To receive questions from Members of the Council to the relevant Portfolio Holders for this Scrutiny Committee. The Portfolio Holders are:-
Advance questions from Members relating to the Portfolio Holders should be notified to Democratic Services via committee.services@exeter.gov.uk.
Minutes:
In accordance with Standing Order No. 20, the following questions were submitted by Members:-
Question from Councillor Moore to Councillor Asvachin, Portfolio Holder for Housing, Homelessness Prevention and Customer Services:-
“In response to my enquiry over the summer, the Strategic Director People told me that between April 2019 - March 2024 there have been 35 homes investigated as potentially empty homes of which 17 were found to be not empty. There have been no compulsory purchases, issuing of an empty dwelling management order or an enforced sale. The Council’s Council Tax team are constantly investigating the status of properties proactively. Reports received from members of the public often involve other public health or nuisance matters which are responded to on a reactive basis by the appropriate team. Various staff involved across the council regularly liaise and share information.
What will you do as Portfolio holder to proactively ensure empty homes are sought out and brought back into use?”
Councillor Asvachin was not in attendance; Councillor Moore was advised by the Chair that a written answer would be provided.
Question from Councillor Read to Councillor Asvachin, Portfolio Holder for Housing, Homelessness Prevention and Customer Services:-
“Thank you for your answer to my question recently regarding the kitchens in the Great Western Hotel stating that they have been fitted out with microwaves but no ovens or hobs due to fire risk. Does the Council think it is acceptable for the two families living there to have no access to proper cooking equipment? How can people create nutritional low cost meals with only use of a microwave? What can be done about this please?”
Councillor Asvachin was not in attendance; Councillor Read was advised by the Chair that a written answer would be provided.
Question from Councillor Read to Councillor Vizard, Portfolio Holder for Climate, Economical Change and Communities:-
“In response to a question from the Marilyn Spurr, a member of the public, Cllr Vizard replied that he would reply in writing to Ms Spurr’s follow up question in writing. Can he share his written response please?
Also, can Cllr Vizard share his written response to another member of the public’s question put by Chris Hill asking if Cllr Vizard agreed that the carbon footprint of a bank regarding fossil fuel exploitation should be taken in to account when choosing a bank.
Given the council invests with CCLA Property Fund that is underpinned by ESG principles, does he agree that it would be reasonable to extend such ethical investment across all of the council's investment approaches and have a policy on ESG such as other Councils such as Oxford have, in order to be progressing towards the Council’s target of net zero by 2030?”
Councillor Vizard remarked that the questions had been sent particularly late – namely, 11.30pm the night before the meeting –, which did not allow for in-depth replies. He confirmed to Councillor Read that he had emailed Ms Spurr and Mr Hill on 22 July with identical answers to their supplementary questions. Following a request from Councillor Read, the Portfolio Holder read out the answer in question:-
“Thank you for raising your concerns in respect of the Council’s investment in the Barclays ‘Green’ 65-day notice account. Investments with Barclays comply with the Council’s approved Treasury Management Strategy and counterparty list, as provided by our appointed external treasury advisors.
As presented to Customer Focus Scrutiny Committee, the Council seeks external treasury management advice from the Link Group. Link provide regular counterparty lists and suggested investment durations and notify us of any creditworthiness changes. These counterparty lists are based on credit ratings from the three rating agencies (Fitch, Moodys and Standard & Poors), and the rating agencies take Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG) risk into account when they make their assessments.
With regards to Barclays, please find attached their latest Climate Change Statement, which sets out their position and approach to sensitive sectors and includes new restrictions on financing upstream oil and gas, as well as enhanced due diligence requirements for biomass.
Following discussion between myself, the Council Leader and Director of Finance, ECC will review options for its investments to identify what alternative products are available in the market, the ratings attached, liquidity and yield. We will consider non fossil fuel investing alternative providers while balancing our obligation to maintain treasury management practices in accordance with the Secretary of State Investment Guidance and CIPFA’s Treasury Management in the Public Services Code of Practice.
I have asked that a report be brought back to an appropriate councillor committee.”
Replying to a supplementary question from Councillor Read, the Strategic Director for Corporate Resources advised that he had sent a notice to Barclays 68 days ago to withdraw the ECC funds but that the money hadn’t been received yet. He also asked Councillor Read for a copy of Oxford City Council’s Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) policy.
Question from Councillor Read to Councillor Wright, Deputy Leader and Portfolio Holder for Corporate Services and City Centre:-
“Given the announcement by the new Home Secretary about a set of measures to combat VAWG what can we expect in Exeter to flow from this? And can we expect improvement in the ASB around South Street and Cathedral Green? What measures do you expect to be put in place to achieve this?”
Councillor Wright responded as follows:-
On the Home Secretary’s announcement
“The announcement that the Home Secretary will be spearheading a cross-government approach to tackling violence against women and girls is welcomed by survivors of domestic abuse, numerous charities and support networks and also by many of us working in local government and related fields.
To quote Farah Nazeer, Chief Executive of Women’s Aid;
‘Domestic abuse and male violence is a problem that requires collaboration across government and society. The involvement of the Treasury and the Chancellor of the Exchequer will be particularly important due to the urgent need for sustainable funding to the specialist services that support survivors. The funding gaps that have been left from decades of chronic underfunding means that we need to see the Government committing at least £516 million every year to domestic abuse services, so that these lifesaving services can continue empowering survivors to heal from the trauma of abuse and rebuild their lives in safety.’
‘Raneem’s Law’, is in memory of Raneem Oudeh and her mother Khaola Saleem, who were murdered by Raneem’s ex-husband in 2018. There were 13 reports made to the police about concerns for Raneem’s safety, with no arrests made. On the night she was killed, she rang 999 four times.
Under Raneem’s Law, domestic abuse specialists will be embedded into 999 control rooms, where they will advise on risk assessments and work with frontline officers to ensure a fast and appropriate response. Almost 100 domestic abuse related offences were recorded by the police every hour on average last year. This new initiative will ensure calls for help are treated with the urgency needed and victims get the specialist support they need straight away. The government will fund this pilot in targeted police forces* from early 2025. These specialists will be backed up by dedicated teams to improve how the police respond to these kinds of calls, including using new technology to respond more quickly such as rapid video response. ‘Raneem’s Law’ will be put on a statutory footing by issuing national guidance that police will be required to follow. Please note that we don’t know yet whether Exeter will be one of the ‘targeted police forces’ but I will be raising this question with the Police and Crime Commissioner at tomorrow’s Panel meeting.
Home secretary Yvette Cooper says;
‘Through an expert-led, practical police response, we need to ensure that when victims and survivors of abuse have the courage to come forward it will be treated with the seriousness and urgency it deserves. Our mission is for the whole of government, agencies, organisations and communities to work together to halve violence against women and girls in a decade, and today is just one step of many towards tangible and long-lasting change.’
The new Domestic Abuse Protection Orders (DAPOs) aim to go further than existing protective orders with the introduction of new features including electronic tagging. This compliments the introduction of the Domestic Abuse Act (passed nearly 4 years ago). Effective protective orders demand close collaboration with specialist services who are able to help survivors access justice.
The orders will cover all forms of domestic abuse, including violence, stalking and controlling behaviour, and more agencies will be able to apply for them – not just the police and criminal courts but also family and civil courts, and third parties such as local authorities, charities and social services, with victims also able to apply directly for the order themselves. Breaching one of these new orders will be a criminal offence, punishable by up to 5 years in prison.
I would expect that there will be a directive to our local police force around this and also for ECC around joint tenancy law regarding our own housing. Our own housing team have always worked incredibly well within this area anyway and have just produced a new Domestic Abuse Policy which will be coming to Exec in November. My hope would be that alongside new legislation, new funding will also come forward to enable us to do more from within ECC and also for relevant partners such as Co-Lab women who are currently seeking to provide a Women’s Centre in Exeter which would incorporate emergency shelter for victims of DV.
On ASB around South Street and Cathedral Green
The measures described around the Home Secretary’s announcement about violence against women and girls is not directly applicable to the issue of anti-social behaviour around South Street and the Cathedral Green. However, I will address this question as a separate issue;
ECC in partnership with InExeter Business Improvement District and Devon and Cornwall Police have recently launched a new Community Safety Team. This is in collaboration with the policing Hot Spot initiative to target ASB across Devon & Cornwall. Exeter has been placed in Tier 1 for Hot Spot policing following crime data around ASB and the excellent partnership work between ECC and InExeter responding to businesses and members of the public. This team of four come from our own enforcement team and have enhanced responsibilities, training and scope.
The team work closely with the police, local businesses, InExeter, partner organisations and the public to deal with ASB and to create a reassuring presence in the city centre. This is a pilot project which started in July so hard data around the impact will be presented to the Police and Crime Commissioner’s panel in November. I will share this with all councillors.
This team also links closely with the homelessness prevention outreach team. The team are currently completing police training to enable them to action the Exeter Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) where needed. Soft data narrative from local businesses about the positive impact already seen by having the team in place is very good. This is being collated by InExeter and will be part of the reporting process to follow.”
The Portfolio Holder placed on record her thanks to the Interim Director Community Services for his help in drafting this response and made further reference to:-
· the reopening of the Exeter Safe Space, with the help of a £10,000 grant from the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner;
· the two shifts she had done at the Exeter Safe Space as a volunteer; and
· how the Exeter Safe Space was now a registered charity.