(a)

it was with sadness that she had to report to Council the death of former Councillor Brian Rider, who served in the Ham Ward for two terms in 1987 to 1995; he would be sadly missed and always warmly remembered by those that knew him;

(b)

Catherine Biscombe was presented with the Lord Mayor’s Special Award following her completion of seven marathons in seven countries in seven days; she raised a total of £4,700 for the Royal Marines Charity;

(c)

the Plymouth and District Bowel Cancer support group helped people suffering or recovering from bowel cancer or stoma; working with partners they had provided kits, including a change of clothes which would help those that found themselves in need of immediate assistance; Plymouth Railway Station was the first to provide these kits along with a private room.

(d)

National Marine Park Chief Executive Officer  -

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an interim Chief Executive for the City’s National Marine Park had been appointed;

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Elaine Hayes was an environmentalist with a brilliant track record of leading nature and conservation organisations and brought with her a vast wealth of knowledge and experience;

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the Council had some really exciting times ahead with a lot of different ambitions and projects to deliver in this sector; the Council wanted to plan for a more sustainable future but also inspire and enthuse its residents;

(e)

Shekinah -

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the Council had been working closely with Shekinah which was a charity organisation in Plymouth, that provided opportunities for people, who were experiencing all forms of homelessness and other challenges; they helped people to make meaningful changes in their lives with specialist support to address health issues, getting a home and learning new skills to lead to employment;

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with Shekinah, the Council was hoping to turn the empty Stonehouse Community Centre at Stonehouse Creek into a new type of community centre which would bring all types of services into one safe space; the new venture would offer -

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skills training;

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health promotion;

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education;

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employment services;

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housing advice;

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mental health support;

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counselling;

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Shekinah had an incredible track record of changing lives of many Plymouth people and were keen to support them in any way that the Council could; this move would bring a new lease of life to a current vacant building but also meant that the Council could continue with its long term goal to regenerate Millbay; the new boulevard had really opened up the area and with a new hotel being built, this meant this was all good news for the City, the economy and residents;

(f)

Omicron grants -

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Plymouth hospitality, leisure and accommodation businesses that had been impacted by Covid-19 would now be able to apply for further financial support through the Council;

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the Government announced the new Omicron Hospitality and Leisure grants on 21 December 2021, to help support businesses in this sector that had been impacted over the Christmas and New Year period;

?

the team had worked quickly to get this latest business grant scheme up and running; the Council was now working on plans for the discretionary grant scheme as it wanted to make sure that it understood where the support was really needed most and how it could make sure the funding available had the best impact;

(g)

Historic England grant -

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the Council had also received the news that Historic England would be giving it an increase in the existing High Street Heritage Action Zone Grant; the Council would receive an extra £130k for the historic enhancements project within Old Town Street and New George Street;

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this was excellent news to help the delivery of this important project within the city centre;

(h)

Tamar Bridge Petition -

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the Tamar Bridge and Torpoint Ferry provided vital transport links between Devon and Cornwall and many residents, businesses and visitors were reliant on these links;

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efforts had been made repeatedly to lobby Government for support for general maintenance and improvements in line with Health and Safety measures;

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the Council was fully aware of how important this was, and had made it one of its commitments, Commitment 55 ‘consult you about the possibility of reducing or abolishing the tolls on the Tamar Bridge and Torpoint Ferry crossings by lobbying the Government to secure similar status to the Severn Bridge crossing’;

?

the Council was keen to use the power of the people so the continued cost was not a burden on local council taxpayers;

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100,000 signatures would be considered for debate in parliament; 10,000 signatures would receive a response from the Government; the Council wanted to show that it genuinely represented local people;

(i)

White Ribbon -

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in recent weeks he had met with a number of local organisations who provided vital and valuable support to victims of violence against women and girls in Plymouth; all had emphasised that the Council must take this issue seriously, and it did;

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a Violence Against Women and Girls Commission had been established and it was working at pace under the leadership of Councillor Rebecca Smith;  the Leader thanked Councillor Smith  and all the Commission members including Nazir Afzal for getting this moving so quickly; everyone was encouraged to take a moment to complete the Commission’s survey which was currently on the Council’s website;

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however, work must not stop whilst the Commission scrutinised what was being done in the City and what needed to happen in the future; there was a huge programme of projects and activities being delivered under the Council’s safer streets programme; the Council also needed to look at its own services and operations; therefore it was being announced today that the Council would be moving forward with its plans to achieve White Ribbon accreditation;

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achieving White Ribbon status as an organisation would further demonstrate that the Council was best placed to help its residents in combating violence against women and girls and it must champion this important issue; Council staff continued to work tirelessly for its residents and this accreditation would demonstrate and enhance the skills and knowledge of its workforce in addressing violence in its communities.

(j)

Transforming Cities Fund Programme -

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two key contracts had been agreed for the flagship Plymouth Mobility Hubs project;

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a contract had been signed with Beryl Bikes to provide a network of electric bikes that would become operational across the City in 2023, with over 400 electric bikes being available for hire by local people;

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300 parking bays across the City would be installed with electric vehicle charging points provided by Gamma Energy Limited; over 100 of these would have rapid chargers, capable of providing a typical electric vehicle with an additional 100 mile range in approximately 30 minutes;

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the tender process had been completed for the e-car club element of the Mobility Hubs programme;

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the Mobility Hubs project would provide much needed low carbon travel options for the people of Plymouth and clearly helped support the Council’s climate ambitions;

(k)

electric vehicle charging -

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from today, Plymouth City Council had started an exciting venture to increase the use of electric vehicles in the City;

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whilst for the majority of people, this would be an easy transformation, the Council had taken into account both residents and visitors who may have a mobility impairment and would find this less straight forward; it could be difficult for a wheelchair user to plug in the heavy cables used to charge the vehicles;

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the Parking Team had recognised this need and  from today a trial would start in the Theatre Royal car park; the assisted electric vehicle charging scheme would allow car park users with a mobility impairment to park in an electric vehicle charging bay and use the telephone number to seek assistance from the staff on duty;

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the success of the scheme would be accessed over the coming months and in consultation with the Council’s city wide partners, this scheme would be replicated where feasible; further support works had been undertaken with the disabled community and this would be followed up with more initiatives;

(l)

Transforming Cities Fund 2 -

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the Council was working closely with the Department for Transport in developing a new CCTV control room, that would bring together the Traffic Signal Control team and the wider CCTV city surveillance arrangements;

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this would see new hardware and software to future proof the service and would see development of key partnerships in sustainable transport and enforcement to help make Plymouth safer and develop a more efficient transport network;

(m)

social prescription of walking and cycling -

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Plymouth City Council had been awarded £80k by the Department for Transport to progress plans to encourage more people to take up walking and cycling for their health and wellbeing;

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the funding would be used for a feasibility study into ‘social prescribed’ walking and cycling, where health providers, link workers and community groups worked together to help people meet their personal activity needs and goals;

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the Council’s transport and public health teams would be working with partners across the City, over the next few months, to put together a proposal that would aim to get more people walking and cycling and enjoying the health and wellbeing benefits they brought;

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if successful, Plymouth would receive funding for a three-year pilot programme that would help more people to access support, such as adult cycle training, led rides, led walks and complementary programmes like bike maintenance courses and workshops;

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the funding for the feasibility programme followed two competitive bidding rounds, with Plymouth being one of the highest scoring councils in the last round;

(n)

George Park and Ride -

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the George Park and Ride passenger facility would re-open; the terminal building would be open on 31 January 2022; the building would be open Monday to Friday (except bank holidays) from 6.30 am to 3pm and would be staffed by Plymouth Citybus;

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the responsibility of the staff on site would include but not limited to providing information to customers on all modes of sustainable transport, general oversee of bus services, cleaning the building and litter picking the car park, dealing with customer feedback and passing it on to the relevant body, reporting any site difficulties and passing it on to the relevant body and ensuring compliance with Covid 19 restrictions were maintained;

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unfortunately, at present, the building would not be able to be open on Saturdays but longer hours would be opened up, as soon as the Council was able to do so, especially with larger events in the city taking place;

(o)

City bus shelter contract -

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this contract had gone out to tender on 14 January 2022 with a view to awarding it at the end of May 2022;  Councillors had been sent an email regarding this matter (relating to the Wards affected);

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the key requirements from the new contract would be to provide high quality infrastructure, meeting accessible standards, move to digitalised advertising, maintenance and cleaning of the infrastructure, environmental and social consideration including green routes and environmental lighting and the Council receiving a share of the advertising revenue;

(p)

Morlaix Drive Access Improvement Scheme -

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this scheme would help public transport access Derriford Hospital and would take just over a year to complete;

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Morlaix Drive was currently a narrow, 300m stretch of road that linked Brest Road and Derriford Hospital and provided access to the Glenbourne Unit, the ambulance station, the Thornbury Centre and access to the multi-storey car park; the road in part was too narrow for two way traffic; a bus gate would be installed to improve the self-sustainability of the bus services.

(q)

Holocaust Memorial Day -

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Holocaust Memorial Day remembered the six million Jews murdered during the holocaust and it also commemorated and remembered the millions of other people killed under Nazi persecution and in subsequent genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur;

?

the Holocaust Memorial Day was marked annually by Plymouth City Council as a civic event; this year the Council would mark the Holocaust Memorial Day with a civic commemoration ceremony with civic dignitaries and a public commemoration;

?

the Association for Jewish Refugees had been very kind in providing a tree which would be planted opposite the Peace Garden, as part of the ’80 Trees for 80 Years’ campaign to help mark this occasion;

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an invitation was extended to everyone to join the public commemoration in the Peace Garden on the Hoe, at 11.15am on Thursday 27 January 2022;

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the Council had worked closely with Plymouth Centre for Faith and Culture Diversity to organise these events and took this opportunity to thank them for their commitment.

(r)

Library Service  -

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the Schools Library Service was pleased to report that over the Christmas and New Year period, 600 topic boxes had been collected from schools and a further 400 topic boxes had been  delivered; each of these topic boxes contained a collection of 25 books on a related topic that school staff used to enhance learning.

(s)

there would be no increases in Private Hire or Hackney Carriage fees for 2022/23;

(t)

he considered that this was a good opportunity to encourage individuals to apply to become a taxi driver to serve the City and its visitors, as the Council was currently experiencing a decrease in the number of taxi drivers;

(u)

he wished to thank the Vice Chair and Committee members of the Taxi Licensing Committee, as well as officers and staff that had been involved.