Agenda and draft minutes

To approve and sign the minutes of the meeting held on 12 March 2026.

The minutes of the meeting held on 12 March 2026 were taken as read, approved and signed by the Chair as correct subject to the following amendments.

Minute No. 41:

·        an application was being planned for had been submitted for Nature Towns and Cities accreditation; 

·        there was a contamination issue with separate on-street recycling litter bins but these would be trialled at the Quay;

·        Viridor seemed positive at a previous Strategic Waste Exeter ERF Community Liaison Committee meeting.

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 interest were made by Members.

Details of questions should be notified to the Democratic Services Manager via the democratic.services@exeter.gov.uk email by 10am at least three working days prior to the meeting. For this meeting any questions must be submitted by 10am on Monday 30 March 2026.

For further details about how to speaking at meetings, please click the following link: https://exeter.gov.uk/council-and-democracy/councillors-and-meetings/public-speaking-at-meetings/overview/

There were no questions submitted by the public.

To receive questions from Members of the Council to the relevant Portfolio Holders for this Scrutiny Committee. The Portfolio Holders reporting to this Scrutiny Committee are:

Councillor Bialyk -       Leader

Councillor Patrick -     Portfolio Holder City Development

Councillor Vizard -      Portfolio Holder Climate, Ecological Change and Communities

Councillor Wood -       Portfolio Holder Leisure Services and Physical Activity

Councillor Wright -      Deputy Leader and Portfolio Holder Corporate Services and City Centre

Councillor Foale -       Portfolio Holder Arts, Culture and Tourism

Advance questions from Members relating to the Portfolio Holders above should be notified to the Democratic Services Manager.

In accordance with Standing Order No. 20, the following questions were submitted by Councillor Wetenhall in relation to the Portfolio of the Leader who attended the meeting.

Question

“Councillors have been waiting for an update on a review of CIL governance since November 2024 when internal audit identified as an area of weakness. In January this year, you said in an email to me that “The Task Group is an officer meeting to explore governance models and approaches for CIL/S106. This part of the work is now complete, and the Head of City Development is finalising draft proposals for SMB to consider.  Last week’s Audit and Governance Committee was informed that a further internal audit is now being undertaken next financial year.

Can the Portfolio Holder answer the following questions, to enable Strategic Scrutiny members to have an oversight of what is happening given the long delay and no date being provided as to when Councillors will have further information.

1. When do you expect SMB to consider proposals from the work of the Task Group given that you said the work was complete in January of this year?
2. What changes or improvements are already in place on CIL governance, if any, since the audit report of Nov 24?
3. How and when will Councillors have an opportunity to see any aspect of this ongoing work?”

Response

1. SMB had reviewed the draft proposals for CIL/s106 governance and the Leader would meet with Directors next week.

2. A report to the Executive on 28 April would recommend a new governance framework

3. All the actions recommended by the audit review have been completed and will be reported to the Audit and Governance Committee in due course. 

Supplementary Questions and Responses

1. Councillor Wetenhall asked why the Strategic Director had stated that the report would be ready in two weeks if the Leader was meeting with him next week? The Leader responded stating that officers were bringing forward the proposal for him to consider and it would likely be complete by next week but he may ask for amendments to be made.

2. Councillor Wetenhall asked if she could see the work of the task group, which she had asked the Director. The Leader responded that audit had identified a weakness which the Council was looking at. He also informed the committee that officers had been working on this and had met with him once and there had been further work to complete and he had received a draft last week. The Leader added that he would discuss this with the Portfolio Holder and report back to the Executive team but not necessarily a committee.

3. Councillor Wetenhall asked if there had been changes or improvements and the Leader responded that SMB were working on the issues raised, that CIL money was present and when a project arose funding was considered however, proposals for how to handle these in future.

During discussion about procedure the Chair agreed to speak to the Monitoring  ...  view the full minutes text for item 46.

To receive evidence from bus service user groups.

Supplementary information may become available if received from the user groups, prior to the meeting.

The Chair welcomed representatives from Exeter & District Bus Users Forum and Stagecoach South West.

The Exeter & District Bus Users Forum outlined key challenges as follows:

• congestion and traffic conditions, including variability between school and non-school days;
• the impact of new developments on service planning;
• issues arising from “super stops”, where multiple stops had been combined without sufficient infrastructure improvements; and
• that these were not necessarily unique to Exeter but faced across the country.

Members questioned representatives on ticketing models, planning for new developments, and the design and effectiveness of super stops. It was highlighted that early provision of bus services into new housing developments was important to embed travel behaviours before car dependency became established.

The Chair reminded the committee and those present that Devon County Council was the responsible authority for transport.

The Committee also heard from a blind bus user who shared lived experience of using the bus network, highlighting:

• difficulties locating shelters, vehicles and doors;
• challenges arising from glass shelters, floating bus stops and combined stops;
• the value of knowledgeable drivers and the assistance card scheme, provided by Devon County Council;
• limitations of app-based systems for users without smartphones; and
• quieter electric buses, where diesel buses were easy to hear.

Members welcomed this insight and discussed potential mitigations such as tactile features, audible signals and greater consistency in design.

The Managing Director of Stagecoach South West presented current performance information making the following points:

• passenger numbers remained stable despite fare increases;
• punctuality was reported at approximately 85%, carrying 250,000 passengers per week;
• the app was 93% accurate and the remaining 7% could be missing vehicle data;
• ticketing equipment and tracking was likely to be replaced during this year;
• there were currently 13 driver vacancies in Exeter which represented 3.2%;
• investment was being made in fleet replacement, including the introduction of electric buses, subject to depot power connections;
• reliability continued to be affected by congestion, roadworks and infrastructure constraints;
• the remainder of the fleet would be electrified in 2027 with £47 million investment of private capital which showed the confidence in Exeter;
• this year drivers would undertake specific training underpinned by the Department of Transport regarding the safety of women and girls at night;
• disability awareness training was extensive;
• there was more use of off-bus ticketing in Europe and in London there was no interaction with bus drivers and multidoor buses were used which risked fare evasion; and
• he was proud of what his team delivered every day and they were part of the communities in which they live and work and he would welcome positive ways forward.

Members’ raised issues including route reliability across the city, coordination with rail services, timetable changes, accessibility, pricing, and engagement with local businesses and Devon County Council being the transport authority.

The Managing Director of Stagecoach South West responded to members’ questions in the following terms:

• data informed timetable changes and service planning;
• there were operational challenges on cross-city routes and consideration may need to be given to splitting the P  ...  view the full minutes text for item 47.

To receive the report of the Place Partnership (Sport England) Manager.

The Place Partnership Manager presented a verbal report (slides attached), making the following points:

• this was a review of the last six to twelve months;
• the Newtown scheme was a flagship active travel infrastructure scheme with construction underway;
• there had been a presentation on the Wonford project given at Extraordinary Council on 24 March and capacity-building was underway with trustees of the community group;
• work on the Green Circle was underway, developing 12 shorter routes for local residents with Wellbeing Exeter and Members’ were called upon to promote this;
• work covering Cranbrook was continuing, working towards a Memorandum of Understanding;
• there had been an increase in inactivity in the lowest socio-economic groups; and
• the team were supporting Cornwall and Swindon as part of the project, who had asked to meet with political leaders as well.

The Chair reminded members that the committee would have a more detailed report with the local evaluation partner  provided at the September meeting.

The Place Partnership Manager responded to Members’ questions in the following terms:

• specialist help would be utilised in co-designing the governance model at Wonford, led by the Live and Move Team and the Head of Service Customers and Communities;
• the aim of the investment in Wonford was to support local residents and work had been done alongside them which demonstrated this commitment. There was a range of national evidence regarding integrating leisure with other services and how this would bring people to the bub who may not visit a leisure centre;
• the September report would include activity in other areas of the city but he was aware of seated exercise being provided with the Shilhay residents Association in the St David’s area;
• he would feedback to ECCT the request to connect with ward members;
• work with those with disabilities was carried out in partnership with Activity Alliance and Sport in Mind;
• infrastructure would be provided using Sport England ‘Active Design’ principles which were inclusive;
• the council did not apply to the GWR Community Fund this year as advised by the Regional Development Manager as they prioritised those who had not applied within twelve months;
• regarding connecting to the Valley Park and the Sustainable Habitat Mitigation Strategy he would liaise with the Chair and Planning colleagues; and
• consultation and engagement had been undertaken with residents in Countess Wear on the opposite side of Bridge Road to King George V Playing Fields but signage was a suggestion which he would take away and ECCT would want to understand the barriers to crossing the road.

Members welcomed the progress made through the programme to date and acknowledged the scale and ambition of the work. It was requested that the report later in the year, include more detailed performance information.

To consider proposals submitted by Members following allocation by Scrutiny Programme Board.

Please see for noting a link to the schedule of future business proposed for the Council which can be viewed on the Council's web site. This on-line document is a source for Members to raise issues at Scrutiny on forthcoming Executive agenda items:

https://exeter.gov.uk/council-and-democracy/councillors-and-meetings/forward-plan-of-executive-decisions/

Also attached is a draft work plan of future scrutiny items.

Should Members wish to raise issues in respect of future business please notify Liz Smith in advance of the meeting.

Members commented on the work plan making the following points:

• policy issues as a result of the Local Plan examination would be more relevant the process; and
• further information in the item column could be useful.

In scoping the bike parking item, scheduled for the committee meeting in June, it was requested that Planning was considered and that Councillor Wetenhall, as proposer, would liaise with the Head of Service Net Zero and City Centre with regard to the report to be brought.

The Chair agreed to contact the Strategic Director for Place regarding the CIL Governance Report.

The Chair agreed that the Shared Prosperity Fund report would be a report to Councillors’ Information Bulletin.

Following a unanimous vote the proposal from Councillor Wetenhall on Community Land Trusts was added to the work plan. Outline scoping of the item resulted in a request to officers for an update on the legislative timetable in June if it was not possible to bring the item at that time and that an officer report on the resource and opportunity implications of the emerging Community Empowerment Bill with regard to community assets, to include Community Land trusts and any work being undertaken on Community Asset Transfer be brought to the committee.

Following a vote the draft Scrutiny Work Plan as amended was AGREED.