Cabinet Members will be asked to make any declarations of interest in respect of items on this agenda.  A flowchart providing guidance on interests is attached to assist councillors.

There were no declarations of interest.

To sign and confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 10 July 2018.

Agreed the minutes of the meeting held on 10 July 2018.

To receive questions from the public in accordance with the Constitution.

Questions, of no longer than 50 words, can be submitted to the Democratic Support Unit, Plymouth City Council, Ballard House, Plymouth, PL1 3BJ, or email to democraticsupport@plymouth.gov.uk. Any questions must be received at least five clear working days before the date of the meeting.

There were no questions from members of the public.

To receive reports on business which, in the opinion of the Chair, should be brought forward for urgent consideration.

There were no items of Chair’s urgent business.

The Leader made announcements on the following subjects –

·         the visit to the Range’s new HQ at Derriford had been undertaken to mark the start of building the new offices;

·         the appointment of Nigel Hurst as the Head of Contemporary Art at The Box;

·         the largest double span cantilever in the county was built in Plymouth;

·         the Ship Building campaign;

·         the Life Jacket campaign;

·         the appointment of Rob Watson as the Director of Marine Business Technology Centre.

Councillor McDonald (Cabinet member for Children and Young People)

(a) The 2 day OFSTED Inspection:

·         OFSTED Inspectors did not identify any children at risk of harm of whom the local authority had not provided an appropriate service;

·         Social Workers were well supported and morale was high;

·         the Out of Hours services was seen inspected as good.

(b) Together for Childhood:

·         Plymouth was one of four cities that bid for this project and was successfully chosen;

·         this was a 10 year project;

·         neighbourhoods were looked at and Ernesettle was selected.

Councillor Tuffin (Cabinet member for Health and Adult Social Care)  –

·         the social prescribing service based in Woseley trust had been awarded a Department of Health funding of £334,000 over three years;

·         the Cabinet would like to pass their thanks on to the Adult Safeguarding team for their hard work

Councillor Haydon (Cabinet member for Customer Focus and Community Safety) –

·         the consultation for the Crematorium opened on Friday 10 August 2018 and several consultation events would be taking place at Weston Mill;

·         dementia friendly signs and stickers had been placed at First Stop to help people suffering with dementia to keep their independence.

Councillor Dann (Cabinet member for Environment and Street scene) –

·         additional extra recycling bins were positioned at the Ocean City Sounds and collected 200kg of glass, 50kg of cans, 25kg of paper and 925kg of plastics;

·         there were a number flood spots in Plymouth and a project to identify where all gullies were in Plymouth is well under way they had so far cleaned 26,500 gullies across the city;

·         the consultation for Plan for Tree’s was due to start shortly;

·         work was underway to make pathways safer in Plymouth especially around schools;

·         work was underway to improve playing pitches and access to good sports facilities in Plymouth.

Councillor Coker (Cabinet member for Strategic Planning and Infrastructure) –

·         approval for the Forder Valley Link Road had been given. This aimed to improve journey times and traffic flow;

·         the Department for Transport had earmarked £22.5m towards this scheme which would cost in total £37.9m.

Councillor Taylor (Cabinet member for Education Skills and Transformation) –

·         there was a 1% increase in KS2 results which highlighted a slight improvement in reading, writing and maths;

·         Supported internships with Plymouth City Council for young people with special educational needs and disabilities;

·         the Government have withdrawn the Schools Improvement programme fund without spending £84m of the money they had allocated;

·         the LGA report that has been published highlighted that Council have a greater impact improving schools than academy chains.

Councillor Penberthy (Cabinet member for Housing and Co-operative Development)  –

·         Homes England offered a £4.42m grant from the accelerated construction  fund, this will help open up over 450 homes;

·         Plymouth City Council will be bidding to the Community Homes fund and will be open to bids until March 2020.

·         there was concern surrounding announcements from Government regarding funding for homelessness;

·         Plymouth City Council will be putting funding into homelessness;

·         Plymouth City Council will  ...  view the full minutes text for item 23.

Councillor Haydon (Cabinet member for Customer Focus and Community Safety) It highlighted to members that –

·         the merger would make us the fourth biggest force in the country;

·         expressed concerns for the lack of transparency for this decision;

·         expressed concerns over not having sight of the business case;

·         the impact on the council tax payer.

For the reasons set out in the report Cabinet agreed –

1.    to express its severe reservations to the Chief Constables and Police and Crime Commissioners of the Devon and Cornwall and Dorset police forces about the proposed merger of Devon and Cornwall Police with Dorset Police, specifically the proposal’s failure to adequately address:

i. Essential practice of providing key stakeholders with full details of the proposed merger until the engagement period has concluded. This raises considerable alarm about the lack of transparency and failure to disclose key facts that would enable informed feedback from stakeholders;

ii. Opportunities to formally consult with key stakeholders such as Local Authorities on a process that directly impacts local areas and local communities;

iii. Financial modelling sufficient to justify the proposal, or to demonstrate value for money to citizens;

iv. Discrepancies in how additional income will be generated and allocated as a result of the merger, with specific reference to funding the proposed additional 430 police officers or staff;

v. Whether any increase in revenue to the proposed merged force will be reinvested back into the city’s policing offer;

vi. Whether policing resources will be committed to meet the specific needs of urban areas such as Plymouth, given its status in the force area, and how Plymouth’s policing model will be affected;

vii. Whether the merger will result in further reductions in neighbourhood policing, specifically Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) and neighbourhood beat managers (NBMs);

viii. Whether the city will remain a Basic Command Unit within the new force, and what commitments are made to the visibility of senior police staff and the Police and Crime Commissioner in the city within a greatly enlarged force area;

ix. The impact assessment of the merger, specifically with respect to equalities and diversity, and as a result of any potential rise in council tax payments on the city’s most vulnerable residents;

x. The failure to reference any intention to improve the condition and use of the police estate in Plymouth in line with the ambitions of a modern police force.

2. Recommend to Council that both Police and Crime Commissioners and Chief Constables are requested to review their arrangements for consultation, endorsing the view set out in 1(i – x) above, to allow Plymouth City Council and other key stakeholders to review a business case that fully addresses all the above concerns prior to its submission to the Home Office.

3. Recommend to Council to, irrespective of the outcome of the police merger proposal, endorse the following Policing Asks for the city:

·         Investment back into neighbourhood policing, specifically the provision of more PSCOs and Neighbourhood Beat Officers;

·         Improvements are  ...  view the full minutes text for item 24.

Councillor Tuffin (Cabinet Member for Health and Social Care) and Ruth Harrell (Director for Public Health) introduced the report.  It was highlighted that –

·         the cuts Public Health are facing from Government;

·         what the Plymouth ask is when lobbying Government;

·         the Thrive Plymouth 10 year programme and the good work being undertaken.

·         the health inequalities in Plymouth

Action - Ruth Harrell (Director for Public Health) to produce a report showing the potential impact of cuts from government and circulate to Cabinet members.

Action –  the Public Health Annual Report to be uploaded to Plymouth City Council Website and to be show on screens in libraries.

For the reasons set out in the report Cabinet agreed –

1.    to note the report and offer reflection on the approaches being taken to support health and wellbeing of adults in the City through the partner activity described;

2.    to offer feedback and suggestions on dissemination of the report in council wards either as a whole or in aspects of its content;

3.    to offer feedback on the challenges identified to support the reduction of health inequalities within Plymouth.

Councillor Lowry (Cabinet member for Finance) introduced the report.  It was highlighted that –

·         inherited a budget in which there was £2.4m overspend;

·         £11m savings to be derived this year due to cuts by Government

·         Cabinet members have been working hard with Service Directors to identify savings;

For the reasons set out in the report Cabinet agreed –

1.    to note the current revenue monitoring position and action plans in place to

reduce/mitigate shortfalls;

2.    to approve the non-delegated virements which have occurred since 1st April 2018;

3.    to recommend to Council that the Capital Budget 2018 -2023 is revised to £581.1m (as shown in Table 6).

Councillor Coker (Cabinet member for Strategic Planning and Infrastructure) and Councillor Evans (Leader of Plymouth City Council) introduced the report. Paul Barnard (Service Director for Strategic Planning and Infrastructure), Phillip Heseltine (Head of Transport, Infrastructure and Investment) were also present for questioning. It was highlighted that –

·         the Government was consulting on plans for the next cross country rail franchise in 2019;

·         raised concerns for Plymouth becoming the end of the line;

·         the need for improvement to services and facilities.

For the reasons set out in the report Cabinet agreed –

1.    Supports the response to the Cross Country Rail Passenger franchise public consultation as set out in the report.

2.    Instructs officers to respond to the consultation objecting to the ending of direct rail services at Plymouth.

Also agreed to include an additional recommendation -

3.    Objects to the curtailing of train services beyond Plymouth into Cornwall and the lack of modernisation into the infrastructure including the identification of brand new rolling stock.

Reason: The planned reduction in train services beyond Plymouth into Cornwall in order to support East Coast Main Line capacity issues would further unacceptably erode the strategic connectivity of Plymouth and the wider peninsula, contrary to the specifications of the existing Cross Country Franchise network and the 20 Year PRTF Rail Plan. The existing rolling stock is not fit for purpose because they are not allowed to operated when sea conditions lead to overtopping.

Councillor Penberthy (Cabinet member for Housing and Co-operative Development) introduced the report. Emma Rose (Strategic Development Manager) was also present for questioning. It was highlighted that –

·         the National Audit Office review on Universal Credit;

·         help offered for people struggling with Council tax on Universal Credit;

·         the difficulty obtaining data from DWP;

·         a Select Committee to take place in the autumn to discuss Universal credit;

·         Concerns were raised by Councillor Penberthy and Councillor Evans at the previous administrations’ failure to maximise benefit of the Discretionary Housing Payment grant.

For the reasons set out in the report Cabinet agreed –

1.    Cabinet support the recommendations made by the Select Committee Review on Universal Credit and the Portfolio Holder monitors the progress of the associated actions.

In addition Cabinet agreed changes to recommendation 3 to include –

That the Group Leaders write to the Permanent Secretary seeking –

·         implementation of default automatic direct payment for the housing element of Universal Credit to social and private landlords with an opt out;

·         to improve communications between Department for Work and Pensions and private landlords;

·         to improve lawful data sharing between Department for Work and Pensions and Plymouth City Council;

·         to provide a mechanism for confirming entitlement to Universal Credit, at an earlier stage, in order to progress Discretionary Housing Payment applications when they are needed;

Paul Looby (Head of Financial Planning and Reporting) and Councillor Mark Lowry (Cabinet member for Finance) introduced the report.  It was highlighted that –

·         the Government have proposed a new pilot from the 1 Aril 2019 for 75% business rates;

·         the potential impact of not being renewed into the business rates pilot scheme.

For the reasons set out in the report Cabinet agreed –

1.    to approve the recommendation from the Performance, Finance and Customer Focus Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting, held on 27 June 2018.