Delivering a Fairer Westminster

The vision at the heart of our Delivery Plan remains the same – to build a Fairer Westminster that supports and celebrates its communities, led by a council that combines social justice with efficient services.

As part of our commitment to be as open as possible about the work we continue to do, we are publishing our Fairer Westminster Delivery Plan for 2024-25. This sets out what we have planned for the next year and beyond.

We are proud of what we have achieved so far, but we know there is still a lot more we want and need to do, and ways of working that can be improved. Most importantly, we will continue to consider and reflect your priorities – our residents and businesses – as we build a Fairer Westminster together.

Fairer Communities

At the heart of our Fairer Westminster strategy is a commitment to reducing inequality. We've supported children and young people with our expanded Universal Free Lunch Offer and school uniform costs, helped our Family Hubs Network provide support to families throughout the city, and addressed significant health inequalities through our Health and Wellbeing Strategy.

Some of our objectives for this year include:

• Supporting schools and nurseries to collaborate with family hubs and libraries to bring together all the support families may need.
• Tackling and preventing youth violence and offending by working closely with schools and providing change programmes and positive activities.
• Funding a variety of grants programmes to support our communities and residents who will benefit the most.
• Launching our new Active Westminster Strategy which sets out our plan to improve the health and wellbeing of residents.
• Introducing a new CCTV network of 100 re-deployable cameras placed in priority areas to help tackle anti-social behaviour.

See some of the ways we’re delivering Fairer Communities here.

Fairer Housing

Although we have made great progress in delivering on our Fairer Housing commitments, including completing 300 Harrow Road, opening new housing service centres and providing more support for rough sleepers, there is more to do if we are to realise the breadth of our ambition.

Some of our objectives for this year include:

• Strengthening frontline housing services to provide better face-to-face interactions with housing officers in local neighbourhoods.
• Improving our housing repairs service to ensure timely and transparent communication with residents about their repair progress.
• Securing more temporary accommodation for families that need it, ensuring residents remain close to their families, jobs, and schools.
• Delivering a further 227 affordable homes through our house building programme.
• Developing new housing and care for older people at Carlton Dene, and adapting the homes of others to support independent living.

See some of the ways we’re delivering Fairer Housing here.

Fairer Economy

Westminster is an economic engine for both London and the UK, with over 53,000 businesses, one-eighth of London jobs and generating £72bn in economic value. Our ambition is to deliver a strong and sustainable economy, with employment opportunities and inclusive growth that benefits everyone with our Fairer Economy Plan.

Some of our objectives for this year include:

• Developing a Strategic Skills Framework to align education, job opportunities, and skill-building, enhancing residents’ employment prospects.
• Through our High Streets Programme, delivering High Street Action Plans to support our vibrant high streets, in areas such as Harrow Road, Praed Street and Queensway.
• Creating an inclusive Evening and Night-time plan to ensure community safety, sustainability, and accessibility.
• Providing early career programmes for under-represented groups, engaging with the community through recruitment events and job fairs.
• Strengthening Oxford Street’s global status through community and partner collaboration to improve the public realm and visitor experience.

See some of the ways we’re delivering a Fairer Economy here.

Fairer Environment

We’re tackling the Climate Emergency head-on, aiming to be a net zero council by 2030 and a net zero city by 2040. Our Climate Emergency Action Plan is the foundation for our transition to net zero and we’re pushing ahead faster than the national target of reaching net zero by 2050. We’re committed to making Westminster resilient to climate change, especially in more vulnerable communities.

Some of our objectives for this year include:

• Reducing carbon emissions and improve energy efficiency across our housing and buildings through our Retrofit Task Force and Policy, renovating council homes and decarbonising our operational estates.
• Incorporating Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems into public realm schemes to reduce cityside flood risk.
• Driving participation to the Sustainable City Charter to support the business sustainability and decrease citywide carbon emissions.
• Installing more School Streets and implementing the School Clean Air Fund.
• Encouraging and promoting active and sustainable travel by expanding electric vehicle charging spots, establishing new and improving existing cycle routes, and developing a new Sustainable Transport Strategy.

See some of the ways we’re delivering a Fairer Environment here.

Fairer Council

A Fairer Council is one that listens to residents, ensures their needs are met through the services we deliver and with value for residents and businesses. Whether asking questions at Full Council meetings, attending Westminster Together events, joining our new Residents' Panel or taking part in Citizen Assemblies, there are many ways for you to get involved with your council and have your voice heard by decision makers.

Some of our objectives for this year include:

• Increasing our spending with local organisations, small businesses, and voluntary and community groups to strengthen community resilience.
• Creating a data publishing web platform to make it easier for our communities to stay informed and be engaged.
• Implementing an Anti-Racist Action Plan, underpinning our commitment to being an anti-racist organisation.
• Launching a Charter of Community Participation setting out our commitments to engagement, inclusivity and accessibility with public participation.
• Continuing the roll out of Commonplace to make it easier for residents to have their say.

See some of the ways we’re delivering a Fairer Council here.