Plymouth City Council 2011 - 2012

Plymouth City Council provides a wide range of services for people living in and around Plymouth, with information ranging from how to pay council tax to how to apply for planning permission.

As a unitary authority, Plymouth Council is responsible for all local services, including transport and education in and around Plymouth. Some of the 300 services provided by Plymouth Council are statutory, such as collecting and disposing of around 112,000 tonnes of waste, while others are not, such as the provision of public toilets.

As far as Plymouth jobs are concerned, Plymouth Council is a key employer for anyone searching for a job in Plymouth. Plymouth Council employs approximately 10,000 citizens who undertake a huge variety of jobs, from street cleaners to librarians, from swimming pool attendants to social workers, from teachers to accountants.

There are currently 57 Plymouth councillors in total, 32 representing the Conservative party and 25 representing the Labour party. Between them they are responsible for Plymouth Council’s 19 wards, covering a population of roughly a quarter of a million citizens. Plymouth councillors are elected every four years. One third of the 57 seats are put up for election for each of three years out of four. The leader of Plymouth Council is elected by all the members but comes from the political party which has won the most seats.

Plymouth has had a mayor since 1439, and a Lord Mayor since 6th May 1935 when King George V granted this honour to commemorate his Silver Jubilee. These days, the Lord Mayor plays no active political role in Plymouth Council as the post is mainly ceremonial. As first citizen of Plymouth, among other things the Lord Mayor attends functions in support of local organisations and Plymouth businesses. As far as Plymouth Council is concerned, the Lord Mayor chairs Plymouth Council meetings which are held approximately once every two months.

Plymouth Council offers advice on jobs in Plymouth for people of all ages. For jobs at Plymouth Council itself, there is some excellent guidance on how to complete a job application form. Plymouth Council also recommends using national organisations such as Connexions for teenagers and NextSteps for adults to help people find jobs in Plymouth. As well as jobs in Plymouth Council, there are opportunities to find employment in Plymouth Council’s partner agencies, which include Devon and Cornwall Constabulary and Plymouth Primary Care Trust.

The majority of Plymouth Council’s income stems from council tax. Plymouth Council tax bands, like those in the rest of the country, were set using the market value of properties in 1991.

Below is a table showing Plymouth Council Tax Bands:

* Council tax is payable in the proportions indicated in this column.

Post-graduate students leaving Plymouth University or Plymouth College of Further Education may need to check with Plymouth Council if they continue to use Plymouth accommodation to see if they are liable to pay Plymouth council tax. In general, owners or tenants who live in a property must pay Plymouth council tax. However, many students occupy what’s known as a house in multiple occupation (HMO) and, in this type of Plymouth accommodation, it is the landlord or owner who is responsible for paying the Plymouth council tax. Accommodation in Plymouth that qualifies as HMO has to have multiple tenants who share some of the facilities, such as the kitchen, and each of the tenants has to have their own tenancy agreement with the landlord. In these circumstances, although the landlord pays the Plymouth council tax, he or she generally includes the amount within the rent charged.

Plymouth Council runs a one-stop advice shop in Plymouth’s Notte Street, within Midland House. This facility is open to anyone who needs advice or information relating to housing. Plymouth Council offers a variety of housing in Plymouth, including sheltered accommodation, affordable home ownership through shared schemes, and social housing for homeless people.

Unfortunately, Plymouth Council’s website offers little in the way of advice on exchanging Plymouth council houses. There are other websites available where people can list council houses they would like to exchange but these are not generally part of an official Plymouth Council exchange site.

In common with most Councils, Plymouth Council has a detailed planning process. The Assistant Director of Development and Regeneration (Planning) makes decisions on the majority of Plymouth Council planning applications, using delegated powers, while Plymouth Council Planning Committee reviews all planning applications for larger projects – around 10% of the total. Anyone who is dissatisfied with the outcome of a decision made by the Plymouth Council Planning department can submit a planning appeal but Plymouth Council advise that this can be time-consuming and expensive. Where work has been undertaken without permission from Plymouth Council Planning department, Plymouth Council has the means to correct this through planning enforcement rules.

Plymouth Council provides over 5,200 parking spaces, most of them in Plymouth’s fifty car parks. Less than half the car parks (19) are in Plymouth city centre. Plymouth Council offers season tickets for selected Plymouth car parks, whereby parking tickets can be bought for a period of a month or a year. Plymouth Council supports the Blue Badge scheme which allows cars transporting those with severe mobility limitations and those who are registered blind to park close to the facility they are trying to reach.

Plymouth Council Planning department has established its Local Development Framework (LDF) policy to plan for the longer-term. The LDF provides a structure within which building and development in Plymouth will operate over the next 20 years. According to Plymouth Council’s planning services mission statement, it aims to transform Plymouth into “a sustainable high quality city through the provision of modern, innovative and customer focused planning services that are accessible to all” by 2020.

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