The Wandsworth Council cabinet met to discuss housing renewal, temporary accommodation, social housing standards, leisure services, tree planting, CCTV monitoring, procurement, and budget variations. The cabinet agreed to continue the CCTV monitoring pilot, award a leisure management contract to Bidder B, and progress with tendering new contracts for tree supply, planting, and aftercare services. They also approved a budget variation to fund the CCTV monitoring and temporary accommodation initiatives.

CCTV Monitoring Pilot

The cabinet approved the continuation of the CCTV monitoring pilot on a permanent basis. Councillor Graeme Henderson, Cabinet Member for Health, said the pilot had been a tremendous success. The pilot involved increasing resources at the Joint Control Centre (JCC) to monitor CCTV cameras across the borough, with the police providing an officer to work alongside the team.

Councillor Henderson noted that when the administration took over the council, there was only one person monitoring 1,200 to 1,300 CCTV cameras between 9am and 5pm, Monday to Friday. The pilot sought to address this by providing resources to cover the cameras 24/7.

Councillor Henderson stated that the police were extremely pleased with the results and that the council had gone from being one of the worst providers of CCTV to one of the very best in London.

Councillor Jenny Yates, Cabinet Member for Transport, asked how residents could request CCTV for their area. Councillor Henderson responded that residents should contact their local councillors, who can then make a request to the head of the JCC.

The cost of formalising the CCTV monitoring arrangements is estimated to be £67,000 in the first year, and £135,000 in subsequent years.

Leisure Management Contract

The council agreed to award a new leisure management contract to Bidder B, commencing on 1 October 2025, for 10 years with the option to extend for up to a further five years. The contract covers the management of several leisure centres, including Tooting Leisure Centre, Tooting Bec Lido, Putney Leisure Centre, Roehampton Sport and Fitness Centre, Balham Leisure Centre, Latchmere Leisure Centre, Wandle Recreation Centre and Battersea Sports Centre.

Councillor Paul White, Cabinet Member for Environment, said that the procurement of a specialist leisure operator is aligned with the council's sport and physical activity strategy, Wandsworth Moves Together, and is an excellent example of how the council can work with the leisure sector to bring investment and expertise into Wandsworth.

The new contract includes the delivery of an active communities programme, which will see estate-based activities provided near to where people live that are affordable and accessible to all.

Councillor Yates asked how the Access for All scheme is working at the leisure centres. Councillor White responded that Access for All is very important to this administration, with the cost of living crisis, and the inequalities that exist in the country that are evident in this borough.

The new contract arrangements would see significant capital investment in the centres, including improved changing rooms, gym improvements, new soft play areas, improvements to pool provision, accessibility enhancements, and health and fitness suite improvements.

Tree Supply, Planting and Aftercare Services Procurement

The cabinet approved the tendering of new contracts for tree supply, planting, and aftercare services, commencing on 1 April 2026 for an initial term of four years with an option to extend for a further period of up to four years.

Councillor White said that planting new trees and replacing trees that are dead or diseased play a significant role in this. He added that in developing the specification, officers will be taking into account the latest evidence in terms of species resilience in a changing climate, and how trees contribute to nature recovery.

Alton Housing Renewal Proposals

Councillor Aydin Dikerdem, Cabinet Member for Housing, presented the Alton housing renewal proposals, describing it as one of the most ambitious renewal programmes in London with net additional social housing. The proposals include a ballot at the end of the summer, with a target date of September.

Councillor Dikerdem said that the council has already opened the Roehampton Family Hub and the police touchdown space. He added that the council is making sure that lots of the early delivery parts of the scheme have gone through, such as the playground and the Alton Activity Centre.

Councillor Dikerdem said that Roehampton has large social deprivation, and that the council needs to invest in order to make sure that life chances in Wandsworth are fair. He added that it is really important that alongside the housing offer, there is also a really good community offer.

Councillor White asked how the renewal is different from the old master plan for the regeneration of the Alton estate. Councillor Dikerdem responded that the old master plan seemed to be prioritising a real estate venture, and that it was a joint venture with a private partner that pulled out because the viability didn't stack up. He added that the overall emphasis was on delivering homes for sale, whereas it is really important to the council that this scheme in totality is 60% affordable with a large chunk of that being net additional homes as well as replacing council homes with new council homes.

Councillor Henderson said that having visited Roehampton and knocked on doors, she was pleased that there was considerable recognition of the renewal. However, she noted that one issue that did come up was in terms of local residents having a priority on the new housing which is due to be built, and asked about the local lettings policy.

Councillor Dikerdem responded that it's a position of equity within any development that happens in your neighbourhood, so if you have to put up with the building work, the noise, the disruption, then you should get first dibs on those new properties. He added that the way the local lettings plan works, anyone who lives on the estate that has priority will get first dibs on the net additional social homes.

Confirming Occupancy of Temporary Accommodation

The cabinet approved the implementation of a 'digital occupancy checker' for households placed in temporary accommodation. Councillor Dikerdem introduced the item, stating that it is a plan to try and ease the very serious financial burden that temporary accommodation is placing on the local authority.

Councillor Dikerdem explained that temporary accommodation is when a family becomes homeless, they're evicted, or their rent goes up and they can no longer afford it, and the council has a statutory duty to find them housing. He added that the number of people with that statutory duty who really should be in social housing has gone up massively, but there hasn't been the social housing to place them in.

The digital occupancy checker is an app system where someone will get a text, and they'll have between six to eight hours to take a photo of themselves in their temporary accommodation, and send it back.

Councillor Dikerdem said that when he first heard about this, he paused, as it sounded invasive. However, he added that he wants to make sure that private landlords are not profiting at huge expense from public money on an empty vacant unit.

Councillor Henderson asked about the safeguards and procedures that would be implemented in relation to this policy. Councillor Dikerdem responded that the most important thing is the automatic deletion of the file, and that it's like a digital version of what happens in lots of temporary accommodation already where people do a kind of sign-in system.

Inspection Report and Regulatory Judgement from the Regulator of Social Housing

Councillor Dikerdem introduced a report highlighting the actions the council is taking following a regulatory judgement from the regulator for social housing. The judgement was that the council got a C3, based on serious failings in the quality and standards categories, particularly on electrical safety certificates in communal areas.

Councillor Dikerdem said that by the date of publication, the council had got to a very good place on that, and that they're at 90-plus percent in communal areas, and around 70 percent in homes and getting more access. He added that the more systemic issue on the quality standards is the issue of stock condition surveys, and that the council needs to know the quality and the condition of its stock.

Responsible Procurement Strategy

The cabinet approved the Responsible Procurement Strategy. Councillor Henderson said that the existing procurement strategy, which dates from 2016, was very much inward-looking, very much focusing upon cost and contracts, whereas this procurement strategy is very much outward-facing, trying to use the resources of the council through to procurement to support wide economic and social needs.

Councillor Henderson said that already the 230 contracts have been renewed since 2022 based upon the London Living Wage. He added that the procurement strategy also focuses very heavily in working with small and medium-sized enterprises, with local businesses generally, and also the voluntary and community sector, and also has a very high commitment to environmental issues and sustainability.

Funding Agreement for UK Shared Prosperity Fund

The cabinet approved the funding agreement for the UK Shared Prosperity Fund¹.

Budget Variation Paper

The cabinet approved the Budget Variation Paper. Councillor Angela Ireland, Cabinet Member for Finance, said that this paper is really to approve the Budget Variations relating to the CCTV paper and the Temporary Accommodation Paper.

Response to Towards a New London Plan Consultation

Councillor Dikerdem introduced the council's formal response to the consultation on the new London Plan. He said that the focus of the response is to support the mayor and support City Hall in trying to deliver much-needed new housing, and really adding comments around the importance of social housing, but also the importance of quality and local democracy in the process as well.

Councillor Yates asked what's meant by non-conventional housing in the local plan. Councillor Dikerdem responded that it's things like co-living, student accommodation and certain kind of high-end senior living products, which large investment firms and developers see as a good financial bet. He added that the council has problems with some of these investment products because they basically create churn communities often and they also don't allow for the kind of family homes, larger homes for those who need the direct affordable housing through section 106² to get access to.