The Culture & Economy Scrutiny Committee is scheduled to meet to discuss the Liverpool Active City Strategy, business support, a local plan update, and the Accelerator City programme. The committee, chaired by Councillor Gerard Heffey, will also review the minutes from their previous meeting and the work plan action tracker. Public and councillor speaking requests may also be heard.

Local Plan Update

The committee is scheduled to receive an update on the preparation of a new Local Plan for Liverpool. The Local Plan is a document used to shape, plan and manage sustainable and inclusive development and growth across the city over a minimum period of 15 years, and sets the policies and land use allocations for the whole city, which are then used to assess planning applications.

The report pack includes details of the Draft Local Plan Regulation 18 Consultation, which was launched earlier in September, and a summary of the contents of the Draft Plan, including areas of new policy.

The Draft Local Plan can be accessed online. It is structured as follows:

• Introduction
• Liverpool Today
• Local Plan Vision and Objectives
• Strategic Policies
• City Centre
• A Strong Economy for All
• Our Homes
• Vibrant, Sustainable, Healthy and Thriving Communities
• Liverpool's Biodiversity, Green and Blue Infrastructure
• Responding to Climate Change and Managing Natural Resources
• A Well Connected City
• Heritage
• Quality Placemaking and Urban Design

The draft plan sets out a quantitative housing and employment requirement for the city, including:

• Delivery of a minimum of 29,824 net additional dwellings by 2041, equating to at least 1864 homes per annum to 2041.
• To support the need for 229,800 sq. m of office development; 53,200 sq. m for research and development and 408,000 sq. m for industrial development.

The draft plan also identifies key character areas in the City Centre, including:

• Business District
• Pall Mall and Moorfields
• Knowledge Quarter and Paddington Village
• Fabric District
• Pumpfields
• Ten Streets
• Primary Shopping Area
• Cavern Quarter and Matthew Street
• Central Station
• St Georges Gateway
• Liverpool Waters
• The Baltic Triangle
• Ropewalks including Chinatown

The report also notes that the draft plan includes policy which requires all development to be located, designed, constructed and operated so as to maximise its social value and contribution to making Liverpool a socially and economically inclusive city. It states that all major development proposals will have to be accompanied by a social value strategy and identify how the development will support social inclusion and deliver social value through its lifecycle.

Liverpool Active City Strategy 2024-34: One Year On

The committee is scheduled to receive an overview of recent progress in the Liverpool Active City 2024-2034 programme, also known as LAC2434. The strategy aims to increase physical activity across Liverpool, and address inactivity issues towards achieving the vision for people of all ages in Liverpool to be active every day.

The report pack highlights community-led action, partnership work, and integration with the Liverpool City Council's neighbourhood model. It also outlines the development of a set of outcomes linked to the strategic action plan, designed to measure impact and gather learning to inform future delivery and investment.

The report states that in 2025, Sport England published data demonstrating that the social value of sport and physical activity in Liverpool in 2022-23 was £799,181,000, including £706,680,000 in primary wellbeing and £92,501,000 in wider societal benefits.

The report also details key milestones and progress from Year 1, including:

• Increased joining up of ideas and plans to increase physical activity as part of developing the Local Plan, Housing Strategy, and Property Management plans and strategies.
• Liverpool City Council staff wellbeing activities have been co-delivered by HR and Sport & Recreation Service, for example fitness sessions and walks enabling for staff to move more and champion moving more.
• Collaboration commenced between the S&R Service and Neighbourhood Teams resulting in 2 neighbourhood Managers assigned as thematic leads, and to agree named S&R officers for each area by July 2025, and monthly drop-in sessions for named officers to connect, share ideas and agree actions.
• Funding secured by the Council from the Liverpool Cycling and Walking Investment Programme (LCWIP) to support Cycle Leader Training in 2025, enabling greater use of the city's 8 Cycle Pods.
• Liverpool named as one of 80 Sport England Place Partners, reflecting the city's levels of need and readiness to achieve change.
• A community Tennis project in Princes Park supported by the Fred Perry Tennis Foundation, enabling the repair and repainting of 6 public tennis courts, and introducing over 100 families to a new activity, with many being gifted equipment to keep.

The report also lists some of the partners leading this work, including: AWYC Barnardos, Merseycare, Active Greenbank partners, Friends of Walton Hall Park, Walton Hall Park Bowling Club, Friends of Princes Park, Liverpool School Sport Partnership, Evergreen Chinese Community, Daisy UK Short Break colleagues to Harthill Youth Centre, Lifestyles Fitness Centres, Ice Creates, Liverpool Carers Centre, Liverpool FC Foundation, Everton in the Community, Merseyside Cycling Campaign, Ramblers Association, Salvation Army, NHS Cheshire & Merseyside, Short Breaks Service, Liverpool Cycling Behaviour Change Group, Shrewsbury Youth Club, Fred Perry Trust, Tiber Football Centre, Lancashire Cricket Club, Golden Gloves Amateur Boxing Club, Asylum Link, British Red Cross, and The Women's Cycling Group.

Business Support Update

The committee is scheduled to receive an update on the function of the Business and Economic Support Team (BES Team) and its delivery of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) Place Based Business Support (PBBS) programme.

The report pack states that the BES Team's role is to undertake a business support function, working closely with Liverpool businesses and ensuring development and growth. It says that the team has directly provided one-to-one intensive assistance to over 500 businesses and created a wealth of jobs through the Place Based Business Support (PPBS) programme, which is funded directly through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF).

The report also notes that the BES Team maintains relationships with many of the city's key businesses to identify and support growth opportunities, help resolve issues and capture business, market and sectoral intelligence to inform future economic initiatives.

The team's current focus areas for economic development include Speke / Garston, Edge Lane, Ten Streets, Fabric District and China Town.

The report details the outputs and outcomes of Round 1 (2023-2025) of the UKSPF Place Based Business Support programme:

• 232 businesses received specialist advice / non-financial business support.
• 28 new enterprises created.
• 14 new jobs created.

The report also sets out the targets for Round 2 (2025-2026):

• 82 (min) businesses receiving specialist advice / non-financial business support.
• 19 new enterprises created.
• 66 new jobs created.

The report states that the Inclusive Growth Strategy (IGS) delivery plan will form the baseline for a strategic approach to supporting the Liverpool business cohort to ensure that the overall objectives of the IGS are met.

Accelerator City Update

The committee is scheduled to receive an update on Liverpool's progress as the world's first UN Accelerator City for Climate Action 2025, under UN Climate Change's Entertainment and Culture for Climate Action (ECCA) programme.

The report pack outlines the achievements to date across the accelerator pilot projects and the overarching programme following the report delivered in March 2025.

The report notes that throughout 2025, Liverpool has worked on nine pilot projects and broader initiatives aimed at decarbonisation across live events, film, and television, exploring new approaches to sustainability within the cultural sector and updated approaches to the way the city operates across the sectors.

The report provides updates on the following Accelerator City Projects:

• The Great Outdoors
• Cleaner Arena
• Ask the Audience
• Powering Pictures
• Upskilling the Future
• Making Land Use Better
• Mapping Impacts
• The Power Nexus
• The Prototype

The report states that Liverpool City Council has convened a new working group of creative industry leaders to drive forward sustainability across the cultural sector through the lens of a city. It also notes that an economic business case is in development to demonstrate the benefits of sustainable change for Liverpool City Council.