Councillor Haydon (Cabinet Member for Community Safety, Libraries, Events, Cemeteries and Crematoria) introduced the item and provided the following updates:

 

a)    The 12 August 2025 would mark the first anniversary of the opening of the Plymouth Park Crematorium;

 

b)    The Park were now supporting bereaved families across Plymouth, Cornwall and the South Hams. The Park had now delivered just over 2,400 cremations, the function rooms had delivered 380 wakes, and the public cafe had seen steady increase in business;

 

c)    The British Firework championship would be returning to Plymouth on the 13-14 August 2025. The event would feature entertainment, live music and fireworks displays. Thanks were given to the Association of British Ports who were sponsoring the event for the second consecutive year. Plymouth Citybus would be sponsoring the Young Person’s Choice Award;

 

d)    Friday the 15 August 2025 was the 80^th anniversary of VJ Day, and would be marked by a parade from St. Andrews Church to the Crowne Plaza. The parade was organised by the Far East Prisoners of War Group;

 

e)    The West End Carnival would be held on 23 August 2025 offering a full programme of events and free entertainment;

 

f)     From the 20 August 2025, Santander would be offering a banking service at Plympton Library every Wednesday. This formed part of ongoing partnership work to transform libraries into community hubs;

 

g)    Libraries continued to work closely with families and wellbeing hubs across the city. At Plymstock Library, a Satellite Family Hub had been launched with support from Bernado’s charity, and progress was ongoing with Estover and North Prospect libraries.

 

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

 

h)    Plymouth City Council, in partnership with Plymouth and South Devon Community Forrest, Transforming Plymouth Together, and Food Plymouth, had developed a DEFRA Grant funded, multi-faith project, to plant trees in city churchyards. The concept had originated from a city resident, who had identified that city churchyards were well suited for new trees, situated in the heart of communities, with ample green space;

 

i)     Local churches, mosques, synagogues and other places of worship were all encouraged to submit suggestions for the planting pipeline for Winter 2025. Thanks were given to all partners involved for their collaboration, with similar projects resulting in over 50,000 new trees planted in recent years across Plymouth;

 

j)     Poole Farm had recently hosted the ‘Wild and Well’ event, promoting how nature connection could boost children’s wellbeing. Over 300 people attended the event, as well as 24 stalls hosted by local groups including Devon Wildlife Trust, Food Plymouth, the National Marine Park and the Local Devon Moth Group;

 

k)    Thanks were given to the staff and volunteers who helped organise and run the event. The project encapsulated the work being developed under the Plymouth Plan for Nature and People, demonstrating empowered volunteers, connected communities, and young people learning green skills and boosting their wellbeing;

 

Councillor Cresswell (Cabinet Member for Education, Skills and Apprenticeships) provided the following updates:

 

l)     The national campaign for ‘attendance’ would be launched in September 2025. As a pilot location, Plymouth were working in partnership with the Department for Education (DfE) to help shape the national attendance campaign, which sought to improve attendance and inclusion across the city’s schools;

 

m)  The DFE was working closely with families to ensure appropriate messaging, and focussed on parents and children who were at risk of becoming permanently absent from school;

 

n)    A city-wide attendance survey had been completed by 1,500 children and young people and 2,200 parents. The DfE was using these early research findings to inform the campaign, and would share the research with the national and international research space once the campaign had concluded;

 

o)    Supported internships for SEND young people continued to grow, and had reached 67. For the second consecutive year, 100% of the students undertaking supported internships at Discovery College had received an offer of paid employment;

 

p)    Plymouth had been shortlisted for further nasen Awards, recognising individuals, teams and organisations who celebrate and champion SEND. Plymouth had been shortlisted for awards in two categories, and the award ceremony would take place in Birmingham on 03 October 2025;

 

q)    The Plymouth GATI (Plymouth Graduated Approach to Inclusion website) had been nominated for the ‘resources for SEND’ category, having been recognised by teachers, SENCO’s, parents, carers, head teachers, and others as a practical resource for guidance, advice and support;

 

r)    The supported internships offer through Discovery College YMCA had been nominated in the ‘co-production initiative of the year’ category, delivering supported internships in the fields of:

 

I.              Sport;

II.            Leisure;

III.           Hospitality;

IV.           Green spaces.

 

s)     The initiative demonstrated genuine commitment to co-production work which was becoming engrained between partner organisations, resulting in the delivery of successful results.

 

Councillor Laing (Cabinet Member for Children's Social Care, Culture and Communications) provided the following updates:

 

t)     Congratulations were given to four Care Experienced young people had recently graduated from Plymouth University with degrees in nursing, graphic design, economics and fine art;

 

u)    Foster for Plymouth now had two established Mockingbird constellations, supporting 31 children across 17 fostering and kinship households;

 

v)    The third Mockingbird constellation would be launched in early September 2025, with plans ongoing for the development of a fourth constellation before the end of 2025, supporting Plymouth’s Foster Carers;

 

w)   The Mockingbird families enjoyed a range of activities together including:

 

I.              A trip to Butlins;

II.            Swimming;

III.           Cinema trips;

IV.           Litter picking;

V.            Park trips;

VI.           Arts and crafts;

VII.         Breakfast mornings;

VIII.        Picnics;

IX.          Movie evenings;

X.           Fit and Fed activities.

 

x)    Councillor Laing had met with Baroness Longfield, a former children’s commissioner, having been invited to the House of Lords to discuss the Council’s work in the care sector, including classifying care experience as a protected characteristic;

 

y)    Councillors had recently toured three youth centres in Plymouth that were being transformed through the Youth Investment Fund (Frederick Street, Efford and Honicknowle). Through coproduction, the needs of young people had been placed at the heart of the project’s design; 

 

z)    There were a vast array of activities and workshops available for children and young people at The Box all throughout the summer holidays. The Surrealism Show would end on the 7^th September 2025, and plans were ongoing for a public event to commemorate The Box’s fifth birthday in September 2025;

 

aa)  The Beryl Cook inflatable figure had been the centrepiece of the national celebration at Trafalgar Square;

 

bb)Councillor Laing had attended Summer in the Scene Dot on the 8 August 2025 at the Theatre Royal, featuring a poetry performance and a set from DJ Snake. The musical theatre quiz would take place next Thursday, and a range of other events had been planned.

 

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

 

cc)  In June, over 10,000 people had attended swims at Mount Wise pools, which remained free entry;

 

dd)Nearly 100,000 people had attended Plymouth Active Leisure centres including the Life Centre, Mount Wise, Plympton Pool and Tinside Lido during June 2025;

 

ee)After investment from the Council, gym memberships at The Life Centre had increased by 17% in 2025;

 

ff)    Over 200 young people attended free youth events held at Tinside Lido;

 

gg)  £1 pound family swims were offered at the Life Centre and Plympton Pool;

 

hh)Investment in the Fit and Fed programme had increased this year, with extra spaces allocated due to high demand;

 

ii)    The initiatives were key to broadening access to health and wellbeing facilities, and demonstrated Council and partner investment for Plymouth’s residents;

 

jj)    In the wake of the Lionesses victory, football in Plymouth was growing in popularity. Councillor Dann had recently met the newly formed Plymouth School Girls Under 13’s Football Team. Over 220 young girls from schools across Plymouth had applied, with 25 finally selected;

 

kk)A new ladies football team, True Blue Ladies, had formed in St. Peters;

 

ll)    The Council were working with the Devon Football Association, the Football Foundation, and Argyle to promote the sporting aspirations of the city, including the Foulston Park project which would become a base for Women’s football in Plymouth;

 

mm)              An aquatics and diving lead had been appointed at the Life Centre.

 

Councillor Stephens (Cabinet Member for Strategic Planning and Transport) provided the following updates:

 

nn)In July 2025, the Leader had received a letter from the Department of Transport outlining the announcements for the major road networks and large local projects in England. The government had a list of 72 projects, designed to relieve congestion, unlock housing and stimulate growth;

 

oo)Out of the 72 projects, only 28 were approved. Plymouth had received approval for two projects, making Plymouth the only town/city to receive multiple successes;

 

pp)The first accepted proposal was the Manadon Interchange Scheme, which would bring additional off-road slip lanes and improved bus and cycling lanes to reduce congestion, improve journey times and reduce carbon emissions;

 

qq)The second approved project was the Plymouth Major Network Phase I from Marsh Mills to Camels Head, which would deliver improved flood defence works, localised road winding and improved traffic flow;

 

rr)  The footpath on Central Park Avenue would be opening in the next few weeks;

 

ss)   The Velocity pothole-repair machine had been operating in Moor View, Budshead, Honicknowle and Ham wards, and would next move to Eggbuckland;

 

tt)   23 sites of road defects have been fixed, and various schemes had been completed to repair street lights in the city;

 

uu)The Royal Parade Bus Improvement Scheme was progressing on time and on budget. Excavation of area one was underway, with contractors having completed excavations, located underground utilities, installed pre-cast concrete blocks and started the form work. Works would soon move on to the kerb-line and paving;

 

vv)  Pedestrian management had been managed well, and signage and seating had been installed at Derry’s Cross where the temporary bus-stop was located;

 

ww)               Work to install two bus-stops outside the Park Crematorium had begun, alongside a Puffin crossing. Once installed, the number 19 bus service would serve the Park, and the completed works would allow the Public to safely cross Merrifield Road. This would provide access to the Cafe, Drake Memorial Park and Gables Cats and Dogs Home. The bus stops and the roadside of the Park would be completed by the end of September 2025, with the entire scheme expected for completion in October 2025;

 

xx)Thanks to the Department for Transport’s Active Travel fund, the Council had secured the expansion of secure lockers for bikes. Additional lockers had been installed due to high demand, and were located in Vauxhall Street and at the Life Centre. The lockers were manufactured in Plympton by BikeAway, thus supporting local businesses;

 

yy)  The additional hubs for the lockers would be located at Cremyll Street, Admiral’s Hard, Vauxhall Street, Barbican Approach, Theatre Royal, Grand Parade, Regent Street Car Park, St. John’s Road in Turnchapel and Napier Terrace Car Park;

 

zz)  Plymouth had received confirmation that it was in the top five cities for participation of children in the Bikeability scheme. This marked the third consecutive year, with 96.8% of eligible children undertaking the Bikeability course, delivering skills, confidence and experience to maintain safety as well as developing healthy and active travel habits.

 

 

Councillor Aspinall (Cabinet Member for Health and Adult Social Care) provided the following updates:

 

aaa)                In partnership with organisations across NHS, the Council had developed a ‘Vaccinate Plymouth Campaign’ to support with messaging across the city and encourage the uptake of vaccines. Messages had been tailored to different age cohorts and vaccine types;

 

bbb)               The Council recently had utilised social media posts to encourage uptake of the MMR vaccine prior to the summer holidays, in response to rising cases of Measles in Europe;

 

ccc)                The Council had also coordinated with the Family Hubs to distribute leaflets detailing immunisation requirements for children starting school in September;

 

ddd)              Devonport naval base open days had commenced this year, and had been well attended by thousands of residents. Members of the Public Health team had collaborated with stalls form Livewell Southwest and the Wellbeing Hubs, providing information and engagement on topics including health and wellbeing, body-composition scales and blood pressure machine checks;

 

eee)               ‘Know your Numbers Week’ would run during 8-14 September, encouraging people to check their blood pressure at a local hub, pharmacy or GP.