Councillors will be asked to make any declarations of interest in respect of items on the agenda.

To confirm the minutes of the previous meeting held on 11 December 2024.

The minutes of the meeting held on 11 December 2024 were agreed as an accurate record.

To receive reports on business which in the opinion of the Chair, should be brought forward for urgent consideration.

There were no items of Chair’s urgent business.

Councillor Cresswell (Cabinet Member for Education, Skills and Apprenticeships) introduced the report and highlighted:

a)    The Skills for Plymouth Plan had been developed in 2020/21 and the report showed the progress made across a number of measures, but a refresh was required;

b)    There had been a reduction in the number of NEET (Not in Education, Employment or Training) young people, although the language had changed to ‘Seeking Education, Employment and Training’ (SEET);

c)    There had been an increase in the number of SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disabled) young people in employment and training from 72% in January 2023 to 90.4% in December 2024;

d)    Gaps had begun to close in attainment rates at both GCSE and A-Level with Plymouth achievements getting closer to the national average;

e)    Plymouth’s unemployment was lower than the national average by 1%;

f)     Skills Launchpad Plymouth had supported almost 1000 young people and over 900 adults, furthest from the labour market, with almost 500 having entered employment and over 350 into training;

g)    On Course South West had supported over 5,000 adults and young people in 2023/24;

h)    It was important to refresh the Skills for Plymouth Plan to ensure it incorporated and aligned with the latest developments in the city, including the new Plymouth Economic Strategy, the MOD (Ministry of Defence) investment, and the formation of the Growth Alliance Plymouth, and the Council would work with partners to do so.

Tina Brinkworth (Head of Skills and Post 16) added:

i)     It was important that people had the skills they needed now and in the future to access employment and progress their careers, as well as ensuring that employers and individuals invested in skills and lifelong learning, and that employers had the right skills to grow their businesses;

j)     The refresh would be done in close partnership with the Plymouth Employment and Skills Board which was made up of organisations from the business community, employer representation groups, and higher education institutions;

k)    There would be 15,000 new jobs in the city within the next 10 years across all sectors but particularly in construction and engineering;

l)     Plymouth currently had 7,000 unique vacancies advertised monthly and this was growing each month, there was a considerable amount of movement of people across businesses;

m)  The model being used was ‘Demand, Supply and Pipeline’;

                      i.        Demand was business need;

                     ii.        Supply was education providers;

                    iii.        Pipeline was future generations;

n)    12-18 months previous, one in 10 young people were NEET, but at the time of the meeting that was only one in 20;

o)    There was more work to do with care leavers, young carers and those in the criminal justice system, but a program was in place and the team were working hard to ensure it included the right support and interventions.

Tom Lavis (CEO of YMCA Plymouth and Discovery College) added:

p)    Discovery College had been working closely with partners as part of the Plymouth Education Partnership Alliance;

q)    NEET/SEET levels in Plymouth had  ...  view the full minutes text for item 32.

Councillor Briars-Delve (Cabinet Member for Environment and Climate Change) introduced the item and highlighted the following:

a)    The NZAP (Net Zero Action Plan) 2025-28 built upon the successes made during 2024;

b)    The e-bike network expansion had been completed, reaching 26,000 registered users;

c)    Free access to e-bikes through social prescribing;

d)    40 rapid electric charging points had been constructed and £2.4 million had been received to install further points for those without access to off-street car parking;

e)    Decarbonisation of the Council’s estate;

f)     Retrofitting of 207 social homes;

g)    Climate connections events reach of over 2,700 and social media post reach of over 40,000;

h)    Worked to produce a city-wide climate action plan, inviting them to publically share their plans, and over 110 business had taken part;

i)     Importance that every department within the Council felt they were actively playing a part in the Net Zero Action Plan;

j)     The new NZAP was more strategic and data-led;

k)    Three focuses were in areas where there was potential for the greatest impact for decarbonisation: Transport, Buildings and Behaviour Change;

l)     Important to enable and encourage sustainable travel options;

m)  Exploration of possibility of emissions-based parking charges;

n)    Application for an E-scooter trial;

o)    Expansion of the EV (Electric Vehicle) car club;

p)    50 electric double decker buses in Plymouth;

q)    Delivery of the 400 million externally funded heat networks would begin shortly and Plymouth had been shortlisted nationally as one of six towns and cities to form the first heat network zones;

r)    Innovative data centre to heat the swimming pool at the Life Centre;

s)     Retrofitting for more social homes;

t)     Employment of recycling officers;

u)    Recycling plant of electric vehicle batteries;

v)    Thanks to Councillors Lugger, Bridgeman and McLay for cross party working on the preparation of the NZAP;

w)   Having restored the Climate Emergency Investment Fund ratchet in last year’s budget, this had been increased as part of the review process for budget setting to support future Net Zero projects and initiatives.

In response to questions, supported by Paul Barnard (Service Director for Strategic Planning and Infrastructure), John Green (Net Zero Delivery Manager) and Emmanuelle Marshall (Net Zero Delivery Officer) the following was discussed:

x)    Food waste collection was expected to roll out in Spring 2026, external change funding and the importance to raise awareness of the benefits;

y)    Funding to stimulate demand for jobs within the green economy through the allocation of levelling up funding was listed as ‘at risk’ because the funding had been secured but was not yet with the Council, once received this rating would be removed;

z)    Net Zero changes such retrofitting might cost but came with financial benefits;

aa)  Net Zero would be difficult to achieve for the city and for the Council. But was important in reaction to the climate emergency declared by the Council years earlier;

bb)The plan was developed on a rolling three year basis, receiving a refresh each year allowing flexibility and time to achieve  ...  view the full minutes text for item 33.

Councillor Jemima Laing (Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Children’s Social Care, Culture and Communications) introduced the item and highlighted:

a)    As a city and a Council, Plymouth had been a constant champion for culture against a backdrop of national cuts and continued to invest in culture, recognising its value and significant contribution to the city, and to society;

b)    The strategic approach had been very successful in securing external partnerships and investment, including Arts Council funding of over £4 million each year in eight cultural organisations, and had allowed the development and growth of culture infrastructure, including projects such as The Box and Market Hall;

c)    There was an identified need and opportunity to apply the methodology or tailored strategic partnerships and investment to creative industries;

d)    The cultural sector and creative industries were connected, but were not the same and required separate strategies;

e)    There were 648 registered companies in the creative industries, employing around 5,000 people and a further 4,000 in the wider economy, accounting for 2.1% of employment in Plymouth and contributed nearly £135 million in GVA (gross value added);

f)     The sectors growth had plateaued and was not growing at the same rates seen in the wider South West or nationally;

g)    Plymouth Culture had been commissioned to create a Creative Industries Plan to define the scale of the opportunity and the interventions needed to achieve growth, aligned to the cities ambition.

Hannah Harris (CEO, Plymouth Culture) added:

h)    Growth in creative industries had been quite stagnant since 2015;

i)     There were a number of creative jobs in non-creative industries, quite unique to Plymouth;

j)     Similar to other places Plymouth had very few anchor organisations, but a plethora of smaller, micro businesses in the sector;

k)    If Plymouth’s creative industries job share were boosted to the national average, the city would gain over 3,000 high-skilled jobs, £165-230 million GVA and 1.9 additional jobs in leisure and retail generated by each creative job;

l)     The greater South West had the joint fastest creative industries jobs growth of any British region between 2019-2022 and Plymouth could be the urban capital for creative industries in Plymouth and Cornwall;

m)  Plymouth had a foundation of anchor institutions, a high proportion of young people aged 18-34, affordable house prices, good digital connectivity and a higher proportion of people in further education to build upon;

n)    The Creative Industries Plan recommended that the Council embed creative industries in all Council policy areas so the plan for its growth could be linked with other priority themes in Plymouth;

o)    It also recommended the designation of culture and creative clusters (CCC’s) and support through policy, space, skills and business support and, community engagement and socially inclusive places;

p)    Four CCC’s had been identified:

                      i.        The Culture Cluster (The Box and universities);

                     ii.        The Performance Cluster (Guildhall, TRP, Millennium, Reel and Athenaeum);

                    iii.        The Createch Cluster – Market Hall;

                    iv.        Plymouth Production Park Cluster (in Cattedown to increase TR2’s production capacity)

q)    There was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 34.

Councillor Jemima Laing (Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Children’s Social Care, Culture and Communications) introduced the report and highlighted:

a)    The Visitor Plan 2030 set a strategic direction for growth of the visitor economy and would continue to act as a key strategy in growing and positioning the city’s place brand;

b)    The emerging brand strategy would amplify the good work that had taken place to date and would start to position the city as somewhere to live, invest and work, as well as visit;

c)    The city’s reputation would be enhanced and act as a catalyst for increasing and attracting talent and provide an overall direction of travel for the city’s brand messaging;

d)    The visitor economy had been relatively stable post COVID19 pandemic up to 2023;

e)    The teams continued to deliver events that reached over 500,000 people in 2024, including the British Firework Championships, which delivered a direct economic impact to Plymouth of £2.8 million;

f)     The city continued to have good marketing activity and coverage as a visitor destination;

g)    Social media channels and website saw increases in reach and engagement;

h)    Plymouth had attracted a number of notable conferences;

i)     13 cruise ships visited the city with over 13,000 passengers total in 2024 with more planned for 2025;

                      i.        Expressed thanks to the cruise ship ambassadors/volunteers who helped welcome passengers to Plymouth;

j)     A development manager to support the sector was recruited to in Spring 2024 and within seven months of the 18 month contract, had exceeded the DWP (Department for Work and Pensions) contract;

k)    Perception was crucial to Plymouth’s growth;

l)     The brand strategy aimed to:

                      i.        Enable Plymouth businesses and communities to align their efforts and resources behind a strong brand narrative and specific objectives;

                     ii.        Support the work of Growth Alliance Plymouth by repositioning the city and attractive talent using new narratives and highlighting the unique strength and opportunities the city had to offer;

m)  The Board of Destination Plymouth expressed their thanks to Babcock, Princess Yachts, University of Plymouth, The Box and Plymouth City Council for providing funding support to enable the brand strategy to be developed.

Paul Fieldsend-Danks (Chief Executive, Arts University Plymouth) added:

n)    The brand development group had been engaged with stakeholders for over 2 years;

o)    A perception report was commissioned to identify the internal and external dialogue of the city, as well as what it would take for Plymouth to attract talent and be a destination for people to work, live and remain in;

p)    The talent attraction research attempted identify key assets within Plymouth and establish the size of the market, demand and supply in terms of jobs and where the cities strengths weaknesses were;

q)    The perception research looked at how the city was perceived by visitors, workers and residents, of which mixed views were received;

r)    Key areas identified were:

                      i.        Celebrating the oceans all-encompassing benefits;

                     ii.        Making Plymouth synonymous with a greater quality of life;

                    iii.        Showcasing Plymouth’s employment opportunities  ...  view the full minutes text for item 35.

The Panel noted its work programme.

The Panel noted its tracking decisions document.