Question No

Question By

Relevant Cabinet Member

Subject

6 (11/12)

Madeline Bridgeman

Councillor Fry, Cabinet Member for Planning, Strategic Housing and Economic Development

Inward Investment

As a mother I would like to ask the Councillors with the imminent closure, demolition, and loss of our Airport, how do they propose to attract and encourage overseas investment and employment into Plymouth and protect and secure a future for our children and their children?

Response:

The loss of the airport is not something anybody would wish for Plymouth and I can assure you we did everything in our power as the Local Authority to preserve its future. The bottom line, as you now know, is that it was not commercially viable and no one organisation could continue to absorb the losses it was occurring.  At the end of the day, the routes provided were limited and the patronage low.  It was not being used sufficiently.

So it is closing but we have to look to the future and even without an airport in the city I strongly believe we have an excellent offer to the right kind of investors. Inward investment to the city was and is only partly considered on accessibility.

                                                                                                    cont’d……..

There are a number of factors which drive the decisions of investors, including land values, workforce characteristics, the housing market, supply chains and business support mechanisms.  In recent years, overall levels of Foreign Direct Investment have declined significantly due to changes in the global economy and increased competition elsewhere in the world.  It was those types of foreign investment where accessibility was sometimes proportionately more important as a “deal-breaker” but even then the use of technological advances has meant traditional use of air travel for business purposes has declined.  Plymouth can, therefore, play on other strengths that we have.

We need to build upon and promote our strengths.   Plymouth does have an enviable depth of skills, talent and expertise in areas of growing importance to global industry – such as (but not exclusively) marine and renewable engineering. It is this talent base and supply chain that will be the reason for investors decisions to invest and less about convenience.

We will use events and festivals like the Marine City Festival next year to help attract new investment to the city based on these unique attributes and our experiences of promoting the city for inward investment during the America’s Cup shows what a strong offer we have, regardless of Airport connectivity.

Of course we do still have to invest in our connectivity and we are working hard to ensure we have regular three hour train times to London, improved car links, quicker public transport links to Exeter Airport, which is less than an hour away, and better quality broadband. We are investing in our marine skills with the Marine Academy and the recent announcement of the University Technical College that will focus on marine skills.

So we are focusing on what we do best and we are making sure that we are going to keep on producing the talent to ensure Plymouth is well positioned to continually exploit the strength of its offer.                                                                                           

Question No

Question By

Relevant Cabinet Member

Subject

7 (11/12)

Malcolm Naylor

Councillor Bowyer, Cabinet Member for Finance, Property and People

Use of proceeds from the airport development

Would the Council confirm that proceeds from Airport development, in excess of £12 Million, made available to Sutton Harbour as a result of the ‘Deal’ authorised by PCC Cabinet (25/9/07), have been used entirely in accordance with the recommendations discussed and endorsed at that meeting.

Response:

The Council entered into a Commercial Development Agreement with Plymouth City Airport Limited and Sutton Harbour Holdings PLC, in March 2008, as a result of the resolutions made by Cabinet on 25th September 2007.

That agreement set out how the receipts from the proposed sale of airport surplus land could be applied to the airport business and its infrastructure. It is extremely important that the Council accounts for all public monies invested in major projects in line with its legal agreements.

Both the Council and its independent auditors, Grant Thornton, have received initial figures from Plymouth City Airport/Sutton Harbour Holdings concerning the application of net-of-tax funds received from the disposal of the surplus land. Those figures show that the receipts have or will be used entirely for the purposes specified in the agreement.

However before the Council sign off the expenditure as provided for by the legal agreement and given that the figures received to date in some cases have been based on estimated costs, Grant Thornton are now undertaking further detailed due diligence to ensure the proceeds are and have been applied in line with the Commercial Development Agreement.