Westminster City Council's Conservative-led administration has set out its delivery record after passing 100 days in office, confirming a new Short-Term Lets Taskforce is now live alongside continued action on enforcement, waste and transparency.
For the first time in Westminster's history, enforcement and street safety sit at the Cabinet table, with Cllr Caroline Sargent appointed as the council's first-ever Cabinet Member for Enforcement. Since taking office, action against anti-social behaviour is up more than 270 per cent on the same period last year, with Community Protection Warnings up over 1,600 per cent and Community Protection Notices up over 500 per cent. A real-time data-sharing deal with Lime has helped seize more than 650 dangerously parked dockless bikes since 2 July, with £250,000 in fines paid to date.
The council's new Short-Term Lets Taskforce is now tackling illegal short-term lets that turn family homes into unlicensed hotels, with warning letters sent to suspected operators. It builds on an industry-first data partnership with Airbnb, and the council is now also engaging with other major platforms, including Booking.com, ahead of targeted enforcement this autumn.
Cabinet Member for City Management Cllr Tim Mitchell has prioritised cleaning up the borough, with 100 per cent of offensive graffiti reported now removed within 12 hours, and a dedicated graffiti cleaning squad deployed for major events such as Notting Hill Carnival.
On finances, Cabinet Member for Value for Money and Finance Cllr Paul Fisher has led a line-by-line review of every contract inherited from the previous Labour administration, confirming £56 million of Labour mismanagement. This includes £38 million of waste on contracts, £27 million on the Geoffrey Osborne contract, a £3 million overspend on the Keltbray contract for Church Street, and £8 million on the Mandela Way waste depot, on top of £19 million raided from reserves to fund a pre-election council tax freeze.
The council has also halted cycle lane works in Bayswater and St John's Wood, which are being redesigned in consultation with residents and local businesses, while other road schemes are being reviewed case by case with a focus on reducing congestion and safety concerns. Floating bus stops have been scrapped from every new scheme. A new Transparency Hub is also now live, allowing residents to track the council's performance for themselves.
Cllr Paul Swaddle OBE, Leader of Westminster City Council, said:
"One hundred days has passed, but the job has not stopped.
"We have appointed Westminster's first Cabinet Member for Enforcement, confirmed £56 million of Labour waste, launched a Taskforce to clamp down on illegal short-term lets, and kept fixing four years of Labour's managed decline.
"This is what a Conservative-led council that listens and delivers for local people and businesses looks like, and we are not finished yet."
