Creating a Fairer Westminster

Fairer Communities

Cities such as Westminster are built on its people – the distinctive communities that breathe life into their neighbourhoods and provide each area with identity and character. For us, a Fairer Westminster is one in which we do everything we can to reduce inequalities at every turn, from closing the life expectancy gap to tackling discrimination everywhere we find it.

Some of our objectives for this year include:

• Testing a place-based approach to making North Paddington’s public spaces and communities healthier, wealthier and safer, and then rolling this approach out to other parts of the city.
• Supporting our schools to be more inclusive for our most vulnerable young people (see Tia’s story, below).
• Reducing health inequalities faced by our Global Majority communities.
• Establishing ‘Safe Haven’ spaces and increasing our Night Stars volunteers to improve safety for women and girls.
• Tackling youth violence and offending by providing change programmes that support our young people.

See some of the ways we’re delivering Fairer Communities here.

Fairer Housing

Home is where the heart is, and in a Fairer Westminster, we want to make sure the housing needs of everyone, from residents and families to social care users are met. Whether in council housing or privately rented accommodation, your homes should be well-managed, environmentally sound and, most importantly, genuinely affordable.

Some of our objectives for this year include:

• Rehousing more people on our waiting list by building (and purchasing) more truly affordable homes (see Asaelle’s story, below).
• Making contacting our housing staff much easier by increasing the number of officers by a third.
• Renovating council homes to help lower our tenants’ energy bills, improve energy efficiency and reduce carbon emissions.
• Improving privately rented property standards and removing hazardous conditions.
• Launching a leaseholders’ charter so that our resident leaseholders can easily understand what support is available to them.

See some of the ways we’re delivering Fairer Housing here.

Fairer Economy

Westminster’s economy is rightly seen as being successful, diverse, resilient and sustainable. Supporting these values is vital to creating a Fairer Westminster that provides benefits for all residents and through this work our residents will be able to gain the right skills to benefit from the employment opportunities that come from a Fairer Economy.

Some of our objectives for this year include:

• Improving our local high streets, such as those in Harrow Road, Praed Street and Queensway.
• Making Oxford Street a more desirable shopping destination with upgrades to lighting, seating, pavements and greenery around the area.
• Improving digital inclusion in our community by offering free or low cost communications packages to those who need it most.
• Launch our Tech Lions 2.0 apprenticeship scheme to encourage young people to pursue careers in technology and management (see Abdallah’s Story, below).
• Supporting the growth of small, independent businesses and reducing empty business premises across the city.

See some of the ways we’re delivering a Fairer Economy here.

Fairer Environment

One of the toughest challenges for any major city is tackling the climate emergency. We want to take ambitious action to become a net zero council by 2030 and a net zero city by 2040 by reducing air pollution, making sure our streets are cleaner and safer, increasing recycling rates, and using cleaner technology.

Some of our objectives for this year include:

• reducing carbon emissions and supporting our city’s sustainability through the Sustainable City Charter (hear from the Royal Opera House, below).
• Improving air quality and installing more school streets.
• Encouraging more active forms of travel by developing cycle routes, installing 250 more cycle stands and at least 60 secure hangars.
• Keeping our streets clean by taking targeted action around dumping hot spots.
• Helping community groups improve their local green spaces through more funding and support for local green projects.

See some of the ways we’re delivering a Fairer Environment here.

Fairer Council

A Fairer Council is one you can trust to make the right decisions for your needs, and that means putting our residents at the heart of all our decision making. We want every action we take to result from listening to you. We also want to continue being a financially sustainable council, always able to support residents and businesses.

Some of our objectives for this year include:

• Helping our residents through the cost of living crisis by distributing at least a further £2million in addition to government schemes.
• Making it easier for residents to shape the planning policies that influence development in their local areas (see Atanaska’s Story, below).
• Making our own workforce more representative of our communities and reducing pay gaps within the council.
• Making reporting street issues easier with a redesigned Report It tool based on your feedback.
• Improve how we listen to our residents and incorporate their views into our work, which will be informed by the Charter for Community Participation.

See some of the ways we’re delivering a Fairer Council here.

Every single one of us has a part to play in creating a Fairer Westminster. Here are some of the ways you can get involved and make your voice heard:

• Let us know what you think via email at: [email protected].
• Read the latest news
• Sign up to receive our email newsletters
• Find out how you can get involved with Our Westminster
• Find out who your elected representatives are and when they meet to make decisions
• Build community spirit on your estate by joining your local Residents’ Association
• Join your local amenity society to contribute to planning decisions in your area
• Join our Youth Council
• Join our Resident Research Panel to review and feedback on our policies and projects
• Read and respond to consultations or proposals