Agenda item

To receive the report of the Leader of the Council.

The Leader of the Council, Councillor Bialyk presented his Portfolio Holder update report drawing attention to the following points:

a)     the provisional financial settlement which he welcomed along with the briefing from the Strategic Director of Corporate Resources and Head of Service – Finance and he thanked officers for their advice;

b)     strategic partnerships, there would be bid to become a City of Culture coming forward. An expression of interest would be submitted, resources would be required but there would be some funding available, especially for initial feasibility and therefore no drain on council finances;

c)     Exeter Civic University Agreement, there were minutes produced rather than actions and he would like minutes to be available to Members;

d)     Exeter Partnership information was contained within the report;

e)     the new Corporate Plan;

f)       Materials Reclamation Facility (MRF), discussions were taking place and a report would be brought to Council in February addressing Senate Court as well;

g)     Rennes House still had ariels on top and having those removed had created a delay;

h)     Whipton Gardens was an excellent facility and the next phase would come forward when finances were in place;

i)       he had visits planned, with Directors, to Mallinson Bridge and the City Wall;

j)       a meeting had been set up with group leaders to discuss the way forward for Local Government Reorganisation (LGR), to brief members and to look at what would be involved;

k)     the Secretary of State had made a decision today therefore there would be focus on shadow elections for 2027;

l)       Devon and Torbay Combined County Authority were discussing transport and putting a budget in place. A concern in the residents’ survey was buses and transport despite not being the responsible authority.

The Leader responded to Members’ questions in the following terms:

a)     he and Directors understood that those in the vicinity of the Laings properties had not had a good experience. There had been contractor issues but the work would be done and contractors were in place and would be on site. Phase B at Vaughn Road had been delayed in order to commit to the Laings properties;

b)     a Cultural Strategy was being developed and a principle of involving community stakeholders would be important in the City of Culture bid;

c)     there was no feedback at present on the use of AI in the planning initiative;

d)     Exeter City Council had no formal role in the Mallinson Bridge replacement but he would be making contact with the relevant Cabinet Member of Devon County Council and he was not aware of the terms of the bid to Active Travel England but would ask;

e)     he would discuss Toronto House in Prince Charles Road with Directors to determine whether it was embedded in the retrofit programme but he pointed out that some properties were now privately owned;

f)       he was pleased that Widgery Road residents were happy with the reactive repairs service and he would discuss nature accreditation with Councillor Vizard to see if there was anything Members could do to help;

g)     the legal team were working hard on the issue of having telecoms equipment removed from Rennes House and he would ask the relevant Strategic Director if there was a timeline for this;

h)     there were some funds allocated to undertaking work associated with LGR but it was likely that this issue would come before council in due course; and

i)       assets were being looked at with an ambition to ensure that a good council was handed over to a new authority.

The Strategic Director for Corporate Resources stated that food waste roll out was not impacted by the MRF. He confirmed that 4000 homes had been added this week and the project was on track to be delivered in its entirety by the end of March.

Councillor Ruth Williams, Portfolio Holder for City Management, was invited to the table by the Chair and stated that she had written to the relevant Member of Devon County Council and had followed up requesting a response but had not yet received one and would write again in another week’s time.

The Chair invited Councillor Vizard to speak, who stated that nature towns and cities work was underway and there were monthly meetings of the partnership and an action plan would follow which would be consulted upon before an application being made later in the year. He would ensure that members were updated. Councillor Pole asked that he feedback to the group that councillors and residents could support.