Shaping Stratford

Firstly, thank you for taking the time to visit this site. This is a very exciting and challenging period in the history of the Council, and we are thrilled that we have the opportunity of recruiting new members to the Council’s Management Team following the retirement of two long standing and respected officers.

The Council is transforming the way in which we are working and have some exciting projects which are aimed in supporting our communities. We are well advanced in planning for our all-out district elections which will take place in May 2023. Following the elections, a new Council Plan will need to be developed to help guide our actions over the next four years. Both roles will be at the heart of the planning process and will work closely with all members of the Council on helping to shape our ambitions.

These roles will be at the heart of the Council’s management team who are working with the political leadership to “get stuff done”. In common with all councils, we face a challenging time, with much uncertainty surrounding the future level of government support. However, the Council is currently in a strong financial position. The Council balances ambition with realism and has a willingness to look strategically as well as operationally and take calculated risks. There is a good and robust working relationship between all members the Cabinet and Officers which has worked well.

Our Head of Housing and Customer Services is responsible for our response to the “Cost of Living Crisis”, the newly approved budget has included £600,000 to support our residents who are most at need. Programmes in this area include support for heating costs as well as working with local community and voluntary groups to support residents in their homes. Whilst the Council does not have its own housing stock the role works very closely with the registered partners in the district and has been very successful on schemes including the Local Authority Decarbonising Scheme and now the Local Authority Housing Fund.

Whereas our Head of Law and Governance is responsible for a range of services including Community Safety, Committee Services and Legal. Our Legal team also provides services to Warwick District Council a partnership that continues to thrive. During the last year the Council has invested significantly in CCTV and part of the challenge now is to ensure that we can generate a return on that investment. As Monitoring Officer, the role has significant involvement with our Councillors, following a boundary review the number of elected members is increasing from 36 to 41 in May. The Stratford on Avon DC area also has around 110 town and parish areas which this role works closely with. The Monitoring Officer role is hugely respected both by the officers and the members of the Council.

As mentioned above the Council is currently in a strong financial position. However, in order to address further expected reductions in government support, the Council is actively reviewing a number of initiatives which are designed to either reduce cost or generate income to support our core services. The current impact of inflation on our budgets will prove an additional challenge with obviously the affordability of our services to consider alongside the impact on our residents.

The Council has always been extremely conscious of its impact upon the environment and has made significant reductions in our own emissions. As with the majority of local authorities, the Council has declared a Climate Change Emergency. We have acted swiftly in identifying a number of actions that will help with the aspiration of being recognised as a Carbon Neutral District by 2030. A significant project in this area will be the development of regional Materials Recycling Facility, this will ensure that the Council can consider new and exciting recycling opportunities consistent with the Climate Change agenda.

We have a focused, busy and forward-thinking workforce, committed to providing the best services we can to both our residents and visitors. Our success is largely due to having flexible, committed and enthusiastic staff, who are prepared to go the extra mile and have a ‘can-do’ work ethic.

Once more we thank you for taking the time to consider a career at Stratford-on-Avon District Council. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for the Council to modernise and deliver the ambition of the Council Plan. It is a given that this will be a period of significant change for the Council and if this excites you then we encourage you to apply.