Council Service Transformation Aims to Save £45million a Year
Plan includes efficiency measures and cost cutting to curb spending increases
Opposition says planned savings don't cover budget shortfall
January 27, 2026
Wandsworth Council say it is planning a radical overhaul of its services in an attempt to save £45million a year by 2029. Wandsworth Council’s new transformation programme is set to make services more efficient and cheaper as the authority faces rising demand and costs.
The council is in the early stages of putting together the programme, which it plans to introduce next year. It predicts the programme will slash costs by £45m a year by 2029, although this figure may change as more detailed plans come forward.
A fresh council report said that the borough needed to change its approach to tackle major challenges – including rising demand for services, spiralling costs and funding reforms that will leave it with less flexibility.
The programme will use the latest technology and new ways of working to revamp services and address these pressures. It aims to help the authority balance its budget, along with making Wandsworth the most digitally accessible local authority in the country.
A council report in October said the authority was facing a budget gap of £21.7m in 2026/27, rising to £51.2m by 2028/29.
Each of the council’s eight portfolios will put together a business case over the next six months, which will then be turned into delivery plans for its overall transformation. The portfolios include adult social care and public health, resident services, children’s services and assets.
The detailed business cases coming forward will be used to inform whether the £45m target is appropriate.
Labour councillor Kate Stock told the authority’s Finance Committee on 22 January the transformation was about “rethinking what we do and how we do it… if there’s a better way to do it, let’s find out”.
But Conservative councillor Peter Graham said the authority’s current £45m target would not be enough to balance its budget, which meant it would need to use more reserves and hike council tax.
Officers said more detailed financial information was coming forward which meant the figure could change, while budget and council tax plans would be discussed in February.
James Wills-Fleming, the council’s Transformation Director, said the £45m target was a starting point and it could be stretched.
Mr Wills-Fleming added: “I do think it’s really important that we emphasise that delivering more effective and efficient services and having them be cheaper, they are not mutually exclusive. In fact, the opposite is often true. The more efficient, the more responsive, the more automated, they are the cheaper services for us.”
The report said: “Delivering transformation is about rethinking what we do, it’s not just about doing things differently, it’s about doing different things. It is about making fundamental changes to the way we operate and how we offer better value for money in how we deliver services to our residents.
“It is how we will empower people, how we will harness technology, improve processes, and make better use of our physical infrastructure to deliver our priorities and be financially sustainable in the future. It is how we will change the council’s culture and behaviours to discover better ways of working, based on our vision and our values.”
Charlotte Lillywhite - Local Democracy Reporter