The Harrow Council Cabinet met on 16 September 2025, and made decisions on social housing, local planning, and budget monitoring. The cabinet agreed to consult on proposed modifications to the Harrow Local Plan, approved a change of contractor for a social housing decarbonisation project, and discussed measures to address budget overspends in social care and housing.

Here's a breakdown of the key discussion topics:

Revenue and Capital Budget Monitoring

The Cabinet reviewed the Revenue and Capital Budget Monitoring Report for the first quarter of 2025-26. The report highlighted a forecast revenue overspend of £5.434 million, despite holding a contingency of £1.5 million. Key areas contributing to the overspend included:

• Parking services: A £2.9 million shortfall in penalty charge notice (PCN) income, which Councillor Paul Osborn, Leader of the Council, attributed to delays in a decision from the Mayor of London regarding a move from band B to band A parking charges¹.
• Housing: A £10.4 million gross budget pressure, mitigated by reserves and initiatives, leaving a net pressure of £1.7 million.
• Adult services: A £6.6 million cost pressure in adult social care due to increasing costs of existing care packages, new client packages, and more complex needs.
• Children's services: A £5.2 million cost pressure, with around half relating to placement costs and the remainder to staffing costs.

Councillor David Perry, Leader of the Labour Group, raised concerns about the accuracy and robustness of budget assumptions, particularly in parking services. Councillor Paul Osborn responded that the council had a good track record of delivering on the budget, but that local government funding was built on sand due to national pressures in adult social care and temporary accommodation.

Sharon Daniels, Strategic Director of Finance, assured the Cabinet that savings would not be included in the budget unless deemed achievable.

The Cabinet approved recommendations relating to the financial position, amendments to the capital programme, and business plans for Concilium Assets LLP and Sancroft Community Care Limited.

Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF)

The Cabinet approved a direct award to Sustainable Building Services (UK) Ltd to undertake decarbonisation works as part of the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF) wave 2.1. This decision involved changing the current contractor, Equans, due to concerns about their performance and value for money. Councillor Mina Parmar, Portfolio Holder for Housing, presented the report, highlighting that Sustainable Building Services could deliver the works for BISF² properties at approximately 50% lower cost than Equans.

The decision aims to ensure the project's timely completion by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) extension deadline in February 2026, safeguard the existing grant award, and secure future grant access. The updated spend profile to complete all 226 homes on the programme to the final contract sum of £10.2m, of which £2.147m is provided as grant provision by DESNZ, was also approved.

Harrow Local Plan

The Cabinet agreed to undertake consultation on proposed 'main modifications' to the New Harrow Local Plan 2021-2041, following the 'Examination in Public'. Councillor Marilyn Ashton, Deputy Leader of the Council and Portfolio Holder for Planning & Regeneration, explained that the local plan was a much needed document. The Cabinet granted delegated authority to the Chief Planning Officer, following consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Planning & Regeneration, to progress the plan through the examination process, up to the point at which it can be considered by Cabinet and Full Council for adoption.

Councillor Kanti Rabadia raised concerns about consultation on specific allocated sites and whether residents in the immediate roads around them would be consulted. Councillor Marilyn Ashton responded that this was not how they did it.

Housing Services: Transparency, Influence and Accountability

The Cabinet considered a report on transparency, influence, and accountability in housing services. Councillor Mina Parmar presented the report, which addressed the requirements of the Regulator of Social Housing's Transparency, Influence and Accountability Consumer Standard and the Housing Ombudsman Service's Complaints Handling Code. The report highlighted a significant increase in housing complaints and a decrease in response times, but an increase in tenant satisfaction with complaint handling.

Councillor Perry asked what the portfolio holder had done to interrogate the reasons why complaints may have increased. Councillor Parmar responded that the council had a new repairs contract with United Living, and issues with Civica CX³, but that a structure was in place to look at trends.

The Cabinet approved recommendations to note the report's contents and provide a response to the Annual Housing Complaints Report 2024/2025, authorising its publication on the council's website and submission to the Housing Ombudsman.

Councillor Questions

Several questions were raised by councillors during the meeting:

• Pavement Refurbishments: Mike Williams asked about the spend on pavement refurbishments, claiming that over 78% of the spend was in conservative wards. Councillor Osborn responded that pavement and road repairs are based on surveys done by independent providers and prioritised by officers independently.
• Local Areas of Special Character: Jeremy Sivlas asked about protections and benefits for local areas of special character. Councillor Marilyn Ashton explained that these areas carry material weight when determining planning applications, but do not have the same restrictions as conservation areas.
• Adult Social Care Overspends: Councillor Simon Brown asked about overspends in adult services. Councillor Jean Lammiman, Portfolio Holder for Adult Services & Public Health, acknowledged the pressures and outlined measures to deliver person-centred care and review commissioning arrangements. Councillor Osborn added that the adult social care system was broken nationally and required government intervention.
• Pedestrian Safety: Councillor Graham Henson asked about actions to ensure pedestrian safety on Copenhagen crossings⁴. Councillor Osborn stated that Harrow was one of the better boroughs in London for road safety, but was happy to look at what could be done.
• Art Park Issues: Councillor Shah Levy raised concerns about lights being left on 24/7 and overflowing bins in the new art park. Councillor Janet Mote, Portfolio Holder for Community & Culture, responded that the lighting issue was being addressed and that notices had been served on commercial premises regarding the bins.
• HMOs: Councillor Simon Brown asked about the use of Article 4 directions to manage houses in multiple occupation (HMOs). Councillor Marilyn Ashton explained that the council would rather have purpose-built co-living units than converted single-family dwelling houses.
• Antisocial Behaviour: Councillor Asad asked about visible drug deals and antisocial behaviour along North Fort Road. Councillor Pritesh Patel, Portfolio Holder for Cleaner Streets & Public Safety, responded that the council was working closely with the police and planning further days of action.