Lewisham Council to adopt new strategy focusing on place-based involvement and resident engagement

Lewisham Council is preparing to adopt a new strategy that will prioritise place-based involvement and resident engagement, following a review of its current Corporate Strategy 2022-2026. The Overview and Scrutiny Committee discussed lessons learned from the past four years, highlighting the need for a more agile and flexible approach to future planning.

During the meeting on Thursday, 19 March 2026, councillors reviewed the delivery of the current strategy, acknowledging significant achievements despite facing considerable external challenges. These included the COVID-19 pandemic recovery, the cost-of-living crisis, and ongoing financial pressures on local government.

Notable successes cited included the establishment of 55 permanent School Streets, the retrofitting of 1,409 homes with energy efficiency improvements, and the creation of 235 apprenticeships with a 90% retention rate. The council also supported 1,833 residents into employment through Lewisham Works and launched the Discover Lewisham campaign to promote independent businesses.

However, the review also identified challenges in the strategy's design and delivery. Officers noted that the focus on specific we will statements had limited flexibility and the ability to adapt to new ways of working that achieved core outcomes. The intended outcome of moving away from these specific statements in the next strategy is to support a more adaptive approach, enabling services to respond effectively to changing demand and circumstances and maybe finding different ways of delivering to the same outcome, really. This would be achieved by having a stronger focus on outcome statements rather than specific activities.

Systemic challenges with IT infrastructure and data collection were also highlighted, leading to residents having to repeat information across different interactions. While work is ongoing to address these issues, the Digital Strategy and the No Wrong Front Door programme are being leveraged to improve infrastructure and create a single view of the resident. The integration of data, particularly with advancements in AI and technology, is also being considered to better model future needs across statutory services.

To inform the development of the next Corporate Strategy for 2026-2030, several recommendations were put forward. A key theme was the need for a more agile strategy that empowers innovation, resilience, and adaptation. The distinction between strategy and policy, and the importance of measuring outcomes rather than just outputs, were emphasized.

Recommendations for the new strategy include:

• Outcome-Focused Design: The strategy should be designed around clear outcomes and actions, with a focus on strategic objectives and flexible delivery commitments. Separating the high-level corporate strategy from detailed deliverables would allow the strategy to remain stable while delivery evolves.
• Meaningful Engagement: The development process should include early and substantial engagement with residents, partners, and the voluntary, community, and faith (VCF) sector.
• Enabling Conditions: Systems, data quality, resourcing, and partnerships should be treated as core enabling conditions for strategy delivery. The strategy should reflect how these will be addressed.
• Geographic Focus: A greater emphasis on geographic focus and place-based involvement, engaging ward councillors and local stakeholders, was suggested to ensure growth is distributed more evenly across the borough. The council aims to increase place-based focus in lower-connectivity and/or higher-need areas to help ensure growth is more evenly distributed across the borough, including targeted engagement with relevant local stakeholders.
• Cross-Departmental Collaboration: The importance of cross-departmental working and a one council approach was highlighted.
• Co-creation and Co-production: The principle of co-creation and empowering residents to advocate for their own needs and services was seen as crucial for improving outcomes.

The committee concluded by noting the report and the proposed recommendations for the development of the next Corporate Strategy, as detailed in the Corporate Strategy - OSC March 2026 and the Corporate Strategy Addendum - OSC March 2026. The meeting agenda and public reports pack can be found here.