Councillor James Rathbone

The Council of Lewisham Council decided to appoint Katrina Buchanan as a nominative trustee to the Deptford St Paul Charity on 23 September 2026. The decision was made to approve the appointment of Katrina Buchanan as a trustee to the Deptford St Paul Charity.

The Council decided to approve the Treasury Management Outturn report for 2025/26 and the Mid-year Treasury Management Strategy 2026/27. This decision was made on 23 September 2026. The approved strategy includes the prudential indicators, the revised Capital Programme 2026-30, and the borrowing forecast.

The Council of Lewisham Council on Wednesday 23 September 2026 approved changes to committee membership. Councillor McGhee was appointed Chair of the Sustainable Development Sub-Committee, Councillor Anderson was appointed Vice Chair of the Sustainable Development Sub-Committee, and Councillor McGhee replaced Councillor Anderson on the Overview & Scrutiny Committee.

The Council of Lewisham Council decided to approve recommendations for planning committee reform on 23 September 2026. This reform replaces Planning Committees A and B with a single Planning Committee and retains a Strategic Planning Committee for significant applications. The decision includes amending the Constitution to reflect these changes, aligning local referral thresholds with national statutory schedules and gateway tests, designating a Chief Planning Officer as the nominated officer and the Chair of the Planning Committee as the nominated member for the gateway test, and instructing the Monitoring Officer to make consequential amendments and prepare an implementation plan.

The Council of Lewisham Council on 23 September 2026 approved motions on climate adaptation, biodiversity, river health, and a family-friendly approach to parental leave. The council resolved to request the Mayor and Cabinet consider how to prioritise biodiversity and nature-based solutions in climate plans, protect and recover river health, embed climate adaptation in policies, and report back on adaptation spheres of influence. It also resolved to ask the Mayor and Cabinet to review parental leave policies with the intention of introducing a minimum of six weeks fully paid paternity or adoption leave, and to report back with recommendations.