The Cabinet of Southwark Council met on Tuesday 4 February 2025 and made a number of decisions, including adopting the Southwark 2030 Delivery Plan, setting its budget for 2025-26, and setting out its school admissions arrangements for 2026-27. The Cabinet also agreed to sell the site of the former Folgate Estate to Weston Homes for redevelopment.

Budget 2025-2026

The Council approved its budget for 2025-26, including a 4% increase in the amount of council tax it collects to cover spending by the Greater London Authority. The final Local Government Finance Settlement, which sets out the funding the council will receive from central government had not been published at the time of the meeting.

that the final Local Government Finance Settlement has not been published at the time of writing, any changes from the provisional settlement published on the 18 December 2024, will be set out in the 2025-26 budget report to council assembly on 26 February 2025.

The budget includes a number of fees and charges for council services, which are set out in a schedule. The budget also includes a £141 million capital programme, details of which can be found on page 45 of the Policy and Resources Strategy 2025-26 report.

Councillor Ian Wingfield, chair of the council's Overview and Scrutiny Committee, presented the committee's recommendations on the budget to the Cabinet.

Southwark 2030 Delivery Plan

The Cabinet formally adopted the Southwark 2030 Delivery Plan, a document that sets out how the council will deliver on its commitments in the Southwark 2030 strategy.

The delivery plan provides the clear framework for driving strategic delivery of the Southwark 2030 strategy and the overarching ambition to create good lives in our borough together with residents and communities.

The Cabinet also agreed to add an accessible toilet plan to the delivery plan.

Deputations

Two deputations were made to the Cabinet. The first was from PemPeople, who spoke about the impact of regeneration on the Old Kent Road. The second was from Hajia Saidat Oketunde, who spoke about the positive impact of key initiatives from Southwark Council.

Former Folgate Estate redevelopment

The Cabinet agreed to sell the site of the former Folgate Estate to Weston Homes for redevelopment. The site will be redeveloped to provide new homes, a health centre, and other commercial space.

That delegated authority be given to the director of planning and growth to proceed with negotiations with the NHS to use the commercial building as a new health centre for the Old Kent Road.

The Cabinet also agreed to give delegated authority to the council's director of planning and growth to negotiate the final terms of the sale agreement with Weston Homes.

School admissions arrangements 2026-27

The council approved its school admissions arrangements for community primary schools from September 2026 onwards. As part of the new arrangements, the published admissions numbers for three schools will be reduced. They are:

• Ilydale Primary School will reduce its intake from 90 to 60 pupils.
• Goodrich Primary School will reduce its intake from 90 to 60 pupils.
• Crawford Primary School will reduce its intake from 60 to 30 pupils.

The Cabinet noted that an equality impact and needs analysis had been carried out on the impact of the proposed reduction in published admissions numbers.