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.

The following declaration of interest was made in accordance with the code of conduct in respect of items under consideration at the meeting -

To sign and confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 06 October 2022.

The minutes from the meeting held on 6 October 2022 were agreed as a true and accurate record.

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.

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 Chair proposed and the Committee agreed to a variation to the order of the agenda, to bring the Draft Budget Report 2023-24 forward.

The report was introduced by Mark Shayer (Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance and Economy), Tracey Lee (Chief Executive) and David Northey (Interim Service Director for Finance and Section 151 Officer) who highlighted –

a)    The Council was experiencing financial challenges that are unprecedented;

b)    Council’s across the UK were facing similar issues;

c)    £37 million in savings needed to be found;

d)    Officers had worked incredibly hard to bring forward proposals and would continue to do so as they worked on the budget in the following months;

e)    There was a statutory duty to sign off the 2023/24 budget in February 2023;

f)     It was important to make sure that proposals were viable and could be achieved for the 2023/24 budget.

The Committee agreed:

1.    To note the report, acknowledging it was subject to change in line with any Government Autumn Statement, Provisional Settlement adjustments and changes required as proposals were developed;

2.    To support development of the proposed savings options set out at Appendix Two of the report for inclusion in the Council’s draft budget for 2023-24 to ensure Cabinet support for savings proposals prior to further development of the draft budget for 2023/4;

3.    That public engagement would be undertaken on the 23/24 proposals as set out at Section 4 and Appendix Four of the report, which would be reported to Cabinet in January 2023 to feed into the budget setting process.

The Leader gave his announcements and highlighted –

a)    Plymouth was now legally a Freeport and had been awarded its statutory instrument for the final tax sites, making Plymouth the first Freeport up and running;

b)    There was a significant amount of interest from investors for Plymouths Freeport sites with deals to be announced in the future;

c)    The Council was still waiting to hear if it had been successful in the Levelling Up Fund Bid to a £30 million Marine Based Innovation Centre at the next phase of Oceansgate, with the Levelling Up Team from Government having visited Plymouth on 9 November 2022 to learn more and understand the scale of the ambition of the project;

d)    In October 2022, the Smart Sound Connect Control Centre was opened to further enhance the ocean-focussed 5G network testbed in and around Plymouth Sound and the network had won the 2022 Mobile Industry Award for 5G Innovation of the Year;

e)    Two applications had been submitted to the Regulators Pioneer Fund and Innovate UK with partners across the South West Region which if successful would support marine innovation and create opportunities for businesses to innovate and grow;

f)     The Council has reached out to the British Business Bank to ensure that Plymouth Businesses had maximum awareness and success at securing investment from the £200 million South West Fund which would be launched in 2023;

g)    The Leader was impressed and proud to inform the Committee that some major, overseas owned companies in Plymouth were continuing to win multi-million pound contracts and creating thousands of high value jobs;

h)    Princess Anne had visited Plymouth to open the National Centre for Coastal Autonomy;

i)     Plymouth had hosted the MDL Green Tech Boat Show for the second year in a row, which celebrated the green alternatives in traditional boating tech with it being profiled in the Event of the Year cateogry in the British Yachting Awards;

j)     Plymouth had continued to support and lead the South West Regional Defence and Security Cluster Network and the Economic Development team and Cabinet Members had been looking at ways they could offer further support to, in turn, support the local economy;

k)    Destination Plymouth had been doing extensive work to promote the city at various trade shows and new hotels were being built to encourage more tourists and visitors to come to the city;

l)     Plymouth International Medical and Technology Park had launched the latest development to market – Barrack Court, a 40,000sq ft new development of high quality units and offices.

Councillor Dr John Mahony (Cabinet Member for Health and Adult Social) provided an update and highlighted –

a)    The second phase of the care hotel beds had started with 20 new beds in conjunction with Cornwall, easing pressure that was on Derriford Hospital;

b)    The short term care centre continues to support people who need re-enablement and had supported over 150 people since it opened in May 2022.

Councillor Mark Shayer (Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance and Economy) provided an update and highlighted –

c)    Plymouth’s Historic Guildhall, a grade II listed building owned and operated by the Council refurbishment project will start shortly with a budget of £4 million, part funded by the Future High Streets Fund and the Council itself with refurbishments creating a multi-use event space to create additional revenue for the Council with works due to commence in Summer 2023 and due to complete in Summer/Autumn 2024 and a public information session would be held on 21 November 2022 between 3pm-7pm at the Guildhall;

d)    The Diving Disease Research Centre had hosted the British Hyperbaric Annual Scientific Meeting, talking about the great work that had taken place in Plymouth with the city boasting one of the highest concentrations of marine scientists in Europe at the time.

Councillor Jonathan Drean (Cabinet Member for Transport) provided an update and highlighted –

e)    New technology for repairing potholes would be trialled in the city which used cold application and reduced carbon by 95% and vehicles able to drive over it within 5-10 minutes.

Councillor James Stoneman (Cabinet Member for Climate Change) provided an update and highlighted –

f)     The Boundary Commissions final proposals for changes to parliamentary boundaries in Plymouth had been announced and published for consultation with the public with final suggestions due to be submitted to parliament by July 2023;

g)    Voter Identification regulations had been published and were expected to come into effect by mid-January 2023.

Councillor Charlotte Carlyle (Cabinet Member for Education, Skills and Children and Young People) provided an update and highlighted -

h)    Thanks for Jean Kelly (Former Service Director for Children, Young People & Families) and Ming Zhang (Former Service Director for Education, Participation & Skills) and their dedication and hard work and wished them good luck in their new roles;

i)     Congratulations and wishes of good luck for Jane Anstis (Service Director for Children, Young People & Families) in her new role.

Councillor Pat Patel (Cabinet Member for Customer Services, Culture, Leisure & Sport) provided an update and highlighted –

j)     Audience numbers for Sail GP 2022 had been confirmed as 74 million+ TV audience in over 175 countries, with economic impact of £10 million+ in the city, 16 million video views on social media and more than 31,000 spectators;

k)    Visitor numbers to The Box over half term had been over 12,000 and the income from the shop had increased to £10,000 with the British Art Show Exhibit receiving positive feedback with 32,345 visits across all sites 8 October-6 November 2022;

l)  ...  view the full minutes text for item 62.

Councillor Andy Lugger introduced the report and highlighted –

a)    The Audit and Governance Committee had discussed matters such as Councillor Training and Development, Internal and External auditor reports and recommendations, Counter Fraud reports, DBS Checks for Councillors and consultation on a change in the election cycle for Plymouth;

b)    A Councillor training steering group had been established to development a Councillor Development strategy;

c)     Risk reporting had been made a regular item for scrutiny committees;

The Committee agreed to note the report.

Councillor James Stoneman (Cabinet Member for Climate Change) introduced the report and highlighted –

a)    The project would provide opportunity to address the climate challenge and to reduce corporate energy costs by approximately 60%;

b)    It was set to provide enough renewable energy to power the equivalent of 3,800 homes annually;

c)    The site was predicted to have a 25% increase in biodiversity.

In response to questions it was highlighted –

d)    Power created wouldn’t go straight into the Council system but benefits would be measured through a virtual power performance agreement;

e)    The work would be carried out in partnership with Plymouth Energy Community with the Council benefitting from land lease and energy savings with a split in any long-term surplus.

The Committee agreed to:

1.    Note the full business case;

2.    Approve the capital allocation of £320,000 for development works, as set out in the business case to inform future reports and final approval of the Business Case;

3.    Note that the final Business Case

Councillor Mark Shayer (Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance and Economy) introduced the report and highlighted –

a)    When decisions have been made around budget, Plymouth is put first;

b)    Important to deliver over 300 statutory services including protecting the children and vulnerable adults in the city;

c)    Importance to invest in Plymouth’s future.

That Cabinet agreed to note:

1.    The forecast revenue monitoring position at Period 6 as set out in the report in the sum of £6.373m; if the previous agenda reports and recommendation 6 of this report were approved it should be noted the monitoring position would be revised to £5.991m;

2.    The expenditure for the Capital Programme at Period 6.

The Committee approved:

3.    The increase to the Fees and Charges as proposed in Appendix D;

4.    The increase in Crematoria Fees (as set out here) by 10% with effect from the 1 January 2023;

5.    Delegation to the Director of Finance the authority to review Fees and Charges and increase them, where possible and appropriate, With effect from 1st April 2023, by 10% or, where CPI more than10%, increase by CPI;

6.    The report would proceed for onward consideration at the meeting of Full Council on 21 November 2022.

Councillor Mark Shayer (Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance and Economy) introduced the report.

The Committee agreed -

1.    To note the consultation responses within appendix 1 (summary) and appendix 2.

2.    To approve the implementation of the following changes with effect from 1st December 2022:

2.1 To increase on-street parking fees from £1.50 per hour to £2 per hour, expand the payment options for parking to include credit, debit cards, contactless, android pay and Apple pay, alongside the existing Ringo (payment by phone call, phone app or website) and remove cash as a payment option;

2.2. To introduce a 24 hour on-street tariff of £15 for a 24 hour stay;

2.3. To revise the charging periods to 9am to 9pm (daytime) and 9pm to 9am (evening);

2.4. To remove maximum stay restrictions in the following locations: Armada Way, Basket Ope, Batter Street, Buckwell Street, Catherine Street, Derry’s Cross, Gibbon Lane, Gibbon Street, How Street, Lockyer Street (Lower), Looe Street, Notte Street, Palace Street (East), Princess Street, St Andrew’s Street, Tavistock Place, The Barbican, The Parade, Whimple Street, Hoe Road, and Madeira Road;

2.5. To simplify the off-street car parking tariffs in accordance with the off-street charges schedule (Appendix 5) for the following sites: Derry’s Cross, Elphinstone, Exchange Street, Guildhall, Mayflower House Court, Mayflower East, North Hill, Regent Street, St Andrews, Theatre Royal, Bretonside B and C, Civic Centre, Colin Campbell Court, Cornwall Street, Cornwall Street East and West, Courtney Street, Marks and Spencer’s, Mayflower Street and Western Approach car parks;

2.7. To increase the fee for a Residents Permit from £30 to £41.

2.8. To increase the ‘Long Stay Business Permits’ from £300 to £400 and ‘Short Stay Business Permits’ from £150 to £200;

2.9. To introduce a new ‘Short Stay NHS and Heath Care permit’ at a cost £100 and a ‘Long Stay NHS and Health Care Permit’ at £150;

2.10. To introduce parking terminals within all district car parks and the requirement for motorists to use the terminals to activate a free parking session;

2.11. To reduce free parking from 3 to 2 hours at Mutley Barracks and Napier Street car parks;

2.12. To increase the annual fee of the ‘Accessibility Permit’ from £40 to £60 and expanding the sites at which it can be used to include to the Theatre Royal, Regent Street, Mayflower East and Western Approach;

2.13. To introduce a fee of £150 for the marking of a ‘Disabled Driver Parking Space’ for residents;

2.14. To increase the charge for concessionary rate parking for guests of guest houses and hoteliers from £5 to £7;

3.    From 1st April 2022:

3.1. To provide customers with greater choice of how to pay for parking, through expanding payment options to include credit and debit cards, contactless cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay and RingGo (phone call, smart phone app and web);

3.2. To remove cash payments from on-street parking.

Councillor Bill Wakeham (Cabinet Member for Environment and Street Scene) introduced the report.

The Committee agreed –

1.    To approve the Business Case;

2.    To approve the introduction of a subscription charge for the garden waste collection service of £49 per garden waste receptacle with an early bird reduction to £39 for those who sign up within the publicised offer period;

3.    To approve an inflationary increase to be applied to the charge for garden waste collection to take effect for each calendar year from 2024 onwards;

4.    To approve the introduction of a charge of £10 for residents who request that the Council collect Garden Waste containers that are no longer required, as opposed to retaining it or taking it themselves to Chelson Meadow Recycling Centre.

Councillor Jonathan Drean (Cabinet Member for Transport) introduced the report and highlighted –

a)    The report concerned non-commercial bus routes which were described as bus routes supported by Plymouth City Council because they were not commercially viable;

b)     There was a statutory duty under Section 63 of the Transport Act 1985 to secure transport services not otherwise met by commercial operators existing contracts;

c)    Bus operators had informed the Council that a number of services operating on a commercial basis were no longer viable and the council had stepped in to support these on a short-term basis to enable them to be included within the procurement process;

d)    A range of options were included in the procurement process with the sustainable transport team developing creative options for combining routes and seeking to make the best use of Section 106 developer contributions;

e)    Nearly £1 million would have been needed to maintain existing routes;

f)     Option 6 would retain 9 of the 14 routes and maintain important bus connections for communities across the city.

The Committee agreed to:

1.    Confirm and agreed Option 6 as set out in the report for the award of bus service contracts, it wished to implement;

2.    Approve the cancellation of bus service contracts as set out in the report relating to the agreed option for implementation;

3.    Approve the award of the contracts as set out in the report relating to the agreed option for implementation;

4.    Approve the undertaking of statutory consultation for the introduction of a £1 24-hour charge within the three park and ride car parks, and agree that the income generated from this would be ring-fenced to supporting the city’s bus network.

To consider passing a resolution under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 to exclude the press and public from the meeting for the following item of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act, as amended by the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

(Members of the public to note that, if agreed, you will be asked to leave the meeting).

The Committee considered passing an exemption as item 16 related to exempt or confidential matters (Para(s) 3 of Part 1, Schedule 12A of the Local Govt Act 1972) as any breach of confidentiality could prejudice the Council/person/body concerned & might amount to a breach of the councillors /employees codes of conduct.

The Committee agreed that they had sufficient time to read the report and did not wish to enter into an exempt part of the meeting.