The Tower Hamlets Council Cabinet met to discuss several key issues, including the housing programme, budget monitoring, and the gender pay gap. They approved measures to address housing needs, reviewed the budget, and discussed strategies for improving recycling rates and supporting vulnerable children.

• Mayor's Accelerated Housing Programme
• Strategic Delivery and Performance Report
• Gender Pay Gap Report 2025
• Budget Monitoring 2024/25
• Overnight Short Breaks for Children with Autism and Complex Health Needs
• Timeless Safeguarding Children Partnership Annual Report 2024-25
• Mayor's Waste Improvement Programme Quarter 4
• Reduction and Recycling Plan Progress Report Quarter 4
• Regulator of Social Housing Inspection Outcome
• Highways and Transportation Infrastructure Projects Delivery

Mayor's Accelerated Housing Programme

The Cabinet approved proceeding with the next stages of design and planning for the Mayor's Accelerated Housing Programme, which aims to deliver an additional 2,113 to 3,300 affordable homes on council-owned sites. The plan includes a budget of £8.068 million to fund the work up to March 2026.

Executive Mayor of Tower Hamlets, Lutfur Rahman, said that the council had a moral duty to alleviate overcrowding in the borough and provide affordable homes. He criticised the previous administration for selling off council-owned sites and stated that his administration would not sell any more crown jewels . He also clarified that the developments would include a minimum of 51% affordable housing, with some sites offering 100% social housing¹.

Councillor Kobir Ahmed, Cabinet Member for Regeneration, Inclusive Development and Housebuilding, assured residents that the developments would prioritise affordable, family-sized housing and regenerate all parts of Tower Hamlets. He noted that building inflation had risen to 40%, making the targets challenging, but the council was working with developers to get stalled sites moving.

Councillor Mayim Talukdar, Deputy Mayor and Cabinet Member for Education, Youth and Lifelong Learning, emphasised the importance of consulting with special interest groups and faith organisations during the consultation process.

Strategic Delivery and Performance Report

The Cabinet reviewed the Strategic Delivery and Performance Report Year Three Quarter 4, noting that 34 out of 56 performance measures were on track (green). However, six measures were below target (red), including net additions to housing stock, affordable homes delivered, education and healthcare assessments completed within 20 weeks, young people re-offending, household recycling levels, and council tax collection rates.

Lutfur Rahman expressed concern about the red indicators, particularly the education and healthcare assessments for vulnerable children, stating that the council was failing 60% of these children. He requested a report on how Tower Hamlets compared to other high-performing authorities and what support was being given to families in the meantime.

The Cabinet also discussed the council tax collection rate, with Lutfur Rahman noting that a 1% failure to collect council tax meant a loss of £1 million. He requested a report on how other boroughs were improving their collection rates.

Lisa Fraser, Director of Education, provided more recent data showing that the timeliness of healthcare assessments had improved to 53.8% in quarter one of 2025-26. Abdulrazak Kassim, Interim Corporate Director for Resources, outlined steps taken to address the low council tax collection rate, including reducing the backlog of cases, introducing affordable payment plans, and reintroducing telephone collections.

Councillor Shafi Ahmed, Cabinet Member for Environment and the Climate Emergency, noted that the waste collection resident survey had improved from 69% in 2024 to 76% in 2025.

Councillor Kevin Brady noted that the Metropolitan Police were pursuing a site in Canary Wharf to provide a quicker service for residents on the Isle of Dogs.

Jonathan Lloyd, Strategic Director for Change and Improvement, said that the government was consulting on a new outcomes framework for local authorities and that he would bring back proposals for benchmarking Tower Hamlets' performance against other boroughs.

Gender Pay Gap Report 2025

The Cabinet reviewed the Gender Pay Gap Report 2025, which showed that women in Tower Hamlets earned 2.03% more than men on average. The report also included data on ethnicity, disability, and LGBT pay gaps.

Councillor Bodrul Choudhury, Cabinet Member for Equalities and Social Inclusion, noted that this was a historic first and that the council needed to sustain this achievement. He also noted that the ethnicity pay gap had increased slightly in 2024 and that further work was needed to reduce this gap.

Stephen Halsey, Chief Executive, praised the work that had gone into the report and said that the council was an exemplar in how this work should be done.

Councillor Sabina Akhtar, Cabinet Member for Health, Wellbeing and Social Care, said that the report showed that women were valued in the council and that more women needed to know about this achievement.

Budget Monitoring 2024/25

The Cabinet reviewed the Budget Monitoring 2024-25 Provisional Outturn, which showed a gross overspend of £30.5 million, offset by planned reserve drawdowns, resulting in a net overspend of £16.5 million. The overspend was largely due to demand-driven pressures in homelessness, adult social care, and special education needs and disabilities (SEND).

Councillor Saied Ahmed, Cabinet Member for Resources and the Cost of Living, noted that the council had balanced the books for the last three years and was confident of doing so for the next three years. He also explained that the earmarked reserves were for specific purposes and were not for general use.

David Joyce, Corporate Director of Housing & Regeneration, commented on the capital programme, noting that some schemes had been paused to maximise the number of homes and family homes.

Overnight Short Breaks for Children with Autism and Complex Health Needs

The Cabinet approved a six-month contract extension for the Overnight and Related Short Breaks Service for children and young people with autistic spectrum condition (ASC) and complex health needs. This extension was to allow time to accommodate actions agreed at the Members Advisory Board on 25 June 2025, and to ensure service continuity while the commissioning process was completed.

Timeless Safeguarding Children Partnership Annual Report 2024-25

The Cabinet noted the Timeless Safeguarding Children Partnership Annual Report 2024-25.

Councillor Kevin Brady questioned the increase in referrals into the Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) from health colleagues. Lisa Fraser, Director of Education, said that this was a positive reflection of the work of the safeguarding partnership and the emphasis on training and professional development.

Mayor's Waste Improvement Programme Quarter 4

The Cabinet approved the Mayor's Waste Improvement Programme (MWIP) Quarter 4 progress report, noting improvements in the cleanliness of the borough and the expenditure of the £5 million investment.

Councillor Dan Tomlinson welcomed the report and thanked the officers for their work. He noted that Whitechapel Ward had seen better recycling and cleaning rates.

Lutfur Rahman urged officers to continue to improve cleanliness throughout the borough and to reduce missed collections.

Reduction and Recycling Plan Progress Report Quarter 4

The Cabinet noted the Reduction and Recycling Plan Progress Report Quarter 4. The report outlined 31 targeted actions to reduce waste, boost refuse, and improve recycling performance across the borough.

Councillor Shafi Ahmed said that the provisional recycling rate for 2024 and 2025 was 17% against a 23% target. He noted that contamination was a major issue.

Lutfur Rahman challenged the director to achieve a 19.5% recycling rate.

Councillor Kevin Brady suggested exploring incentives for residents to recycle.

Regulator of Social Housing Inspection Outcome

The Cabinet noted the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) Inspection Outcome, which gave Tower Hamlets Council a C3 grading for its Housing Management service.

Councillor Kabir Ahmed said that the council had self-referred to the RSH and was working to address the issues identified. He noted that the grading was at the same level as Hackney and Southwark.

David Joyce, Corporate Director of Housing & Regeneration, said that the serious issues identified by the regulator were all included in the self-referral.

Lutfur Rahman said that there was no inspection system before and that the council had only had a year to turn around the service after bringing Tower Hamlets Homes in-house.

Highways and Transportation Infrastructure Projects Delivery

The Cabinet endorsed the progress and investigation of the works programmes outlined in the Highways and Transportation Infrastructure Projects Delivery Report.

Councillor Kevin Brady asked how the council was feeding back to the local community about the work that had been done.

Lutfur Rahman thanked the officers for their work and noted that the tree planting had surpassed the council's commitment.