(a)

Alderman and Former Deputy Lord Mayor Mrs Hazel Dolley

referred to the recent death of Alderman and former Deputy Lord Mayor, Mrs Hazel Dolley on 25 August 2014 at the age of 92 and the Council stood in silence as a mark of respect;

(b)

Former Councillor Janice Harden (subsequently Horler)

referred to the recent death of former Councillor Janice Harden (subsequently Horler) on 25 June 2014 and the Council stood in silence as a mark of respect;

(c)

Battle of Britain

reported that he had attended the annual Battle of Britain memorial service held at St Andrews Church which had been organised by the RAF Association and that the service was very moving;

(d)

November Council meeting at Devonport Guildhall

advised that with the agreement of the group leaders, the next meeting of the Council would take place at Devonport Guildhall to commemorate the 100^th anniversary of the amalgamation of the three towns of Devonport, East Stonehouse and Plymouth;

(e)

Social Enterprise Awards 2014

announced that Plymouth Community Renewables had been shortlisted as an investee (with Ethex as investor) for the Investment Deal of the Year.  The winners would be announced at an awards ceremony on 26 November 2014;

(f)

UK Community Energy Awards

announced that Plymouth Community Energy Community were finalists in three categories of UK Community Energy Awards.  He congratulated Barbara Hampson, a Board Member of Plymouth Energy Community and Plymouth Energy Community Renewables who won the volunteer of the year category;

(g)

Customer Service Excellence Award and Community Initiative Award 2014

presented two awards to Customer Services. The first award was to confirm the re-accreditation of team with the Customer Service Excellence Award. The second award, given by the South West Contact Centre Forum, was for the best ‘Community Initiative award for 2014;

(h)

Anthony Jinman

received a framed picture from Anthony Jinman in celebration of his reaching the South Pole earlier in the year;

(i)

Devonport Field Gun Association Limited

received a framed pictured from the Devonport Field Gun Association Limited called ‘the Last Run’ which depicted the 100 years’ history of the Royal Navy Command Field Gun competition.  The Picture was presented by Commander Critchton, David Dace and Michael Cheetham.

(j)

Child Sexual Exploitation

advised that in light of the terrible case of child sexual exploitation in Rotherham and the Jay report he would make a statement as the report impacted on everyone who had a responsibility for protecting children. He confirmed that in Plymouth the Council worked cross party and put political differences aside when it came to child sexual exploitation and that all lead agencies viewed child sexual exploitation with the utmost concern. Following the serious case review in Rotherham, the Plymouth Safeguarding Children Board established a multi-agency working group and action plan in 2012.  Last year a multi-disciplinary team was established for the early identification of children at risk of sexual exploitation.  The Board also delivered specific training to frontline practitioners across all agencies to ensure that they were equipped to identify any concerns and knew how to respond. Work continued to ensure that appropriate arrangements were in place for both identifying and responding to potential and actual risk.  He urged anyone who had experienced or been affected by child sexual exploitation whether it had occurred recently or many years ago to contact the police or one of the many agencies that could and would help.  He also alerted members to the fact that Detective Superintendant Paul Northcott of Devon and Cornwall Police had offered an all member briefing on child sexual exploitation;

(k)

Public Health Funding

advised that the Government had announced the funding for Public Health in 2015/16.  Plymouth currently received less per head of population than any other city of a similar size. Plymouth also faced great challenges to improve the health of residents and many of the health indicators were well below average.  There had been much lobbying of Government on the issue however despite this the Government had recently announced that it was freezing Public Health funding for next year. He would continue to fight hard in Westminster for fairer funding for Plymouth.

(l)

Andy Banks

advised that Andy Banks, diving coach would remain in Plymouth, which was excellent news for the city’s elite divers and elite juniors. He thanked partners who responded quickly to support Mr Banks.  In partnership with the University of St Mark and St John, Plymouth College and Everyone Active a funding package was put together which supported him and allowed him to stay.  He also thanked everyone who had signed the petition to keep him in the city. Under the partnership agreement he would continue to provide high performance coaching until 2017 and also provide master classes for students, sports coaching and sport and exercise science programmes at the University of St Mark and St John.  His role would also include identifying talent and supporting other diving coaches;

(m)

England Rugby 2015

advised that England Rugby 2015 had designated Plymouth as one of the 41 official team bases that would host the 20 participating teams during the tournament which would take place from 18 September – 21 October 2015.  Plymouth would be the team base for Namibia who would have access to facilities at Brickfields, the Life Centre and Marjons including 3G pitches, sports halls, swimming pools, a training pitch, teaching rooms, a gym, sports science and sports therapy facilities.  They would also have access to a 3G pitch at HMS Drake owned by the Royal Navy Rugby Union;

(n)

International Day of Democracy

advised that in 2007 the United Nations General Assembly resolved to observe 15 September as the International Day of Democracy. This year’s theme was engaging young people in democracy. He stated that there were a number of related activities happening across the Council including the ‘Make your Mark’ campaign, a national campaign which aimed to involve one million young people.  He called for councillors to support the Plymouth Youth Parliament and Youth Cabinet by spreading the word via social media after the meeting.

(o)

Troubled Families Programme

informed members that the troubled families programme had been selected to lead the way in the roll out of phase 2 of the national initiative and the Council was one of 51 of 152 councils selected. The families with a future programme launched in 2012 as part of the national initiative had identified 745 families with complex needs.  Based on national estimates reacting to each of these could have costed £75,000 of public funds but delivering the changes required was estimated to cost just £10,000 per family (40 per cent of which was provided by the Government)  proving that early intervention and prevention was the best way for the families and more cost effective.  So far work had been undertaken with 613 of the identified families.  The Cabinet Member expressed her pride in the families who had taken part in the scheme;

(p)

‘You Can Do It Too’ Awards

informed members that 193 looked after children and young people had been nominated for a range of awards including academic, sporting and personal achievements, effort and attendance. Held in a Plymouth University marquee, the event took place over two days, the first an evening event for those of secondary school or higher education aged 12-21 and the second a daytime event for younger children aged 4-11.  The event was generously supported by the University of Plymouth, Wolferstans and Europa Training. The Cabinet Member expressed her pride in all of the children and how far they had come and stated that the Council remained committed to supporting them and helping them to achieve their goals.

(q)

Cities of Service Status

advised that following the achievement of ‘Cities of Service’ status, an 18 month programme would be put in place to harness the power of volunteers to address the city’s strategic issues one task at a time.  The Cities of Service model built on the work of former New York City Mayor, Michael Bloomberg, who pioneered the approach. Two projects would be delivered relating to heating and eating, including providing energy advice as well as growing and distributing fresh fruit and vegetables. A local launch would take place on 21 October where volunteers would be invited to assist with both of the projects.

(r)

Glass recycling

informed members that, since May 2014, everyone in Plymouth had been able to recycle glass bottles and jars by using their green bins and bags and, as a result, glass recycling rates in Plymouth had risen by 20 per cent. During the first three months of the service, 995 tonnes of glass had been collected.  During the same period of the previous year the council collected just over 800 tonnes from bottle banks and the trial glass collection scheme. This result meant that, in three months, the council had saved a total of £23,400 in disposal and landfill charges.  The Cabinet Member reminded everyone that some glass could not be recycled and should not be put in the green bins or bags including light bulbs, spectacles, windows, Pyrex and drinking glasses and thanked everyone for a tremendous effort.