Working for us

New Forest District Council, There's more to our place than meets the eye.

Living in the New Forest

The New Forest is unique.

Famous for its amazing wildlife, one of the largest areas of heathland in Europe, and some of the oldest trees in the country, it's a place of rare and stunning beauty.

But more than this, it's a place of thriving towns and villages, communities where people live, learn and work, and we're responsible for everything from open spaces, play areas and woodland to recycling, parking and emergency planning. 

The district's growing economy is a reflection of the ambition and hard work of the people who live here. 

It's our vision to secure a vibrant and prosperous New Forest into the future, guided by the people we serve and working in partnership with others.

Working in the New Forest

As one of the largest districts in the country, with 6 towns and a close relationship with neighbouring conurbations, the New Forest provides a supportive environment in which everyone who works for us can help drive our aims.

All our employees make a valuable contribution to the work we do, and that's why we encourage a trusting and open culture where everyone is supported and respected, where ideas are actively sought, and self-development is promoted.

The future in the New Forest and our priorities

The New Forest will deliver sustainable growth over the coming decades the scale of which has not been seen for over 3 decades. 

Our Community Matters Corporate Plan 2020 to 2024 reflects the current emphasis to secure a vibrant and prosperous New Forest, guided by the people we serve and working in partnership with others to enhance the quality of lives for all by:

• understanding local needs and creating a balanced, healthy community who feel safe, supported and have access to services
• protecting the special character of the New Forest and responding pro-actively to environmental challenges
• working with others to maintain a vibrant local economy that brings opportunities to the area

To give you a sense of our wider agenda these are some of our areas of collective focus for the next year:

• delivering targets for 2023 from our corporate plan
• developing our people by: addressing skills and resourcing requirements, living our values through collective leadership, understanding our strengths and opportunities, working together on cross-cutting challenges
• leading our response to climate emergency - Action plan for next year and longer term strategy commitment to a zero carbon aim, with a new Climate Change and Nature Manager, a cross-cutting steering group and climate champions across the authority
• supporting the Solent Freeport, partnering with three other authorities to enable housing and employment opportunities across the district, our main role around planning and delivering for our communities
• leading on Totton town centre regeneration
• responding and supporting communities as we move to recover from the pandemic and address cost of living challenges
• transforming the way we work - with work streams for people, delivery, customer and insight, accommodation and estate, service reviews, digital, through culture and engagement and partnering and collaboration
• preparing and focusing for the next administration

Our Chief Executive is championing these priorities and, combined with the support of the cabinet, there's never been a more exciting or more transformative time to join us.

Pride in the New Forest

We're proud of the work we do and excited about the future.

In a recent poll at one of our popular and regular Chief Executive sessions, staff told us what they were really proud of, and the snapshot of comments below were common themes:

• co-ordinated and collaborative working
• service and team resilience
• flexibility and dedication of teams working together
• delivering excellent services

Our 2022 Residents Insight Survey asked questions about the local area and a range of council services to help our understanding of what is most important to our residents and tailor our services to meet the needs of local people.  You can view a graphic summary of the results by clicking on this link Resident insight 2022 (newforest.gov.uk).  There is plenty of areas residents rate very highly, but there's room for us to develop on too, and these will help form our new priorities moving forwards..

If you want to make a difference and ensure that our beautiful part of the country is protected and maintained for future generations, join us now.

Employee Survey results

Our survey results are in:

Here's some of the key findings from our employees:

• Over 89% agreed or strongly agreed that they understood clearly what was expected of them.
• Over 87% felt that in their team, people helped and supported each other
• And over 82% felt that they knew where to get support at work if they felt their mental wellbeing was being impacted.

We can also see that there are other areas that we still need to understand more about and develop. For example:

• 39.6% were either neutral or disagreed that they had clear personal objectives that supported their career development
• 36.4% were either neutral or disagreed that their manager gave them regular feedback on how they are doing
• And 45.7% were either neutral or disagreed that they had confidence in the decisions that senior management make.

Work has started on interpreting and understanding the invaluable detailed insight data that this exercise has provided.  We've developed key themes and we have an Employee Survey Staff Engagement group to work on these and report back to our Executive Team.

Our stories

Learn what it's like to work for us by reading some of our staff profiles.

#OurVince

Vince is a Workshop Supervisor at New Forest District Council. He supervises a team of mechanics who are responsible for making sure our vehicles and equipment are in a safe and roadworthy condition.

Read Vince's story.

#OurDave

Dave is a waste and recycling supervisor at New Forest District Council. He's helping to keep the streets clean and tidy in the New Forest.

Read Dave's story.

#OurCatherine

Catherine works as an occupational therapist for our housing team. She helps our tenants with disabilities live more independently.

Read Catherine's story