To approve and sign the minutes of the Ordinary and Extraordinary meetings of Council held on 19 November 2018 as a correct record.

Agreed the minutes of the Extraordinary and Ordinary meetings of council held on the 19 November 2018.

The following declarations of interest were made by councillors in accordance with the code of conduct in respect of items under consideration at the meeting -

The Assistant Chief Executive will submit a schedule of vacancies on committees, outside bodies etc and of changes notified to us.  

Council noted the following changes to appoints to committee and outside bodies –

(a)        To receive announcements from the Lord Mayor, Chief Executive, Assistant Director for Finance or Head of Legal Services;

(b)        To receive announcements from the Leader, Cabinet Members or Committee Chairs.

a)   Lord Mayor

a.     Christmas opening of the Library

b.    Retention of Customer Service Award (Library Service)

c.     Death of Mr Gareth Simmons (Strategic Project Director, Economic Development)

b)    The Leader, Cabinet Members or Chairs of Committees

a.    The Leader

                                          i.    Mr Ross Jago (Senior Governance Advisor), last Council meeting

                                         ii.    Department of Culture Media and Sport, Culture Development Fund

                                        iii.    Barden Corporation

                                        iv.    Heart of the South West Local Enterprise Partnership and Local Industrial Strategy

                                         v.    Housing Delivery

                                        vi.    Heart of the South West Joint Committee

                                      vii.    NHS Sustainability and Transformation Partnership

b.    Councillor Sue Dann (Cabinet Member for Environment and Street Scene)

                                          i.    National Marine Park

c.    Councillor Jon Taylor (Cabinet Member for Education, Skills and Transformation)

                                          i.    Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Funding

To receive questions from and provide answers to the public in relation to matters which are about something the council is responsible for or something that directly affects people in the city, in accordance with Part B, paragraph 11 of the Constitution.

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

There were no questions from members of the public.

Councillor Mark Coker (Cabinet Member for Strategic Planning and Infrastructure) introduced the report on the Future Funding of the Tamar Bridge and Torpoint Ferry.  Councillor George Wheeler seconded the report.

Following a vote, Council agreed that an application be made to the Department for Transport for tolls to increase by one-third, applied pro-rata to the current toll classification table, detailed as follows:

Proposed Schedule of Tolls effective from 1 July 2019

NOTES:

1. trailers, caravans etc charged at the same rate as the towing vehicle
2. discount rates for TamarTag crossings remain unchanged with a 50% discount of the full cash toll for each class of vehicle, excluding motorcycles using the Torpoint Ferry
3. charges for abnormal loads at both crossings remain unchanged
4. charges for special crossings of the ferry remain unchanged.

Councillor Mark Coker (Cabinet Member for Strategic Planning and Infrastructure) introduced the report on the Tamar Bridge and Torpoint Ferry 2019/20 Revenue Estimates and Capital Programme.  Councillor George Wheeler seconded the report.

Following a vote, Council agreed to approve the Tamar Bridge and Torpoint Ferry Joint Committee’s 2019/20 Revenue Estimates and Capital Programme.

Councillor Peter Smith (Deputy Leader) presented the report on the Pay Policy Statement 2019/20, Councillor Tudor Evans OBE (Leader) seconded the report. 

Following a vote, the Council agreed to approve the pay policy statement for 2019/20.

Councillor Tudor Evans OBE (Leader) introduced a report of the Heart of the South West Joint Committee.  Councillor Murphy seconded the report.

Following a short debate Council noted the report.

Councillor Peter Smith (Deputy Leader) presented the report on the Calendar of Committee Meetings 2019-20.

Council noted the report.  

Police Forensic Services

Councillor Gareth Derrick introduced a motion on Police Forensic Services.  The motion was seconded by Councillor Sally Haydon (Cabinet Member for Customer Focus and Community Safety).

Following a debate and vote Council agreed, in a letter to Police and Crime Commissioner signed by the Leader of the Council, to call for her to keep Devon and Cornwall Police Forensic Investigation staff under local control to retain the integrity of our policing services, and to take steps to reverse the evident reduction in the use of forensic investigation which damages public confidence in policing and inhibits long-term crime prevention.

This item was taken out of order following a motion by Chair to vary the order of the agenda, the Vice Chair seconded the motion.  Following a show of hands the motion was carried.

Councillor Mark Lowry (Cabinet Member for Finance) presented the report on the Council Tax Base Setting and Council Tax Support Scheme 2019/20. Councillor Lowry advised that due to an administrative error the report be amended as follows -

·         Cover Sheet (under Financial implications) replace 73,095 with 73, 172

·         Main body of the report (paragraph 2.1) - replace 73,095 with 73, 172

·         Appendix A amended as appended to this minute.

Following a short debate the motion was to put to the vote and council agreed to-

1.    approve the Council Tax Base for 2019/20 as set out in the report;

2.    approve the continuation of the current Council Tax Support Scheme for 2019/20 with a new paragraph added  to clarify when the claim can be made as follows: 

a.     69.2(d) By means of an electronic notification to the Local Authority from the Department of Work and Pensions, generated when a claim to Universal Credit is made.

3.    use the powers described in paragraph 5.6 to apply a full council tax discount, effectively reducing the amount of council tax payable to zero, for Plymouth care leavers until they reach their 25^th birthday.

4.    remove the 50% discount for empty properties as set out in section 6 of the report.

5.    increase the premium for properties which have been empty for more than two years from 50% to 100% as set out in section 7 of the report.

Questions to the Leader, Cabinet Members and Committee Chairs covering aspects for their areas of responsibility or concern by councillors in accordance with Part B, paragraph 12 of the constitution.

Please note that questions, answers, supplementary questions and supplementary answers have been summarised.