Lambeth Council has reported improvements in recycling rates and domestic abuse referrals, according to the Quarterly Performance and Business Planning Report: Q4 2024/2025 presented at a recent Cabinet meeting. Councillor Fred Cowell, Cabinet Member for Digital, Data and Resident Experience (job-share), highlighted that 79% of all indicators were met in quarter four.
Recycling rates have improved following targeted interventions, including election schedule state changes. Referral rates for domestic abuse are also up, now within the safe line of breast practice range.
However, the council is working to address challenges in other areas, including targets for youth engagement in sports and the use of temporary accommodation.
Councillor Matthew Bryan inquired about the performance target for under 16s accessing Active Lambeth, noting it was still short of the goal. The target is for 11,000 under 16 year olds with membership, but the current rate is just over half of that. He also suggested additional performance metrics for emergency hazard response times and leaseholder satisfaction with repairs.
Councillor Rezina Chowdhury raised concerns about the reliability of park food ratings due to a change in methodology. The previous methodology relied on face-to-face interviews in parks, while the new methodology uses an online sample. Councillor Cowell stated the online methodology is more likely to be a more robust measure... [because] it captures a much wider number of park users and also... is able to capture a richer sample of individuals than just those who could be someone doing it. Survey Park, which is likely to... be heavily focused by desirability basis because sometimes people are very happy in parks and therefore this might associate ever with everything else as well.
Despite this, Councillor Chowdhury maintained that the change in methodology meant that the figures were not reliable.
Councillor Ben Kind asked about efforts to reduce the use of nightly paid temporary accommodation. The report states that the full year forecast based on nightly paid properties in April would exceed £105m, with the planned savings and reduction in number and cost of properties reducing the forecast to £95m by the end of the year. Efforts to reduce it include increasing cheaper leased properties and incentives to discharge homeless families to the Private Rented Sector.
