Foreword by Cllr Carol Dean, Leader of Tamworth Borough Council and Stephen Gabriel, Chief Executive 

We are proud to present our corporate plan for 2025 to 2030 - the strategy which sets out the strategic goals and key priorities to achieve our vision Building a Better Tamworth. With a new Chief Executive and recently formed Cabinet and cohort of councillors elected in May 2024, this is our first opportunity to share our long term aims and ambitions for the borough. Over the next 5 years we face some significant challenges but also some great opportunities to make Tamworth better. In that time, we aim to create and maintain a community that embraces change, welcomes diversity, and seek ways to bring communities together.

We have engaged as broadly as possible to develop our Corporate Plan, holding surveys and drop-in sessions to help us to identify and prioritise the outcomes, seeking feedback from specific groups and communities. In setting our budget to deliver this plan we also undertake an annual resident survey to ensure we involve you in determining where to invest our resources to achieve our priorities. The most recent one, carried out in October 2024, helped to set the budget for the coming year and our Medium-Term Financial Strategy, which helps us plan our finances over the life of the plan. 

Residents have consistently told us that they want neighbourhoods to be cleaner and safer, for us to operate efficiently and actively respond to their needs. Greater prosperity for our communities and local businesses is a universal aspiration. Alongside our statutory obligations to collect council tax, manage development and administer key government regulations, other local priorities, like protecting the environment, community cohesion, developing skills and affordable housing are important to improving life in Tamworth. Whilst we may not be in control of many of these outcomes, our role in providing clear leadership and support to all those working in our borough is key to ensuring they are delivered for our residents and communities. 

Due to reductions in central government funding and increasing inflationary pressures, difficult decisions must be taken around what services beyond our statutory minimum we continue to fund with the limited money we have available. While these decisions will be hard, we are committed to engaging with residents and partners on how we can mitigate their impact. We want to ensure long-term financial sustainability for the council, address the inequalities and disparities that exist across neighbourhoods and continue to create the opportunities for our communities and residents to thrive. This will mean working differently to how we have in the past.

This plan will drive the council to address the priorities identified within it as well as work closely with partner organisations who may be better placed to achieve them. We have worked hard to ensure this plan reflects the priorities of our community, so together we can build a better Tamworth.