Plymouth City Council respond to today's budget

Plymouth City Council has considered the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s Budget announcement today and this is the initial response.

The best news for Plymouth is the Enterprise Zone for Devonport which, while very welcome, is the result of long term lobbying by Plymouth City Council and its partners.

On other matters announced in the budget, there is more of a mixed response.

The announcement that a new report will be commissioned into the feasibility of reinstating Plymouth Airport does not help when there have already been several reports, and other news on transport will need to be looked at in more detail.

There was not much good news on housing and the announcement that the minimum wage will rise by 20pence does not help those on lowest incomes. Plymouth is working towards becoming a Living Wage City, encouraging employers to pay the Living wage of £7.85 per hour.

The NHS and social care were notable by their absence in the Chancellor’s speech, but in Plymouth we are working with our partners in health to safeguard local health and social care services as far as possible with a newly integrated service from April.

Housing: We are asking the Government to support Plymouth’s commitment to accelerating housing delivery and regeneration. This includes removal of borrowing caps, a funding model to deliver more affordable homes, and more large estate regeneration programmes such as North Prospect.

Plymouth’s Plan for Homes acknowledges there is a need for more housing in the city and aims to deliver 1,000 new homes every year for the next five years.

There are 11,000 people on the housing waiting list in Plymouth. There is a need for more social and affordable housing in the city, as is the case nationally.

We are working with local developers and partners to deliver new homes through a range of measures including lifetime housing, social housing, self-build, and 72 per cent of our build sites are on brownfield sites.

We are also asking the Government to give us Use it or Lose it and other planning powers as soon as possible to unlock stalled sites and unimplemented planning permissions.

Transport: Our road network was ravaged by recent winters – a bit like our highway maintenance budget from the Government, which has fallen steadily from £2.35 million in 2011/12 to only £1.961 million in 2014/15.

Even when we ignore the effects of inflation, next year’s settlement is less than we were awarded four years ago.

Devolution: The Budget and recent focus on devolution deals for some of the major Northern cities ignores the needs of the South West. Plymouth City Council and other local partners are calling on the Government to recognise that Plymouth should also benefit from the devolution of specific powers to reach its full potential.

Councillor Tudor Evans, Leader of Plymouth City Council, said: “Time and again we have been short changed by national Government which doesn’t understand the specific and unique needs of Plymouth.

“Despite this lack of Government investment, Plymouth continues to work hard to secure investment successfully.

“By gaining greater influence over the way in which national funding streams are used, for example on issues such as skills and employment, we can build on successful approaches which have genuinely delivered results.”

Minimum wage to go up by 20 per cent: Following the Chancellor’s Budget statement today which included a 20p rise in the Minimum Wage, Plymouth City Council wants to remind people that it has already committed to pay all staff the Living Wage and is encouraging other local employers in the city to do likewise. The minimum wage will increase from £6.50 per hour to £6.70 per hour, whereas the Living Wage is £7.85 per hour.

There are currently 1663 employees at Plymouth City Council who benefit from the living wage supplement. The Fairness Commission recommended that by April 2016, all public sector employers in Plymouth pay the Living Wage.

We call on the Government to follow Plymouth’s lead in trying to create a fairer and more equal society – with rising living costs, increasing energy bills and a lower standard of living generally, people need to be paid at least the Living Wage.”

Multi-year funding settlement: It is difficult for local authorities to plan when we get such short term funding settlements so we are proposing that the Department for Communities and Local Government reviews the funding formula for local government to more accurately reflect levels of need, and commit to a 5 year funding settlement that is free from central government constraints and enable us to really plan for the future.

Social care: In Plymouth we have recently given the greenlight to join up our health and social care services to provide a fully integrated service to local people. This was a joint decision by the two main local commissioners - Plymouth City Council and Northern, Eastern and Western Devon Clinical Commissioning Group (NEW Devon CCG). From 1 April 2015, Adult Social Care staff, currently employed by the Council, will transfer to Plymouth Community Healthcare.

The aim is to provide the best possible services within the limited resources available and provide the right care in the right place at the right time.