Councillor Briars-Delve introduced the report.

Cabinet agreed to –

            1. Thank the Natural Infrastructure and Growth Scrutiny Panel for scrutinising this issue.

            2. Support the proposed responses to the recommendations made in the report.

Councillor Briars-Delve (Cabinet Member for Environment and Climate Change) introduced the item to Cabinet and highlighted the following point:

a)    Feedback was welcomed on water quality issues;

b)    In Lipson Vale, the works are ongoing at Trefusis Park Suds to improve flooding resilience during mass rainfall.

Cabinet agreed to:

1.    Thank the Natural Infrastructure and Growth Scrutiny Panel for scrutinising this issue;

2.    Support the proposed responses to the recommendations made in the report.

Councillor Stephens introduced the item.

Having considered all of the information including the information at item 15Cabinet:

1. Approved the Business Case attached to the report;

2. Allocated £12,808,832 for the project into the Capital Programme funded by:

·         £8,897,042 ringfenced Department for Transport grant funding allocated specifically for this scheme.

·         £3,911,790 un-ringfenced Integrated Transport Block grant funding that PCC is able to use to fund its transport priorities.

3. Authorised the procurement process set out in the report.

4. Delegated contract award decisions to the Service Director for Strategic Planning and Infrastructure where they do not already have authority to do so.

5. Instructs officers to work with the Cabinet Members for Planning and Infrastructure and Environment and Climate Change, in addition to relevant specialists from PCC’s Net Zero and Environmental Planning teams, to develop a comprehensive Climate Impact Assessment following the first consultation process to be reported to Cabinet prior to the next phase of consultation.

Councillor Dann (Cabinet Member for Customer Experience, Sport, Leisure & HR, and OD) supported by Rhys Jones (Chief Executive Officer, Plymouth Active Leisure) and Louise Kelley (Sports Development Manager, Plymouth Active Leisure) introduced the report and highlighted the following points;

a)    Plymouth Active Leisure (PAL) worked across the city to get more people active;

b)    PAL had provided £2 million pounds worth of social value to the Plymouth in the first quarter of 2025/26;

c)    PAL linked in with several different teams across the Council to deliver a variety of services including bike and baby rides, and bike-ability, to drive shared priorities and objectives;

d)    The Active Health Program which launched in 2024, had been a huge success with referrals into the programme from health professionals to assist people who would benefit from exercise, but also for those who might not be able to afford a gym membership;

a.     YMCA and Argyle Trust sponsored sessions for up to eight weeks, at the end of which there was an opportunity for people to get a reduced price membership for a further year, whilst still supported;

b.    296 people had been referred so far and had had positive reported health benefits including a significant loss in reported back pain and shoulder pain;

e)    In a recent Quest Assessment, which was an external body that assessed sport and leisure services, PAL had scored excellent within the tackling inequalities module;

f)     It was important not to underestimate the ripple effect of support from PAL’s various programmes had;

g)    Some people found the social side of exercise to also be very beneficial;

h)    A video was played at this point in the meeting providing an update on the Adapt programme which supported children with SEND, getting them active, as well as providing a great social opportunity, and the chance to try new sports and activities.

In response to questions the following was discussed:

i)     The Adapt programme was being expanded and there would be more inclusive SEND opportunities provided throughout facilities, including short break family breaks which were very popular and had a wait list;

j)     There was a Sport England grant available for new adaptive climbing equipment;

k)    The team worked in partnership with various organisations to connect people to the programme, but were open to other opportunities and connections to increase access;

l)     The team worked with home-educated children in a variety of projects such as the ‘Fit and Fed’ project, and offering diving and climbing facility activites at the Life Centre. There were a vast array of facilities and resources available in Plymouth, which the team worked to promote;

m)  Access to sporting facilities had been identified as a barrier, particularly travel time and cost. The Life Centre was centrally located, and had good transport links, with free public parking. Work was ongoing with Wellbeing Hubs and transport providers to reduce access barriers;

n)    The pilot of the ‘Adapt’ project had highlighted several barriers which had not been initially predicted, and the team had worked to ensure activities were friendly, accommodating and solution focused;

o)    Plymouth had recently submitted a bid to Sports England to encourage activity, particularly for children, young people and their families. Learning was shared across the Active Health Partnership comprised of numerous stakeholders across the city. Result of the bid would be brought back to the Cabinet for consideration;

p)    A new strategic plan for Plymouth Active Leisure was under development which would link together the key city agendas including green spaces, blue spaces, the environment, children and adults services, education, and building careers. The plan would be brought to Cabinet when complete.

Cabinet agreed -

1. To note the report;

2. To maximise the impact of the South West Housing and Construction Conference to promote development opportunities, overcome challenges to delivery and secure inward investment.

Councillor Penberthy (Cabinet Member for Housing, Cooperative Development and Communities)introduced the report and highlighted the following points about Plan for Homes 4: 

a)     Since its launch in November 2013, more than 1,100 new homes had been built on Council-owned sites, under Plan for Homes; 

b)    Over 64% of the 1,100 new homes had been affordable; 

c)     The ambition was to deliver a minimum of 5,000 new homes in Plymouth over 5 years; 

d)    Increased housing supply, with a focus on both social and affordable home ownership; 
 

e)     Improved the private rented sector to ensure homes were decent, safe, and secure; 
 

f)      Bringing empty homes back into use to maximise existing stock; 
 

g)     Enhanced the condition and energy efficiency of homes across all tenures, retrofitting and delivering low-carbon new homes; 
 

h)    Supported estate regeneration and renewal to replace obsolete housing; 
 

i)      Reduced homelessness and reliance on temporary accommodation and expanded supported and specialist housing options; 
 

j)      Maximised inward investment through partnership working, including with Homes England; 
 

k)     Maintained flexibility and innovation in response to emerging housing challenges; 

l)      There were more than 8,000 households in Plymouth awaiting homes for rent at an affordable price; 

m)   Plan for Homes 4 had: 
 

                                  i.         Delivered 96 new affordable homes, including 42 for social rent; 
 

                                ii.         Returned 41 long-term empty homes to occupation; 
 

                               iii.         Worked with Plymouth Community Homes (PCH) to refurbish and occupy 86 ex-MOD family homes; 
 

                               iv.         Completed 25 veteran self-build homes at Stirling House, with a third project underway; 
 

                                v.         Secured £18.44 million in government funding for 144 homes and a new skills hub at the former Civic Centre; 
 

                               vi.         Formed a long-term partnership with Homes England to deliver 10,000 new homes in the city centre; 
 

                              vii.         Achieved a 66% reduction in families in bed and breakfast accommodation; 
 

                            viii.         Improved 1,029 dwellings and resolved 216 Category 1 hazards, issued 101 formal notices and 11 civil penalties to non-compliant landlords; 
 

                               ix.         Delivered 424 home adaptations and supported 280 residents to live independently; 
 

                                x.         Completed energy efficiency improvements on 234 existing homes; 
 

                               xi.         Engaged with developers to unblock 4,517 homes with planning permission; 
 

                             xii.         Developed a pipeline of future housing sites and a new market recovery plan; 
 

                            xiii.         Identified new surplus Council-owned sites for housing; 
 

                            xiv.         Working with investors and developers to establish a build-to-rent offer in Plymouth, that would capitalise the long-term investment in the dockyard and for people coming into Plymouth for dockyard employment; 
 

                             xv.         Preparing for the Renters’ Rights Bill; 
 

                            xvi.         Participated in the rollout of the advanced zoning pilot for the new heat network, focusing on Plymouth City Centre; 

n)    The action plan reported across all 10 of the Plan for Homes 4 initiatives and was RAG-rated with commentary; 

o)    The report would be presented to the Natural Infrastructure and Growth Scrutiny Panel, and every 6 month a detailed report on homelessness was presented to the Housing and Community Services Scrutiny Panel; 

p)    Continued lobbying of government for the resources and powers to tackle the housing crisis in the city. 

In response to questions, supported by John Green (Net Zero Delivery Manager, Strategic Planning and Infrastructure) and Dave Ryland (Head of Housing Standards, Community Connections), the following was discussed: 

q)    The Renters rights bill would seek to drive tenants stability and quality, with the abolishment of section 21’s and enforcement on quality of provision; 

r)     There had been inspections of over 1000 dwellings in the past year, trying to ensure that housing was warm and secure to ensure everyone had a home from which they could thrive;  
 

s)     PCC was on of 10 authorities that had been invited into the private rental sector portal, a database in which all properties that were rented now had to register through 

t)     There was an expectation that civil penalties would increase; 

u)    There was an expectation that there would be between £7,000-£40,000 worth of fines to landlords who failed tocomply with expectations; 

v)     Landlords would only be able to increase rent once a year and it had to bein line with marketable rates, and there will be a tribunal service which would sit around it; 

w)   The plans were expected to receive Royal Ascent in September 2025, following this, there will be secondary legislation put in place in early 2026; 
 

x)    There were some areas of impact of the bill that had no resource because these areas had not been in legislation before, so a gap analysis was being conducted to determine requirements to make the approach consistent across the region; 
 

y)     The team had engaged with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) to understand and secure new burdens funding, there was a clear ask for funding before implementation to allow for training; 
 

z)     There were concerns that there was an expectation that increased costs would be covered by the fines from enforcement, but the team wanted to support good landlords, who deliver good quality provision; 
 

aa)  Important that this was a standards raising exercise, rather than a fund increasing exercise; 
 

bb)The Plan promoted low-carbon housing and retrofitting measures; 
 

cc)  Partnered with Plymouth Energy Community to deliver Warm Homes grants; 
 

dd)Recognised energy-efficient homes as an anti-poverty measure; 
 

ee)  Normalised sustainable development standards among developers; 
 

ff)    Plymouth City Council were a visionary, when it set up Plymouth Energy Community a few years ago and it was recognised throughout the country, as a way forward; 
 

gg)  Delivered retrofit on 234 homes of a target for 500 over three years; 
 

hh)The funding received for the warm homes local grant, was not as great hoped due to a lack of government funding; 
 

ii)     Acknowledgement of the cross-directorate collaboration and innovation within the Council on Plan for Homes 4. 

Cabinet agreed to: 

1.     Note the report; 
 

2.     To maximise the impact of the South West Housing and Construction Conference to promote development opportunities, overcome challenges to delivery and secure inward investment. 

Councillor Aspinall introduced the report.

Cabinet agreed to –

1.    To support and monitor the Adult Social Care Improvement Plan and bring back to a future Cabinet meeting

2.    Schedule the Meadows for Cabinet 11 August 2025..

Councillor Aspinall (Cabinet Member for Health and Adult Social Care)introduced the item and highlighted the following key points: 

a)    There was a clear focus on continuous improvement with efforts directed at addressing challenges relating to wait times for assessments, reviews, service accessibility and sustainability of the workforce; 

b)    The improvement work built upon the Council’s self-assessment and findings from the Local Government Association’s (LGA) Adult Social Care Peer Review in January 2025, which identifiedboth strengths and areas for development; 

c)    Plymouth underwent a Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspectionand the experience was described as positive, with inspectors engaging with a wide range of stakeholders including staff, partners, service users and carers. Formal feedback was expected within two to three months which would further inform the Council’s improvement journey; 
 

d)    Expressed thanks to all staff across Plymouth City Council, Livewell Southwest, and care and support providers for their dedication and professionalism, particularly during the peer review and CQC inspection processes. 

Stephen Beet (Head of Adult Social Care and Retained Functions) added: 
 

e)    The improvement plan was progressing well and outlined the priority areas with targets, time scales for delivery and trajectories, monitoring of progress and management of risk. 

Andy Williams (Lead for Adult Social Care, Livewell Southwest) and Ian Lightly (Senior Manager at Livewell Southwest) added: 

f)     There had been a focus on reducing the wait times and the longest wait time for Care Assessments reduced from 500+ days to 300+ days;

                      i.        A sustainable waiting list position would be reached by 30 October 2025, with full compliance expected by 31 January 2026; 

g)    The Care Act guidance recommended reviews every 12 months,  as a minimum, and performance against this had improved by 22%, with 58.5% of individuals getting reviews within the 12 months;

                      i.        The regional benchmark was 60.7% and Plymouth was aiming to meet this by 01 November 2025;

                     ii.        A central dedicated team has been established to manage reviews; 
 

h)    Occupational Therapy (OT) OT demand was identified as a key issue in the self-assessment, peer review, and CQC inspection;

                      i.        Demand exceeded current resource capacity, prompting a review of the wider front door offer;

                     ii.        Improvements in performance data visibility have been made using System One, with reporting now available;

                    iii.        A rounded plan to address OT performance was expected by end of September 2025; 
  

i)     Waiting Well Policy  had been developed to ensure individuals on waiting lists remained safe;

                      i.        All individuals were risk assessed and prioritised accordingly;

                     ii.        Team managers maintained proactive contact with those waiting;

                    iii.        An automatic text reminder system had been implemented; 

                    iv.        Individuals were informed of how to escalate their needs if circumstances change;

                     v.        Crisis response options were available through Livewell;
  

j)     During the last 18 months, a practice improvement model had been developed which collated information to understand Adult Social Care (ASC) practice within Livewell and key elements included:

                      i.        Monthly practice-based audits focusing on referral and triage, assessments, reviews, mental capacity, and safeguarding;

                     ii.        Targets of 85% of audits rated good or outstanding by end of 2025, and 90% by 2026;

                    iii.        Completion of Phase One, including: Development of a practice framework, Identification of training opportunities and review and implementation of quality assurance processes; 

                    iv.        Phase Two was underway and included: Tracking and sharing of assessments with individuals and representatives, workforce engagement and rollout of the practice framework, and an equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) impact review assessing training and outcomes; 
 

k)    The programme took a comprehensive view of practice, reviewing assessments, funding applications, complaints, and customer feedback, enabling the identification of trends and areas for improvement.  

In response to questions, with support from Gary Walbridge (Strategic Director for Adults, Health and Communities), the following was discussed: 

l)     The team welcomed the suggestion to bring a presentation back to a future meeting of Cabinet to demonstrate their positive work at Meadow View, but with an emphasis on the importance of focusing not only on the building but on the transformational impact of the services being delivered; 
 

m)  Livewell did not hold any significant OT vacancies, and the volume OT cases had not fluctuated, but did exceed capacity and backlog clearance exercises had been invested in, in the past, which could be considered again; 
 

n)    A broader conversation was proposed around preventative approaches, workforce modelling, and future funding needs for OT; 
 

o)    Phase Two of the improvement plan included work on reablement, community engagement, and workforce modelling, which would inform future investment strategies; 
 

p)    The Leader stressed the urgency of identifying resource requirements and funding opportunities, particularly in light of anticipated changes to government funding. 
 

Cabinet agreed to: 

1.    To support and monitor the Adult Social Care Improvement Plan through Cabinet and the Health and Adult Social Care Scrutiny Panel. 

At the conclusion of this item, The Leader expressed his gratitude to Emma Crowther (Service Director, Strategic Co-operative Commissioning) and Stephen Beet (Head of Adult Social Care and Retained Functions) for their hard work as they were both leaving Plymouth City Council (PCC).