A Lot More to Do – Fairer Council

Under Labour Westminster has run an efficient council with strong financial management. This has been recognised by ratings agency Moody’s, who have awarded the council the highest possible credit rating. Every year we have delivered efficiency savings within our council departments whilst improving the delivery of frontline services and having the second lowest rate of Council Tax in the country. If re-elected we will continue this approach whilst instituting an innovative internal transformation programme ‘Westminster 2030 – Fit for the Future’. This programme will deliver a Council designed for the future: one that is modern, people-centred and financially resilient. Under Labour, Westminster will continue to be efficient and inclusive, maintaining high-quality services, supporting our communities, and keeping council tax low.

Strong finances and an efficient council

Over the last four years we have disproved longstanding Conservative scare stories about what Council Tax would be like under a Labour council by keeping tax low. Social media is often now full of people in other boroughs complaining how low Westminster Council Tax is. We froze the core local Council Tax for the first year of our term, and we’ve frozen it again this year. We have shown we’re committed to keeping Westminster’s Council Tax as low as possible whilst delivering efficient and effective services. If re-elected we will:

• Keep Council Tax low. We will ensure Westminster retains one of lowest Council Tax rates in the country. Westminster Council did not ask for flexibility in Council Tax setting in future years and does not have plans to use it.
• Deliver an innovative transformation programme for the council, which will deliver significant savings through service redesign that also improves outcomes. Among the key objectives of the programme are modernising the council workforce, transforming the customer and resident experience, supporting early intervention, investing in digital and data innovation projects, and co-locating services to make best use of the council’s buildings.
• Make sure the council makes the most from commercial income so the costs don’t fall on the Council Taxpayer.
• Maximise income from surcharges on under-used housing, long-term empty flats and houses, and second homes.
• Ensure Westminster City Council keeps robust reserves, which are sufficient to deal with any unexpected budget crisis.
• Improve contracting, performance monitoring and contract management standards to make sure our contractors are on a firm financial footing and properly delivering services for residents.
• Fight for a significant locally retained share of the Government’s new Overnight Visitor Levy to reflect the pressures Westminster faces from the visitor and tourist economy.
• Guarantee that lowest income residents will remain eligible for Council Tax Support which can provide relief from 100% of their Council Tax bill, and we will look to extend this help to more households.

Managing our property for people and the planet

Westminster City Council owns many buildings in the City – not just the ones it needs in order to provide services to you as citizens, but some which are let out to other groups and also as commercial property to provide income to the council. Labour wants the council to be the best landlord we can, so we will:

• Ensure every Westminster City Council building and service becomes accessible to people with mobility difficulties, or with impaired vision. For example we are moving forward with plans to make the historic Mayfair Library accessible.
• Bring forward plans to ensure that all operational buildings will be fully decarbonised and use minimal energy as far as possible.
• Assess all the voluntary organisations occupying Westminster’s buildings so that their rent is fair.
• Undertake a long-term programme to decarbonise our commercial property estate.
• Take action to ensure commercial occupiers are being good neighbours: talking to nearby residents and avoiding causing disturbance.

Digital transformation, inclusion and customer service

We will build a council that works around people. Technology should make life easier, not harder. We have already introduced a more accessible ‘Report It’ system and we are committed to improving how residents interact with the council. This means better digital tools, more face‑to‑face options through hubs and new housing offices, and frontline roles like Connectors and the Customer Advocacy Team that meet people where they are. By redesigning services around real experiences, residents will see clearer information, quicker answers and fewer frustrating loops. If re-elected we will make Westminster a council that’s easier to deal with and with services that work well for every community. We will:

• Make digital services faster, clearer and easier to use across leisure, housing and resident‑facing tools such as ‘Report It’. We will expand Report It to fully cover housing estates.
• Integrate back‑office systems so residents never have to repeat their story, while improving first time and early resolution to problems.
• Introduce a single log in for all council services to make it easier to resolve issues.
• Use AI responsibly to improve service routing and identify unmet needs earlier.
• Look for more opportunities to use digital innovations to improve efficiency and help cut council costs through our transformation programme.
• Improve the technology used to track the performance of council contractors, particularly in housing.
• Create a genuine ‘No Wrong Front Door’ approach: whether someone walks into a community hub, calls the contact centre or uses an online form, they are directed quickly and effectively to the right support.
• Create a new Westminster standard to make every interaction with the City Council clearer, simpler and easier to use. This programme will work with residents from across the city to test our forms, letters, phone lines and online services, making sure they’re accessible, written in plain English and designed for everyone including older people, disabled residents and those with limited digital confidence. Every time a form, process, letter, or digital journey is updated, it should go through:
• Task‑based usability testing with residents who actually use the service
• Accessibility testing with disabled users and assistive technologies
• Observation sessions in libraries, housing centres, and community hubs
• Keep face‑to‑face, printed and phone routes open so no one is excluded from services because they are not online, utilising our community hubs and libraries.
• Insist on full safeguards and effective cybersecurity from any other institution which hosts data on behalf of Westminster residents, further strengthening our protections in the wake of the recent cyberattack on Kensington and Chelsea which impacted our services.
• Make Westminster’s data more accessible by ensuring Westminster’s data hub adds all relevant information which should properly be accessible to the public.

Deepening local democracy

When they ran the council, the Conservatives too often treated residents of the City as a distraction or annoyance. We have listened, consulted, and improved accountability to give everyone a voice – but the work is nowhere near complete. We will:

• Give residents a right to speak at public committee meetings including the cabinet on items under discussion. Under the Conservatives, the public were shut out of speaking at council meetings. The Labour council gave everyone the right to question the council’s leadership in public, and on the record, at full council meetings, and we will now go further. We will also hold scrutiny conferences to make residents more aware of this important oversight function and enable them to suggest ideas for future work.
• Become a pilot authority for automatic voter registration so people don’t lose their right to vote. Too many people in Westminster who are eligible to vote are missing out, because they are not on the electoral register.
• Make Fairer Westminster performance and progress a regular item for cabinet, so everyone keeps their eyes on the prize of better services and the press and residents are able to make sure we’re keeping to what we promised to do.
• Extend 30% weighting for social value to further contracts where reasonable and appropriate.
• Raise awareness of our annual social value report to Westminster residents on how the commitments in contracts they pay for have benefited the City and its people.

Co-operation: A Council That Works With Its Communities

Westminster Labour has brought co-operative values into the council, joining the Co-operative Councils Innovation Network to work with other local authorities to learn and share our experience. We want to carry on, so we will:

• Establish a cross-council Co-operation Commission, bringing together external expertise and community voices to embed co-operation across the organisation.
• Make co-operation part of how the council works, identifying where co-operative approaches can deliver the greatest benefit for residents and embedding them into everyday practice.
• Enable residents to be equal partners in designing, commissioning, and shaping public services, and in decisions about how public resources are used.

Pensions: Strong Returns, Responsible Investment

The primary legal duty of Westminster City Council’s Pension Fund is to ensure members receive the pensions they are entitled to. Under Labour, the Fund has delivered both strong financial performance and a clear commitment to responsible investment, recognising that ethical, socially responsible, and climate-conscious investments drive sustainable financial returns.

Since 2022, the Fund has been transformed – the funding level has risen from 128% to 140% and the value of the Fund exceeded £2 billion for the first time ever. This success has been matched by a strengthened approach to responsible investment, guided by international standards, with increased investment in affordable housing, renewable energy, and Paris-aligned funds, alongside high transparency and stewardship standards.

The Fund has also taken a proactive approach to global risks, actively monitoring if the Fund has investments in conflict-afflicted regions, resulting, for example, in the Fund having no investments in Israeli companies or the Government of Israel, and further solidifying this through adopting a new Conflict Zones Policy to guide future investment decisions in line with international law and ethical standards. If we are reelected in May we will:

• Continue to ensure financial prudence, the pursuance of strong financial returns, and ensure that the Fund’s investment returns can pay the pensions that former Council employees are entitled to.
• Implement the new Conflict Zones Policy within an enhanced Responsible Investment Statement.
• Work to ensure that the Fund’s robust ethical and social governance policies are adhered to by the London Collective Investment Vehicle.