(a)

the aim of this report was to provide the latest economic data and trends for Plymouth; a range of economic statistics that were of relevance to Plymouth’s economy and related to the Plymouth Plan objectives of a Healthy, Growing and International city; the report detailed Plymouth’s performance on these measures and its strengths and weaknesses; the report also demonstrated how the Economic Development department was addressing these issues through various projects;

(b)

Plymouth’s economy (GVA) had grown over the last decade; the city had seen particular growth in high value sectors, such as marine, health and life sciences and advanced manufacturing;

(c)

in terms of unemployment, after an initial jump in the claimant count in March/April 2020, it had slowly decreased and the Plymouth claimant count was now below the UK average; yet while Plymouth’s growth rate exceeded national trends, it had not yet closed the gap in productivity;

(d)

the city was performing poorly, in terms of business density, start up and survival rates when comparing it to the South West and UK averages; Economic Development had supported growth in the city through a variety of projects; the National Marine Park would not only create jobs but would also increase the attractiveness of the city, bringing improvements to the waterfront and also support health and wellbeing;

(e)

the city had been successful in bidding to become a Freeport (one of only eight across the country); this would bring up to 9000 jobs, supporting the marine sector and businesses in the city and attract new investment and new businesses to Plymouth;

(e)

the city’s recovery programme consisted of six different work streams and covered a plethora of actions; in addition Economic Development had worked with colleagues from across the council to deliver the Government funded business support grants during the pandemic; over £92m was distributed to 7,440 businesses in the city, in less than 20 months;

(f)

the Council would also be supporting businesses through a series of commissioned support programmes; these programmes would help to start up new businesses including social enterprises and increased entrepreneurship, support businesses to adopt new digital solutions and enable digital transformation and support business transition to net zero.

(g)

sought clarification -

?

on how the Council would support the creation of jobs in those areas on the outskirts of the city and the measures it would be taking to support businesses to become carbon neutral by 2030;

?

on the measures the Council would undertaking to encourage start-up businesses, particularly on the outskirts of the city (as it was important that these businesses were not just located in the city centre);

?

on whether there was any narrative as to why there had been a significant increase in part-time work in the city (was this as a result of the lack of full-time work and people having to work multiple jobs);

?

on whether the scope for the marine sector could be broaden to include other elements, such as the ports, fishing, research and leisure and how the Council would support the development of this sector;

?

on whether there were any unemployment statistics available for the past five years;

?

on the reasons why there had been a significant decrease in the number of apprenticeships in the city in 2017 (a reduction of 50%);

(h)

raised concerns -

?

that the National Marine Park had only been referred to under tourism and hospitality (in the sector action plans) and requested that consideration be given to promoting the sustainable use of the marine environment, as it would be disappointing for its potential not to be realised;

?

relating to the skills shortages, in a number of sectors, where the majority of people were self-employed (such as plumbers, electricians and builders);

?

that the city may need an import of high-skilled people to fulfil the high paid jobs in the city which would result in local people maintaining the low paid work (this situation would not address the Council’s ambition for inclusive growth); it was important to ensure that the city’s low paid economy was being skilled, in order to move from low paid work to better paid jobs and enable those people claiming Universal Credit to come off the benefit and thus become less dependent on the welfare system;

(i)

whilst the focus of the creative and cultural industries was on tourism and events, there were other elements to this sector (together with   some cross-over with digital creativity); however, it was considered that the Council was missing an opportunity to support jobs growth in the city for those people attending higher education (from more deprived backgrounds), in order to ensure that there were job opportunities for these people in Plymouth.

(j)

whether the increase in growth of part-time work had reduced the opportunities of full-time work in the city;

(k)

the unemployment statistics for the past five years.

(1)

it notes the report;

(2)

it takes into account the economic evidence base when considering future decisions.