Agenda and minutes

These were received from Gillian Champion and Councillor Prowse.

The Chair welcomed Councillors Edwards and Owen to their first meeting of the Board. They had replaced Councillors Branston and Robson.

The Chair requested that the thanks of the Board be passed on to Councillors Branston and Robson for their service to the Board.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 25 September 2014 be taken as read and signed by the Chair as correct.

No questions had been received from the public.

The Chair agreed to take the following item as urgent business because of the need to inform the Board of Exeter Pound’s application for funding support prior to consideration by the Funding Sub Group.

The Chair welcomed Ian Martin and Jo Childs, Development Workers for Exeter Pound to the meeting who presented a case for the funding of the Exeter Pound project.

Local currencies had been trialled successfully in both Bristol and Totnes, where local features were incorporated in the design of the notes which had been distributed to businesses and residents for use within the administrative areas only. An application for £5,000 would be made to the Funding Sub Group to meet printing costs with a further £5,000 to be raised to meet the electronic delivery of the project via credit cards, texts etc.

The scheme would be launched in September 2015 to coincide with the Rugby World Cup and it would be preceded by a design competition for the notes with four categories of Primary, Secondary, Further Education and Adults and Professionals and exhibitions at the Phoenix and the Guildhall. The scheme would also be promoted through groups such as the Federation of Small Businesses and local trader associations such as the Fore Street Collective and at the Magdalen Road Christmas Fayre.

The project would boost the local economy, enhance local businesses and instil pride in the City with district centres also likely to benefit. In Bristol, in the first two years of a three year scheme, 100 trades had signed up and it was hoped that this figure would be exceeded in Exeter.

The Chair thanked Ian Martin and Jo Childs for attending.

The Chair welcomed Gavin Milne to the meeting. The Little House operated as a contact centre providing safe, beneficial contact for children separated from their families and was one of Chapter 1’s 40 projects in England, many of which were also facing severe financial pressures. It provided a flexible and child centred approach to meet the specific requirements of the individual family. Previously funded through the Big Lottery for three years, it was seeking support in the sum of £8,217 as pump priming which, hopefully, would ensure its continued operation for the following two years. It had, to date, secured £37,000 towards its continued work.

In response to Members, he confirmed that funding was being sought from other sources including Trust Funds such as the Gibbon Housing Trust and he was encouraged to approach the Safer Devon Partnership. He explained the nature of the supported and unsupported work with families and stated that there had been an increase in self referrals. Little House worked in conjunction with other agencies such as Cafcass and SAFE, the former undertaking monitoring work.

The Chair thanked Gavin Milne for attending.

The Chair welcomed Phil Atwell, Director of Campus Services of the University of Exeter. The presentation covered the following areas:-

·         growth and development of the campus;

·         the University of Exeter’s ranking and reputation;

·         economic contribution;

·         students in the City including residences;

·         students as residents in the City, their impact and involvement in the community;

·         the University in the City including sport and art and culture;

·         involvement of the University with Exeter College and local schools;

·         capital projects;

·         impact on the environment; and

·         partnerships.

Discussions with the Director included:-

·         anti social behaviour – although the University took this issue very seriously, there had been surprise at the level of problems experienced this October. A working group had been established to look into this year’s difficulties and to prepare better for the 2016 academic year involving Licensed Premises proprietors. A Community Forum was being set up for third party providers of student accommodation to address problems of anti social behaviour at some of these premises. Members asked that the City Council be included in the discussions with the private operators;

·         student welfare - inductions for new students, including the growing international cohort,  was an important aspect and covered practical living issues in HMO’s including bin emptying as well as health considerations relating to alcohol mis-use. The University and Guild were supportive of the Unipol scheme, which set accreditation standards for private landlords and only those accredited were included on the university’s recommended housing lists. A sample of privately provided student HMO houses were also inspected by the University;

·         housing - recognising the concerns of some regarding overall student numbers and the impact on the housing market, with a current student population of 17,483 it was not the intention to increase beyond 20,000 as this could dilute academic standards etc; and

·         student impact - Rory Cunningham, the Community Liaison Officer undertook extensive work with local residents in resolving issues and some communities actively worked with students on certain issues. Students too, made a significant and positive contribution to the life of the City through volunteering, sports and education such as maths mentoring.

The Chair thanked Phil Atwell for the presentation.

Members thanked the University for their presentation and praised the work and contribution made by the University to the life of the City, recognising that its enhanced prestige reflected well on Exeter, as well as its on-going work to address certain issues of concern to Members and residents.

The following updates were provided in respect of the continuation of youth service provision in the City:-

West Side

Peter Stephenson of the Exeter YMCA was confident of proceeding and that the financial position would be tenable. A building survey report was awaited, the Chair remarking that, should repair works be required, the Invest in Devon fund could be a possible source. The City Council’s Corporate Manager Property felt that there should not be a problem in relaxing use of the building to enable wider community use.

Knight Club

Richard Cummings of ISCA Church was very positive and also awaiting the results of a survey to be undertaken on 28 November after which it was hoped that a property handover would occur through a 25 year lease with interim ‘tenancy at will’ ready to allow immediate access once ISCA have confirmed that they are prepared to take on the property. Repairs to a leaking roof would be necessary. Three youth sessions, two in the afternoon, were already been held. It was acknowledged that the continuation of the service would be on the basis of serving the whole community and that this would be included within the terms and conditions of the Knight Club transfer to the Church.

Phoenix and 100 Club

The 100 Club Youth Hub was operational with three sessions a week between 6.30pm and 9.00pm. Because of its stronger resources and role of Youth Centre Hub for the city it was able to serve the wider community. As Wonford was about two miles away, Steff Holwell at the Club had agreed to run sessions for the young people of Wonford whose travel to the cub would be subsidised by county councillor funds. Initial sessions had been well attended and it was anticipated would grow in number. Support for Wonford by the 100 Club, although not ideal, was therefore a viable option.

Two key issues for the Phoenix Club were the development of a business plan, including the generation of sufficient income from hiring out to other community groups to help continued youth provision, and resolving the lease arrangements. The current lease restriction from the City Council was for “youth activities only” and not for wider community use, a restriction put in place as the Wonford Community Learning Centre was situated next to the Phoenix and had a corresponding restriction limiting it to “community purpose and not for youth activities”. The YMCA had concerns that a continuation of the current lease restrictions would have a negative impact on being able to offer a sustainable service for young people.

The agreement of the Wonford Community Learning Centre trustees was necessary for the lease arrangements to be changed to allow both centres to be run for youth and community activities and this was being negotiated with the Centre as well as the potential of the YMCA running some youth provision from the Centre on limited available evenings in the interim.

The Chair reported that Peter Stephenson had advised that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 31.

It was noted that a meeting of the Sub Group was being canvassed for January 2015 with the next scheduled meeting thereafter being 7 April 2015.

(a)  Exeter Health and Well Being Board

Minutes of the meeting held on 7 October 2014

The Board noted the minutes of the meeting of the Exeter Health and Well Being Board held on 7 October 2014.

RESOLVED that:-

1)    future meetings of the Board commence at 5.30pm; and

2)    the following dates and venues for meetings be noted:-

Thursday 15 January 2015 - Civic Centre

Tuesday 28 April 2015 - County Hall

Thursday 23 July 2015 - City Centre

Thursday 24 September 2015 - County Hall