Cllr Paul Swaddle, Leader of Westminster City Council, has set out his blueprint for a safer, cleaner Westminster in an interview with the Mayfair Times. He explained how the council plans to use AI to get far more out of its CCTV, clear wrongly parked hire bikes from the pavements and stop illegal short lets, and why he believes the Mayor of London’s Oxford Street scheme is being forced through.
A councillor since 2018, Cllr Swaddle became Leader in May, when the Conservatives won back control of the council from Labour. He brings a business and technology background as chief executive of a central London software company, and his leadership campaign promised safe streets, a clean city and real action.
Safer streets. Tackling crime is a priority, and he appointed Cllr Caroline Sargent as Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Enforcement to lead it. Her team is working on using AI to make better use of the council’s cameras. “At the moment there’s only two people watching around 100 CCTV cameras. They’re not going to see very much,” Cllr Swaddle said. “We need to use AI to start pulling out the right data. At the moment it’s an overly reactive service. We need to make it a proactive service.”
He gave the example of phone snatchers, who typically wear a balaclava and a swag bag and ride a particular kind of e-bike that can reach 50mph. An AI model that spots that bike heading along the Bayswater Road towards Marble Arch could help the police catch them faster. And when other London leaders questioned facial recognition at a meeting with the Met, he put his hand up and said: “Please come to Westminster.”
Clearer pavements. Westminster has agreed a live data-sharing agreement with Lime, so the council will know much more quickly where bikes are piling up. “We will very shortly take bikes off the street that are parked in the wrong place,” he said.
Illegal short lets. In May, Cllr Swaddle met Airbnb and Booking.com to demand an end to unlawful letting across the West End. London homes can be let for up to 90 days a year, and he estimates that around 2,700 properties are probably going over that limit. “I want them to be a responsible operator,” he said. “While it’s 90 days in other forms of housing it’s zero if you’re a social tenant. I want action and swift action on that.”
“It’s grown-ups in the room,” he added. “I want to work with people to get the best outcome, because working against them doesn’t generally deliver that.”
Oxford Street. Cllr Swaddle did not mince his words on the Mayor’s pedestrianisation of Oxford Street, estimated to cost between £144 million and £150 million, calling it a “Temu scheme”. “What we have is a vanity project being pushed through because someone wants to leave a legacy when they cease to be the mayor of London,” he said. “The manner [in which it has been orchestrated] is absolutely unacceptable. The outcomes are not clear.” He warned that the impact on cyclists, traffic journey times and policing has not been properly addressed: “There’s just not enough money in it.”
