Reigate & Banstead 2025

We report each year on the progress we make against the objectives in our Reigate & Banstead 2025 five year plan.

Annual update 2021/22

During 2021/22, we continued to focus on supporting local communities and businesses through the COVID-19 pandemic and as restrictions were lifted. Alongside these additional challenges, we made good progress delivering on our corporate plan priorities.

• Reigate and Banstead 2025: Annual report 2021/22 (pdf)

If you have any difficulties viewing this document, please contact the Council (01737 276000 or send an email). A member of the Communications or Corporate Policy teams will be happy to assist.

Some progress highlights  

People

• More affordable housing - completing 25 new homes at Camelia Close, Tadworth - including 11 for shared ownership in partnership with Raven Housing Trust - and 32 new affordable rent homes completed at Wheatley Court, Redhill.
• Continued COVID-19 response and recovery - helping communities to stay safe and recover from the pandemic - including welfare support for more vulnerable residents and responding to over 11,000 calls to our helpline, with volunteers also making regular befriending and wellbeing calls.
• Communication and engagement - keeping everyone up to date with vital information and key local news and building on the strengths of community relationships developed during the pandemic.
• Reconnecting and supporting local people - supporting more local events as pandemic-related restrictions eased, and the Council providing in-kind support and over £300,000 of financial support to local voluntary organisations and community groups towards their work (including food banks and Voluntary Action Reigate & Banstead).
• Refugee support - providing ongoing support to Syrian and Afghan families and responding to the war in Ukraine to support new refugees in the borough.
• Reopening and welcoming residents back - reopening our leisure and Community Centres, implementing our Community Centres transformation project to broaden their appeal and engage with more people of all ages, and reopening the Harlequin Theatre & Cinema, with a new programme of events and activities.

Place

• The Rise - creating new homes, cinema and entertainment centre - making good progress on the construction and delivery of the flagship, mixed use, development The Rise, Marketfield Way in Redhill town centre, which will include The Light cinema and Tesco, along with a selection of restaurants and other uses.
• Supporting business recovery - providing guidance and networking support for local businesses during the pandemic and as restrictions lifted - working with employers and educators - and helping new small businesses get started with the Entrepreneur Academy and targeted grants.
• Horley town centre improvements - through our own activity and working with partners, including Surrey County Council (SCC), to help deliver change - developing and consulting on proposals to improve the town centre and its public spaces.
• Environmental progress - including our highest ever recycling rate of 58% in quarter two of 2021/22 - a new climate change and sustainable construction supplementary planning document and moving our Parking Service vehicles to all electric.
• Sustainable transport - developing a new local cycling and walking infrastructure plan with SCC to help secure funding for and deliver more active, environmentally friendly transport opportunities for residents in the future.
• Improving our open spaces - achieving record results in South & South East In Bloom 2021, we also delivered new pump track skate facilities at South Park and consulted local residents about refurbishing Merstham Recreation Ground.

Organisation

• Focus on financial sustainability - as the Council continues to face financial challenges, starting work on a new Financial Sustainability Programme, with a focus on four key areas: income generation, use of assets, prioritisation of resources and achieving value for money.
• Delivering core operational services - keeping services running with minimal disruption, and missed bin collections at less than 0.14%, despite the impact of the pandemic and other challenges such as petrol supply.
• Continued IT investment and improvement - agreeing a new IT Strategy for 2022-23 to 2026-27, which identifies necessary investment to ensure we have the latest technology and IT security, along with ongoing improvements to remote and hybrid working tools.
• Adapting and developing our services - reopening our reception and offices, and continuing to develop and expand talent, including 25 apprentices. The past year has also seen many services - including Revenues and Benefits and Environmental Health - going above and beyond to meet exceptional demands.

You can also view last year's annual report, which was the first year of reporting on our Reigate & Banstead 2025 five year plan.

• Reigate and Banstead 2025: Annual report 2020/21 (pdf)

If you have any difficulties viewing this document, please contact the Council (01737 276000 or send an email). A member of the Communications or Corporate Policy teams will be happy to assist.