A borough where everyone can succeed.
Housing costs are most people’s biggest expense. Rising rents, increasing bills and a broken housing market are forcing people and families into unsuitable, unsafe accommodation, to sleep rough, or move out of Southwark altogether.
This must change.
Southwark Labour has helped build almost 5,000 new social rent homes, including over 3,000 council homes, in the last 10 years. We built more council homes than anyone else in the country last year. But the Conservative and Lib Dem ‘Right to Buy’ policy meant losing council homes quicker than we could replace them.
Now that Labour has changed that, the real work of building new genuinely affordable homes starts. We will start 1,500 social rent homes in Southwark, of which 500 will be brand new council homes.
We will continue to trial other types of genuinely affordable homes for all our communities and support calls for rent controls. This includes building our own rent-controlled homes for teachers, nurses and other key workers.
It also means introducing our first community-owned homes, in Peckham. The value of these homes will be tied to local incomes – forever – meaning they always remain affordable for our residents.
For people who find themselves homeless, we will prioritise getting a roof over their head through our Housing First programme, giving them the stability to get their lives back on track. And we will continue our trial of ‘The Five Basics’ of temporary accommodation, including making sure people in emergency housing can access cooking, washing and Wi-Fi.
Leaving school and entering the next phase of life is daunting. Southwark’s young people are talented, ambitious and keen to get on in life. Yet, right now, unemployment amongst young people leaving school and taking their next steps is too high. Opportunities are difficult to find.
Southwark Labour has worked hard to make our schools some of the best – with 99% now independently rated Good or Outstanding by Ofsted. Our schools provide the best start for young people in our borough, but we need to make sure they have every opportunity in their next stages of life.
That is why Labour will establish a Southwark Youth Guarantee. Backed by Labour’s national £2.5bn new deal for young people, we will guarantee work, education or training for every school leaver in Southwark.
Our borough is home to some of the biggest companies in the world. This brings benefits for our community with more investment, but it should also bring great jobs for Southwark residents too.
So we will work with the biggest employers to provide more good jobs, work experience and apprenticeships for Southwark residents – making the most of the economic growth that Southwark Labour has delivered since 2010.
The best way to combat rising prices is for working people to earn a fair wage. The Tories and Lib Dems failed to get wages rising, meaning the cost of living crisis hit our communities hard.
We have worked with employers and the Living Wage Foundation to ensure more local people can earn at least the London Living Wage, with the biggest increase in London Living Wage employers of any London borough over the last two years.
That means we have helped over 7,000 people get a fair wage so far and we will continue to ensure that all Southwark Council employees and contractors are paid the London Living Wage.
Now, we want to go further, helping another 2,000 people to get a better wage.
By treating people seeking work with dignity and offering friendly, helpful and personalised advice, our Southwark Works initiative has also helped over 13,000 people find work.
Now we are expanding our offer, with a new dedicated service to help 2,000 residents who face complex barriers such as health conditions, disabilities or difficult personal circumstances into a good job.
Rising food prices, rents, energy bills and more have been overwhelming and left some families struggling to make ends meet. When life becomes too expensive to cope, Labour is on your side, making sure your council is here to help with rising costs.
In 2022 we set up our Cost of Living Fund, which has supported over 100,000 residents with direct cash payments, help paying bills and more. Our cost of living support has kept over £53 million in our residents’ pockets in the last four years alone.
We know that Council Tax is also a significant burden for many people who are struggling financially. That’s why, since 2022, our Council Tax Reduction scheme has given back £825 each year to more than 30,000 households.
We will continue to provide help and support to those struggling to make ends meet, working with Thames Water, energy companies and others to ensure those who need it are helped onto utility bill social tariffs, and providing emergency cash payments to residents who are struggling. We will continue to work tirelessly to ensure that every older person who is eligible for Pension Credit is able to claim it.
And where buying equipment for cleaning or doing up your home is too expensive, our three ‘Library of Things’ sites in Rotherhithe, Elephant & Castle and Dulwich offer affordable hire of technical equipment, from carpet cleaners and drills to sewing machines and ladders. We will continue to look for more, innovative ways to keep money in our residents’ pockets.
This is all while keeping council tax as low as possible – the 8th lowest in London. That’s lower than all three Liberal Democrat-run councils in London, lower than Green-run Bristol. We will work hard to keep Council Tax as low as possible.
Labour’s mission is to turn the tide on rising prices and make London a city to raise a family once again.
Ten years ago, we led the way in rolling out free healthy school meals, because we knew then as we know now that hungry children can’t learn. Since then, we’ve expanded our offer, with free school meals for every pupil in our nurseries and our primary schools and now free school meals for secondary school families on Universal Credit.
We are also rolling out free breakfast clubs, with seven schools establishing breakfast clubs already. We will work with the Labour government to roll out a free breakfast club to every school in our borough.
Our Children & Family Hubs provide one-stop shops for in-person support, information and advice for families. We will take this work further, helping families and tackling inequality by putting prevention at the heart of every Children & Family Hub.
And we’ve provided mental health support for young people too, with our ground-breaking NEST service providing a free drop-in for children and young people while they wait for clinical support. This is in addition to the Labour government’s plans to ensure every secondary school has a trained mental health worker so all children can access the support they need.
Labour is also delivering 30 hours of free childcare per week, putting £7,500 back in families’ pockets every year, while providing more nursery places by expanding nurseries such as St Paul’s Primary School in Newington.
Thanks to Southwark Labour’s plan and the hard work of teachers, school governors and our communities, 99% of our schools are now rated Good or Outstanding by Ofsted. We will continue to maintain these standards so every child can thrive in our borough.
This must also include those with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND). We will deliver a revolution in SEND, with early intervention and preventative services so that kids with SEND can be identified as soon as possible so that they can get the support they need, including helping young people with SEND access training, education and employment.
Where children are in care, we have led the way in improving the quality of that care, with our new children’s home rated ‘Outstanding’ by Ofsted. We are also ensuring care leavers have more opportunities, giving guaranteed interviews to care leavers applying for jobs in the council and for those applying for council contracts. We will continue to remove barriers to work for young people leaving care, with practical support including travel, clothing, meals and childcare.
Southwark Labour invested £3 million in upgrading our playgrounds including Ellen Brown Adventure Playground, Fredericks Playground, Peckham Rye Adventure Playground, sports facilities including Burgess Park Sports Centre and the upcoming upgrade of Marlborough Sports Gardens.
We will invest a further £7.1 million in 15 playgrounds across our borough, including Dog Kennel Hill Adventure Playground, Bethwin Adventure Playground and Honor Oak Recreation Ground Play Area, as well as investing in our sports centres so every child has access to the best facilities possible.
London’s transport is changing. Thanks to the work of Labour councils, it is getting easier to walk, wheel and cycle around our city.
We don’t just fill potholes, we are making walking, cycling and wheeling around the borough safer, healthier and easier. Southwark Labour is prioritising streets for people, not just cars – improving walking and cycling routes while reducing traffic for those who need to drive due to mobility needs or to make deliveries at their business.
We have installed over 100 zebra crossings since 2022, as well as providing new cycle spaces for almost 2,000 bikes and secured investment in new electric buses for our borough. We will continue to invest in new crossings and cycle hangars where our communities need them, while expanding walking and cycle routes. This will include making more of our kerbsides child-friendly with safer crossings and other road improvements.
Where speeding is a problem on our roads, we will work with communities to design infrastructure to slow cars down whether through changes to road layout or installing cameras or speed bumps.
Our School Streets are also making it safer for children to get to and from school while cleaning the air that they breathe. That is why we will guarantee a School Street for every eligible school by 2030. We will also increase funding for cargo bikes, with more storage spaces and bike share schemes, to help families reduce the miles they drive.
Cleaning our air is a top priority, which is why Labour has also made Southwark a national leader in the transition away from petrol and diesel cars – we now have the fourth most EV charging points of any council in the country.
We know that e-bikes have become one of the greenest, most convenient ways to get around, but too often become a nuisance when misused. We will make sure e-bike providers install more dedicated parking bays to declutter our streets, while increasing enforcement – funded by these operators – where e-bikes are being parked dangerously.
Southwark Labour will continue to work with National Rail, Transport for London and others to upgrade our railway stations including Peckham Rye, Nunhead, North Dulwich, West Dulwich, South Bermondsey and Elephant & Castle. Making these stations accessible to all is essential and we’ll keep campaigning for the upgrades our stations need, funding feasibility studies to progress investment.
Meanwhile we are investing in our local buses. Having funded the £5 million Bakerloop Bus from taxes on big developers, we are now investing £10 million in our Better Bus Partnership, working with TfL to upgrade buses and cut journey times by up to 30% from London Bridge to the South Circular, via Elephant, Walworth Road, Camberwell Green, Denmark Hill and Lordship Lane.
The world is an increasingly unpredictable place. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the war in Iran have both sent fuel prices soaring. Our reliance on fossil fuels leaves us exposed to further price hikes in global energy markets.
Locally generated green energy is the most effective way to bring bills down. And we want this energy to be owned by and directly benefitting our communities. We have already rolled out community-owned energy projects such as at Westminster House youth club who are now saving almost £10,000 per year on bills thanks to clean energy generation.
We will build on this model, so tenants’ and residents’ associations, schools, youth clubs, sports teams and more can generate green energy on their buildings and bring their bills down.
We will also seek to roll out more new solar panels on rooftops, including on new homes. We will expand our low carbon heat network, turning rubbish that would otherwise go to landfill into energy that powers thousands of homes. And we will look for opportunities to install more air, ground and water source heat pumps, using the environment around us to heat our homes and buildings.
Where homes are still reliant on fossil fuels, Labour’s expanded Warm Homes Discount will help – with £150 cash payments towards families’ electricity bills. Our Energy Savers service also continues to provide advice on how you can bring your bills down.
Southwark Labour declared a climate emergency in 2019 to help accelerate efforts to become carbon neutral by 2030. Our focus remains on cutting our emissions here in Southwark and making our communities resilient to the long-term effects of increasing temperatures and more extreme weather as a result of the climate emergency.
Private rents continue to rise in London despite minimal real wage growth across our country since the Tories and Lib Dems took power in 2010. Many people renting privately now pay over 50% of their income on rent and landlords have had the upper hand for too long. It’s time power was rebalanced in favour of renters.
We will fully implement Labour’s landmark Renters’ Rights Act, ending bidding wars which drive up prices, stopping landlords from asking for more than one month’s rent in advance and ending fixed term contracts – so every renter has a secure home.
Alongside this we will expand our landlord licensing scheme and carry out increased enforcement – clamping down on the rogue companies and individuals who give landlords a bad name.
Where we see unacceptable conditions in private rented accommodation, we will enforce Labour’s new Decent Homes Standard – which all landlords must now sign up to. This means every landlord must tackle damp and mould, fix leaks and keep your home to a high standard.
As landlords apply the new standards and rules, we will make sure we support them too – with advice on meeting standards and support on what the Renters’ Rights Act means for landlords.
Vibrancy and diversity are what make Southwark great. Labour has embraced and supported local artists, venues and events, and will continue to do so.
We have funded PeckhamPlex so people have access to affordable cinema tickets. We’ve supported Southwark Playhouse, the Old Vic and more to ensure the arts continue to thrive in our communities. We work with local football clubs and community sports organisations to ensure everyone has access to the sport they love.
Our Southwark Pride Fund has supported events every year across Pride Month, we have invested in the LGBTQ+ Centre in Bankside and are set to open a new LGBTQ+ cultural space too.
Building on this record, it is our belief that everyone should be able to access Southwark’s amazing array of culture. That is why we will work with our local cultural institutions to establish a new culture pass, breaking down the barriers to experiencing the culture Southwark has to offer, including access to theatres, galleries, sports clubs, nightclubs and more.
Our borough is home to some of the most exciting places to be a creative in London. Whether it be Peckham’s music and art scene, the University of Arts London in Camberwell or the Ministry of Sound, our communities are driving London’s cultural scene.
As the arts face ever increasing funding pressures it is more important than ever that we support local creatives whose work makes life worth living. Southwark’s world class galleries, theatres and music venues rely on the grassroots art scene supported by Southwark Labour.
We will continue to work with our communities to back local artists through providing affordable workspaces, creative grants or events in our parks.
And where London’s pubs, restaurants and nightclubs struggle with rising costs, we will work with landlords and our residents to stop them having to close their doors, building on Labour’s much-needed business rate cut for pubs. We will also make sure more opportunities are available for entrepreneurs and new pubs, restaurants and nightclubs to enter the market.
With Southwark Labour’s support, leaders in our communities are running brilliant programmes for thousands of young people. Youth clubs and sports teams offer vital support for young people to help them thrive.
The hard work of volunteers is giving more opportunities to young people, but as costs rise our community leaders need the council’s support.
That is why Southwark Labour will create a new Southwark Youth Network, bringing together the best practice from our community, supporting organisations to continue their work, investing in the youth services that work best, and replicating best practice right across our borough.
This will build on our work to back local youth clubs and volunteers, such as those in The Blue in Bermondsey and on the Brandon Estate – where we are investing £2 million in refurbishing the Youth Club and Library.
So, whether it be boxing clubs, after school groups or art classes, we will work with local volunteers to provide the best support for young people as they grow up.
The country has been too slow to react to the tragedy of the Grenfell fire. As a community with our own painful memories following the Lakanal House fire, we are determined to be at the forefront of making homes safe.
We are investing £250 million to make our council homes safe and upgrade homes. That means assessing every council home for fire, electrical, gas and water safety, ensuring smoke alarms are working and carrying out electrical safety checks.
This will set the basis for ongoing safety checks for all our homes, keeping every home, block and estate safe and fixing problems where we find them.
That is the minimum landlords should do and we will lobby housing associations and other major landlords in our borough to follow suit.
As new homes, shops and offices get built, we will make sure our communities benefit too. Right now, we are investing £20 million back into our communities. This investment is funding everything from revitalised parks to refurbished playgrounds to rooftop solar panels.
This investment only happens because your Labour councillors hold private developers to the highest standards ensuring communities feel the benefits of development, not just private companies.
We believe our communities should be central to how these decisions are made too, which is why our Neighbourhood Forums provide the space for everyone to have their say.
It means backing Southwark’s volunteers too, and we will continue to fund the local voluntary and community organisations that make such a difference to our neighbourhoods. We invested over £28 million in the voluntary sector last year alone, supporting more than 400 local organisations that deliver vital services. We will continue to fund local community groups through our new Southwark Giving Fund.
Our town centres are the beating hearts of our communities, but we know many of them are still in need of investment. We have already moved to revitalise Elephant & Castle town centre, which will begin to open up in 2026 with cleaner, safer streets, a new shopping destination and affordable space for small businesses and entrepreneurs.
We also opened the successfully restored Walworth Town Hall last year, with flexible workspace for 550 workers and a new community hub. And we’re continuing our investment in The Blue in South Bermondsey – with a new multi-arts space on the way in the old Thorowgoods shop.
On Rye Lane, work has begun to open up the station front, with a brand-new open square under construction. This is the first step in revitalising Rye Lane, attracting more footfall for local businesses and maintaining its status as one of the most vibrant town centres in London.
And Southwark would be nothing without small businesses. That is why we are backing small businesses with a new one-stop shop, making it much easier to get what they need from the council so they can spend more time growing and expanding and less time on tiresome paperwork. Through our Thriving High Streets Fund and Cleaner, Greener, Safer grants, we have invested in every part of our borough, supporting our town centres and making sure local businesses have the best platform to succeed.
Our Southwark Pioneers Fund has also supported more than 1,000 startups led by residents from underrepresented backgrounds, with over £430,000 in grants provided to almost 100 businesses. We will continue to provide those opportunities, whilst also making it easier for Southwark’s local businesses to access contracts and procurement opportunities – with the council and other organisations in our borough – to help them grow.
We want every woman and girl to live in a place that is built so they can succeed. That means more opportunities for women and girls, streets designed to be safe at night and men and boys onside in the fight against misogyny.
We will invest in women and girls – including making Southwark the best London borough for women’s and girls’ sports and supporting women and girls with disabilities and financial hardship.
No woman should feel unsafe at night. In the places where women tell us they feel unsafe, we will invest in lighting and CCTV, secure more police and community warden patrols and redesign our streets, bus stops and stations so they are genuinely safe.
We launched London’s first cross-borough network of pubs and bars with specially trained staff to support women and girls facing harassment and abuse. These 77 ‘Safe Havens’ across Southwark and Lambeth provide much-needed support and respite for women at night.
Labour’s national mission is to halve violence against women and girls within a decade. As part of our efforts locally, we have now established our groundbreaking Women’s Safety Alliance – providing discreet protection, advice and support for women facing domestic abuse and other forms of violence.
All the while we are working hard locally to make sure men and boys are onside in the fight to end violence against women and girls, with our ‘Stand With Her’ and award winning ‘Through Her Eyes’ campaigns, and changes to the school curriculum.
Years of Tory and Lib Dem austerity resulted in rising inequality across our country. Those with the most have weathered the storm of the cost of living crisis but ordinary people continue to struggle.
We have seen the impact of this on people’s quality of life including their health. If you live in the poorest parts of Southwark you are more likely to get sick and have to wait longer to access the care you need.
Labour have led the way in tackling health inequality here in Southwark, with community ambassadors and the NHS reaching out to our communities so everyone receives the care they need, and new health hubs making accessing health services much easier. All helped by the Labour Government delivering more than five million extra NHS appointments since 2024.
But we know more needs to be done. That’s why we will partner with the Institute for Equity to target action where it makes the biggest difference, making Southwark a world leader in tackling inequality. We will revolutionise how we collect and use data. This will show us where we need to invest to improve services and make everyone’s access to healthcare equal.
This will build on London’s first Maternity Commission, which we established in 2024. The findings of the Commission are now informing our work with the NHS and other health providers to bridge the gap in how Black and Asian women are treated by our health institutions before, during and after childbirth.
We also want to give our disabled residents every opportunity to live independently and participate fully in community life. Our ambition is a Southwark without barriers, where disabled residents can live independently, access services easily, and feel fully included in everyday life.
With our partners, we will shape a personal wellbeing support offer that reduces isolation and helps disabled residents stay connected to their communities and the support they need to live well. Alongside this, we will introduce a Southwark Accessibility Standard to improve access to council buildings, public spaces and ensure nobody is digitally excluded from council services.
Through our Connect to Work programme, we will support up to 2,000 people facing complex barriers into good jobs, including disabled residents, creating real pathways to independence and opportunity.
Our ambition is clear: a borough where disabled residents are not just supported but empowered to succeed.
While violent crime continues to fall across our city, the cost of living crisis has driven people to petty crime like phone thefts and shoplifting.
Drug taking and dealing in parts of the borough is also causing distress amongst our communities and is unacceptable.
That is why we invested £3 million in better CCTV and launched our £2 million antisocial behaviour taskforce to turn the tide against those making our communities feel less safe.
Over the next four years we will crack down on antisocial behaviour by doubling the number of community wardens, providing them with new enforcement powers, patrolling our streets and estates day and night – punishing those dealing drugs in our area. And where your landlord isn’t the council, we will continue to work with landlords and other providers to make sure they take antisocial behaviour seriously.
We also know that streets can feel least safe at night. That’s why we have rolled out new Nighttime Wardens to our streets, estates and parks, and we will expand this service – making our communities safer no matter the time of day. We will also continue to invest in lighting and CCTV, while designing out crime in hotspot areas.
You know your community best, which is why we will implement new Neighbourhood Reporting, so the council can act on your concerns – listening to where you say antisocial behaviour is most prevalent and diverting our uniformed officers to stop it.
Where young people are being drawn into phone snatching, shoplifting and other gang-related crimes, we need our community’s support too. Our work with community-led organisation MyEnds, via Southwark’s Violence Reduction Unit, continues to support young people and their families to give them opportunities and keep them on the right path.
Linking opportunities for young people to prevention has led to a drop in violent crime each year and the number of murders reaching the lowest on record. That is why we will build on this model, using our new Southwark Youth Network to apply best practice right across our borough and prevent young people from being drawn into crime.
Southwark Labour has recently secured double the number of neighbourhood police in Walworth and Peckham town centres. We will continue to work with the Metropolitan Police – expanding neighbourhood policing and holding the police to account, with our community, via our resident-led Policing Oversight Board.
Too many tenants and leaseholders tell us that the repairs service has been too slow. We are fixing it. We are putting tenants’ and leaseholders’ views at the centre of every decision, acting on what you tell us matters most.
Our Better Repairs plan will deliver on this promise. That means getting repairs to your home done on time, first time, ensuring real accountability shaped by you. We will establish a brand-new booking system, with timed slots so you know exactly when your repair will take place and more jobs get done in one trip.
We will also make sure to spend public money as if it were our own, improving contracts to get the best value for money, making rents and service charges go further to improve our existing homes.
Overseeing these changes will be tenants and leaseholders – sitting on our Repairs Improvement Board to hold the council to account. We will improve the housing department’s communication about changes to your home or estate.
As part of our changes to the repairs service, we have held over 50 Repairs Action Days on our estates, fixing more than 1,600 issues on the spot and arranging follow-up repairs where needed. We will roll out more Repairs Action Days, including at weekends, so fixes are made across your estate and you can raise any issues you have on the spot.
When your lift breaks down or your central heating fails, we know you want your issue picked up and fixed quickly – first time.
We will modernise our resident support to make it easier and quicker for you to get your issues resolved. Whether it’s getting a burst pipe fixed, support with paying your bills or queries about Council Tax, the council will prioritise you and you get the right response.
It will always be possible to speak to a member of staff – but for those issues that don’t require a call, you’ll get your answers without hassle.
Where other organisations are responsible, like Thames Water, a housing association or your landlord, we will be on your side to hold them to account.
Spiralling inflation under the Tories sent bills and service charges skyrocketing. Leaseholders and homeowners deserve to know exactly what it is they are paying for. It is unacceptable that bills in the thousands of pounds have been shown to include double charging, services leaseholders did not know they were charged for and hidden costs added by landlords.
To reverse this trend and make all service charges transparent, we will roll out a new ‘Southwark Leaseholders Charter’. The Charter will commit landlords in our borough to itemising their service charges down to the most basic level – so leaseholders know exactly what they’re paying for.
This will build on Labour’s plans to cap and freeze ground rents for existing leaseholders and abolish new leasehold properties – saving leaseholders money and moving to a new commonhold system for the long term.
The council must set the standard for landlords too. Labour has already taken the first steps, with online itemised billing for leaseholders. We are also investing in a better service, with leaseholders’ voices at the heart of our changes. This will mean faster, more reliable repairs, clearer customer service and a stronger complaints process.
We will listen to leaseholders to make sure this new service is fit for purpose and can provide the blueprint for other landlords to follow. We will also make sure council contracts attract the best value for money so you know where your money is going.
This includes greater transparency in planning and delivering major works projects, with leaseholders represented on a new Major Works Board to oversee the council’s delivery of major works to make them smoother and ensure they are done right first time.
Only when leaseholders are getting value for money, can see exactly what they’re being charged for and are fully informed about major works on their homes, can trust be rebuilt and changes be made to bring service charges down.
Our focus has always been to make our communities cleaner, greener and safer. Thanks to Labour, Southwark is now ranked as the 3rd best council in the country for climate action by Climate Emergency UK.
None of this work would happen without our communities. That’s why we will continue to back local residents delivering on climate action. So far we have raised £3.5 million to tackle the climate emergency through Southwark Green Investment – the biggest scheme of this kind in the country. It has given local people the opportunity to save and invest in green projects with the council, and we will raise a further £2.5 million with our communities to invest in local green projects.
We have cut emissions across our borough year-on-year and will continue in the push toward net zero. This means decarbonising our buildings and council vehicles.
We have planted nearly 40,000 trees in the last 5 years, so we now have over 100,000 on council land. We continue to make our borough greener, expand nature and work to reduce the risks of flooding, extreme heat and other impacts of the climate emergency.
Having invested £18 million in our parks and green spaces to make them some of the best in London, we now have 30 parks awarded Green Flag status for exceptional quality. We have also made Southwark London’s first Right to Grow Borough, supporting our residents to establish community gardens and growing plots.
Our mission is to clean our streets, our air and our parks. We will focus our efforts on keeping our high streets and town centres clean, with tougher enforcement against fly tippers, resourcing our graffiti teams to sort it out quickly and trialling new tactics to prevent it coming back.
It’s also as a result of regular, reliable bin collection and hard work that has given Southwark Council the best recycling rate in Inner London. With new food waste collection successfully rolled out on our estates, we are making it easier to reduce waste and protect the environment. Now, we will go further to make it cleaner and easier for residents living in flats and shops to get their waste sorted.
Growing older in Southwark should mean more life. More independence. More choice. More connection to the places and people that matter.
We are shaping a borough where older residents can stay rooted in their communities for as long as they choose, with homes designed for later life, more flexible housing that accounts for older people’s needs, and modern supported living inspired by the award-winning Appleby Blue in Bermondsey.
Through our Older People’s Housing Strategy, we are planning ahead to ensure Southwark has the right homes for the future, supporting independence, dignity and community connection as people age.
Our groundbreaking Women’s Safety Alliance will also provide targeted support for older women who are victims of domestic abuse and violence.
When residential care is the right step for older people, we will invest in quality as well as capacity, including building a new nursing home in Peckham so older residents can access excellent care, close to family, friends and familiar streets.
Through our Residential Care Charter, Southwark is setting a higher standard for care. Working closely with providers and housing partners and the voluntary sector and implementing our Supported Housing Strategy, we will strengthen the quality, supply and sustainability of supported housing so residents with support needs can live well and independently.
Our ambition is clear: a borough people can afford to grow older in, with real choice, high standards and an environment that works for later life — from age-friendly streets and welcoming public spaces to a borough-wide toilet plan developed with communities and local businesses.
Southwark is home to some of the best libraries and leisure centres in the country. Investment under Labour has seen five new libraries opened, a brand-new leisure centre at Canada Water and all our leisure centres brought in-house, continuing our policy of prioritising council ownership, so now Southwark’s leisure centres are owned by you.
Where Tory and Lib Dem austerity resulted in over 800 libraries closing across the country between 2010 and 2019, Southwark Labour not only protected local services but invested in them too.
Taking back control of our leisure centres allowed us to save money by making them council-run. We have since invested £7 million in our leisure centres, providing the best available service for our residents. This has resulted in a 25% increase in attendance, with more members and more residents making the most of our Free Swim & Gym offer.
Now, we have opened a brand-new leisure centre in Canada Water. With a state-of-the-art gym, sports facilities and two pools. Owned by you.
This is in addition to our new open water, wild swimming destination in Greenland Dock, which we opened in 2024 at the Surrey Docks Fitness and Watersports Centre.
We opened the Una Marson Library, expanded the Kingswood Library and now are upgrading Dulwich Library.
This is the difference a Labour council makes. Investing in reliable, high quality local services and opening new facilities right across our borough.
Our diversity is our strength. Southwark Labour has always stood up for our communities and we always will.
We continue to work with our local voluntary organisations to make Southwark a Borough of Sanctuary, providing support to thousands of people fleeing the most unimaginable circumstances, including from Afghanistan, Ukraine and other conflict zones. We will continue to stand united with refugees and asylum seekers who arrive in our borough.
Where some seek to divide us, we stand united with our communities.
Labour will always invest your money in line with the values of the borough. That is why we are incorporating the UN Genocide Convention into the council’s investments framework. Whether it be in Palestine, Sudan or Ukraine, Labour will continue to make sure your money plays no part in atrocities against innocent civilians.
Southwark will always be a vibrant home to our LGBTQ+ community, and we will continue to champion their rights and support events like Southwark Pride. We continue to fund Pride events with £32,000 of grants for community projects across Pride Month, and are set to open a brand new LGBTQ+ cultural space – celebrating everything the LGBTQ+ community has to offer.
All of this builds on our Southwark Stands Together commitment, making Southwark Council an anti-racist organisation at its heart and working with our communities, local organisations and faith groups to promote and celebrate our diversity.
And we will continue to back our voluntary and community organisations too, working closely with groups such as Southwark & Peckham Citizens on their priorities to defend our communities, on English lessons for speakers of other languages, improvements to temporary accommodation, expanding the London Living Wage and keeping our young people safe.
We have also made Southwark a campaigning council, making the case for our residents and for greater investment in our borough.
While our efforts to build new genuinely affordable homes continue, we know change is needed at a national level to secure council housing for future generations. We lead a coalition of over 100 councils from across the country, on behalf of our communities, to save council housing – securing investment to upgrade our council homes and build thousands of new ones.
We also continue to make the case for the Bakerloo Line Upgrade and Extension – bringing much needed cheap, green, reliable transport to our residents in Walworth and down the Old Kent Road. As a first step on this journey we funded the Bakerloop Bus with a £5 million investment proving there is demand for a service along this route. We will continue to make our case for the extension to the Mayor and government, putting our money where our mouth is to help fund this vital project.
This is what Southwark Labour is all about. Standing with our communities and demanding the best for our borough. We will make Southwark more affordable through new social rent homes, cheaper transport, more good, well-paying jobs and better support for those who are struggling to make ends meet.
Only by putting your trust in Labour can we work together to make Southwark a borough where everyone can succeed.
Help us build a Southwark that’s fairer, greener and better off for everyone who calls the borough home.
