The Waltham Forest Climate Scrutiny Committee met to discuss electric vehicle charging points, the performance of the council's contract with FCC Environment, and the council's sports and leisure strategy. The committee noted reports on all three topics, and reviewed the forward plan for the remainder of the municipal year.

Electric Vehicle Charging Point Strategy Update

The committee reviewed the outcomes of the 2020-2025 Electric Vehicle (EV) Charging Point Strategy, and considered proposed updates to be included in the 2025-2030 strategy.

As of August 2025, there were 1,509 EV charging sockets in the borough, compared to 93 sockets when the first strategy was published in 2020. According to a recent study from the National EV Insights and Support (NEVIS), 2,686 public sockets will be required in Waltham Forest by 2030.

The report noted that the council is ahead of public charging point demand, and that the 2020-2025 strategy won two awards.

The 2020-2025 strategy had six key objectives:

1. Continue to deliver an EV charging network that meets the demands of residents, businesses and visitors.
2. Design sites that take into consideration other road users, particularly pedestrians.
3. Suitable coverage of the borough by 2025 (the target was for 80% of residents and businesses to be within 250m of a charging point by 2025).
4. Ensure the charging network has capacity for further expansion.
5. Encourage the uptake of EVs through initiatives and public engagement.
6. Identify income opportunities that will lead to the provision and maintenance of charging points becoming cost neutral to the borough.

The report detailed the progress made against each of these objectives. For example, to meet Objective 1, the council has provided a mixture of lamp column and standard 7kW charging points in residential areas. To meet Objective 3, the council estimates that 86% of households are within a 4-minute walk of a charging point.

The committee also discussed key developments and future technologies, such as cross-pavement charging solutions¹. Waltham Forest currently does not permit any gullies or trailing cables due to safety concerns.

The 2025-2030 strategy will focus on six objectives:

1. Deliver an EV charging point network that enables residents, businesses and visitors to use an EV if they are unable to walk, cycle or use public transport, with 95% of households without access to off-street parking to be within 200m of a charging point by 2030.
2. Design accessible and inclusive charging point sites that do not impact people walking and wheeling and enable residents of all abilities to easily and confidently charge their vehicles.
3. Ensure the charging network has capacity for further expansion.
4. Encourage the uptake of electric vehicles, whether privately owned, rented or car sharing, through initiatives and public engagement.
5. Ensure that using a public EV charging point does not cost more than refuelling a petrol or diesel vehicle.
6. Identify opportunities that will ensure the provision and maintenance of charging points is at least cost neutral to LBWF.

The committee noted the report.

Performance of FCC Contract

The committee reviewed a report outlining FCC Environment's performance over the last year. FCC Environment² commenced Waltham Forest's Neighbourhood Services Contract in September 2019 for collections, street cleansing and grounds maintenance. The contract is for an initial period of 8 years with a possible 8-year extension.

The report provided an update on FCC's performance against key indicators, resident satisfaction, and the current recycling rate. It noted that cleansing satisfaction remains consistently good across the contract, with a 96% average for litter and a 97.5% average for detritus in street cleansing inspections. The spring resident satisfaction survey showed a 7% improvement in satisfaction with how the council keeps the streets clean, and a 6% increase in satisfaction with how the council is tackling fly-tipping.

The report also highlighted two major service changes that have taken place in the last financial year: the introduction of separate food waste collections to 99% of properties in the borough, and the switch to alternate weekly refuse collections for kerbside properties.

The report stated that resident satisfaction with collection services remains high and well above the Local Government Association (LGA) average. Missed collections outside of the service change months have remained consistently low and well below target. Tonnage collected since the change to alternate weekly refuse collections has been favourable, with a drop in refuse tonnage collected, an increase in dry recycling, and collected food recycling tonnages now above forecasted levels.

The report also provided an update on social value, noting that FCC has committed to employing 6 apprentices from the borough on a yearly basis, and has a workforce volunteering commitment of 2,688 hours per year.

The committee noted the report.

Update on Sports Mission and Strategy: 'Getting Waltham Forest Active: a million more days'

The committee received an update on the council's sports and leisure mission, Getting Waltham Forest Active: a million more days of healthy active life . The mission aims to encourage all residents to be active, with a specific focus on three key cohorts: residents on low incomes, women in middle-age, and older residents at risk of falls.

The report noted that inactivity rates in Waltham Forest remain persistently too high, contributing to widespread health inequalities in the borough. Data from the Sport England Active Lives survey shows that a quarter (25%) of residents are inactive (less than 30 minutes of activity a week).

The mission aims to support 1,000 residents who are currently inactive to start doing 30-150 minutes of weekly activity, so they can gain 1 million more days to spend on their favourite pastimes. The goal is based on research in a study spanning seven years of 465,000 people carried out by Vitality, peer-reviewed by the London School of Economics.

The mission will target three priority cohorts:

• 20% of residents with lowest income
• Women aged 45-65
• Residents age 65+ at risk of falls

The report outlined the current sport, leisure, and physical activity offer in the borough, and noted that there have been challenges gathering data from some groups. It also identified some immediate opportunities to improve the offer for the target cohorts, such as putting on additional sessions, refocusing some sessions specifically for women aged 45-55, enhancing low-income accessibility, and maintaining and diversifying older adult programming.

The report stated that the council will launch a campaign in January to coincide with new year motivation, to encourage all residents to start getting active, with a specific focus on those cohorts where more targeted activity is needed.

The committee noted the report.

The Scrutiny Report

Councillor Caramel Quin, Chair of the Committee, enquired whether members of the committee had received training for the corporate dashboard³ and carbon literacy training.

The committee reviewed the Climate Scrutiny Committee Forward Plan for the remainder of the municipal year, and were invited to suggest any further items for the committee to look at over the 2025/26 municipal year.

The committee also reviewed and commented on the Action Tracker from the previous meeting.

The committee noted the report, Forward Plan and Action Tracker.