The Hillingdon Council Cabinet met on 20 November 2025, and approved recommendations relating to GP coverage, a waste management plan, a school lease, budget monitoring, and property disposals. The Cabinet also approved a single tender for the Finance Modernisation Programme. Councillor Ian Edwards, Leader of the Council, thanked Councillor Martin Goddard for his service as Cabinet Member for Finance and Transformation, and welcomed Councillor Eddie Lavery as the new Cabinet Member for Finance and Transformation.

Council Budget

The Cabinet reviewed the Monthly Council Budget Monitoring Report for Month 6, which provided an overview of the council's financial performance as of September 2025. The report highlighted an overspend of £36 million in the General Fund, driven by pressures in adult social care, children's services, and homelessness support. The Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) is also facing a deficit, while the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) is performing to budget.

Key points from the report:

• General Fund Revenue: The council has an approved expenditure budget of £974 million, with £552 million within the General Fund and £422 million within the Dedicated Schools Grant. The General Fund is forecasting a £36 million overspend, leading to an adverse movement against the General Reserves position. This is driven by service operations, homelessness, and children's and adults social care provision.

• Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG): The in-year forecast deficit relating to DSG remains in line with budget, at £12.5 million. However, when factoring in the opening deficit position of £65.9 million, this leads to a closing cumulative deficit increase for 2025/26 of £78.4 million. The statutory override[^1] is in place until March 2028 while the council continues with its deficit management plan.

  [^1]: A statutory override is a temporary measure that allows a local authority to manage a deficit in its Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) without it impacting the council's general reserves. It provides a ring-fence around the DSG deficit, giving the council time to implement a deficit management plan and bring the budget back into balance.

• Housing Revenue Account (HRA): The HRA revenue budget consists of £85.4 million expenditure matched by an equivalent level of income. The Month 6 forecast reflects an unchanged position against this budget.

• Exceptional Financial Support (EFS): The council is in discussions with the Ministry for Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG) to secure Exceptional Financial Support (EFS). Councillor Ian Edwards clarified that £12.3 million of savings marked red were expected to slip into 2026/27 rather than being undeliverable.

The Cabinet approved the recommendations in the report, including a budget virement¹ of £8.85 million from the General Contingency budget to address underlying budget pressures.

Photography Fees

The Cabinet approved the introduction of non-commercial photography fees for the use of council-owned green spaces for engagement or wedding photography. A £100 administration fee and a location fee of £100 per hour for up to five people (including the photographer) or £125 per hour for a maximum of 10 people (including the photographer) will be introduced. The council's film office already charges for commercial photography as part of its rate card, and this change was introduced after receiving enquiries relating to using green spaces, specifically Eastcote House Gardens, for engagement and wedding photography shoots.

GP Coverage in Hillingdon

The Cabinet welcomed the report from the Health & Social Care Select Committee on GP Coverage in Hillingdon and approved its recommendations. Councillor Nick Denys, Chair of the Health & Social Care Select Committee, presented the report, which emphasised the importance of planning for future GP provision, simplifying data governance, expanding the provision of champions, raising awareness about community-based services, and improving access to online booking systems.

The Cabinet agreed that:

1. Officers should work with partners to identify where GP surgeries are likely to be needed by 2035.
2. The Health and Wellbeing Board partners should:

*   Investigate a reduction in the complexity and quantity of data governance and IT systems currently being used in Hillingdon to enable patient data to be easily passed between professionals.
*   Subject to the outcome of the pilot, expand the provision of champions to other health related issues.
*   Increase awareness that the nature of community care is changing.

1. The Confederation Hillingdon CIC should:

*   Investigate the possibility of increasing patients' use of online bookings systems, including being able to specify convenient call back times.
*   Ensure equality with regard to the ability to request to be seen by the same sex medical professionals at GP surgeries.

1. The Health and Social Care Select Committee should be provided with an update by March 2027 on any progress made in progressing these recommendations alongside the implementation of the NHS 10 Year Health Plan and the development of neighbourhoods.
2. Actions to progress all the above recommendations from the Select Committee should be regularly monitored at Health & Wellbeing Board meetings and added to its work programme.

West London Waste Plan

The Cabinet agreed to a Regulation 18 consultation on the Draft West London Waste Plan attached in Appendix C - Draft Plan Reg 18 Plan for Consultation. Councillor Steve Tuckwell, Cabinet Member for Planning, Housing and Growth, explained that this was a statutory consultation required under national planning legislation². The current plan is ten years old and no longer reflects national policy, the 2021 London Plan³, or the scale and type of waste now expected to be managed. The draft plan sets out updated waste projections for the next fifteen years, identifies safeguarded sites that already provide the necessary capacity (as shown in the Appendix B - Maps of Safeguarded Sites), and refreshes the policies used to assess waste development across West London. No new waste sites are proposed.

The Cabinet delegated authority to the Director of Planning and Sustainable Growth to make minor modifications to the draft Plan before consultation launch, in conjunction with other participating boroughs. The outcome of the consultation will be reported back to Cabinet in 2026, with subsequent approval sought for a second round of consultation known as Regulation 19.

Academy Lease for Pinn River School, Eastcote

The Cabinet agreed to a 125-year lease on standard terms for the new Free School Pinn River with the Eden Academy Trust, subject to Department for Education (DfE) approval for the formal closure of Grangewood School and the opening of Pinn River. Councillor Susan O'Brien, Cabinet Member for Children, Families & Education, explained that the new school building was nearing completion, with an anticipated opening early in the New Year. The new school will provide 180 places for children with severe and profound disabilities.

Corporate Disposals Programme

The Cabinet approved recommendations relating to the Corporate Disposals Programme 2025/26:

• Mad Bess Wood Cottage, Harefield: The Cabinet agreed to declare the property surplus to requirements and to dispose of and sell the freehold interest on the open market. Mad Bess Wood Cottage, Harefield is a three-bedroom detached house located approximately two miles from Ruislip High Street.
• Former Caretakers House, Whiteheath Junior School, Ruislip: The Cabinet agreed to declare the Caretakers House at Whiteheath Junior School in Ruislip surplus to requirements and to dispose of and sell the freehold interest.
• Former Caretakers House, 12 Fore Street, Eastcote: The Cabinet approved the appropriation of the long leasehold interest for 12 Fore Street, Eastcote, HA5 2HY out of the General Fund and into the Housing Revenue Account, subject to consent from the Secretary of State for Education. This will allow the property to be used as council housing.

Finance Modernisation Programme

The Cabinet approved a single tender from Grant Thornton UK LLP via the MCF4 Framework for the delivery of the modern finance processes and organisation phase of the Finance Modernisation Programme to the London Borough of Hillingdon for a 4-month period following approval, at the estimated value of £357,200.