The Mayor and Cabinet of Lewisham Council met to discuss a range of issues, including housing, social care, waste management, and financial performance. They approved measures to increase the supply of affordable housing, improve waste collection services, extend contracts for social care services, and set the council tax base for the upcoming financial year. The cabinet also agreed to procure new IT systems for the Revenue and Benefits Service and approved a contract for print and multifunctional devices.

Housing

Housing Acquisition Programme

The council approved the procurement of an external provider to deliver repair and maintenance services to Lewisham Council for a four-year contract, commencing in January 2026, via the South East Consortium Dynamic Purchasing System. The assumed cost is up to £7,200,000, with individual awards of no more than £2.55 million given to deliver units under the Housing Acquisition Programme (HAP) and associated Temporary Accommodation programmes.

The cabinet also agreed to include the refurbishment of Moreton House within the procured contract and use MHCLG LAHF3 grant¹ for this purpose. Additional LAHF3 funding was approved for a further 12 homes, increasing overall funding from 300 to 312 homes across the Housing Acquisition Programme, Manor Avenue and Moreton House, providing 304 homes for Temporary Accommodation and eight homes for resettlement, as set out in the MHCLG LAHF3 grant funding agreement.

The authority to award the contract procured from the SEC DPS² was delegated to the Executive Director of Place.

Delivering Affordable Homes in Partnership

Councillor Jack Lavery, Planning Committee Chair, introduced a report from the Task and Finish Group (TFG) on delivering affordable homes in partnership. The report aimed to identify ways the council could maximise affordable housing delivery through partnerships. Councillor Jack Lavery thanked the members of the Task and Finish Group, Councillors Pauline Dahl, Stephen Penfold, Billy Harding and Mark Ingleby.

Councillor Jack Lavery noted the challenges in delivering affordable housing, given the thousands of families on the council housing waiting list. The TFG conducted internal evidence gathering sessions with housing development teams, the planning department, and Councillor James-J Walsh, Cabinet Member for Inclusive Regeneration and Planning.

Councillor Jack Lavery said:

It's absolutely clear that everyone is working incredibly hard to ensure that we are delivering as many affordable homes as possible. There's a real strong determination to deliver.

The report made several recommendations, including effective review and scrutiny of the strategic partnership agreement, taking advantage of all funding opportunities, and ensuring clear reporting on affordable housing delivery, including intermediate products like shared ownership.

Councillor James-J Walsh welcomed the report, acknowledging the rising need for affordable housing and the pressures facing the construction sector. He highlighted the strengths of the Housing Acquisition Programme, which is being used as a model by other boroughs. He also welcomed the focus on partnership working, clearer KPIs³, and resident involvement in smaller schemes.

PFI Contract Expiry

The cabinet noted the results of a consultation with tenants and leaseholders in the Broccoli PFI, which consists of 1,810 council homes in Brockley and Ladywell wards. The PFI contract is due to expire in June 2027, and the recommendation is that these homes should return to Lewisham Council.

Councillor Will Cooper, Cabinet Member for Better Homes, Neighbourhoods and Homelessness, said residents had questions about how the transition would work, with concerns about repairs and services. The key themes in the consultation were maintenance, repairs, communication, customer service, ASB⁴, and leaseholder concerns around major works. The Executive Director of Housing was authorised to take the necessary decisions to facilitate the transfer of housing management functions back to the council and to develop plans to ensure the PFI maintains the quality of service delivery until the end of the contract.

Housing Works and Services Contracts

The cabinet agreed to extend, procure, and award a series of contracts for housing repairs, maintenance, compliance, and major works across all wards in Lewisham. This includes extending contracts for mechanical services, procuring retrofit consultancy and works, defect rectification, major works, and specialist consultancy services.

The procurement process is designed to attract local SMEs⁵ and maximise social value, ensuring compliance with legal and regulatory obligations. It also involves Section 20 leaseholder consultations⁶.

Extra Care Services

The cabinet approved two-year contract extensions from April 2026 for extra care services at Cedar Court, Cinnamon Court, delivered by Housing 21, and Hazelhurst Court, delivered by Cera Care (formerly Westminster Home Care). The annual contract values are £585,000 each for Cedar and Cinnamon Court, and £607,100 for Hazelhurst Court.

These extensions are within the terms of the existing contracts and follow a review of service quality, consultation with residents and stakeholders, and benchmarking against other boroughs. The report highlighted the value of extra care in supporting older people to live independently with 24-hour on-site support.

Learning Disability Framework

The cabinet approved extensions for 33 supported living contracts for adults with learning disabilities, ensuring continuity of care while the new framework agreement is established. The extensions are for nine months for 22 of the contracts, costing £4.581 million, and for 11 contracts expiring at various times in 2026, costing £4.425 million.

Supported Housing Contracts

The cabinet approved the selection of Riverside as the preferred provider for Honor Lea and Rokeby House Hostels, and St Mungo's for the Lewisham Assessment and Recovery Centre (Lark). The contract value for Riverside is £2.991 million for the first three years, and for St Mungo's, it is £1.952 million for the first three years.

Environment and Waste

Waste Management and Fleet Procurement

The cabinet approved the procurement and award of a combined contract for an external provider to deliver the waste transfer station service, valued at £1.1 million. This includes a one-year contract for the disposal of waste from the Household Waste Recycling Centre (HWRC), with an option to extend for a further year, and a two-year contract for the disposal of waste collected from fly-tipping and bulky waste, with an option to extend for a further two years.

The cabinet also approved a council-wide fleet contract valued at £21.5 million over five years, using The Procurement Partnership Ltd (TPPL) framework agreement. This will ensure that fleet requirements across all council services are met in a coordinated, cost-effective, and compliant manner, supporting both operational efficiency and the council’s sustainability objectives.

Councillor Louise Krupski, Deputy Mayor and Environment, Transport and Climate Action, said the plan takes a practical approach to the electrification of the fleet, recognising the limited space available to charge vehicles and the cost of replacing all vehicles with electric models.

Social Care and Health

Annual Complaints Report

Councillor Amanda De Ryk, Cabinet Member for Finance, Resources and Performance, presented the annual complaints report, focusing on housing aspects. She noted that tenant satisfaction measures were not good enough, with only 33% of complaints being answered on time. A new case management system has been implemented, and 88% of Stage 1 responses have been given on time for the last four months, with expectations of reaching 90% by the end of the year.

Councillor Amanda De Ryk also reported positive news from Waste, with the best statistics for missed collections in the last four years. The head of Waste, Seamus Adams, has instigated a get-it-right-first-time culture, which is having a positive effect on missed collection figures. There has also been a 633% increase in bulky waste bookings due to the new super cheap bulky waste collection service.

Sexual Health Commissioning

The cabinet approved Lewisham Council’s entry into a renewed five-year quinpartite agreement with Lambeth, Southwark, Bromley, and Bexley for the joint commissioning of sexual and reproductive health services. The total annual cost to Lewisham is £160,428, amounting to £802,140 over the five-year period, funded from the Public Health Grant.

Healthwatch Service

The cabinet approved the extension of the contract with Your Voice in Health and Social Care for Healthwatch Lewisham for 14 months, from 31 January 2026 to 31 March 2027, at a value of £163,333.34. This extension ensures continuity of statutory Healthwatch and advocacy services for Lewisham residents during the transition of Healthwatch functions to the Integrated Care Boards⁷ and local authorities.

Calabash Centre

The cabinet approved the procurement process and award of a contract for the older adults day service at the Calabash Centre for a period of three years, with an option to extend for a further two years, at an annual cost of £424,000.

The cabinet agreed that the Calabash Centre should continue to be the culturally rooted older adults’ centre for the Black, African, and Caribbean community, while also running a day service for all eligible elders under the Care Act 2014⁸. The council will explore how it can evolve into a broader community hub for elders drawn from the Black, African, and Caribbean community, serving as a familiar, culturally safe space, while expanding community use of the building beyond standard day-service hours and forging partnerships with local cultural organisations to enrich the programme.

Finance and Resources

Council Tax Base

The cabinet noted the Council Tax Base calculation for 2026/27 and agreed to recommend that the council agree a Council Tax Base of 93,758.1 Band D equivalent properties for 2026/27. They also agreed to recommend a budgeted council tax collection rate of 96.0%.

The cabinet agreed to recommend no changes to the Council Tax Reduction Scheme (CTRS) for 2026/27, meaning eligible claimants will continue to make a minimum contribution of 25% towards their council tax. They also agreed to recommend the continuation of the discretionary council tax discount of 100% for care leavers up to the age of 25, the existing policy of a 25% sanctuary discount, and the discretionary War Disablement Pensions and War Widow Pensions scheme discount.

The cabinet agreed to recommend that the existing policy of a 0% discount for second homes be continued for 2026/27, with a 100% premium applied to second homes after one year. They also agreed to recommend that the existing policy of a 0% discount for empty homes Class A and Class C be continued, and that the Long-Term Empty Property homes premium of 100% for properties empty between one and five years, 200% for those empty for over five years, and 300% for properties that remain empty for 10 years or more continues.

Revenue and Benefit Service IT Contracts

The cabinet approved the procurement and award of a contract for the provision of a processing system and maintenance for the Revenue and Benefits service for a period of five years, with the option to extend for up to a further two years, at an annual cost of £525,000. They also approved a contract for the provision of a processing system for a period of five years, with the option to extend for up to a further two years, at an annual cost of £350,000, and a contract for the provision of Customer Engagement service using the G-Cloud 14 framework agreement for a period of three years, with the option to extend for up to one further year, at an annual cost of £300,000.

Print and Multifunctional Devices

The cabinet approved the procurement of a new contract for print and multifunctional devices (MFDs), with expenditure of up to £690,000 (including VAT) for the contract period of up to five years in total. They approved Brent entering into the contract on behalf of the council, provided the expenditure is within authorised limits.

Financial Monitoring Report

The cabinet noted the current financial forecasts for the year ending 31 March 2026 and the update to the budget setting process for 2026/27. They also approved the write-off of £157,700 of Adult Social Care debt.

Other Matters

Lewisham Homes Director

The cabinet agreed to the appointment of Laura Jenner, Director of System Development, South East London Integrated Care System (Lewisham), as a Director of Lewisham Homes Limited.

Corporate Performance Report

The cabinet noted the progress made during Q2 2025/26 in delivering the Corporate Strategy, as measured through the agreed key performance indicators (KPIs).