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

 

a)     Congratulations were offered on behalf of the Cabinet to the staff at Downham House, a Plymouth City Council registered children’s home, which had been judged as ‘good’ in all areas of inspection by Ofsted;

 

b)    A new exhibition, “Forbidden Territories”, would be opening at The Box towards the end of May 2025;

 

c)     Work on three youth centres in Plymouth was progressing as part of the Youth Investment Fund programme. The main building works at Frederick Street were due for completion by the end of May 2025, and the building works at Efford and Honicknowle would be completed towards the end of June 2025. Services would then be slowly re-introduced, and test events held. The buildings would be formally unveiled in September 2025;

 

d)    The new services offered at Efford and Honicknowle would include:

 

                          i.         A brand new Williams F1 e-sports hub, the first of its kind in the Southwest;

                         ii.         High-spec gaming PC’s, where young people could develop basic computing, programming and gaming skills;

                        iii.         Five racing simulators allowing competition in global events.

 

e)     The project hoped to introduce digital courses, school trips, and work experiences opportunities through the Williams partnership;

 

f)      The project was expanding partnerships with the University of Plymouth and  Foulston Park, to progress developments.

 

Councillor Sally Haydon (Cabinet Member for Community Safety, Libraries, Events, Cemeteries and Crematoria) delivered the following updates:

 

g)     In relation to Bereavement Services, the Park had recently held its second open day, attracting approximately 400 visitors, despite having only opened nine months ago;

 

h)    The team received overwhelmingly positive comments regarding the building, surroundings and friendly/approachable staff, on social media;

 

i)      A ballerina from Birmingham Royal Ballet had performed at local libraries, enabling engagement with individuals who would not usually be able to attend or afford Ballet shows;

 

j)      Staff at Plympton Library had completed a successful partnership with Libraries Connected and Natural England by delivering bird watching walks at Haywood Park, combating loneliness within the community;

 

k)     The community garden at St Budeaux Library had opened on 01 May 2025, with funding from local councillors and grants. This provided a valuable community space, which would be utilised for events and community cohesion.

 

Councillor Tom Briars Delve (Cabinet Member for Environment and Climate Change) delivered the following updates:

 

l)      Over 35,000 trees had been planted across Plymouth last year, a significant increase from 4,000 the year before;

 

m)   A Ministry of Defence (MoD) scheme near Ernesettle had utilised over £300,000 of grant funding for the cultivation a new woodland, which overlooked the Tamar Bridge;

 

n)    In 2024/25, 658 standard and fruit trees had been established, which was nearly double that of the previous year;

 

o)    Thanks were expressed to staff, community groups and landowners for enabling the success of an unprecedented planting year. Particular mentions included the Plymouth Tree People, Headway, SocieTree, the Ho Gardening Group, Plymouth Community Homes and The Learning Academy Trust;

 

p)    Plymouth had recently been awarded the coveted status as an ‘Official Tree City of the World’, ensuring urban trees and forests are appropriately maintained, sustainably managed, and celebrated;

 

q)    In April 2025, Plymouth hosted a Heat Network Bidder’s Day event, with over 30 companies attending. The event provided information about procurement and project details, with 25 local suppliers attending to maximise local economic benefit;

 

r)     A £9 million Green Network Fund application had been submitted, which would contribute to the £65 million required for phase one of the scheme. If successful, the remaining funding would be externally financed;

 

s)     Over the next month, a formal procurement tender would be launched to appoint a development partner and to fully commercialise the proposals;

 

t)     Plymouth was the first of the Government’s Advanced Zoning Programme cities to move to procurement, out of just six who were shortlisted last year.

 

Councillor Tudor Evans OBE (Leader of the Council) added:

 

u)    Thanks were given to Councillor Briars Delve and the team who were dedicated to ensuring the projects’ success;

 

v)     The innovative project offered many benefits for Plymouth, which would boost business, dive jobs, provide opportunities for new housing projects to benefit, and help to reduce fuel bills;

 

w)   It was important to raise public awareness of these nationally significant environmental successes in Plymouth, and a press release had been produced.

 

Councillor Sally Cresswell (Cabinet Member for Education, Skills and Apprenticeships) delivered the following announcements:

 

x)    In October 2024, phase one of the School-based Nursery capital grant was published by the Department of Education, enabling eligible state funded primary schools to bid for up to £150 thousand of capital funding, to create or expand nursery provision;

 

y)     Plymouth City Council had hosted a school-based nursery briefing with the primary schools interested in the DFE grant offer, detailing the application process, time frames, models of delivery, eligibility criteria, assessment criteria, and local authorities’ responsibilities. Visits had also been undertaken;

 

z)     Three schools had applied to the scheme: Laira Green Primary, Boringdon Primary and Plympton St Mary CofE Infants;

 

aa)  On 2 April 2025, the DFE had published the list of successful schools, and all three of Plymouth’s applicants had secured the grant open new provision from September 2025. The Early Years team would continue to support the schools throughout the process;

 

bb)Outside of the capital grant, the Early Years team had supported other schools to open school-based nursery provision. Stuart Road Primary had submitted a business plan to the Reach South Academy Trust, and the West Country Trust were consulting over lowering the school age range at Glen Park Primary from four, to two;

 

cc)  Several primary schools and trusts were interested in applying for phase two and three of the School-based Capital Grant, and were receiving support from Plymouth City Council ahead of published guidance;

 

dd)The National Schools Breakfast Club ‘Early Adopter Scheme’ aimed to reduce barriers to opportunity, and tackle the impact of child poverty. Schools who had become early adopters had been given early access to Government funding to deliver free and universal breakfast clubs from the first day of summer term 2025;

 

ee)  Across Plymouth, five primary schools had been selected by the DFE to become early adopters of the Breakfast Club scheme. The schools were part of the test and learn phase to understand how best to implement the new breakfast clubs, ahead of the national roll out;

 

ff)    The breakfast clubs already seen a positive impact for children and families, with a significant increase in attendance;

 

gg)  All of Plymouth’s children and young people were wished the best of luck for their upcoming SAT’s, A-levels and other exams.

 

Councillor Sue Dann (Cabinet Member for Customer Experience, Sport, Leisure, HR, and OD) delivered the following updates:

 

hh)There were a significant number of small, voluntary community organisations and sports clubs delivering a significant breadth of sports opportunities for children and young people in Plymouth. A recent conference had been held to identify how Plymouth City Council could support them further;

 

ii)     Over £1 million was available for delivery through the Fit and Fed project, which would commence on 20 June 2025. Last year, 22,000 places were offered to young and vulnerable people across the city;

 

jj)     Tinside Lido and Mount Wise pools would open on 24^th May 2025. Work to revamp the terrace and facilities was ongoing as part of the Plymouth Sound National Marine Park project, and would be completed by the end of Summer;

 

kk)  Mount Wise pools would retain the offer of free entry to the residents of Plymouth.

 

Councillor Mary Aspinall (Cabinet Member for Health and Adult Social Care) and Clare Foster (At Home Dental) delivered the following updates:

 

ll)            At Home Dental had been contracted by the NHS to deliver the ‘Big Brush Club’, as part of the NHS’s ‘Supervised Tooth Brushing scheme’;

 

mm)     The scheme delivered a supervised tooth brushing programme in schools across the whole of the South West, with Plymouth currently serving as a pilot programme;

 

nn)        As part of the programme, 6,330 children brushed their teeth daily at school, with a 73% uptake across 100 schools in Plymouth;

 

oo)        The programme was targeted at children between the ages of 3 and 5;

 

pp)        There were a small number of schools who had not yet engaged in the programme, and Councillors were encouraged to help maximise engagement;

 

qq)        Webinar sessions were held for parents and teachers to promote good oral heath;

 

rr)         A song had been written to help promote good oral health, and children across the South West were learning it as part of an NHS competition;

 

(A video was played of the ‘Brush Your Teeth song’, as part of the Big Brush Club)

 

ss)          The video would be played at City Council on 02 June 2025 to help promote National Smile month;

 

tt)   Tooth brushing was crucial for children and young people, and was evidenced by the significant number of children in Plymouth who required tooth extraction due to decay;

 

uu)Councillor Aspinall and Councillor Cresswell would write to the Schools who had not yet engaged in the scheme to encourage their participation.

 

Councillor Tudor Evans OBE (Leader of the Council) added:

 

vv)       The work was extremely important to improve oral hygiene for children and young people, and would also help to educate parents and carers;

 

ww)    Thanks were passed to Clare and the team for their ongoing work.

 

The Cabinet agreed:

 

a)     To play the video of the tooth brushing scheme at City Council on 02 June 2025 to help promote National Smile month and good oral health.