Tower Hamlets Council's ambitious strategic plan for 2026-2030 faces potential funding constraint fears, councillors heard during a recent Overview & Scrutiny Committee meeting.
Councillor Kamrul Hussain, Vice Chair of the committee, raised concerns about the financial implications of the plan's priorities, asking which would be protected and which would be at most risk if funding were to be constrained. Jonathan Lloyd, Strategic Director for Change and Improvement, stated that the council is currently undergoing its budget process and that all priorities within the plan are intended to be funded, adding that the plan's priorities are core business for the council and the ambition is to go further.
The committee welcomed the ambition of the Strategic Plan 2026-2030, recognising its importance as the council's corporate plan. Broad support was expressed for the plan's focus on tackling poverty and inequality, delivering affordable housing, improving outcomes for children and young people, strengthening community safety, protecting the environment, and continuing the council's improvement journey.
However, members stressed the importance of ensuring that the plan's ambitions are supported by clear delivery arrangements, measurable outcomes, and robust performance indicators, with transparent monitoring of progress. The Strategic Plan 2026-2030 is a high-level document, and the granularity of understanding impacts is probably best expressed within the annual delivery plans, which we'll produce and, of course, come to scrutiny.
These annual delivery plans will contain more detailed milestones and anticipated impacts. Additionally, the development of new strategic key performance indicators (KPIs) is underway to show impact and learning. Jonathan Lloyd mentioned that a workshop had been held regarding the development of these new KPIs, which will also show our kind of impact and learning and some of the challenges and opportunities of how we're delivering against that strategic plan, which we'll be developing over the next few months.
Public reporting is implied through the mention of annual delivery plans coming to scrutiny and the overall commitment to transparent monitoring.
Councillor Halima Islam, Chair of the Overview & Scrutiny Committee, stressed the importance of ensuring that the plan's ambitions are supported by clear delivery arrangements and measurable outcomes.
Public reports pack 22nd-Sep-2026 18.30 Overview Scrutiny Committee.pdf