Agenda item

(Councillors Davis, Gilbert and Saywell attended in accordance with Standing Order 25(1) and spoke to this item at the invitation of the Committee.)

(a) Corporate Services

The Committee received a verbal update from the Chief Executive on the in-year position of budget and service delivery within Corporate Services (Digital Transformation and Business Support; Legal, Communications and Human Resources (including Democratic Services), Coroners and Registration, and Treasurer’s Services).

The Chief Executive reported that overall Corporate Services would likely forecast an underspend this year. There had however been pressures in Legal relating to children’s services legal proceedings; some higher costs in Coroners; and additional HR recruitment costs.

An update on the iTrent system and savings identified would be provided to Members.

(b) Planning, Transportation and Environment (PTE), Communities, and Economy, Enterprise and Skills (EES)

The Committee received the Briefing Paper by the Head of Planning, Transportation and Environment, Head of Communities, and Head of Economy, Enterprise and Skills (PTE/21/41), which provided an in-year briefing on service delivery within respective service areas.  Highlights and discussion points included:

PTE

-       Work was continuing on the Devon Carbon Plan, with feed-in from the Citizens’ Assembly;

-       Government funding had been secured to retrofit five corporate estate buildings to delivery carbon, energy and cost reduction;

-       Partnership working to install 400 electric charging bays across Devon;

-       The Rural Electric Mobility Enabler project had just launched, led by EDF.

-       Purchase of 30 acres of land in Mid Devon to plant trees which would also provide a net gain in biodiversity, for which Members requested information on location; and

-       Work continued on the planning and delivery of major housing growth areas.

-       Peninsula Transport had just completed a freight study, which was being considered at the next Board meeting, and partner working continued.

-       Members requested that a briefing for local Members be provided before commencing largescale road schemes in the future, such as the A380.

Communities

-       The Household Support Fund had launched this week, to support families in need and supporting organisations.

-       A Devon Libraries App was now available for download to mobile phones, providing in effect a self-service.

-       DYS Space continued its support to young people throughout the pandemic, and an additional £600,000 was secured to deliver additional activity during the year,

-       Multi-agencies had responded to the arrival of around 150 Afghan refugees in Exeter and Exmouth.

EES

-       A Green Innovation Fund had been launched encouraging businesses to support low carbon opportunities and investment in natural capital schemes.

-       Delivery of a Careers Hub service, supporting all 157 state funded secondary schools and colleges.

-       Expansion of the Work Hubs programme with five new projects in construction, with a further 10 locations to join in the coming year.

-       A briefing note to Members would be provided on employment numbers pre and post-pandemic.

-       A Trading Standards Service project that focused on farmers’ mental health and wellbeing had been awarded the national Chartered Trading Standards Institute Award for best project.

-       The Future Skills Centre (formerly Flybe Academy) was now full and delivering a range of courses through Exeter College.

-       The Community Renewal Fund had been announced, with Devon receiving the largest allocation across the country, supporting 13 of 16 projects.

-       CDS – the outcome was awaited on a recent government consultation on broadband in Hard to Reach Places, meanwhile CDS continued to work with communities on this.

(c) Highways, Infrastructure Development and Waste (HIW)

The Committee received the Report of the Chief Officer for Highways, Infrastructure Development and Waste (HIW/21/72), which provided an in-year briefing on budget and service delivery, covering those areas not previously reported this year through the Highways Dashboard reports.

Overall, HIW were forecasting an underspend of £214,000 but this was as a result of additional income from the design team of Infrastructure Development.

Waste tonnages had increased significantly during the year, but this element of the service area was currently expected to outturn to budget. Highways and Traffic Management was on track to fully deliver planned works programmes within budget, although this could be impacted by inclement weather over the winter period.

Particular points of highlight included:

-       Budget pressures on maintaining current conditions of network, coupled with resource issues and inflation.

-       Contractors were in place to deal with the backlog of lining and road markings.

-       Devon experienced overall waste growth of 3% in 2020/21, the first time in over 4 years, thought to result from the pandemic impacting on people’s behaviour.

-       The Community Action Groups continued to grow across the whole of Devon.