This meeting of the Natural Infrastructure and Growth Scrutiny Panel was scheduled to include a discussion of the Plymouth and South Devon Freeport, an update on the Plymouth Sound National Marine Park, a discussion of the Culture Plan and the consideration of a report on Economic Insight and Intelligence. It was also scheduled to include the confirmation of the minutes from the previous meeting, and a discussion of the committee’s work programme.

Plymouth Sound National Marine Park

The report pack contains a report that provides an update on the work that is being done to deliver the Plymouth Sound National Marine Park. This is called the Horizons project, and is being delivered with funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund. It also includes information about how a governance model and funding structure is being created for the park that can provide a legacy once the Horizons project is completed.

The Horizons project includes the delivery of five main programmes of work:

1. Nature Boost - A nature-based programme designed to improve the natural environment of the park. It is looking at ways that seagrass can be restored, and how to increase awareness of, and protect, species like skates and rays.
2. Capital Restoration and Repurposing - A capital programme designed to improve facilities in the park, at Tinside Lido, Mount Batten and Mount Edgcumbe.
3. Activity Plan - A programme of community engagement that includes the delivery of a range of activities and events, as well as the 'Sea In Our Schools' scheme, that teaches school children about the park.
4. Digital Park - A programme designed to improve awareness of the park online, and to explore how digital technology could be used to engage more people. This will include the delivery of four large scale commissions, informed by data insights:
   • making visible the underwater world through the activation of citywide screen-based infrastructure
   • exploration of archive & heritage through a co-creation project with communities leading to a digital exhibition
   • inspiring engagement through the creation of an immersive nature-based experience
   • blending digital and physical locations through outdoor AR/VR enabled installations
5. Evaluation - A programme designed to ensure that the park is properly evaluated and monitored so that it can be adapted and improved over time.

The park also has an associated Strategic Mitigation Plan (SMP), which sets out what mitigation and monitoring will be delivered to ensure the park complies with the requirements of the Habitats Regulations Assessment. This covers things like building controls, ecological surveys, and the management of marine communities.

The report pack also includes information about the governance and funding model being created for the park. The council is in the process of establishing a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) that will support fundraising and project delivery, and a company that will be used to deliver a wider range of projects associated with the park. The report pack explains that work is also underway to develop a sustainable funding model for the park.

Plymouth and South Devon Freeport

The report pack contains a report that provides an update on the Plymouth and South Devon Freeport. This is an annual report that was produced for the meeting to fulfil the requirements of a service level agreement that is in place between Plymouth City Council and the Plymouth and South Devon Freeport.

The report provides an update on the following key areas:

1. Policy - The report pack explains how the government has extended the period of time during which tax breaks will be available to businesses in the freeport to 2031, and widened the eligibility criteria to include businesses in the advanced manufacturing, engineering and net zero technology sectors. This is in addition to the original core sectors of the freeport, which were marine, defence and space. The government has also confirmed its commitment to providing funding for the Freeports Programme in its Autumn 2024 Budget.
2. Net Zero - The report pack explains that money from the freeport’s seed capital programme has been used to help pay for shore power at Millbay Docks, and the widening of the channel used by Cattewater Harbour Commissioners. It also explains how funding from the government’s Hydrogen Allocation Round will be used to help deliver a green hydrogen project at the Langage Energy Park, which is one of the sites in the freeport.

3. Seed Capital Programme - The report pack includes a table that shows how the £25 million of seed capital funding that was provided to the freeport by the government has been allocated to projects across the three tax sites in the freeport: South Yard, Langage, and Sherford.

   Two of these projects are being delivered directly by Plymouth City Council. The first will see the construction of two new buildings at Oceansgate, in South Yard, that will provide new workspace for businesses in the marine sector. The second will see the construction of four new units on Beaumont Way, at Langage, that will be available for occupation by medium and large sized businesses. The table says both of these projects will be completed in Autumn 2025.

4. Trade and Investment - The report pack explains how Babcock has established a new manufacturing facility in South Yard to produce High Mobility Transporter ‘Jackal 3’ vehicles for the British Army, and that a skills-based work academy programme has been established by Babcock, the Department for Work and Pensions, and Plymouth City Council to support the recruitment of local people to work in the facility.

The report concludes by highlighting some of the work that the freeport plans to do in 2025, including:

• Continued collaboration with Plymouth City Council, Ministry of Defence, University of Plymouth and other key stakeholders to develop the city’s Defence and Floating Offshore Wind propositions, particularly in relation to innovation.
• Continued collaboration with MHCLG, Department for Business and Trade, and other Government departments to embed the PASD Freeport programme into the new 10-year Industrial Strategy, focussing on Advanced Manufacturing, Clean Energy Industries and Defence sectors, plus sub-sectors to be identified as part of the Green Paper.
• Construction and completion of Plymouth City Council’s direct developments at Oceansgate and Langage South (Beaumont Way).
• Firming up the Freeport trade and investment pipeline to secure pre-lets for Plymouth City Council’s direct developments, along with Carlton Power’s plots at Langage.
• Construction and completion of key transport infrastructure investments to unlock areas of the Freeport’s Tax Sites at Langage and Sherford, including Devon County Council’s Spine Road 1a and Ped/Cycle Bridge projects, plus the Sherford Consortium’s road and core infrastructure scheme.

Culture Plan

The report pack contains a report that provides an update on the delivery of the Plymouth Culture Plan, which was adopted in 2021. The plan sets out the ambitions of the council for culture in Plymouth.

The report highlights a number of strategic cultural highlights that have been achieved in 2024:

1. Sea for Yourself (Place Partnership) - Plymouth Culture has submitted a bid for funding from the Arts Council to deliver a four-year programme, called ‘Sea for Yourself’, as part of the Plymouth Sound National Marine Park. This is a joint bid that has been developed by Plymouth Culture, the council, and the National Marine Park, and is designed to reconnect people to nature and to the city’s cultural identity through a series of cultural commissions.
2. Cultural Education - The Plymouth Cultural Education Partnership, which is overseen by a strategic steering group that includes Councillor Jemima Laing, has made a number of recommendations about how to improve access to culture for children and young people in Plymouth. The group has been developing plans for how to deliver these recommendations, and is in the process of mapping cultural education provision across the city to provide evidence for future activities.
3. Creative Industries Plan - Plymouth Culture has commissioned a Creative Industries Plan, funded by the council, which is designed to support the growth of the sector in Plymouth. The plan is still being finalised, but is likely to recommend that the council prioritises the sector and that it supports clustering of creative industries in certain areas of the city.
4. Creative Leadership Programme - Plymouth Culture has been running a pilot leadership programme that was funded by Arts Council England. The programme is designed to challenge traditional models of leadership and to help support the development of Plymouth’s cultural ecology. The report highlights the impact of this programme, and explains how learning from the programme will be disseminated and embedded.
5. Plymouth Art Weekender - The Plymouth Art Weekender returned to the city in October 2024 after a three year break, and more than 100 artists exhibited and performed at over 60 venues.
6. Summer Sessions - The report pack explains that the Summer Sessions will be returning to the city next June, and that the acts confirmed to play include Snow Patrol, Pendulum, and James.

Economic Insight and Intelligence

The report pack contains a report on economic insight and intelligence that has been produced for the council’s Inclusive Economy team.

The report provides information on the council’s aspirations for inclusive growth, which are:

• Lift 3000 people out of living in most deprived decile in England
• Get 5000 people into work (from those economically inactive)
• Attract or upskill 20,000 people with RQT level 4+ qualifications
• Help 5000 People achieve their first qualification
• 1000 new businesses
• 8000 new jobs
• Increase the value and number of business investments in Partnerships with arts organisations, museums and libraries, and local communities.
• Become a net zero carbon city by 2030
• 5000 new homes
• 50 vacant buildings back into use
• £1bn more gross value added
• Gross value added per job increased from £44,930 to £55,000

It also sets out details of how deprivation is measured by the government in its Index of Multiple Deprivation, and provides a summary of recent changes to national policy related to employment rights. It then provides information on the local economy, and considers the impact of these changes on women and people with disabilities in Plymouth.

The report highlights a number of issues relating to inequality in the city, for example:

• Plymouth’s average weekly wage for residents currently stands at £620.5; this is significantly lower than the GB average of £682.60 and the regional average for the South West of £663.70. Full-time male workers earn £653.60 a week on average compared to £555.90 for female workers.
• Comparing weekly wages of employed men and women, with benchmarks such as the national mean wage, Real Living Wage and National Living Wage demonstrates that half of employed women in the city do not earn enough to cover their basic living expenses without external support.
• The median hourly pay (excluding overtime) is £16.08 for men and £13.10 for women. This is a gender pay gap of 18.53% compared to 13.1% nationally.
• A notable difference between Plymouth and Great Britain is the proportion of the working age population who are economically inactive due to long terms sickness. In 2023 this was 9.24% for Plymouth compared to 5.61% for Great Britain.

The report concludes with a call to action for the council to use the information contained within the report to understand lived experience and to help them target investment to achieve their inclusive growth aspirations.