Agenda, decisions and minutes

Councillors are reminded of the need to declare any disclosable pecuniary interests that relate to business on the agenda and which have not already been included in the register of interests, before any discussion takes place on the item. Unless the interest is sensitive, you must also disclose the nature of the interest. In accordance with the Council's Code of Conduct, you must then leave the room and must not participate in any further discussion of the item. Councillors requiring clarification should seek the advice of the Monitoring Officer prior to the day of the meeting.

No declarations of disclosable pecuniary interests were made.

To consider any recommendations made to the Executive from Scrutiny Committee.

The Leader, Councillor Bialyk presented the recommendations and stated that these would be addressed within the item on the agenda.

“The Customer Focus Scrutiny Committee held on 23 June 2025 recommend that:

• the Executive discuss the possibility of community ownership with the Northbrook Trust and interested parties including community groups.
• the VAT reclaim be investigated to see how a portion might be reinvested in the future of the Northbrook Pool.”

To consider the report of the Strategic Director for Place.

Agreed:

RESOLVED that:

1.    the Executive agrees to the of closure of Northbrook Swimming Pool, based on the consideration of key income and expenditure reports, information gathered following public consultation and the Equalities Impact Assessment (EQIA).

2.    the Executive delegates authority to the Strategic Director for Place, in consultation with the Leader to undertake the closure of the facility.

3.    that support is provided to existing members and users, including local schools, in transitioning to alternative Exeter Leisure facilities.

4.    any increase in costs to the Leisure Services to be reported back to the Executive and Council for approval.

5.    as recommended by Scrutiny, Executive asks officers to facilitate a discussion with the Northbrook Trust and interested parties, including community groups, on the possibility of community ownership.

Reason for Decision: As set out in the report and amended at the meeting.

The Strategic Director for Place presented the report and gave a presentation (slides attached), making the following points:

·         no decision had been taken to close the pool at the time of budget-setting, nor until full consultation and impact assessment had been carried out;

·         there was a legal requirement to undertake an Equality Impact Assessment(EQIA);

·         a balance must be struck between reductions in the leisure service aside maintaining the pool;

·         a saving was required to maintain a legally balanced budget;

·         the spend on Northbrook Pool was more than the income raised through use of the pool;

·         the Building was owned by the Northbrook Community Trust and leased to the Council, with 70-years remaining;

·         a significant investment in the building was necessary to bring the building up to industry standards;

·         investment to reduce carbon emissions was necessary and to make the building DDA compliant;

·         the Financial case for works was based on  estimates as quotes were not available at this time;

·         the public consultation detail could be found at Appendix B. Time and effort had gone into the design of the consultation to receive rich qualitative data and understand the real life impacts;

·         the EQIA could be found at Appendix C and highlighted the negative impacts on those with protected characteristics;

·         a closure plan would be a technical process and would support leisure members and users (including schools) to transition to other leisure facilities, including our other two swimming pools and to utilise the portfolio of services the council had;

·         the council was fortunate to have dedicated, knowledgeable staff and if necessary there would be a process to protect them utilising the organisational change process; and

·         there would be a de-commissioning process which would include emptying the pool and officers would work with Members and users, including schools, and listen, support and enable them to continue at other facilities.

During discussion, Executive Members raised the following points and questions:

·         concern for those with autism and mental health conditions was highlighted and it was asked whether groups were consulted with when SSP was designed;

·         as part of mitigation could staff arrange a quiet, relaxed session for those with autism or SEND children or adults to see the other pool and have a swim as some anxiety maybe around not knowing what to expect;

·         how much would it cost to bring the pool back to a state of repair in accordance with the lease in order to hand back;

·         the portfolio holder, Councillor Wood stated that a good discussion had been held at the Customer Focus Scrutiny meeting and that he was proud of the leisure service with 5 large centres and one smaller one which had seen 1.8million visits over the last year and asked how many people had attended Northbrook, relative to this number;

·         Northbrook represented 9% of the Council’s carbon emissions and asked that the reason for decarbonisation funding having been unsuccessful or not pursued be reiterated;

·         how many pools within the Exeter area were open to the public;

·         Councillor Ruth  ...  view the full minutes text for item 48.

To consider the report of the Strategic Director for Corporate Resources.

Agreed:

RESOLVED to:

1.    amend the Car Park Places Order 2014 as follows:

a)      Increase car parking charges at all car parks as detailed in 8.2 of the report;

b)      To pass the transaction charge for using the Ringgo App to the user:

c)      To move the following car parks from Zone 1 to Central Zone

a.             Howell Road;

b.             Triangle;

d)      £75,000 of the income achieved from Car Parks to be set aside for maintenance, improvements and carbon reduction measures to city centre car parks.

2.    delegate authority to consider the responses to the consultation and determine whether to implement the Order (or parts thereof) to the Head of Service Commercial Assets in consultation with the Strategic Director Corporate Resources and Leader of the Council.

Reason for Decision: As set out in the report and amended at the meeting.

The Executive received the report which sought to make amendments under the Parking Places Order to improve the regulation of Council car parks and to support the aims of reducing traffic congestion.

Reference was made to:

·         the proposal being to begin consultation on the amendments to the Parking Places Order which would take place in line with statutory requirements which maybe short than, but would comply with the Consultation Charter;

·         £75,000 income was being requested but this was a Council function; and

·         Should the proposal be agreed this would incorporated into the budget monitoring.

During discussion, Executive Members raised the following points and questions:

·         Would this come back to the Executive for approval;

·         Last year a decision had been made having listened to the public;

·         What type of carbon reduction measure were there surrounding car parking;

·         A typographical error in the recommendation was pointed out; and

·         Would there be tracking to determine whether there had been higher footfall within the city centre as a result.

In response to questions raised the Strategic Director for Corporate Resources advised that:

·         The proposal was seeking delegated authority so there would be no need to come before the Executive again, if approved;

·         Detailed carbon reduction measures would be provided;

·         The typographical error would be corrected;

·         The new Head of Service had ideas and was actively exploring ways to reduce ASB;

·         If the proposals were adopted following consultation then a recommendation would be made to Council; and

·         It was early days since the introduction of the reduced Sunday charge but tracking was undertaken and would be monitored.

Opposition group leaders made and raised the following questions and points:

·         Was the policy to pursue car parking charges maximising income;

·         How would this proposal reduce emissions in the city;

·         If charges increased further, would people shop from home more or go where there is no charge;

·         It was good that the cost of Ringgo would be passed to users;

·         Car parks were the largest income stream, was this as large as council tax; and

·         They would not wish to deter footfall into the city.

In response to the opposition leaders comments the Leader reminded Members that a year ago charges had not been increased regardless of this being a substantial revenue stream and that he would talk to Directors about the policy.

The Strategic Director for Corporate Resources stated that there was a responsibility to keep traffic moving in the city and that increasing charges may act as a deterrent meaning some people may consider alternative forms of transport. Car Parking charges were the single largest income stream and there was a balance to be struck in support everyone, including the local economy.

The Leader moved the recommendations as amended, which were seconded by Councillor Wright, voted upon, and CARRIED unanimously.

Agreed:

RESOLVED to:

1.    amend the Car Park Places Order 2014 as follows:

a)      Increase car parking charges at all car parks as detailed in 8.2 of the report;

b)      To pass the transaction charge for  ...  view the full minutes text for item 49.