Question submitted by: Jackie Young

To the Cabinet Member for Environment and Street Scene

On 8th October, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change issued a stark warning of the need to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees. Given the emphasis on public involvement in this report, how does Plymouth City Council propose to lead the local action required to realise this target?

Response:

We take the IPCCs warnings very seriously. The report made clear that we cannot afford to delay further action on Climate Change and the need continue our acclaimed work on our City's Low Carbon future.

This Administration has made a manifesto pledge in re-committing Plymouth to become a carbon neutral city by 2050 and working to achieve our interim target of halving emissions by 2034.

Our soon-to-be adopted Plymouth and South West Devon Joint Local Plan provides the statutory planning policies to pursue these ambitions through the consideration of future developments.

·         We are already delivering a range of energy efficiency and new renewable generation projects across the City including:

·         Allocating £350,000 to our Energy Company Obligation top up grant fund to support 500 fuel households get energy efficiency improvements in their homes

·         Launching a new Warm Homes Fund to allow another 200 homes to get brand new efficient heating systems

·         Drilling a 100 metre deep borehole to access ground source heat to support regeneration of the Civic Centre, and the expansion of District wide heating solutions

·         Running an ambitious energy advice and community engagement programme to give 1,000 homes the opportunity get free LED lights and other simple energy saving measures

·         Working across our estate, and in partnership with Plymouth Energy Community to identify new solar and other renewable projects across the City.

·         Working with Schools and community buildings to drive an uptake in LED lighting systems

In addition to this we are also:

·         Continuing to run our successful Plymotion campaign offering incentives to encourage residents to try greener, cheaper and healthier ways of travelling.

·         Investing heavily in public transport infrastructure.

·         Have approved a Plan for Plastics and banning Single Use Plastics from Council venues.

·         Committing to install more electric car charging points across Plymouth.

However we recognise there is more to do in response to what the IPCC have said.

Plymouth City Council is already leading several innovative initiatives in relation to climate change issues - but to achieve even more we will need the support of central government, our local businesses, other public sector partners and a range of community organisations to make the difference required.

Councillor Dann, Cabinet Member for Environment and Streetscene

Question submitted by: Mr. Alan Ramage

To the Cabinet Member for Environment and Street Scene

Will PCC task its Public Health Team to assess relevant health data for citizens resident close to arterial routes compared to those who are not close?

What legislation and policy changes would PCC wish citizens to lobby their MPs for to help enhance PCC’s current air quality improvement measures?

Response:

The Public Health team currently assess a wide range of data at different geographical levels, as defined by the Office of National Statistics. Reports based on neighbourhood and ward level, for example, are available on our website. Data shows a trend of worsening health from the east towards the west of the city, which reflects the pattern of deprivation rather than tracking arterial routes.

The analysis of health data to determine the impact of air quality is complex; multiple factors influence health, air quality changes very sharply with distance from a road, people’s home postcode may not reflect their exposure to different pollutants. The complexity of this means that it is the topic of large-scale research, rather than routine monitoring.

This large-scale research has been carried out and has shown significant harm can result from exposure to pollution. Therefore the position this Council takes is that there is a proven link between poor air quality and worse health outcomes, and so we take air quality very seriously.

The principles of protecting the air we breathe is contained within the Plymouth & South West Devon Joint Local Plan (JLP), as it was previously in the Plymouth Plan and the Local Development Framework before that.

Plymouth City Council has a balanced transport strategy that seeks to support the objective of cleaner, healthier air for its residents and visitors. Emissions from road transport are by far the greatest cause of air pollution in Plymouth, and significant transport schemes have been carried out and are planned to shift the flows of traffic to reduce exposures. The strategy also has a strong focus on encouraging greater sustainable transport use with more trips undertaken by bus, cycle and foot, alongside reducing the need to travel, and enabling greater use of cleaner fuel vehicles.

Indeed since 2014, when the Air Quality Management Area was put in place, air quality improvements are being observed in all of the areas contained within the AQMA with all but one small area well within recommended levels.

We have recently worked closely with DEFRA to validate and analyse all data, with the result that they are satisfied that the actions taken by Plymouth have shown results, with schemes currently underway predicted to reduce air pollution even further.

Influencing the type of vehicle that people and businesses buy and how they use them are predominantly in the gift of central government. The following policy changes would therefore help to drive the transition towards less polluting private transport choices:

·         Unfreeze the fuel duty escalator and significantly increase the duty on high-polluting diesel relative to petrol

·         Reverse the recent decision to reduce the recent decision to cut the Plug In Car Grant (which reduces the purchase cost of electric cars) from £4.5k to £3.5K

·         Amend Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) rates to dis-incentivise ownership of diesel vehicles as well as incentivising low carbon emission vehicles

·         Significantly increase the money available to local authorities under the Air Quality Grant just £3m for the whole of England & Wales in 2018)

·         Provide more incentives for businesses to replace diesel light goods vehicles (LGVs) with electric powered alternatives (e-cargobikes, e-vans, e-micro-vehicles)

·         Provide more incentives for bus operators to replace diesel buses with alternative powered buses (electric, LNG (liquefied natural gas), biogas and hydrogen)

·         Abolish VAT on electric bikes

Councillor Dann, Cabinet Member for Environment and Streetscene

Question submitted by: Mr David Millar

To the Leader

Can the Leader tell me how much of the additional funding announced by the Chancellor to fix potholes will be allocated to Plymouth, what is the council’s cost estimate to repair potholes, and what priority will be given to repairing Whittington Street, Amherst Road and De La Hay Avenue?

Response:

The overall funding provided by Minister for Transport for England was £420 million, of that fund Plymouth has received £1.031m.

The fund is not specifically for fixing potholes, I quote from the letter received from the Department for Transport;

for local highways maintenance, including the repair of potholes, to keep local bridges and structures open and safe, as well as to help aid other minor highway works that may be needed.

There is and will continue to be an ongoing programme of pothole repairs, as they develop on a daily basis and are attended to within an agreed timeframe from reporting or carriageway inspection. The Council has a range of options with regard to the repair of potholes, individually, by patching areas or resurfacing, each intervention based on data and best use of resources.

The Council will spend more than £5.6m this year on improving carriageways and footways. External consultants survey the condition of all public highway roads and pavements annually. The results of the survey are then analysed to ensure that investment, are targeted at identified areas to maximise value for money, specifically in terms of safety and extending the life of the carriageway.

Whittington Street, Amherst Road and De La Hay Avenue are currently being assessed as part of this process along with the rest of the City; the evidence provided from the survey would indicate that they are being considered for attention in a future programme.

The programme for carriageway improvements 2018/19 has been agreed and is currently being implemented. All proposed programmes are subject to consideration of the Portfolio Holder for Transport regarding funding prioritisation and approval.

Councillor Evans OBE, Leader of the Council.