Plymouth Economic Development Blog November/December 2024

I am David Draffan, Plymouth City Council’s, Service Director for Economic Development. I wrote a regular blog during Covid that was well received and as we have so much currently on in the department, I have decided to try and write a monthly(ish) blog to give people a more ‘under the bonnet’ view of the work we do. Whilst much of our work is very visible, I wanted to give an insight into some of the work that goes on behind the scenes to support businesses and grow our economy.?

The department has c 150 people, raises over ￡25m income annually (covering all our costs) and has secured on average over ￡30m grant funding / annum. We provide the following services for the Council; Land and Property, Regeneration and Growth, Economy and Investment (includes events), Freeport, & Oceansgate, National Marine Park, and the Box (includes Mount Edgcumbe).?

Since the last blog in September, it has felt like a bit of a whirlwind in Local Government. A combination of a new national Government, the annual process of setting a balanced budget (statutory requirement btw) and some major milestones for projects long in gestation. 3 main areas of activity have been occupying my mind over the past 8 weeks: 1) finding time to celebrate some successes, 2) the continuous process of project development 3) The work we are doing to ensure Plymouth is in prime position for a new labour government.?

So, making space to celebrate success is important and has a purpose, I think, in building confidence and civic pride. After 15 years in Local Government, I think it is fair to say that I never chose public service expecting a cheer leading section - I have always been intensely proud to work in Plymouth City Council. Its right that those of us who are funded by the public sector are transparently held to account and I have got more than comfortable with criticism. I think it is fair to say that as officers we hold our professional integrity highly and as such do have right to push back when the criticism is baseless or inaccurate. The best way to do this is to ensure we explain what we do. To this end celebrating the work we do and showcasing its complexity is an important part of the role. As is often said in local Government we do once and tell many times.?

So, this past 2 months has been great in that an unusually large number of milestones have been landed in a short period of time. Of course, every one of these projects has a very long tail and it is simply a nice co-incidence that they all fall off the pipeline at the same time. So over the past few weeks we have, with our brilliant partners, gone fully unconditional and started on site on the ￡23m sports led regeneration of the Brickfields Site - That’s a wrap: deal done for biggest sport and health investment in region | PLYMOUTH.GOV.UK. A project that for me started in 2015 working with Plymouth Albion and then Introducing Andrew Parkinson and Simon Hallet in 2019 to unlock what I believe is one of the most transformational deals I have been involved with in the city.?

We have largely completed our ￡18m directly funded and delivered district centre scheme at Derriford – a new heart for the north of the city - anchored by a new massive M&S store - Big day for Derriford as new units handed over | PLYMOUTH.GOV.UK. This deal started back in 2012 when we completed the UK’s only RDA asset transfer to a Council to secure the land, the subsequent development of Plymouth International Medical and Technology Park, securing the Range’s global head office in Plymouth working directly with Chris Dawson for many years – Elsie Margret House after his mum - developing out the 5th phase of Plymouth Science Park, completing our 9th hybrid office direct development at Derriford and then securing a new M&S (after an aborted attempt with Waitrose). We have also seen smaller schemes start on site at Tinside linked to the National Marine Park - Tinside refurbishment to kickstart ￡10 million waterfront regeneration | PLYMOUTH.GOV.UK and a major milestone with the refurbishment of the Guildhall as a new music and entrainment venues - Fab facelift for Guildhall revealed as scaffolding comes down | PLYMOUTH.GOV.UK .?

Across just these few schemes the Economic Development department has delivered over ￡100m of investment that wouldn’t have otherwise happened. Added to other schemes already happening such as the completion of major improvement works at Millbay Docks - Strengthening works to wharf at Millbay are completed | PLYMOUTH.GOV.UK - and start on site at the new community health facilities in Colin Campbell Court - New Community Diagnostic Centre construction starts | PLYMOUTH.GOV.UK – That’s a lot of jobs, in a lot of firms up and down Plymouth. And it makes me very proud indeed!?

As you have hopefully got the idea by now, in Economic Development, complex projects take a very long time to assemble and complete. To ensure that we have a continuous pipeline its essential we are always looking 5 to 10 years ahead. When I took up this job in 2009, we didn’t have a strong pipeline of oven ready projects, so when the funding flowed (as it always does) we weren’t ready and as a consequence we kept missing out on the development cycle – one reason why the original Drake Cirus was a 1990s design built in the mid-2000s. So, it is no surprise that project pipeline and project development are a constant focus for us week in and week out within the department.

?So this month we have submitted planning permission for our latest phase of development at Oceansgate. Our innovation barns will be places for business, in the supply chain of Babcock and the Navy, to innovate and create - Next chapter for Oceansgate submitted to planners | PLYMOUTH.GOV.UK. We have started demolition of various buildings on Tavistock Placed, opposite the Box, funded by the Brownfield Land Release Fund. We acquired an old social club adjacent to old Museum buildings to protect a future cultural development opportunity as part of a strategy to create a strong cultural quarter around the University, Arts University Plymouth and the Box. And we have taken a major step forward with the redevelopment of the Civic Centre this month in appointing key consultants - https://www.plymouth.gov.uk/news/next-steps-city-centre-college-campus?.

The minute you stop this pipeline development, or lose the in-house capacity to do, so you will stall. In Plymouth we have been constantly developing future projects building a ￡1bn pipeline for the next ten years. This will serve us well going forward when combined with our unique in house delivery capability.

?So the other major issue this month has been ensuring that Plymouth remains in the very best possible position to secure funding from the new Labour Government. We believe we have a unique opportunity as a city to deliver against the new Labour missions - Mission-driven government – The Labour Party ?- particularly given the multibillion defence investment happening in Plymouth right now to enable the City to maintain the new Dreadnaught class submarines. This scale and length of investment creates a platform for transforming the city in areas such as skills, housing and job.?

There are a few important things to consider. The first is ensure that any public money that you’re given is spent well and never ever handed back. This is why we secured ￡18.5m Levelling Up Funding in 2023 because, mainly, district councils had no capacity to deliver and ultimately handed it back to government. As I have mentioned before, we have won ￡100m from various sources that need to be committed by 2026. So, this month I was delighted that we were the first freeport to have contracted all our ￡25m Freeport seed capital – for Plymouth this means 2 new major new direct developments in Oceansgate and Langage. We have also committed Future High Street Fund funding towards the Civic this month; we are working really hard on drawing down our Levelling Up funding and we remain in very close contact with Homes England about accessing Brownfield, Infrastructure and Land fund.?

The other thing that is important, is ensuring that our strategic frameworks are up to date. This month we took 2 really important plans to our Growth scrutiny committee. The first, being part of our new economic strategy, establishing an approach to the development of our delivery plans setting out our investment priorities that we will pitch to Government for strategic funding - Plymouth Economic Strategy Update. The second report being our first ever ports strategy. Ports’ importance to city highlighted in new strategy | PLYMOUTH.GOV.UK. I am really excited about the port strategy, and did you know - Top fact – that Plymouth employs more people in the marine sector than any other local authority area in the country? The city’s marine and defence sector employs 20,110 people – that’s 18 per cent of the city’s work force, more than Southampton and Barrow in Furness, for instance. The draft strategy can be found here - ?Plymouth Ports Strategy Draft.?

Proper strategic plans with a strong evidence base are part of any government assessment for major grant funding, they ensure that as a city we are all clear on our priorities and de-risk investment from the private sector. Any city that doesn’t have these ready will not be getting any large-scale funding. Its that simple. So, getting ahead on these issues is really important.

?The final element in managing the transition between government administrations is maintaining quality relationships with the civil servants supported by appropriate lobbying and visits. In the past months, we have hosted numerous senior visits from MHCLG, DBT, MOD, Crown Estate, Homes England, Arts Council, National Lottery, NHS England and many more. All our visitors have been struck by the scale and opportunity by the defence investment I mentioned earlier. So, if you take Homes England as an example, the demand provided by a long-time pipeline of defence work underpins the business case for large scale housing investment. By developing strong and trusting relationships with senior officials we can ensure that Plymouth is well known by decisions makers and the opportunities are well understood.

?So I hope this gives you a sense of a little of what’s been going on in the department since October. Next month I am hopeful of being able to share further announcements on the Civic and Levelling Up Fund projects. Plus we will be putting the Councils 25/26 budget to bed.

?So to finish off this month, we are always focussed on having fun. So this Autumn we have had a great event at Seafest - Seafest 2024 to make waves with Plymouth Sound National Marine Park uplift | PLYMOUTH.GOV.UK, ?the return of Bonfire Night on the Hoe and launched the new amazing autumn programme at the Box featuring Turner and Ingrid Pollard to name a few - https://www.theboxplymouth.com/events/exhibitions/land-sea-sky Bonfire Night - Major Event, Plymouth - Visit Plymouth .?

There is so much more that goes on day to day within the department and I cannot tell you how brilliant the team are in delivering all this amazing stuff for your city and mine.?

Thanks as ever for reading and as ever please let me know if this is useful. I genuinely hope so.?

Thanks David

?

?

?

?

?