(a)

Alison Seabeck, MP for Plymouth Moor View, provided an overview of current issues, which included –

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the introduction of the welfare reforms and the phased implementation of Universal Credit;

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the current situation in North Korea; 

(b)

Parliament was currently in recess for Easter (26 March to 15 April 2013);

(c)

the Secretary of State for Transport, Patrick McLoughlin MP, would be visiting Exeter in May 2013 to look at the transport issues affecting the region;

(d)

work was progressing with both the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Department for Transport on resolving the flooding issues on the rail line at Cowley Bridge.

(e)

an engineering option had been put forward by the Environment Agency to construct a dam; however, this was not a feasible solution as this would close the rail line which was not acceptable;

(f)

Network Rail would be leading on the flooding solution for Cowley Bridge, in consultation with the Environment Agency; a number of options had been put forward however, concerns had been expressed by the Environment Agency regarding the displacement of water;

(g)

the Secretary of State for Transport had recently announced funding for specific schemes; however the scheme for Cowley Bridge had not been included; additional funding was available which could be allocated to the scheme, although at this stage the actual cost of such a project was unknown;

(h)

individuals, local authorities and businesses were encouraged to apply pressure to both Network Rail and the Environment Agency to achieve a workable solution to the flooding problems at Cowley Bridge;

(i)

it was considered a real achievement that there were no planned fire station closures as a result of the impact of the budget cuts for the Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service; however, concerns were raised that future budget pressures would potentially impact service delivery in the city;

(j)

there was disappointment in the Government’s decision not to introduce smaller fire tenders; the smaller appliances were more fuel efficient and would have reduced the running costs of the fleet;

(k)

the Chief Fire Officer had given an assurance that if there were a major incident within the city, neighbouring services would be called in to assist;

(l)

the city’s MPs fully supported the Council’s application for Plymouth’s City Deal; MPs had lobbied Ministers and had also raised this matter at question time in the House of Commons;

(m)

the Growth and Infrastructure Bill had its third reading  in the House of Lords; at this stage, amendments could be put forward regarding the permitted development rights;

(n)

the proposal to amend the terms of reference for the Low Pay Commission to allow it to either freeze or reduce the minimum wage would have a detrimental effect as it would take money out of the local economy;

(o)

the practical effect of the welfare reform for under occupation of social housing (dubbed the bedroom tax) had yet to be experienced; a number of amendments to the bill had been made which included a sum of £25m in Discretionary Housing payments that would be specifically targeted at disabled people who lived in significantly adapted properties.