Islington Council is set to enhance its Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for lift maintenance, aiming to improve service reliability and reduce downtime for residents.
During a Council meeting on Thursday, 2 July 2026, Councillor Jason Jackson, Executive Member for Homes and Neighbourhoods, addressed concerns raised by Oliver Knight regarding lift maintenance on the Finsbury Park Estate. Knight highlighted a lift that had been out of service since February, significantly impacting residents, particularly those with limited mobility.
Councillor Jackson assured that the forthcoming procurement for lift maintenance would incorporate robust KPIs. These will include stringent measures for response times, first-time fix rates, quality of repair, resident communication, breakdown reasons, and crucially, overall lift uptime and availability. The new contract would introduce robust KPIs covering response time, first-time fix rates, quality of repair, residence communication, reason for breakdown, and critical overall lift uptime and availability. These indicators will be actively monitored to ensure performance remains at a high standard.
Knight further pressed on how the incalculable costs of downtime would be factored into contract design and suggested combining lift replacement with service elements to incentivise contractors. Councillor Jackson confirmed that the new contract would feature stronger enforcement mechanisms, including financial penalties for sustained underperformance, and enhanced independent inspection checks for lifts with recurring faults. Financial penalties will be implemented for underperformance, where performance falls below the required standard. He stressed that residents should see a tangible improvement in the quality and reliability of these essential services.
The council fully recognised that lift outages have a significant impact on residents, particularly those who are vulnerable or have limited mobility, and that minimising downtime must be a critical priority in the design of the new contract. Alongside this, clear escalation procedures and contractual break clauses for sustained underperformance will be implemented.
Further details on the council's meeting and reports can be found in the Public reports pack.