‘Equity and justice shines through’: Lambeth council praised by independent review

An independent review team has praised a council’s performance following a four-day visit to the Town Hall last year.

A Local Government Association (LGA) ‘peer challenge’  found Lambeth council had strong political leadership and a clear focus on achieving equity and justice, which “shines through” its Lambeth 2030 masterplan.

The LGA visited Lambeth in November and carried out a ‘Corporate Peer Challenge’, the results of which were considered by the council’s Cabinet last week.

The peer team reported that the council has shown strong leadership on climate change and net zero and has worked to mitigate the significant financial challenges it faces.

But, the team recommended that the council could go further to ensure its future financial stability.

Peer reviews are a voluntary improvement process that local authorities are encouraged to undertake. The LGA Peer Team at Lambeth included Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead chief executive Stephen Evans and councillor Shantanu Rajawat, Leader of Hounslow council.

Cllr Claire Holland, Leader of Lambeth council, said: “Hosting this review brings a fresh perspective to look at how we work, how we prioritise and where we must increase the pace of our work. There’s some really useful feedback here.

“I thank the peer review team for their time and look forward to taking our work to the next level to deliver for our residents.”

The council has now created an action plan which considers each recommendation made by the peer review team who will return to the borough for a follow-up review in the Autumn.

Pictured top: Lambeth council HQ in Brixton (Picture: Robert Firth)