Labour Manifesto

Exeter City Council 2021-22

“Our city, our future”

“By the time they are an adult, a child born in Exeter today will live in a city that is inclusive, healthy and sustainable, a city where the opportunities and benefits of prosperity are shared and all citizens are able to 1 | P a g e - Labour Exeterparticipate City Manifesto fully in the 2021/22city’s economic, social, cultural and civic life.”

Index

Introduction ...... Page 1

Impact of and Response to the Pandemic ...... Page 2

Exeter City Council’s key Covid message during 2020

Labour Working for You Labour Continuing to Work for You

1. Net Zero Carbon 2030 ...... Page 3 9. Achieving Net Zero Exeter 2030 ...... Page 11

2. Housing and Supporting People ...... Page 4 10. Supporting Active and Healthy Lifestyles ...... Page 12

3. Green Spaces, Parks, and Recycling ...... Page 5 11. Building Great Neighbourhoods ...... Page 14

4. Leisure, Health and Wellbeing, Live and Move ...... Page 6 12. Leading a Well-run Council ...... Page 15

5. Economy and Recovery ...... Page 7

6. Communities and Culture...... Page 8

7. Planning and Building Control ...... Page 9

8. A Well-run Council ...... Page 10

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Introduction:

Exeter City Council Leader, Phil Bialyk, provides an have. We have had to work extremely hard to balance the introduction to both this Manifesto and the Council books in the current financial year, and we will need to Strategic Plan it shapes. continue setting very challenging budgets in the years ahead. Delivering value for money services is therefore This Labour administration led the Council to declare a critical. It would be easy to scale back our ambitions as a climate emergency in Exeter and as a result has set the result of the Covid-19 crisis. But I will not let that happen. I ambitious target of creating a Net Zero Carbon city by am absolutely determined that the success our city has 2030. This will be at the heart of everything we do going enjoyed over recent years will continue. forward. We have also experienced the Covid-19 crisis, which continues to have an impact on all of our lives in a We will protect and maintain the services that we as way that would have been almost impossible to imagine residents all depend on. At the same time we will pioneer before the outbreak. I am extremely proud of the way our transformational programmes designed to address active city is responding to the crisis. Residents, communities and lifestyles, clean growth, active travel, innovation, housing organisations across Exeter have come together during supply and a carbon neutral city. It is essential that Exeter lockdown to look after and support each other during the is at the forefront of the UK’s recovery from the Covid-19 most difficult times. This work is ongoing, as it becomes crisis. Everyone at the Council is working hard to ensure obvious that the virus is something that we are going to this happens, but we can’t do it alone. The collaborative have to learn to live with, in the future. approach we have taken with our partners on the Place Board means all major institutions and organisations in The Council has not been immune to the impact of Covid- Exeter now speak with one united voice. It’s not simply 19, and we have been hit hard financially as many others about returning to where we were. We have pledged to

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Build Back Better - that means facilitating a sustainable to Exeter, with good skilled jobs and new apprenticeships recovery which builds on our commitment to delivering a in the technology of the future. carbon neutral city. Since we declared a Climate Cllr Phil Bialyk Emergency in Exeter last year a lot of work has taken place Labour Leader, Exeter City Council with our partners at Exeter City Futures to create a

roadmap to a carbon neutral future. Now is the time to Impact of and Response to the Pandemic start putting this into action. TheCovid-19 pandemic continues to have a profound That’s why I have set up a new portfolio dedicated to effect on our lives. This labour-led City Council has had to lowering carbon emissions and fighting climate change, respond swiftly to address unexpected challenges arising with a new team set up to support Net Zero. The council from lockdown and local restrictions. has a long and proud record in reducing energy through a range of ambitious measures introduced over the last The knock-on effect on Exeter City Council’s budget and decade. Now we are planning for the next phase of this day-to-day activity has been profound. The Council had to work. We have a lot of plans - the buildings that we are find £12m because of additional expenditure incurred creating here in Exeter are to super energy efficient responding to the corona virus crisis, and a significant loss standards, reducing carbon by up to 90 per cent and of income from car-parking, leisure centres, business rates reducing the bills for households. We are bringing forward and council tax. 500 council houses in the coming years all built to that Despite these unprecedented challenges your Labour led standard. We will be at the forefront of retrofitting existing Exeter City Council has maintained key services properties across the city to be highly energy efficient and throughout. We also have achieved some notable low carbon, reducing fuel bills and bringing clean growth successes in the past 18 months:

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Labour working for you

1. N e t Z e r o C a r b o n 2 0 3 0

o Declared climate emergency and committed to becoming Net Zero Carbon by 2030. o Commissioned, supported and adopted the Exeter Net Zero Roadmap* in conjunction with Exeter City Futures to achieve net zero Carbon targets. o Secured £1.6m of European Regional Development Fund (ERDF)funding to install Solar Farm & Battery Storage on waste ground close to Council depot. o Planted 2,000 trees at the Monkerton Ridgeline, a new woodland of 300 trees off Lancelot Road in addition to our ongoing tree planning programme. o In the last year the carbon saving measures have delivered:

 Financial savings of £630,000.  Energy savings of 2,300,050 kWh.  Carbon saving 550 tonnes.

Pictures from the Net Zero Carbon 2030 Plan *www.exetercityfutures.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Net-Zero-Exeter-2030-Plan.pdf

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2. H o u s i n g and Supporting Peopl e

o Brought forward plans to create 500 new Council homes from a 10 year plan to a 5 year plan. o Added 21 new 3 and 4-bedroom homes built to super energy efficient standards in Anthony Road, Thornpark Rise and Bovemoors Lane. o Started the roll out of retrofitting of all 4,000+ council housing homes to meet our super energy efficient standards to help meet 2030 net zero carbon target. o Supported the most vulnerable through the Covid-19 crisis. o Introduced a new Council Housing Advisory Board to gain advice and input from our resident representative and the most experienced people working in social housing in the South West. o Supported homeless people through the ‘Housing First’ initiative. o Supported over 450 rough sleepers and homeless people into either emergency, temporary, or supported housing. o Achieved 310 single homeless placements in 10 months since April 2020. o Successfully bid for grants worth £3.35m to address rough sleeping and homelessness including the purchase of units of ‘Next Steps’ and ‘Move on’ accommodation. o Installed a level-access bedroom and wet-room pod to support a disabled resident. o £77,000 in Test and Trace support payments issued to over 150 self-isolating residents.

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3. Green Spaces, Parks and R e c y c l i n g

o Maintained the waste service throughout the pandemic with 12,000 bins collected every day. o a finalist in two national awards for recycling excellence, one for partnership working and one for Innovation o Continued the partnership with Keep Britain Tidy over marine plastic recycling across the South West o Continued partnership with Odyssey Innovation over the maritime port and harbour recycling of fishing nets, crates, buoys etc. o Continued to broker, process and sell other authority recycling as well as Exeter’s. Mid use our services to market their domestic recycling and and send their trade recycling to us o Designed and built the new inclusive Play Park in and also completely rebuilt the football field. o Consulted on three draft strategies for Play parks, Trees and Parks and Open Spaces. o Donated land for the new cycle-bridge at Summer Lane. o Continued a phased reduction of glyphosate weed-killer use, to protect wildlife.

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o Encouraged biodiversity through wildflowers and naturalising grass areas. o Provided a wheelchair-accessible allotment in Topsham.

4. Leisure, Health and Wellbeing, Live and M o v e

o The Labour administration brought the City’s leisure service in-house during the Covid-19 pandemic protecting jobs and to create a great service for the future. 168 staff transferred to ECC employment with the largest restructure of its kind taking place so all employees are on ECC terms and conditions by 31st August 2021. The decision to bring the leisure services in-house included all built leisure facilities returning them to direct management by the Council for the first time in around 20 years, these centres are:

 Riverside Leisure Centre  Northbrook Pool  Wonford Sports Centre  Pyramids Swimming & Leisure Centre  Exeter Arena  St Sidwell’s Point Leisure Complex (Summer 2021)  Isca Bowls Centre

o Due to the pandemic, the new leisure service has only been allowed to provide limited access or was required to close completely. However, as an example of how the new service will respond to needs, a new “app” was launched which enabled residents to take part in instructor led exercises from home. This free service was quickly taken up by many residents and has proved to be very popular. o Allocated funding to finish the full refurbishment of the Riverside Leisure Centre, ensuring great indoor sport and leisure facilities for the future, West of the Exe. o Adopted the Physical Activity Strategy and Built Facilities Strategy setting a fair and ambitious path for investment in leisure, physical activity and wellbeing in the City focused on those who most need help.

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o Launched the new Live & Move campaign and digital platform supporting residents and communities to be more active – www.liveandmove.co.uk. o Extensive engagement with the local community to design a new Health & Wellbeing Centre in Wonford, over 1000 residents and 20 community organisations contributing towards a preferred design and a vision for health and wellbeing in the community. o Expanded Wellbeing Exeter with a new team of four Community Physical Activity Organisers creating opportunities to be active in local neighbourhoods. o Through the Sport England partnership established a new pathway for children, young people and families to be supported with their physical and mental wellbeing alongside partners Devon Community Foundation, Primary Care Networks, Young Devon and Space.

5. Economy and R e c o v e r y

o Supported Business - assessed and distributed over 4,600 grants totalling £34.3M to businesses in Exeter severely impacted by the pandemic. o Created the Exeter Works Partnership to help those made redundant by the pandemic. o Created and led a new programme, Exeter Community Wellbeing, providing support to residents and communities during Covid-19.

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o Established a new Community Wellbeing Hotline, taking support requests through telephone and online forms. This received more than 4,000 calls and 1,500 online requests for support. o Administered the Covid-19 Community Wellbeing fund, helping about 400 residents with grants totalling over £75,000, to assist with COVID-related financial hardship. o Supported community groups through a focused Community Grants programme to respond to challenges during Covid-19 including:

 The Action Fund, awarded around £144,000 to 113 groups/projects.  Ward Grants which awarded around £23,000 to 51 groups.

6. Communities and Culture

o Developed two new services with Citizen Advice (CAB), Exeter Community Initiatives, with Exeter Connect providing infrastructure support to local charities and community groups. o Established a programme of Digital Inclusion support for families. o The City was awarded UNESCO City of Literature status in 2019, the only city in the UK to do so in thatyear. o Secured funding through the Liveable Exeter Programme including £20,000 from Arts Council England for the first Cultural City Compact and a further £20,000 from the University to embed culture into strategic planning of future developments. o Successfully delivered the Heritage Open Days 2020. o Secured funding through the Liveable Exeter Programme including £20,000 from Arts Council England for the first Cultural City Compact and a further £20,000 from the University to embed culture into strategic planning of future developments.

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o Delivered online training package for artists to help them utilise outdoor spaces for activity during the summer/autumn 2021. o Covid-19 restrictions meant that the RAMM could only open for a total of 31.5 days from April 2020. But the RAMM developed its existing on-line services and produced new services. Highlights included:

 Distribution of 500 free art/craft materials packs to people who were socially isolated via the community wellbeing hubs.  Lockdown Legends went live (physically and digitally) in September, showcasing the stories of local people who have shown particular kindness, courage, humanity or ingenuity during Covid-19.  Reopened with the 100 First Women Portraits exhibition by Anita Corbin, recording many lesser-known women’s first achievements.

7. P l a n n i n g and Building Control

o Considerable work was done by Building Control during the fitting out of the Nightingale Hospital. o Exeter City Council planning team has dealt with applications for variation of conditions and hours of operation to facilitate businesses to continue throughout this difficult time. o Granted consent to the first two co-living developments at Harlequins in the city centre and the former Ambulance Station in Heavitree. This new form of tenure offers an additional living choice for single people to

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complement more traditional flat and house accommodation. Both schemes will provide affordable housing for key local and retail workers. o Another, first in the city is a development scheme of 400 homes and 65 ‘living with care’ units at Junction. This brownfield site scheme is of high quality, high density, low carbon design comprising a mix of house sizes and tenures with 170 units for sale and 230 ‘Build to Rent’ units.

8. A W e l l - r u n C o u n c i l

o During 2020-21, the Government imposed lockdown measures to control the spread of the Corona Virus. As a direct result of these measures, Exeter City Council incurred losses in its income of nearly £12m. o Total Government support measures to Council will amount to £6m, which covers only half the income lost. o The Council took quick and decisive action this year to address the financial challenges posed by Covid-19.This action has enabled the Labour led City Council to propose and pass a balanced budget with only a relatively small amount of savings required. o The Labour-led City Council removed the financial impact on furloughed staff by topping-up the salary from the Government’s 80% contribution to keeping staff on full pay.

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Labour continuing to work for you

Against a wide range of challenges, we will continue to lead a well-run council and will do so working to four key priorities. These are: Achieving Net zero Exeter 2030, supporting active and healthy lifestyles, building great neighbourhoods as well as leading a well run Council.

9. A c h i e v i n g Net zero Exeter 2030

Like Exeter, many other cities and towns are aiming to be carbon neutral, but few have set out clear and deliverable plans to show how that will be reached. The council asked Exeter City Futures to work in partnership with the city to create a clear delivery roadmap*. Net Zero Exeter 2030 sets out the scale of the challenge, and the likely actions and investment required to ensure that Exeter is, and is in a position to remain, carbon neutral by 2030.

Key additional outcomes we will deliver in the coming year:

o Declaration of a Climate and Ecology Emergency o Progress the solar farm and battery storage, which will comprise of 3,700 solar photovoltaic (PV) modules creating a 1.2MW array and substantial battery storage capacity to provide flexibility between peak generation and peak usage. o Continuation of our tree planting programme with specific focus on replacing trees lost to ash dieback.

* www.exetercityfutures.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Net-Zero-Exeter-2030-Plan.pdf

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10. S upporting active and healthy lifestyles

In England, one in four people do less than 30 minutes of physical activity a week, while one in six deaths is linked to inactivity. In Exeter, some people are already more physically active than the national average. Exeter is overall a healthy place to live but some areas in the city have poor health outcomes.

Whilst prosperity overall in the city has grown in recent years, the health inequalities gap between the most and least well-off areas has increased. We know that active and healthy lifestyles bring wider benefits to individuals and communities by reducing health inequality, tackling congestion, improving community connectivity and reducing social isolation.

Key additional outcomes we will deliver in the coming year:

o The ground breaking Passivhaus leisure complex, St Sidwell’s Point, will open in the summer of 2021 with facilities including:

 25m competition swimming pool.  Café.  20 m community pool.  Children’s soft play activity space.  Children’s confidence/play pool.  Spa (including hydrotherapy pool and treatment room).  Health &fitness centre (150 station gym and  Rooftop terrace. flexible studio).

o The long awaited re-opening of the Riverside pool will happen in the summer of 2021, bringing the Riverside Leisure Centre back into full use.

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o With all of our pools in action, the new in-house service, Exeter Leisure, will roll out a Swimming Lesson programme to help get children back in the water after an unprecedented time of closure due to the pandemic. We aim to offer lessons for all and provide an opportunity that will enable catch-up for those who have lost significant lesson time. The swim programme will be affordable to all. o Bring together the resources of the new in-house service, Exeter Leisure, and the Live and Move project to create more diverse and flexible opportunities for people to become more active. o Build back membership/subscription base which has taken a severe hit during the pandemic. o Tackle health inequalities by supporting those most disadvantaged through COVID-19 to lead healthy and active lifestyles. o Public re-launch and awareness campaign of the Exeter Green Circle, supporting more people to access walking routes across the city. o Citywide active travel programme for workplaces to enable more walking & cycling and improve staff health wellbeing. o #ShareYourMoves campaign to get people moving more and active every day to improve health & wellbeing post COVID-19.

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11. B uilding great neighbourhoods

The city is already home to a rich network of diverse and friendly neighbourhoods. The aim is to protect and nurture these communities but also to ensure that existing and new residents will have a home that is secure, affordable and healthy in a balanced and connected neighbourhood.

Key additional outcomes we will deliver in the coming year:

o Exeter City Council will bring forward a new Exeter Local Plan. o Support individuals and families in housing need. o Reduce the numbers presenting as homeless. o Address urban anti-social behaviour. o Support businesses to navigate through financial support packages/grants from Government. o Continue to deliver asset-based community development. o Refurbish West Garth Park. o Launch Play Streets to support local residents to close their street to traffic, connect with neighbours & friends and be active on their doorstep.

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o Manage the successful operation of the grants programme for communities and the arts through Council’s budgetary challenges. o Creating a new public art strategy for the city in partnership with the University of Exeter and Exeter Culture. o Work with UNESCO to transform Parliament Street into a tourist hotspot with Exeter City of Literature at its heart. o RAMM’s focus will be on supporting Exeter and Devon’s social and economic recovery by:

 Supporting place making through a campaign highlighting ’Treasures at RAMM’.  Creating mental health and well-being activities, making a specific social contribution to our community.  Continuing our work with the LGBQ+ community through the project ‘Out & About: Queering the Museum’.  Developing new project activity with partners that range from the University through to Magic Carpet, CEDA, Pelican Project.  Further developing our digital resources, maintaining selected activity that has proved successful in extending our audience ‘reach’ during lockdown o Launching the Trade and Exchange Project – utilising the windows of empty shop retail units to respond to the collections at the Devon & Exeter Institute.

12. L e a d i n g a W e l l - run Council

In the face of ongoing Government austerity and our continuing response to Covid-19 there is less money and more demand on our services than ever before. If we continue delivering services in the same way as we do today there will be a significant funding gap over the next five years. This is despite a track record of reducing our costs and increasing income by £16.7m since 2010.

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Presenting a balanced budget for the coming year has not been easy - the Government’s own core spending power calculation shows that even by increasing our Council Tax by the maximum allowable, which is £5 a year for a Band D property or less than 10p a week. The Council will only have the same amount to spend next year as it did this year. Inflation increases alone account for an increase in spending requirement of £817,000.

Furthermore, the Conservative Government is consulting on modifications to the New Homes Bonus and is still intent on overhauling the Business Rates Retention scheme, meaning that the financial benefits that we have enjoyed will be lost from 2022-23 onwards. This means reductions of £6 million will be required over the next three years to balance the budget. This equals 13% of the total spent on services in Exeter.

Key additional outcomes we will deliver this year:

o Continuing to have one of the lowest rates of council tax in the country. For a band D property (2021/22) the proportion of the tax that goes to ECC is 8% or £3.17 a week which the Council uses to fund vital services. o In addition to our framework of equality and diversity policies and procedures we are developing an anti-racism strategy for the Council. o Meeting the challenges of identifying funding to invest in our public spaces, community facilities and housing. We believe that Exeter City Council should aim to do more, working with partners such as Sport England, local Police and community groups, to tackle some of the biggest challenges facing our city. A Labour-led Exeter City Council will continue to put the needs of the people of Exeter at the heart of its policies and actions.

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