Lambeth's community safety performance is under scrutiny, with a recent council meeting revealing several key indicators are failing to meet targets. The Lambeth Cabinet convened on Wednesday, July 1, 2026, to review the council's strategic objectives, as detailed in the Outcomes Framework Performance Report for Quarter 4 of the 2025/26 financial year. While overall performance is strong, with 76% of targeted indicators meeting goals, community safety has been identified as the weakest performing ambition.

Councillor Nanda Manley-Browne highlighted that only one community safety indicator met its target, with three rated as 'red' – meaning they are more than 5% away from their goal. The report indicates that 67% of indicators within the 'Making Lambeth One of the Safest Boroughs in London' ambition showed a negative change of at least 5%.

Specific concerns were raised regarding the target for reducing risk for victims of violence against women and girls (VAWG). While the Gaia Centre reported that 100% of service users experienced increased confidence in accessing help, the average risk reduction was 32%, falling short of the annual target of 40%. Mitigating actions have been put in place, including reminding managers to review cases at the point of closure to ensure accurate exit risk assessments. This indicator is also monitored through quarterly contract monitoring to assess the need for more robust measures. For repeat incidents of domestic abuse related to MARAC, the rate remained within the best practice range of 28-40% at 31% in Q4. Work has been done with partners to train and upskill staff, and software improvements are in place to capture data.

Resident concerns about anti-social behaviour and graffiti also remain a significant issue. The 'Percentage of land and highways with unacceptable levels of graffiti' was at 25% in Q4, exceeding the target of 20%. Although this represents an 8% improvement compared to the same period last year, the number of opiate users in substance misuse treatment has not seen improvement, with numbers remaining similar to the previous year, despite progress in engaging with alcohol and non-opiate drug users.

Councillor Jonathan Bartley, Cabinet Member for Safer, Thriving Neighbourhoods, acknowledged the need for improvement and expressed a commitment to a more community-led approach. He voiced concern about the current indicators, stating, I am really troubled by the indicators. I think, personally, what we seem to be doing is measuring what we are doing, while doing the outcomes. He stressed the need for indicators that measure the actual impact of interventions, such as how violence workshops affect young people's lives.

In response, Ryan Devlin, Director of Strategy, Communications and Change, confirmed that there's absolutely an opportunity to consider for regular revisions to the framework. He noted that this is the second year of the framework and revisions have occurred annually through the KPI review process. They will consider options around what the Council currently measures and what can be brought out in the outcomes framework report. As well as those areas that might want to amend or change to reflect administration priorities. New indicators, such as those related to emissions, could also be considered. Revised measures could be implemented for Q1 and potentially for the next financial year.

Councillor Bartley also articulated a vision for a genuinely community-led approach, stating, I want to listen to the level of the neighbourhood approach. He aims to bring together the agencies who are attracting that, particularly from the police licensing from the council, recognise where our different roles lie, and make sure that we have the voice of the community leading that, telling us what we need to do, and respond with that with them. He highlighted that Lambeth has historically lacked a clear policy paper approach to safety, and that the partnership, essentially, marks its own homework. So it's a very top-down thing. Accountability. There's the partners to one another, not to residents. He intends to bring forth policy position paper and develop a public health approach, but I do think it needs to be genuinely public health.

The full report can be found in the Public reports pack Wednesday 01-Jul-2026 17.00 Cabinet.