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

To confirm the minutes of the previous meeting held on 03 December 2025.

The minutes of the meeting held on 03 December 2025 were agreed 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 Chair’s urgent business. 

Councillor Evans OBE (Leader of the Council), supported by Capt. Richard Allen (Harbour Master & Chief Executive, Cattewater Harbour), David Draffan (Service Director for Economic Development), David Lea (Environmental Health/Trading Standards Officer), Lauren Paton (Economic Development Officer) and Amanda Ratsey (Service Director for Team Plymouth) introduced the item and highlighted: 

1. Plymouth Ports offered a broad range of uses, including the defence industry, commercial port operations and leisure users; 

i.         Plymouth Ports dealt with 1.983 million tons of cargo in 2022; 

2. Brittany Ferries transported 116,000 passengers to Santander and 231,000 passengers to Roscoff in 2023; 
    

3. Turnchapel Wharf hosted 22 businesses, which acted as a centre for Marine Autonomy businesses;  

4. HMNB Devonport housed around 10% of Plymouth’s total workforce and contributed about 14% of total GVA to the city; 

5. Plymouth also housed 1,400 Gold Anchor Berths of marine anchorage, across multiple marinas in the city; 

6. Plymouth had a long history of hosting sailing events, which included the Transat, Fastet, the Americas Cup and SailGP; 

7. Plymouth had 6,402 hectares of space designated as a special area of conservation, 1,955 hectares of special protection area, 1,530 hectares of marine conservation zone, and Plymouth was the home to the UK’s first National Marine Park; 

8. Plymouth had grown as a destination for cruise ships, where the numbers of cruise ships visiting had increased; 

9. The marine and defence sector had been a catalyst for growth, and employed 18% of the city’s workforce, and contributed 22% of the city’s GVA; 

10. Plymouth was ranked the highest in the country for the level of marine employment, outcompeting Southampton and Barrow-in-Furness; 

2. Plymouth Port underpinned the vast amount of this employment and had to be seen as a key economic driver for the city; 

3. Work had been undertaken to develop skills in the local area; 

9. An in-depth skills needs analysis had been undertaken, which looked at marine autonomy, defence skills and advanced manufacturing and engineering, which the first phases established a need for more engineers, and skills such as coding, marine engineers, those who could work in a marine environment and project managers; 

4. A call was currently live for the Defence Technical College of Excellence, which closed on 16 February 2026, in which the Council worked closely with Plymouth City College, who led the proposal; 

i. The Council shared their evidence base with Plymouth City College, staffing to support the bid writing and had worked closely with the Ministry of Defence (MOD), Babcock and the wider marine and defence sector. A response would be expected in Spring 2026; 

5. The Blue Green Skills Hub development, based in the Civic Centre, was raised to highlight the greater visibility of opportunities in the city; 

6. Research on Marine Autonomy, jointly commissioned with the Freeport around barriers for the sector was raised, which covered skills barriers, and availability of waterfront land for employment; 

1. Strong planning framework already existed which protected employment land with waterside space; 
    

2. More land was needed to meet the current demand that was coming through; 

7. Work was underway alongside the National Ship Building Office and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 37.

Councillor Evans OBE (Leader of the Council), supported by David Draffan (Service Director for Economic Development), Sarah Gibson (Chief Executive Plymouth Waterfront Partnership), Craig Moore (Vice-Chair Plymouth Waterfront Partnership), Patrick Knight (Economy Partnerships and Regeneration Manager) introduced the item and highlighted: 

1. Plymouth was an early adopter of Business Improvement Districts (BIDs), starting in 2005, and had the first BID established outside of London, with the Waterfront BID established in 2012; 

2. Flavour Fest, Sea Fest and Pirates Weekend had started through the BID, and had become pillars of the city’s cultural calendar; 

3. The Plymouth City Centre Company had secured its renewed mandate, and this was now time for Plymouth Waterfront Partnership to be brought to ballot; 

4. Plymouth Waterfront Partnership (PWP) had been essential in keeping the waterfront as the jewel of the Britain’s Ocean City, and that it attracted new residents and talent to the city; 

5. The 2027 to 2032 PWP Business Plan set itself to be a driving force in attracting new residents to the city, and filling the 25,000 new jobs Plymouth was forecast to gain over the next few decades; 

6. As a key stakeholder in the BID, Plymouth City Council had an opportunity to shape the mandate of PWP, to be focused on a waterfront that is clean, cared for, supportive of the hospitality sector, a champion for the evening and nighttime economy, and to support non-hospitality businesses;  

7. PWP acted as the voice of close to a thousand businesses across seven different sectors, from hospitality to finance and luxury yacht building, with a 24/7 and 365 days-a-year economy; 

8. Since, 2012, the PWP BID had added value to the Council’s services and coordinated business investment within the evening and nighttime economy, events, public realm enhancements, water links, signage and orientation and city marketing; 

9. More than £4.5 million had been invested from businesses, and the BID had won regional and national awards, and was considered a best-practice model within the sector; 

10. The BID acted as a collaborative partner, having coordinated plans and priorities alongside the Council, Destination Plymouth, Plymouth City Centre Company BID and Plymouth Culture; 

11. PWP had recently won gold for a planting scheme introduced to the waterfront, launched the Love Plymouth Card alongside Plymouth City Centre Company BID, and intended to continue to run events; 

1. Since 2012, Plymouth City Centre Company BID had contributed more than £3 million towards events and marketing for the city; 

12. In the 2022 renewal of the BID, PWP took in Drake’s Island; 

13. In this renewal, PWP looked to bring in businesses in the Barbican Leisure Park; 

9. This was being considered due to the businesses being visitor facing in their offer, and their location acted as a gateway to the waterfront from Gdynia Way; 

14. PWP was keen to focus on the democratic right of the businesses in the area to vote for, against or abstain from voting on the BID; 

15. There were 320 BIDs in place across the United Kingdom; 

16. The renewal plan was currently under consultation, which began with a survey for businesses,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 38.

Glenn Caplin-Grey (Strategic Director for Growth) and Hannah Chandler-Whiting (Principal Democratic, Governance and Scrutiny Officer) explained: 

1. A visit to Cattewater Harbour would be organised; 

2. A visit to the top of the Civic Centre prior to the next panel meeting due to an item covering the Civic Centre was planned had been arranged. 

The Panel noted its work programme. 

The Panel noted its action log.