Councillors will be asked to make any declarations of interest in respect of items on the agenda.

The following declarations were made:

To confirm the minutes of the previous meeting held on 09 July 2025.

The Panel agreed the minutes of the meeting held on 09 July 2025 as an accurate record.

To receive reports on business which in the opinion of the Chair, should be brought forward for urgent consideration.

There were no items of urgent business, but the Chair did mention how interesting a recent visit to the dockyard for Panel members had been.

Councillor Cresswell (Cabinet Member for Education, Skills and Apprenticeships) introduced the item and highlighted:

a)    The Growth Alliance Plymouth was formed as a partnership between Plymouth City Council, Babcock, and the Ministry of Defence (MOD), now transitioning to be known as “Team Plymouth”.

Victoria Cope (Programme Manager) and Toby Hall (Funding and Partnership Manager) also made an introduction which included the following points:

b)    The MOD had committed £4.4 billion in long-term investment in Devonport Dockyard, representing a once-in-a-generation opportunity for the city;

c)    The Team Plymouth partnership aimed to ensure sustainable growth and avoid economic imbalance;

d)    The aims and outcomes had been aligned with the Plymouth Economic Strategy;

e)    A 50-year defence programme would require a future workforce, including individuals who were not born yet or currently in primary education;

f)     Devonport was the only UK site with deep-water capacity for submarine maintenance, making it critical to national defence;

g)    Evidence-based planning had identified barriers to growth and skills attainment, forming the foundation of the programme;

h)    A projected shortfall of 25,000 workers over the next decade had been identified, with the current working-age population unable to meet future demand;

i)     Monthly job vacancies averaged 2,500, with growth across healthcare, hospitality, education and engineering;

j)     Skills commitments include collaboration between schools, further education institutions, and employers to support progression and upskilling;

k)    Commissioned research by Stantec was underway to identify specific skills needs;

l)     Aspirations include flexibility in apprenticeship levy use and further government support.

Supported by Councillor Evans OBE (Leader of the Council), in response to questions, the following was discussed:

m)  The rebranding to Team Plymouth reflected broader partnerships across the city and region, and it followed a government preferred model;

n)    Immediate priorities were governance, delivery planning and funding bids;

o)    A written response would be provided about whether military communications were to be improved within Devonport dockyard ACTION;

p)    More information would be provided with regards to data on the specific job roles that would make up the 25,000 additional workers needed in Plymouth within the next 10 years ACTION;

q)    Plymouth had a desire to become a pilot area for the apprenticeship levy and use that as an investment in skills;

r)    Support for displaced workers due to automation and artificial intelligence (AI) was being considered when looking to the future, but more detail was anticipated as part research projects;

s)     A project in Barrow had worked with SEET (Seeking Education, Employment or Training) young people, and the feasibility to duplicating that project in Plymouth was being looked into.

Paul Fanshawe (City College Plymouth), supported by Councillor Cresswell, gave a presentation relating to further education and highlighted:

t)     It was critical to ensure that children, young people and residents had the skills needed now and, in the future, to access future high-level jobs;

u)    Plymouth City College trained over 11,000 students annually, including 3,500 16–18 year olds and 1,600 apprentices;

v)    Plymouth City College delivered education from pre-entry to BSc level, with strong  ...  view the full minutes text for item 13.

It was mentioned that:

a)    An item on the Plan for Nature and People would come to the next meeting as it was timely.

The Panel agreed to note its work programme.

It was confirmed that:

a)    The Tinside visit had initially been pencilled in for September 2025, but this was likely delayed and a date would be confirmed within the next week.

The Panel agreed to note its work programme.