Agenda item

LEADER AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE

To hear from the Leader and Chief Executive on council and city issues.

Minutes:

The Chair welcomed the Leader and, in the absence of the Chief Executive, the Director of Services for Children and Young People, who were in attendance to report on Council and City issues.  Success highlights of the report included that –

  • Plymouth was bidding for Enterprise Zone status with potential sites having been identified at Langage Energy Park, South Yard Devonport, Plymouth International and Medical Technology Park, Tamar Science Park and Millbay
  • the America’s Cup was coming to Plymouth in September 2011 putting the City on the global map and bringing a boost to the City’s economy
  • Plymouth Arts’ Show would be underway at the end of September 2011 operating over five different sites in the City
  • Plymouth had just been identified as the host City for National Armed Forces Day on 30 June 2012
  • the Olympic Torch would be arriving in Plymouth on 20 May 2012 as part of its journey to London
  • the City was supporting the University’s £4m bid to set up a new University Technical College to train teenagers to become builders, technicians and engineers.  The College would provide places for 450 students from Plymouth and its travel to work area.  Lord Baker would be visiting Plymouth on 27 July to look at the four sites which had been identified as possible suitable locations
  • a ‘topping out’ ceremony had recently taken place at the Life Centre and the project was still on budget and on time

In terms of challenges faced by the authority, the Board was informed that –

  • Cabinet Members and CMT were continuing to rigorously monitor performance to ensure high quality services were being delivered to local people within budget efficiencies
  • child poverty remained a priority focus of the City and the Council continued to work closely with partners to deliver the shared agenda through a package of job creation, reducing inequalities and raising attainment
  • officers were closely monitoring the masses of Government policy changes (local and national), consultations etc. to ensure the City was on top of the changes and to assess their impact on the City. In order to ensure a more efficient use of the Council’s resources in this regard, a reorganisation was currently under way to co-locate staff into one Policy Team
  • a number of teaching staff would be taking industrial action on 30 June resulting in the closure or partial closure of some of the City’s schools
  • with regard to the health agenda, the City was working closely with the Chief Executive of the new cluster comprising NHS Devon, NHS Plymouth and Torbay Care Trust.  It was envisaged that a number of challenges and opportunities would arise through –
    • the transfer of responsibility for public health back into local authority control
    • establishment of a relationship with the GP consortia

In response to questions raised, Members were advised that –

(a)

 

with regard to the Enterprise Zone bid –

·        it was not known when an announcement on the decision would be made nor whether Lord Baker would select the site for the City during his visit, though it was suspected that he may have a view

  • the growth plan for the City would continue to be   delivered through the Growth Board regardless of the outcome of the bid which, if successful, would be a bonus

 

(b)

 

with regard to the University Technical College proposal –

·        this would provide an additional educational option for the City’s young people that they currently did not have.  They would still be able to go to University if they so wished

·        school numbers would not drastically be affected because the number of places available was relatively small, just over 100 per year, and some of those would be taken by young people from outside of Plymouth

·        the Department for Children and Young People would be losing a number of staff at the end of term due to changes in Government funding.  Focus would remain on reducing the equality gap in educational attainment and driving up achievement, particularly in the primary sector

(c)

 

with regard to changes in Government policy and the numerous consultations being circulated, it was acknowledged that it was often difficult for Members to keep abreast of what was going on or, indeed, to understand what it meant;

 

(d)

 

with regard to the industrial action being taken and the number of departmental reorganisations underway, the Council was aware that staff were under increased pressure and morale could be fragile.  A number of tools were used to gauge how staff were feeling, including –

·                 staff appraisals

·                 the recent staff survey

·                 sickness monitoring

(e)

 

the Council was able to influence Government a number of ways including –

·                 lobbying (written and face-to-face)

·                 responding to formal consultations

On behalf of the Board, the Chair thanked the Leader and Director of Services for Children and Young People for their attendance.

Agreed that with regard to (c) above, the Assistant Chief Executive would arrange production of a brief plain English guide to help Members keep up to date with Government Policy changes and current consultations.