The Croydon and Lewisham Street Lighting Joint Committee met on Tuesday 4 November 2025. The committee reviewed the performance of the street lighting PFI service provider for the period September 2024 to August 2025 and approved proposed unitary charges for 2025-26. The committee noted the service provider's performance and approved proposed unitary charges for 2025-26, totalling £2.978 million for Croydon and £1.675 million for Lewisham. The committee also approved the forecasted contract management and monitoring costs for 2025-26.

Joint Street Lighting PFI Update

The committee received an update on the performance of the street lighting Private Finance Initiative (PFI) service provider, Emigroup, for the period September 2024 to August 2025. John Algar, Street Lighting Manager for Croydon Council, presented the report, highlighting that the service provider had performed well across all nine performance standards.

Key aspects of the performance update included:

• Planned Maintenance, Inspection and Testing (PS2): The annual programme for bulk cleaning, changing, and electrical testing of columns and signs was completed on time. Visual inspections and structural testing showed no issues. The lights in light performance, measuring the percentage of operational streetlights, averaged 99.935% over the reporting period, exceeding the 99% requirement.
• Operational Responsiveness and Reactive Maintenance (PS3): All emergency faults were attended to within the contractual one-hour timeframe. One non-emergency fault in March 2025 was repaired outside the four-day rectification period, and financial adjustments were applied.
• Contract Management and Customer Interface (PS4): The service provider met the target of answering 95% of calls within 25 seconds, with performance consistently above this threshold.
• Working Practices (PS6): For the first time since the contract began, there were no serious, urgent, or routine service failures reported. The report commended the service provider's commitment to health and safety, with joint safety inspections conducted by the client monitoring team and the service provider's management team.
• Central Management System (CMS) (PS9): The CMS, which allows for dimming and brightening of lights, is now connected to 41,675 street lighting columns. Both Croydon and Lewisham have implemented variable lighting policies, leading to minimal impact on residents. The LED lantern replacement project is on track to begin in August 2026, pending legal sign-off.

The committee discussed the upcoming LED replacement programme, with a proposed start date of August 2026. Members expressed interest in prioritising certain areas, such as town centres and high-traffic roads, for the LED upgrades. The report also noted that carbon emissions have decreased due to the decarbonisation of the UK electricity grid and the implementation of variable lighting policies.

The committee approved the following recommendations:

• To note the performance of the service provider in respect of the street lighting PFI for September 2024 to August 2025.
• To approve the proposed unitary charges for 2025-26 of £2.978 million for Croydon and £1.675 million for Lewisham, based on a 64% to 36% split.
• To approve the forecasted contract management and monitoring costs for 2025-26 of £185,254 for Croydon and £104,205 for Lewisham, based on the same split.

The meeting also saw the appointment of Councillor Scott Roche as Chair and Councillor Louise Krupski as Vice-Chair for the municipal year. Apologies were received from Councillor Amanda De Ryk, and the minutes from the previous meeting on 10 December 2024 were agreed. No declarations of interest were made.