Enfield Council has officially adopted its new four-year strategic plan, Delivering for Enfield,
which will guide the council's priorities and actions from 2026 to 2030. The plan, recommended by the Cabinet and approved by Full Council, outlines seven key outcomes for the borough: A Cleaner Enfield, A Greener Enfield, A Safer Enfield, A Thriving Enfield, A Stronger Enfield, An Affordable Enfield, and A Connected Enfield.
The Delivering for Enfield
plan replaces the previous Council Plan 2023-26 and has been informed by an analysis of election manifestos, local socio-economic data, council performance data, and benchmarking with other local authorities. It aims to guide council staff, inform budget setting, and will be reported on quarterly through new performance scorecards.
Specific Initiatives for Key Outcomes
Each of the seven priority outcomes is supported by a range of strategic actions:
- A Cleaner Enfield: Initiatives include reducing fly-tipping through education, enforcement, and instant reporting tools for residents; improving the frequency of recycling and waste collections; increasing recycling rates via community awareness campaigns; ensuring food waste collections are available to all properties; enhancing the street scene; and reducing carbon emissions from council assets and buildings.
- A Greener Enfield: Actions involve protecting and enhancing green belt land and urban green spaces; restoring 1,500 hectares of farmland into publicly accessible nature spaces through the Enfield Chase Landscape Restoration project; reducing pollution and improving air quality through effective enforcement; and implementing flood risk management programmes.
- A Safer Enfield: The council will maintain investment in council housing standards, drive up standards in the private rented sector, enhance security presence in council blocks to prevent anti-social behaviour, and deliver statutory public protection duties through trading standards services. Partnerships with the Metropolitan Police, community leaders, and businesses will address crime and anti-social behaviour, alongside targeted youth outreach services to reduce serious youth violence.
- A Thriving Enfield: This includes providing business support to help firms launch and grow, facilitating investment, and maximising the visitor economy. The plan also focuses on providing the best Start in Life offer to improve educational outcomes, increasing local education provision for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities, and maintaining/improving standards in leisure centres. A place-based investment approach will align all sources of investment to develop vibrant neighbourhoods.
- A Stronger Enfield: Key actions include delivering a Council Housing building programme focused on family and specialist accommodation, developing innovative ways for residents to access early advice and support, and ensuring all looked-after children are supported to live in family homes. The council will also work with partners to deliver reforms supporting children, young people, and their families, assist vulnerable residents in living independently, and ensure high delivery standards for adult social care services.
- An Affordable Enfield: Strategies include tackling poverty and deprivation through partnerships, maximising new housing supply by working with landowners and developers, and driving growth for the benefit of existing residents. The council will continue to provide Council Tax support for low-income households, offer affordable access to leisure facilities, and provide free activities for children and young people during school holidays. Targeted employment support programmes will assist residents at risk of unemployment.
- A Connected Enfield: This outcome focuses on developing better ways of engaging with residents, businesses, and communities, using feedback to improve services, and enabling participation in events that celebrate the borough's heritage and culture. A new Voluntary Sector Strategy will outline how the council will support a sustainable and diverse sector. The council will also manage the road network effectively, support high streets through improved parking and accessibility strategies, and promote sustainable transportation.
Addressing Specific Challenges
Despite an overall decrease in crime rates, the plan acknowledges increases in domestic abuse incidents and hate crime. The Safer Stronger Communities Board Serious Violence Strategy 2026-35 identifies domestic abuse as a key priority. This aligns with the Council Plan's focus on Strong, Healthy, and Safe Communities. Furthermore, the Enfield Safer Stronger Communities Board adopted a 10-year Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy in December 2025, which details specific actions to address domestic abuse and sexual offences. This strategy aims to support victims and survivors, understand and tackle root causes, respond to evolving forms of harassment and violence, and hold perpetrators accountable.
In terms of education, while EHCP completion rates have progressed, absence among children and young people remains a challenge. The 'Thriving Enfield' priority includes actions to improve educational outcomes and increase provision for those with special educational needs and disabilities. The Q4 2025/26 Performance Report noted that 51 EHCPs were issued within the deadline out of 148 (34.5%), attributed to increased demand and staff vacancies. Actions to improve this include prompt decisions, increased management support, and temporary staffing. Persistent absence rates for the 2024/25 academic year were higher than London and England averages for primary schools. Efforts to address this include resetting targets, reinforcing inclusive practice, and re-engaging schools and parents.
Housing Affordability and Development
Beyond exceeding housing targets for new dwellings approved, the 'Affordable Enfield' priority focuses on working with landowners, developers, and registered providers to maximise new housing supply and support smaller builders. The Council's Growth Strategy aims to drive growth for the benefit of existing residents. The Tenancy Strategy and Policy 2026-2031 reaffirms lifetime tenancies but introduces 10-year fixed-term tenancies for larger family homes and significantly adapted properties to ensure these homes remain available for those who need them most. The Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy 2026-2031 aims to prevent homelessness through early intervention and targeted support, while also calling for increased government investment in affordable and social rented housing.
Performance Measurement and Budget
To track progress, officers have created new performance scorecards for 2026/27 onwards, which will be reported to Directorate Management Teams, the Executive Management Team, and Cabinet quarterly. This framework will enable senior leadership to monitor progress, consider strategic risks, and inform decision-making. Alongside quarterly reviews of key performance indicators, all Council departments will produce annual service plans detailing their work to deliver on the Council Plan priorities. These service plans will be reviewed quarterly by departmental management teams.
While the new Council Plan provides the strategic framework, specific financial implications are not directly detailed within the plan itself. However, it will inform how the Council sets its budget and will be reflected in the Council's Medium Term Financial Plan.
An Equalities Impact Assessment conducted on the plan indicated that its implementation is expected to have positive impacts across all protected characteristics and socio-economic groups, with no direct negative impacts identified. The assessment highlighted particular positive impacts for age, disability, care experience, and socio-economic status, through commitments to early years support, independent living, improved housing standards, and targeted action to address deprivation and poverty.
