Question one submitted by Mr Gregg Black was answered by Councillor Pete Smith (Deputy Leader)

Question: In the first 2020 lockdown, local play parks, such as Lipson, were closed to the public. Why have they not been closed in this lockdown? I walked past Central Park play park by the life centre on Sunday 17th and there were about 70 families not social distancing and mixing.

Answer: Plymouth City Council’s response to play areas is in line with the national lockdown guidance implemented by the government on 4 January 2021, which was to keep play areas open. In line with this, we have also put signs up to ensure people are following social distancing guidelines.

The link to the government guidance is below:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-guidance-for-managing-playgroundsand-outdoor-gyms/covid-19-guidance-for-managing-playgrounds-and-outdoor-gyms#keyprinciples-for-the-safe-usage-of-playgrounds-and-outdoor-gyms-during-covid-19

Question two submitted Mr James Knight was answered by Councillor Evans OBE (The Leader)

Question: The cost of the Gormley Statue has finally been revealed after many months of persons asking, why has the figure been released now, and are there any plans within the original funding to address the environment around the statue which is a mixture of concrete and flagstones?

Answer: The costs revealed in the Council report was the budget for the works in 2020/2021 and included a number of projects in that area including essential strengthening works to protect West Hoe Pier against damage from the sea.

The Council signed a legal agreement with Sir Antony that it would not disclose the cost of Look II. This is common practice with art commissions, because the price of one piece of work can influence the value of other work by the same artist. Artists would think twice about doing business with the Council or The Box if they knew that we broke our promises about confidentiality. The Council is committed to being open about how it spends public money, and this is one of very few exceptions to that rule. The independent Information Commissioner’s Office agreed in November 2020 that we have taken the right approach to this.

The total cost of the sculpture has not been revealed and there are currently no plans to address the environment around the sculpture.

Question three submitted by Mr Paul Gulley was answered by Councillor Sally Haydon, Cabinet Member for Customer Focus and Community Safety

Question: The City Council has issued a number of Fixed Penalty Notice for obstruction under the Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) Regulations 2020 in November 2020. Please advise how many FPN were issued and of those collected a percentage of those that have been paid in full?

Answer: During November Plymouth City Council has served two Fixed Penalty Notices for obstruction. Payment not received. Legal proceedings are pending.

(a)

cases of Covid 19 had been reducing in Plymouth since the peak of the wave which was around 19 January 2021, the rates were now approximately 30 per 100,000 in a week which had fallen from 330 per 100,000 when cases were calculated in January; the England average was currently 60 per 100,000 and the South West average was 33 per 100,000;

(b)

there were significant reductions in those admitted to hospital; the highest rates of cases tended to be in the younger working age population as many were out and about providing essential services during lockdown;

(c)

high rates of Covid 19 cases were apparent in Keyham, however cases in the Royal Navy showed up as Plymouth cases and this could be misleading; if cases developed on a ship when they would be in an isolated environment and there would be no exposure to the Plymouth residents;

(d)

the country had just passed the first milestone in opening up after the lockdown passed on 8 March 2021 – the ease of restriction dates were dependent on the data even though the roadmap had been set out. Key elements that were important over the next few months including vaccination, testing and following guidance;

(e)

the vaccination rollout was saving lives; nationally there was a reduction in deaths and hospitalisation in the over 80s and there was confidence that benefits would continue in all age-groups as the rollout continued;

(f)

testing was still being undertaken to ascertain if the vaccination was positively affecting the transmission of Covid-19 – it was highlighted that it may reduce transmission but wouldn’t take the figure down to zero;

(g)

the vaccination programme in Plymouth was in full flow and approximately 40% of adults in Plymouth had received the first dose of the vaccine; 95% of older adults in Plymouth were expected to have received the vaccine;

(h)

a clinic was set up to vaccinate 260 homeless individuals; a community champions programme had been launched to ensure that accurate information on the vaccination was provided, to dispel myths and to try to enable people to attend vaccinations by reducing practical obstacles which may prevent from attending an appointment;

(i)

those that considered they were eligible for the covid vaccination however had not received a letter asking them to make an appointment were able to ring 119 or go to the NHS website to book an appointment;

(j)

lateral flow testing kits were available for people that didn’t show symptoms however would still be able to spread the disease; these were rapid tests and results could be provided within 20 minutes to an hour; the Council had started a programme to facilitate testing and a pilot scheme was being undertaken in select locations;

(k)

it was imperative that guidance was followed whilst restrictions were being eased.

(a)

she echoed the Cabinet’s thanks to Ruth Harrell for her work in leading the Covid-19 pandemic response and highlighted that Public Health had led the response for over a year since the Council had been in emergency planning arrangements. These arrangements were still in place and an internal strategic and tactical lead was already set up to link in with the Local Resilience Forum;

(b)

the vast majority of services were open and were operating as normal – there were a small number of services that had remained closed or restricted in line with Government restrictions; the Government’s roadmap had been published and the Council was planning for the re-opening of the city;

(c)

working with partners had been a real focus in the past twelve months and the Chief Executive offered her thanks to partners for their joined up approach in the response;

(d)

a priority for the council was the wellbeing of the workforce; there was continued recognition for the pressure that staff were under over the past 12 months and support services were in place if needed;

(e)

support services had been stood up, including community testing and Caring for Plymouth and support for those for people shielding or self isolating;

(f)

the Business Support Grant Scheme was a significant challenge in terms of administration, there were multiple schemes and a large amount of people involved in ensuring that the funding received from Government was going out as fast as possible;

(g)

thanks was offered to those supporting schools re-opening on Monday;

(h)

twenty applications had been received for the Community Champions project; this entailed working with people to get messages out about Covid-19, guidance and the rollout of the vaccine. Those wishing to volunteer were encouraged to contact the Council;

(i)

a virtual question and answer event relating to Covid-19 was scheduled for 13 April 2021 for residents of Plymouth; this was to be chaired by Tony Gravit from the Local Healthwatch – online registration was required;

(j)

plans for the elections were underway with objectives for them to be covid safe and conducted in an open and transparent way whereby everyone who is eligible to vote is able to.

(a)

he praised the way the city, its residents and its partners for how it has responded to the pandemic;

(b)

Plymouth was to become a Free Port; thanks were offered to Kevin McKenzie and Richard May who were instrumental in leading the bid. The Plymouth and South Devon free zone would create more than 1000 new jobs in the first two years and over 9000 jobs over the next 10 years;

(c)

the Council had invested over £9m in acquiring and refurbishing the property for the VOA’s expanding workforce to safeguard and create hundreds of new jobs in the city; James Watt was thanked personally;

(d)

two floating pontoons were due to be installed in the sea within the designated swimming area near Tinside pool – they were funded by the Local Enterprise Partnership and would be a welcome addition to the Plymouth Sound National Marine Park;

(e)

Plymouth had successfully constructed a new £2.4m commercial employment scheme and secured occupiers for Haxter Court; it would meet the needs of new and expanding businesses within the city;

(f)

he ran through a brief presentation upon the work done in 2020/21 which included updates on:

·        

the Council had big plans for the city in 2020 including Mayflower 400, The Box, £500m worth of development, £250m capital programme, new hotels and £100m of direct developments;

·        

The Box was opened and was the biggest cultural attraction in the South West;

·        

Anthony Gormley’s statue Look 2 was installed on the seafront;

·        

the Barcode started trading in the city in 2020;

·        

Brewdog would be trading in Plymouth soon;

·        

First ship launch in Plymouth with the Autonomous ship, was broadcast to 107m people worldwide;

·        

two new city centre hotels has been secured bringing back two out of use buildings in the city;

·        

Sail GP was the world’s most exciting yacht race and would be a huge advertisement for the national marine park;

·        

Phoenix Wharf had been refurbished;

·        

Launched Smartsound and secured £1.8m in Plymouth Sound;

·        

submitted a bid to the horizon fund – for £10m to transform the opportunities in the marine park should Plymouth be successful;

·        

Forder Valley link road was underway and was important to opening up the north of the city for development;

·        

2021 plans ahead included a £385m city centre investment programme, British Art Show moved to 2022, £500m development pipeline, National Maine Park works, new lighthouse lab developed through the Plymouth Science Park.

(a)

Councillor Pete Smith (Deputy Leader) made the following announcements:

·        

the application for funding to the national leisure recovery fund had been approved – the grant oversight committee agreed to award Plymouth £543,000 of the fund;

·        

the Life Centre’s gym and new changing rooms would be available from 12 April with the 50m pool and leisure pool opening at the end of April. Other facilities and activities would also begin to re-open in accordance with the Governments roadmap. Work on the diving pool was expected in June;

·        

other leisure facilities would be open in-line with the Government’s guidance with the athletics track and all weather pitch from 29 March and indoor facilities at Brickfields and Plympton Swimming Pool from 12 April;

·        

outdoor pools at Tinside and Mount Wise would be open to the public from 1 May, this was a month earlier than usual;

·        

work had continued to finish the Mayflower 400 capital projects including the heritage trails, and the Elizabethan House; some trails had been completed digitally and were available on the Plymouth Trails App; over 4000 users had registered to date;

·        

despite Covid 19 the events team worked hard to secure several events: the world’s fastest sailing event, Sail GP was taking place in July and would bring approximately £20m into the economy, over 30,000 took part in virtual VE day celebration and the circus came to central park. The Council was committed to bringing back a full events programme this summer;

·        

a free to attend live outdoor performance of The Hatchling had been confirmed as part of the Mayflower 400 celebrations whereby a giant puppet of a dragon would roam the streets and take flight;

·        

Libraries – the council had been awarded funding from reading agency to deliver reading friends – they were linked up with Age UK to deliver this project;

(b)

Councillor Kate Taylor (Cabinet Member for Heath and Adult Social Care), made the following announcements:

·        

thousands more people had been added to the clinically extremely vulnerable list; the Caring for Plymouth team had contacted all of those people to provide information and support;

·        

there had been a change in care home visiting regulations – residents in care homes were now able to have an additional visitor; this would make a huge difference to residents and their families;

·        

with regards to care homes in the city – 9 older people care homes, 2 under 65 care homes, 1 supported living setting and 1 extra living facility were coming towards the end of their 28 day outbreak period; the Council would continue to offer support to care providers;

·        

she offered her thanks and that of Cabinet, to the teams across the city and the council and public health that were working together to keep the city’s most vulnerable people safe;

(c)

Councillor Sue Dann (Cabinet Member for Environment and Street Scene) made the following announcements:

·        

work had started to cleanse the A38 – this was having to be done  at  ...  view the full minutes text for item 117.

Councillor Tudor Evans OBE (Leader) and was supported by Hannah Harris.

A place based culture strategy which would takeover from ‘The Vital Spark’ strategy ran until 2020. This new strategy would run from 2021 to 2030.

Plymouth City Council had comissioned arts development companies and audience agencies to work with Plymouth which explored data capture to understand the scale and impact of the Sector. Due to the impact of COVID and subsequent lockdown the strategy was paused to reflect on the appropriateness on developing a long term plan, whilst companies and individuals had been in crisis. The feedback however had been to accelerate progress, the positive of the first lockdown had been to allow the team to stop and reflect and plan this strategy thoroughly looking to the future.

Work had been completed to understand the value of the sector to Plymouth; £34 million spent in Plymouth from visitors; 74% of visitors had been attracted to Plymouth because of its history and heritage; £50 million had been invested in arts and culture in Plymouth in the last five years; £4 million in income has been generated from grass roots music venues; 95 opportunities had been created every week for young people by non-profit cultural organisations in Plymouth; 2,130 jobs had been supported by businesses and organisations in Plymouth; 1 million people go to events organised by creative and cultural organisations in Plymouth every year; 1,200 performance workshops and events had been hosted every year by non-profit cultural organisations in Plymouth; 31,117 musicians played at 2,829 events organised by grass root music venues which were attended by 294,216 people every year.

The consultation process had held 40 1:1 stakeholder interviews from the culture sector and beyond in order to have a sense of what Plymouth unique offer is, what the strategy would be and how Plymouth would position itself moving forward.

Thematics had been tested within focus group consultation workshops and the vision was refined subsequent to those workshops. A few individual groups were less represented and were engaged with through a number of partner organisations such as Marjons University, Beyond Face, Funky Llama, Plymouth and Devon Freelance Task Force and the Barbican Theatres ReBels young people group.

A survey to evaluate the impact of COVID had been undertaken to understand the impact and what Plymouth would be losing from the sector as well as evaluating what Plymouth would gain.

The vision for this strategy was to form Plymouth into a magnet city attracting artists, creatives and social activists. Our City’s appeal is characterised by Plymouth’s commitment to people and planet which had been evidenced by the cultural offer it reflects by including and valuing our diverse communities.

·          

Improving the main entrance

·          

Refurbishing the existing lifts

·          

Making the reception area more welcoming and to have a more usable space

·          

Improving access, the lighting and sound system, improving the toilets and bar area  to the Drake room 

·          

Improving the lighting, sound systems, seating, staging and installing a new commercial kitchen to the Great Hall and first floor.

·          

Second floor improvements to meeting rooms and office space

·          

The virement from Civic Centre to the Guildhall of £2.45m funding previously allocated within the Capital Programme.

·          

To accept grant funding of £12,046,873 that is expected to be awarded by the Future High Streets Fund.

·          

To allocate an additional £12,046,873 for the projects to the Capital Programme, if the funding was received from the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 123.

·          

There would be a 5% difference in exporting to the continent, however it was proposed that there would be a quota improvement to offset this difference, this hasn’t materialised and the government has traded this away.

·          

The Norwegian style deal doesn’t allow EU vessels in their waters until quota shares had been organised. The UK no longer had that leverage. 

·          

Supermarkets were not supporting British fishermen and weren’t pushing British produce.

·          

We need a smooth throughput, currently there was an additional 1000 miles to the Journey to get product to market.

·          

There had been extra costs to exporters such as additional container rentals; additional mileage; additional driver hours; re-arranging logistics; additional veterinary costs; additional admin and operational costs; loss of sales; additional costs in freezing fish; loss of cells. The seafood disruption support scheme requires an invoice to be raised to claim funds.

A/

UK territorial waters

·          

Consider regulatory measures based on scientific evidence that will help protect the interests of the UK inshore fleet.

·          

Continue to seek a fairer share of the quota in the western channel for Cod, Haddock and Sole that are important to the South West fleet.

B/

·          

Extend the scope and duration of the compensation scheme to fully cover the cost of the additional burdens placed on the fishing industry until at least 1st April 2022;

·          

Lead on the integration and digitalisation of regulatory data systems so that data can be shared electronically with industry to support exports; and

·          

Negotiate facilitation measures based on common or equivalent animal health and food safety standards to reduce the frequency of physical checks and extend the use of electronic certification.

C/

Support local fishing communities 

·          

Utilise the crown procurement service and public sector purchasing power to stimulate the domestic market for seafood and support schemes to get fresh locally caught fish to consumers; 

·          

Ensure the voice of coastal communities with a stake in the industry is heard by giving local authorities a statutory role in developing fisheries management plans; and,

·          

Invest in the workforce of the future by establishing suitable apprenticeship schemes; and,

·          

Provide funds to upgrade the infrastructure the industry depends on, the quays and auctions, whether they are in private or public ownership.

That Cabinet agreed to:

D/

Measures we can promote as a  ...  view the full minutes text for item 124.

·          

Work closely with Associated British Ports with the aim of Plymouth being among the first local authorities to host a designated Border Control Post.

·          

Work on the South West logistic hub and consider the potential for it to be aligned to our Freeport.

1.     

Endorse the Council’s renewed approach to engagement and the principles that will be set out within it.

2.     

Approve the Community Empowerment Action Plan 2021.