Lewisham Council has approved a £1.675 million budget for street lighting in 2025/26, as part of a larger £4.653 million joint budget with Croydon. The decision was made at the Croydon & Lewisham Street Lighting Joint Committee meeting on Tuesday, 4 November 2025.
The approved budget is part of a Joint Street Lighting Private Finance Initiative (PFI) between Croydon and Lewisham. The contract budget for the year is set out in the PFI financial model, which includes expenditure on the PFI contract, contract monitoring costs, and contributions into a sinking fund. The anticipated cost for 2025/26 is expected to be £11.839m.
The Joint Street Lighting PFI contributes directly to improving community safety, accessibility, and well-being across all wards. Enhanced and well-maintained lighting supports equality by creating safer environments for women and girls, older residents, people with disabilities, and nighttime workers, while also contributing to crime prevention and fostering public confidence in shared spaces.
The approved budget covers unitary charges and contract management and monitoring costs. Croydon's share of the unitary charges is £2.978 million, with contract management and monitoring costs of £185,254. Lewisham's unitary charges are £1.675 million, with contract management and monitoring costs of £104,205.
For comparison, the proposed unitary charges for 2024/25 were £2.905m for Croydon and £1.634m for Lewisham.
The council ensures energy efficiency and sustainability in street lighting through the Central Management System (CMS) which allows for variable lighting level policies. The CMS functionality has helped manage the total annual consumption through implementation of both boroughs Variant Lighting Level Policies. Further consumption reductions would be secured from moving to LED lamps ( subject to viability assessment).
Key performance indicators (KPIs) are used to monitor the effectiveness of the street lighting contract. These include:
- PS1 – Core Investment Programme
- PS2 - Planned Maintenance, Inspection and Testing
- PS3 - Operational Responsiveness and Reactive Maintenance
- PS4 - Contract Management and Customer Interface
- PS5 - Strategic Assistance and Reporting
- PS6 - Working Practices
- PS7 - Reporting to the Authority
- PS9 - Central Management System
The contract management and monitoring costs help ensure these KPIs are met through monthly monitoring and payment reports, joint site inspections, shadow night scouts, and verification of the Central Management System.
Attendees at the meeting included Councillor Amanda De Ryk (Cabinet Member for Finance, Resources and Performance), Councillor Louise Krupski (Deputy Mayor and Environment, Transport and Climate Action), Councillor Scott Roche, and Councillor Robert Ward.
Councillors Scott Roche, Robert Ward, Amanda De Ryk and Louise Krupski are listed as Lead Members in the Public Reports Pack.
The Public Reports Pack provides further details on the Joint Street Lighting PFI Update.