Closed doors at County Hall for councillor conduct hearings
A survey of local authority approaches to standards committee hearings finds Devon County Council alone in imposing private determination of conduct complaints.
NEWS ⁄ DEMOCRACY & GOVERNANCE
Exeter councillor Yvonne Atkinson found in breach of code of conduct but escapes prosecution
Summary of investigation related to rental property interests involving Devon & Cornwall Police and Crown Prosecution Service withheld by Devon County Council while councillor campaigned for re-election to Exeter City Council.
NEWSWIRE
Exeter in brief - May 2023
Keeping you informed with local news that matters.
, updated
NEWS ⁄ DEMOCRACY & GOVERNANCE
Devon County Council admits "serious, material, well-evidenced" governance failures
Deficient SEND and children's services combine with threat of section 114 bankruptcy notice to prompt "root and branch" review aimed at restoring "external confidence in the council's democratic legitimacy".
, updated
ANALYSIS ⁄ COMMUNITY & SOCIETY
Devon County Council social care cuts target homelessness services
£1.5 million homelessness prevention service funding cut will make situation worse for people who are homeless and at risk of homelessness and is likely to cost more than it saves.
NEWSWIRE
Exeter in brief - April 2023
Keeping you informed with local news that matters.
, updated
ANALYSIS ⁄ TRANSPORT & MOBILITY
Future of Devon bus services being decided behind closed doors
Devon County Council does not want the public to hear whether local service improvements are going according to plan.
NEWSWIRE
Exeter in brief - March 2023
Keeping you informed with local news that matters.
, updated
NEWS ⁄ COMMUNITY & SOCIETY
Devon County Council charged with "relentless institutional failings" in SEND children's services provision
Children with special educational needs and disabilities protest alongside parents at County Hall as Ofsted monitoring continues to find serious unresolved issues and key areas that require significant change.
NEWSWIRE
Exeter in brief - February 2023
Keeping you informed with local news that matters.
, updated
NEWS ⁄ DEMOCRACY & GOVERNANCE
Underperforming county council children's services to receive nearly half of proposed spending increases
Details of simultaneous £50 million 2023-24 spending reductions not yet published as finance director cites service delivery "re-prioritisation".
NEWSWIRE
Exeter in brief - January 2023
Keeping you informed with local news that matters.
, updated
ANALYSIS ⁄ TRANSPORT & MOBILITY
Stagecoach escapes major sanctions over service failures
Traffic commissioner decides four days of free weekend travel in Exeter Plus ticket zone is sufficient penalty for poor performance despite public inquiry hearing severe criticism of company.
ANALYSIS ⁄ TRANSPORT & MOBILITY
Motor vehicle infrastructure continues to dominate Devon transport spending
New active travel infrastructure to receive just 5% share of capital allocations this year and next, with new roads capital expenditure to increase from 74% to 86%.
ANALYSIS ⁄ TRANSPORT & MOBILITY
Figures show declining Exeter walking and cycling rates as active travel delivery falls by the wayside
County council plans to remove Queen Street active travel infrastructure despite road space reallocation commitments expose equivocal city transport policy aim.
NEWS ⁄ TRANSPORT & MOBILITY
Stagecoach proposes free travel and fast-tracked information upgrades to compensate for service failures
West of England traffic commissioner holds Exeter's principal bus operator to account at public inquiry, with final decision on performance expected this week.
ANALYSIS ⁄ TRANSPORT & MOBILITY
Bus back better? Exeter services expected to remain unfit for purpose without needed changes
Government underfunding and bus sector challenges limit scope for improvement but county council failure to upgrade routes and policy ambitions plus high housing costs make Exeter difficulties acute, undermining net zero aspirations.
ANALYSIS ⁄ CLIMATE & ENVIRONMENT
Exeter greenhouse gas report disregards hundreds of thousands of tonnes of annual city emissions
Restricted scope of study misrepresents scale of city's impact to produce partial decarbonisation targets while ignoring opportunities to reduce emissions imported by residents, businesses and visitors, guaranteeing net zero failure.
ANALYSIS ⁄ TRANSPORT & MOBILITY
Alphington "enhancements" will not mitigate traffic impact from massive South West Exeter extension
County council manipulates public consultation and allocates just 1% of £55 million grant to pedestrian scheme while spending 75% on new roads and increased road capacity for 3,500 new cars expected on greenfield housing estate.
ANALYSIS ⁄ TRANSPORT & MOBILITY
£900,000 to keep Magdalen Road one-way system despite decisive public support for low traffic street
County council misrepresented and omitted key public consultation findings in report and did not publish results until after decision taken in favour of option with only 18% public support. Exeter Observer snapshot survey finds 90%+ motor vehicles passing shops are through traffic.
NOTES & SKETCHES ⁄ CLIMATE & ENVIRONMENT
Tik tok
The county council-convened Devon Climate Emergency Response Group (DCERG) has continued its apparent commitment to avoiding public scrutiny of its decision-making by simultaneously publishing the minutes of six of its meetings (which are held in private without published agendas) at the end of May — despite some being held in March...
NOTES & SKETCHES ⁄ CLIMATE & ENVIRONMENT
Leaderless by design?
The county council’s plan to delay taking action on decarbonisation, otherwise known as the Devon Carbon Plan, continues to achieve its aim as (bear with us) the county council cabinet responds to its consultation on its response to the Devon Climate Assembly’s responses to the subset of Interim Devon Carbon Plan issues it has successfully avoided confronting...
NOTES & SKETCHES ⁄ TRANSPORT & MOBILITY
More talk less action
The county council has derived more surprising new insights from the second phase of a consultation on the impact of traffic in Heavitree and Whipton...
NOTES & SKETCHES ⁄ TRANSPORT & MOBILITY
Buses stop
Exeter’s Labour county councillors successfully lobbied County Hall to convene an unscheduled meeting of the Exeter Highways and Traffic Orders Committee (HaTOC) yesterday to discuss the state of bus services in the city...
NEWS ⁄ CLIMATE & ENVIRONMENT
Exeter City Council abandons city 2030 decarbonisation "ambition"
Unannounced decision to exclude scope 3 emissions constituting around 43% of Exeter's carbon footprint from "net zero" plans effectively ensures city will not meet its decarbonisation goals.
NEWS ⁄ CLIMATE & ENVIRONMENT
Council reveals plan for "Pods in Exeter's Sky" to beat city congestion
Exeter City Futures proposal connects key city sites with a network of Alpine-style cable cars as an alternative to traffic improvement measures.
ANALYSIS ⁄ DEMOCRACY & GOVERNANCE
Decision to send council CEO and director to work for Exeter City Futures is "disservice to citizens"
City council disregards governance, risk and conflict of interest issues despite cross-party challenges and conflates decarbonisation agenda with property development financing scheme.
NEWS ⁄ CLIMATE & ENVIRONMENT
Exeter decarbonisation plans found wanting in nationwide council climate action plan study
Somerset West and Taunton highest scoring local authority area with East Devon in third place nationally in comprehensive Climate Emergency UK analysis.
NOTES & SKETCHES ⁄ TRANSPORT & MOBILITY
Not such an honourable mention
Cranbrook’s appearance in a recent Transport for New Homes report examining new housing developments across England to find out whether they are built around sustainable transport or car dependency does not exactly celebrate the satellite town’s mobility provision...
NOTES & SKETCHES ⁄ PLANNING & PLACE
Has the county council learned its lesson?
Judging by the “ample space” for greenfield business park and housing development promoted in the “Clean Growth Vision for the West of East Devon” it commissioned from City Science Corporation (an Exeter City Futures sister company) for submission to the East Devon Local Plan consultation, it seems not...
Exeter Digest #9: Pennsylvania petitioners - Devon Pension Fund - University social mobility - Harlequins fate sealed
Our ninth newsletter is a bumper edition providing plenty of independent public interest journalism to keep you company on long midwinter evenings.
NOTES & SKETCHES ⁄ DEMOCRACY & GOVERNANCE
Devolution doublespeak
Devon is apparently at the front of the pack for a Michael Gove-flavoured “double” devolution deal despite a competing bid led by Plymouth City Council (which wants to combine with the adjacent West Devon and South Hams district councils), next to no guidance on what is on offer from Whitehall, and even less public discussion about the prospect of local government changes across the county...
NOTES & SKETCHES ⁄ CLIMATE & ENVIRONMENT
Democracy inaction
Meanwhile the poor record of the county council-led Devon Climate Emergency Response Group on keeping the public informed about what it is up to reached a new low this month, when it simultaneously published the minutes of ten meetings on the same day, some from as long ago as August...
ANALYSIS ⁄ CLIMATE & ENVIRONMENT
County council doubles down on pension fund divestment position
Devon Pension Fund remains committed to fossil fuel investment despite increasingly untenable pension fund committee position that relies on unfounded shareholder influence claims and failure to understand sector position and plans.
NOTES & SKETCHES ⁄ ECONOMY & ENTERPRISE
It's grim down South West
Recent synthesis of economic data by Devon County Council doesn’t make for very cheerful reading...
Exeter Digest #4: University and council drop development standards - Exe valley under threat - Kinder Exeter community festival
In the fourth edition of our newsletter we also welcome trainee reporter Jenna McGill to the team and introduce the first Exeter Observer caption competition.
ANALYSIS ⁄ CLIMATE & ENVIRONMENT
Devon Pension Fund fossil fuel investment position exposed by Shell and BP AGM votes
Shareholder support for Paris Agreement-compatible goals increases but fails to prevent continuing oil and gas exploration, extraction, production or consumption as experts intensify warnings that emissions reductions goals will be missed.
NEWS ⁄ CLIMATE & ENVIRONMENT
South West Exeter district heating network plan abandoned
Property developers refuse to back scheme despite local authorities committing £7.3 million to project to supply 2500 new homes with waste heat from Marsh Barton incinerator, Exeter's largest single source of carbon emissions.
ANALYSIS ⁄ DEMOCRACY & GOVERNANCE
Did Exeter's local elections results tell a Labour success story?
Exeter Labour lost just one seat in the city council elections and held all seven of its county hall seats, but on closer inspection its performance was more mixed than these headline results imply.
COMMENT ⁄ CLIMATE & ENVIRONMENT
Is Exeter City Council going to abandon its Net Zero 2030 target?
Review suggests alignment with Devon Carbon Plan, currently aimed at 50% reduction in carbon emissions by 2030 and net zero by 2050, citing "technical and financial challenges ahead", although change in policy would require decision by councillors after 6 May local elections.
Exeter Digest #2: Exeter local elections guide - Majority want net zero by 2030 - Council meetings to resume in person
With the local elections a week today and a bank holiday weekend on its way we thought we'd publish our second edition a day early to give you extra time to take your pick of our top stories.
NEWS ⁄ CLIMATE & ENVIRONMENT
Devon Carbon Plan consultation finds majority want net zero by 2030
Devon Climate Emergency Response Group questions whether 2030 "realistic" and suggests "palatable" compromise while only 13% of consultees support UK government's 2050 target.
NEWS ⁄ DEMOCRACY & GOVERNANCE
High Court rules council meetings must resume in person after local elections
Case seeking judgement to allow local authority meetings to continue remotely when temporary coronavirus regulations expire fails to override requirement for primary legislation.
ANALYSIS ⁄ DEMOCRACY & GOVERNANCE
2021 Exeter local elections guide
Elections for Exeter City Council, Devon County Council and the Devon & Cornwall Police and Crime Commissioner are taking place in Exeter on 6 May. Our essential election guide highlights wards and divisions to watch, changes taking place and how, when and where to vote.
Exeter Digest #1: Statistics in the balance - Dartmoor Line to reopen - Local elections are coming
In this first edition of Exeter Observer's email newsletter we introduce our format and bring you up to date with our coverage over the past couple of months.
NEWS ⁄ DEMOCRACY & GOVERNANCE
Independent county councillor Claire Wright stands down
First elected to Ottery St Mary Town Council in 2009, the parliamentary candidate for East Devon in 2015 and 2017 also served on East Devon District Council for four years and Devon County Council for eight years.
NEWS ⁄ TRANSPORT & MOBILITY
Okehampton to Exeter "Dartmoor Line" passenger rail service reinstatement confirmed
£40 million Department for Transport "Restoring your Railway" funding to enable trains every two hours by end of this year, with plans to increase to hourly service during 2022. Stakeholders combine to get South West infrastructure needs onto Whitehall agenda.
NEWS ⁄ DEMOCRACY & GOVERNANCE
Door to door campaigning for May local elections to go ahead after all
Government announces relaxation of coronavirus restrictions on election canvassing from next Monday 8 March in step with planned lockdown rule changes.
NEWS ⁄ CLIMATE & ENVIRONMENT
Report places Devon County Council among UK's top local authority fossil fuel investors
£157 million of Devon Local Government Pension Scheme is invested in companies including Royal Dutch Shell, BP, BHP, Anglo American and ExxonMobil despite local authority climate emergency declarations and carbon reduction commitments.
NEWS ⁄ DEMOCRACY & GOVERNANCE
May local elections to go ahead despite COVID-19 challenges
Ban on doorstep canvassing and door to door leaflet distribution likely to favour the two major parties on 6 May as postal and proxy voting encouraged in Exeter City Council, Devon County Council and Devon & Cornwall Police and Crime Commissioner elections.
NEWS ⁄ CLIMATE & ENVIRONMENT
District heating network planned for new South West Exeter development
Local councils are investing up to £7.3 million in a £23 million project to supply a development of 2500 homes with heat which depends on the Marsh Barton waste incinerator, Exeter's largest single source of carbon emissions.
NEWS ⁄ TRANSPORT & MOBILITY
Council abandons temporary COVID-19 cycling and walking safety plans in Exeter city centre
Devon County Council cites "pushback" from traders as schemes on North Street, South Street, Fore Street and Cowick Street are scrapped. Meanwhile temporary changes in Topsham are dropped after "snap poll".
NEWS ⁄ TRANSPORT & MOBILITY
Devon County Council fails to deliver promised COVID-19 cycling and walking infrastructure
Deadline for action on social distancing for safe travel set by county cabinet member passes despite Devon receiving £1.7 million share of government emergency fund.
ANALYSIS ⁄ TRANSPORT & MOBILITY
Coronavirus exposes council failure to deliver Exeter transport plans
Devon County Council's failure to deliver overdue Exeter transport strategy and cycling and walking plan has led to an inadequate response to government demands for emergency coronavirus road layout changes.
ANALYSIS ⁄ PLANNING & PLACE
Exeter's first "zero carbon" housing development includes 96 car parking spaces for 40 homes
Exeter City Council has approved plans to develop land at Pinhoe with a parking ratio of 2.4 cars per household as part of an "exemplar scheme for future residential development in the city" while accepting that zero carbon construction comes "at a cost to the provision of affordable housing".
ANALYSIS ⁄ TRANSPORT & MOBILITY
An integrated public transport service for Devon remains a distant aspiration
A change to Exeter's G bus service operator has revealed the limits of Devon County Council's approach to transport system integration.
NEWS ⁄ DEMOCRACY & GOVERNANCE
Exeter Labour support collapses in Heavitree & Whipton Barton county by-election
Greg Sheldon wins Devon County Council division by just 40 votes after Labour loses nearly a fifth of its previous vote share.
ANALYSIS ⁄ TRANSPORT & MOBILITY
We already know what to do about the climate crisis. We must get on with doing it as fast as we can.
Exeter and Devon council leaders must begin rapid regional decarbonisation now. The quickest, cheapest way to cut emissions in Exeter is to deter combustion engines from entering the city. Clean air legislation offers a basis for action.
