Agenda

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.

It is considered that the Committee would be unlikely to exclude the press and public during the consideration of any of the items on this agenda but, if it should wish to do so, then the following resolution should be passed:-

“RESOLVED that, under Section 100A (4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the particular item(s) of business on the grounds that it (they) involve(s) the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in the relevant paragraph(s) of Part I of Schedule 12A of the Act.”

An approach that Scrutiny could follow with regards to examining the City Development Fund is set out below.

Scrutiny is being asked to perform a critical friend role for the Council’s Executive in examining and highlighting the merits and risk associated with the City Development Fund ahead of the full Business Case being presented to the Executive for consideration later this year.

A number of sessions are as detailed below.

Session 1        Introduction – 30 March

Session 2:       What is the economic case for pursuing a City Development Fund to support delivery - 7 April

Session 3:       Governance/Fund Management/Governance and Risk – 6 June 2022

Session 4:       The Business Case in Detail - (Date TBC) 

The Chief Executive & Growth Director to present with speakers the detail of an approach that Scrutiny could follow with regards the City Development Fund.

Session Two: What is the economic case for pursuing a City Development Fund to support delivery?

Introduction and summary of the economic case for pursuing a City Fund:

(Roli Martin, Elaine Anning, Kathryn Whitaker – Exeter City Futures Team)

The following external witness has been invited to the meeting -

Frazer Osment, LDA Design, who will be able to offer a high level observation on the viability challenges and constraints in delivering the vision.

Outcomes:

·         An understanding of the scale of the financial challenge in supporting the Liveable Exeter Programme.

·         An appreciation of the benefits captured through the appraisal process

·         A good understanding of options and potential scope to modify the scale of the fund.

·         An understanding of the implications and options for public sector partners in relation to their assets

·         The beginning of an understanding of the structure of the fund

Key issues Members may wish to explore with witnesses –

·         What are the critical success factors as set out in the City Development Fund business case? And are they appropriate to the task ahead of the City Council in delivering Liveable Exeter?

·         Is there a viability gap based on business as usual approach to delivery?

·         How is viability challenged by demands on the development programme?

·         What are alternative options to setting up a city development fund to implement the Liveable Exeter Programme?

·         What are the assumptions built into the model of the fund?

·         What does the economic appraisal say is the scale of the financial ask required to deliver the entire programme?

·         Are there options for reducing the financial demands, for example could the programme be limited in scope to a few strategic sites like Marsh Barton?