The Vulnerable Adults, Health and Communities Policy and Scrutiny Committee met to discuss the Community Priorities Programme and grants, the Community Hubs Programme, and to shape the committee's work programme for the 2025-2026 municipal year. The committee reviewed the investment in community grants, their allocation, and the second year of delivery of the Community Priorities Programme. They also reviewed the delivery of the Community Hubs Programme.

Community Priorities Programme and Grants

The committee reviewed the investment in the delivery of community grants, grant allocation and the second year of delivery of the Community Priorities Programme (CPP). The report provided an overview of the council's four main grant-giving programmes: the CPP, Core Grants, Healthy Communities Fund, and the Neighbourhood Community Infrastructure Levy (NCIL).

The council operates 24 active grant pots across the borough, with ten directly managed by the Communities Department, including the CPP, Voluntary & Community Sector Core Grants, Community Contribution Fund, Community Events Fund, Paddington Charities, Edward Harvist Trust, Community Hubs, Active Westminster, Emergency Grant Funds, and Cost of Living support.

The CPP is Westminster's flagship participatory grants programme, investing in grassroots, resident-led projects that respond to the priorities and needs identified by local communities within Westminster's most deprived wards¹. Round 3 (2024–25) funded 87 projects with £2.03 million allocated, including £1.56 million from CPP, £399,000 from the North Paddington Programme (NPP), and £50,000 from Adult Social Care (ADSC).

The Voluntary & Community Sector (VCS) Core Grants Programme provides sustainable, multi-year funding to small and medium-sized voluntary and community organisations in Westminster. Under the current scheme, £1 million per year is available over three years (2023-26), targeted at organisations with an annual income under £400,000. Awards have been made to 54 organisations.

The Healthy Communities Fund (HCF), launched in January 2024, is a £5 million public health initiative over three years, offering grants typically ranging from £20,000 to £40,000 per annum to 42 locally embedded organisations delivering culturally tailored health and wellbeing programmes.

The Neighbourhood Community Infrastructure Levy (NCIL) is a locally allocated portion of the Community Infrastructure Levy², designed to give communities a stronger voice in shaping the infrastructure in their area. Westminster City Council manages the allocation and delivery of NCIL in accordance with its NCIL Spending Policy Statement. Available across all Neighbourhood Areas is £13,719,189.21. Allocated NCIL since first NCIL application in 2019 across all Neighbourhood Areas: £7,507,039.65.

The report included findings from a survey launched in June 2025, capturing the perception of service users, pre-and-post their involvement in CPP funded activities in Round 3. The key findings were:

• Personal development: 85% increase in positive responses compared to pre-activity involvement
• Sense of community: 98% increase in positive responses compared to pre-activity involvement
• Life satisfaction: 82% increase in positive responses compared to pre-activity involvement
• Sense of purpose: 76% increase in positive responses compared to pre-activity involvement
• Happiness: 57% increase in positive responses compared to pre-activity involvement
• Anxiety 33% increase in positive responses compared to pre-activity involvement
• Personal resilience: 64% increase in positive responses compared to pre-activity involvement
• Community cohesion: 27% increase in positive responses compared to pre-activity involvement
• Community resilience: 22% increase in positive responses compared to pre-activity involvement

The report also included case studies of projects funded by the CPP, including a well-being project focused on helping participants establish healthier routines, and a community-led project focused on building residents' confidence and safety.

A survey was conducted with 55 voluntary sector organisations to assess their financial resilience, service delivery, governance, and workforce capacity. The survey covered the financial years 2023–2024 (baseline) and 2024–2025 (end of year one), allowing comparison of organisational progress over this period. In terms of funding, organisations have seen an average income increase of 16%, equivalent to £1.581 million, with 67% reporting growth compared to their baseline year. There was a 21% increase in the number of unique people reached by funded organisations (an extra 3,840 individuals).

Between October 2024 to March 2025, the HCF supported an average of 124 sessions per week, with circa 3,900 attendances. 78% of participants were from Global Majority communities, and 70% of participants were female.

Since the adoption of the CIL Spending Policy Statement in 2022, a total of 89 NCIL applications have been approved, with a value of over £9m allocated across a wide range of projects.

Community Hubs Programme

The committee reviewed the delivery of the Community Hubs Programme, which aims to improve access to integrated services and support across the city. The report updated the Programme's progress in light of work undertaken to date, with a focus on impacts, access, monitoring, learning and evaluation, and opportunities for broader transformation and learning.

The Community Hubs Programme aims to improve the lives of Westminster residents by creating accessible, collaborative, and co-designed spaces across the city. The programme aims to:

• Improve access to services and support in one place tackling inequalities through early intervention
• Deepen community connection and resilience supporting social determinants of health through prevention
• Transform the way the council, partners, and residents collaborate and empower communities to provide services and support

Westminster Community Hubs offer part warm welcome, part one-stop shop and part community space. An overview of current Community Hubs Programme delivery comprises:

• Charing Cross and Victoria Library mini hubs (launched July 2024)
• Ernest Harriss House Community Hub, known as The Exchange at Ernest Harriss House, operated by North Paddington Foodbank (launched April 2025)
• Lilestone Street Community Hub, operated by the Council until March 2026, following which it will be VCS-operated (soft launch July 2025)
• Brunel Community Hub, to be VCS-operated from late 2025
• Rampayne Street Community Hub, to be delivered by end 2026/27

The report included a summary of where residents who are not already accessing a specific service or familiar with the Council and wider ecosystem of services would first go if they needed support, based on over 800 conversations with residents across Westminster in #2035 priority areas.

A first-year review of the Charing Cross Library https://www.google.com/maps/search/Charing+Cross+Library+Westminster+Council/ and Victoria Library https://www.google.com/maps/search/Victoria+Library+Westminster+Council/ mini hubs included a range of operational and qualitative measures, headlines from which are as follows:

• Over 12,000 visits to mini hub activities, increasing library footfall at CX and Victoria by 21% with 119,337 visits and 40% with 202,348 in 2024-2025 respectively, with around 50 partners involved in the programme.
• Over 1,000 activities delivered, including council drop-ins and one-to-one specialist support
• 86% of residents reported learning new skills, gaining training or being supported into employment
• 81% of residents reported improved health and wellbeing
• 80% of residents reported making a meaningful connection with other people
• 85% of partners made a new connection/partnership through their involvement, and expressed 100% satisfaction with Hub offer and support
• Over 400 hours of new volunteer time unlocked

The report also outlined that the Community Hubs Programme also benefits residents through its approach to collaboration and co-design. Through the most recent Lilestone Street Community Hub https://www.google.com/maps/search/Lilestone+Street+Community+Hub+Westminster+Council/ co-design workshops, 85% of residents said that through the process they've connected with new people in their local area, gained new understanding, skills or knowledge, feel more a part of their local community and feel more a part of decision-making in their local area.

The effectiveness of the Community Hubs is being evaluated through the theory of change developed for the Programme as a whole, which was developed in partnership with council, partner and resident stakeholders. The initial set of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) put in place for the Charing Cross and Victoria Library mini hubs include number of visits, number of activities and services delivered, number of partners and services involved, increase in football through library sites, self-reported participant outcomes from Hub activities, and number of residents involved in hub design and delivery (including volunteer hours).

Work Programme

The committee discussed and shaped the Committee's work programme for the municipal year 2025-2026.