Exeter City Council's Executive met on Tuesday, 25 June 2024. They agreed to fund the purchase of four new council homes and confirmed that the Executive would become the 'duty holder' for the Exe Estuary, under the Port Marine Safety Code.

Local Authority Housing Fund

The Council has been awarded just short of £600,000 from the government's Local Authority Housing Fund (LAHF) to buy four homes for families arriving in Exeter through the Afghan Resettlement Scheme. This is the third time the Council has received funding from the scheme.

Under the terms of the LAHF, the Council will need to contribute £297,000 in match funding to support the purchase of the properties. Officers recommended that the funding should come from the Council's uncommitted Section 106 funds¹.

What I'm recommending to you today is that the Council use some uncommitted section 106 funding for that purpose. So if approved by Executive and Council, that additional budget would be used to purchase all of X council homes off the open market. That would enable the Council to meet some of its temporary accommodation needs without having to borrow any money and it does represent value for money, especially when one considers that once those families have been resettled, the Council can use those homes for other wider housing needs. - Ian, Service Lead, Housing Needs

Councillor Moore raised a question about the time it was taking to house families already in the city.

I appreciate being told that there's been a delay in matching up people to houses that were called previously. I'd like to know the reason for this. - Councillor Moore

She also asked about the proposed rent levels for a two-bedroom property, which are higher than the Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rate for a property of that size. The LHA is the amount of housing benefit the government believes is enough to cover the cost of renting in a particular area.

Secondly, in terms of the two-bedroom accommodation, there's £100 over the local housing allowance rate, which means people who are made on benefits will have to find additional funds. So I would like to understand why that rent is proposed at a higher level than the local housing allowance. - Councillor Moore

Councillor Wright asked whether the £297,000 the Council has allocated to the project could be used to help fund the authority's council house building programme.

Just to clarify that if the same amount of section 106 went towards the council own good programme and lands at the moment, it still wouldn't be enough to generate what we need to have to actually make that programme happen. So is it really an either or? - Councillor Wright

The Service Lead, Housing Needs, responded to Councillor Moore's points saying he would provide a written response. He also explained that while the £297,000 could be spent on the Council's building programme, the Council would still need to borrow £2,000,000 to build any new homes.

Councillor Olcott asked about the costs associated with buying older properties and whether they might have higher maintenance costs. In his response, the Service Lead, Housing Needs said that experience from the first two rounds of the LAHF had shown that new build homes often do not meet the Council's standards for things like gas and electrical safety, and so require more work when they are purchased, so there is less difference in the cost of buying new build properties and the cost of buying former council homes than you might expect.

Exeter Canal Duty Holder

The Executive agreed that they would collectively take on the role of 'Duty Holder' for the Exe Estuary. The Port Marine Safety Code requires the Council, as a statutory harbour authority, to have a Duty Holder in place to ensure the safe operation of the harbour.

So, as a council, we've previously stated it was our ambition to comply with the Port Marine Safety Code. We put that back in April 2020. So, the report lists some of our responsibilities in section 8.1. And it explains the Port Marine Safety Code in more detail in 8.2. So, we're going to go into the detail of that. But the big bits in there, the important bits for the duty holder, are compliance and insurance - compliance and assurance. - David, Service Lead, Legal and Democratic Services

The Council has been working towards appointing a Duty Holder since April 2020. In a report to the Executive, officers identified the Executive as the most appropriate body to be the Duty Holder.

Councillor Moore asked how the Executive would be supported to fulfil their new role, and what indemnity would be in place in the event an Executive decision as Duty Holder led to legal action against the Council. Councillor Mitchell asked about the Duty Holder's reporting requirements. The Service Lead, Legal and Democratic Services, said that he would be happy to provide further information on how the role would operate in practice.

Councillor Williams welcomed the appointment of the Executive as the Exe Estuary's Duty Holder, explaining that this was a key step toward securing a Harbour Revision Order for the Exe.

The Leader of the Council confirmed that the Executive would provide an update on their work as Duty Holder to a future meeting of the Council's Scrutiny Committee.

Members Allowances

The Executive noted the publication of the amounts paid to Councillors in allowances and expenses. Councillor Cross questioned where the information published on the Council's website had come from. The Leader of the Council explained that this was information the Council is required to publish each year.

Items Not Discussed

Several items were removed from the agenda because the start of the pre-election period at 4pm on 25 June meant that it would be inappropriate for the Executive to make decisions on those issues.

The Customer Focus Scrutiny Committee met on Thursday, 27 June 2024. They discussed Stagecoach's withdrawal from Exeter, the future of the council's Community Lottery, and a proposal to add the problem of anti-social behaviour to their work plan. The committee decided to recommend that the council engage in further talks with Stagecoach and that the Community Lottery scheme should be closed. They voted to add anti-social behaviour to the committee's work plan.

Stagecoach Bus Services

The committee discussed the recent announcement that Stagecoach would no longer be running bus services in Exeter. Councillor Martin Snow had submitted a report on the matter. He argued that the council should be doing more to get Stagecoach to stay in Exeter. He proposed that the council enter into talks with Stagecoach about continuing to run services in the city, even though Stagecoach had already said that they would not be able to run services profitably in Exeter. Councillor Snow argued that

Exeter residents need a reliable bus service. The council should be doing everything it can to ensure this happens. Stagecoach’s departure from the city would be disastrous for thousands of residents, and the Council should be doing all it can to encourage Stagecoach to reconsider.

The committee voted to recommend that the council enter into talks with Stagecoach.

Community Lottery

The committee discussed the Community Lottery. The Community Lottery was launched in 2021 to raise money for local good causes, but has been performing poorly. In an email to the council, dated 20 May 2024, D Moore of Exeter CVS said that the lottery had raised just £7000 for good causes in the two years since its launch. The report also noted that the council's Corporate Plan for 2023-27 made a commitment to supporting the voluntary and community sector in Exeter. It also noted that one of the council's three strategic priorities is A Healthy and Sustainable City. The report argued that these commitments meant that the council should keep the Community Lottery running, despite its poor performance.

A majority of committee members disagreed, and the committee voted to recommend that the Community Lottery scheme be closed.

Scrutiny Work Plan

The committee considered a proposal to add the issue of anti-social behaviour to its work plan for the coming year. The proposal was made by Councillor M Mitchell, who argued that

Anti-social behaviour is a growing problem in Exeter. It is having a detrimental impact on the lives of many residents. This committee has a duty to scrutinise the work of the council in tackling this issue.

The committee voted to add the issue of anti-social behaviour to its work plan for the coming year.