This is despite over a decade of underfunding from previous governments, unprecedented demand for emergency accommodation for homeless families and increased pressures on adult and children’s social care. The details of the council’s budget have been published today and will be considered by the Cabinet on 23 February.
The reports show that by making tough decisions, including to reduce senior management costs, freeze recruitment and review all areas of spending, the council is managing the impact of rising demand and continuing to invest in the critical services local people care about.
Through sustained action, the council has:
- Stopped rising demand for temporary accommodation through increased prevention and support for homeless families. That includes supporting over 400 families living in temporary accommodation into more suitable housing in recent months.
- Reduced borrowing across the council by £135 million through an extensive review of capital projects and the implementation of spend controls.
- Agreed over £46 million of savings for 2026/27, including over £27 million of efficiency savings and £10 million of increased income generation.
- Reduced forecast overspends, despite continued high demand for social care services.
The council has also set out its intention to draw on Exceptional Financial Support from central government, to help replenish its reserves, support the transformation of services and reduce the cost of delivering them. That support, which gives the council permission to use funds from asset sales and access borrowing if required, is limited to £20 million for 2026/27. This will be funded through the sale of some council-owned assets which cannot otherwise be re-purposed, rather than borrowing that would increase the council’s debt levels. This protects Lambeth taxpayers now and into the future.
The significant progress made has been acknowledged by the council’s external auditors. A recent report highlighted “decisive actions being taken, to identify and implement actions aimed at rectifying the council’s financial position.”
The council’s work to protect services as much as possible, despite significant financial challenges, has also been recognised in the strong results of recent inspections into the services the council provides for local people. Lambeth’s youth justice service was recently independently graded as good for the first time since before 2014. That result follows a long list of improvements that the council has made across local public services, including housing services receiving the second-highest rating from the regulator, every Lambeth secondary school being rated ‘Good’ or ‘Outstanding’ and the borough’s parks being consistently ranked amongst the best in London.
Councillor Judith Cavanagh, Cabinet Member for Finance said:
“We’re delighted that Lambeth’s services are increasingly well-rated by independent experts and residents, despite the impacts of over a decade of austerity and the rising demand for local services. This financial backdrop is really challenging, and this has meant we must consider all areas of council spending to ensure value for money.
“The council will prioritise delivering the good public services that local people told us they care about, including looking after vulnerable children, protecting spending on street cleaning and maintaining our London-leading services to protect women and girls who’ve survived domestic abuse and violence.
“We will also continue to support residents through the cost-of-living crisis, using the council’s investment and the Government’s new Crisis and Resilience Fund. Our work to tackle poverty has brought millions of pounds into the borough – directly into residents’ pockets and our schools.
“We’re tackling Lambeth’s housing crisis directly, pushing ahead with ambitious plans to deliver over 3,000 new homes on council land, including much-needed family homes for those on our council housing waiting list. We’re also protecting private renters by acting against rogue landlords, ensuring they bring their homes up to standard.
“Tackling climate change and cleaning up our air continue to be a priority, we’ve dramatically reduced air pollution and planted over 12,000 new trees in parks, public land and on our streets”
