Also in attendance: Councillor Tom Briars-Delve (Cabinet Member for Environment and Climate Change), Councillor Mark Coker (Cabinet Member for Strategic Planning and Transport), Paul Barnard (Service Director for Strategic Planning and Infrastructure), Ross Jago (Head of Governance, Performance and Risk), Anthony Payne (Strategic Director for Place) and Philip Robinson (Service Director for Street Services). 

Councillor Briars-Delve (Cabinet Member for Environment and Climate Change) gave an overview of his budget area and highlighted the following points:  
 

a)    Environmental Services, including Environmental Planning and Street Scene, was one of the largest departments in the Council, comprised of nearly 500 staff and had a gross budget of £41 million and a net budget of £21 million;  
 

b)    The largest element of Environmental Services was Street Scene and Waste Services which stood at £8 million net, and included waste recycling collection, street cleansing and grounds;  
 

c)    Environmental Planning had continued to help the Council access external and national funding which woulddeliver nature and community projects; 
 

d)    The income for Environmental Planning would increase in 2024-25 to £1.9 million; 
 

e)    Statutory services had been carried out to over 123,000 households throughout 2022-23 and the garden waste service had been used by over 26,000 households;  
 

f)     The Climate Impact Assessment Tool had been implemented and applied to all key decisions made by the Council;  
 

g)    Carbon Literacy training had been carried out with officers and Councillors; 
 

h)    A total of over £11 million of grand funding had been secured to aid net zero infrastructure and sustainable transport projects. 
 

Councillor Coker (Cabinet Member for Strategic Planning and Transport)gave an overview of his budget area and highlighted the following points:  

i)     The Department for Transport visited the Bus Section which resulted in a £1.6 million grant for a two year period to maintain and enhance the network; 
 

j)     Active Travel Funding had been successfully acquired and had enabled the delivery of Safer School Street Programmes;  
 

k)    Plymouth was the best Local Authority in the country at delivering cycle training for children in Year 6;  
 

l)     Plymouth had been made the Vice-Chair of the Peninsula Transport Board and Chair of the Rail Task-Force;  
 

m)  Living Streets Budget for Councillors would be reintroduced. 
 

In response to questions, the following was discussed:  

n)    All roads in Plymouth were professionallymonitored and evaluated and undertook an annual road condition survey;  
 

o)    Section 106 updates for all Councillors would be reintroduced; 
 

p)    Plymouth City Council were working towards a silver accreditation as a carbon literate organisation;  
 

q)    Ongoing contract negotiations were considered in the budget; 
 

r)    The awarded funding from the Department for Transport (DFT) was awarded contractually to the Council to spend on bus services;  
 

s)     A Bus Champion had been introduced to be the go between the bus companies and members of the public;  
 

t)     Plymouth City Council had worked directly with Plymouth Energy Community resulting in an additional £3 million of grant funding, which was directed towards providing insulation and clean heating improvements;  
 

u)    Plymouth City Council wanted to deliver one of the biggest community owned and led solar farms in the country;  
 

v)    By the end of 2024, Plymouth City Council aimed to have the majority of it’s electricity sourced from renewables, with the goal of achieving 100% renewable energy by 2030;   

w)   An additional £300,000 had been factored into the budget for grass-cutting; 
 

x)    Plymouth City Council was the first in the country to set up a habitat bank; 
 

y)    The carbon measurement and impact on the climate was considered when using a velocity machine to repair road defects;  
 

z)    Upon responding to fly-tipping reports, the surrounding area would undergo inspection for additional waste;  
 

aa)  Individual officers would be appointed to be responsible for street cleaning hotspots;  
 

bb)Staff members were put in place to educate schools on waste management;  
 

cc)  Highways did a flooding and severe weather preparation task annually;  
 

dd)Plymouth City Council was only responsible for 1% of Plymouth’s carbon emissions.