(a)

the LDF AMR was submitted to Government on 22 December 2010;

(b)

Plymouth retained its position as the most advanced council for planning services;

(c)

the LDF AMR was a factual statement regarding the Council’s performance over the last year;

(d)

85% targets were still on track however as a result of the recession, it was expected to take at least 3-5 years longer to achieve what the LDF had expected to deliver by 2021;

(e)

the Planning Service recently received another national award from independent Building for Life judges;

(f)

1200 planning applications had been processed;

(g)

the quality of residential developments had improved;

(h)

Plymouth had more schemes assessed as ‘very good quality’ than any other authority in the country;

(i)

the Peninsula Medical Dental School and Mount Wise and Marlborough Primary Schools targets had not been met; the latter was no longer in the capital programme;

(j)

the delivery of office development, lifetime homes and onsite renewable energy production were three targets also not on target;

(k)

the employment rate fell for the second year running and the amount of land development for housing and office space was at its lowest;

(l)

the report had been submitted to Government and final colour copies of the report would be placed in Members rooms once printed;

(m)

delivering sustainable linked communities was identified as being on track given that work was progressing well on the Sustainable Neighbourhoods Development Plan Document which would include proposals to address issues in  each of the city’s neighbourhoods outside Area Action Plan areas;

(n)

core strategy target 4.2, to remove 5% of buildings per annum from the 2005 Buildings at Risk Register, had been met, however the Register had been re-based and this target would be reviewed for its effectiveness in the future;

(o)

the gap in life expectancy across the city has been recorded in neighbourhood profiles; a map of these values would be provided to Councillors;

(p)

the housing waiting list had increased however officers were hopeful affordable housing would increase in Plymouth;

(q)

officers would provide Councillors with a list detailing the buildings removed from the buildings at risk register;

(r)

the market recovery plan was not specifically mentioned in the LDF report however the level of activity in the city remained significant;

(s)

St Budeaux District Centre was listed as 8^th of the ten worst performing centres in the city despite having no shop vacancies as 5 of its 20 units were hot food take away establishments;

(t)

the legislation regarding contaminated land had been strengthened;

(u)

section 106 money  ...  view the full minutes text for item 68.

(a)

the LIP was a homes and communities agency requirement;

(b)

Plymouth’s LIP was one of the first to be completed and was held up as an example to other local authorities;

(c)

the LIP assisted in securing the funding for the East End Transport Scheme, the Housing Scheme in Devonport and the Life Centre;

(d)

due to the reduced public sector finance, local authorities were forced to do more work with less money and resources;

(e)

one of the benefits of the LIP was to make sites and projects ready for Plymouth to invest in.

(a)

the Wealthy Theme Group held a meeting on 11 October 2010 in which it was agreed to carry out a review of the business theme to ensure that the objectives and measures contained within the Action Plan of the Local Economic Strategy (LES) were relevant and fit for purpose;

(b)

the Wealthy Theme Group considered there was no requirement to produce a new strategy for the Local Economic Strategy as the current strategy was considered sufficient;

(c)

17 organisations were interviewed that had direct involvement in the business support field;

(d)

as a result of feedback it was highlighted that business support in the city was disjointed and fragmented due to a lack of clarity from various organisations that provided support;

(e)

it was recognised that there was a need for business support provision to be aimed at new-starts and existing businesses together other than in isolation as there were clear links that exist between them;

(f)

it was recognised that the six sector priorities were important but a smaller number needed accelerating in order to reach their growth potential;

(g)

a single body was required to drive forward the growth agenda;

(h)

Plymouth needed to better brand and market itself to encourage business growth;

(i)

It was apparent that more focus was needed on the manufacturing sector and marine and renewables sector of the economy;

(j)

those interviewed as part of the review process were from key sectors in the local economy and were not purely economy based;

(k)

the LEP was an evolving process that would be amended and added to where necessary;

(l)

the concept of the Devon, Torbay and Somerset Local Economic Partnership was in the first round of proposals; this would be led by the business communities and would go to Government during February 2011 for consideration.