For more than 50 years (in its current form), Crawley Borough Council has served the people of Crawley. Our recent Corporate Peer Challenge found a council “committed and ambitious for Crawley”. The context of Local Government Reorganisation does not change that.

Until its final day, this council will continue to work to make Crawley the very best place in which to live, work, visit and have fun. As a town, and as a council, we face significant challenges, with huge pressures on housing and temporary accommodation, made worse in the last few years by water neutrality restrictions impacting on the supply for new housing.

Yet despite this we have achieved a lot.

We have found innovative ways to unblock housing to build more of the homes that our residents need. We have lobbied for government action on water neutrality. We continue to regenerate Crawley town centre. We have invested in our communities
with improved play areas, parks and local facilities. We have continued to manage our social housing well, achieving the second highest level from the Regulator for Social Housing in 2025. We are channelling major government funds into the construction of new education, digital, transport and business facilities to benefit Crawley’s community and economy.

This corporate plan builds on a strong track record of delivery but also sets out our priorities for the future. The government’s decision to reorganise local government means that in the future, the people of Crawley will be served by a new council. The council will take every step to ensure that as responsibility is transferred, the people and town of Crawley continue to receive the very best services from their council. 

While this corporate plan opens the last chapter of the story of the borough council, it is also the start of the next chapter in the story of Crawley. This corporate plan sets out our priorities ahead of reorganisation, what we will do and what we will achieve for Crawley but also the work that we will do to ensure that the right plans and resources are in place for Crawley to continue to thrive into the future.

Councillor Michael Jones
Leader of the Council

This corporate plan sets out the council’s five strategic objectives to make Crawley an even better place to live, work, visit and have fun.

We will:

• create a thriving local economy with new, diverse and green jobs – enable sustainable economic growth which benefits the local community and improves job opportunities for local residents
• tackle the housing emergency – enable more people to have the dignity of a quality, sustainable and affordable home and tackle the damage of homelessness on our communities
• ensure Crawley is a vibrant town with high quality facilities – make Crawley cleaner and greener with high quality leisure, cultural and outdoor facilities to support health and wellbeing
• build connected and thriving communities – communities in Crawley will thrive, where every resident can live life to its fullest in a safe, inclusive and cohesive town
• prepare Crawley for the future – ensure that residents realise the benefits of local government reorganisation, seeing continuation of high-quality services meeting their needs

To deliver these strategic priorities, we will particularly focus on five priority programmes:

• local economy – develop and implement a new economic and place making vision that maximises the opportunities to
  develop Crawley’s vibrant economy
• Three Bridges – deliver improvements to Three Bridges Station in partnership with Network Rail and West Sussex County Council
• new homes – get major new housing projects underway for Crawley residents and develop a pipeline for new homes in the
  future to help tackle the housing emergency
• Goffs Park – create a lasting legacy for the borough and its residents by transforming Goffs Park in the heart of the town
• town council – create a town council which will protect and champion the new town offer for the residents of Crawley, subject to the findings of the Community Governance Review

Alongside this, we will prepare for the transfer of powers to a new unitary authority and ensure that we can hand over responsibility for Crawley to the new council so it can continue to serve the people and the town.

Crawley is a vibrant and diverse town which more than 120,000 people call home. Over the past decade, the population has
grown by 9.3 per cent, driven by increases in both the under-15 and over-65 age groups. This demographic shift presents a
dual challenge for public services, requiring investment in both youth infrastructure and support for an ageing population.

The town’s younger age profile sets it apart from national trends and those elsewhere in West Sussex. 21.5 per cent of residents are under 15, compared to 18.5 per cent in England, and the median age is 37.4 years, lower than the county average of 44.7 years and national average of 40.4 years. This youthful population brings energy and potential, but also demands robust services in education, employment, and mental health.

Crawley is the most ethnically diverse areas in West Sussex. 73.4 per cent of residents identify as White (versus 81.0 per cent nationally), with significantly higher proportions of Asian (15.4 per cent ) and Black (4.5 per cent ) communities.

More than 90 languages are spoken in our schools, and more than 17,500 residents speak English as a second language. This
diversity enriches the town’s culture but requires culturally competent public services and inclusive community engagement.

Economically, Crawley is a regional powerhouse. Located within the Gatwick Diamond, it hosts London Gatwick and the Manor Royal Business District, home to global firms such as Virgin Atlantic, Nestlé, and PwC. Crawley contributes £6.02 billion in Gross Value Added (GVA) – 22.5 per cent of West Sussex’s total output, the highest in the county, despite being just two per cent of
the county’s landmass. The economic activity rate stands at 85.9 per cent, and gross weekly pay averages £869.30, placing Crawley among the top three UK cities for workplace earnings. With 90,000+ jobs, Crawley has one of the highest job densities nationwide with many people travelling into Crawley every day for work and education.

However, the town faces persistent challenges. The COVID-19 pandemic had a severe impact, with 41 per cent of the workforce furloughed and 7,000 aviation-related redundancies. GVA fell by 21.5 per cent between 2019 and 2020 – far more than other districts. While Crawley has rebounded back to previous levels, supported by £300 million in regeneration and programme funding, the vulnerabilities that were exposed remain.

Crawley has challenges from deprivation with parts of Broadfield amongst the 10 per cent most deprived in England, and parts of Bewbush and West Green amongst the 20 per cent most deprived. Nearly one in five children live in low-income households, and 7.3 per cent of households are in fuel poverty.

Crawley has declared a housing emergency. The median house price is now £345,625 and the average monthly rent is £1,170 for a two-bedroom property. This is beyond the reach of many of our residents.

Health outcomes reflect these inequalities as do mental health indicators. There is a divide in the town with a 7.8-year gap in life expectancy between the most and least deprived communities.

Crawley is a town of contrasts, economically strong yet with challenges of deprivation. Youthful and diverse yet facing health and housing inequalities.

This corporate plan responds to these challenges. It sets out our priorities to break down these inequalities and ensure that whoever you are, Crawley is somewhere you can live life to its fullest, with the security that you and your family need.

Crawley faces some major strategic challenges which affect all parts of the council and its operations. Crawley was the first council in England to declare a housing emergency in 2024. The gap between average house prices and average wages is now more than 10:1 – which means that owner occupation is out of the reach for most people.

The council has over 2,500 on their housing waiting list (1,000 of which are in the highest priority banding) and is experiencing increasing pressure on temporary accommodation which has risen from 158 in 2019 to 579 now with the rise continuing.

The cost of nightly paid accommodation has nearly doubled over the same time meaning that the council is now spending £1 in
every £3 on temporary accommodation.

Since 2019, Crawley has been affected by water neutrality which severely limits new developments and has limited the opportunity to build much needed homes. Natural England has imposed restrictions on Crawley (plus Horsham and
north Chichester) and through the planning system ensures that new developments must offset water usage elsewhere in the system.

In the previous 10 years, Crawley Borough Council delivered 1,600 social and affordable homes. We had a pipeline of 1,000 over the next four years but have been unable to deliver any in the first two of those years as a direct result of those restrictions.
Innovative work by the council means we are in a position to restart social and affordable housing development once again, and we continue to lobby government and work with partners to get to a point where these restrictions can be lifted.

The town remains an attractive place to live however, and demand for housing continues to grow. That demand is also compounded by other migration factors. The UK citizenship scheme for descendants of the Chagos Islands has seen significant numbers of arrivals in Crawley. The town also hosts a number of asylum hotels and an Afghan bridging hotel.

Crawley has been disproportionately impacted by recent funding settlements since 2016/17. This has seen a reduction of real terms core spending power of a third – significantly more than other local authorities.

The council’s core spending power does not meet the cost of delivering its statutory services, which costs £2.7m more than the council receives in government funding and Council Tax.

To date the council has been able to compensate for this through a commercial focus on generating income whilst not losing its focus on public benefit. Discretionary services that produce an income, currently produces a surplus of £9.5m. In addition, there has been a substantial focus on efficiency, generating £2.4m savings over the past five years. This has allowed the council to continue to provide a high level of services to the town and maintain a healthy financial position despite unfavourable core financing.

However, the council’s reserves are still rapidly moving from a healthy to an unhealthy position and the current position is
becoming increasingly difficult to sustain.

This change is driven by the increase in temporary accommodation costs which now accounts for £1 in every £3 of the council’s total core spending power or £2 in every £3 of the council tax the council receives.

In 2024, in recognition of the challenges it faces, including its declaration of a housing emergency, the council requested a corporate peer challenge (CPC) though the Local Government Association (LGA). This peer challenge looked at core elements defined by the LGA, and in addition the council asked for key areas to be considered including the interlinked challenges around
homelessness, temporary accommodation, migration and water neutrality as well as the housing agenda. This plan has considered the findings of the CPC and the council’s action plan.

The council has also been inspected in 2025 by the Regulator for Social Housing. The regulator awarded the council a C2, the second highest rating, and highlighted areas for improvement for the council to move to the top C1 rating. The council is developing an action plan in response to the regulator, but this corporate plan reaffirms the council’s commitments to be a good landlord and further improve our landlord services.

As a two-tier local authority, Local Government Reorganisation dominates. The government has stated its intention to bring to an end two-tier local government in England and in the case of West Sussex, to have new unitary authorities in place for 1 April 2028. This means that Crawley Borough Council will be dissolved on 31 March 2028, giving a definitive timeframe for this Corporate Plan.

The scale of work required to both design and implement a new unitary authority whilst also managing the safe transfer of services, staff and responsibilities, is substantial. This will limit the council’s ability to take on new programmes and initiatives, especially with the expectation that the government will impose statutory financial restrictions. The final year, 2027 to 2028, in particular will be a time of transition and transformation.

At the same time, it is entirely appropriate that the council will want to consider the needs of residents and the town while it remains a sovereign body with a democratic mandate. This will require clear prioritisation and a focus on delivery over the next 18 months.

There are other key national policy areas that will impact on the council’s priorities moving forward. These include:

• Devolution and new strategic authority
  The Devolution Bill currently making its way to legislation would see the creation of a pan-Sussex (or Sussex and Brighton) strategic authority with a directly elected mayor, with elections in May 2026. The new strategic authority is anticipated to have significant influence over future growth (economic and housing) and public service reform agendas
• Outcomes framework
  The government is consulting on a new Local Government Outcomes Framework. The framework sets out 15 outcomes that
  the government expects to work with councils on to deliver key national priorities for local people and communities.

In developing this Corporate Plan, the council has given consideration to those draft measures which are applicable to Crawley but will review this again once the final framework is published.

Local government (both Crawley Borough Council and West Sussex County Council) is just one part of a wider set of statutory, voluntary and community partners that serve the town and its residents. We do not seek to capture this in its entirety here, but there are some key strategic drivers that inform this plan:

• Health: the NHS’s 10-Year Plan focuses upon the need to shift away from acute health setting to a more community based preventative footing. In Sussex, this has led to a drive towards working at the district and borough level, with Crawley already considered a forerunner.
  This is likely to be a key part of any locality working as part of the new unitary formed as a result of Local Government Reorganisation. In Crawley, the council is the lead partner of the Local Community Network which brings together key partners who work directly with local communities to tackle local health inequalities
• Sussex Police are subject to wider policing reforms, including the creation of a new Police Performance Unit and changes to
  neighbourhood policing, which are both altering how forces operate and engage with local communities. These developments reflect a broader move toward more targeted, intelligence-led approaches to public safety
• Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise sector (VCSE) is grappling with funding volatility and rising demand. Organisations that are central to supporting vulnerable groups and delivering preventative services are having to adapt to new commissioning expectations while continuing to operate in increasingly complex environments
• Crawley Town Deal Board: this is a strategic partnership group comprising over 50 representatives of local business,
  community groups and public bodies which was formed to oversee the development and delivery of the £21.1m Crawley Towns Fund Programme. Originating from the Crawley Economic Recovery Taskforce (CERT) formed in 2020 during the COVID-19 crisis, the board continues to steer efforts related to economic recovery and sustainable growth
• Crawley Growth Board: the board was established in 2014 by Crawley Borough Council (CBC) and West Sussex County Council (WSCC) to oversee and coordinate delivery of a range of economic development and regeneration initiatives in line with Crawley’s Local Plan and the Crawley Growth Programme 2017 to 2027.
  The two councils have worked successfully together through this board to secure government funding to invest in these initiatives benefiting Crawley’s economic regeneration
• Safer Crawley Partnership: The council works in partnership with the police, fire and rescue and a range of other local partners to tackle and reduce crime, antisocial behaviour and the overall risk of harm for local communities in Crawley

The council has a responsibility for sound financial administration and fiduciary duties to taxpayers, customers and lenders. The council does this by following national legislation, internal governance frameworks and external scrutiny to support good practice in financial management.

This includes:

• the statutory responsibility to set a balanced budget and Council Tax in advance of the commencement of the new financial year
• financial decisions guided by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) Financial Management Code containing principles for financial management
• publishing budgets, financial strategies and monitoring reports regularly giving clear, accessible financial information to stakeholders
• aligning financial decisions with statutory duties and corporate priorities whilst pursuing value for money

The council ensures good financial management by planning for the long term, not just the current financial year, through a budget strategy and Medium Term Financial Strategy forecast (MTFS). The MTFS is based on a number of assumptions on local government funding, demand pressures and forecasts (such as interest rates) which can be uncertain and subject to
change. The council also maintains adequate reserves through careful reserve management (with a minimum recommended General Fund balance of £3 million). The council ensures that capital investment is affordable, sustainable and prudent and aligned with strategic goals.

The council’s finances started to come under extreme pressure during 2023 to 2024, requiring in year savings and considered reserve management to be made. These cost pressures continued into 2024 to 2025 and are expected to continue through the life of this corporate plan.

These cost pressures include homelessness (see policy context) with limited accommodation and the financial pressure of frozen Local Housing Allowance rates at 2011 levels which limit the amount of Housing Benefit that can be reclaimed. Demand is not expected to reduce in the near future.

The council expects to continue to face cost pressures for pay including NIC, utilities and inflation with rising costs for gas, electricity and materials. In addition, we expect ongoing volatility in the rental market to impact on commercial income including The Create Building.

The council will continue to monitor and mitigate against financial risk and future financial instability. The council’s approach to
managing budget pressures include a flexible budget strategy. Due to Local Government Reorganisation, the budget strategy will be for two years – 2026 to 2027 and 2027 to 2028.

The council anticipates a significant reduction in government funding due to the Fair Funding Review 2.0 requiring further savings. However, forecasts vary significantly and there is unlikely to be funding certainty until December 2025 when the council will receive its provisional three year settlement. In addition, the council expects to avoid reliance on reserves for recurring expenditure as that is unsustainable in the long-term. Preparing Crawley for the Future sets out some of the ways that the council will ensure financial resilience.

This includes our commitment to review assets to understand how they can be best used or whether they need to be considered for disposal to generate capital receipts. We will have a capital programme that prioritises maintenance, compliance and environmental obligations and invest to save schemes whilst trying to avoid borrowing due to the revenue implications. The council will also have a Treasury Management Strategy for the management of the council’s cash that maximises returns on cash invested whilst keeping public money safe.

To enable sustainable economic growth which benefits the local community and improves job opportunities for local residents.

To enable more people to have the dignity of a quality, sustainable and affordable home and tackle the damage of homelessness on our communities.

To make Crawley cleaner and greener with high quality leisure, cultural and outdoor facilities to support health and wellbeing.

Communities in Crawley will thrive, where every resident can live life to its fullest in a safe, inclusive and cohesive town.

To ensure that residents realise the benefits of Local Government Reorganisation (LGR), seeing continuation of high-quality services meeting their needs.

Each of the above priorities is accompanied by outputs. The council will publish separately the measures and milestones against which progress towards delivering these priorities will be measured. The council is awaiting publication of the government’s Local Outcomes Framework to ensure that the measures we report on align with the government’s framework.

There are also some performance measures collected locally by staff who manage services and together they form the backbone of our performance management framework and are reported on a quarterly basis to corporate management and twice yearly to the Overview and Scrutiny Commission (OSC). Delivery of the plan will be supplemented by an annual report to Overview and Scrutiny Commission and Cabinet.

The image shows a pyramid divided into three horizontal layers, each representing a different level of organisational structure:

• top layer: a small blue triangle labeled 'Corporate'
• middle layer: a larger orange trapezoid labeled 'operational'
• bottom layer: the largest green trapezoid labeled 'individual'

Surrounding the pyramid are three yellow arrows with text:

• on the left side is an upward-pointing arrow labeled 'review'
• on the right side is a downward-pointing arrow labeled 'direction, focus and priorities'
• across the bottom is a horizontal arrow, pointing left, labeled 'delivery'

The pyramid visually represents a hierarchy where corporate strategy influences operational and individual levels, while review and delivery processes flow around the structure.

Our corporate planning triangle is the golden thread that links corporate, operational and individual outcomes, plans and measures. 

The Corporate Plan will run from 1 November 2025 until 31 March 2028.

An indicative timeline of the review process is as follows:

• June 2026: Q3 and Q4 update for OSC
• November 2026: Q1 and Q2 update and annual report for OSC and Cabinet
• June 2027: Q3 and Q4 update for OSC
• November 2027: Q1 and Q2 update and annual report for OSC and Cabinet
• March 2028: end of Corporate Plan and final report for OSC and Cabinet