Planning, transport and public protection service plan 2025-28

A. Overview

Organisation chart

Achievements in 2024/25

The things your service delivered over the past year.

Public Protection 

• Delivered Clean Air Living Matters campaign, working with Reading University and schools to raise awareness of air quality. 
• Introduced a boroughwide Smoke Control Zone to improve air quality and protect the health of Reading residents. 
• Adopted the Green Events Code of Practice to make events including Reading Festival more sustainable.  
• Supported a safe and successful Reading Festival 
• Enforced closures of unsafe food premises. 8 Hygiene Emergency Formal Closures, 7 Voluntary Closures, 4 Health & Safety Prohibitions, 4 Seizures & Condemnations of contaminated/non-compliant food, 8 Hygiene Improvement notices and 1 re-export of illegally imported food. 
• Shut down an illegal wholesaler of illegal Smokies/sheep heads. 
• Successful planning enforcement action to demolish illegal homes in a back garden.  
• Prosecuted a rogue trader who targeted a vulnerable adult.  
• Enforced a closure order on a vape shop selling illegal products.   
• Regulated and maintained the safety of taxi services and updated polices to remove polluting vehicles from the fleet. 
• Revoked licenses of several drivers who were operating illegally.  
• Obtained approval to introduce Selective and Additional HMO Licensing to improve conditions in the private rented sector. 
• Introduced a Busking Guide with Reading BID to reduce negative impact of some performers.   
• Rescued 27 cats living in filthy conditions. 
• Manage the Safety Advisory Group engaging with stakeholders to ensure safety of events. 
• Reviewed and improved Street Trading and Premises Licensing policies.  

Strategic Transport 

• Adopted the Local Transport Plan 2040 to improve bus, rail, cycle and pedestrian travel, cut congestion and tackle poor air quality. 
• Facilitated the growth of bus passenger journeys by 11.4% to 19.5 million passenger journeys for the year ending March 2024, the 3rd highest bus patronage in the country. 
• Government announced Bus Services Bill at Reading Buses recognising local investment in our local bus company. 
• Successful bid for £4.7m grant funding from Government through the Zero Emission Bus Regional Area (ZEBRA) 2 fund to introduce 24 + 8 new zero emission electric buses in 2025/26. 
• Continued delivery of £26 million grant funded government Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP) delivering a series of new bus lanes and priority measures throughout the borough; bus link to Green Park Station; extension to the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) scheme in south Reading; reinstatement of Thames Valley park and ride and bus stop passenger information enhancements and extensions to bus routes. 
• Introduced a multi-operator ticket discount scheme, the Reading All-Bus ticket. 4 million tickets sold and 8.6 million journeys made to August 2024, saving over £5 m in fares. 
• Launched a new £1 park and ride return ticket offer in September to complement the introduction of new bus lanes in the town. 
• Installed a new cycling/walking bridge on the A33 creating space for an extended bus lane without taking away carriageway from general traffic. 

Planning, Policy and Building Control 

• Progressed a Partial Update to the Local Plan 2040 to Pre-Submission stage, to ensure an up-to-date set of ambitious policies for sustainable growth to 2041 
• Published a new Town Centre Public Realm Strategy for consultation to upgrade the quality of the town centre streets and spaces, both critical tools in driving good, sustainable development for Reading 
• Building Control progressed towards compliance with the new Building Safety Act standards and qualifications and supported a range of major incidents including the fires at Station Hill and Union Street/Friar Street.
• Building Control continued working on remediation work on high-risk buildings in town in partnership with RBFRS and Private Sector Housing Officers. 
• Development Management team delivered on 16 major planning schemes which are changing the face of Reading including completion of phase 2 of Station Hill. 
• Supported the refusal of planning applications which would be detrimental to the town.   
• Supported the delivery of over 1000 homes in the previous year. 
• Supported the roll out of Arcus by being first team to move to this system. 

Berkshire Coroners 

• Successfully launched an in-house collection service transferring staff from the contracted supplier. 
• Delivered a swearing in ceremony for three assistant coroners and one Area Coroner. Judicial oaths taken before Senior Coroner. 
• Volunteers from the Court Support service were presented with an award from the High Sheriff for providing essential support to bereaved families. 
• Delivered sudden death training to all Thames Valley Local Policing Area Teams 
• Successfully worked with partner agencies (NHS and Registration) to prepare for significant change in legislation and processes, including Medical Examiner System which came into effect in September 2024. 

Business-as-usual services 

The things your service does for residents or to support staff every day.

Public Protection Services    

• Supports and regulates businesses, protects the public, consumers and the environment and improves housing standards.    
• Prevents harm to the health, safety and welfare of our residents through proactive and reactive activity, taking enforcement activity as necessary and proportionate.    
• Works to support broader policy approaches on matters such as air quality, access to decent homes, decarbonisation, planning and healthy environments.  
• Protects vulnerable residents to help safeguard their independence and live in their homes for longer and supports strategies to protect the health and wellbeing of residents and their communities.  
• Investigate statutory nuisance complaints. 
• Manage pest control services. 
• Provide a dog warden service; collecting strays, inspections and animal welfare.  
• Administration and enforcement of licenses including, alcohol, entertainment, taxis and gambling.  
• Manage Safety Advisory Group for events including Reading Festival. 
• Investigate and prosecute rogue traders and fraudulent activity. 
• Enforce age restricted product requirements and prevent harm to young people from; alcohol, tobacco and vapes.  
• Conduct risk-based premises inspections for food safety, health and safety and Food Standards. 
• Investigate accidents in the workplace. 
• Lead on safety at sports grounds. 
• Administration, licensing and inspection of HMOs and investigation of complaints in the private rented sector. 
• Securing the re-use of long-term empty homes.  
• Conduct inspections to ensure tall buildings are complaint with fire safety requirements and the Building Safety Act.  
• Take action against developments without planning permission or change of use of land or buildings and unauthorised works to listed buildings. 
• Improve neighbourhoods through enforcement where the neglect of land or buildings causes harm to amenities.   

Strategic Transport     

• Develop the Council’s overall transport strategy and coordination with partner and stakeholder strategies. 
• Management of Statutory Concessionary Travel scheme provided free bus travel for elderly and disabled residents.  
• Lead on the provision, coordination and promotion of public and community transport services.  
• Lead on the provision and promotion of active travel, including delivering high-quality cycling and walking facilities and routes, school streets schemes, public rights of way network and a programme of activities and initiatives.   
• Lead on the development of new strategic transport schemes, including the preparation of concept designs, funding bids and supporting business cases to secure external investment.  
• Deliver the programme of strategic transport schemes through all aspects of the project management lifecycle including detailed design, planning, procurement and construction.   
• Undertake the statutory transport development control function, including working proactively with developers to negotiate sustainable transport solutions and secure S106 contributions.   
• Lead on the development of strategic transport bids to secure external grant funding for investment in Reading.        

Planning Policy 

• Develop Planning Policy and supporting functions to help to achieve the Council’s core objectives including issues such as affordable housing, securing infrastructure, and conservation of our natural and historic environments.    
• Preparation of the Local Plan, Reading Town Centre Public Realm Strategy and supplementary planning documents, setting out policies forming the main basis for determining planning applications.  
• Preparation of Article 4 directions to remove permitted development rights. 
• Contributing to strategic planning over a wider area with neighbouring authorities. 
• Protecting Reading’s vital tree cover to support achievement of the Tree Strategy 
• Conserving Reading’s significant historic environment. 
• Ensuring that developer contributions towards important infrastructure are secured and complied with.    

Development Management (Planning & Building Control)   

• Development management work with stakeholders and the community to help to deliver development that reflects the Council’s policies.  
• Ensure that new development or uses of existing buildings or land comply with relevant planning regulations, national and locally adopted planning policies and all applications are processed in accordance with regulations 
• Delivering new homes, house improvements and new employment and commercial opportunities to support the economy of the town.   
• Instructing s106 agreements and managing the Community Infrastructure Levy.  
• Delivering safety in the built environment, processing applications for building regulations approval and site visits for compliance with building regulations during construction and on completion.  
• Attend dangerous structures and advise on risk management.  
• Contributing to wider objectives such as the conservation of fuel and power and the prevention of waste.    

Berkshire Coroners Service    

• To support the Senior Coroner in providing a statutory service to Berkshire to establish the cause and circumstances of deaths where the deceased died a violent or unnatural death, the cause of death is unknown or which occurred in custody.   
• Support and engage with the family of the deceased, investigate cause of death and liaise with the Senior Coroner.  
• Order and arrange for post-mortems, conducts investigations and enquiries into the death which are presented at inquests at the Coroner’s Courts in Reading Town Hall 
• Facilitate bodies to be taken out of England and arrange for organ donations. 
• Manage an in-house service for the collection and transportation of deceased from the community to designated mortuaries. 
• Manage treasure finds reported under the Treasure Act and conduct treasure inquests.

B. Key Performance Indicators 

The metrics that tell us how well our business-as-usual services are performing and whether we are delivering the objectives set out in section C overleaf. 

You should aim to have a KPI which describes how well each key business-as-usual activity is operating.  This could be the quantity of work (e.g. bins collected) or/and the quality of work (e.g. missed bins).  These should be focused on the main business-as-usual activities that need tracking and are specifically of interest to senior management and Members. They should be within the Council’s control and are your ‘normal level’ of activity. 

If you are proposing to improve the service, through a project or initiative that you may be including below, then you should have a target which shows what that improvement/change will bring (e.g. normal number of bins missed is x%, target following project is y%). 

Under “definition” explain how the indicator is defined and the formula used. E.g. recycling rate = household waste recycled in the month / total household waste collected (kg). “Target type” should say whether the target is “flat”, i.e. the same each month/quarter (e.g. 50%), or cumulative, i.e. increasing each month/quarter (e.g. for measuring total library visits in the year to date). If the target has a variable profile/seasonal targets, please detail this. 

Measure	Definition	Unit	Better (bigger or smaller)	Frequency (monthly, quarterly)	Target type (flat or cumulative)	Normal level/  Target 25/26	Normal level/  Target 26/27	Normal level/  Target 27/28	Council Plan KPI (Y/N)	Data provider
E.g. Recycling rate	Household waste recycled in the month / total household waste collected (kg)	%	Bigger	Quarterly	Flat	50%	50%	50%	Y
Major Planning application decisions	Planning application decisions for major development made within timescales (% of total)	%	bigger	quarterly	flat	100%	100%	100%	Y	Julie Williams
Minor Planning applications	Applications for minor development decisions made within the statutory determination period or such extended period as has been agreed in writing with the applicant	%	Bigger	quarterly	flat	80%	80%	80%	N	Julie Williams
Planning applications for other and householder development decisions	Applications for other and householder development decisions made within the statutory determination period or such extended period as has been agreed in writing with the applicant.	%	bigger	quarterly	flat	80%	80%	80%	N	Julie Williams
Appeals allowed rate.	Appeals allowed expressed against the total number of decisions on applications made	%	smaller	Annual		2	2	2	N	Julie Williams
Quality of major planning applications	Percentage of planning applications refused	%	smaller	Annual	flat	8	7	6	N	Julie Williams
Planning Enforcement Enquiries	Percentage of Planning Enforcement Enquiries determined expedient or not within 5 weeks of receipt.	%	bigger	quarterly	flat	80%	90%	90%	N	Catherine Lewis
Pre-apps response.	Pre-apps replied to within 5 or 8 weeks for levels 1 & 2	%	bigger	quarterly	flat	60	60	60	N	Julie Williams
New family dwellings .	Number of additional dwellings that are three or more bed family homes.	No.	bigger	Annual	flat	137	137	165	N	Mark Worringham
Housing Supply Net additional  dwellings	Net additional affordable dwellings delivered	No.	bigger	Annual	flat	169	169	169	N	Mark Worringham
CIL and Section 106	Total developer contributions collected through CIL and Section 106	No.	bigger	Annual	flat	£8m	£8m	£8m	N	Mark Worringham
Air quality levels	Air quality (micrograms per meter cubed of nitrogen dioxide µg/m3)	No.	smaller	Annual	flat	25	24	23	Y	Ross Jarvis
HMOs within the Additional Licensing Scheme that are licensed (% of total)	HMOs within the Additional Licensing Scheme that are licensed (% of total)	%	bigger	Annual	flat	10%	70%	100%	Y	Catherine Lewis
Number of mandatory licensed Houses of Multiple Occupation (HMO)	Number of mandatory licensed Houses of Multiple Occupation (HMO)	No.	bigger	Annual	flat	1500	1500	1500	N	Catherine Lewis
Number of tall buildings in compliance	Number of tall buildings brought to compliance with Fire Safety requirements and Buildings Safety Act	No.	bigger	Annual	flat	5	5	4	N	Catherine Lewis
Public Protection service requests	Number of service requests across Public Protection	No		Annual	flat	4500	4400	4300	N	Catherine Lewis/ Rob Abell
Public Protection Service Requests response	Percentage of service requests in Public Protection responded to within 5 days (output)	%	bigger	Annual	flat	85%	90%	90%	N	Catherine Lewis/ Rob Abell
Licenses issued in Public Protection	Number of licenses issued in Public Protection	No.	bigger	Annual	flat	4750	5000	5000	N	Catherine Lewis/ Rob Abell
Food hygiene and standards interventions and inspections	Percentage of due food hygiene and standards interventions and inspections completed.	%	bigger	Annual	flat	70%	80%	90%	N	Rob Abell
Referrals to the Coroners Service	Number of deaths referred to the Coroners Service	No.	smaller	Annual	flat	2000	2000	1800	N	Rhiannon Charnock
Time to process an inquest	Average time process an inquest (weeks).	No.	smaller	Annual	flat	28	27	26	N	Rhiannon Charnock
Children undertaking Bikeability cycle training	Number of children undertaking Bikeability cycle training	No.	bigger	quarterly	cumulative	1,500	1,500	1500	N	Chris Maddocks
Town centre walking or cycling trips	Trips to/from the town centre made by walking or cycling (% of total trips	%	bigger	Quarterly?	flat	35%	35.5%	36%	Y	Chris Maddocks
Town centre trips made by public transport	Trips to/from the town centre made by public transport (% of total trips)	%	bigger	Quarterly?	flat	43%	43.5%	44%	Y	Chris Maddocks
Park and Ride trips to and from Reading	Number of par and ride trips	No.	bigger	Annual	flat	175,000	200,000	225,000	Y	Chris Maddocks
Trips taken by bus	Trips taken by bus (individual bus trips starting in the borough, millions)	No.	bigger	Annual	flat	19.7	20.4	21.2	Y	Chris Maddocks

C. Objectives for 2025-28 

The most important changes your service is aiming to deliver over the period of this service plan. 

This should include Council Plan objectives and any additional objectives at service level. 

Example: “Prevent the escalation of children’s needs through developing family hubs.” Objectives should: 

• Clearly and concisely state the outcome we are trying to achieve and how we will deliver it. 
• Be realistic given available resources and relevant to the priorities set out in the Council Plan. 
• Have an associated KPI that tells us whether we have achieved the objective. 

See the annex for a full list of Council Plan priorities and objectives. 

Objectives (one objective per row)	Council Plan objective? (Y/N)	Relevant Council Plan priority
Make use of central government funding to deliver improvements to public transport, cycling and walking infrastructure in Reading	Y	Promote a sustainable and healthy environment and reduce Reading’s carbon footprint
Enable the delivery of an average of 825 high-quality new homes a year in Reading, along with the infrastructure to support new development.	Y	Secure Reading’s economic and cultural success
Prevent and reduce health inequalities within the population of Reading and improve and protect the health and wellbeing of all its communities.	Y	Promote affordable housing and more equal communities
Continue moving towards a net zero, resilient Reading and Council by 2030.	Y	Ensure Reading Borough Council is fit for the future

D. Projects 

The specific activities and programmes work that will deliver the objectives set out above. 

Projects should be: 

• Focused on tangible deliverables rather than outcomes (e.g. “build a new library and reception area in the Civic Centre” would be preferable to “celebrate Reading’s arts, culture, and heritage”). 
• Time-limited (with a defined beginning and end) and distinct from BAU activity (ongoing activities should be reflected in the “business as usual” section). 

Strategic Transport

Project name	What will this deliver and what will the benefits be?	Start date (month-year)	End date (month-year)	Budget	What resources is this project dependent on? (e.g. finance, legal, IT)	Relevant Council/Service Plan objective (from table above)	Council Plan project? (Y/N)	Data provider
Deliver the Bus Service Improvement Plan to increase the number of journeys made by bus.	Completion of phase 5 of the South Reading Bus Rapid Transit (BRT). Enhancement of the London Road bus lane.  24 Electric buses (ZEBRA)  Reduced private car usage with carbon, air quality, health and congestion benefits	April 2025	March 2027	£26m 2023 – ongoing £2.5m 2025/26	Legal  Finance Procurement	Make use of central government funding to deliver improvements to public transport, cycling and walking infrastructure in Reading.	Y	Chris Maddocks
Deliver electric buses in partnership with Reading Buses.	Initial programme includes provision of 24 electric buses and the associated installation of charging infrastructure at Reading Buses’ depot.	April 2025	March 2027	£4.7m (ZEBRA)	Legal  Finance Procurement	Make use of central government funding to deliver improvements to public transport, cycling and walking infrastructure in Reading.	Y	Chris Maddocks
Deliver rail improvements, including Tilehurst Station Upgrade and integrated ticketing scheme.	Enhancements to Tilehurst station and wider interchange and improved access including lifts.  Introduce integrated bus / rail ticket scheme with GWR and Reading Buses.	April 2025	Sept 2025	£4m	Legal Comms	Make use of central government funding to deliver improvements to public transport, cycling and walking	N	Chris Maddocks
Deliver funded Active Travel schemes to encourage more walking and cycling.	Enhanced cycling through segregated routes on Shinfield Road and Bath Road and enhanced walking facilities together with a behavioural change programme. Provide benefits for health and the environment and a reduction in traffic congestion	April 2025	March 2028	£1.4m (Shinfield Road) £2.5m (Bath Road) £765k 2025/26 grant	Legal Finance Procurement Comms	Make use of central government funding to deliver improvements to public transport, cycling and walking	Y	Chris Maddocks
Deliver other Local Transport Plan schemes and initiatives	Provision of enhanced sustainable transport facilities in line with the Local Transport Plan objectives	April 2025	On-going	£1.5m ITB Grant Funding	Legal  Finance Procurement  Comms	Make use of central government funding to deliver improvements to public transport, cycling and walking	N	Chris Maddocks

Planning Policy

Project name	What will this deliver and what will the benefits be?	Start date (month-year)	End date (month-year)	Budget	What resources is this project dependent on? (e.g. finance, legal, IT)	Relevant Council/Service Plan objective (from table above)	Council Plan project? (Y/N)	Data provider
Progress the Local Plan partial update to examination and potentially adoption to provide a framework to guide decision making on the planning applications for homes and infrastructure.	Policies that guide decisions on planning applications and sets out long term development of the Borough including where new homes, business and infrastructure should be located	April 2025	March 2026		Legal	Enable the delivery of an average of 825 high-quality new homes a year in Reading, along with the infrastructure to support new development.	Y	Mark Worringham
Update Supplementary Planning Documents (SPD)	Adopt Town Centre Public Realm SPD Update the Sustainable Transport and Parking SPD Update the Biodiversity and Natural Environment SPD Clarifies how the policies in the Local Plan will be adopted	April 2025	March 2027		Legal Finance	Enable the delivery of an average of 825 high-quality new homes a year in Reading, along with the infrastructure to support new development.	N	Mark Worringham
Major Planning Developments	Major planning applications are assessed to support new developments in line with the Local Plan and NPPF to meet government standards reqarding speed and quality of decision making	April 2025	Ongoing		Legal	Enable the delivery of an average of 825 high-quality new homes a year in Reading, along with the infrastructure to support new development.	N	Julie Williams
CIL and Section 106 debt	To recover outstanding debt resulting from the Community Infrastructure Levy and from Section 106 agreements	April 2025	Ongoing		Legal Finance	Enable the delivery of an average of 825 high-quality new homes a year in Reading, along with the infrastructure to support new development.	N	Mark Worringham
Building Safety Levy	To introduce processes for the collection and administration of the levy  To improve building safety and ensure that developers contribute to the costs of remediating building safety defects	April 2025	Sept 2026	£129k grant	Legal  Finance  Procurement	Enable the delivery of over 800 high-quality new homes a year in Reading, along with the infrastructure to support new development	N	Julie Williams

Public Protection

Project name	What will this deliver and what will the benefits be?	Start date (month-year)	End date (month-year)	Budget	What resources is this project dependent on? (e.g. finance, legal, IT)	Relevant Council/Service Plan objective (from table above)	Council Plan project? (Y/N)	Data provider
Introduce the Additional and Selective Licensing Scheme in the private rented sector to improve housing conditions for tenants.	Ensure rental properties meet standards to improve living conditions for tenants  C1600 properties	April 2025	March 2028		Legal Finance  Procurement HR Comms	Enable the delivery of an average of 825 high-quality new homes a year in Reading, along with the infrastructure to support new development.	Y	Catherine Lewis
Renters Reform Bill	Plan for introduction of the Act in summer 2025 to improve the private rented sector	April 2025	March 2026		Legal Finance HR	Prevent and reduce health inequalities within the population of Reading and improve and protect the health and wellbeing of all its communities	N	Catherine Lewis
EV Infrastructure and Strategy	Procure a contract to install 1,500+ standard on-street charge points and 100-150 gullies in residential areas without off street parking.  To reduce carbon emissions, improve air quality and promote sustainable and active travel.	April 2025	March 2027	£277k revenue £866k capital	Legal Finance  Procurement Comms	Continue moving towards a net zero, resilient Reading and Council by 2030.	N	Catherine Lewis
Tobacco and Vapes Bill	Plan for introduction of the Act which aims to promote public health by reducing tobacco use and regulating vaping products	April 2025	January 2027		Legal	Prevent and reduce health inequalities within the population of Reading and improve and protect the health and wellbeing of all its communities.	N	Rob Abell
Enforcement Policies and sub delegations	Polices are up to date to provide consistency and assurance regarding enforcement action	April 2025	December 2025		Legal		N	Rob Abell

Coroners

Project name	What will this deliver and what will the benefits be?	Start date (month-year)	End date (month-year)	Budget	What resources is this project dependent on? (e.g. finance, legal, IT)	Relevant Council/Service Plan objective (from table above)	Council Plan project? (Y/N)	Data provider
Mortuary Contract	Procurement of a new mortuary contract to include CT scanning and pathology	April 2025	April 2027		Legal Finance Procurement	Use procurement of goods and services to secure greater social value and spend locally	N	Rhiannon Charnock

Annex: Council Plan priorities and objectives 

Vision: Our Vision is to help Reading realise its potential and to ensure that everyone who lives and works here can share the benefits of its success.

Priority 1: Promote affordable housing and more equal communities 

• Tackle economic inequality by taking a place-based approach to how we deliver all our services, and enhance access to education, skills, and training opportunities.  
• Deliver new energy efficient council homes and improve tenant satisfaction with social housing.  
• Prevent the escalation of children’s needs through developing Family Hubs. 
• Promote best practice across Reading’s schools, helping to improve educational attainment and narrow the gap for disadvantaged and vulnerable children. 
• Prevent and reduce health inequalities within the population of Reading and improve and protect the health and wellbeing of all its communities. 
• Through the community safety partnership, focus on reducing community-based drug activity, knife violence, violence against women and girls and youth reoffending. 
• Work with partners to prevent homelessness, provide value for money accommodation for those that are homeless, and move people onto settled accommodation as quickly as possible. 

Priority 2: Secure Reading’s economic and cultural success 

• Enable the delivery of over 800 high-quality new homes a year in Reading, along with the infrastructure to support new development. 
• Promote the economic success of Reading by working with councils across Berkshire and the wider Thames Valley. 
• Maximise the benefits available for Reading from opportunities arising from the English Devolution White Paper. 
• Continue to deliver quality cultural and leisure services and facilitate exciting improvements to our cultural offer through grant-funded projects. 

Priority 3: Promote a sustainable and healthy environment and reduce Reading’s carbon footprint 

• Make use of central government funding to deliver improvements to public transport, cycling and walking infrastructure in Reading. 
• Keep Reading moving by delivering investment in highways, including roads, bridges, streetlighting and traffic signals. 
• Continue moving towards a net zero, resilient Reading and council by 2030. 
• Further improve the physical environment of Reading by improving air quality, access to green space, and the quality of public spaces. 
• Deliver major changes to our waste and recycling service to ensure compliance with new legislation. 

Priority 4: Safeguard and support the health and wellbeing of Reading’s adults and children 

• Reduce the number of children in care and the number of children in residential care. 
• Improve our local Special Education Needs and Disabilities (SEND) offer and support education settings to develop inclusive practice, so children receive high quality education locally, and achieve their potential. 
• Support those who need social care services to live as independently as possible in a place they call home with improved wellbeing. 
• Improve our offer for unpaid Carers, ensuring they are supported to live well and can sustain their caring role. 
• Work with our partners in health and the voluntary sector to provide support solutions for those with complex health and social care needs to improve outcomes. 

Priority 5: Ensure Reading Borough Council is fit for the future 

• Deliver good, accessible services for our customers. 
• Invest in technology that is secure and helps deliver effective services. 
• Use procurement of goods and services to secure greater social value and spend locally. 
• Bring Brighter Futures for Children (Children’s Services) back to the council. 
• Be a fair employer with an attractive and competitive offer and a workforce that is representative of the local community.