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

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

Councillor Tina Tuohy (The Lord Mayor) made the following announcements:

a)    The day marked Holocaust Memorial Day, 80 years since Soviet Forces liberated Auschwitz-Birkenau. A minute of silence was called to remember victims of the Holocaust and subsequent genocides in Bosnia, Cambodia, Rwanda, and Darfur; 

b)    Last Thursday, Claire Chick, a beloved lecturer at the University of Plymouth had her life taken from her.Claire was an energetic and beautiful soul who touched countless lives through her work in nursing education and her international contributions to healthcare teaching across Europe, Africa, and Asia. One minute of silencewas called to honour Claire's memory and reflect on the profound impact she had on so many lives; 

c)    At a recent ceremony, the Local Council Road Innovation group presented a special life-time achievementaward to Councillor Mark Coker. The Councillor had demonstrated unwavering dedication, leadership, and a relentless commitment to improving our community's infrastructure.

Councillor Evans OBE (Leader of the Council) made the following announcements:

d)    The Economic Development department had earned for the Authority and its residents: £28.5 million of earned income, £102 million of external grant funding, £280 million of capital investment and £18 million of foreign direct investment. £5.5 billion was in the investment pipeline with major investment into the City and the dockyard to come; 

e)    The next few months promised to bring the following £200 million of investments as well as milestones:

                      i.        Redevelopment of the Civic Centre and a new partnership with Homes England would kick-start housing development in the City Centre

                     ii.        £19.5 million Levelling-Up Funding would be used to unlock the City Centre Blue-Green Skills hub and latest phase of Oceansgate;

                    iii.        Net Zero ambitions would be fulfilled for Millbay with the provision of Shore Power;

                    iv.        A new Economic Strategy would be adopted with the Port Strategy and creative industries plan;

                     v.        The Tinside refurbishment would be completed;

                    vi.        Mount Batten centre redevelopment will have started;

                  vii.        The next phase of works would commence at Brickfields;

                 viii.        The one millionth visitor to The Box would be celebrated;

                   ix.        £25 million Freeport investment would commence;

f)     After a recent meeting of Cornwall Council on the 21 of January, they had resolved to confirm their full support for the content of a letter seeking greater autonomy and devolution for the County to continue to exist as an standalone political unit;  

g)    Due, in part, to the aforementioned positon of Cornwall Council, Plymouth were unable to submit an expression of interest in the priority programme which other parts of the country had been;

h)    Some moderate expansion of Plymouth’s boundaries would be required in order to attain the requisite additional population and tax base to provide sustainability in the long run.

Councillor Coker (Cabinet Member for Strategic Planning and Transport) made the following announcements:

i)     Non-commercial bus routes which were due to finish at the end of March 2025 would now continue for a new three year period;

j)     The number 200 Park and Ride would increase frequency to every 15 minutes, the Number 19, cut during the previous administration, would be reintroduced to service Plymstock and Plympton and the route of the number four bus had been extended to the ridgeway via Sherford.

Councillor Laing (Deputy Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Children's Social Care, Culture and Communications) made the following announcements:

k)    Plymouth City Council were hosting their second Foster Carer Summit on 7 February 2025 with the support of Dartmoor Zoo who had provided the venue. The Summit would enable Foster Carers to share their experiences of fostering, review of the support available and have the opportunity to co-design of the 2025/2026 Support and Retention offer;

l)     Congratulations was passed on to two retired Foster for Plymouth carers, Dave and Coleen Healy, who received British Empire Medals in the King’s New Year’s Honour’s List;

m)  The “Devonport 200” event had taken place on Saturday 11 January 2025 and Sunday 12 at The Box. 1491 visits were recorded on Saturday and 820 on Sunday which were very good figures. 25 potential acquisitions for the collection had been received including objects, photos and documents and 50 surveys had been completed across the weekend. The event would serve as a model for future “Super Saturdays”;

n)    New exhibitions opening at the Box in 2025 included: ‘John Lyon’s Carnivalesque’ on 08 February 2025, ‘Windrush in the Far South West’ from 18 January 2025 and Osman Yousefzada’s ‘When Will We Be Good Enough’ which was operating until 09 March 2025 and the Jeremy Deller project “The Triumph of Art”.

Councillor Dann (Cabinet Member for Customer Services, Sport, Leisure & HR, and OD) made the following announcements:

o)    ‘Fit and Fed’ funding was confirmed during the preceding week, however exact figures were not available as of yet. During the 2023/24 municipal year, the fund provided enough money for Plymouth Active Leisure to coordinate 85 holiday clubs across the City and 21,000 place for benefit related free school meals.

(Councillor Beer left the meeting at 2.59pm)