LAMBETH AT RISK OF GOVERNMENT TAKEOVER WITHOUT URGENT ACTION

Lambeth Liberal Democrat Finance Lead Cllr Chris Nicholson warned Wednesday's Cabinet meeting that they run the risk of the Government sending in Commissioners to run Lambeth Council unless they start taking action to tackle the Council's financial crisis.

His comments came during consideration of a report on the Council's financial position which forecast an overspend of £10m in this financial year and highlighted significant risks to achieving even that outturn position.

Cllr Nicholson dismissed Labour criticisms of the administration as “Like the arsonist who sets fire to their house and then tries to stop the firefighters for the damage that the water they use to tackle the blaze causes to the house and furniture.”

But he added that the Liberal Democrats were concerned about three aspects of the Green Party's  tackling of the metaphorical fire left by Labour.

"Firstly, they have been guilty of delay in tackling the fire. They have stopped the disposal of assets to repay the Exceptional Financial Support from Government, but have continued to commit money from selling assets to revenue spending. The total which needs to be raised from asset sales has already risen by over £5M to about £120M.

Secondly, they have shown the wrong sense of priorities in what they save from the fire. They continue to spend ever greater sums on expensive outside consultants but cut basic services like repairing our pavements and roads.

Thirdly, they are continuing to fan the flames of the fire. They have made the welcome decisions to cancel the libraries review and the closure of Central Hill dementia care centre but have failed to identify where they will make compensating savings."

Cllr Nicholson concluded “Unless the Green Party administration gets a grip urgently I have real concerns that government will step in to run Lambeth and that is what nobody wants.”

Notes to readers

The papers for the Cabinet meeting on 23 September 2026 are available at this link, with the overspend discussed under item 3, Quarter 1 Financial Performance Report 2026/27:

Agenda for Cabinet on Wednesday 23 September 2026, 5.00 pm | Lambeth Council