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Natural Infrastructure and Growth Scrutiny Panel - Wednesday 9 July 2025 2.00 pm

July 9, 2025 View on council website
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Summary

The Natural Infrastructure and Growth Scrutiny Panel met to discuss the progress of Plan for Homes 4, Plymouth's economic data, the Plymouth and South Devon Freeport, and the panel's work programme.

Plan for Homes 4 Year 1 Update

The panel was scheduled to receive an update on the first year of the Plan for Homes 4, which launched in March 2024 with the aim of delivering a minimum of 5,000 new homes in Plymouth over five years. The plan builds upon previous Plan for Homes programmes and aims to increase the supply of new homes, support regeneration, improve energy efficiency of existing homes, and address homelessness.

The report highlighted achievements over the first year and future challenges. Key performance indicators and an action plan were included in the report.

The Briefing Report Plan for Homes 4 –Year 1 (2024/2025) Update noted that the UK has been in a housing crisis for some years and Plymouth is feeling the pressure. It stated that homelessness in Plymouth is at an all-time high and the range of housing needs is broadening. The report also noted that new house building across all housing tenures has been in decline for some years.

The Briefing Report Plan for Homes 4 –Year 1 (2024/2025) Update stated that Plan for Homes 4 maintains the clear ambition for a minimum of 5,000 homes over five years, but that this ambition will not be achieved without very significant and rapid intervention.

The Briefing Report Plan for Homes 4 –Year 1 (2024/2025) Update noted the following achievements in 2024/2025:

  • 96 new affordable homes delivered, 42 of which are for social rent.
  • The completion of the first homes built by the council for 40 years at Broadland Gardens.
  • The acquisition and refurbishment of 86 vacant ex-MOD family homes by Plymouth Community Homes for social rent and shared ownership.
  • The planned release of 3 new council owned sites that are planned to deliver around 75 new affordable homes.
  • 41 long term empty homes brought back into occupation.
  • £540,000 of Brownfield Land Release Funding secured to de-risk two council owned sites to support the delivery of around 30 new affordable homes.
  • The stalled site at former Southway Paper Converting Mill unlocked by Plymouth Community Homes, with planning consent secured for 130 new affordable homes.
  • The completion of the Stirling House Project, with nine Service Veterans involved in the construction of 25 self-contained social rented homes.
  • An Eco Homes Programme of 239 low carbon homes across five sites in various stages of delivery, with 18 completed.
  • The completion of the final phase 4 of North Prospect regeneration with Plymouth Community Homes.
  • Demolitions and first completions achieved at Barne Barton regeneration with Clarion and Sanctuary, where obsolete flats are being replaced with 328 replacement homes.
  • The co-ordination of the Plymouth Housing Development Partnership.

The Briefing Report Plan for Homes 4 –Year 1 (2024/2025) Update noted that a key focus for Plan for Homes 4 looking forward is to build a pipeline of future delivery in response to the significant downward trend in market housing delivery.

The Briefing Report Plan for Homes 4 –Year 1 (2024/2025) Update stated that the council is working on more than 60 developer led and council owned sites that could deliver circa 4,450 homes of which around 2,000 would be affordable over the next 7-10 years.

The Briefing Report Plan for Homes 4 –Year 1 (2024/2025) Update stated that a 'Housing Sites Taskforce' has been set up to look at all potential housing sites across the city and determine how many homes could potentially be delivered on them to help build that pipeline still further, and that work is also underway on creating a Housing Market Recovery Plan to try to identify housing and planning solutions to stimulate more market activity.

The Briefing Report Plan for Homes 4 –Year 1 (2024/2025) Update noted that Homes England are organising a South West Housing and Construction Conference in September 2025 to bring together developers, contractors, housebuilders, housing associations and local and central government to discuss and respond to the delivery challenges and significant growth opportunities opening up across the South West.

The Briefing Report Plan for Homes 4 –Year 1 (2024/2025) Update stated that in the recent June 2025 Spending Review the Government identified a new 10 year Affordable Homes Programme for £39 billion of grant funding.

Economic Intelligence and Insight

The panel was scheduled to receive an update on Plymouth's economic data and trends.

The Plymouth Economic Intelligence Update examined the latest economic data for Plymouth, with a particular focus on productivity growth and its underlying drivers within the city. It began by setting the context for the city's labour market, including narrative on recent trends in workforce size, job vacancies and wage growth across the economy.

The Plymouth Economic Intelligence Update stated that Plymouth has consistently seen high levels of job vacancy advertising and moderate wage increases in recent years, reflecting a tight labour market.

The Plymouth Economic Intelligence Update noted that on 23 June 2025, the Department for Business and Trade published The UK's Modern Industrial Strategy and individual Sector Plans for eight key sectors that have the greatest growth potential and that will play a crucial role in supporting economic growth. These are: Advanced Manufacturing, Clean Energy Industries, Creative Industries, Defence, Digital and Technologies, Financial Services, Life Sciences and Professional and Business Services. The Plymouth Economic Intelligence Update stated that Plymouth has key strengths in Defence and opportunity to create a growth dividend from the announced £4.4bn defence investment.

The Plymouth Economic Intelligence Update stated that economic modelling using AMORE (an economic modelling tool) provides further insight into Defence and Marine industry data, and that in 2021, the Marine and Defence industries in Plymouth accounted for 14.1% and 6.7% of Plymouths GVA (£822.9m and £390.9m respectively).

The Plymouth Economic Intelligence Update stated that following the designation of Plymouth as the national centre for marine autonomy and given the announced future £4.4bn investment into the naval base, it is likely these industries will continue to grow and play a critical role in Plymouth's economic growth.

The Plymouth Economic Intelligence Update noted that Plymouth's economic strategy has identified high-value jobs in the city as those that drive GVA and demand high skills levels, and that increasing employee numbers in these highly productive sectors has the potential to increase Plymouth's overall productivity and help to close the persistent gap with national productivity.

The Plymouth Economic Intelligence Update stated that Plymouth is at almost full employment, with the proportion of people currently claiming universal credit stabilising at around 3.5%.

The Plymouth Economic Intelligence Update stated that the modelling conducted forecasts an increase of 15,000 in the total number of jobs needed in Plymouth over the next 10 years, but that due to the projected stagnant population growth over this same period, this increase in jobs demand will cause the overall gap between the number of local, working age and economically active population and the number of jobs to increase to 25,000 in 2035.

The Plymouth Economic Intelligence Update stated that the number of unique job vacancy postings shows an upward trend over the past 10 years, but that the latest figure does show a drop in the number of monthly postings, with just over 4,500 postings recorded in May 2025.

The Plymouth Economic Intelligence Update stated that the median weekly pay for total workers in Plymouth is £572.60 (2024); this has grown by 35.1% in the past decade but remains under both the national average (£619.50) and regional average (£575.60).

The Plymouth Economic Intelligence Update stated that the last 4 years of data from 2021 to 2024 show an upward trend for both the highest and lowest earners in Plymouth, showing an increase in average weekly pay.

The Plymouth Economic Intelligence Update stated that while overall productivity in Plymouth continues to grow, the rate of growth is slower than national averages and is likely limited due to the labour market constraints.

Productive Growth and High Value Jobs Update

The panel was scheduled to receive an update on the Productive Growth and High Value Jobs Pillar of the Plymouth Economic Strategy.

The Productive Growth and High Value Jobs Pillar Update stated that productivity provides a useful method for defining the scope of living standards as well as the competitiveness of the economy, and that over the long-term, productivity growth, alongside better-quality jobs, is generally accepted as the primary route to higher living standards.

The Productive Growth and High Value Jobs Pillar Update stated that Plymouth currently has a tight labour market and through growing the number of higher value jobs this could positively shift the city's economy.

The Productive Growth and High Value Jobs Pillar Update stated that Plymouth has comparatively high employment rates, is home to three universities and two world renowned research institutions, and has a plethora of strategic assets, but that despite this, productivity and wages lag behind national averages.

The Productive Growth and High Value Jobs Pillar Update stated that through this pillar the council will concentrate on driving economic output, focusing on sectors where they have natural economic competitive advantages, whether this is clusters, specialisms, knowledge base, assets or skills.

The Productive Growth and High Value Jobs Pillar Update identified the following sectors:

  • Marine and Defence
  • Advanced Manufacturing
  • Health and Health Technology
  • Creative and Immersive Digital

The Productive Growth and High Value Jobs Pillar Update stated that by focusing on productive growth, it is essential that the local training offer meets employer needs in higher value sectors, and that this strategy is therefore closely aligned to and complements key local skills strategies, including the updated Skills 4 Plymouth Plan, Local Skills Improvement Plan and the Plymouth and South Devon Freeport Skills Plan.

The Productive Growth and High Value Jobs Pillar Update stated that Growth Alliance Plymouth (GAP) has been created to maximise the opportunity for defence investment to support CASD1, whilst driving sustainable and inclusive growth, encouraging innovation, and building opportunities extending well beyond Plymouth city boundaries into the regional footprint. The Productive Growth and High Value Jobs Pillar Update stated that the aims and outcomes of GAP are to:

  • Address the skills and workforce agenda and remove barriers to employment.
  • Deliver the vital housing and transformational public realm needed to attract workforce.
  • Recognise the need for investment in infrastructure and natural environment (transport, health and culture).
  • Support the wider business ecosystem to encourage innovation and strong supply chains.
  • Address stubborn inequalities and inter-generational factors undermining social mobility.

The Productive Growth and High Value Jobs Pillar Update stated that the scale of the opportunity is that:

  • HMNB Devonport is the largest naval base in Western Europe and where the UK undertakes operational, training and maintenance activities for its naval fleet.
  • Home of Continuous At Sea Deterrent (CASD) £4.4 billion investment over 10 years.
  • Plymouth has a skills requirement, a need for 5,500 people over the next 10 years, made up of 1,800 entry level jobs and 3,700 experienced workers for Babcock alone.
  • Plus, at least an additional 2,000 construction workers (2,000 jobs min, profile raising to 4,250 in 2027).

The Productive Growth and High Value Jobs Pillar Update stated that the future of defence is changing, and that Plymouth is the National Centre for Marine Autonomy.

The Productive Growth and High Value Jobs Pillar Update stated that the universities have a pivotal role to play and their value proposition to the city and region is centred around:

  • Supporting economic growth and prosperity
  • Leading research, innovation and skills in key sectors defence, marine, health, environment, creative industries
  • Extending the City's international dimension - bi-lateral activities and students from c.130 countries, operations in four continents
  • Raising aspiration and opportunity for disadvantaged young people
  • Championing Plymouth as a place to live work and study

The Productive Growth and High Value Jobs Pillar Update listed 16 projects in the Plymouth Economic Strategy Delivery Plan that are primarily aligned to the Productive Growth and High Value Jobs Pillar.

Freeport Annual Update

The panel was scheduled to receive an annual update on the Plymouth and South Devon Freeport.

The Committee Report - PASD Freeport Annual Update stated that the Plymouth and South Devon (PASD) Freeport's second Annual Plan covered the period from 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025, and reflected a refreshed delivery plan, created in response to the Government's Autumn 2023 Statement announcement that the window to claim tax reliefs in English Freeports had been extended from five to ten years (until September 2031).

The Committee Report - PASD Freeport Annual Update listed the following year two objectives:

  • Creating investible sites
  • Reviewing and Implementing the Tax Site Management Policy
  • Landing Investment
  • Creating clusters and local economic growth
  • Ensuring Resilient Operations and Finance

The Committee Report - PASD Freeport Annual Update stated that over the course of the year, the Freeport team successfully activated the 2031 Delivery Plan and accelerated the seed capital programme at each of the Tax Sites, undertaking significant work on business cases and approvals for individual projects, and that PASD Freeport was one of the first Freeports to draw down its full £25m allocation from Government to deliver a suite of capital projects which are all now in flight.

The Committee Report - PASD Freeport Annual Update provided details of the following seed funding allocations:

  • Tax Site 1: South Yard and Ports
    • Plymouth City Council Princess Yachts Associated British Ports Cattewater Harbour Commissioners
      • Innovation Units Factory Extension Port Optimisation Port Enhancements
        • £3.556m £0.315m £1.3m £0.382m
  • Tax Site 2: Langage
    • Plymouth City Council Devon County Council Devon County Council Langage Energy Park Ltd Langage Energy Park Ltd
      • Beaumont Way Units Phase 1 a Spine Road Extension Pedestrian and Cycle Bridge Core Infrastructure Plot Access Road
        • £4.0m £4.0m £4.519m £0.925m £0.8m
  • Tax Site 3: Sherford
    • South Hams District Council Sherford Consortium
      • Land Assembly Access Road/Core Infrastructure
        • £3.7m £1.2m
  • Programme Management
    • Freeport Company
      • Strategic Programme Management
        • £0.303m

The Committee Report - PASD Freeport Annual Update stated that at South Yard, planning permission has now been secured for two innovation barns, and that elsewhere within the site, Princess Yachts has started its factory extension project, and the Freeport team has worked closely with the Ministry of Defence (MOD) and other strategic partners to support site optimisation.

The Committee Report - PASD Freeport Annual Update stated that at Langage, PCC's direct development at Beaumont Way is now well underway, and that to the north of the site, Langage Energy Park Ltd (LEPL) has begun its core infrastructure and plot access road projects, and that to the south of the site, the first phase of the Spine Road broke ground in March 2025 to unlock development in the remainder of the Tax Site.

The Committee Report - PASD Freeport Annual Update stated that at Sherford, the Sherford Consortium's access road and core infrastructure projects have commenced, and the land deal is near completion.

The Committee Report - PASD Freeport Annual Update stated that in response to demand, a request was submitted and approved by Government to refresh the Freeport's Gateway Policy to include advanced manufacturing and engineering as well as net zero tech, alongside the original focus on marine, defence and space.

The Committee Report - PASD Freeport Annual Update stated that having met with anchor tenants across the year to understand their priorities and assess where Freeport levers can add value, several bespoke pieces of work have been initiated to support future plans.

The Committee Report - PASD Freeport Annual Update stated that two Unlocking Growth Events have been delivered across the year, and that to date, four pre-lets have been agreed for the South Yard Oceansgate units, and that there have also been three strong enquiries for the Beaumont Way units.

The Committee Report - PASD Freeport Annual Update stated that the Freeport's three Advisory Boards (covering Trade & Investment, Innovation and Skills) have continued to drive the Freeport's supportive programmes, and that a cross-Advisory Board Symposium brought all three groups together for the first time in December to celebrate the year, consider areas for collaboration and start planning for 2025/6.

The Committee Report - PASD Freeport Annual Update stated that the core Freeport team has been restructured to provide additional senior level capacity, and that partner delivery objectives have been refined and, following a governance review, the University of Plymouth has been granted director nomination rights to join the Board, strengthening the governance structure.

The Committee Report - PASD Freeport Annual Update stated that a Financial Resilience Working Group was set up, overseen by the Chair of the Board, and has met frequently across the year, and that as part of this work, the Freeport's original financial model was refreshed to reflect the Tax Benefits Extension Delivery Plan.

The Committee Report - PASD Freeport Annual Update stated that with tax benefits extended until September 2031, the complete £25m of seed capital funding now drawn down, and a comprehensive infrastructure programme mobilised, the Annual Plan for 2025-6 will build on these foundations, prioritising delivery of the Tax Sites and securing investment, with clear focus on realising the potential retained business rates income of the three Tax Sites.

The Committee Report - PASD Freeport Annual Update stated that the focus will be on:

  • Site investment and delivery
  • End user investment
  • Good governance

Work Programme

The panel was scheduled to review its work programme for 2025/26.

The Growth Scrutiny Work Programme 2025-26 included the following agenda items:

  • Plan for Homes 4: Year 1 Progress Report
  • Economic Intelligence and Insight
  • Productive Growth and High Value Jobs (Economic Strategy Pillar1)
  • Freeport Annual Update
  • Market Recovery Action Plan
  • Chelson Meadow Solar Farm
  • Skills (Economic Strategy Pillar 5)
  • Inclusive Growth (Economic Strategy Pillar 2)
  • Port Strategy
  • Plymouth Plan Annual Report
  • The Box Annual Update
  • Sustainable Growth (Economic Strategy Pillar 3)
  • National Marine Park Annual Update
  • Plymouth Local Plan Next Steps and Timetable
  • Civic Pride and Regeneration (Economic Strategy Pillar 4)
  • Brand Strategy/Visitor Plan/Culture Plan Annual update
  • Strategic Heat Network
  • Active Travel
  • Bus Services Improvement Plan
  • Draft Net Zero Action Plan 2026-29
  • Draft Net Zero Route Map
  • Civic Centre
  • Local Transport Plan
  • Co-op Strategy
  • Commercial Estate
  • Plymouth Plan Full Council Motion

The Growth Scrutiny Action Log 25-26 included updates on the following:

  • Full report regarding for the aborted start to the Old Town Street and New George Street project.
  • Request for regular updates on the Habitat Banking Vehicle.
  • Recommended to the Environment Agency that they carry out winter pilots in the 3 bathing areas to improve water quality data and make this available to the public.
  • The Committee recommend to Cabinet that signage was increased and improved at the sea fronts when storm drains discharge.
  • A site visit would be organised for panel members to Tinside.
  • The Panel recommended developing a Climate Communications Plan to include making information more accessible via the Plymouth City Council Website.
  • The Panel recommended that the Cabinet Member for Environment and Climate Change seek to secure ratchet funding in future years and to ask Finance to review any future caps to ensure the money was set aside and could be added to.
  • Recommended that the relevant Cabinet Member enquired about a digital display system for water quality in the three swimming zones in Plymouth following up on a similar recommendation made during Water Quality Select Committee.
  • Recommended that the relevant Cabinet Member worked with officers at PCC and SWW to ensure that there is clear and consistent dialogue about the growth plans for the city and the possible impacts on SWW infrastructure.
  • Recommended to South West Water that the results of air quality impact assessments and strategies to reduce odours for all sewage treatment works (if appropriate) be shared with the local authority (including Panel members).

  1. CASD refers to Continuous At-Sea Deterrence, the Royal Navy's nuclear deterrent programme. 

Attendees

Profile image for Councillor Sarah Allen
Councillor Sarah Allen  Chair of Audit and Governance Committee •  Labour •  Peverell
Profile image for Councillor Jaime Bannerman
Councillor Jaime Bannerman  Labour •  Peverell
Profile image for Councillor Ian Darcy
Councillor Ian Darcy  Conservative •  Plympton St. Mary
Profile image for Councillor Jeremy Goslin
Councillor Jeremy Goslin  Labour •  Peverell
Profile image for Councillor Charlotte Holloway
Councillor Charlotte Holloway  Vice-Chair of the Natural Infrastructure and Growth Scrutiny Panel •  Labour •  Drake
Profile image for Councillor Josh McCarty
Councillor Josh McCarty  Labour •  St. Budeaux
Profile image for Councillor Lauren McLay
Councillor Lauren McLay  Leader of the Green Group •  The Green Party •  Plympton Chaddlewood
Profile image for Councillor Alison Raynsford
Councillor Alison Raynsford  Chair of the Chief Officer Disciplinary Panel •  Labour •  St. Peter and the Waterfront
Profile image for Councillor Steve Ricketts
Councillor Steve Ricketts  Chair of the Natural Infrastructure and Growth Scrutiny Panel •  The Independents •  Drake
Profile image for Councillor Matt Smith
Councillor Matt Smith  Labour •  Compton
Profile image for Councillor Kevin Sproston
Councillor Kevin Sproston  Labour •  Budshead
Profile image for Councillor Bill Stevens
Councillor Bill Stevens  Chair of Planning Committee •  Labour •  Devonport

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