Case studies

Managing funding locally through devolved budgets has increased scrutiny of how money is being used to meet local skills needs.

The City Region argues that devolution has allowed it to move away from policy silos and address interconnected problems in a far more joined up way, for example Households into Work having an impact on social housing strategy.

"devolution is fantastic and I think we've proved we can manage it".

The devolution of employment and skills led to the profile of these areas being raised within both the local authority and the LEP and has resulted in the creation of a fully resourced and funded team to manage programmes and strategy.

The combined authority believes that devolution has increased its influencing power and that it is more involved in decisions at an earlier stage. As a result, other national bodies, such as the Careers and Enterprise Company (CEC), are now in discussions with the combined authority about how to devolve funding to meet its specific skills needs.

Exeter City Council has created Wellbeing Exeter, a strategic alliance with Devon County Council and Sport England, which aims to link up community, healthcare and wellbeing services, and to reinforce local assets which might strengthen wellbeing outcomes.

Exeter City Council have been constructing buildings to Passivhaus standards since 2009, using their triple bottom line approach to deliver high quality builds, by being socially, environmentally and financially responsible. Since starting to deliver Passivhaus homes, they have developed and built nearly 150 homes to these standards. The process of designing and building so many different types of structure, has enabled them to improve their delivery model and in doing so reduce the overall cost.

When England’s oldest hotel caught fire in 2016, Exeter city council’s communications team sprang into action, using digital channels to warn, inform and engage communities in the recovery operation.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Exeter City Council and Exeter Chamber of Commerce worked in partnership to launch Exeter Works, an online and physical advice hub to support people in the Greater Exeter area who need advice and guidance on a range of areas related to skills and employment.

This project has enabled a successful channel shift to deliver a flexible service 24/7/365. This delivers a more convenient option to alleviate traffic away from traditional housing options services. The model offers one main consolidated referral route giving customers an efficient and effective way to engage with their local authority.