The economy and regeneration scrutiny committee are scheduled to meet to discuss the draft Manchester Local Plan, and to receive updates on the Work and Skills Strategy and on work and health. The committee will also discuss key decisions that fall within its remit and an update on actions resulting from the committee's recommendations.

Regulation 18 Consultation on the Draft Manchester Local Plan

The committee is scheduled to discuss the draft Manchester Local Plan, a document guiding land use and physical change in the city for the next 15 years.

The report pack states that the draft plan includes around 80 individual policies, most of which are characterised into themes. It is noted that a consultation at this stage is not intended to provide a fully drafted set of policies but rather gives an insight as to what may be brought forward and seeks views to enable the final draft policies to be worked up.

The draft Local Plan is scheduled to consist of an introductory section which covers the broad context for the City, establishing a Vision for Manchester to 2040 and outlining Strategic Objectives which are both based on the recently updated vision and objectives for the Our Manchester Strategy¹. This is followed by a section setting out the Spatial Strategy which includes a Spatial Portrait describing the current situation in Manchester and underlines the key challenges facing the city. The main part of the document sets out the planning policies as follows:

• Spatial Principles and Development Principles that are critical to all developments.
• Strategic Growth Locations encompassing key areas within the city where the majority of residential and economic growth is expected to take place.
• Thematic sections covering housing, economy, zero carbon, environmental matters, transport, design and heritage, development management policies, developer contributions and social value.

The report pack highlights that Places for Everyone (PfE) has already set a planning policy framework at a strategic level, as such there are parts of the local plan which will not be opened for further discussion, including housing, employment figures and growth areas.

The spatial principles policy is scheduled to bring in the key approach contained within Places for Everyone covering the three strategic areas that cover Manchester namely the Core Growth Area, Inner Areas, and Southern Areas. The policy is also scheduled to highlight key aspects around green infrastructure and the transport network.

The development principles policy is scheduled to set the key considerations for all proposals covering aspects such as high-quality design, contributing to net zero carbon development, making a positive contribution to neighbourhoods of choice, ensuring the efficient use of natural resources and reuse of previously developed land, improving access and reducing the need to travel, and seeking to address health inequalities.

The strategic growth locations policies are scheduled to represent the spatial expression of the draft Local Plan where the main areas of growth will be focused. The policies cover key sites and locations as follows:

• Manchester City Centre
• Victoria North
• Holt Town
• Sportcity
• Central Park
• Strangeways
• North Manchester General Hospital
• Wythenshawe Centre
• Medipark and Wythenshawe Hospital
• Manchester Airport

The draft Local Plan is scheduled to provide a basis for maximising sustainable economic growth, jobs and inward investment. The policies in this section are scheduled to support the overall economic competitiveness of the city through the delivery of a diverse, strong economy, recognising opportunities presented by existing and new employment sites and the contribution of key business sectors. The policies are scheduled to identify the key locations for economic provision within the city, including an expanded city centre boundary and set out criteria to judge proposals in terms of their economic impacts, including the need to protect existing employment space.

The draft Plan is scheduled to provide more detail on the key locations for the housing requirement set out in PfE which is 3,553 homes per annum equating to a need to deliver just over 60,000 additional homes over the period 2022 to 2039.

In terms of key locations, the report pack states that Policy H1 highlights that that around two thirds of future housing growth will be located in the City Centre with much of the remaining third being delivered within the Inner Areas part of the city, primarily within the part of Victoria North that sits between the City Centre and Holt Town. Other significant delivery will be in Wythenshawe. Policy H1 identifies other significant housing growth locations including in Newton Heath, Clayton Canalside, Grey Mare Lane, Lower Medlock and Ardwick Green. The housing chapter also includes specific detail on the control of Houses in Multiple Occupation² (HMO).

Policy H2 is scheduled to set out the approach to affordable housing with the intention to seek a delivery of 30% of affordable homes on sites above 10 or more homes. The tenure split is expected to be 80% affordable rent and 20% affordable home ownership. With respect to the delivery of social rented properties, the supporting text states that social rented housing is expected to make up 70% of the affordable housing provision.

The remaining housing policies are scheduled to cover the following aspects:

• Accommodation for Gypsies and Travellers and Travelling Show people criteria-based policy to assess any proposal that come forward.
• Supported Housing covering the various requirements for different forms of supported living within the community.
• Purpose Built Student Accommodation identifies specific locational and other criteria, including the identification of the need for affordable student accommodation.
• Self-build and custom housebuilding providing support for development on small sites to include opportunities for self-build and custom build.
• Housing Design provides criteria for the general consideration of housing proposals across a range of key issues which includes amongst others density standards, amenity space and use of permeable materials.
• Houses in Multiple Occupation

The remaining part of this section of the draft Local Plan covers Centres. This includes policies on:

• Centre Hierarchy establishing the hierarchy for different scales of centre within Manchester with the City Centre at the top followed by District Centres and then Local Centres.
• City Centre Retail specific policy to ensure the City Centre maintains its key functions of retail and leisure provision including the need to deliver an additional 15,000 square metres of food and drink floorspace over the plan period.
• District Centres an initial general policy that sets out the overarching requirements to ensure the district enters continue to function effectively.
• Local Centres general policy setting out key aspects to consider in maintaining the functions of local centres.
• Out of centre development the policy identifies the key factors to consider including sequentially preferable sites, accessibility of proposals, assessment of impacts both individually and cumulatively, and whether the proposal is appropriate ion terms of scale and function relevant to the location proposed and does not harm residential amenity.
• Leisure Developments this policy seeks to cover a significant range of establishments that now fall within the relatively recent changes to the Use Class Orders which in essence reduced the different types of uses.
• Leisure and Evening Economy a complementary policy to the previous policy bringing specific criteria to bear on the consideration of proposals for the range of uses within the main categories of the policy.
• Hotels and Visitor Accommodation setting out criteria to assess future proposals and provide guidance on potential suitable locations.
• Hot Food Takeaways incorporating the key elements of the existing Supplementary Planning Guidance into a Local Plan policy.

This section is scheduled to provide key policies to support the city's target to be a net zero carbon area by 2038. Four policies have been developed to cover the following themes:

• Sustainable Design and Construction incorporating policy requirements for a general approach to sustainable development, setting out energy efficiency standards, including the concept of while life cycle carbon assessment, seeking incorporation of EV charging points, building in potential flexibility to allow for future adaptation, and linking to blue and green infrastructure.
• Towards Net Zero Carbon setting out specific standards for space heating and site average energy demands for residential and commercial development, linking operational energy use to established modelling approaches, the inclusion of renewable and low carbon energy technologies, and an approach to carbon offsetting.
• Renewable and Low Carbon Energy Developments specific policy on proposals for renewable and low carbon energy development.
• Heat Networks policy approach to emerging and future heat networks.

The draft Local Plan is scheduled to include policies that seek to protect and enhance our environment across a range of issues set out below.

• Strategic Blue and Green Infrastructure sets out the strategic elements of Green and Blue Infrastructure within the city, and provides a criteria based approach to considering development proposals with respect to the incorporation and enhancement of Green and Blue Infrastructure.
• River Valleys and Waterways provides a criteria based approach to considering development proposals with respect to the managing impacts on rivers, canals and other watercourses within the city.
• Trees and Woodlands criteria based policy setting out factors to take account in landscape treatments applied to development sites.
• Biodiversity and Geodiversity the policy identifies and distinguishes between the hierarchy of international, national and locally designated sites.
• Biodiversity Net Gain the policy provides specific additional matters to consider alongside the existing national mandatory requirements for BNG.
• Urban Green Factor it is recognised that urban greening brings a range of benefits to the City in terms of increased climate resilience, through reductions in flood risk and the urban heat island effect; improved air quality; the enhancement of habitats; and potential improvements to mental and physical health.
• Air Quality the policy is largely drawn from the existing approach set out in the Core Strategy, focusing on links to air quality management that is delivered via other regulatory and policy frameworks.
• Water Quality similarly to Air Quality, this policy continues the approach developed in the Core Strategy.
• Flood Risk the policy includes new clauses that reflect current thinking with respect to runoff rates.
• Ground Contamination and Ground Stability the policy continues the approach that has been in place for many years in terms of the need to bring land forward for redevelopment purposes.
• Waste and Minerals the two policies set out the strategic element in terms of the commitment to produce a joint waste and minerals local plan.
• Protection of existing Open Space, Sport and Recreation land and facilities the policy focuses on how improvements to the quality and accessibility of open space can be achieved, and how any potential loss of open space will be considered.
• Provision of new Open Space, Sport and Recreation land and facilities the policy covers specific matters relating to opportunities to deliver new facilities and spaces within the city

The policies covering transport matters seek to integrate with the significant body of work that has emerged and is continuing to emerge within the city over recent years and in particular, the Manchester Active Travel Strategy and Investment Plan (MATSIP), City Centre Transport Strategy, the Movement Strategy and the Parking Strategy. Three policies focusing on transport issues feature in the draft Local Plan.

• Transport Principles the policy sets out criteria that seek to achieve the modal shift from private vehicles to public transport, shared mobility and active travel and contribute to zero carbon, road danger reduction and sustainable economic growth.
• Sustainable Location of Development the policy includes the key factors for development proposals to take account of terms of location, links to active travel and public transport, car parking provision, and cycle parking provision based on national standards.
• Transport Infrastructure the policy identifies key proposals in terms of current and future transport infrastructure including Northern Powerhouse Rail improvements; Castlefield Corridor heavy rail improvements to improve capacity; City Centre Bus and Streets for All Connectivity Programme; the Metrolink Western Leg Extension; Sandhills Metrolink stop; Metrolink extension to Salford Crescent; Metrolink Tram/Train trial programme; Bee Network Rail Improvements; Proposals to increase Metrolink capacity through the city centre to remove bottlenecks; and the Manchester Active Travel Strategy and Investment Plan network map.
• Digital infrastructure is picked up by a specific policy that outlines the approach to the continued development of digital capability within the city.

This section commences with two policies that provide a strategic framework with respect to design and character areas that can be identified within the city. The section also includes policies on the following matters:

• Tall buildings criteria-based policy setting out key factors to consider around design quality, location, place making, regeneration benefits, relationship to existing built form including conservation areas and listed buildings, analysis to demonstrate consideration of microclimate impacts, and demonstration of the deliverability/viability of any proposal.
• Conservation Areas, Listed Buildings, and Registered Parks and Gardens – criteria-based policy covering the various designations noted in the policy title.

This section covers several specific matters placed under a collective title of development management. Starting with a strategic policy this sets out key factors to consider in any proposal, for example: design and access: amenity; consideration of biodiversity, landscaping, archaeological and built heritage; and flood risk and drainage. There are then three policies specific to housing applications covering extensions to existing properties, conversions to create flats, and proposals for housing on 'backland' sites. Two policies then focus on retail and other commercial developments – shop fronts and related signs, and advertisements. The final three policies are specific to airport related matters covering aviation noise, airport public safety zones, and aerodrome safety.

The final section of the document includes two policies. The first relates to developer contributions which sets out the potential types of infrastructure where contributions may be sought, subject to meeting the necessary legal tests included in national legislation. The policy on social value seeks requirements from major developments to set out the measures proposed through the lifecycle of the development that will make a positive contribution to social value, including Employment and Skills plans, the creation of apprenticeships and training opportunities for local people and the use of local suppliers of goods and services.

Work and Skills Update

The committee is scheduled to receive an update on the Work and Skills Strategy 2022-2027, outlining some of the key deliverables, activities and progress against targets.

The report pack states that the Work and Skills Strategy is central to ensuring that more of Manchester's residents benefit from the City's continued success. It aims to strengthen the City's talent pool and labour market, enabling businesses and investors to access the skills they need to thrive. By supporting residents into good jobs and careers, the Strategy contributes directly to inclusive economic growth and helps ensure that prosperity is shared more widely across communities.

The strategic priorities are set out under five key themes:

• A 'Thriving and Sustainable' City
• A 'Highly Skilled' City
• A 'Progressive and Equitable' City
• A Liveable and Zero Carbon City'
• A 'Connected' City

The report pack notes that Manchester continues to be a significant driver of Greater Manchester's (GM) economy; it remains resilient and has continued to see growth compared to other core cities, due to the balanced nature of sectors and industries including Digital Technology (including Cyber), Financial and Professional Services and Health Innovation including life science.

The report pack also notes the following challenges and opportunities are areas of focus in 2025/26:

• Post-16 sufficiency, NEET³ and Youth unemployment are key areas of focus.
• The Government's recent welfare reform proposals highlighted the need for enhanced employability programmes to support those with health conditions into work.
• Inclusive economic growth with local employment, real living wage and 'good work' at its heart remains a focus for the strategy.
• Increasing skills levels through our work as a UNESCO Global City of Learning and continuing to identify and deliver against employer demand set out in the Local Skills Improvement Plan.
• Despite the steady growth of investment into the City, the number of jobs posted in Manchester been steadily declining and the team will continue to work with key employers in the City to support with recruitment and jobs fairs.

The report pack states that the GM Business Growth Hub works well with partners in the city to help support existing businesses to thrive and grow. The Growth Hub delivers mentoring, leadership and social impact programmes with strong delivery in Manchester and has supported 762 businesses, with 75% of the businesses supported increasing their productivity. 19% (145) were residents starting their own business and supported to be enterprise ready.

The GM Build a Business Service, delivered by Manchester's Library Service as part of their Business and Intellectual Property Centre, works with a range of partners in the City to support existing businesses and Manchester residents with ideas to start up their business. In the last year, the service has supported over 100 Manchester-based businesses and helped 200+ residents develop their ideas to start a business.

Midas is the GM inward investment support agency. Last year, it achieved 40 new businesses relocating to Manchester and creating 2,100 jobs.

The City's approach as an accredited Living Wage Place is paramount to developing an inclusive economy and lifting residents out of poverty. Through our Real Living Wage (RLW) Place status, and with our Anchor employers, over 326 Manchester employers are now accredited, which results in 10,580 people being uplifted to the RLW with a total workforce of 91,536.

The Greater Manchester Good Employment Charter is a well-established initiative that promotes fair and inclusive employment practices across the City region. It plays a vital role in supporting Manchester's health equality agenda, recognising that good employment directly contributes to better health outcomes.

Brokering Relationships with Employers and Educators [BREE] was successfully launched in November 2025 and is now working with over 50 employers and has matched over 120 opportunities for educators.

Work continues to deliver the North Manchester Social Value Framework, which has led to the opening of a community Construction Skills Centre in Collyhurst, training local residents to prepare for job opportunities. All 4,911 jobs created are paid at the real living wage, with 34% of these jobs taken by residents hyper local or local to the developments at North Manchester General and Victoria North.

Manchester continued to embed the UNESCO City of Lifelong Learning Cities approach in 2024-25. The City's work was recognised in winning the GM Skills Awards' 'Partnership of the Year' category, with over 700 partners.

Over 70 training providers, including Manchester College and In4Group, have received curriculum support to align their offer with Manchester's economic priorities and regeneration plans.

Grad Recharge was developed to support unemployed tech graduates with mental health challenges. £100,000 funding was secured to pilot a new approach to connecting learner talent with technical roles. This programme will support approximately 66 graduates, unemployed between 3-12 months.

In 2025, an ESOL⁴ Toolkit was launched, with 6 grants issued to community partners to expand the ESOL infrastructure across the City. The ESOL Advice Service assessed 7,146 residents and placing 3,151 people onto ESOL provision (August 2024 to March 2025).

PlanBEE was launched in 2021 to provide unique life chances for young people and a genuine alternative to traditional university. It aims to meet the demand for more flexible, adaptable and technologically skilled professionals.

Using DWP funding of £1.3m to support 1,600 participants, Manchester designed, commissioned and implemented WorkWell services which were launched in December 2024.

Using DWP funding of £1.7m to support 950 participants, Manchester designed, commissioned and implemented Economic Activity Trailblazer services launched in August 2025.

The successful MCC funded Ambition Manchester in-work progression programme was extended in January 2025, utilising GMCA funding. The programme has so far supported 369 participants in work to gain skills (178 participants) or progress into better paid work (83 participants).

Manchester was awarded £657,814 from GMCA to locally commission the Refugee Welcome Programme across 2 years until May 2027. The delivery of the programme will be led by Mustard Tree and Breaking Barriers.

The Work and Skills Team continues to support the delivery of the Climate Change Action plan. Over the last year the Team has worked to realign the green skills plan to incorporate new Climate Change Action Plan priorities.

Working closely with the HROD Team, 2,400 MCC staff have been trained in carbon literacy.

Manchester is driving digital inclusion citywide, including funding 60 VCSE organisations as digital hubs and expanding access to databanks, equipment, learning and volunteering.

The Manchester Digital Skills Framework, funded by Manchester City Council and the University of Manchester, is creating a tool to help businesses and training providers assess digital skills needs using the SFIA framework.

The report pack also provides a more in-depth focus on Post 16 provision.

In September 2013 the Department for Education (DfE) raised the participation age (RPA). The means all young people must stay in accredited education or training until at least age 18. This includes college, apprenticeships, traineeships, supported internships, and volunteering with part-time study. The Council is legally responsible for ensuring there is sufficiency of provision for the City's young people when they reach the age of 16.

A new Post-16 Education, Employment and Training (EET) Plan 2025–2028 has been launched that outlines five key workstreams and sets a clear direction for improving opportunities and outcomes for young people in Manchester.

The City faces challenges with Post-16 sufficiency, as a result of the growing school age population coming through the primary and secondary school system.

Despite recent expansions, projections indicate a shortfall of around 1,300 places by 2028. The Post-16 cohort has already grown by over 38% between 2018 and 2025, with further growth expected into the next decade.

Officers from the City Council have worked with the Department for Education (DfE) since 2022 and following a decision by Council's Executive in June 2024, a formal declaration of a gap in sufficiency was submitted to the DfE. In response, Manchester secured £5 million from a devolved £10 million GMCA fund to support targeted growth in technical education.

In terms of NEET performance, Manchester has made notable progress, given the 38% growth in young people leaving school. The City has stabilised its NEET population, reducing the rate from 7.6% in 2023/24 to 7.3% in 2024/25, based on the DfE's three-month average.

Work and Health Report

The committee is scheduled to receive an update on Work and Health, including Government and Greater Manchester policy.

The report pack states that Manchester's economy continues to expand at a rapid rate with new investment and jobs driving the city's growth. However, many of our residents continue to be prevented from fully realising the benefits of this economy, with poverty and poor health outcomes being the two most significant challenges.

The report pack notes that there are several national and Greater Manchester interventions with elements that address health-related barriers to work.

Manchester has also developed several programmes that focus wholly or in part on tackling the problem of economic inactivity and/or unemployment due to health issues. The programmes and services detailed in this report include:

• WorkWell (Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) funded)
• Economic Activity Trailblazer (DWP funded)
• Racially Minoritised Groups projects (MCC funded)
• Refugee Welcome Programme (GMCA funded)
• UKSPF Community Grants (Ministry for Housing Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) funded)
• Pure Innovations contract (MCC funded)
• Work Clubs (MCC funded)
• Be Well (MCC funded)
• Ambition Manchester (MCC and GMCA funded)
• Manchester Adult Education Service (GMCA funded)

The report pack states that the number of programmes in the City focused on work and health, can present a challenge due to the confusion and duplication of provision they create. This is often a result of siloed commissioning. Devolution aims to simplify and improve the landscape of provision, but this will take time to achieve and relies on Government supporting local strategic planning and commissioning cycles. The Get GM Working Plan is being developed over Summer 2025 and will support delivery of the Get Britain Working and the Greater Manchester Strategy and aim to co-ordinate work and skills provision across the City Region.

The report pack notes that the revised figures for May 2025 compared to the May 2024 figures, across both the Core Cities and Greater Manchester, show every Local Authority has seen an increase of at least 30% in the number of claimants in the No Work Requirements conditionality.

The report pack states that bespoke employment support is important to provide equitable access to provision.

The report pack notes that the medical condition affecting the most ESA claimants is Mental and Behavioural disorders with almost 9,000 claimants.

The report pack states that the percentage of economically inactive Manchester residents (aged 16-64) has declined for the third consecutive period and is now 25.2%.

The report pack notes that Work Capability Assessments (WCA) are used to ascertain a person's ability to engage in work related activities by assessing a person's health or disability and the impact on their ability to work.

The report pack states that Manchester has different levels of influence on the design of provision dependent on which organisation is the commissioner and how much devolved responsibility has been granted.

The report pack states that WorkWell is a key part of Greater Manchester's Live Well programme, which addresses health, social, and economic inequalities by ensuring residents can access the resources needed to live healthy, fulfilling lives.

The report pack notes that the GM WorkWell partnership (GMCA and NHS GM) provided Manchester with £1.3m of funding to deliver a WorkWell service to 1,620 participants/residents between December 2024 and March 2026.

The programme supports delivery across three strands:

• Employment support in Manchester NHS Foundation Trust (MFT) Musculoskeletal Pathway (MSK)
• Enhancement of the Be Well Social Prescribing Service
• Employment and health support for Racially Minoritised Groups (RMG)

The report pack states that Manchester has been awarded £1.7m to meet the objectives of the DWP funded 'test and learn' Trailblazer which is intended to maximise the reach, effectiveness and impact of the range of existing services that could support people who are not economically active to participate in the labour market.

The report pack notes that the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) has developed the Refugee Welcome Programme to boost the VCFSE-led integration, work and skills offer.

The report pack states that Manchester has been awarded £657,814 from the GMCA to locally commission the Refugee Welcome Programme across 2 years until May 2027. The delivery of the programme will be led by Mustard Tree and Breaking Barriers.

The report pack notes that the Ambition Manchester In-Work Progression Service supports low-income and self-employed residents to progress in work.

The report pack states that Be Well addresses this need by working in partnership with Primary Care, enabling referrals directly from GP practices across Manchester.

The report pack notes that MCC has independently commissioned the delivery of three Racially Minoritised Groups projects totalling £119k since November 2022, engaging 176 residents.

The report pack states that Pure Innovations, commissioned by Manchester Adult Social Care, supports residents aged 18+ with learning disabilities and/or Autism through programmes focused on self-development, employability, and supported internships.

The report pack notes that MCC grant fund 17 Work Clubs across the City who provide employability support to residents and specifically target disadvantaged groups and communities facing barriers to employment.

The report pack states that MAES collects information on learners' health conditions during course registration.

The report pack notes that the £52m Greater Manchester Work and Health programme has successfully engaged and supported long term unemployed and disabled people since it launched in 2018.

The report pack states that Launched in October 2023 as part of the Greater Manchester UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) contract, STS was specifically designed to engage economically inactive residents.

The report pack notes that Commissioned by DWP, IPSPC began accepting referrals in September 2023. It supports individuals with both physical and mental health conditions to access or retain employment.

The report pack states that the Motiv8 programme provides up to six months of intensive assistance to help individuals overcome multiple and often complex barriers that prevent them from progressing in their lives.

The report pack notes that the national DWP Restart programme has been delivered by Ingeus across Manchester since July 2021, offering tailored support to residents who have been unemployed for six months or more to enhance skills, build confidence, and improve employability.

The report pack states that Employment Advisers (EAs) in Talking Therapies is a voluntary NHS initiative designed to integrate employment support with therapeutic treatment.

The report pack notes that Manchester remains proactive and forward-looking in its approach to tackling health-related barriers to employment, anticipating the changes required to enhance delivery and outcomes.

Overview Report

The committee is scheduled to receive an overview report which contains the recommendations monitor, key decisions and the committee's work programme.

The report pack includes a table of recommendations made by the committee at previous meetings, and responses to them indicating whether the recommendation will be implemented, and if it will be, how this will be done.

The report pack includes an extract of the most recent Register of Key Decisions, published on 29 September 2025, containing details of the decisions under the Committee's remit.