Councillor Peter Smith (Deputy Leader):  It was reported that:

 

·        They have implemented Government guidance for protecting staff and for staff to work at home.  Measures would be put in place to support staff with mental health and emotional wellbeing;

·        Sport and leisure currently all closed.  Everyone Active provide a daily podcast to encourage activity at home.  Plymouth has been selected by Sport England to support children and young people to improve lives through activity and sport;

·        VE Day 75 events on the Hoe had been cancelled, however there were on line events to help celebrate safely at home;

·        History Festival event had been cancelled, however was available to view on line;

·        Other options were being looked at for Mayflower 400 celebrations;

·        Discussions were taking place on the completion of the Elizabethan House project;

·        Library service was available on-line with 7,000 e-book and audio books downloaded since the lockdown.

 

Councillor Lowry (Cabinet Member for Finance).  It was reported that:

 

·        Currently revenue was £190m for this financial year;

·        Early assessment of COVID-19 on the city finances may cost £50m and they were working on refining this figure.  Central government were fully aware of this cost and government have said that we would be fully reimbursed for the fight against COVID-19;

·        Deferred payment of businesses rates for 2 months which can now be paid over 10 months rather than 12 months;

·        Council tax was still being paid by residents and thank you.  Last year there were 12,000 missed payments and this year 14,000 missed payment.  Self-employed can defer payments until July 2020.

 

Andrew Hardingham (Director of Finance) was called to speak by the Chair.

 

Reiterated the further £7.2m to be received and money received (£2.5m) for hardship relief.

However continuing pressures mean further funding will be necessary to meet shortfall.

 

Councillor Laing (Cabinet Member for Children and Young People).  It was reported that:

 

·        Social worker have reviewed every child and this was reviewed weekly to ensure that they were providing the right support.  PPE provided for home visits;

·        Continuing to provide support to care leavers;

·        Lockdown impact on mental health and wellbeing and this was being discussed when contact was made with children and young people;

·        Fostering and recruitment was continuing safely.  Personal thanks to foster carers.

·        Some children have entered care due to lockdown related issues and this has given to a rise in those in care which is being monitored.

·        Responding to safeguarding issues with the police to ensure action was taken;

·        There was no shame in asking for help and that we want to help families get through this.

 

Councillor Kate Taylor (Cabinet Member for Health and Adult Social Care).  It was reported that:

 

·        Caring for Plymouth and alliance between Plymouth City Council, Livewell SW and community organisations have established an offer from 8 am to 8 pm to support Operation Shield.  Thanks was given to each organisation and their staff for making a huge difference;

·        Plymouth has 97 care homes across the city.  Twelve of the care homes currently suspected or confirmed outbreak of COVID-19.  The local authority has been in constant contact with these care homes from the start;

·        Accommodation support for care home staff and infection control visits carried out.  Corporate communications team providing support to care homes in terms of messaging;

·        Staffing has been impacted and they were working with homes to support shortfalls with staffing;

·        Livewell SW have provided IT support for residents to stay in touch with their relatives;

·        Financial support for care homes to ease the pressures surrounding staffing and PPE;

·        With regard to domiciliary care, they have 2,000 services users of which 725 were high risk.  5,000 visits scheduled to deliver care;

·        Proud to Care recruitment drive with rapid enrolment to allow more staff back into the profession;

·        Day services and outreach provision to ensure people were getting the support they need as well as balancing the needs of service users and families.  They would be re-opening Colwill Lodge and Vine Lodge in a controlled way to support provision;

·        Community beds were being made available following hospital discharge and private business were supporting this;

·        St Luke’s providing pre and post bereavement services for families, briefing for care home staff and measure put in place to support families;

·        Recognised the impact on mental health and Livewell Southwest are providing additional support service which are listed on Plymouth On-line Directory.

·        Personal Protective Equipment is being made available and provision for domiciliary care and supported living was satisfactory. 

 

Councillor Penberthy (Cabinet Member for Licensing and Co-operative Development).  It was reported that:

 

·        Work delivered through the Alliance has provided an extra 40 self-contained bed spaces for the homeless, however some were choosing to rough sleep;

·        Twice the number of people were in bed and breakfast accommodation;

·        3 times more claims for council tax support this year which would impact on council budgets and we’re encouraging people to access help;

·        Over 790 volunteers as part of the Good Neighbour Scheme;

·        Plymouth Online Directory (POD) has been updated to include all the community schemes, there have been 58,000 visits to the site;

·        Working with Food Plymouth and debt advice agencies to ensure this service sustainable.

·        Disabilities facilities grant work is being undertaken to ensure people can be supported in their homes.

 

Councillor Dann (Cabinet Member for Environment and Street scene).  It was reported that:

 

·        Highlighted the importance of parks and green spaces during lockdown;

·        They prioritised the collection of green and brown bins.  Garden waste and bulky waste has been stopped to redeploy staff to maintain the service and collection of green and brown bins;

·        Suspended service at the recycling centres at because it caused delays at Chelson Meadow to the collection of household waste.  Plymouth City Council was planning to re-open Chelson Meadow following recent Government guidance received;

·        Despite the reduced number of staff across the service and increased fly tipping, with the help of residents, they have managed to keep streets clean and collected rubbish;

·        5 tonnes of litter collected on the Parkway;

·        Maintenance undertaken in parks and highlighted the issues with dog poo;

·        Parks accelerator program is still underway;

·        Board meeting is planned for national marine park;

·        Climate change still on the agenda.

 

Councillor Coker (Cabinet Member for Strategic Planning and Infrastructure).  It was reported that:

 

·        No clear guidance from the Department of Transport on workers, so immediately took the decision to undertake critical work on the network only; 

·        Reviewed car parking charges to enable key workers to park without charge.

·        Automatically renewed blue badges where necessary.

·        Real time passenger signs and road signs used to communicate with the public on guidance;

·        Concessionary passes have also been automatically renewed and travel times extended.

·        Bus companies are experiencing an impact from reduced patronage.

 

Councillor Haydon (Cabinet Member for Customer Focus and Community Safety).  It was reported that:

 

·        Bereavement Service at Efford was now available again and there have needed to be changes to the way families say goodbye to their love ones.  They were ensuring that families were able to attend but have limited the number to 10.   They have upgraded the webcast facility for more people to feel part of the service;

·        Public Protection Service were involved in investigations with the increase in scams with fake test kits to disinfection of the home;

·        Civil Protection Team were busy supporting the council with this current emergency;

·        Customer services and Contact Centre were now working from home;

·        Registration service has made changes to services by going virtual;

·        Increase in dog fouling and this has prompted an increase in enforcement.

 

Councillor Jon Taylor (Cabinet Member for Education, Skills and Transformation).  It was reported that:

 

·        Thank you to schools and parents. Many schools were open and supporting children on site as well as those home learning;

·        1,000 children attending school each day and 180 across early year settings.  Places still available for children of key workers;

·        Ensuring most vulnerable children were safe and protected and do not fall behind with their learning;

·        Home visits were in place for vulnerable children;

·       CaterEd have been fantastic in filling the gaps and ensuring children do not go without food;

·        Written to Secretary of State regarding the various issues with the Government voucher scheme;

·        When schools reopen they were planning for that return.  It would be challenging to get children back learning safely.