The Overview & Scrutiny Committee of Tower Hamlets Council met on Monday, 16 February 2026, to discuss a range of topics including anti-social behaviour, integrated enforcement, reoffending rates among young adults, and road safety. The committee also reviewed forthcoming decisions and received updates from scrutiny leads.

Scrutiny Spotlight

The committee was scheduled to examine several key areas:

The Anti-Social Behaviour Policy

This agenda item was to consider the council's approach to managing anti-social behaviour (ASB) among council tenants and leaseholders. The review was prompted by new social housing regulations introduced in April 2024 under the Social Housing Regulations Act 2024, which imposed requirements on social landlords. Following the insourcing of Tower Hamlets Homes to the council in 2023, it became apparent that the existing ASB policy was outdated and required updating to reflect current legislation and local needs. The development of a new ASB policy, which aims to clearly define what constitutes ASB and outline management processes, was identified as a key workstream within an ASB improvement programme initiated in January 2025. The committee was expected to review and approve a proposed triage process for ASB case allocation and escalation, which would inform the new policy. The council's responsibility as a social landlord to have an up-to-date ASB policy was highlighted, with a commitment to a comprehensive public consultation on the new policy.

Integrated Enforcement

This item focused on the council's approach to integrated enforcement, as detailed in the report Integrated Enforcement Spotlight . The report outlined the significant investment made in community safety, totalling £8 million, which included tripling the number of enforcement officers, establishing a council-funded police task force, and upgrading CCTV infrastructure. The creation of the Public Protection & Integrated Enforcement division in April 2025 was driven by the need to support mayoral priorities, address residents' concerns about crime and anti-social behaviour (ASB), and foster stronger partnerships. The report detailed the capabilities of the Tower Hamlets Enforcement Officers (THEOs), the Drugs Squad, the 24/7 ASB response service, and CCTV operations. It also highlighted the civil and criminal powers accredited to THEOs and their role in enforcing various legislation, including environmental crime and highway offences. The committee was recommended to consider the council's integrated enforcement approach and provide feedback on options to further strengthen it.

Challenge Session: Breaking the Cycle on 18–25-year-olds Reoffending Rates

The committee was scheduled to review the findings and recommendations of a scrutiny challenge session focused on reducing reoffending rates among 18 to 25-year-olds, as presented in the report Scrutiny Challenge Breaking the Cycle 18-25 year olds Reoffending Rates . The review highlighted that reoffending among this age group places significant pressure on the criminal justice system, public services, and communities. National evidence suggests that reoffending is linked to cumulative and intersectional factors such as unmet needs, instability, trauma, and erratic engagement with services. For young adults in Tower Hamlets, these risks are particularly heightened due to developmental factors related to maturity and decision-making. The report noted that many young adults entering the justice system are first-time offenders, but repeat offenders often face intersecting challenges including insecure accommodation, poor mental wellbeing, substance misuse, unemployment, and a lack of family or peer support. The scrutiny review, chaired by Councillor Abdi Mohamed, involved engaging with stakeholders including the Borough Commander, Probation services, Housing, Youth Justice, Substance Misuse services, and local charities. The review resulted in eight strategic recommendations, including improving data quality and shared intelligence, developing an integrated 17-25 youth-to-adult model, creating a youth voice and lived experience leadership framework, rebalancing towards early intervention and diversion, establishing a reoffending prevention fund, expanding navigation and peer support, growing culturally competent and gender-specific provision, and tackling digital harms and online-enabled exploitation.

Scrutiny Challenge Session: Reducing Road Danger and Deaths

This agenda item was for noting the findings of the scrutiny challenge session on reducing road danger and deaths, as detailed in the report CS SCRUTINY REPORT ON REDUCING ROAD DANGER AND DEATHS 26.01.2026 . The report highlighted that Tower Hamlets has a high number of people killed or seriously injured (KSI) on its roads, with 140 KSI casualties in 2024. Pedestrians, cyclists, and young people aged 16-24 are disproportionately represented in these statistics. The council's draft Road Safety Plan aims to eliminate road deaths by 2041, aligning with the Mayor of London's Vision Zero Action Plan. The scrutiny review, led by Councillor Nathalie Bienfait, involved gathering evidence from residents, organisations, and council services. The report made eight recommendations, including increasing the ambition and clarity of the road safety plan, rebalancing road space to prioritise vulnerable road users, investing in infrastructure over education and enforcement, strengthening enforcement plans, prioritising interventions near schools, ensuring a full Equality Impact Assessment (EqIA) influences planned interventions, engaging residents and community organisations, and emphasising modal shift as a road safety measure.

Scrutiny Leads Updates

The committee was scheduled to receive updates from the Overview and Scrutiny Leads on their ongoing work across the council.

Pre-Decision Scrutiny of Unrestricted Cabinet Papers

The committee was to consider the agenda for the upcoming Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, 18 February 2026, and formulate any pre-decision scrutiny questions or comments.

Forthcoming Decisions

Members were scheduled to review the Executive Forward Plan, which outlines forthcoming decisions expected to be taken by the Mayor, and identify any areas requiring further scrutiny by the committee. The Printed plan Forthcoming Decision Plan - 200126 Cabinet was available for review.

The meeting also included standard procedural items such as apologies for absence, declarations of interest, and the confirmation of previous minutes. A portion of the meeting was scheduled to be held in private to discuss exempt or confidential business.