Ealing Council is set to develop a 'Resilient Ealing' strategy to protect residents and infrastructure from the growing impacts of climate change. The move comes as the borough faces increasing risks from severe floods, heatwaves, and drought, with vulnerable populations disproportionately affected. The council plans to prioritise efforts to build climate resilience in vulnerable areas of Ealing to create a fairer borough. This includes a further analysis of the most at-risk Lower Super Output Areas (LSOAs) to better understand the human and infrastructural vulnerabilities in highest-risk neighbourhoods to enable targeted action and engagement. To ensure the 'Resilient Ealing' strategy is effectively communicated, the council plans to expand existing communication and engagement channels on climate resilience to include a greater number of teams, with different departments collaborating closer together and with communities to embed climate resilience council and borough wide. They will also embed learnings from the Building Community Resilience Programme and the input of Public Health colleagues into the work of housing and planning teams.
The Economy and Sustainability Scrutiny Panel met on 1 July 2025, to discuss the council's plans to address climate resilience and support vulnerable communities. A report presented to the panel highlighted that Ealing is considered the 9th most 'socially vulnerable to high heat' borough in the country.
The council's Climate Action & Sustainability Team is developing the Climate Adaptation and Resilience Programme to integrate climate risks into council operations and promote community-led action. The programme aims to build long-term resilience and enable a positive transformation towards an equitable and thriving borough.
According to the report, the main climate risks facing Ealing are:
- Severe floods
- Heatwaves
- Drought
The areas most vulnerable to climate change are determined using GLA Climate Risk Mapping, which considers overall risk in Ealing. The report also includes GLA Mapping of socioeconomic deprivation in Ealing disaggregated at the LSOA level.
The impacts of these risks are not felt equally across the borough. The impacts of climate risks are experienced differently across the borough, with already-vulnerable people, deprived neighbourhoods and certain geographies being impacted the most,
the report stated. The following map highlights areas of Ealing where efforts to build climate resilience need to be prioritised:
To address these challenges, the council is developing a Resilient Ealing Strategy to embed climate adaptation across the borough. This strategy will build upon existing work, such as the Building Community Resilience Programme, and will involve collaboration with various stakeholders, including community organisations and regional bodies.
The panel also discussed how the council is working to support vulnerable communities facing both socio-economic challenges and the impacts of climate change. The council's Regeneration, Economy & Skills department is responsible for the Council Plan strategic objective on 'creating good jobs' and is responsible for the development and delivery of Ealing's Jobs & Skills Strategy 2024-29. Work Ealing and Learn Ealing services aim to support disadvantaged residents into sustainable employment.
Learn Ealing is the main provider of adult community education for the London Borough of Ealing, and achieved a 'GOOD' Ofsted grading. Learn Ealing works with partners including Ingeus, JCP, Ealing Soup Kitchen and West London College.
Data presented to the panel showed disparities between ethnic groups, with the Asian Ethnic Group experiencing the highest unemployment rate in May 2025 at approximately 9%. In response, the council is supporting Ealing's Race Equality Commission, particularly to incentivise businesses with over 100 employees to take shared responsibility for reducing inequality by reporting on ethnicity pay gaps, setting measurable targets, and aligning with existing gender pay gap legislation. The council also targets support for underrepresented and vulnerable groups, including young people not in education, employment or training (NEET), people with disabilities, and those in deprived areas.
The council is implementing various programmes to address these issues, including Connect to Work, MSK Trailblazer, and the Borough Apprenticeship Programme. A temporary accommodation pilot is also underway, in partnership with the Housing Solutions department, to provide employment support to residents living in temporary accommodation at The Barn (Ruislip).
The terms of reference state that the scope of the panel is to scrutinise matters relating to the local economy and environmental sustainability of the borough. The panel will discuss and agree its draft work programme and terms of reference for 2025/2026.