The Performance and Finance Scrutiny Sub-Committee are scheduled to meet on Tuesday 16 December 2025 at the Harrow Council Hub. The agenda includes discussion of the council's performance, the draft revenue budget for 2026-27, and the medium-term financial strategy. The committee will also review the minutes from their meeting on 29 July 2025.

Temporary Accommodation and Affordable Housing

The sub-committee will receive an update on temporary accommodation pressures and progress on affordable housing delivery, as detailed in Appendix 4 - Update from Housing.

The report notes that Harrow is experiencing significant Housing Needs pressures, with rising costs associated with nightly-paid Temporary Accommodation (TA) . Despite this, the council is seeing an easing in new applications for temporary accommodation. The report highlights that strong prevention activity has helped to keep the numbers down, with the Homelessness Prevention Team successfully preventing over 350 households from becoming homeless during 2024/25, delivering an estimated net cost avoidance of over £1.4 million.

The sub-committee will also discuss actions already underway to address these pressures, including:

• Strengthened landlord engagement through the Help2Let campaign.
• Securing long-term leased accommodation.
• Exploring long-term lease options for up to a further 250 units of Temporary Accommodation.
• Increasing availability of settled accommodation through approximately 50 units at Sheldon House and a further 50 units secured via registered providers.
• Increasing the supply of affordable housing through the property Acquisition Programme and new delivery at Milton Road, Grange Farm and Harrow Strategic Development Partnership (HSDP) sites.
• Improving void turnaround times.
• Implementation of the Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy.

The report also provides an update on affordable homes delivery, noting that the overall programme is rated amber due to sector-wide challenges such as planning delays and construction market pressures. Specific projects mentioned include:

• Milton Road: Construction is now complete and was handed over on 30th October 2025, delivering 36 new affordable homes.
• Brookside Close: Completion of the redevelopment is expected in Q3 2025/26, delivering nine new homes alongside a new community centre.
• Charles Crescent: Handovers and allocations have been arranged, and the scheme remains on track to deliver two terraced and three detached homes.
• Grange Farm Phase 2a: Demolition works are underway ahead of construction of Phase 2a, which will deliver 45 new affordable homes.
• Harrow Strategic Development Programme: The Harrow Strategic Development Programme continues to make progress and is expected to deliver new homes, community facilities, and wider improvements across the borough.

Performance Update

The sub-committee will receive a Performance Update Report from Alex Dewsnap, Managing Director, summarising council and service performance for Quarter 1 2025-26. The report addresses performance against the objectives and Flagship Actions in the council's corporate plan 'Restoring Pride in Harrow'.

The report is arranged by the three priorities:

• A council that puts residents first
• A borough that is clean and safe
• A place where those in need are supported.

The report includes a summary of performance, noting the status of both Flagship Actions and performance indicators as at the end of Q1, 30th June 2025. The Q1 2025-26 scorecard is included at Appendix 2 - Corporate Scorecard 25-26 Q1 as at 16.10.25.

The report also deals with performance issues.

Fly-tipping and Enforcement

The sub-committee will discuss fly-tipping and enforcement, with reference to Appendix 3 - Fly Tipping and Enforcement. This follows a request from the committee for more information on the plan to reduce fly-tips and the impact of enforcement actions.

The report notes that fly-tipping incidents per 1,000 people are improving, with performance better than target. The Priority Protection Team has been focused on delivering on a number of thematic issues around priority enforcement including fly tipping. Work in the service is reviewed across all priority issues using the Ask - Warn - Enforce process. The team meets monthly to discuss the priority areas, the top ten most problematic areas and emerging areas of concern. Each of these locations receives regular early morning patrols to look for fly-tips and evidence of perpetrators.

The report confirms that the number of Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs) issued (tri-borough contract) is Harrow data only. The payment rate is calculated across all FPNs issued and is currently 34%.

Draft Revenue Budget 2026-27 & Draft Medium-Term Financial Strategy to 2028-29

The sub-committee will receive a report of the Strategic Director of Finance and Assurance (Section 151 Officer) on the Draft Revenue Budget 2026-27 & Draft Medium-Term Financial Strategy to 2028-29. This document was listed as 'to follow' when the agenda was published.

Previous Minutes

The sub-committee will be asked to approve the Minutes - 29 July 2025 meeting as a correct record. At that meeting, the sub-committee discussed the Revenue and Capital Monitoring 2024-25 (Final Outturn) Report, and the Strategic Performance Report Quarter Four.