Council leader hails delivery of half of its 100 pledges

The Leader of Plymouth City Council, Councillor Tudor Evans says the council has now delivered half of the 100 pledges for the city that it announced last May.

The Council reports today that it has delivered 50 pledges and is on track to deliver all 100 pledges by the end of this year.

The commitments are themed around 10 priority areas focusing on: the economy and jobs, tackling crime and antisocial behaviour, supporting children and young people, the environment, transport, housing, culture and sport, improving the image and vision for the city, caring for residents whatever their age and being an open and transparent council.

The pledges are all intended to support the development of a co-operative approach to delivering local services which aims to put power back in the hands of local residents and boost the city’s economy.

The Labour controlled administration has created a co-operative model for schools and launched plans to create a new Community Economic Development Trust to create jobs in the north of the City, started the setting up of a new Energy Co-operative to enable Plymouth residents to benefit from cheaper energy and started to develop plans to enable the community to manage parks and open spaces.

The economy is a top priority and the Council says that it has delivered nine out of ten of its pledges aimed at boosting the economy and creating jobs, which include launching a Plan for Jobs and creating a £20 million investment fund.

Cllr Tudor Evans said: “We promised to hit the ground running when we were elected and that’s exactly what we did. To have delivered on half our pledges after only nine months is quite an achievement and shows a drive, determination and energy to make things better for Plymouth.

“The achievement is even more remarkable when you consider that for nearly six months we were without a permanent chief executive.

“Delivering our pledges is important as they are based on the issues that the people of Plymouth told us were most important to them and the focus on the things that affect all of us - such as jobs, housing, safety and getting around the city.

“We have no intention of letting the pace slacken. In fact, we have a lot of major projects that will be coming to fruition during the coming months and, if anything, will be picking up the pace and ensuring all pledges are delivered as soon as possible.”

The Council has produced a list of the pledges completed so far:

Working Plymouth

Launched a Plan for Jobs, with a focus on jobs for young people, with the aim of creating 2,000 jobs across 19 projects over two years.
Created a £20 investment fund - Plymouth Building for Jobs - to support the creation of local jobs.
Boosted local purchasing by overhauling the way the Council procures goods and promoting through a Going Local event.
Created an open door policy for business through the work of the Growth Board, Gain portal and City Deal.
Restated support for the Royal Navy by relaunching the Devonport Task Group and building on National Armed Forces Day.
Supported the development of Work Place Skills by signing a learning agreement with the trade unions and launched the 1000 Club to create opportunities for young people.
Promoted Plymouth as a global centre for marine matters, including developing a City Deal focused on marine science and engineering, launching the Marine City Festival and establishing the South West Marine Energy Park board and business plan.
Started the process of creating a new Community Economic Development Trust for the north of the city.
Improved internet connectivity working by promoting superfast broadband, working with BT on investing in fibre cabling securing 80Mps speeds.

Safer Plymouth

Worked with the Police and Crime Commissioner to help ensure resources in Plymouth are not reduced and took the lead on forming the panel and hosting and administering the PCC panel.
Worked with partners to refresh and support restorative justice with scheme to be launched in July 2013.
Restated Plymouth’s ambition to be welcoming, diverse, inclusive and safe city by raising the level of proactive work on diversity and enhancing the hate crime plan and other activities.
Agreed to protect CCTV coverage in the city and increased level of coverage in some areas, including Mayflower East Car Park. Agreed not to switch off streetlights to save money and instead agreed to invest in new and more effective energy saving lighting.
Launched a city designated driver scheme to keep people safe.
Provided a public transport scheme for New Year’s Eve.

Young Plymouth

Introduced an annual Youth Challenge, working with the youth service to deliver improvements for young people.
Worked to keep children safe - building on Family Intervention Project
Worked with partners to improve the transition between child and adult services.
Held a young people's Transport Summit to explore ways of helping young people get around the city.
Greener Plymouth
Agreed a plan to keep dog bins emptied regularly and teams are emptying high profile bins more frequently.
Bought a FIDO to tackle dog mess in the city.
Agreed plan to protect and enhance Central Park as Plymouth’s Green Lung and approved a new masterplan.
Worked with the third sector to expanded furniture recycling.

Moving Plymouth

Lobbied for better transport links to Plymouth especially an earlier 3 hour train from London. Improved services were included in Great Western franchise
Reviewed the safety of the West End of the City Centre.

Living Plymouth

Reviewed the city’s housing policies to present a new vision for housing in the city. Promoted Get Britain Building bids to kickstart developments.
Supported housing associations to alleviate some social housing shortages
Worked with private landlords to increase the supply of private rented housing through initiatives such as the Landlord Expo and landlord training and accreditation programmes.
Worked with utility companies to promote the installation of free loft and cavity insulation and set up a new version of “Cosy Plymouth” pilot.
Worked with the fire brigade and private landlord to install more hardwired smoke alarms. Launched at Landlord Expo.
Worked with the voluntary sector and private landlords to improve local advice services and help the homeless and people in need by commissioning a number of services form the voluntary sector, including greater housing support as part of the Advice Plymouth contract.

Vibrant Plymouth

Showed Eurovision and major events on the Big Screen and agreed new arrangements for future use of the Big Screen.
Recognised the work of community and volunteer sport and held a Summit on Community Sport.
Waived charge for closing roads for Diamond Jubilee community.
Started audit of al children’s playgrounds.
Started work on plans to enable communities to take more responsibility for open spaces. Cabinet has commissioned further detailed work.

Pride in Plymouth

Launched Plymouth History Month, which will take place in May 2013.
Launched a subscription fund for a Michael Foot Memorial.
Launched a major event plan and started bid for become UK City of Culture
Encouraged more visitors to Museum / Gallery by promoting a strong exhibition programme and going live with new online collections portal.

Caring Plymouth

Launched a Charter for Older People’s care
Ensured tackling health inequalities is top priority as public health moved to the council.
Held a meeting with veterans and ex-servicemen to ensure that organisations in the city are doing all they can to support those people who put their lives on the line for our country.
Launched a campaign to ensure Senior Citizens are aware of their rights.
Launched an annual blood pressure awareness campaign as part of a range of initiatives to improve the health and wellbeing of staff at the council and other partners.
Sought improvements to the way patients are discharged from hospital and developed a joined up Health and Social Care rapid response and reablement service to ensure good patient discharge and avoid unnecessary admission.

Open Plymouth

Opened up Council meetings by introducing webcasting, which has been viewed by more than 15,000 people since July 2012 and enabled the use of electronic media at meetings permitted in Chamber from June 2012.
Launched an internal suggestion campaign to incentivise ideas for cuts and efficiencies.
Published FOI statistics on the Council’s website.
Introduced a Paid for by the People of Plymouth badge.

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