Council leader signs off delivery of 99th pledge

Plymouth City Council has now delivered all but one of its 100 pledges for the city.

Councillor leader Tudor Evans has signed off the 99th pledge to be delivered since May 2012, which was a commitment to provide access to Council services at times most suitable to Plymouth residents.

The Cabinet has recently agreed to open its new city centre shop on Saturday mornings and on late night shopping evenings. It is also making more transactions available 24/7 by improving its website.

The Council has recently delivered other pledges to bring in initiatives to halt the decline of the city centre, to improve Bretonside bus station and introduce a plan to transform the railway station.

The only remaining pledge to be delivered relates to the Late Night Levy and can’t be implemented due to changes in Government legislation.

The 100 commitments were 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 all 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.

Council leader Tudor Evans said: “There’s a common perception that things take a long time in local government and we wanted to challenge that. In May 2012 we hit the ground running to deliver our pledges and to have delivered 99 pledges that make a real difference to Plymouth in a relatively short time is quite an achievement. It shows a real determination and energy to make things better for Plymouth.

“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 they focus on the things that affect all of us – such as jobs, housing, safety and getting around the city.
“We are continuing to listen and our new plans will ensure we continue to deliver positive changes for Plymouth residents and our communities.”

The pledges delivered include:

Launching 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.
Creating a £20 million investment fund – Plymouth Building for Jobs – to support the creation of local jobs
Boosting local purchasing by overhauling the way the Council procures goods
Creating an open door policy for business through the work of the Growth Board, Gain portal and City Deal
Restating support for the Royal Navy by relaunching the Devonport Task Group and building on National Armed Forces Day
Supporting 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.
Promoting 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.
Improving Plymouth’s internet connectivity by promoting superfast broadband, working with BT on investing in fibre cabling securing 80Mps speeds.
Introducing a plan to protect and improve Plymouth’s libraries
Restating 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
Agreeing 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
Launching a city designated driver scheme to keep people safe
Introducing an annual Youth Challenge, working with the youth service to deliver improvements for young people
Holding a young people's Transport Summit to explore ways of helping young people get around the city.
Agreeing plans to protect and enhance Central Park as Plymouth’s Green Lung and approved a new masterplan.
Lobbying for better transport links to Plymouth especially an earlier three hour train from London. Improved services were included in Great Western franchise
Reviewing the city’s housing policies to present a new vision for housing in the city. Promoting Get Britain Building bids to kickstart developments.
Working with private landlords to increase the supply of private rented housing through initiatives such as the Landlord Expo and landlord training and accreditation programmes.
Launching Plymouth History Month and encouraging more visitors to the Museum and Art Gallery by promoting a strong exhibition programme and going live with new online collections portal.
Launching a Charter for Older People’s care
Ensuring tackling health inequalities is top priority as public health moved to the Council
Seeking improvements to the way patients are discharged from hospital and developed a joining up Health and Social Care rapid response and reablement service to ensure good patient discharge and avoid unnecessary admission
Opening up Council meetings by introducing webcasting, which has been viewed by tens of thousands of people.
Opposing the incinerator and ensuring plans are in place to make sure it is the last one the Council ever builds.