(a)

the LEP had capitalised on existing competiveness funding, where approximately £8m had been ring-fenced for Plymouth through the urban Enterprise programme; 

(b)

the LEP was awarded £21.5 as part of the Growing Places Fund, a new funding initiative to assist stalled projects in the region, in Plymouth the Millfields and Ocean Studios had bid for funding;

(c)

Plymouth had been successful in receiving funding from the Pinchpoint Fund, a highways related fund, with this money being spent on highways improvements on the A38 Manadon slip road;

(d)

the LEP and Council were working closely with Finetubes, a company operating in Plymouth that were recently taken over by Watermark, an American Venture Capital Company, to ensure that investment was delivered locally by providing local investment opportunities and setting up dialogue sessions with other major regional businesses including EDF Energy;

(e)

a locally based funding source was being looked at to provide funding for local small businesses;

(f)

Plymouth had been invited into the second round of bidding for a City Deal, a new programme designed to enable economic growth through greater financial and legislative freedoms, and it was hoped if successful the programme would enable Plymouth to assist the Government in delivering growth in Plymouth and the surrounding areas.

(g)

Cornwall’s LEP and Cornwall Council had been fully consulted on the City Deal and were both engaged in the process;

(h)

the idea of operating a ‘Plymouth Bank’ or something similar was being discussed as part the City Deal;

(i)

Local Transport Boards were being created by the Government to deliver better value for money on local highways and transport issues;

(j)

the LEP were approaching local investment from the perspective that inward investment was probably not achievable in the current economic situation and instead there was a focus on re-investment from existing companies;

(k)

building relations with investors and improving confidence with existing regionally operating companies was vital for local economic growth and key to achieving this was to demonstrate the qualities on offer in the region and to improve on productivity levels through investment in local connectivity such as broadband;

(l)

the LEP and Plymouth City Council were keen on increasing signage referring to Plymouth on motorways throughout the South West.

(a)

the Economic Development department were working closely with local job agencies in an attempt to address the issue of companies not targeting or employing young people;

(b)

this issue was also being addressed through the department encouraging employers to attend education and training settings to ensure young people develop the skills and knowledge required to make them ready for employment;

(c)

the department was also targeting major companies, following submission of planning applications to engage them in dialogue with local job agencies at an early stage;

(d)

the Economic Development restructure had been agreed and was now being implemented and it was expected that all posts would be filled early in 2013.

(a)

when the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) was adopted, which was likely to be in the summer of 2013, this would replace most Section 106 obligations which would mean that the MRS would be no longer necessary or legally possible;

(b)

the MRS, which was adopted in January 2009, had played a successful role in maintaining the momentum of regeneration in the City and its ambitious growth agenda, with the Planning Committee often applying the MRS thoughtfully and carefully on many applications;

(c)

in total 64 permissions had been granted using the MRS since 2009; at present 20 developments had been completed with a further 10 in a construction phase;

(d)

the Planning Committee was duty bound to consider all applications received and any applicant could instigate the MRS by submitting an “open-book” detailed viability assessment, this was often determined at the pre-application stage and given the recent changes to the constitution there were now more provisions to engage with ward councillors at this stage of the planning process;

(e)

the MRS was created with two main types of incentive, these were –

·          

to create measures to encourage the early delivery of projects during the current economic downturn, this was aided by offering financial discounts on contributions by ensuring that developers made a substantial start on the development within two years of granted consent;

·          

to assist developers in responding quickly to economic recovery by ensuring there were ‘oven ready’ consents; this was ensured by extending the periods of planning permission to up to seven years;

(f)

any developer wishing to construct in Plymouth needed to form a view and adopt an approach that fell in line with the policies Plymouth operated with at present and that included ensuring any major housing developments met the affordable housing requirements.

(a)

the Government announced changes to permitted development rights on 6 September 2012 and have subsequently released a consultation document on the proposed changes to extending permitted development right for homeowners and businesses;

(b)

the Government had proposed action on five key areas, all in non-protected areas and for a period of three years, unless otherwise stated, the proposals included –

·    

to increase the size limits for the depth of single-storey domestic extensions from 4m to 8m (for detached houses) and from 3m to 6m (all other houses);

·    

to increase the size limits for extensions to shop and professional services establishments;

·    

to increase the size limits for extensions to offices;

·    

to increase the size limits for new industrial buildings;

·    

to remove some prior approval requirements for the installation of broadband infrastructure for a period of five years;

(c)

the Government were also keen to explore whether there was scope to use permitted development rights to make it easier to carry out garage conversions;

(d)

other changes to permitted development rights that were being amended separately included converting commercial properties to residential use.

(e)

the consultation was scheduled to end on 24 December 2012 and the Government had indicated that the proposals if implemented would be taken forward quickly after the consultation period ends;

(f)

commercial properties could be converted to residential use, but this was subject to the building not requiring any exterior alterations;

(g)

permitted development rights only covered aspects relating to the need for planning permission and did not reduce the requirements (according to the Government) on developers under any other regulatory regimes, including building regulations;

(h)

other legislation proposed had further impacts on the planning department and democratic processes such as the changes to the modification or discharge of affordable housing requirements secured through Section 106 agreements, as proposed as part of the Growth and Infrastructure Bill;

(i)

the Cabinet, at a meeting on 11 September 2012 following the announcement of Government proposals to change permitted development rights, requested that the Planning Committee look at the Government proposals when published in greater detail, consider its implications for the City and report back to Cabinet on options.

(j)

they were concerned with buildings being converted from commercial properties into residential use as it was felt that this could have serious unintended consequences on the economic productivity of some local areas;

(k)

the proposals contained in the Growth and Infrastructure Bill in relation to affordable housing provision was a major concern and a serious city-wide issue.

(1)

Anthony Payne, Director for Place, is invited to provide a departmental update in February;

(2)

Government updates is to be removed from February;

(3)

Commercial Asset Strategy is to be deferred until the next municipal year;

(4)

Welfare Reform is to be deferred until the next municipal year;

(5)

the Evaluation of Gdynia Way is to be scheduled for February;

(6)

Road Safety Awareness is to be schedule for May;

(7)

On Street Trading item is to be removed from work programme;

(8)

the Market Recovery Scheme item has now been completed and is to be removed from February;

(9)

all items above the Bi-Annual Scrutiny report and below Government proposals on Planning Systems are to be deleted;

(10)

the Heart of the South West Local Enterprise Partnership is to be scheduled for May 2013.