Councillor Briars-Delve (Cabinet Member for Environment and Climate Change) introduced the report and highlighted the following points:

a)    Street Services covered domestic and commercial waste, recycling, Green Estates and trees, street cleansing, graffiti, highways, pavements, street lighting, street signs (excluding road signs), traffic lights and zebra crossings;

b)    Three quarters of the total casework submitted was for Street Services;

c)    Capacity for team leaders in Street Services was a challenge due to the volume of casework submitted;

d)    Historically, due to Local Government austerity measures, there had been a 35% cut in grounds teams staffing budgets which had implications for front line delivery;

e)    Improved health and safety measures had been applied which improved safety when working near roads however, it resulted in resulted in slower work operationally;

f)     The Council had invested in fleet decarbonisation and had 70 electric vehicles;

g)    Since 2021, Street Services had seen a year-on-year reduction of public complaints;

h)    Only 0.1% of domestic bins in Plymouth were missed, and the vast majority of the missed bins were collected within 48 hours;

i)     Grass cutting on verges and playground sites had more than doubled;

j)     Environmental Planning had worked to create green community hubs to work with young people and had received national awards for work around the first Council owned Habitat Bank in the country, planting over 15,000 trees in the last three years.

In response to questions, it was explained:

k)    The works on Laira Bridge should be completed by November 2024, however this was weather dependant;

l)     An engagement process was undertaken with Councillors every year on grass cutting;

m)  Due to feedback from residents, there had been 70 changes to the grass cutting regime, taking into account the 60/40 framework;

n)    The 2021 Environment Act obliged Councils to be clear on what work they were doing on nature recovery;

o)    Anaerobic digestion was part of the focus of the food waste delivery the Council was working on;

p)    Food waste delivery would quickly boost the recycling rate;

q)    Recycling rates in the city were seasonal;

r)    Targets for recycling rates were outlined in the Net Zero Action Plan;

s)     The feedback around grass cutting was consistent, although there was a spike in feedback during 2021 when the 60/40 regime was introduced;

t)     In 2022 there were 169 cases of Councillor casework around weeds, 101 in 2023 and only 38 in 2024 to date;

u)    There had been a review of grit bins, and they had been mapped to ensure they were refilled. The Council ensured they would refill all grit bins in 2024;

v)    The grit bin review would be brought back to the Housing and Community Services Scrutiny Panel upon completion;

w)   Ward Councillors would be included in the grit bin review;

x)    Tree management was done on a case by case basis and was prioritised on the level of risk;

y)    The way Plymouth City Council (PCC) managed tree maintenance had changed to ensure whole streets were not pollarded and disruption was kept to a minimum;

z)    All grit bins had been inspected and refilled in preparation for the winter maintenance season;

aa)  During periods of austerity, PCC had a legal responsibility to invest in statutory services, and therefore departments such as Street Services did suffer due to lack of funding;

bb)Weston Mill Recycling Centre would remain open 4 days a week;

cc)  The rights of property owners regarding tree management could be found on the PCC website.

The Committee agreed the following recommendations:

1. To note the report;

2. To thank the Cabinet Members and Service Director for their hard work;

3. To resolve to add the grit bin review to the work programme.