Councillor Evans OBE (Leader) highlighted the following in his announcements –

·       Updated the Cabinet on the work Plymouth City Council had been doing on our COVID economic response plan - Resurgam.   We were in the midst of the second wave of this global pandemic which was both a health emergency and an unprecedented economic shock;

·       This was a time when local government really matters. Our plan remained incredibly simple: to protect jobs and address the immediate threats to lives and livelihoods, but also to reset the local economy to address structural inequalities in our city and place a fairer and greener future at the heart of our recovery;

·       When we set up Resurgam during the first wave we were well aware of the possible risks of a second wave and/ or further lockdowns.  We set it up to be agile knowing that there was a possibility that we would need to move back into a response phase, but also knowing that we could provide an emergency response and work on recovery simultaneously;   

·       Officers have therefore been busy preparing to launch the latest rounds of business grants. had been awarded £4m for those business that have had to close and this scheme will launch next week.  We have also been awarded £5m for a discretionary scheme however we will wait to launch these scheme until we better understand the gaps in demand;

·       pleased that calls to extend the Furlough scheme and to prevent the October cliff edge have been listened to and that the Furlough scheme had been extended.  This had been essential to support many of our residents during these unprecedented times.  However there was still more that needs to be done to support those who fall outside the Furlough scheme and those who were accessing the benefits systems including the latest figures of 11,000 people in Plymouth claiming Universal Credit/ Job Seekers Allowance.   This included 2,380 people under 25.  We are very concerned how this data would change in the coming weeks when the impact of a second wave hits harder;

·       Our Resurgam programmes objective remains focussed on protect existing jobs and create as many new opportunities for our residents as we can during these difficult times.  We are doing this by supporting our key sectors, helping our people and using the spending power of the Council to kick-start the local economy;

Amanda Ratsey (Head of Economy Enterprise and Employment) gave an update –

Plymouth was lucky to have a significant bedrock industrial sectors.  We have a large teaching hospital and the largest naval base in Western Europe. Between the defence and health sector they employ over 25% of the city.  These sectors were continuing to recruit and had ambitious building development pipelines (£2 billion) including new hospital building and reconfigure the naval base. However sectors such as fishing are really suffering.  The price of fish is determined by a buoyant restaurant trade and exports.  Tourism and hospitality in Plymouth like other areas had been hard hit, but for Plymouth it was doubly painful as the City was hoping to reinvent itself and give this sector a significant boost through Mayflower 2020.