Agenda item

To consider the report of the Strategic Director for People and Communities.

Agreed:

RECOMMENDED that Council:

(1)  approves the Exeter City Council Corporate Plan 2025-2028 and endorses the strategic priorities and intended outcomes identified in the plan; and

(2)  note the findings from the consultation report and previous surveys.

RESOLVED:

(1)  that Executive note the findings from the consultation report and previous surveys; and

(2)  that any necessary drafting amendments before publication be delegated to the Chief Executive, in consultation with the Leader of the Council.

Reason for Decision: As set out in the report.

The Executive received the report delivered by the Chief Executive which sought Members’ agreement to the draft Exeter City Council Corporate Plan for 2025 to 2028.

Particular reference was made to:

• the good timing of the report and the assistance in ensuring focus on Member’s key priorities whilst developing the proposal for unitary status;
• the clarity provided for staff and stakeholders on priorities and outcomes;
• each service area would be developing their service plans and risk registers based on these priorities;
• a corporate performance framework would be developed to develop and report progress in achieving those priorities; and
• feedback provided by residents and stakeholders during the Corporate Plan consultations had been reflected in the report where possible.

The Head of Service Customer and Communities presented the consultation work that had fed into the Corporate Plan. The key points made were:

• the surveys highlighted key milestones in our consultation;
• insights fed into workshops with SMB that had helped shape the Corporate Plan;
• there had been over 2800 responses from the resident’s survey, and the budget and corporate priorities consultation;
• there were concerns about safety at night;
• 77% were backing construction of new council homes;
• emphasis was placed on the importance of being kept informed;
• community and stakeholder engagement played a key role; and
• there was a continued commitment to listening with the next round of surveys beginning soon.  

During discussion, Executive Members raised the following points and questions:

• ‘carbon neutral city’ should be replaced with ‘net neutral city’, as language and consistency were important;
• the report supported cross-service working by looking at outcomes, rather than service-delivery;
• both statutory and discretionary services were detailed within the report;
• the plan would be able to help us balance the needs of the city, what needs to be achieved, and what the residents want;
• measures and metrics of a well-run council are highlighted in the plan, how would the monitoring for that that be communicated? 
• Only 59% of residents felt safe after dark, hopefully work with community safety partnership would help change this;
• DCC would be approached regarding lighting, and this would give data that can be used when approaching them; and
• Net Zero received the most critical feedback and we need to hear them and make sure we were communicating positively about the environment with residents.

Opposition group leaders raised the following points and questions:

Councillor Moore was disappointed that the Leader had not reached out to other groups to collect their views, and that the views they had sent in had not been reported in the Corporate Plan. Councillor Moore asked for clarity regarding the nature outcome and hoped this would be addressed.

Councillor Mitchell praised the Corporate Plan and thought the aims were great. Raised concerns about the limited mention of the University of Exeter, and no one under 25 had taken place in the consultation.

In response to questions raised, the Strategic Director for People advised that:

• detailed work had been undertaken with directors and heads of service to identify suitable measures for the outcome metrics in the plan;
• user-acceptance testing for corporate performance framework draws data from a range of sources;
• testing would be able to be reported back and shared with other authorities;
• this was a complicated piece of work and the work that was being done was fantastic;
• all staff would be able to see how the work they do is related to the corporate plan;
• there would be a new dashboard that would enable tracking of objectives;
• clarity from Members about what was most important had helped shape this development;
• surveys used targeted market research, either over the telephone or face-to-face;
• residents survey launching this week was very important as it would be more inclusive of people of all ages, and it was valuable to compare this with data collected from individuals that completed survey themselves; and
• the University were invited to comment, and it was disappointing to receive so few responses from stakeholders

The Leader moved the recommendations and Councillor Wright seconded, were voted upon and CARRIED unanimously.

Agreed:

RECOMMENDED that Council:

(1)  approves the Exeter City Council Corporate Plan 2025-2028 and endorses the strategic priorities and intended outcomes identified in the plan; and

(2)  note the findings from the consultation report and previous surveys.

RESOLVED:

(1)  that Executive note the findings from the consultation report and previous surveys; and

(2)  that any necessary drafting amendments before publication be delegated to the Chief Executive, in consultation with the Leader of the Council.