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Council Plan Foreword

At the Heart of the Vale: Foreword by Cllr Bethia Thomas,
Leader of Vale of White Horse District Council

Cllr Bethia Thomas

It is my pleasure to introduce ‘At The Heart of the Vale’, our new Council Plan setting out our priorities and making communities the focus of all our goals. I give my heartfelt thanks to everyone who gave us feedback during our early engagement process last year. Your input played an important role in shaping our plan.

Our Council Plan looks ahead to the next four years and what we want to achieve. However, it is set within a context of significant change for local government. In December 2024, the Government introduced plans for local government reorganisation and devolution in the English Devolution White Paper. As a result, the future of district councils like Vale of White Horse is uncertain.

Though faced with a period of significant change, our work continues to deliver the vital services our communities depend on. While we wait for further details and timings for reorganisation and devolution, we are united in our mission to achieve certainty and stability for our district as soon as possible, prioritising the needs of the communities we serve.

Climate and nature recovery continue to be at the heart of everything we do, and we are committed to driving progress to achieve our ambitious net zero targets. At the same time, we are prioritising the delivery of the affordable homes people need and the infrastructure to go with them. We are also committed to promoting community resilience and empowerment and we aspire to have healthy and sustainable communities which benefit from inclusive, accessible services and active engagement.

Our financial stability is testament to our prudent financial management over recent years and aligns with our drive for continuous improvement and service innovation. It has become a cliché to talk of the last four years as ‘unprecedented times’, but it is also true. We have had to confront numerous challenges and change the way we do things to meet the changing needs of our communities.

With local government reorganisation and devolution firmly on the horizon, the years ahead are set to present more challenges – but also opportunities. We will do everything we can to push for a swift and clear way forward in the best interests of our district, while protecting local services.

I trust our Council Plan provides clarity on what we will set out to achieve over the next four years. Our Delivery Plan will set out more detail on how we aim to do that within the environment of change.

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