Details of questions should be notified to the Democratic Services Manager via the committee.services@exeter.gov.uk email by 10.00am at least three working days prior to the meeting. For this meeting any questions must be submitted by 10.00am on Monday 30 September 2024.
For details about how to speak at Committee, please click the following link - https://exeter.gov.uk/council-and-democracy/councillors-and-meetings/public-speaking-at-meetings/overview/ .
Minutes:
The Chair reported the receipt of four questions from members of the public under Standing Order No. 19:-
Question from Ms Freya Searle
“In undertaking the Scrutiny of funding for Citizens Advice Exeter, proposed by Councillor Mitchell, will the Committee establish what steps Exeter City Council is taking to mitigate the impact of this funding cut on the most vulnerable in our City?”
The Chair asked Councillor Vizard, Portfolio Holder for Climate, Ecological Change
and Communities, to answer Ms Searle’s question. Cllr Vizard gave the following
response:
“The Council already provides its own services and promotes a wide range of other services like those provided by ECAB and will continue to do so. The Council already promotes and signposts to a wide range of local and national in-person and on-line services which offer similar support to that offered by ECAB to vulnerable citizens. Locally these in-person services include Inclusive Exeter and Ukrainian Connections who provide advice and information to individuals from culturally diverse communities. Other organisations such as Age UK provide advice and information specifically to older people. Partners within Colab Exeter provide a wide range of support to people at risk of homelessness, with drug and alcohol dependency and street attachment. Colab Exeter also provides information and advice to vulnerable women. Wellbeing Exeter Community Builders and Connectors also sign post to a wide range of information, advice and support services.
The Council employs teams of officers who provide information and advice to vulnerable people and those on low incomes in several ways: through signposting in our Customer Connect Centre; online and in-person access to, and processing of welfare payments through our Revenue and Benefits Team; in-person access to information, advice and support for those who are at risk of, or are homeless through our Homeless Prevention Team and for our social housing tenants through our Tenancy Support Services. We also contract for targeted advice services for people facing homelessness with an independent third party to ensure people have choice and this year’s contract has been awarded, by competitive tendering, to ECAB.
Since the Covid 19 pandemic there has been a paradigm shift to the use of on-line services which provide trusted sources of information and advice. Amongst those we promote are the National Debt help line and Gov.UK Get free debt advice. We recognise there is always more we can do through our social media and other networks to promote trusted local, national, on-line and in-person sources of information and advice and will continue to expand our signposting activity.”
In a supplementary question, Ms Searle asked if the Council had done any assessment of other agencies. Councillor Vizard replied that further consultations and assessments would be made.
Question from Ms Fiona Jane Willmott
“In undertaking the Scrutiny of funding for Citizens Advice Exeter, proposed by Councillor Mitchell, will the Committee establish whether it conducted an equality impact assessment of the impact of the funding reduction on Citizens Advice Exeter and the most vulnerable in our City?”
The Chair asked Councillor Vizard, Portfolio Holder for Climate, Ecological Change
and Communities, to answer Ms Willmott’s question. Cllr Vizard gave the following
response:
“An EQIA was appended to the report to Executive of 22nd January 2024 on the Community Grants Programme Proposal 2024/25.”
Ms Willmott remarked that she had been unable to find the EQIA. Councillor Vizard replied that it was attached to the report but offered to have a copy of it sent to her.
Question from Mr James Willmott
“What analysis has the City Council conducted on the impact of the withdrawal of funding to Citizens Advice in terms of additional costs to Exeter City Council from households being unable to meet their rent and council tax payments; and the likely increase in homelessness applications to the City Council?”
The Chair asked Councillor Vizard, Portfolio Holder for Climate, Ecological Change
and Communities, to answer Ms Willmott’s question. Cllr Vizard gave the following
response:
“Officer discussion took place and advice was sought from managers of critical frontline services, on the potential impacts in the termination of this contract which had exceeded its term. There was insufficient data to enable any objective assessment of potential impact on Council or other services. However there had been no discernible impact on Council services since the 59% reduction in funding for the final year extension to the original contract (March 2023/4).”
In a follow-up question, Mr Wilmott asked how this conclusion could be drawn without consultation with Citizens Advice, remarking that Citizens Advice were meeting the funding shortfall. Councillor Vizard replied that Exeter could only assess what it was able to from available information, adding that further wider consultations would take place.
Question from Mr Robin Campbell
“Prior to arriving at a decision that Exeter City Council withdraw funding from Citizens Advice Exeter, were ‘service users and the wider community’ able to ‘put forward options’ as required in the ‘Best Value Statutory Guidance’?”
The Chair asked Councillor Vizard, Portfolio Holder for Climate, Ecological Change
and Communities, to answer Ms Willmott’s question. Cllr Vizard gave the following
response:
“The current funding for ECAB is a one-off grant of £75,000 for non-specific activities to ‘allow officers to work with CAB on transitional arrangements’. Therefore, there were no specific services attached to this grant.”
Mr Campbell felt that this did not sound right and commented on the statutory guidance on the matter. The Monitoring Officer advised him that the Portfolio Holder had answered his question and that subsequent comments did not constitute a supplementary question.