Councillor Shayer (Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance and Economy made the following announcements:

 

(a)  I had the opportunity to see this first hand at a recent visit to Turnchapel Wharfs. The quality of the working being undertaken is truly stunning with cutting edge autonomous vehicle being assembled and tested here in Plymouth. These were some of the best paid jobs in Plymouth and we must do everything we can to support this growth.

 

(b)As part of the visit I visited the Mayflower Autonomous Ship control room to see the ship mid Atlantic. Since then the ship has completed its transatlantic voyage of 5618km and arrived in the US. I want to pay tribute to Brett Phaneuf and his amazing team for this epic adventure which has showcased Plymouths engineering prowess around the world.

 

(c)  As a newly appointed Board member I also wanted to highlight 2 amazing new partnerships at Plymouth Science Park between focussing on 3D printing. The Health Tech Innovation Hub focussed on medical applications and the Advanced Digital Manufacturing and Innovation centre focussed on industrial applications. Surgeons were using these facilities to print prosthetics for various applications including dentistry. And Babcock were looking at how ship parts can be 3d printed for redundant parts of those needed very quickly at sea. Over the coming 12 months I will be pushing this and similar opportunities to support our agenda for higher value jobs.

 

(d)wanted to highlight how we were using Sail GP this year to target investors and raise the profile of Plymouth across the globe. The series would reach 40m people this year in 185 countries making it one of the fast growing global sports events in the world. We were hosting a number of investment dinners and visits over the weekend targeting a number of marine businesses and investors.

 

Councillor Charlotte Carlyle (Cabinet Member for Education, Skills, Children and Young People) made the following announcements: -

 

(e)The government had set out its’ ambition in the published SEND and AP Green Paper. – Plymouth Education, Participation and Skills (EPS) were organising a response from our SEND Strategic Group to the Green Paper.

 

(f)   Welcomed key proposals set out in Green Paper as they are broadly in line with our current work on the Inclusion Transformation Programme - Undertaken in Plymouth with active engagement of schools and stakeholders.

 

(g)  Continued to work with DfE to chart our steps in response to Schools White Paper – A main priority to have sustainable improvement in education. The number of Good and Outstanding Schools had increased from 72% to 78% as of May 2022.

 

(h) Following 14 months of work to review the Children’s Social Care system, Josh MacAlister’s independent review report was published in late May 2022. Key areas covered:

·        A revolution in family help to support much earlier intervention

·        A just and decisive child protection system

·        Unlocking the potential of family networks, in terms of support and care arrangements to support children to remain with family members

·        Transforming care to address the national challenges in placement sufficiency for children needing care outside of their immediate and extended families

·        The care experience

·        and

·        A system that is relentlessly focused on children and families.

 

Councillor Bill Wakeham (Cabinet Member for Environment and Street Scene)made the following announcements:

 

(i)   The Cleansing Teams were especially busy this time of the year with the advent of the growing season and multiple events planned around the city. This last weekend we had teams working around the clock to ensure that not only was the city looking great to receive so many visitors over the Jubilee weekend, but also cleaning up after events such as the One Big Weekend on Plymouth Hoe. We managed to also secure the help of 60 students from Plymouth College to assist as volunteers in the ‘Big’ clear up as well as other volunteers working with event organisers. It does not stop there with Plymouth Half marathon next weekend and a look forward to SailGP in July.

 

(j)   This was our second full summer of the revised cutting schedule, albeit updated following ward consultation at the end of last summer. This had seen some changes to those areas that have been re-wilded and those that have just received an edging cut – short back and sides. Whilst there continues to be some resistance to the re-wilding, the overwhelming response has been positive – as demonstrated in a recent Plymouth Herald article.  It was great to see so many of our residents out and about and enjoying the abundance of green space we have in the city.

 

(k)Free garden waste collections continue to run smoothly and is now used by over 60,000 residents in Plymouth. Not only does it help increase our recycle rates it is recycled locally and used on local farms. However, I would really like to explore how we might encourage more households to home-compost to reduce our carbon footprint yet further.

  

Councillor Dr John Mahony (Health and Adult Social Care) made the following announcements:

 

(l)   Plans for new health and wellbeing centre in West End of Plymouth at Colin Campbell Court had taken a step forward – Planning Permission has been granted for the building

 

(m)  Plymouth City Council and NHS locally were working close together on this project to offer several services under one roof - This building was an important next step and supports the development of the business case to national NHS team and will help secure funding.

 

(n) Services offered in the building would include Primary Care, Mental Health Services, Diagnostics and the voluntary sector to provide a one stop shop for health and wellbeing for a part of the city where health outcomes are traditionally poor.  This scheme would not only provide a much-needed modern health and community facility, but would help kick start the regeneration of the Stonehouse area.

 

(o)   On 16^th May the William and Patricia Venton Short Term Care Centre opened its doors. This facility provides time limited rehabilitation for people leaving hospital

 

(p) It has 24 ensuite rooms where on site therapists and care staff can help people to return home.

 

(q) The building demonstrates great partnership working across the city, the building is owned by AgeUK, the care provision is delivered by Livewell SouthWest and PCC has supported with capital works to bring centre back in use and the facility is commissioned by NHS Devon Clinical Commissioning Group.

 

 

(r)  Plymouth was receiving enhanced funding for drug and alcohol treatment services, as part of the government’s new 10 year Drug Strategy to help drug users access treatment and reduce crime within communities. – Additional funding would be provided across the country but Plymouth was one of the first 50 Local Authorities to receive this.

 

(s)  We plan to use the money to continue the expansion of treatment places – Increasing specialist medical resource, expand treatment for young people, improve links with courts and prisons, and expand access to life saving interventions like Naloxone Programmes (Reverses opioid overdose)

 

(t)  We were also a part of a consortium with Cornwall, Torbay and Devon – Pooling our resources together to expand access to inpatient and residential rehabilitation.

 

 

Councillor Patel (Cabinet Member for Customer Services, Leisure and Sport) made the following announcements:

 

(u)The summer season at The Box opens on 18^th June with a new exhibition of work by painter George Shaw. From 25^th June, St Luke’s would be hosting ‘Because the night Belongs to Us’, an ambitious project conceived with the community. The Box would continue to show work from the Collections and Archives including a new film to mark Falklands 40 in Media Lab.

 

(v)  In partnership with Building Plymouth, this year STEAM Fest comes to The Box. We were challenging local primary schools to create a fictional design home for another mammoth to join Mildred at The Box.

 

 

(w)   The city hosted the inaugural futures diving cup in mid-May – this was an event to provide athlete with valuable competition opportunities after a few disrupted years.

 

(x) 70 divers representing 8 countries (Canada, the USA, Jamaica, Britain, and separate home nation teams), participated – Including Senior and Junior international divers, and Olympic champion and world cup medal winners.

 

(y)  The event was hosted at no cost to the authority, with British Diving liaising with Destination Plymouth to book hotel accommodation and transport for competitors and support staff for the week.

 

(z)  Building on the success of the event, Plymouth Active Leisure are working in partnership with England Diving to launch a talent identification programme later in the year.

 

(aa)  We are now in wedding season and were conducting many ceremonies each week- Council House had been dressed with fresh flowers, new chairs and a red carpet.

 

(bb)We were working with Dream Weddings to create a magazine that is inclusive and relevant to all customers.

 

(cc)  Citizenship Ceremonies were not slowing down and we are filling spaces monthly – Last one was performed with Deputy Lord Mayor Maddi Bridgeman and the next one will be 14 June with new Lord Mayor Sue Dann.

 

(dd)  Libraries had re-opened and had restarted activities much to the way they were prior to Covid. Children could attend activities and class visits have resumed. All PC’s in libraries were now available.

 

(ee)   Last week each Library held a cream tea party for the Jubilee – over 1,000 customers of all ages visited.To mark the Jubilee on the evening of 29 June there will be an event by the Greenwood Consort at the Central Library.

Councillor Jonathan Drean, Cabinet Member for Transport provided an update to Cabinet and highlighted the following key points:

 

(ff)  The designs for a new CCTV centre had been completed and new data cabling would commence on 20 June 2022;

(gg)Vehicle restraint works would commence on 20 June 2022;

(hh)                Plymouth City Council’s new MMA white lining vehicle would commence work in the City in July 2022;

(ii)   Major re-modelling of the Ridgeway pedestrian area had commenced and benches as well as planting would be installed on week commencing 13 June 2022;

(jj)   Millbay resurfacing had been on schedule to complete by 10 June 2022;

(kk)                Plymouth City Council had received a letter from a resident in Scotland who had been impressed with the facilities of Coypool following a brief stop in the Plymouth area;

(ll)   Plymouth’s Lining lorry had a technical problem but had been rectified and crews continued with their work to catch up.

 

Councillor Rebecca Smith, Cabinet Member for Homes and Communities provided an update to Cabinet and highlighted the following key points:

 

Housing and homelessness had been high on the administrations agenda, particularly following the COVID-19 pandemic and the changes to tenancies in the private sector as well as the cost of living changes which had been developing regionally and nationally.

 

Plymouth City Council received a Disabled Facilities Grant of £2.8 mil for the city of Plymouth. This grant would actively support residents to make the necessary changes to their homes and to keep them living in their homes;

 

The high-rise building team would be working to bring a number of highrise buildings in Plymouth in order to conform with the new Building Safety Act 2022;

 

Plymouth City Council continued its target hardening on travelling Gypsy Roma travelling communities to protect communities in a robust manner;

 

Plymouth welcomed 103 Ukrainians into the city, 87 as a family and 16 individuals;

The Violence Against Women and Girls report would be launched on 10 June 2022.