Place Directorate service plan for 2026 to 2027

Council context

This service plan describes how our directorate is working towards the delivery of the Council Plan goals. It presents the first year of strategic activity.

Our strategic actions focus on achieving the goals within the 3 priorities of the plan and activity on how we will be an ambitious, resilient and sustainable organisation.

Throughout the plan there are cross-cutting principles that will underpin the work that is delivered. More information about these strategies can be found online:

• Equality Scheme
• Bracknell Forest Health and Wellbeing Strategy (PDF, 9.4 MB)
• Climate Change Strategy

The full Council Plan 2023 to 2027 is also available online.

Service context​

The directorate’s primary aim is to create a safe, healthy, well managed and planned borough which responds to the needs of the population and grows sustainably.

The work of the teams helps contribute to net zero, improvements in population health and creating a successful place to live, work and relax.

Service delivery is set against the context of reducing funding and increasing demand.

The service seeks to undertake its duties in an effective and efficient way responding to residents, businesses, and the wider legislative context within which the services work.

Planning, Transport, Public Health and Economic Development all have key metrics that will be reported nationally.

Current climate​

Areas of focus

Over the next year Biodiversity Net Gain will become a key focus, alongside our work with the Crown Estate regarding future improvements to The Look Out Discovery Centre.​

A continued increase in funding for road maintenance will be a priority for the Transport Engineering and Reactive Maintenance teams within Highways and Transport.​

The council remains engaged in the Berkshire Prosperity Board and the directorate continues to lead the work to create improved prosperity across the Berkshire geography.

Devolution to create a new Combined Strategic Mayoral Authority (CSMA) remains a high-profile area of work. To create a proposal for the government to consider, we will develop and analyse data and prepare it with other local authority partners.

Work to demolish the High Street car park, and work towards creating development proposals for the Southern Gateway site will be an important activity for teams in the directorate over the next 12 months.

Completion of an Asset Management Strategy in 2025 sets the strategic objectives and plans for defined asset classes (operational, community, commercial) that are aligned with the delivery of council-wide efficiencies. It will lay the foundation for financial sustainability in 2026 to 2027 at a time of budgetary uncertainty. This targeted focus will be the key to unlocking a number of the directorate’s service plan ambitions, with feasibility plans in 2026 to 2027 and execution in 2027 to 2028.

The delivery of the new Youth Employment Hub, funded by the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) is a priority for 2026 to 2027.

Over the next year Biodiversity Net Gain will become a key focus of work, along with work with the Crown Estate regarding future improvement to The Look Out.​

A planned increase in funding for road maintenance will continue to be a focus for the transport engineering and reactive maintenance teams within highways and transport.​

The council remains engaged in the Berkshire Prosperity Board. This will work to create improved prosperity across the Berkshire geography. The work will be led by Place.

Devolution to create a new Combined Authority is a key area of focus, with the development of data and creation of a proposal for Government to consider, to be prepared with other local authority partners.

Work to demolish the High Street car park and work towards creating development proposals for the Southern Gateway site will be a key focus for teams in the directorate over the next 12 months.

Completion of  an Asset Mangement Plan will create a managed approach to the councils operational, commercial and out of borough estate.

Areas of change

The directorate will see changes over the next year including:

• the enabling of the community asset transfer to underpin the emerging Communities Strategy, with a focus on empowering communities through divestment
• liquidating property debt and improved revenue streams, which becomes an operational function in favour of business change, focussing on delivery of asset rationalisation and divestment
• delivering a refreshed workplan under the new Public Health organisational structure
• publishing the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) and Annual Public Health Report, focusing on the commercial determinants of health, to provide more data and insight to inform organisational and system priorities, strategies, decisions and investment
• development of a new Health and Wellbeing Strategy
• delivering actions from the newly adopted Local Transport Plan
• the adoption of revised parking standards for new developments
• responding to new national planning policy and legislation
• production of planning guidance and evidence to support the existing and a new Borough Local Plan
• embedding the new IT system for Planning, Building Control and Transport
• commence the process of migrating local land charges register information to HM Land Registry
• the implementation of the Building Safety Regulator which will drive changes in Building Control, including an external audit by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE)
• the progress and impact of a move towards a Combined Strategic Mayoral Authority (CSMA)

Key drivers

The service develops, implements and monitors the following key plans:

• The Borough Local Plan (2024-2037)
• The Local Transport Plan LTP4 (2025-2037)
• The Economic Strategy (2024-2034)
• The Health and Wellbeing Strategy (2022-2026)
• The Tree Strategy (2025)
• The Highway Infrastructure Asset Management Plan (2022)
• Asset Management Strategy (2025-2030)
• The Highway Management and Maintenance Plan (2023)
• The Highways Winter Service Plan (2024-25)
• The Biodiversity Action Plan (2024-2029)
• The Infrastructure Delivery Plan
• The Local Enforcement Plan (2021)
• The Bus Service Improvement Plan (2024)
• The Local Walking and Cycling Infrastructure Plan (2024)
• Borough Vision 2050

The service contributes to the following key plans:

• The Council Plan (2023-2027)
• The Housing Strategy (2023-2028)
• The Climate Change Strategy (2025-2030)
• The School Places Plan (2023-2028)
• The Youth Strategy (2024-2027)

The department works within the legislative frameworks within most service areas including:

• Planning and Land Charges
• Highways and Transport
• Building Control
• Public Health
• Trees, Ecology and Biodiversity

Legislative changes to planning, biodiversity and Building Control are all underway and will affect the way in which these matters are dealt with and the work that the department undertakes.

Our services

This information is correct as of May 2026.

The Executive Director for the Place Directorate is Andrew Hunter. The directorate provides the following services:

Business change and financial sustainability

Challenges for the service​

The following challenges exist for the service:

• increased demand
• difficulties with recruitment of suitably qualified officers
• reductions in income

All service areas create challenges for the directorate and are noted in the Place risk register. The register is regularly reviewed by the Directorate Management Team (DMT).

New legislation and guidance will change the way in which services operate. This will create new service pressures and uncertainty. Services affected include:

• local plan making - significant change is proposed in national planning policy and new regulations will have major implications
• Biodiversity Net Gain - this continues to be progressed locally, with limited government guidance and support
• Building Control - the Building Safety Regulator is now in force, but many staff have left the industry creating a shortage of approved inspectors (there remains a backlog of applications)

The implementation of a major new IT system for Planning, Building Control and Transport Development has required dedicated officer time and IT support. There will be a continuing need for this during 2026 to 2027 to make sure that the system is embedded successfully.

Significant transformation of the NHS is underway, which include:

• the publication of the NHS 10-year plan
• the merging of the Frimley and BOB Integrated Care Boards (ICB) locally

Whilst providing opportunities, these changes will destabilise the system while changes are implemented.  It is also expected that there will be a reduction in NHS ICB capacity at place level.

Supporting the work across Berkshire as part of the Berkshire Prosperity Board, and taking forward devolution, will create new work areas that require additional, dedicated resources. These initiatives will also require new relationships to be developed with colleagues at all levels from surrounding and nearby councils.

Assets and Neighbourhood Regeneration Board

Community Workstream

Enabling Community Asset Transfer as part of the Community Model. This follows adoption and scrutiny of the Community Model Business case to focus on community empowerment for pilot community centre assets. Business Case in 2025 to 2026 will indicate levels of cost avoidance.

Town Centre Workstream

Rationalising one corporate asset with high financial overheads and intensifying use of Time Square office accommodation. Business Case development in 2026 and commence execution of recommended option quarter 4 2026 to 2027, with delivery in 2027 to 2028.

Decarbonisation Workstream

Identify new zero projects for retro-fitting operational assets that meet invest-to-save criteria to enable funding. This comes as a response to climate change following the adoption of the Climate Change Strategy.

Corporate improvement

Incremental extension of the Corporate Landlord Model for property maintenance and compliance to achieve economies of scale. Objective to reduce total aggregated corporate landlord expenditure by 10% from 2028 to 2029.

Plan to further divest assets. This will lead to a reduction in estate management functions, and move towards the target operating model for resourcing and business case development by 2026 to 2027.

Budget position

Revenue Budget

The Place directorate has a gross expenditure cash budget of £25.986 million with -£20.563 million of income, making a planned net spend of £5.423 million. The gross budget includes £11.517 million for staffing.

Savings

The 2026 to 2027 budgets include savings of £1.091 million. The key themes adopted in making the savings were:

• use of alternate funding to support annual budgets: -£0.455 million
• reduction in service budgets where levels of demand have decreased, or service will be reduced: -£0.248 million
• capitalisation of costs linked to programme delivery: -£0.047 million
• procurement, commissioning and shared services: -£0.257 million
• reduction is staffing costs: -£0.044 million
• increasing income generation: -£0.040 million

Capital Budget

The 2026 to 2027 capital programme for the Place directorate is £11.049 million, of which £4.399 million is externally funded. This budget will increase when carry forwards from the prior year are confirmed.

Pressures

The 2026 to 2027 budget includes pressures of £1.549 million. These pressures can be analysed into the following broad categories:

• reduction in various income budgets: -£1.206 million
• temporary resource funding: -£0.055 million
• contractual price increases: -£0.030 million
• staffing costs, including reduction in managed vacancy factor: -£0.208 million
• delivery of new service: £0.050 million

Financial risks

The directorate have identified the following as budgets that can pose a risk to the council's overall financial position. Principally because they are vulnerable to significant changes in demand for a service.

Workforce position

Staffing position

For the directorate, as of 1 January 2026 there is an overall headcount of 278 staff in post, made up of:

• 228 employees
• 46 casuals
• 4 temporary agency staff

Pressures

Staff voluntary turnover as of 1 January 2026 was 10.8%.

The estimated annual average sickness rate per employee is 5.7 days.

Workforce demographics

Gender:

• male - 47%
• female - 53%

Ethnicity:

• mixed - 1.3%
• black or black British - 2.6%
• white - 78.9%
• not stated - 3.5%
• information not provided - 6.6%
• Asian or Asian British - 7%

Disability:

• yes - 8%
• no - 50%
• not known - 42%

Age:

• 24 and under - 11.7%
• 25 to 35 - 17%
• 36 to 45 - 18.7%
• 46 to 55 - 23.9%
• 56 to 65 - 24.3%
• Over 65 - 4.3%

Risk

Hard to recruit posts:

• Highway Engineers
• Building Control Surveyors
• Property Surveyors

Procurement activity

Activity set out in this section references above threshold procurement due to take place in the 2026 to 2027 financial year in the Place Directorate.

For more information visit our Procurement policy page and our Tenders and contracts page.

Priorities