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Vote Aspire for

A proven record and a brighter future

Vote Aspire for delivery and continuity.

£10M IN COST-OF-LIVING SUPPORT TO RESIDENTS
£13.7M PER YEAR INVESTED: 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
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Why Aspire

Proven history on delivery, practical leadership and real investment in homes, services, safety, education and support for local people.

Proven record

Clear delivery across housing, education, community safety, public services and neighbourhood improvement.

Community first

Policies shaped by the real needs of residents, families, businesses, women, young people and older people.

Continuity with purpose

Protecting progress already made while continuing to build a fairer borough and a brighter future for all.

Achievements Manifesto Endorsement Support
Mayor Lutfur Rahman
Lutfur Rahman signature
Message from the Mayor

Leadership with delivery, continuity and trust

Since being elected Mayor in 2022, my priority has been clear: to make Tower Hamlets work for all. After years of damaging austerity from Labour, we restored vital services and took action to support people through the housing crisis and rising living costs.

I believe the council should always be on the side of its community — listening, acting, and supporting residents at every stage of life. Housing has been a top priority. Everyone deserves a decent home, free from overcrowding, and we are committed to building and improving homes that people can truly afford, so families can put down roots and thrive.

Strong public services are the foundation of a fair borough. We are determined to give children and young people the best start in life, to provide all our residents with a good standard of living, and ensure older residents and those with care needs are supported with dignity.

By delivering joined-up services and investing in housing, leisure, waste, youth provision, community spaces, public health, education and SEN and community safety, we are building better, stronger neighbourhoods for all.

I am proud of what we have delivered, and I ask you to continue to put your trust in me and the Aspire team on 7th May 2026.

Achievements

A proven record of delivery

An overview of the current record of delivery across cost-of-living support, housing, education, community safety, public services, business, leisure, environment and council services.

Top 40 Achievements
Proven Record

Top achievements that show scale, delivery and continuity

These headline achievement figures sit at the heart of the campaign message and reflect a record of practical delivery across the borough.

£10M Distributed over £10 million in cost-of-living support payments to residents in need.
6,000+ On track to deliver over 6,000 affordable homes by May 2026 – the majority family-sized.
£4.4M Invested £4.4m to become the first borough in the country to offer Free School Meals for all Primary and Secondary School Students.
£13.7M £13.7 million a year is being invested to open a youth centre in every ward.

TACKLING THE COST-OF-LIVING CRISIS

  • 1Distributed over £10 million in cost-of-living support payments to residents in need.
  • 2Froze Council Tax for all residents in year 1 (2022/2023) -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
  • 3Invested £1 million a year to reintroduce the Meals on Wheels service - serving hot dinners to vulnerable residents 7 days a week.
  • 4Over 4,000 elderly supported with a £175 winter fuel payment winter 2024, following the government's decision to cut this support.

HOMES FOR THE FUTURE

  • 522,000 formerly Tower Hamlets Homes brought back in-house, to ensure direct control and management by the Council.
  • 6On track to deliver over 6,000 affordable homes by May 2026 – the majority family-sized.
  • 7An additional 3,300 homes to be delivered as part of Mayor’s Accelerated Housing Programme on over 40 council-owned sites.
  • 8Over £134 million spent on Temporary Accommodation to help residents suffering homelessness to remain in or near the borough.
  • 9£609million 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.
  • 10By May 2026, we will have delivered an additional 1,250 car parking spaces across the borough.

ACCELERATE EDUCATION

  • 11Over £3.2m invested in supporting 2,400 students with university costs through the University Bursary Programme, which offers £1500 per student.
  • 12Achieved Outstanding in our Children’s Services OFSTED inspection
  • 13Over £1.3m invested in supporting over 2,800 students through higher education with the Education Maintenance Allowance - £600 per student
  • 14Over £2.5m being invested in SEND children provision including £1m in improved transport.
  • 15Invested £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.
  • 16Free School Uniforms for over 7000 pupils in the borough each year: £50 for reception starters and £150 for secondary starters
  • 17Invested £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

EMPOWER COMMUNITIES TO FIGHT CRIME

  • 18£4m to upgrade and install 350 CCTV cameras across the borough and state of the art CCTV monitoring system
  • 19£3.7million being invested in 100 new estate cameras across 26 estates, and replacing 363 defunct cameras.
  • 20Over £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.
  • 213000+ weapons deposited in amnesty boxes across the borough
  • 22Invested £500k to launch a dedicated Drugs Squad with 6 THEOs and 1 team leader. Working on a drug-related treatment centre.

A CLEAN AND GREEN FUTURE

  • 23£15m invested in waste services – including 72 additional frontline staff
  • 24Over £2m invested in improving recycling in the borough
  • 25Over £6.3m invested in installing 2,150 new EV charging points across the borough, exceeding our target by 150 chargers.

INVEST IN PUBLIC SERVICES

  • 26£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.
  • 27Opened a dedicated borough-wide centre for women – the Nari Centre – in Vallance Road.
  • 28Invested £5million in free homecare for all who need it.
  • 29Reopened five Residents Hubs across the borough to improve access to services.
  • 30Burial ground at Eternal Gardens: Continue with the low-cost facility.

BOOST CULTURE, BUSINESS, JOBS & LEISURE

  • 31£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.
  • 32Invested £800k in four new play-zones. Five new outdoor gyms in the borough's public spaces.
  • 33Over £5 million invested in sports facilities, gyms, and outdoor playgrounds
  • 34Over 1,500 residents engaged in over 2,200 training programs through workpath
  • 35One-hour free parking introduced to help market traders Additionally, the Permit Transfer Scheme (PTS) has been introduced, allowing one parking permit to be retained even if you move to a car-free zone.
  • 36Over £40 million invested in Leisure including bringing leisure services under council management
  • 37£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.

A COUNCIL THAT WORKS FOR EVERYONE

  • 38New Town Hall opened in Whitechapel – the beating heart of the borough.
  • 39200 – 300 people seen monthly at Mayor’s twice-weekly resident surgeries.
  • 40£500,000 invested to reopen Watney Market Idea Store.

110 promises delivered

A proven record of delivery across cost-of-living support, homes, education, youth provision, community safety, public services, business, leisure, environment and local access to council services.

Manifesto

Our plan for a fairer borough and a brighter future

Vote Aspire

Rebuild Tower Hamlets
Rebuild Our Future

Cost of Living Protecting families and supporting the most vulnerable.
Homes Building and improving homes people can truly afford.
Education Giving children and young people the best possible start.
Public Services Investing in strong local services and safer communities.
Cost of Living Homes for the Future Accelerate Education Culture, Business & Leisure Communities & Crime Public Services Clean & Green Council That Listens

The cost of living crisis raging nationally is hitting people around here particularly hard. But by working together, we can ensure that no child will go hungry and no pensioner will go cold for the next four years.

I pledge to:

  • Freeze Council Tax for four years, to protect the poorest from rising living costs
  • Establish a fund to support young people who want to stay in education post-16
  • Create a fund to provide bursaries for young people who want to go to university
  • Fund the 10% of Council Tax Rebates that Government does not pay
  • Set up a Holiday Food programme to feed children entitled to free school meals during the school holidays
  • Provide free schools meals in term time to all Primary School pupils, from Reception to Year 6
  • Explore extending universal free school meals provision to secondary schools
  • Work with local food banks and third sector organisations to provide a safety net for those in need
  • Create a Homelessness Fund to prevent evictions and homelessness
  • Protect tenants against revenge evictions.

There is a social housing crisis in Tower Hamlets. Having a roof over your head is a basic human right, but at the moment we cannot house the people who want to live here and too many live in housing that doesn’t meet their needs or struggle with unresponsive landlords.

I pledge to:

  • Work with developers and housing associations to build a minimum of 4,000 social homes for rent over the next four years, with a focus on 3–4-bedroom homes
  • Review car parking permit transfer scheme, create 1,000 parking spaces over four years and review car-free zones to ensure those who require vehicles for work are not priced out of the local area
  • Establish a Housing Emergency Task Force to drive through change. Residents will be at the heart of this work
  • Work closely with the Tower Hamlets’ Renters Union to achieve all their policy goals
  • Consult residents immediately on bringing Tower Hamlets Homes back in-house
  • Empower local Tenants and Residents Associations (or set them up where they do not exist) to work with the Council to tackle the housing emergency, while encouraging social and private landlords to work with us to effect change
  • Develop strategies to: — Tackle overcrowding, including with knock-throughs and extensions — Adapt homes for residents with physical disabilities — House the homeless (including, as a priority, to house street sleepers)
  • Work with social and private landlords to encourage them to improve the condition of the homes they let and the service they provide to their tenants
  • Fix the landlord registration scheme to ensure it delivers on its purpose of driving up standards in the private sector, including landlord rent disclosure
  • Use new government powers to increase council tax to landlords who leave homes empty
  • Seize long term empty properties and convert them into social housing
  • Fully fund and resource housing enforcement officers to hold landlords to account
  • Ensure social landlords work with us, collectively and individually, to improve housing services, stock condition and governance
  • Establish a new emergency fund and information line for leaseholders affected by cladding, and require developers wishing to build in Tower Hamlets to pay for remediation of existing cladding.

Education is very close to my heart and supporting lifelong learning in Tower Hamlets will be a priority for my administration.

I pledge to:

  • Introduce a programme of booster classes after school, tailored to maximise our youngsters’ performance at GCSE
  • Review our sixth forms and colleges’ performance to accelerate A level attainment so more of our pupils go to the top universities, including Oxbridge and Russell group of universities
  • Increase the number of our youngsters going on to Further and Higher Education, including boosting Oxbridge and Russell Group entrance through intensive learning after school, and support with applications, and a full review of sixth-form and college performance
  • Expand Breakfast Club provision in schools and continue to offer a free and healthy school lunch to all primary school pupils, including provision in the school holidays for those most in need
  • Establish funds to support young people who want to stay in education post-16 and to provide bursaries for young people who want to go to university
  • Protect the space in our Idea Stores where young people can study and work with community groups to protect and increase provision of homework clubs. This is particularly important to help young people recover lost schooling during the Covid lockdowns
  • Work with the voluntary sector to increase the provision of devices and internet access to reduce digital exclusion
  • Return the Youth Service to its rightful place as a flagship service in our borough. My administration will prioritise the provision of public sector youth centres which can support young people with homework space, careers advice, gang prevention work, developing life skills, and offer a host of leisure activities
  • Reinstate our award-winning Community Language Service scrapped by the current mayor. It is proven that children who know their mother tongue and who are multi-lingual excel in education generally. We need to support our children and encourage them to take up language lessons from early on in life
  • Reintroduce early entry GCSE studies in languages
  • Rebuild the Good Teachers Network to help educators share best practice and promote high quality learning
  • Restore specialist support for children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities as a boroughwide service
  • Review nursery and day care provision, with a view to bringing back council run centres as a public service
  • Launch a new ‘Lifelong Learning’ programme, with a particular emphasis on courses which can help our residents return to work and enhance their prospects.

THE ARTS
The arts help our diverse communities celebrate their culture and learn about their neighbours’ culture, too. They enrich our lives and improve our mental health and wellbeing. They also offer a great source of employment. I pledge to:

  • Focus on grassroots arts, created by local people and performed in our well-loved arts venues and in our community centres
  • Help our residents, especially our young residents, access ‘cultural capital’ - top-notch cultural and artistic experiences

SPORT
Indoor and outdoor sports help promote health and wellbeing, and Tower Hamlets has a thriving sports scene for young people and veteran performers. I pledge to:

  • Support current activities and seek to improve them (for example, by adding in more activities targeted at women and girls and more minority sports)
  • Establish a ‘Mayor’s Cup’ borough-wide tournament, beginning with football but expanding to other sports such as badminton and cricket, to harness our youngsters’ competitive spirit, promote active healthy lifestyles, and celebrate sporting achievement.
  • Maintain awareness that many groups rely on parks and other Council facilities to play sport, and audit these facilities to ensure they are meeting need
  • Convene a sports summit to examine provision and find a way to improve what we do. This may involve setting up a designated sports forum in consultation with grassroots community sports activists
  • Promote women’s sports and increase availability of women’s gym and swimming sessions
  • Make sure our sports facilities and facilities of our partners are women-friendly and meet the cultural needs of our diverse communities
  • Keep all of our swimming pools open.

BUSINESS
Local business is the lifeblood of our community. Not only does it sustain our local economy and provide jobs and services to our residents, it also tells the story of our borough in the iconic trades and businesses that have flourished here over the years. I pledge to:

  • Work closely with the East End Trades Guild to ensure their priorities are realised. This includes:
    • a) Protecting small businesses on Brick Lane, including those affected by the development of the Truman Brewery
    • b) Supporting an EETG member-led event in November to celebrate small businesses across Tower Hamlets, and raise their visibility to mark the 10 year anniversary of the EETG
  • Protect and support our markets across the borough including Whitechapel Market, Petticoat lane Market, Bethnal Green markets, Roman Road Market, Columbia Road Market, Watney Market, Chrisp Street Market, and put traders at the heart of their management
  • Create thousands of new jobs and training and apprenticeship opportunities for local people. This will be accomplished via a mixture of local government schemes and incentives to business
  • 1-hour free parking for customers stopping to shop at our markets
  • Building on my previous work, establish one of the first community land trusts in the country
  • Appoint a dedicated council officer responsible for Community Wealth Building, and for the development of a Community Land Trust in LBTH to create permanently affordable workspaces
  • Build on East London’s long entrepreneurial history by supporting and encouraging the growth of start-ups locally
  • Support and sustain the growth of our borough’s vibrant night-time economy, but do so in a way that is safe, inclusive, and respectful of local resident.

OUR DIVERSE COMMUNITIES

Our borough’s strength lies in its diversity and the different communities and cultures living side by side.

I pledge to:

  • Work with communities across the borough to bring people together from different backgrounds and promote understanding. Bringing our whole community together will help reduce the incidence of anti-social behaviour, violent crime and hate crime
  • Support events which celebrate the culture of our different communities and promote better understanding
  • Uphold and protect equality and diversity in all circumstances. Nobody of any race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, class or disability should ever face discrimination of any kind, and I want to return to the days when our authority was the highest ranked in London by Stonewall’s Equality Index
  • Wage war on child poverty, as well as loneliness, social isolation and poverty among our older residents
  • Work with the borough’s Inter Faith Forum to identify and meet the needs of our faith-based communities and, most importantly, to tackle crime and discrimination based on religion
  • Support and empower women, particularly ethnic minority women, with dedicated programmes and dedicated community facilities. The current mayor closed the Jagonari Project at the Davenant Centre, which provided excellent services, and this was a great loss to many local women. Support a dedicated resources centre for the women of Bangladeshi community
  • Support a dedicated resources centre for the Somali community, which is underrepresented in employment and local institutions, run by community members and open to the public
  • Ensure, as a first step towards meeting need, that our residents have access to a suitable multi-faith burial ground
  • Work closely with, and provide support to, the borough’s Council of Mosques, one of the largest of such representative bodies in the country.

CRIME AND SAFETY

Tower Hamlets’ residents, workers and visitors should always feel safe and welcome. This is a basic right, and we will work night and day to safeguard it.

I pledge to:

  • Work with the Metropolitan Police to put more uniformed police officers on the streets, as part of our Community Constabulary which previously boosted policing numbers locally. These officers will be supported by Tower Hamlets Enforcement Officers
  • Reopen a full-time police station on the Isle of Dogs to reverse Labour’s closure of the previous one last year
  • Support ward-based police forums where our residents can have a regular dialogue with the police, because our BAME communities and women must be able to trust the Metropolitan Police
  • Maintain our award-winning borough wide CCTV service, which has been vital in detecting crime and identifying offenders. Work with local landlords and businesses to widen its scope
  • Identify crime hotspots and tackle them – for example by improving lighting and street design and using CCTV
  • Tackle violence against women and girls. We will support initiatives to end domestic violence and make our streets safer for all women. We will work with the Women’s Forum to organise a public event each year to highlight the importance of women’s safety. We will also ensure that there are sufficient refuges in the borough to meet women’s needs
  • Address anti-social behaviour. Prevention is better than cure, and we will invest in youth services to provide young people with the resources they need to spend their time constructively
  • Work with the police and other bodies to tackle drug-related crime. Aim to arrest at least one drug dealer every day. This work will be supported by drug rehabilitation services to stop these problems from recurring
  • Invest in drug treatment, rehabilitation and recovery programmes, including culturally sensitive projects targeting hard-to-reach addicts.

When I was mayor, I safeguarded front-line services from the £125m budget cuts imposed on us by government austerity. The council is currently underspending its ample reserves so much that it is losing millions to inflation. There is money in the council that can be used to bring back public services we can rely on.

I pledge to:

  • Reopen the ‘One Stop Shop’ counters for accessing council services. Residents who struggle with IT have been disempowered by their closure under the current mayor
  • Clean up our borough with more bins, litter sweeps and a mission to drive down missed bin collections
  • Bring outsourced public services back into public hands and introduce an ‘insourcing first’ policy

IDEA STORES & LIBRARIES

We believe that Idea Stores and libraries are an important resource. They help our community learn through private study, internet access and adult education courses.

I pledge to:

  • Invest in the future of our borough’s excellent network of Libarires and Idea Stores, including the Bancroft local history library and archive
  • Avoid all closures of Idea Stores or libraries for financial reasons. While some venues may need to close for short periods for maintenance, our intention is that all Idea Stores and libraries should re-open and serve our community

SOCIAL CARE CRISIS

Our parents and grandparents have contributed so much to this borough and it is our duty to protect and support them in their retirement. They should be able to live independently and in dignity. My ambition is to return to universal free home care, which we were the last council in the UK to provide when I was mayor.

I pledge to:

  • Invest in our provision of care for vulnerable members of our community, including children and adults
  • Look after our care workers to make sure they are adequately rewarded for their work for the most vulnerable members of our community
  • Ensure we are providing the best quality of services and satisfactorily passing all the appropriate inspections

HEALTH

The pandemic has shown us all how important public health provision is. As life begins to return to normal, we must not lose sight of this.

I pledge to:

  • Introduce a Public Health Service that is COVID-ready
  • Ensure that COVID’s disproportionate impact on Black and Asian Minority Ethnic (BAME) people is considered in all public health provision
  • Improve general health education and awareness
  • Ensure that mental health and physical health are given parity of attention
  • Expand GP practices to ensure that patients can get appointments on time, and end to people having to wait for weeks before they can see a doctor
  • Work with healthcare providers to ensure that residents can access GP appointments
  • Promote a system where patients can choose whether the appointment is in person or online

My administration will tackle climate change — the biggest threat to the world we know — as a matter of urgency. We shall deliver actions, not just words.

I pledge to:

  • Establish a mayor’s advisory board on climate change to guide our work with a view to making our council carbon neutral
  • Increase the number of charging points for electric vehicles in the borough
  • Work with private and social landlords to improve insulation standards in our homes
  • Install green heating systems on our estates, including the use of solar panels, wind turbines and heat and power schemes
  • Expand tree-planting throughout the borough and line our streets & estates with newly planted trees
  • Look after our parks and other open spaces, ensuring that they are accessible for the whole community
  • Keep waste and recycling services in-house, a process which began under my second term as Mayor
  • Work with the service to deliver further improvements, including education on recycling
  • Encourage our community to become involved in community walkabouts to check standards are being maintained across the borough
  • Wage war on fly tipping, using our boroughwide CCTV and a policy of prosecuting offenders
  • Encourage the community to report eyesores and problem areas (such as places where informal car parking hinders access by the emergency services)
  • Establish a dedicated noise control team to work with residents on reducing noise nuisance, including a rapid response team
  • Work with the Mayor of London to tackle air pollution in Tower Hamlets
  • Research the causes of poor local air quality
  • Work with Transport for London to improve public transport and local car clubs
  • Avoid penalising those in our community who drive, who in many cases are not responsible for the bulk of air pollution
  • Restore the right of those who hold one-zone borough parking permits to park in zones other than their home zones for five hours, free of charge
  • Support schemes to teach cycling and bike proficiency and safety
  • Monitor the effectiveness and safety of cycle lanes, such as those on Bow Road.

When you vote for me on 5th May, I am asking you to support my administration for the next four years. I want you to tell me when the Council has done something well, and I want you to tell me when it needs to do better. And I promise I will listen.

I pledge to:

  • Hold regular surgeries around the borough so that you can come to me for help on individual issues
  • Reopen our roads, and abolish the failed Liveable Streets scheme, which has seen emergency services and vulnerable residents’ access blocked
  • Recognise that jamming up main roads reduces the speed of traffic, so queueing vehicles emit more fumes, not less
  • Only introduce traffic reduction measures through consultation with, and by the consent of the people of this borough
  • End the practice of ‘consultation’ being nothing more than you being asked to rubber-stamp a decision which has already been made
  • Work with residents, community groups and other interested parties to develop plans and ideas together
  • Carry out consultation which is fair and worthwhile, on the basis of the ‘Gunning Principles’ devised by Stephen Sedley QC.

The principles are:

Consultation must begin when proposals are being developed (not after decisions have already been taken)

  1. Proposals out for consultation must include enough information and explanations so that those being consulted can properly respond
  2. Here must be adequate time for those being consulted to consider the proposals and respond
  3. Consultation responses will be considered before a decision is taken and how the responses were taken into account will be made clear
  • Ensure that everyone affected by any proposals will be notified and can have their say. This pledge is at the start of my manifesto because it is so important to me that the community is at the heart of my administration
  • Hold regular Q&A sessions around the borough so that we can have a discussion, together, about how my administration is doing on the important issues
  • Publicise my email address and telephone number for you to contact me. I promise you that all emails and phone calls will be answered
  • Reinstate and enforce a ‘Workforce to Reflect Our Community’ policy: it is disgraceful that black and minority staff appear to have been treated worse by the current administration. My administration will reflect the diversity of our borough at all levels.
View full manifesto (PDF)

Coming soon

First Year Achievements2nd year Achievements

Lutfur Rahman Administration – First Year Achievements

Delivering on promises. Building a fairer, stronger, and more prosperous Tower Hamlets.

Tackling the Cost-of-Living Crisis
Tackling the Cost of Living
  • Allocated and distributed £6.1m to support our most vulnerable residents from council and government funds.
  • £31.5m in Council Tax reduction was paid to 35,172 resident accounts.
  • 22,343 visits to the council’s warm hubs.
  • 19,772 payments of £100 given to vulnerable families.
Homes for the Future
Homes for the Future
  • Almost 22,000 properties to be brought back in-house after 86% support by tenants and leaseholders.
  • 227 homeless people supported into sustainable accommodation.
  • Rehoused 31 families into wheelchair-accessible homes via our flagship Project 120 scheme.
  • Targeting the delivery of 4,000 genuinely affordable homes by 2026.
Accelerate Education
Accelerate Education
  • All primary school children eligible for a daily free school meal (£2m), rolling out to secondary schools (£3.7m).
  • 400 young people to receive a Mayor’s University Bursary (£600k).
  • 803 young people to receive a Mayor’s Education Maintenance Allowance (£321k).
  • Increasing provision for SEND children.
  • 17,783 children supported by the Early Help Children and Family Service.
Boost Culture, Business, Jobs & Leisure
Boost Culture, Business and Leisure
  • £800k investment in community language provision.
  • Rates relief for 834 businesses (£2m).
  • 919 enterprises supported by the council’s business programme.
  • £40m invested in leisure facilities, including bringing leisure centres under council management.
  • 3,866 jobs, training and apprenticeship opportunities delivered.
  • 1 hour free parking to help market traders.
  • Reintroduce 4 Parent Parking Zones.
Empower Communities to Fight Crime
Empower Communities
  • 289 CCTV cameras have been upgraded to help capture evidence of crime and ASB (£200k).
  • 7,779 additional uniformed police patrol hours funded by the council (£1.5m).
  • Recruited 41 enforcement officers to protect the public (£2.9m).
  • £1.6m approved to fund additional police and bring back a community constabulary.
Invest in Public Services
Invest in Public Services
  • £13.7m invested in youth services including one in every ward.
  • £4.5m for local voluntary and community sector through Mayor’s Community Grants.
  • £2.5m to support free homecare for vulnerable adults.
  • £1.1m investment in 5 Resident Hubs.
A Council That Works & Listens for Everyone
Council That Listens
  • £500k invested to reopen Watney Market Idea Store.
  • Around 500 people seen monthly over twice-a-week Mayor’s Surgeries.
  • Life-saving equipment installed around the borough.
  • Over 11k participants took part in 80 consultations.
  • New Town Hall opened.
A Clean and Green Future
Clean and Green Future
  • £185k to support local businesses to be more energy efficient.
  • 972 trees planted.
  • £2.1m to improve recycling on housing estates.
  • £5m for electric waste vehicles and EV charging points.
  • £180k for low carbon fuel supply.
Aspire Party | Lutfur Rahman Administration

Lutfur Rahman Administration – Corporate Report

Delivering on promises. Building a fairer, stronger, and more prosperous Tower Hamlets.

Tackling the Cost-of-Living Crisis
  • Allocated and distributed nearly £10million in cost-of-living support to residents.
  • Millions of free meals created from 1000s of tonnes of food supplied to charitable organisations.
  • Council Tax reduction paid to more than 20,400 working-age residents and 7,600 pensioners – saving them more than £3.2million.
  • Nearly 50,000 resident visits to the Council's Warm Hubs.
  • Froze Council Tax for ALL residents in year 1.
  • Introduced Council Tax Cost-of-Living Relief Fund for residents earning under £60,000 in year 2.
  • Provisioned for a Mayor's winter emergency fund.
Homes for the Future
  • 22,000 formerly-THH properties brought back in-house.
  • 100s of homeless people supported into sustainable accommodation.
  • Rehoused multiple families into wheelchair-accessible homes.
  • Targeted the delivery of 1,000 genuinely affordable homes by 2026.
  • £8m per year increase in the supply of Temporary Accommodation.
  • Launching ambitious programme to buy back 200 affordable council homes per year.
Accelerate Education
  • Universal Free School Meals for all primary (£2m) and secondary school children (£3.7m).
  • Introduced 1,500 University Bursary for 400 students in year 1; increased it to 800 students in year 2.
  • Brought back EMA at £400 per year for 1,200 students in year 1; increased it to £600 in year 2.
  • 100s of thousands of children supported by the Early Help Children and Family Service.
  • Increased provision for SEND children by £730k in year 1.
  • £5m invested to improve SEND transport in year 2.
  • Created a £100k School high achiever awards - celebrating pupils who achieve high attainment and the parents and teachers who help them do it.
  • £50m to create an Institute of Academic Excellence, to help local young people get to world class universities.
  • Roll-out of an EBOOK Community Languages programme.
Community partnership Construction project
Empower Communities to Fight Crime
  • Invested £4m to upgrade and install 350 CCTV cameras.
  • 8,000 additional uniformed police patrol hours funded by the Council (£1.5m).
  • Recruited an additional 41 enforcement officers to protect the public (£2.9m).
  • £16m approved to fund additional police.
  • 917 weapons disposed of in our 4 amnesty bins, including 767 knives.
A Clean and Green Future
  • £5m waste investment to tackle the waste emergency – including 72 additional frontline staff.
  • £185k to support local businesses to be more energy efficient.
  • Planted almost 3,000 trees.
  • £2.1m to improve recycling on housing estates.
  • £5m for electric waste vehicles and EV charging points.
  • £180k for low carbon fuel supply.
Invest in Public Services
  • £13.7m per year invested in youth services, including one youth centre in every ward.
  • £3.5m for local voluntary and community sector through Mayor's Community Grants.
  • £2.5m to support free homecare for vulnerable adults.
  • £1m investment in 5 Resident Hubs.
  • Creation of a £1.5m culturally-sensitive drug treatment centre.
  • Creation of a £20m culturally-sensitive adult care home (50–60 bed adult care facility).
  • Opening of a £1.4m Women's Resource Centre, providing health, educational and employment advice and benefits to local women.
  • Establishing a Somali Resource Hub for the growing Somali population in the borough.

"I am so grateful for the Mayor's record with young people."

"...Also, a student in Tower Hamlets, I am so grateful for the Mayor's record with young people. The EMA, Uni Bursaries, universal free school meals for all primary and secondary schools, a huge investment in the youth service, and a range of apprenticeships – it makes me proud to be a resident of the borough."

Amena Tasnim Korobi Local Resident and University Student

Lutfur Rahman Administration – First Year Achievements

Delivering on promises. Building a fairer, stronger, and more prosperous Tower Hamlets.

Tackling the Cost-of-Living Crisis
Tackling the Cost of Living
  • Allocated and distributed £6.1m to support our most vulnerable residents from council and government funds.
  • £31.5m in Council Tax reduction was paid to 35,172 resident accounts.
  • 22,343 visits to the council’s warm hubs.
  • 19,772 payments of £100 given to vulnerable families.
Homes for the Future
Homes for the Future
  • Almost 22,000 properties to be brought back in-house after 86% support by tenants and leaseholders.
  • 227 homeless people supported into sustainable accommodation.
  • Rehoused 31 families into wheelchair-accessible homes via our flagship Project 120 scheme.
  • Targeting the delivery of 4,000 genuinely affordable homes by 2026.
Accelerate Education
Accelerate Education
  • All primary school children eligible for a daily free school meal (£2m), rolling out to secondary schools (£3.7m).
  • 400 young people to receive a Mayor’s University Bursary (£600k).
  • 803 young people to receive a Mayor’s Education Maintenance Allowance (£321k).
  • Increasing provision for SEND children.
  • 17,783 children supported by the Early Help Children and Family Service.
Boost Culture, Business, Jobs & Leisure
Boost Culture, Business and Leisure
  • £800k investment in community language provision.
  • Rates relief for 834 businesses (£2m).
  • 919 enterprises supported by the council’s business programme.
  • £40m invested in leisure facilities, including bringing leisure centres under council management.
  • 3,866 jobs, training and apprenticeship opportunities delivered.
  • 1 hour free parking to help market traders.
  • Reintroduce 4 Parent Parking Zones.
Empower Communities to Fight Crime
Empower Communities
  • 289 CCTV cameras have been upgraded to help capture evidence of crime and ASB (£200k).
  • 7,779 additional uniformed police patrol hours funded by the council (£1.5m).
  • Recruited 41 enforcement officers to protect the public (£2.9m).
  • £1.6m approved to fund additional police and bring back a community constabulary.
Invest in Public Services
Invest in Public Services
  • £13.7m invested in youth services including one in every ward.
  • £4.5m for local voluntary and community sector through Mayor’s Community Grants.
  • £2.5m to support free homecare for vulnerable adults.
  • £1.1m investment in 5 Resident Hubs.
A Council That Works & Listens for Everyone
Council That Listens
  • £500k invested to reopen Watney Market Idea Store.
  • Around 500 people seen monthly over twice-a-week Mayor’s Surgeries.
  • Life-saving equipment installed around the borough.
  • Over 11k participants took part in 80 consultations.
  • New Town Hall opened.
A Clean and Green Future
Clean and Green Future
  • £185k to support local businesses to be more energy efficient.
  • 972 trees planted.
  • £2.1m to improve recycling on housing estates.
  • £5m for electric waste vehicles and EV charging points.
  • £180k for low carbon fuel supply.

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News and Updates

12 June

Natural beauty & resorces of the City

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  • Starts 5.00 PM
  • 121 Kings St. NY 26038
18 June

Explore the adventures In the city

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  • Starts 5.00 PM
  • 121 Kings St. NY 26038
24 June

Road trips, music, festivals & fun

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  • Starts 5.00 PM
  • 121 Kings St. NY 26038