The Overview and Scrutiny Commission of Crawley Borough Council met on 6 October 2025 to discuss several key issues, including a petition regarding the Tilgate Park War Memorial, the council's budget strategy, and social housing delivery. Members were also scheduled to discuss and comment on the final draft of the Corporate Plan 2025-2028.

Here's a closer look at the topics that were scheduled to be covered:

Corporate Plan 2025-2028

The commission was scheduled to discuss the Corporate Plan 2025-2028, a document outlining the council's strategic direction for the next three years. According to the report pack, the plan was created in response to a Corporate Peer Challenge in 2024 and is intended to refresh the existing Corporate Plan, linking it to the administration's manifesto, budget strategy, and transformation plan.

The plan identifies five strategic objectives:

• Create a thriving local economy with new, green jobs
• Tackle the housing emergency
• Ensure Crawley is a vibrant town with high quality facilities
• Build connected and thriving communities
• Prepare Crawley for the future

The report pack states that the council intends to increase transparency in the plan's delivery by publishing measures and milestones, aligning with the government's new Local Government Outcomes Framework (LGOF).

Budget Strategy 2026/27 – 2027/28

The commission was scheduled to discuss the Budget Strategy for 2026/27 and 2027/28. The report pack states that the short timeframe is due to the planned establishment of new unitary councils throughout Sussex in 2028 through the Government's Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) policy. According to the report, the Budget Strategy ends with the abolition of Crawley Borough Council from 1 April 2028.

The report pack notes that the council's Medium Term Financial forecast has been prepared against a background of high levels of uncertainty, including the Government's Fair Funding Review 2.0, inflation, and increasing demand for services like homelessness support.

The report pack indicates that the budget strategy aligns with the council's corporate priorities. It also presents an outline two-year forecast, which is subject to change depending on the outcome of the Local Government Finance Settlement for 2026/27. The report pack notes a forecast budget deficit of £2.439m for 2026/27, based on a council tax increase of 2.99%.

The report pack states that the forecast does not include any fundamental changes in service delivery and that there are significant uncertainties around government funding prior to the provisional Local Government Finance settlement in December due to the unknown outcome of the Spending Review 2.0.

2026-2027 Housing Revenue Account Business Plan

The commission was scheduled to discuss the 2026-2027 Housing Revenue Account (HRA) Business Plan. According to the report pack, the plan sets out the long-term financial position of the HRA for a period of 30 years, outlining the strategic approach to managing the HRA over that period.

The report pack notes that the HRA Business Plan underpins the sustainable delivery of effective landlord services, ensuring that tenants' homes are safe and well maintained, and that investment and service delivery is economically viable. The plan is underpinned by financial modelling and takes into account known financial information, issues, and assumptions about variable elements such as inflation and interest rates.

The aims of the Business Plan, as listed in the report pack, are to ensure resources are in place to:

• Manage, maintain and improve existing housing stock.
• Deliver new affordable housing aligned with local needs.
• Ensure long-term financial viability and resilience.
• Support decarbonisation and sustainability goals.
• Engage tenants and stakeholders in decision-making.

Petition Tilgate Park War Memorial

The commission was scheduled to consider a petition regarding the Tilgate Park War Memorial. According to the report pack, the council received a petition with 311 valid signatures requesting the reinstatement of the war memorial, which had been painted over, and seeking a full explanation of how this happened. The petition also requests that the council donate £10,000 to a local armed forces charity, taken from a budget normally used to provide expenses for councillors.

According to the report pack, in 2018 a painted mural depicting fallen soldiers, including the names of soldiers originating from Crawley, was started on a section of the walled garden perimeter wall adjacent to the café. The report pack states that this was not commissioned by Crawley Borough Council nor was permission directly given.

The report pack states that the council is not considering reinstating the mural, as it is not the right location for a mural.

Social Housing Delivery

The commission was scheduled to receive an update on social housing delivery throughout 2024, following a Notice Of Motion at Full Council on 27 March 2024.

The report pack details the council's response to the resolutions of the motion, including exploring options to maximise the delivery of new social housing, plans to deliver approximately 500 council and affordable homes, pursuing support for council housebuilding, resolving water neutrality restrictions, and assisting with the affordability of future rents.

The report pack notes that Crawley has an active Council house building programme, which lost momentum as a result of water-neutrality, but is in the process of reestablishing momentum with on-site works expected to commence from 2026 onwards.

The report pack also details progress towards housing delivery in 2024/25, including the Local Authority Housing Fund (LAHF), the Brownfield Land Release Fund (BLRF), the HRA 30-Year Business Plan, the Water Neutrality Retrofitting Programme, prioritised schemes being progressed, and the temporary accommodation programme.

Other Business

The agenda also included:

• Approval of the minutes from the previous meeting.
• A period of public question time.
• An update from the Health and Adult Social Care Scrutiny Committee (HASC).
• A review of the Forthcoming Decision List and Provisional List of Reports for the Commission's following Meetings.
• Consideration of an alternative provision of building control services for Crawley, which was scheduled to be discussed in Part B of the meeting, which was closed to the public.