(a)        To receive announcements from the Lord Mayor, Chief Executive, Service Director for Finance or Service Director for Legal;

 

(b)        To receive announcements from the Leader, Cabinet Members or Committee Chairs.

The Lord Mayor presented a series of awards recognising outstanding achievements across the city.

 

a)    The first award was the Disability Confident Leader Status Level 3, the highest tier of the UK Government’s disability inclusion initiative. The award was presented to the Council for its commitment to recruiting, retaining, and developing disabled people. Shaun Badmin and Claire Scoffield accepted the award on behalf of the Council; 

 

b)    The Old Town Street and New George Street regeneration project was awarded Infrastructure Project of the Year and Integration and Collaborative Working at the Constructing Excellence South West Awards. The project revitalised the area, creating jobs, supporting small businesses, and enhancing local skills. Martin Ivatt and Catherine Arthurs accepted the award;

 

c)    Broadland Gardens won Residential Project of the Year (35 homes and under) at the Mitchelmores Property Awards. Judges praised the creative use of modular pod extensions, which allowed homes to adapt to occupants’ changing needs. Joe McCarthy and Tim Thomas accepted the award;

 

d)    The Park Bereavement Service Project received Client of the Year at the Constructing Excellence South West Awards. The judges commended the client’s passion, attention to detail, and prioritisation of bereaved families’ needs;

 

e)    The North Prospect Regeneration Project won Best Project and Best in the Region at the RTPI South West Awards for Planning Excellence. The 15-year regeneration initiative was delivered in partnership with Plymouth Community Homes. Carly Francis and Neil Mawson accepted the award;

 

f)     Theresa Brooks received the Rising Star Award from the Empty Homes Network for her innovative work in tackling long-term empty homes in Plymouth;

 

g)    The Housing Delivery Team won the Meeting the Challenge Award at the Empty Homes Network for their innovative approach to addressing long-term empty properties. Theresa Brooks accepted the award; 

 

h)    The Supporting Internships Project won the Diversity and Inclusion Award at the LGC Awards. The Discovery College’s 100% success rate was highlighted as a model of structured, individualised support and strong partnerships. Tina Brinkworth and Jane Hunt accepted the award; 

 

i)     The Your Future Programme won the Silver Award for SEND and Inclusive Practice at the Pearson National Teaching Awards. The initiative supported young people aged 19–25, and some aged 16–18, with education, health care plans, and additional learning needs through a combination of short breaks, qualifications, and life experiences;

 

j)     Plymouth’s Habitat Bank won the Environmental Services Award at the LGC Awards. The initiative created a local market for biodiversity units, helping developers meet planning requirements while delivering environmental and community benefits. Chris Avent and Caroline Haynes accepted the award. 

 

Councillor Tudor Evans OBE made the following announcements:

 

k)    A series of major announcements affecting Plymouth over the past 12 months. He stated that these announcements reflected completely game-changing levels of investment from national Government, including: 

 

                     i.         £4.4 billion investment in defence;

                    ii.        7,000 new jobs linked to the dockyard; 

                   iii.         25,000 additional job opportunities projected by 2035; 

                   iv.         Plymouth featured as a case study in the new Industrial Strategy; 

                    v.        The Babcock Defence Dividend bringing 2,000 employees into the city centre;

                   vi.         Plymouth recognised as the national centre for marine autonomy; 

                  vii.        Arrival of new businesses such as Helsing;

                 viii.         A Memorandum of Understanding with Homes England for 10,000 new homes; 

                   ix.         £519 million investment in strategic transport infrastructure; 

                    x.        Over £300 million investment in public transport infrastructure; 

                   xi.         £4 million public investment in the Civic Centre;

                  xii.        A new city centre college campus focused on blue-green skills; 

                xiii.         The opening of the first phase of the Armada Way scheme;

                xiv.         Development of a new health hub and the start of the Community Diagnostic Centre; 

                  xv.        £73 million investment through the Freeport; 

                       xvi.             £3 billion investment at Derriford Hospital.

 

l)     The announcement by the Secretary of State for Defence, John Healey, that Plymouth would be one of five UK defence growth deal areas, receiving an initial share of £250 million over five years. He noted that Plymouth was the only city included in the deal, with other areas being Wales, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and South Yorkshire; 

 

m)  The newly launched Team Plymouth (formerly the Growth Alliance Plymouth) would strengthen collaboration between the Ministry of Defence, Babcock, the university sector, businesses, and the Council to foster innovation and high quality jobs. The strategic partnership aimed to position Plymouth as a leader in defence, marine autonomy, and advanced manufacturing;

 

n)    The defence growth deal investment would support initiatives including: 

 

                               i.             Strengthening local skills initiatives with a focus on STEM outreach and training in electrical engineering, renewable energy systems, nuclear operations, and autonomy;

 

                             ii.            Driving innovation through the Advanced Marine Technology Hub at the University of Plymouth;

 

                   iii.         Investing in local infrastructure to support the wider defence ecosystem;

 

                           iv.             Supporting the partnership with Homes England to deliver 10,000 new homes. 

 

o)    Paid tribute to Tracey Lee (Chief Executive) and Amanda Ratsey (Economic Development) for their work on these projects over the past two years; 

 

p)    Completion of the £23 million investment at ABP Port and commencement of a £5 million investment in shore power;

 

q)    Near completion of the Community Diagnostic Centre;

 

r)    Signing of a new agreement between University Hospitals Plymouth and Plymouth Science Park for a health campus;

 

s)     Progress on direct development at Langage in the Freeport;

 

t)     Completion of the Tinside refurbishment and on-site at Mount Batten Centre;

 

u)    Completion of Derriford District Centre;

 

v)    Announcement of a new Beryl Cook show in January 2026;

 

w)   Hosting of Jeremy Deller’s “Hello Sailor” at Tinside and Trafalgar Square;

 

x)    Support for the fishing industry and a summer of events, including the upcoming Greasy Pole competition. 

 

Councillor Cresswell (Cabinet Member for Education, Apprenticeships and Skills) made the following announcements: 

 

y)    Opening of three school-based nurseries in September and one additional nursery (Boringdon) in January 2026;

 

z)    Two new private nursery settings were also due to open in January 2026, providing 277 early years childcare spaces;

 

aa)  Development of resources to support practitioners and families in relation to attendance across early years settings;

 

bb)Collaboration with the Department for Education on national attendance campaigns;

 

cc)  Positive trends in educational attainment across all key stages, with disadvantaged pupils outperforming national benchmarks.

 

Councillor Dann (Cabinet Member for Customer Experience, Sport, Leisure and HR and OD) spoke on behalf of Councillor Briars-Delve (Cabinet Member for Environment and Climate Change) and provided the following announcements: 

 

dd)Grass cutting improvements, with six full cuts in 2025 compared to three in 2023 and complaints around grass cutting had halved;

 

ee)Investment in new ride-on mowers and manual weed removal;

 

ff)    Flood preparedness, including gully clearance and emergency response to extreme rainfall on 28–29 August;

 

gg)  Food waste collection project progressing towards a full business case, with phased rollout starting March 2026, before a full rollout in the summer of 2026. There would be ten specialist food waste vehicles with nine weekly rounds with lots of kitchen curb side caddies and communications to Plymouth residents.

 

Councillor Stephens (Cabinet Member for Strategic Planning and Infrastructure) made the following announcements:

 

hh)There were significant flooding impacts from the August 2025 storm, with 311 reports of flooding and 115 properties affected. It was reported that there was 56mm of rain between 10pm on 28 August and 1am on 29 August, including 42.3 mm of rain in a single hour between 11am and midnight;

 

ii)    The Council had routinely inspected 12,900 gullies and emptied 8,840 as part of the planned cyclical cleaning activity;

 

jj)    The teams responsible closely monitored weather forecasts and would attend the 50+ known hotspots ahead of any heavy rain expected;

 

kk)The Council attended 61 emergency out of hours call outs;

 

ll)    On-going flood alleviation projects, included:  

 

                     I.        Trefusis Park flood relief scheme (completion expected April 2026). 

                    II.        Western Mill Village property flood protection (installation due October). 

                   III.        St. Leven flood relief project (public consultation planned for autumn 2025). 

                  IV.         Stonehouse tidal flood study (completion expected November 2025). 

                   V.         Arnold’s Point tidal flood alleviation scheme (construction planned to start spring 2026). 

 

mm)              The Royal Parade bus improvement scheme was progressing well with activities focussed on area’s in front of the shops;

 

nn)Plymotion supported bus users in late August and early September to help school students ahead of the new term;

 

oo)Cot Hill works were underway with the second phase being two weeks ahead of schedule. This would mean changes to traffic management that were planned for 06 October would be in place for 22 September 2025;

 

pp)Improvements to public transport links to the Park Crematorium, with Stagecoach service 19 to begin serving the new stop from 21 September. 

 

Councillor Aspinall (Cabinet Member for Health and Adult Social Care) made the following announcements:

 

qq)There had been the launch of the ‘Plymouth Protects’ vaccination campaign to encourage uptake of flu and COVID vaccines to help protect residents during the winter months;

 

rr)  Plymouth would be celebrating the International Day of Older Persons on 01 October 2025, with the theme ‘Building Belonging’;

 

ss)   There would be an event at Tinside Lido on 02 October to mark the Lido’s 90th anniversary and also to promote social connections for older people;

 

tt)   Adult Safeguarding Week would take place between 17–21 November 2025), with the theme being prevention. Activities to raise awareness of abuse, neglect, and exploitation would take place;

 

uu)Residents who were worried that an adult was experiencing abuse or neglect could either report this via www.plymouth.gov.uk/reportabuse or call the council on 01752 680000.

 

Councillor Laing (Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Children’s Social Care, Culture and Communications) made the following announcements:

 

vv)  Foster for Plymouth had launched its third constellation in Cornwall with the programme supporting 25 fostering household and over 40 children. The mockingbird model provided an extended family model to support fostering families through a constellation consisting of a central hub him supporting several satellite homes or other foster carers;   

 

ww)               The Box celebrated its fifth birthday on 05 September 2025, with over 1,700 attendees and positive public engagement.