Cabinet agreed to:

1.    Note the progress that has been made towards the creation of a new strategic delivery partnership with Homes England and delegated authority to the Service Director for Economic Development to agree the terms of a Memorandum of Understanding with Homes England setting out our joint commitment where he would not already have authority to do so.

2.    Authorised officers to progress discussions with Homes England around establishing a joint venture to facilitate housing delivery across the city subject to more detailed recommendations being provided in advance of any formal agreement being concluded.

3.    Note the funding package for the Civic Centre project and approved an update to the capital programme to include each element of the funding as set out below:

·         £8,500,000 of grant funding from the Levelling Up Fund;

·         £950,000 of District Heat Network funding;

·         Subject to Homes England’s formal approval, £20,000,000 of grant funding from Homes England;

·         £14,395,144 of corporate borrowing (which includes £4.7m of corporate borrowing to replace £4.7m of Future High Street Fund grant previously vired to the Armada Way project); and

·         £2,971,182 of service borrowing.

4.    Note that the use of the grant funding from Homes England, the corporate borrowing and the service borrowing will be subject to a more detailed business case (including a cost plan which has been subject to further due diligence and market testing) to be reviewed by the relevant Scrutiny Committee during 2025/26 and subsequently approved by Cabinet.

5.    Approved the freehold purchase of the Civic Centre from Urban Splash for £1.00;

6.    Grant authority to the Strategic Director for Growth or the Section 151 Officer to agree the terms of:

·         A grant funding agreement with Homes England; and

·         An Agreement for Lease and / or Lease of all or parts of the Civic Centre to one or more third parties and / or any other related agreements in order to facilitate the redevelopment of the site.

Councillor Evans OBE (Leader of the Council) explained that there was another report linked to this item under item 16 that contained commercially sensitive information, and if there were no questions relating to this, they would remain in a Part 1 public meeting.

Councillor Evans OBE (Leader of the Council) introduced the item and highlighted the following points:

a)    In March 2024, Cabinet adopted the new Economic Strategy, the Ports Strategy and the Creative Industries Plan;

b)    Plymouth was at an economic tipping point with a £6 billion investment pipeline, underpinned by a £4.5 billion investment by the Government in defence. This strategy would deliver:

i) 1000 new businesses;

ii) 8000 new jobs;

iii) £1 billion increase in Gross Value Added (GVA);

iv) A 20% increase in productivity;

v) Helping 5000 people into work;

vi) 50 vacant buildings back into use;

vii) Lift 3000 people out of poverty;

viii) 10,000 new homes;

c)    The report established a new long-term partnership and vision with Homes England to:

i) deliver 10,000 new homes;

ii) See the Civic Centre restoration as a beacon for city centre regeneration;

iii) Provide Plymouth with a new state-of-the-art city centre campus for City College focussing on blue and green skills for the future economy;

iv) Secured a £40 million grant package;

v) Illustrated that PCC is prepared to invest;

d)    The new partnership was one of the most significant and important regeneration interventions that PCC had ever undertaken;

e)    Thanks were given to all partners.

Eamonn Boylan (Chief Executive Officer, Homes England) added:

f)     The partnership was not just about building houses, but about creating homes and fostering a sense of community;

g)    Thanks were given to PCC for their input into the partnership.

A video was shown from Luke Pollard MP.

Jackie Grubb (Chief Executive, City College Plymouth) added:

h)    Plymouth’s wages remained lower than the national average at £28,000 annually and skills attainment was falling short;

i)     Key Stage Four English and maths results, lever two attainment and higher level and higher education qualifications were below the national standard;

j)     These challenges were recognised in the Growth Alliance and the new Economic Plan;

k)    A strong jobs pipeline had been built to ensure opportunities were accessible to local communities;

l)     The vision was for a state-of-the-art city centre blue green skills hub that would deliver world-class education whilst driving regeneration;

m)  The new campus would not just be for students and would be open year round, including evenings and weekends to ensure accessibility to the wider public;

n)    Commitment to blue green skills was at the heart of the project and would train up to 2,000 students a year across 60 new courses;

o)    Comprehensive training would include engineering, nuclear and offshore wind skills, augmented reality welding, green energy technologies, retrofit skills, sustainable business management and key city centre training in areas such as health and special education needs.

Richard Stevens (Chair of Governors, City College Plymouth) added:

p)    The new Civic Centre would correct  ...  view the full minutes text for item 127