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 in accordance with the code of conduct.

To sign and confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 5 May 2020

Members agreed the minutes of 05 May 2020 as an accurate record of the meeting.

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 the public.

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

The Leader of the Council raised one issue of Chairs Urgent Business regarding communication received from the Shop Workers Trade Union on the proposals from government on relaxing the Sunday Trading Regulations.

The Leader and Cabinet requested that it was recorded that they do not support any changes to Sunday Trading Regulations at this point but would continue to respond to government guidance.

Councillor Evans OBE, (Leader) highlighted the following in his announcements:

·       On behalf of the Cabinet the Leader said that thoughts are with the family and friends of George Floyd;

·       That as a Council we stand in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement and everyone who continues to challenge racism, discrimination and inequality;

·       As a gesture the Council lit some of the landmarks in purple over the weekend;

·       The terrible event in the US illustrated how deeply discrimination and oppression both past and present are felt and it has highlighted once again that Plymouth needs to continue to acknowledge some aspects of its own past;

·       We cannot change history but we can use it as a reminder of the atrocities and as a way of remembering the victims of slavery and oppression;

·       recognised our responsibility for ensuring we condemn the role these figures played in this awful trade and how offensive many people find what they see as their glorification;

·       The Box, which will open later this year, would tell a much fuller story about our city’s seafaring history and would fully acknowledge the terrible role that the likes of Sir John Hawkins played in the slave trade;

·       Understood the feelings of those who find the naming of a square created in the early 1980s after Hawkins offensive, we have listened, and would start the process of renaming the square;

·       Thought it was important to acknowledge and commemorate the victims of the slave trade with a new memorial to those who lost their liberty and lives in the Peace Garden on The Hoe;

·       Would also aim to ensure that where possible existing monuments such as the listed statue of Sir Francis Drake on The Hoe are accompanied by a narrative referring to their role in the slave trade;

·       Important to acknowledge this terrible side of our city’s history and would also remember that Plymouth played an important role in the eventual abolition of the slave trade and that it also had a long and proud history of welcoming oppressed communities;

·       Updated on the important work of the City Council as ‘Economic First Responder’ in supporting well over 4000 businesses.

·       Business Support Rates Deferral immediately offered a 2 months rates deferral;

·       Secured 27 emergency grants from Arts Council;

·       Small Business Grants had given £43m to over 3500 businesses in 6 weeks and our helpline had received over 4000 phone calls;

·       Had been busy lobbying government on Fishing, Gaps in Businesses Support, Cultural funding, Funding and Ports;

·       Call4 Fish provided 1500 fish boxes in its first week and Generated national TV coverage on BBC Country File, This Morning, Sky News, BBC Daily Kitchen Live & ITV news besides wider media coverage in the Times, Guardian etc;

·       Shop4Plymouth had Supported 162 businesses and reached 250,000 people;

·       Last week our discretionary grant fund scheme for Plymouth had launched and we had already seen a high demand. Plymouth had been given about 50% of what we actually need to support businesses in our city and urge  ...  view the full minutes text for item 14.

Councillor Pete Smith - Deputy Leader made announcements including:

·       had looked at the schedule of events that were coming up and made the difficult decision to postpone and in some cases cancel some events;

·       The Mayflower Week and The Hatchling had been postponed to 2021;

·       The Blue n’ Jazz Festival and the British Fireworks Championships had been cancelled;

·       The Mayflower programme will start this year on 16 September with a significant live event streamed digitally to make the exact date the Mayflower ship set sail 400 years ago and will culminate some time in 2021 with the Four Nations Ceremony on Plymouth Hoe;

·       2021 was shaping up to be an amazing year with not only Mayflower 400 but also Darwin 200 and Cook 250;

·       Plymouth Libraries issued 2,130 eBooks and eAudiobooks which was an increase of 195 per cent compared to the same time last year;

·       Over the past 3 months the Libraries have received 1,223 new customer sign ups to the service;

·       The elections and registration team were now in the midst of preparing for the Annual Canvass of electors;

·       We continue to gather daily status information for every one of our employees, enabling us to understand how Covid-19 is impacting on the workforce to provide support across the organisation. As of yesterday we there was 1929 employees working from home;

·       Work has also been in collaboration with Trade Unions, Education and Head Teachers to undertake risk assessments for our schools for children going back into the classroom.

The Cabinet Congratulated Ryan Lowe and Plymouth Argyle Football Club for their promotion and success they have achieved this season. Smeatons tower would be lit up green because of this.

Councillor Mark Lowry - Cabinet Member for Finance made announcements including:

·       PCC cannot spend more than the income we receive and will be a difficult challenge due to COVID-19;

·       Will be submitting a detailed Financial Monitoring Month 2 Report to Cabinet 14 July 2020 explaining the impact of COVID-19 on the budget;

·       Will be discussing the budget at the August Cabinet meeting and September City Council;

·       Government have promised that all additional costs relating to COVID-19 will be covered during this pandemic;

·       9 public disabled toilets have remained opened for use;

·       8 unisex single use toilets are now open following guidelines.

Councillor Jemima Laing - Cabinet Member for Children and Young People made announcements including:

·       Midland House has remained open continuing to support young people and families;

·       Conducted a survey to understand from staff what has worked well and what the challenges are;

·       The number of Children subject to protection plans was currently at 318;

·       The number of Children in care was currently at 452;

·       Thanked the staff working in the Children’s Young People and Families service for their hard work and dedication during this challenging time;

·       Announced the winner of the virtual background photography completion.

Councillor Kate Taylor - Cabinet Member for Health and Adult Social Care made announcements including:

·       Continuing to see COVID-19 cases dropping across the country and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 15.

Dr Ruth Harrell (Director of Public Health) provided Members with an update on COVID 19 and Shielding -

·       it was highlighted that whilst Plymouth and the South West region as a whole had fewer cases of Covid 19 than the England average, the virus was still active and social distancing measures were still to be followed;

·       The R value would indicate whether the number of cases are reducing, staying the same, or dropping; but the actual level of cases was also key;

·       R was estimated in the South West;  was slightly below 1 meaning case numbers were not increasing or decreasing however in Plymouth we are seeing a lower number of cases;

·       A Local Outbreak Plan was being designed for Plymouth;

·       People experiencing Covid 19 symptoms were encouraged to self-isolate and arrange to get themselves tested (by phoning 119 or accessing www.nhs.co.uk); those with positive test results would be contacted and asked to self-isolate for a maximum of two weeks, as well as those they had been in contact with. Contact testing was important in limiting the spread of the virus and suppressing the potential for a second wave.

·       Reminded people who had a clinical vulnerability that it was still important to follow social distancing guidelines as the risk was not over now shielding guidance had been slightly relaxed.

Cabinet noted the update.

Tracey Lee (Chief Executive) provided members with an update on Reset/Resurgam-

·       It had been 14 weeks since the start of emergency operations;

·       Thanked all staff and Councillors for their hard work during COVID-19;

·       There were two phases, the Response and Recovery phase and we were currently transitioning through the response phase which focused on restarting our services and beginning the Reset and Resurgam programmes;

·       The Reset programme would think through what it looks like in terms of long term implications and actions the Council would need to take.

Anthony Payne (Director for Place) highlighted the following key points -

·       Had been working with large number of businesses across the city.

·       Engaged with major employers. 

·       Distribution of £43m to 3500 business in 6 weeks and were in the top 10 local authorities in terms of amount of money we had handed out to businesses.

·       lobbied Government where gaps in support to industry in the city such as fishing and small/medium industry;

·       Focus on sector led approach working through existing partnerships;

·       Would use our own economic footprint to stimulate economy;

·       Resurgam board would be chaired by Leader and Councillor Lowry was also part of board.

·       City Centre renaissance was a dynamic plan to continue to support and reinvent the City Centre through the introduction of new diverse not retail uses thereby reducing retail footprint;

·       Would reposition our major flagship projects to drive recovery;

The Leader highlighted the following key points –

·       The Leader paid tribute to everyone working in Economic Development and Place for the hard work they are doing;

·       Plymouth has had lowest infection rate but in terms of our economy received the biggest hit and it was extremely important we get out of this quickly.

·       Plymouth City Council Capital Programme well developed would help to drive the growth;

·       The communities that been hit hardest by COVID -19 in terms of economy and earning potential were the ones that need help quickly;

·       It was an opportunity for Plymouth to press on with our environmental agenda and the decarbonisation of Plymouth and this would help with job creation.

Craig McArdle (Director for People) highlighted -

·       Continue to support care homes and had distributed nearly 500,000 pieces of PPE across the city;

·       Focussing our efforts on prevention was key;

·       Would continue to work with Age UK to develop step down provision out of hospital;

·       Working hard to develop an accommodation strategy so rough sleepers would be supported in not returning to the streets;

·       Work in partnerships with key agencies to ensure we continued to care for Plymouth;

·       Thanked Portfolio Holders, staff and partners for the work during these difficult times.

Alison Botham (Director of Children’s Services) highlighted the following key points -

·       The partnership and schools response had been remarkable;

·       Thanked foster carers for their hard work and support during these difficult times;

·       Priorities informed by the figures of 90% of children not at school;

·       Large part of our authority are in response mode now and it was important how we respond to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 17.

Councillor Chris Penberthy (Cabinet Member for Housing and Co-operative Development) provided members with an update on the Good Neighbour Scheme –

·       Thank you to all the volunteers in the city over the last 3 months and thanked them for their hard work;

·       Had been acknowledged as a good practise exemplar by the Local Government Association;

·       818 volunteers had been registered;

·       19 businesses were actively supporting this scheme in with their workforce and skills;

·       Currently supporting 62 organisations who requested volunteer help;

·       The Plymouth Good Neighbour Scheme helped set up the care hotel and provide support within it;

·       Volunteers had been involved in emergency food distribution for Caring for Plymouth;

·       Have received positive feedback from Age UK for support provided.

Cabinet noted the update.

Councillor Sue Dann (Cabinet Member for Environment and Street Scene) gave an update on the National Marine Park -

·       Much has changed due to COVID 19 over the last few month however, the Plymouth Sound National Marine Park (NMP) remained an absolute priority for the Council;

·       The NMP was included in our Resurgam Programme, and would be a flag ship for our recovery phase of work.  We are therefore planning to get a lot done with this project in the next 9 months;

·       Developing and submitting a bid to the National Heritage Horizons Fund – Since our successful pitch to the Board earlier this year we were now one of only 12 projects (out of nearly 150 that submitted an EOI) that were being invited to submit a bid to the National Lottery Heritage Fund’s Horizons programme;

·       Completing the NMP feasibility study funded by the Marine Management Organisation – this work will provide a national scale overview of the NMP development and demonstrate how Plymouth Sounds NMP can be the forerunner for a network of NMPs across the country;

·       Plymouth Sound NMP Business Plan – This work would set the local road map of how we would develop the NMP for Plymouth.  This would include a funding strategy to ensure that the NMP was brought to life in a manner that ensured its sustainability for the future.

·       The next 9 months would be a pivotal time for the NMP development as we bid for significant funds to bring the Park to life and set out the framework for NMP’s nationally while ensuring a robust delivery plan locally.

Cabinet noted the update.

Councillor Mark Coker, Cabinet Member for Strategic Planning and Infrastructure introduced the Plymouth and South West Devon Supplementary Planning Document to Cabinet. 

The purpose of the SPD was to add further detail and guidance to the policies in the local plan and are material considerations when making decisions on planning applications. On 8 October 2019, Cabinet approved consultation on a draft SPD and its companion documents. All three documents had been updated following this consultation which ran from 3 November 2019 to 5pm on Monday 6 January 2020. Once adopted, the SPD would supersede all currently adopted SPDs across the three authorities.

Cabinet agreed to recommend to the City Council that, subject to South Hams and West Devon agreeing likewise,the Plymouth and South West Devon Supplementary Planning Document (SPD), and its two companion documents, the Developer Contributions Evidence Base and the Traditional Farm Buildings: Their adaptation and re-use (Barn Guide), are formally adopted in accordance with Regulation 14 of the Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2012 (as amended).

Councillor Mark Coker, Cabinet Member for Strategic Planning and Infrastructure introduced the Plymouth and South West Devon Supplementary Planning Document to Cabinet. 

The purpose of the SPD was to add further detail and guidance to the policies in the local plan and are material considerations when making decisions on planning applications. On 8 October 2019, Cabinet approved consultation on a draft SPD and its companion documents. All three documents had been updated following this consultation which ran from 3 November 2019 to 5pm on Monday 6 January 2020. Once adopted, the SPD would supersede all currently adopted SPDs across the three authorities.

Cabinet agreed to recommend to the City Council that, subject to South Hams and West Devon agreeing likewise,the Plymouth and South West Devon Supplementary Planning Document (SPD), and its two companion documents, the Developer Contributions Evidence Base and the Traditional Farm Buildings: Their adaptation and re-use (Barn Guide), are formally adopted in accordance with Regulation 14 of the Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2012 (as amended).

Councillor Mark Lowry (Cabinet Member for Finance) introduced the Capital & Revenue Outturn Report 2019/20 to the Cabinet.

The purpose of the report was to detail how the Council had delivered against its financial measures using its capital and revenue resources, to approve relevant budget variations and virements, and report new schemes approved in the capital programme.

The council had effectively balanced its budget reporting a small revenue overspend of £0.005m. The overall net spend equates to £185.488m against a budget of £185.483m.

Due to the need to deliver in excess of £17.000m of savings in 2019/20 on the back of balancing the 2018/19 revenue budget where £11m of net revenue reductions were successfully delivered this was a commendable outturn position. In addition to meeting the spending challenges over the past year there had been an impact upon the council’s finances due to the COVID 19 pandemic.

Cabinet agreed to –

1.  Note the revenue outturn position;

2. Note the revenue costs to be funded under the Flexible Use of Capital Receipts Policy and recommend that Council approves the Policy as recommended by the Service Director Finance;

3. Note the use of Working Balances to ensure a balanced position is achieved in 2019/20;

4. Note the Capital Report including the Capital Financing Requirement of £196.180m.

Councillor Mark Lowry (Cabinet Member for Finance) introduced the Capital & Revenue Outturn Report 2019/20 to the Cabinet.

The purpose of the report was to detail how the Council had delivered against its financial measures using its capital and revenue resources, to approve relevant budget variations and virements, and report new schemes approved in the capital programme.

The council had effectively balanced its budget reporting a small revenue overspend of £0.005m. The overall net spend equates to £185.488m against a budget of £185.483m.

Due to the need to deliver in excess of £17.000m of savings in 2019/20 on the back of balancing the 2018/19 revenue budget where £11m of net revenue reductions were successfully delivered this was a commendable outturn position. In addition to meeting the spending challenges over the past year there had been an impact upon the council’s finances due to the COVID 19 pandemic.

Cabinet agreed to –

1.  Note the revenue outturn position;

2. Note the revenue costs to be funded under the Flexible Use of Capital Receipts Policy and recommend that Council approves the Policy as recommended by the Service Director Finance;

3. Note the use of Working Balances to ensure a balanced position is achieved in 2019/20;

4. Note the Capital Report including the Capital Financing Requirement of £196.180m.

Councillor Tudor Evans OBE (Leader of the Council) introduced the report to Cabinet –

Cabinet were asked to note the appointments made at the Annual General Meeting of the Council on 22 May 2020 and were recommended to confirm the appointments contained within the report for the 2020/21 municipal year.

Cabinet agreed the appointments contained within the report for the 2020/21 municipal year.

•      Councillor Pete Smith Deputy Leader of the Council – For

•      Councillor Mark Lowry Cabinet Member for Finance –  For

•      Councillor Jemima Laing Cabinet Member for Children and Young People – For

•      Councillor Kate Taylor Cabinet Member for Health and Adult Social Care - For

•      Councillor Chris Penberthy - Cabinet Member for Housing and Co-operative Development - For

•      Councillor Sue Dann Cabinet Member for Environment and Street Scene – For

•      Councillor Mark Coker - Cabinet Member for Strategic Planning and Infrastructure – For

•      Councillor Sally Haydon? Cabinet Member for Customer Focus and Community Safety – For

•      Councillor Jon Taylor Cabinet Member for Education, Skills and Transformation – For

•      Councillor Tudor Evans OBE (Leader) - For