About our corporate plan
Our Corporate Plan sets the direction for Dover District Council. It will help us turn ambition into action and work towards our vision of building a better and fairer future.
Our vision, aims, and priority activities
This Corporate Plan sets out our vision for the district and the Council over the next four years. It describes our aims and the priority activities we will focus on delivering.
Our Corporate Plan does not try to capture everything we do – instead, it provides a framework for our decisions – how we prioritise and allocate the resources we have available to achieve these priorities. It is the key strategy from which our budget, service plans, and individual objectives cascade.
We have centred this Corporate Plan around our vision of ‘building a better and fairer future’. This vision recognises the many and varied strengths of the district but also that we, and our partners, have a role in intervening where particular challenges exist to ensure that individuals, businesses, and communities can reach their full potential.
The strategic themes are interdependent, allowing for alignment across the themes and ensuring that no theme operates in isolation.
By defining a clear set of ambitions and commitments, our Corporate Plan also helps residents hold us accountable for our performance and challenge us to improve. By aligning our resources and activities to the Corporate Plan, we can focus on turning public money into results for our communities.
The Corporate Plan informs other key strategies and plans, whether Council documents or those of our partners. These documents vary widely in purpose, scope, and timescale. The Corporate Plan does not replace these other documents but should shape them whenever they are updated.
We are committed to ensuring sound governance principles and management practices across all business activities to ensure we do the right things openly, honestly, and transparently.
Although our aims will likely remain constant over the medium term, the rapidly changing environment within which we operate means we will review the plan regularly. This review allows us to respond to new emerging issues and take advantage of new funding opportunities with new projects and programmes of work.
Whilst this Corporate Plan focuses primarily on the next four years, we also look ahead to the longer term, ensuring our vision remains fit for future generations.
You can find details of all our services on our website: www.dover.gov.uk.
A sense of place
In addition to the aims and ambitions you would expect to see in a Corporate Plan, we are keen to extend our role as a ‘leader of place’.
We aspire to promote the district as a distinct location; a leading destination to live, work, visit, learn, and invest - with excellent services that meet local needs.
We will also advocate on behalf of the district and public service provision generally, using our influence as a Council for the broader good of the district, its residents, visitors, businesses, and communities.
Building a better and fairer future is the focus of our vision – one that is greener and healthier, where people are actively engaged in their communities and can benefit from opportunities that arise.
All of this contributes towards the sense of place that makes the district distinct and gives people the confidence to say they are proud to live here, that we provide good quality services, offer value for money and that they are satisfied with how we run things.
Our commitment to equality, diversity, and inclusion for all residents
This Corporate Plan is inclusive, and we want to help improve the quality of life and life chances for everyone in the district. We are committed to being a fair, compassionate, and inclusive Council that genuinely values difference and makes everyone feel safe and belong.
We will demonstrate this commitment by delivering accessible, fair services as an employer, provider of services and community leader. By showing we value all aspects of the community, we are strengthening it.
We celebrate diversity and the contribution different groups make to the district. This commitment is about everything we do and every decision we make. We do not discriminate against someone because of perceived differences. It also means that we take an active role as a leader in the community and remove barriers to participation and access for all members of the community.
We can do this by implementing robust policies. For example:
- Taking appropriate action when we identify unlawful discrimination.
- Countering misinformation and rumours linked to immigration and particular groups that feed negative stereotypes and prejudices and reinforce hostile attitudes.
- Consulting with community groups, such as disability awareness groups.
- Supporting and promoting events such as Pride Month.