Agenda item

City Centre, Homes England and Civic Centre Strategic Update

Decision:

Cabinet agreed to:

1. Note the progress that has been made towards the creation of a new strategic delivery partnership with Homes England and delegated authority to the Service Director for Economic Development to agree the terms of a Memorandum of Understanding with Homes England setting out our joint commitment where he would not already have authority to do so.

2. Authorised officers to progress discussions with Homes England around establishing a joint venture to facilitate housing delivery across the city subject to more detailed recommendations being provided in advance of any formal agreement being concluded.

3. Note the funding package for the Civic Centre project and approved an update to the capital programme to include each element of the funding as set out below:

· £8,500,000 of grant funding from the Levelling Up Fund;

· £950,000 of District Heat Network funding;

· Subject to Homes England’s formal approval, £20,000,000 of grant funding from Homes England;

· £14,395,144 of corporate borrowing (which includes £4.7m of corporate borrowing to replace £4.7m of Future High Street Fund grant previously vired to the Armada Way project); and

· £2,971,182 of service borrowing.

4. Note that the use of the grant funding from Homes England, the corporate borrowing and the service borrowing will be subject to a more detailed business case (including a cost plan which has been subject to further due diligence and market testing) to be reviewed by the relevant Scrutiny Committee during 2025/26 and subsequently approved by Cabinet.

5. Approved the freehold purchase of the Civic Centre from Urban Splash for £1.00;

6. Grant authority to the Strategic Director for Growth or the Section 151 Officer to agree the terms of:

· A grant funding agreement with Homes England; and

· An Agreement for Lease and / or Lease of all or parts of the Civic Centre to one or more third parties and / or any other related agreements in order to facilitate the redevelopment of the site.

Minutes:

Councillor Evans OBE (Leader of the Council) explained that there was another report linked to this item under item 16 that contained commercially sensitive information, and if there were no questions relating to this, they would remain in a Part 1 public meeting.

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

a) In March 2024, Cabinet adopted the new Economic Strategy, the Ports Strategy and the Creative Industries Plan;

b) Plymouth was at an economic tipping point with a £6 billion investment pipeline, underpinned by a £4.5 billion investment by the Government in defence. This strategy would deliver:

i) 1000 new businesses;

ii) 8000 new jobs;

iii) £1 billion increase in Gross Value Added (GVA);

iv) A 20% increase in productivity;

v) Helping 5000 people into work;

vi) 50 vacant buildings back into use;

vii) Lift 3000 people out of poverty;

viii) 10,000 new homes;

c) The report established a new long-term partnership and vision with Homes England to:

i) deliver 10,000 new homes;

ii) See the Civic Centre restoration as a beacon for city centre regeneration;

iii) Provide Plymouth with a new state-of-the-art city centre campus for City College focussing on blue and green skills for the future economy;

iv) Secured a £40 million grant package;

v) Illustrated that PCC is prepared to invest;

d) The new partnership was one of the most significant and important regeneration interventions that PCC had ever undertaken;

e) Thanks were given to all partners.

Eamonn Boylan (Chief Executive Officer, Homes England) added:

f) The partnership was not just about building houses, but about creating homes and fostering a sense of community;

g) Thanks were given to PCC for their input into the partnership.

A video was shown from Luke Pollard MP.

Jackie Grubb (Chief Executive, City College Plymouth) added:

h) Plymouth’s wages remained lower than the national average at £28,000 annually and skills attainment was falling short;

i) Key Stage Four English and maths results, lever two attainment and higher level and higher education qualifications were below the national standard;

j) These challenges were recognised in the Growth Alliance and the new Economic Plan;

k) A strong jobs pipeline had been built to ensure opportunities were accessible to local communities;

l) The vision was for a state-of-the-art city centre blue green skills hub that would deliver world-class education whilst driving regeneration;

m) The new campus would not just be for students and would be open year round, including evenings and weekends to ensure accessibility to the wider public;

n) Commitment to blue green skills was at the heart of the project and would train up to 2,000 students a year across 60 new courses;

o) Comprehensive training would include engineering, nuclear and offshore wind skills, augmented reality welding, green energy technologies, retrofit skills, sustainable business management and key city centre training in areas such as health and special education needs.

Richard Stevens (Chair of Governors, City College Plymouth) added:

p) The new Civic Centre would correct the learning deficit faced in Plymouth in the past.

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

q) City College played a vital role in Plymouth’s skills ecosystem, acting as a cornerstone for education, training and workforce development;

r) The role of educators was to harness the talents and interests of young people and channel this energy into seeking meaningful employment and lives;

s) City College had received the Association of Colleges Beacon Award for 2024, which was a national recognition of excellence in further education;

t) City College was Plymouth’s anchor organisation for student learning, supporting more than 12,000 young people and adults to upskill with industry experienced lecturers and worked with more than 600 local employer to address the skills gap;

u) The blue green skills hub demonstrated City College’s continued commitment to investing in cutting-edge facilities to support careers in growth industries;

v) The initiative represented PCC’s largest ever investment in skills capital.

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

w) Housing lead city centre regeneration required three key elements:

i) Brave and ambitious leadership;

ii) Clear direction and master planning;

iii) Value of the importance of strategic partnerships and investment;

x) The solution to the housing crisis was not just temporary accommodation, but the provision of permanent homes;

y) There were 500-600 permanent residents in the city centre at the time of the meeting.

Councillor Lowry (Cabinet Member for Finance) added:

z) The Civic Centre was constructed in 1957 with a total project cost of £1.6 million and was opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 26 July 1962;

aa) A pre-construction agreement was underway and the complete strip out and structural investigations would be complete by August 2025. The revised planning application would be submitted in December 2025 and phase one works would be undertaken between February 2026 and November 2026 which would include structural repairs and the removal of the cladding. November 2026 to April 2028 would see the main works taking place with a view to City College opening for teaching in September 2028;

bb) Progress on the partnership and regeneration would be brought back to Cabinet quarterly.

Matt Ward (Head of Regeneration and Growth) added:

cc) There had previously been £40 million investment in Plymouth Railway Station, £10 million of capital investment into the National Marine Park, and £22 million invested into sports and well-being facilities;

dd) The city centre regeneration was creating a positive impact on Plymouth by bringing in private investors.

David Draffan (Service Director for Economic Development) added:

ee)New homes and the City College would drive football and create Plymouth city centre as a destination.

Tracey Lee (Chief Executive) added:

ff) The partnership was happening due to years of hard work and dedication;

gg) The drivers for the partnership were the defence of the realm and how to reinvent Plymouth;

hh) Plymouth had been reinvented through culture with The Box, through leisure with the Barcode, and through health interventions with the Community Diagnostic Centre.