Leader Column: budget aims to protect the services our residents rely on

Exeter City Council have identified £3.5m in savings, a figure set out in our Medium Term Financial Plan. As always, we try to maintain frontline services.

I have to start with Exeter City’s brilliant FA Cup tie against Nottingham Forest. It was a great evening for the city. This was the first time Exeter had reached the fourth round since 1981 and a Premier League side - with all its money and resources – couldn’t beat a members’ club in regulation time.

Exeter performed terrifically well on the night, and it was a proud moment for everyone in the city. It was disappointing that we lost on penalties, but we took them all the way and there is a lot to be taken from it.

Last weekend we beat Cambridge away and hopefully this marks a turning point for the club, and we wish them every success for the remainder of the season.

Next week I will be presenting the budget to Council. We are required to set a balanced budget, and I am pleased to say I am now in a position to present just such a budget.

We have identified £3.5m in savings, a figure set out in our Medium Term Financial Plan. As always, we try to maintain frontline services, and I remain pleased with the efforts of all Council employees in maintaining the city and delivering services.

The most vulnerable people in our city have benefitted from the Household Support Fund, which has a new wave of funding. People should visit our website or contact the Council for more details of this assistance. 

There has been a lot of discussion on affordable housing, particularly regarding two important sites in the city where affordable housing has not been provided. Instead, a significant sum in lieu of affordable housing will be taken, and this will assist us in our own Council-build programme.

I shall be bringing forward proposals on the question of affordable housing in the near future, and I hope that it goes some way towards demonstrating the city’s commitment to ensure we deliver homes as we are required to by the government.

We also continue to improve our existing housing stock. The Council expects to have retrofitted 920 properties by March. The average fuel consumption for tenants living in retrofitted properties has decreased by between 40 and 50 per cent.

The Council is currently bidding for further funding to deliver 140 property retrofits per year for the next three years.  We have also received £2m for the programme from the Devon Combined County Authority.

You will have heard about local government reorganisation, and we will be submitting our proposal to government by 21 March on how we see Exeter as part of a unitary authority for our area. The full plans need to be submitted by 28 November. Council will consider these options and there will be a great deal of public discussion on them.

This will be a data-driven exercise examining how services in and around Exeter are used, contributing to our understanding of what the future of Exeter will look like.

Finally, we are nearing completion of our new Corporate Plan, which sets out our priorities for the years ahead, and has been framed by the recent consultation we carried out with residents.

The plan outlines what we want to achieve, how we will achieve it and how we will measure success. Our priorities are a strong local economy, homes, people and a sustainable environment, and we look forward to sharing the plan and receiving feedback on it shortly.