The Overview and Scrutiny Committee of Westminster City Council met on 5 June 2025 to discuss a range of topics, including updates on the City Plan, the Leader's cabinet, and other committee business. The meeting was scheduled to include an update on the progress of the examination of the City Plan Partial Review, and provide early-stage input on the content, priorities and approach to engagement for the Full City Plan Review due to commence shortly. Councillors were also scheduled to discuss a written update from the Leader of the Council.

City Plan Review

The committee was scheduled to consider an update on the progress of the examination of the City Plan Partial Review and provide early-stage input on the content, priorities, and approach to engagement for the Full City Plan Review, which is due to commence shortly.

The City Plan provides a comprehensive policy framework to determine planning applications in the City, and ensure future development contributes to the objectives of a Fairer Westminster. It is a statutory requirement to produce and keep up to date and must be prepared in accordance with national planning policy set out in the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) , and the London Plan, produced by the Mayor of London.

The City Plan Partial Review, which includes replacement of the existing Affordable Housing Policy, introduction of the Retrofit First Policy, and four Site Allocation Policies is currently under examination. Once the Partial Review is complete and new policies adopted, the majority of the City Plan will still comprise of policies adopted in 2021.

The report pack states that hearings by a Planning Inspector on proposed policies in the City Plan Partial Review took place between 29 April and 1 May 2025. The Inspector will confirm the list of modifications to the version of the plan the Council previously consulted on last year, within the next 4 weeks. Subsequent and final consultation will take place after that for a further 6 weeks. The Inspector’s final report containing the list of modifications necessary to make the Plan sound is expected by October, and the Cabinet Member and Full Council will then be invited to consider adoption of the updated City Plan before the end of 2025.

The Full Review of the City Plan will progress in five stages: (1) Scoping, (2) Regulation 18 draft and consultation, (3) Regulation 19 draft and consultation, (4) Submission, (5) Examination and Adoption.

The scoping stage consisting of technical review and visioning exercise will commence in August after the final major modifications consultation of the City Plan Partial Review. The scoping stage will be largely defined by a high amount of internal and external engagement to ascertain the degree to which current policies are effective in meeting their objectives as well as what the City needs and wants in the built environment in the future. It is intended that the scoping phase will conclude with the product of a direction of travel policy objectives document in early 2026.

The report pack notes that work will be underway to initiate review of the Council’s licensing policy framework and consideration is therefore being given as to how to align engagement activity, especially around visioning. The City Plan and the Statement of Licensing Policy are two of the most impactful policy levers the Council has to shape the physical make up and experiential offer of the City. Closer alignment of these two policy areas, both in objective and design, is a core commitment in the Westminster After Dark strategy but also offers the prospect of significant impact in realising the Council’s wider ambitions.

The Committee was asked to provide a view and steer upon the following matters:

• What wider Council strategies does a new City Plan need to be more closely aligned with to achieve core objectives?
• What should be the key drivers and priorities of Westminster’s development in the coming 20 years?
• What are key issues with Westminster’s built environment which can and must be addressed through planning policy?
• In addition to the statutory and standard groups of stakeholders, what specific parts of our communities would the Committee recommend be approached to take part in developing a creative vision for the future of Westminster’s built environment?
• How could the council reach out and engage with recommended stakeholder groups, and what type of engagement techniques would be the most effective?

The Committee was also asked to consider at which stages of the process it would like to be involved in the process of the Full Review of the City Plan in the future, and what support and training would be beneficial to support ongoing engagement of the O&S Committee in the review.

Leader's Cabinet Update

Councillor Adam Hug, Leader of the Council, was scheduled to provide a written update.

The update included information on:

• Fairer Westminster Delivery events: In April 2025, Westminster City Council launched the Fairer Westminster 2025–26 Delivery Plan, setting out clear priorities for the year ahead. The plan builds on work to tackle inequality and embed fairness across all services — with a continued focus on housing, community safety, health, sustainability, and inclusive economic growth.
• Cost of Living Support: A further £1m of Council investment was announced in March 2025, as analysis suggests the crisis will continue into 2025/2026. The funding has now been allocated in a Cabinet Member Decision.
  • £395,280 for Advice Services including funding for Asylum Aid, Age UK, Cardinal Hume Centre, Midaye, Paddington Law, Abbey Centre, Z2K, Marylebone Bangladesh Society.
  • £150,000 for the Holiday Activities and Food Programme (HAF).
  • £200,000 for Westminster’s food charities.
  • £50,000 for Westminster’s Winter in the City programme.
  • £10,000 Winter reserve for small initiatives.
  • £40,000 for a Community Wardrobe scheme.
  • £132,000 for Delivery Posts.
  • £15,000 for Communications.
  • £7,720 for Contingency.
• Cabinet Decisions:
  • Private Rented Sector Selective Licensing Scheme: The Council’s decision to introduce selective licensing for non-HMO private rented properties across 15 wards was driven by strong evidence of poor housing conditions and persistent anti-social behaviour in some parts of the private rented sector.
  • Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy 2025-2030: This decision was made in response to rising levels of homelessness and rough sleeping in Westminster, driven by high housing costs, a shortage of social housing, and increasing pressures from the cost-of-living crisis.
  • Socio-economic Disadvantage – Ensuring Consideration in Council Decisions: This decision was taken to formally embed socio-economic disadvantage as a consideration in the Council’s Equality Impact Assessments.
  • Future of Pimlico District Heating Undertaking (PDHU) – Progress on initial Outline Business Case: The decision to approve £1.2 million for further technical development of the PDHU project was made due to the urgent need to replace the outdated heating system serving over 3,000 homes and community buildings.
  • Paddington Arts Capital Development: This decision awards £2.719 million of match-funding to Paddington Arts to support the expansion of its facilities at 32 Woodfield Road.

Other Items

• Election of Chair: The meeting was scheduled to begin with the election of a Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee. Councillor Angela Piddock had been nominated by the Majority Group, and no other nominations had been received.
• Membership: Councillors were scheduled to note any changes to the membership of the committee.
• Minutes: Councillors were scheduled to approve the minutes of the last Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting.
• Work Programme 2025-2026: Councillors were scheduled to discuss the work programme for the coming year.
• Policy and Scrutiny Committee Updates: The Chairs of the Policy and Scrutiny Committees were scheduled to provide verbal updates.