At a meeting on Monday 24 November 2025, Lambeth Council's cabinet approved recommendations in the Quarter 2 2025/26 Budget Monitoring Report, heard the Lambeth Corporate Peer Challenge Progress Review 2025, and discussed the Outcomes Framework Performance: Q2 2025/26. The cabinet addressed concerns raised by visiting members and outlined strategies for financial stability, service improvement and community support.

Budget Monitoring Report

The cabinet approved the recommendations outlined in the Quarter 2 2025/26 Budget Monitoring Report, which set out the council’s financial performance, including actions to manage expenditure and increase income. Councillor Judith Cavanagh, Acting Cabinet Member for Finance, highlighted that the council faced financial challenges due to rising costs and increasing demand for services, particularly in temporary accommodation and social care. The report included proposals for savings of more than £28 million over the next three years.

Councillor Martin Abrams, visiting member, expressed concerns about the lack of a clear strategy to stabilise temporary accommodation and social care budgets, and the reliance on savings not yet identified. He suggested the council should:

• scrutinise the statutory auditor's recommendations
• be honest with residents
• revisit the borough plan
• intensify political pressure on central government for a fair funding deal.

Councillor Claire Holland, Leader of the Council, responded that the council was taking immediate, difficult decisions to address the challenges.

Zena Cooke, whose role is not specified in the provided documents, clarified that the savings proposals were part of a wider medium-term financial strategy. She added that the purpose of the report was to accelerate the delivery of savings already identified for the coming year.

In response to questions from cabinet members, officers outlined measures to reduce financial pressures, including:

• renegotiating contracts for temporary accommodation
• bringing the social reviews team back in-house
• repurposing existing hostels to end the use of hotel accommodation.

Councillor Danial Adilypour, Deputy Leader of the Council (Housing, Investment, & New Homes), noted that the percentage of families in nightly paid temporary accommodation had decreased from 78% to 74% between April and October, and that the number of households in temporary accommodation had fallen from over 4,700 to just over 4,500.

The cabinet also discussed the proposed £60,000 reduction to the Lambeth Forum Network's funding. Sophy Tayler, from the SE5 Forum for Camberwell, spoke of the importance of this core funding in enabling the forums to leverage external grants. Councillor Donatus Anyanwu, Cabinet Member for Stronger Communities, said the council would seek alternative funding options for the Lambeth Forum Network. Zena Cooke added that the early notification of the proposed saving was intended to allow time to work with the forums on potential mitigations.

The Overview and Scrutiny Committee had previously discussed the budget monitoring report and made several recommendations¹ to the cabinet, including:

• providing regular updates on the tracking and delivery of proposed savings
• detailing actions taken to mitigate service pressures
• ensuring that the findings of Equalities Impact Assessments are taken on board
• reducing the use of consultants and agency staff
• reconsidering the withdrawal of the Community Sports Budget for those under 18 years old
• ensuring that any increases in fees and service charges are reasonable
• lobbying the government for multi-year settlements for local authorities.

Marietta Crichton Stuart, from the Friends of Kennington Park, raised concerns about the pause in funding for the Kennington Park Skate Bowl. She highlighted the value of the skate bowl in supporting young people's wellbeing, community cohesion and local heritage. Zena Cooke responded that the skate bowl was part of a wider capital review to reduce borrowing, with decisions on paused projects due shortly.

Corporate Peer Challenge Progress Review

The cabinet heard the Lambeth Corporate Peer Challenge Progress Review 2025, which confirmed that the council was taking the right steps to manage its financial challenges. The review acknowledged improved grip on budget pressures and identified areas of further work as part of the transformation programme.

Councillor Martin Abrams said the report highlighted a high-risk financial position, and expressed concern that accelerating savings could impact key frontline and preventative services.

Councillor Fred Cowell, Cabinet Member for Digital, Data and Resident Experience, noted that the peer review identified that the council was facing unprecedented financial pressures, and highlighted the improved grip on the financial position compared with last year.

Outcomes Framework Performance

The cabinet discussed the Outcomes Framework Performance: Q2 2025/26, which showed continued pressure on temporary accommodation and social care indicators, alongside improvements in digital transformation and resident experience. Councillor Fred Cowell noted that 77% of target indicators were being met, up from 72% in quarter 1.

Councillor Martin Abrams raised concerns about worsening inequality for young people, declining outcomes in early intervention and community safety, and persistent housing pressures.

In response, cabinet members highlighted the council's work to support young people, address damp and mould cases, and support vulnerable individuals. Councillor Dr. Mahamed Hashi, Cabinet Member for Safer Communities, said that engaging over 4,000 young people in prevention work, alongside wider youth safety measures, had contributed to strong reductions in violence with injury and knife crime locally.