Westminster Matters

22/08/2026

Cllr Paul Fisher, our Cabinet Member for Value for Money and Finance, spoke to BBC London yesterday evening about the true scale of the funding gap facing Westminster.

"It's that the Labour government recognises that their cuts to our funding are so large that the only way of plugging that gap is probably through a combination of savings and council tax rises. Now, in the case of Westminster, speaking for Westminster alone at the moment, the government assumed council tax increases of 75 to 100%. Now, I know that the figure of 160% has been floated, and Wandsworth has been particularly affected by the Labour government's decision to cut funding."

BBC London reports that London Councils has put the budget gap across all London boroughs at £5.2 billion over the next four years.

Full story: www.westm.news/fisher-bbc-funding

22/08/2026

The row over Westminster's new licensing plan for Soho has run for more than a week, and it could be the first of many.

Westminster's Deputy Leader Cllr Tim Barnes says "the media has been used in order to advance a political agenda" rather than address the real issues at stake. The dispute centres on plan wording about discouraging high volume vertical drinking, wrongly written up by some as a ban on standing to drink, and on Soho's status as a Cumulative Impact Zone, where new licence applications face a presumption of refusal.

Westminster's plan is the first in London to be scrutinised by City Hall under new devolution powers, meaning every other borough could face the same scrutiny as they publish their own plans in the years ahead. The row also comes as the Mayor's Oxford Street Development Corporation takes control of planning for a pedestrianisation scheme Westminster has long opposed.

Full story: www.westm.news/soho-spat

21/08/2026

Cllr Paul Fisher, our Cabinet Member for Value for Money and Finance, has written to residents about the scale of the financial challenge facing Westminster.

The national Labour government is cutting £100 million in funding from this council, which he calls "a direct attack on the services Westminster residents rely on every day." And that's on top of the legacy left by the previous Labour administration locally: £27 million wasted on the Geoffrey Osborne contractor failure, a £3 million overspend on a Church Street demolition contract, and a £19 million council tax freeze he describes as "an election gimmick that stored up pain for residents."

Cllr Fisher believes in keeping council tax low and delivering the services residents rely on, but as he puts it: "we cannot do both without making difficult decisions about where to focus our resources." And those decisions, he's clear, won't be made "behind closed doors."

That's why residents are being asked directly which services matter most to them. The survey is open until 5pm on 30 September, and your answers will shape how the council prioritises next year's budget.

Take the survey: www.westm.news/BC

Find out more: www.westm.news/WEx070826

21/08/2026

100 days in, and Westminster Conservatives are delivering a clean city for all.

Cllr Tim Mitchell, Cabinet Member for City Management, sets out what's been done: "We're removing 100% of all offensive graffiti within 12 hours. We are reviewing cycle schemes to make sure that they work properly for residents and businesses, in particular removing proposals for bus stops."

That last point refers to the floating bus stop proposals scrapped after concerns they put visually impaired, elderly and disabled residents at risk. Overall, 100% of offensive graffiti is now removed within 12 hours, with 94% of all other graffiti cleared within three days.

Promises made, promises kept.

21/08/2026

Westminster City Council has hit back at the Mayor of London after he criticised its draft licensing policy for the West End.

Cllr Tim Barnes, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Growth and Planning, says the real pressures on pub and bar owners have nothing to do with council licensing: rising costs from central government, and two problems he places squarely with City Hall. "Cuts to policing mean people are worried about safety when they go out," he said, alongside a public transport network that makes it hard to get home safely late at night.

Westminster has again confirmed there's no plan to ban people standing up to drink outside pubs in the West End. Its actual policy, the Cumulative Impact Zone covering Soho, Leicester Square, Covent Garden, Piccadilly Circus and parts of Fitzrovia and Mayfair, is built on evidence that noise complaints peak between 10pm and 11pm, and simply favours venues that operate earlier in the evening.

Full story: www.westm.news/Stn100826

21/08/2026

Cllr Paul Swaddle has joined the leaders of Wandsworth and Kensington and Chelsea councils in writing to the Prime Minister over steep council tax rises being forced onto their residents.

A reform directing more government funding towards deprived areas has left these three boroughs facing a funding shortfall, one that can only be plugged through significant council tax increases or cuts to local services. On top of that, a separate council tax top-up on many homes in these areas won't see any of its revenue kept locally at all.

"This is fiddled funding, cooked up in Whitehall but leaving town halls to carry the blame," the letter states.

Full story: www.westm.news/burnham-penalty

It follows reforms meaning more money is directed to deprived areas while wealthy areas get less.

20/08/2026

New options are being considered for the future of the Pimlico District Heat Undertaking, the 70 year old communal heating network, believed to be the oldest of its kind in the UK, that supplies heating and hot water to more than 3,000 homes and businesses.

Westminster City Council leader Cllr Paul Swaddle has called on the government for financial help to replace the ageing system, saying "the current proposed costs are way too high for local residents." Under the previous Labour administration, some residents were shown estimates suggesting leaseholders of four bedroom flats could be asked to pay more than £66,000 for refurbishment, figures the council says were estimates only.

The council is now reviewing alternatives including air source heat pumps and individual boilers, with findings due to go to a Policy and Scrutiny Task Group in the coming months. Residents' campaign group Pimlico Unites has welcomed the shift.

Full story: www.westm.news/pimlico-heat

20/08/2026

Huge congratulations to every GCSE student in Westminster picking up results today. This is a big milestone, and whatever today looks like for you, you should be proud of the work that got you here.

If today doesn't go the way you hoped, please know you don't have to deal with it alone. We Got U offers free mental health support for young people across Westminster: westminster.gov.uk/we-got-u

And if you're weighing up sixth form, college, an apprenticeship or something else entirely, the National Careers Service has advice to help you decide what's next: nationalcareers.service.gov.uk/exam-results

Wishing you all the best today! 🎉

20/08/2026

Cllr Paul Swaddle OBE has backed new Conservative plans to save the summer job for young people across Westminster, by cutting red tape and giving businesses and young people more flexibility over shifts and breaks.

"My first job was working as a decorator's assistant, aged 15," he said. "I know first-hand the skills, confidence and experience a summer job can give a young person. We must make it easier for our local businesses to give young people that vital first step onto the career ladder."

The plans would scrap unnecessary permits, simplify evening working rules, and give 16 and 17-year-olds and employers more flexibility over when breaks are taken, all while protecting young people's education. It comes after a report from former Labour minister Alan Milburn found the number of 16 to 17-year-olds doing any work has fallen from 35% in 2006 to just 19% today.

Full story: www.westm.news/summer-jobs

18/08/2026

❗Total Labour waste uncovered by Conservative contracts review: over £37 million❗

Labour signed off the Mandela Way waste depot without checking the ground beneath the site. The bill has risen from £5.5 million to £13.5 million - an extra £8 million for Westminster taxpayers.

Add the £19 million reserves raid for a council tax freeze election gimmick and Labour cost Westminster £56 million.

At the same time as the Labour Government cuts £100 million from Westminster's budget.

Same Old Labour at every level: cannot be trusted with public money.

westm.news/mandela-way

Same old Labour: contract and capital review uncovers yet another due diligence failure, taking total waste uncovered past £37 million, with more findings to comeWestminster’s Conservative administration has uncovered another Labour failure. A waste depot project at Mandela Way will now cost taxp...