Councillor Penberthy (Cabinet Member for Housing, Cooperative Development and Communities) introduced the Building Bridges to Opportunity update report and discussed:

a)     The Cabinet decision was anticipated for March or June 2026, allowing time for a thorough process rather than a rushed approach;

b)    The framework had grown out of the Child Poverty Working Group’s work and aimed to address drivers and impacts of poverty in Plymouth;

c)     A draft framework had been developed using a whole-systems approach, engaging partners across the public sector, other organisations, and communities;

d)    The framework focused on three core aims:

                         I.         reducing the risk of falling into poverty;

                       II.         enabling people to move out of poverty;

                      III.         reducing harm for those living in poverty;

e)     Questions had arisen about why no hard target was set to end poverty in Plymouth; the reasoning was that many factors were outside local control, so the focus was on achievable local actions;

f)      The framework themes included:

                I.         Improving individual outcomes (education, skills, access to benefits and food);

              II.         Maximising community potential (neighbourhood and identity-based communities);

             III.         Optimising infrastructure and environment (green/blue spaces, transport links);

            IV.         Developing an economy that works for everyone;

             V.         Delivering services with communities to meet needs (including healthcare, banking, and postal access);

g)     Principles from engagement included trauma-informed practice, life-course approach, tackling inequalities, asset-based thinking, and upstream prevention;

h)    The framework had been mapped against the Plymouth Plan and aligned with other council strategies;

i)      Work was ongoing to identify outcome measures and metrics, using existing data sources rather than creating new ones;

j)      There was no promise of extra funding; the focus was on optimising current actions and resources;

k)     The approach linked strongly to prevention and upstream work already underway in the council.

Nick Shaw (Public Health Registrar) added:

l)      Engagement highlighted that how actions were delivered was as important as what was done;

m)   The framework would inform service delivery and policy decisions across the system;

n)    Public health would ensure principles were embedded in NHS neighbourhood planning and other strategies.

In response to questions, the Panel discussed:

o)    Concerns about access to banking and NHS services, particularly in deprived wards, and the impact of service withdrawal on communities;

p)    The role of the council in mitigating these impacts, including exploring banking hubs and using libraries as shared spaces;

q)    Transport challenges for outlying communities and the importance of integrated planning;

r)     The need for a strong evidence base to influence national policy and support MPs in lobbying government;

s)     Opportunities for Plymouth to present “oven-ready” projects for government funding;

t)     Advocacy work being undertaken by councillors and officers, including lobbying for consistent increases in Local Housing Allowance and other measures through the LGA and MPs;

u)    The importance of cross-party support and continued advocacy before and after the national budget;

v)     Discussion on abolishing the two-child benefit cap, with reference to Gordon Brown’s proposal to fund this through taxation on online gambling;

w)   Challenges in selecting useful metrics and measures, and the intention to use existing data sources (Economic Strategy, Thrive Plymouth, Culture Strategy, Plan for Homes, Skills Strategy) to avoid creating a research industry;

x)    Plans for a public dashboard to present key indicators and vulnerabilities, alongside confidential data for internal use;

y)     The need for metrics to inform debate and highlight gaps for partnership action.

The Panel agreed:

1. To note the ongoing work as part of the Building Bridges to Opportunity programme;

2. To request that this item be reported back to the Panel before the framework is presented to Cabinet.