(a)

the Plan for Jobs was a great example of working in partnership in a co-operative manner as it aimed to bring together 19 different projects led by a variety of partners and the Council;

(b)

due to a recommendation at a previous scrutiny meeting the monitoring process had been further improved resulting in more meetings and compilation of update reports;

(c)

the diagrams contained within the report highlighted the projected trend for jobs created; it was confirmed that the projects were always expected to achieve results at a different pace however the plan was on target and in some areas had exceeding expectations;

(d)

Plymouth was doing favourably in terms of job creation compared to other local authorities; unemployment was at its lowest level for five years with 2.9% unemployed;

(e)

14 of the 19 projects had created jobs; it was expected that the other projects would deliver jobs shortly;

(f)

significant investment was happening in the city by businesses such as the Money Group and God TV locating to Plymouth;

(g)

Princess Yachts had increased numbers of staff from 1800 to 2200 enabling productivity;

(h)

local artists were already showing an interest in working in Plymouth’s Ocean Studios;

(i)

Plymouth had won Social Enterprise City Status; one of only two cities to have achieved this status;

(j)

five planning applications encouraging accelerated housing developments had been granted in Plymouth;

(k)

officers were still awaiting the result for the City Deal bid however a decision was expected as part of the autumn statement. A team of representatives from the Council, Plymouth University, Princess Yachts and other organisations submitted Plymouth’s case and received complimentary feedback;

(l)

nationally 26% of 18-24 year olds were long-term unemployed; the figure for Plymouth was 31%;

(m)

at the celebration event for the first anniversary for the 1000 club several young people were in attendance; by the end of the event three of the four young people had been offered employment;

(n)

the City Deal would have contained within its work programme an element to encourage people to get into work and look after them once they achieved a job;

(o)

the City Deal pitch contained three strands including ‘ambition’ and coaching to help individuals get a good job, ‘progression’ to match skills with opportunity and ‘meeting employers’ to help individuals with employment;

(p)

officers from the Enterprise and Inward Investment Team were maintaining regular dialogue with local businesses to ensure they were engaged with the overall plan for jobs in Plymouth; business engagement was vital to the success of this project;

(q)

aspirations for the next 12 months included a greater emphasis on encouraging day visitors to Plymouth to become overnight visitors to help the local economy, and to continue reaching out to businesses to help them and Plymouth grow;

(r)

the Economic Development Strategy set out a clear joined-up framework for the transformation of Plymouth’s economy;

(s)

Plymouth was considered to be a top performer at delivering job outcomes for apprentices with 97% receiving a permanent job outcome;

(t)

if Plymouth achieved the City Deal it would enable Plymouth to secure the future for local businesses and encourage them to expand.