Year-end performance report celebrates growing town centre footfall

The number of people visiting Barnsley town centre has been higher than expected this year. Footfall reached more than 9.3 million visits, which is 21% above target. That’s around 1.6 million extra visits over the year.

As part of our Growing Barnsley ambition, this has been supported by the continued success of The Glass Works, bringing new shops, places to eat and leisure activities into the town centre. Events such as markets, live entertainment and community and arts festivals have also helped attract visitors. Improvements to public spaces have made the town centre more welcoming and easier to access, helping to build its reputation as a place to visit.

This is just one of the fantastic achievements highlighted in the End of Year Corporate Performance report for 2025/26, which will be discussed at Cabinet. The report sets out progress made over the year, other highlights include:

Healthy Barnsley

Our How’s Thi Ticker partnership carried out 3,651 blood pressure check, which is above the target. More than a quarter of checks carried out in quarter four led to people being signposted to a pharmacy or GP for further support.

Learning Barnsley

Physical and digital visits to our Libraries continued to grow, with total visits going above the yearly target of 700,000. This is an increase of over 27,000 visits, which is a 3.8% increase compared to the yearly target.

Sustainable Barnsley

Visits to museums, parks and outdoor sites were 59% higher than the yearly target, with more than 2.5 million visits recorded. This success reflects the range of exhibitions and activities available for all ages.

Enabling Barnsley

As set out in the End-of-Year Finance Report, the council overspent against its 2025 to 2026 budget by £13 million, in line with forecasts reported throughout the year. Savings plans are being developed to deal with the impact of this and future financial challenges to ensure that the council remains a financially sustainable and well-run organisation.

Councillor Martin Bancroft, Cabinet Spokesperson for Core Services, said:

“It’s good to see the progress made across Barnsley over the past year, including more people visiting our museums, parks, outdoor sites and the town centre. I’d like to thank our staff and partners, as well as our residents, businesses and communities, for the part they’ve all played.

"The council’s financial position has been well publicised and we’re working with officers to plan ahead and deliver value for money services, while managing budget gaps.”

Find more information about the reports in the cabinet papers on the Barnsley Council website.