advice except Exeter City Council.

During debate, Members expressed the following views:-

Councillor Fullam:-

·         reminded Members of his current role working in social housing;

·         noted media reports of rising demand for legal advice;

·         wondered what capacity there was to fulfil such a role in the city; and

·         wondered who people needing immigration advice and/or with a language barrier could turn to.

Councillor Harding:-

·         raised the issue of the knock-on effect on ECC staff if people could no longer turn to Citizens Advice Exeter.

Councillor Moore:-

·         raised the issue of data recording, remarking that Citizens Advice Exeter had sent regular updates to ECC;

·         asked how the referrals had been monitored during the contract period;

·         asked what contract management was in place; and

·         asked if staff had been advised to stop issuing referrals.

Councillor Darling:-

·         sought clarity regarding discrepancies around rent and service charges in the tables submitted by Citizens Advice Exeter; and

·         asked why Citizens Advice Exeter had spent £75,000 on premises when premises had been offered to them by ECC.

Councillor Read:-

·         felt that no overall monetary impact assessment on Council finances had been made; and

·         wondered if it was likely to be plausible that there would be no impact.

Councillor Pole:-

·         sought clarity and detail on the income and expenditure summary table submitted by Citizens Advice Exeter and queried why the figures Devon County Council, Exeter City Council and ‘other’ were presented jointly in a single column;

·         raised the issue of performance indicators linked to the contract between ECC and Citizens Advice Exeter; and

·         made reference to the work of the Churches Housing Action Team (CHAT) in Mid-Devon, whose  ...  view the full minutes text for item 38