Councillor Evans OBE (Leader of the Council) introduced the report and highlighted the following items:

a)    After two years of work in partnership with the Plymouth Growth Board, PCC could formally adopt the new 10 year economic plan and the delivery plan for the next three years;

b)    After 15 years of innovative work by the economic development team, Plymouth was at an economic tipping point and had created a transformational pipeline of investment which would transform the city’s economy;

c)    The pipeline included six billion pounds worth of investment which would create 8,000 higher paid jobs;

d)    The pipeline builds on the opportunity presented by Growth Alliance Plymouth with £4.5 billion investment in the defence sector from the Government;

e)    The pipeline stretched to 2050, creating years of economic certainty;

f)     The economic strategy and delivery plan was a statement of intent and placed Plymouth at the heart of endeavour, building on its strengths in defence and marine autonomy and recognising Plymouth’s role in other sectors such as advanced manufacturing and life sciences;

g)    Growth in Plymouth was about creating better paid jobs that residents could access, attracting and retaining a new workforce, shifting the economy towards net zero and strong, vibrant communities;

h)    Within the next three years, PCC would deliver 55 projects across the city. These projects had been designed with partners, with 20 organisations taking on lead roles;

i)     The potential impacts were:

i) 1,000 new businesses;

ii) 8,000 new jobs;

iii) Six billion pounds of investment;

iv) One billion pound increase to Gross Value Added (GVA);

v)  Productivity up 20%;

vi) Helping 5,000 people get work;

vii) Bringing 50 vacant buildings back into use;

viii) Building 10,000 new homes and;

ix) Lifting 3,000 people out of poverty;

j)     The economic strategy was owned by the Plymouth Growth Board with identified leads from the business community, academic community, cultural community, and voluntary sector community working together with the Cabinet and Officer leads to ensure that PCC delivered;

k)    The investment would be felt across the following geographical investment areas: Defence Sector in Devonport. The Waterfront with maritime, the heart of the city centre and the north of the city;

l)     Upcoming projects would include: supporting floating offshore wind, further development of smart sound in the ports, delivering the city centre master plan, investing in priority sites included the Civic Centre, business support for manufacturing, tech sectors and start-ups, better work experience and apprentice opportunities, developing the evening and night-time economy, city branding, social value, Plymouth Science Park and innovation, maximising defence industry, equipping Plymouth citizens with the right skills to access jobs and graduate retention.

Richard Davies (Vice Chancellor, University of Plymouth) added:

m)  The University would lean into their civic responsibilities;

n)    Half of the University’s UK based students were from Devon and Cornwall;

o)    Plymouth and its University were key to the social, cultural and economic success of the surrounding region;

p)    The University had invested approximately £250 million into redevelopment and regeneration to their facilities;

q)    The University marine station was on the waterfront facing onto the Barbican and Plymouth Sound and the University had the largest fleet of boats of any university in the UK;

r)    Plymouth was leading the country’s research in innovation towards delivering offshore renewable energy and power;

s)     The University was a world leader in key technologies such as maritime cyber security and marine autonomy alongside growing expertise in agriculture and aqua culture;

t)     The University was a key partner in delivering the strategy for future growth, security and prosperity.

Lindsey Hall (Chief Executive, Real Ideas Organisation) added:

u)    The Real Ideas Organisation were an active partner within Plymouth;

v)    Creative Industries were recognised within the plan.

James McKenzie-Blackman (Chief Executive and Executive Producer, Theatre Royal Plymouth) added:

w)   Although there were initial reservations around the Theatre Royal being introduced in the 1970s, 42 years on, over 12 million people had visited the Theatre;

x)    The Theatre Royal was woven through the economic development strategy because of the partnership amongst Local Authority Officers, Councillors and partners to ensure that the strategy spoke to all living and working in the city;

y)    The key projects which evoked excitement included: the waterfront and maritime, the work happening within the National Marine Park (NMP), completing the major capital investments at Tinside, Mount Batten and Mount Edgcumbe, and delivering the ‘Sea in our School’ programme.

Councillor Cresswell (Cabinet Member for Education, Skills and Apprenticeships) added:

z)    Skills were the cross cutting theme across the economic strategy and were central to the delivery of the plan;

aa)  Without people with the right level of skills and qualifications, there would be no way of delivering growth;

bb)PCC had to continue to work with residents, skills providers and employers to ensure everybody had equal opportunities and employers could draw upon a committed and qualified workforce;

cc)  The city needed to provide firm educational foundations for all local children, train and upskill adults and retain talent which came through academic institutions and the armed forces;

dd)The delivery plan highlights were:

i) Supporting and building the capacity of providers;

ii) Levering existing resources to address skills priorities and build provider capacity; 

iii) Supporting and developing the current and future workforce;

iv) Developing skills brokerage;

v) Enhancing cultural education; 

vi) Increasing the number and quality of work experiences, and;

vii) Talent retention.

Councillor Penberthy (Cabinet Member for Housing. Cooperative Development and Communities) added:

ee)Inclusive growth had become a strategic priority in Plymouth;

ff)    The best economic strategies would lift people out of poverty, raise living standards and improve lives;

gg)  PCC needed to build and support a vibrant local economy, local supply chains and help businesses to access public sector contracts;

hh)Social value needed to be built strategically into public sector contacts. Common themes that would unite social value work within the city included:

i) Local supply chains;

ii) Skills development;

iii) Local employment and;

iv) Supporting Net Zero;

ii)    PCC had been actively promoting community control and ownership of assets that generated positive economic drivel social outcomes for Plymouth;

jj)    New pipelines for future investments would be identified to support community ownership and control;

kk)Average rates of pay across Plymouth showed that men earnt 21% more than women, and 80% of women in employment in Plymouth earnt less than the national median pay;

ll)    PCC were convening a group of leading business women to provide advice.

Councillor Laing (Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Children’s Social Care, Culture and Communications) added:

mm)   The plan recognised the impact that culture had on economic outputs  including tourism, creative industries, regeneration, talent attraction and retention, skills, public relations and branding, and inward investment;

nn)The plan gave the opportunity for cultural education for young people seeking long-term careers.

Cabinet agreed the revised Plymouth Economic Strategy with the addition of the Delivery Plan and to delegate final approval to the Leader of the Council.