Welcome
Welcome to our new Corporate Plan 2023 to 2027: ‘Building a better and fairer future’.
Following the local elections, which saw the Labour Party take majority control over the Council for the first time since 1995, we have prepared a new Corporate Plan setting out our revised priorities for the next four years.
We want to improve the quality of our housing and build new council houses for rent. We want to stimulate investment in the district, with vibrant town centres, enhanced green spaces and an inclusive local economy that delivers jobs and opportunities for everyone. We want to see our communities flourish, with a focus on improving health and well-being, raising skill levels, and supporting our most vulnerable residents. We are also responsible for future generations of the district’s residents, so we will reduce our carbon footprint whilst working towards becoming carbon neutral in our operations. We also want to make the Council more open, transparent, and inclusive.
This Corporate Plan will run until 2027 and has four strategic themes, with a fifth ambition for our Council underpinning them. These are:
- Improving our housing.
- Growing our economy.
- Protecting our environment.
- Supporting our communities.
- Modernising our Council.
Collectively, these themes add up to building a more environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable district. You can learn more about these themes and the actions supporting them in the following pages.
Our ambitions go beyond what we can deliver on our own, and we will, therefore, collaborate with our partners and communities to bring greater and lasting benefits to the district.
Like many councils across the country, after a decade of underfunding by Central government, we face significant financial constraints and uncertainties from the wider economic climate and the impact of local government finance reforms. In addition, we know that our businesses and communities are also facing pressures, such as the cost-of-living crisis, the local health, social and economic consequences of the pandemic and deep-rooted inequalities across the district.
Notwithstanding the tremendous challenges ahead, we remain committed to our values and to working to ensure the future prosperity of the district. We recognise that we have a crucial community leadership role in enabling our communities' long-term sustainability and resilience.
Your new Labour administration is ambitious for the district’s future, and we look forward to delivering the best services we can to our communities and businesses and building a better and fairer future for us all.
Councillor Kevin Mills, Leader of the Council.