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

a)    Insight and intelligence was used to ensure Plymouth was lobbying for the right resources to help address inequalities, and where to spend funding to make a difference to the people in the city;

b)    This report focused on inclusive growth, including the importance of not just creating jobs, but ensuring that local people could access those jobs and understanding what the barriers were to people getting those jobs;

c)    It was important to understand how opportunities and wealth generation could positively impact everyone;

d)    Wealth was intrinsically linked to health and the report showed the links between deprivation and factors such as caring responsibilities and health.

Anna Peachey (Economy/Partnerships/Regeneration Manager) added:

e)    There were three distinct groups that the inclusive growth pillar of the economic strategy was focused on and Plymouth had a particularly high number of people that fell into this categories and were facing challenges:

                      i.        Deprived Communities;

                     ii.        Caring responsibilities;

                    iii.        Health challenges;

f)     It was important to understand the further complexities people could experience if they also had a protected characteristic;

g)    Plymouth had 28 lower super output areas, which were sub-neighbourhoods that were in the lowest 10% in England and the reasons were the following (of which the first three were a focus for the team):

                      i.        Income;

                     ii.        Employment;

                    iii.        Skills;

                    iv.        Health;

                     v.        Crime;

                    vi.        Barriers to housing, services;

                  vii.        Living Environment;

h)    The Economic Development Team worked with other teams across the Council who worked more closely in relation to some of these factors;

i)     The number of people in Plymouth who were not working because they were long-term sick had increased in recent years as well as people who had care responsibilities;

j)     Women with care responsibilities had a lower average wage than men with care responsibilities;

k)    The number of women with caring responsibilities who were being paid below the national living wage was higher in Plymouth than in the South West or in Great Britain;

l)     The number of people in Plymouth with work limiting health conditions was far higher than the national average.

In response to questions it was reported:

m)  The SHE project, which Iridescent CIC were part of, supported women starting their own businesses;

n)    The Council was committed to funding support for social enterprises;

o)    The Council worked with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to provide employability support through local organisations, often charities and social enterprises, such as RIO (Real Ideas Organisation);

p)    There had been a shift into acknowledging that the caring responsibilities of a child were not that just of a mother, but also a father and whilst primary caring responsibilities were undertaken 90% by women, the team were keen for it to become more gender neutral;

                      i.        Although men would likely face some of the similar challenges that women face with low-pay part time roles, to fit around those responsibilities;

q)    The Plymouth Charter had around 380 signatories of businesses in Plymouth who committed to a fairer and greener future for the city;

r)    The four biggest employers in the city (Plymouth City Council, Babcock, University of Plymouth, and Derriford Hospital) we having monthly meetings to discuss issues like gender equality in primary carer responsibilities;

s)     The biggest change the team had seen in this area had been changing the conversation and ensuring that ‘inclusive growth’ was one of the four main pillars within the Council’s economic strategy;

t)     There had been a significant increase of businesses joining the Disabled Employer Network, changing the way they recruit;

u)    There had been a focus in the city on preventing violence against women and girls and the team had been involved in relevant conversations and explain the economics for women in the city;

v)    Plymouth had recovered post-COVID19 in good growth;

w)   7,000 full time jobs had been created, and whilst the city still wanted growth, it was important to be able to fill those jobs;

x)    New educational opportunities were needed;

y)    Barriers to work needed to be addressed;

z)    It was important to reduce the percentage of people in Plymouth’s labour market who were economically inactive;

aa)  Partner organisations were working with people of all ages to improve their digital skills, and the skills team ensured that digital skills were supported in schools;

bb) A Digital Champion would be announced shortly and could work closely with Councillor Cresswell (Cabinet Member for Education, Skills and Apprenticeships) to improve digital skills taught in schools and higher education;

cc)  There was a scheme which allowed employers to support immigration by filling roles, something the NHS has been excellent at;

dd) It was important to make immigrant families feel welcome and encourage them into increasing their economic activity;

                      i.        There was a scheme which allowed employers to support immigration by filling roles, something the NHS has been excellent at;

                     ii.        Illegal immigrants and Asylum Seekers wouldn’t have work visas until they had the right to remain;

                    iii.        The Panel would be provided with a further breakdown of the percentage of people in Plymouth who were economically inactive, including the number of those who were immigrants;

ee) Learnings from the successes of reducing youth unemployment could be applied to other areas such as reducing long-term sickness and increasing the average wage of women;

ff)    A personalised approach was very effective in encouraging people into employment, because everyone’s personal situation was unique to them;

gg)  The Employment Rights Bill would influence relevant policy to create change;

hh) Work was ongoing to support Care Leavers into employment;

ii)    Generally, if people had good employment, and could afford a good home, their life would be of good quality and would impact on other factors such as good health.

The Panel agreed to note the report.