Councillor Grace Williams, Leader of the Council, chaired a meeting of the Waltham Forest Council cabinet on 7 October 2025, where members discussed early intervention and prevention strategies, housing updates, and changes to the Minimum Income Guarantee uplift. The cabinet approved recommendations concerning early intervention and prevention, the Housing Strategy Year One update, and changes to the Minimum Income Guarantee uplift. They also agreed to the council taking on the development manager role for the London Secure Children's Home proposals.

Fairer Contributions Policy: Proposal for Changes to Minimum Income Guarantee Uplift

Cabinet agreed to proceed with the proposed phased reduction and removal of the discretionary uplift applied to the Minimum Income Guarantee (MIG). The changes will be implemented as follows:

• 2025/26: An initial reduction from 25% to 10% in November 2025
• 2026/27: A further reduction from 10% to 0% in November 2026

The Strategic Director of Adult Services was delegated authority to make the necessary changes to the Fairer Contributions policy.

The council currently applies a 25% discretionary uplift to the nationally set MIG, providing additional financial support to residents receiving non-residential adult social care. The Fairer Contributions Policy Proposal stated that benchmarking showed that the council is now one of only three London boroughs and one of only five councils nationwide maintaining this level of uplift.

A 12-week public consultation on the proposal received 109 responses. While 69% of respondents disagreed with the proposal, the cabinet decided to proceed with the changes, citing significant financial pressures facing the council. The council estimates that a reduction of the uplift from 25% to 10% could generate additional income of between £1 million and £2 million in a full year.

The cabinet considered alternative proposals put forward by residents during the consultation, including maintaining the current 25% uplift or retaining a lower uplift of at least 5%. However, they ultimately agreed to proceed with the phased reduction and removal of the discretionary uplift.

To mitigate the impact of the changes, the council will implement several measures, including:

• Inclusive communication and community-based engagement
• Targeted financial support and outreach
• Access to financial support through the Local Welfare Assistance Scheme, with an additional £150,000 allocated to the scheme.

The council will also monitor the impact of the changes and provide a report to the Health and Adult Social Care Scrutiny Committee nine months after implementation.

London Secure Children's Home Proposals - Update

The cabinet agreed to the council taking on the development manager role to design and build the London Secure Children's Home (LSCH) at the Thames Water Depot site on Lea Bridge Road, working alongside the London Councils project team. They also agreed an initial project delivery budget of £3.7 million to cover design, technical, and other consultant fees, surveys, and staff costs, which will be fully covered by the Department for Education (DfE).

The LSCH is a proposed new residential provision that will provide specialist care, education, health, leisure, and wellbeing services for some of London's most vulnerable children. There is currently no provision of this kind in London, and the LSCH aims to address this gap by providing a secure and supportive environment for children who are a significant risk to themselves or others.

The cabinet delegated authority to the Corporate Director of Capital Strategy & Delivery to proceed with the procurement of design and technical consultants and to award contracts. They also delegated authority to the Strategic Director of Place to enter into any legal agreements with the DfE and other local authorities in relation to the design and build arrangements for this scheme, including for cost risk sharing.

The council's decision to take on the development manager role was based on a comprehensive review of the proposed scheme, which assessed the design, costs, procurement strategy, and delivery route. The review identified risks, but the council believes that these can be mitigated.

The DfE will fund all costs for the design and build of the scheme, subject to their change control process. However, the council has sought to share any residual capital cost risk with other participating London boroughs.

Early Intervention & Prevention - Building Stronger Communities

Cabinet reaffirmed its commitment to putting early intervention and prevention at the heart of Mission Waltham Forest as the key driver for building stronger communities and making this a more equal and inclusive borough, as well as to ensure financial sustainability into the future.

The Early Intervention & Prevention - Building Stronger Communities report noted the Prevention Programme Overview, plans for scaling up the approach to early intervention and prevention, and the track record of investment and delivery in support of this ambition, including for example Family Hubs, the response to the Marmot review¹ and the recent roll out of Waltham Forest Max.

The report highlighted the need to shift as a council to hardwire prevention in everything it does, moving away from treating symptoms and focusing on building strong and resilient communities that support everyone to thrive.

Housing Strategy Year One Update 2024-25

Cabinet noted the content of the Housing Strategy Year One Update 2024-25, which provides an update on work to deliver the Housing Strategy objectives.

The Housing Strategy 2024-2029, titled Good homes as the foundation for a happy and healthy life, sets out the council's vision for housing in the borough. The strategy's central vision is improved and fairer access to high-quality and genuinely affordable homes which provide a foundation for every resident to live a happy and healthy life.

The report provided an overview of the work undertaken by council teams over the first year of the strategy to support achievement of these long-term outcomes, including:

• Preventing homelessness and rough sleeping
• Ensuring residents can access homes that meet their needs as their circumstances change
• Ensuring every home in the borough is healthy, safe, and affordable to live in
• Ensuring development enhances neighbourhoods and supports stronger, fairer, and safer communities

The report also noted the challenges and planned activity for the coming year.