Lutfur Rahman

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Achievements

4 Years of Delivery for Tower Hamlets

A record of practical action, visible investment and community-focused leadership across education, housing, public services, safety, environment, business, leisure and support for residents.

Achievements over four years
At A Glance

Visible progress. Stronger services. Real investment.

Over the last four years, major investment has been directed into education, cost-of-living support, housing, community safety, leisure, youth services, public health, and neighbourhood improvement.

£10M+ Cost-of-living support
6,000+ Homes on track by May 2026
350 New & upgraded CCTV cameras
£13.7M Per year invested in 20 youth centres
Headline Achievements

Major investment. Visible results.

£10M In cost-of-living support to residents
£13.7M Per year invested in 20 youth centres
350 New & upgraded CCTV cameras, £4M invested
£15M Invested in waste services, 72 additional staff
6,000+ Homes on track to deliver by May 2026
5,200+ Students receiving £1,500 uni bursaries and £600 EMA
38,000+ Students benefiting from free school meals
200–300 Residents seen monthly at the Mayor’s surgeries
£4.4M Invested in free school meals
£5M Invested in tackling the waste emergency
£609M Investing in council-owned homes improvement
Mayor Lutfur Rahman
Mayoral Record

Focused on delivery, continuity and community impact

This record reflects a clear priority: to make Tower Hamlets work for all — with direct support for residents, investment in family services, safer streets, stronger neighbourhoods and long-term borough-wide improvement.

01

Accelerate Education

  1. Over £3.2m invested in supporting 2,400 students with university costs through the University Bursary Programme, which offers £1,500 per student.
  2. Achieved Outstanding in our Children’s Services OFSTED inspection.
  3. Over £1.3m invested in supporting over 2,800 students through higher education with the Education Maintenance Allowance - £600 per student.
  4. Over 58,000 children supported through our family hubs service.
  5. Over £2.5m being invested in SEND children provision including £1m in improved transport.
  6. Invested £4.4m to become the first borough in the country to offer Free School Meals for all Primary and Secondary School Students, benefiting 38,000 pupils and saving the average family of 3 children £1,650 a year.
  7. Free School Uniforms for over 7,000 pupils in the borough each year: £50 for reception starters and £150 for secondary starters.
  8. Created Tower Hamlets Education Awards celebrating pupils who achieve high attainment and the families and teachers who help facilitate it.
  9. Invested £800,000 to offer free language classes for young people aged 6-16, teaching heritage languages like Arabic, Bengali, Mandarin, and Somali through our Young Community Languages scheme.
02

Tackling the Cost-of-Living Crisis

  1. Distributed over £10 million in cost-of-living support payments to residents in need.
  2. Millions of free meals for residents from food supplied to food aid organisations.
  3. Froze Council Tax for all residents in year 1 (2022/2023).
  4. Introduced Council Tax Cost-Of-Living Relief Fund for residents earning under £53,350 – meaning these residents do not have to pay any council tax increase.
  5. Invested £1 million a year to reintroduce the Meals on Wheels service - serving hot dinners to vulnerable residents 7 days a week.
  6. Over 4,000 elderly supported with a £175 winter fuel payment in winter 2024, following the government's decision to cut support.
03

Homes for the Future

  1. 22,000 formerly Tower Hamlets Homes brought back in-house, to ensure direct control and management by the Council.
  2. On track to deliver over 6,000 affordable homes by May 2026 – the majority family-sized.
  3. An additional 3,300 homes to be delivered as part of Mayor’s Accelerated Housing Programme on over 40 council-owned sites.
  4. Delivered wheelchair-accessible housing for more than 100 households.
  5. 1,125 residents suffering from homelessness supported into sustainable accommodation.
  6. Over £134 million spent on Temporary Accommodation to help residents suffering homelessness to remain in or near the borough.
  7. £609 million investing in council-owned homes improvement, including removing damp and mould; fire and building safety; roof and lift repairs and replacements, and improving homes by fitting new kitchen units, windows, doors and bathrooms.
  8. Created a £1 million homelessness fund to support residents struggling with their housing costs.
  9. By May 2026, we will have delivered an additional 1,250 car parking spaces across the borough.
04

A Clean and Green Future

  1. £5m invested in tackling the waste emergency.
  2. £15m invested in waste services – including 72 additional frontline staff.
  3. Over £2m invested in improving recycling in the borough.
  4. Over £1m invested in improving recycling in estates.
  5. Over £350,000 invested in upgrading TH fleet to electric vehicles.
  6. Over £6.3m invested in installing 2,150 new EV charging points across the borough, exceeding our target by 150 chargers.
  7. Over 70 local businesses trained to be more energy efficient.
  8. Around £50,000 in grants distributed to support energy reduction in local businesses.
  9. Planted over 3,000 trees across the borough.
05

Boost Culture, Business, Jobs & Leisure

  1. £300,000 free swimming and aquatic sessions for women and girls (16+) and men (55+). Over 20,000 have signed up – 83% of which are women and girls.
  2. Kept open all of our swimming pools, with a new one to open in St George’s.
  3. Rates relief for thousands of businesses, saving them millions of pounds.
  4. Five new outdoor gyms in the borough's public spaces.
  5. Invested £800k in four new play-zones.
  6. Over £5 million invested in sports facilities, gyms, and outdoor playgrounds.
  7. Over 1,500 residents engaged in over 2,200 training programs through workpath.
  8. Over 340 apprenticeship opportunities created.
  9. One-hour free parking introduced to help market traders.
  10. Introduction of the Permit Transfer Scheme (PTS) – meaning someone moving to a car free zone of two bedrooms or more from overcrowded households can retain one on-street resident parking permit.
  11. Over £40 million invested in Leisure including bringing leisure services under council management.
  12. £67m invested in redeveloping St George’s Leisure Centre and Housing which is on track to be delivered and will deliver 33 family sized council homes.
  13. Relaunched the Brick Lane and Banglatown Curry Festival – celebrating our brilliant cultural and culinary heritage.
06

Empower Communities to Fight Crime

  1. Established an Anti-Crime Taskforce with huge investment in community safety.
  2. £4m to upgrade and install 350 CCTV cameras across the borough and state of the art CCTV monitoring system.
  3. Over £3.3m to directly fund 24 additional police officers and £4m to triple the number of Tower Hamlets Enforcement Officers to 72 to keep the borough safe.
  4. 3,000+ weapons deposited in amnesty boxes across the borough.
  5. Invested £500k to launch a dedicated Drugs Squad with 6 THEOs and 1 team leader.
  6. Introduced a dedicated Dog Squad to help tackle organised crime and drug dealing in the borough.
  7. £3.7 million being invested in 100 new estate cameras across 26 estates, and replacing 363 defunct cameras.
  8. Worked closely with the Council of Mosques and the Interfaith Forum to promote community cohesion.
  9. Persuaded the authorities to keep Bethnal Green Police Station front counters open.
  10. Invested nearly £2m to tackle Violence Against Women and Girls, including advocates, housing support, refuges, and a new strategy.
07

Invest in Public Services

  1. £13.7 million a year is being invested to open a youth centre in every ward. 20 are already operating, including Sister Space, a dedicated centre for young women and girls. This funding also provides 75 additional youth workers. To date, 5,632 young people have registered, and more than 5,000 sessions were delivered last year.
  2. Over £11m allocated for mayor’s community grants for local and voluntary community sector organisations, benefiting 86 organisations delivering 110 projects.
  3. Over £2.8m allocated as small grants to help with projects run by the voluntary and community sector.
  4. Achieved ‘Good’ in our CQC Adult Social Care inspection.
  5. Invested £5 million in free homecare for all who need it.
  6. Burial ground at Eternal Gardens.
  7. Opened a dedicated borough-wide centre for women – the Nari Centre – in Vallance Road.
  8. Reopened five Residents Hubs across the borough to improve access to services.
08

A Council That Works for Everyone

  1. New Town Hall opened in Whitechapel – the beating heart of the borough.
  2. 200 – 300 people seen monthly at Mayor’s twice-weekly resident surgeries.
  3. £500,000 invested to reopen Watney Market Idea Store.
  4. A positive Local Government Association Peer Review.
  5. £900k investment in community engagement through Love Tower Hamlets.
  6. Designed and rolled out a Workforce to Reflect the Community strategy to ensure the council reflects our residents.
  7. Trebled council tax on long-term vacant properties.
Mayor meeting residents
Mayor in community engagement
Community impact
Achievements PDF

Lutfur Rahman Newsletter 2026

Browse the full achievements newsletter below using the page navigation controls.

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