To receive questions from the public in accordance with the Constitution.

Questions, of no longer than 50 words, can be submitted to the Democratic Support Unit, Plymouth City Council, Ballard House, Plymouth, PL1 3BJ, or email to democraticsupport@plymouth.gov.uk. Any questions must be received at least five clear working days before the date of the meeting.

There were four questions from members of the public.

The following question was asked by Ms Holman:

Under the current state of Climate Emergency declared ten months ago, what progress has been made in effecting the public's involvement in determining the actions for this coming year most to be prioritised in the face of our unfolding  climate catastrophe and will this public involvement be in the form of a binding Citizen's Assembly?

Councillor Dann, Cabinet Member for Environment and Street Scene gave the following response:

In September 2019 after the Climate Emergency declaration we commenced a public consultation exercise to gain people’s views on climate change.  1100 responses were received and of those 92% of respondents said that were concerned about climate change and 75% did not feel well informed about climate change.  We also know that over 60% of interventions to tackle climate change need some form of behaviour change.  We are therefore very clear that we will all need to work together to solve this. 

In the Climate Emergency Action Plan we have included a whole section on engagement.  The first action listed in this section is to ‘organise a programme of ‘climate conversations’ and another is to ‘organise community and school events to harness grassroots enthusiasm to take action to tackle climate change’.  Now we have the CEAP adopted we will be looking to progress this actions so the second CEAP can be further influenced by others all across Plymouth.

With regards Citizens assembly’s, we are engaging with Devon as they have already started a citizens assembly process so we can see the outcomes that come out of that process.  We will keep under review whether we should conduct something similar in Plymouth once the Devon process has completed.

Mr Hill asked the following question:

When comparable sized cities such as Newcastle and Sunderland can declare their elections results before midnight why did it take until gone 5am in Plymouth and what steps does Plymouth intend to take to learn and implement the procedures these other cities employ to enable speedier declarations in future?

Tracey Lee, Chief Executive, gave the following response:

I would like to thank Mr Hill for his question about the 2019 General Election Count in Plymouth, and apologise that it was not dealt with in January in line with our procedures. Although the question relates to a function of the Acting Returning Officer rather than a function of the Cabinet, I am happy to answer it here.

While everyone is keen for the results of elections to be declared as soon as is practicable on the night of the count, I have a responsibility as Acting Returning Officer to ensure that the process of the count is accurate, transparent and robust.

Four out of the 650 declarations in the 2019 General Election were made by midnight on 12 December, including Newcastle and Sunderland. A third (220) of all declarations were made between 4 and 6am on 13 December, including Plymouth's three constituencies and many of our comparator cities.

After every election, we review our performance and processes, and obtain feedback from everyone taking part, including candidates and agents as well as all of our staff so that we can make improvements. We have also liaised with a number of election staff and managers in other areas to learn from their practice. As a result, we have identified several improvements that we are intending to make to improve the flow of the process, including changes to the training we provide to counting staff and count supervisors.

The elections in May 2020 will include the Police and Crime Commissioner election as well as the City Council local election. This will mean that there will be up to twice as many ballot papers to verify on the night as there would be for a single election. We will however be doing our best to apply what we have learned from previous Counts to ensure a timely and accurate result.

Mr Ramage asked the following question:

Would the Cabinet consult with ward councillors as to whether they are prepared to consider using their periodical ward meetings to engage with individuals, groups and organisations within each community on how the council can support and encourage useful and creative ways to reduce carbon emissions within each community? A member of the Low Carbon Team could also be present.

Councillor Dann, Cabinet Member for Environment and Street Scene gave the following response:

Clearly we cannot direct Ward councillors as to how they should engage with their communities over the climate emergency or any other issue.  We are aware however that some Councillors would be interested in setting up meetings and working with individuals and groups in their wards.  To support this we will therefore be producing materials that ward councillors can use to run events within their communities that would form part of the climate conversations that will be happening.

Mr Francis asked the following question:

How grass-roots community self-build groups can be supported to build small plots of houses on Homes England and/or Council owned land?

Councillor Penberthy, Cabinet Member for Housing and Co-operative development gave the following response:

The council has no influence over what Homes England choose to do with their land so cannot comment on how they might provide support.

You will be aware from your discussions both with me and with council Officers that we are very supportive of self build.  We have met our duty in the first three years of the Right to Build by granting sufficient planning consents to exceed the demand evidenced by the Register and continue to look for ways to provide more opportunities.

The council is currently supporting several community groups such as Pembroke Estate Management Board, Millfields Trust and PEC to help them deliver community led housing schemes.  Since the launch of Plan for Homes in 2013 we have released over 100 acres of council owned land, any of which could have been used for community led schemes had any groups approached us with a proposal.  We have recently released more council land which again could be developed by community groups. 

Our Housing Delivery Team provide support for community groups wanting to develop housing on both Council owned and other land and any proposals should be directed to them in the first instance. Also we are hopeful that the Government’s Community Housing Fund will be extended and can be used to pay for additional capacity to support groups who wish to bring forward community led schemes.