Southwark Council's Assembly has adopted an ambitious plan for the borough, focusing on making it more affordable, safer, and greener. The new Joint Administration, formed by the Green and Liberal Democrat groups, outlined its vision during a meeting on Wednesday, September 23, 2026.
The plan acknowledges significant challenges facing Southwark, including high child poverty rates (43.3% after housing costs), the impacts of climate breakdown, a social housing waiting list of 23,000 households, and 41% of residents feeling unsafe at night.
To tackle child poverty, the Joint Administration's plan includes making Southwark a borough we can afford
by ensuring that residents in Southwark find it easier to afford everyday essentials and more young people are in good and sustainable jobs and training.
The plan also aims to ensure that Southwark is a great place to grow up and grow old,
which includes ensuring that families can afford to live in Southwark, providing services and amenities for families.
The Joint Administration's core principles are:
- Affordable: Tackling the cost of living, increasing access to good jobs and affordable homes, and reducing inequality.
- Safe: Creating communities where people feel safe by supporting vulnerable residents, investing in young people, preventing crime, and maintaining welcoming public spaces. To address the 41% of residents who feel unsafe at night, beyond the £600,000 investment in Night Time Patrols, the administration plans to
tackle crime and anti-social behaviour, putting prevention first and taking effective enforcement action to build safer neighbourhoods, and prioritising preventing violence against women and girls.
As part of thesafe
principle, specific actions toinvest in young people
are planned, which will contribute to crime prevention. - Green: Addressing the climate and nature emergencies while improving daily life through warmer homes, lower energy bills, cleaner air, greener neighbourhoods, and climate justice. The administration plans to
Take serious action on climate by delivering a step change in local adaptation measures with a focus on climate justice, enhancing Southwark's biodiversity and green and blue space, further reducing the borough's emissions, and recycling significantly more of our waste.
Regarding the housing crisis, the plan to Tackle the housing crisis
includes building more council homes, ensuring council tenants and leaseholders are satisfied with the service they receive, and reducing the number of void properties and the length of time properties are empty.
This strategy aims to address the 23,000 household social housing waiting list.
Progress already made includes launching a uniform programme for families in need, accelerating the heatwave response, and investing £600,000 in Night Time Patrols. The administration is committed to developing a full Borough Action Plan over the next four years. The full details of the council's plans can be found in the Public reports pack.
