LIBERAL DEMOCRATS SECURE ALL PARTY AGREEMENT ON PLANS TO IMPROVE LAMBETH COUNCIL WEBSITE AND RESIDENTS' ABILITY TO DO TRANSACTIONS ONLINE
Lambeth Liberal Democrats, at a meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny committee on Thursday October 1st, secured all party agreement to seek to speed up improvement of the Lambeth Council website's functionality for residents, and to involve residents and Councillors in its design.
Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group Councillor Matthew Bryant cited multiple problems which residents encounter carrying out basic transactions such as applying for Blue Badges and parking permits, paying for penalty charge notices, reporting highway defects and using the planning portal.
He spoke of the difficulties faced by Mr O, a Stockwell resident, whose wife is a wheelchair user and blue badge holder. Having changed vehicle in June and registered his new number plate he received 2 fines for driving through a Low Traffic Neighbourhood because the Council system said his car was not registered as having a linked blue badge even though it had been. He summarised that “The Council's dysfunctional IT system is failing residents.”
He told the Committee, “It is vital that residents and Councillors are more closely involved in advising on the design of online services and their prioritisation as they know best the problems encountered with the current system.”
Council officers outlined a programme lasting over 2 years to improve the design of online services. Councillors from all parties agreed that everything possible should be done to speed up the programme as currently residents are being let down by the clunky nature of online services.
Notes
The meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee took place after the Liberal Democrats 'called in' for further consideration a decision of Cabinet member Cllr Natalie Kane to roll forward for a further 2 years a contract with IEG the current provider of the Council's customer digital platform. The call in was to highlight the problems with the current system, reduce the timescale for improvement in the system by limiting the contract length to ensure quicker re-design of services, and enable resident and Councillor involvement in the service redesign.
The papers for the meeting are here: Agenda for Overview and Scrutiny Committee on Thursday 1 October 2026, 7.00 pm | Lambeth Council