Question one submitted by Mr Gregg Black was answered by Councillor Nick Kelly (The Leader)

Question: Does the Leader of the Council support plans submitted by Devon County Council to reopen the rail line between Plymouth and Tavistock? This will increase tourism, support business growth and encourage people to move to area as it is easier to commute.

Answer: Plymouth Plan Policy (GRO4) “Using transport investment to drive growth” includes working with partners to promote improved and more resilient local rail services. Plymouth City Council supported Devon County Council in its submission to the third round of the “Restoring your Railways Ideas Fund” to reopen the line between Bere Alston and Tavistock, thereby reopening the line to through train services between Plymouth and Tavistock. We helped Devon to set out in their bid how the reinstatement of rail services between Tavistock and Plymouth will improve connectivity within the Travel to Work Area, would help reduce traffic on the A386, improve access into Plymouth and similarly improve access from Plymouth to Tavistock and Dartmoor.

Question two submitted by Mr Matthews Reynolds to Councillor Vivien Pengelly (Cabinet Member for Homes and Communities)

Question: Operation (unauthorised) of the night shelter (BCHA @ Hamoaze) has and continues to bring issue4s of ASB into the locality, opened within a residential area. What proactive measures are to be in place to see behaviours match pre shelter operation and to address the dichotomy of open when unauthorised?

Answer: In respect of the current operation of the night shelter, Plymouth City Council have worked with Bournemouth Churches Housing Association (BCHA) who are the providers of the service. Referrals to the night shelter have ow ceased and staff and in the process of identifying alternative safe accommodation for those currently accessing the shelter to move onto as soon as possible. The night shelter will close following this. In respect of the issues of anti-social behaviour you describe, Plymouth City Council are working closely with the local police team, BCHA and Hamoaze to understand fully the nature and perpetrators of incidents  and are keen to resolve any issues impacting the community. We understand that recent crimes have been dealt with robustly and access to the night shelter immediately withdrawn from those responsible and BCHA have confirmed a zero tolerance approach to violence, anti-social behaviour, and drug dealing. Plymouth City Council continue to support this approach and there is a plan in place to continue to work closely with partners and the community in the coming months.

(a)

current Covid 19 rates in Plymouth were at 423 per 100,000, whereas the rates for the South West were on average 270 per 100,000 and the rates for England on average were 334 per 100,000;

(b)

there was a very rapid escalation in cases over the last few days; this was predominantly in 15 to 24 year olds but rates had increased across all ages.

Almost 1.5% of the city’s 15-19 year olds tested positive for covid in the last 7 days. This demonstrated how widespread the infection was, and also highlighted that young people were coming forward for testing;

(c)

the number of cases identified in the city was to be considered important because of the following:

·        

whilst some people had hardly any symptoms, others could feel very ill from this virus;

·        

around 15% of those who have had covid still had symptoms after 3 months – and that included people who had few or no symptoms when they had it;

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when rates were high, Covid 19 could easily find its way to the more vulnerable – those who either couldn’t be vaccinated or for whom the vaccine wasn’t effective;

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even for those who had been vaccinated, there was still a risk that they could catch Covid 19 and that they would become very ill. The risk was lower with vaccination – much lower – but this was a very serious illness;

(d)

there was an increase across the country in people needing hospital beds, and that was true in Plymouth also; current figures were around 15 and this was much lower than previous figures however the healthcare system was already under huge pressure and having high rates of an infectious disease was going to affect these services;

(e)

there was a time delay with people becoming very ill when contracting Covid 19 usually around 2 weeks after they were first infected; the number of cases was much lower two weeks ago, so it should be expected that the numbers would increase;

(f)

Plymouth had a higher proportion of people vaccinated in each age group than the England average for both the 1st and 2nd vaccines; overall, 81% of adults had had one dose and 61% have had both;

(g)

drop-in clinics had been well attended and initial data suggested that the youngest cohort were responding extremely well;

(h)

work continued to promote and provide vaccinations in easily accessible venues for those less likely to attend the main sites;

(i)

although legal restrictions were being dropped from Monday, the government had asked everyone to take personal responsibility for controlling the virus and taking steps to keep levels down, including isolating and being tested if symptoms developed, to use  ...  view the full minutes text for item 142.

(a)

that HRH Princess Anne attended an event at the Citadel in Plymouth at the weekend;

(b)

Mayflower 400, whilst not being the spectacle hoped for as a result of the impact of Covid 19, it was still massively important for Plymouth and allowed the city to tap into a large amount of cultural funding and unite the city as a whole – community groups were thanked as well as Charles Hackett and Adrian Vinkin;

(c)

SailGP was due to take place on 17 and 18 July 2021, this was an opportunity to showcase the city; provisions were in place to allow social distancing to be observed, including a pa system along the hoe to protect the public and hand washing facilities;

(d)

the Brunel Plaza consultation had started in relation to plans for the car park which was to be erected at the railway station;

(e)

the National Marine Park had been awarded £9.5m to realise the city’s vision as the UKs first national marine park; a video was shown to Cabinet;

(f)

the council been shortlisted to one of 6 to be the Municipal Journal of the Year 2020; Councillors Nick Kelly and Tudor Evans OBE went to London and put the Council’s case forward and the result was expected later in the year.

(a)

Councillor Patrick Nicholson (Deputy Leader) made the following announcement:

·        

commitment number 3 to fast track applications for blue badge holders and expedite disabled facility grants and disabled parking spaces for those with a terminal illness had been progressed; disabled facilities grants would be processed within 7 weeks; applications for blue badges from someone with a terminal illness would be processed within 1 day and a requirement for a bay outside a property would be installed within 7 days;

·        

Commitment 4 – regarding adult social care funding to use meetings with members of parliament to speak about health and adult social care and health and wellbeing hubs and concerns around lack of GP accessibility and dental health care provision;

(b)

Councillor Deacon (Cabinet Member for Customer Services, Culture, Leisure & Sport) made the following announcements:

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Rhyme Time and Story Time had been reintroduced at central library in a covid secure way; places were limited therefore booking was required;

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every year the council delivered free Book Start treasure packs to children for distribution across the city for 3 year old children; 2500 packs had been delivered to Burrington Way and were being collected;

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the registration service was receiving a high demand of marriage service enquiries – the service continued to offer evening surveys at the register office; the service was working with local venues across the city to promote outside wedding venues;

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from 19 July the Tinside Lido opening hours would operate in school holiday mode with additional sessions in the morning, capacity was 120 however this was due to increase;

(c)

Councillor Downie (Cabinet Member for Education, Skills and Children & Young People) made the following announcements;

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all Plymouth schools had an increase in funding of £225 per pupil; this was £29 more per pupil than the national average;

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Plymouth had been selected as one of four areas nationally to benefit from £10m of funding to pilot new place based school improvement approaches to improving educational attainment;

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the Cabinet supported the policy of not fining parents for non-authorised family time holidays from school;

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there was a new electronic childrens recording system – Care First had been used for the past 20 years however this was now to be replaced with Eclipse. The system would be implemented in 2022;

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the youth justice service had implemented a diverting programme as part of its response to criminal justice in Plymouth – the team were working closely with the child centre policing team to intervene early. 54 young people had been triaged, 13 of whom had been diverted away. The scheme had been running for 5 weeks and demand was outstripping current resources. Money had been committed by the Police and Crime Commissioner.

1.

to agree and endorse the completion of the eight commitments identified in this report;

2.

to agree and endorses the progress made towards the completion of the remaining 14 commitments due for completion within the administration’s first 100 days.

(a)

it was important for children and young people to have their say – the 10 wishes work described how young people wanted professionals they came into contact with behaved and responded to them. They wanted to be heard and actively engaged in conversations about them; a short video narrative by young people from the Safeguarding Children’s Partnership was shown to Cabinet;

(b)

A Bright Future demonstrated a courageous approach to prevention and set out a template for partnership work; it enabled partners to focus on priorities including a long term plan for mental health and the children and young people’s long term plan;

(c)

the plan set out clear aspirations and put children and young people at the centre of the plan and be involved in its development.

(a)

ICP was now live as of 1 July 2021 and brought Plymouth’s community offer in line with the integrated provision already in place in other parts of Devon – Commissioners identified UHP as the preferred provider with LSW as a sub-contractor for the 10 year contract;

(b)

The aim of the partnership was to bring health and social care providers together to create a place based model of care for Plymouth and the local area and build on the work that had already taken place to integrate health and social care;

(c)

The partnership would help to reduce health inequalities and ensure fair and equitable access and outcomes by supporting preventative health;

(d)

The ICP would enable care to be built around the individual, providing treatment in the setting that best suited the individual’s needs, ensuring that individuals only had to tell their story once with health and care professionals joining up a patients records and giving individuals the tools needed to look after their health and wellbeing.