Westminster is an amazing place. We are home to over 250,000 residents from all backgrounds, over 50,000 vibrant and vital businesses and three-quarters-of-a-million people work in Westminster. Westminster City Council’s strategy is to work towards a Fairer Westminster. A Fairer Westminster is one in which our communities are at the heart of our decision-making and help to determine the city’s future. By working directly with our communities and other partners, we can build a more inclusive city that celebrates our diverse communities, and where residents, workers and visitors from all backgrounds will feel welcome and safe.
Westminster is the UK’s political and cultural centre, containing world-renowned theatres, restaurants, hotels and entertainment. Businesses in the city generate around £54bn of the UK’s economic output, more than any other single local authority area.
Westminster is a unique place, home to Monarchy, Government, almost 11,000 listed buildings as well as the West End and Soho, two of the most creative and exciting locations in the world. Westminster is also home to over a quarter of a million people, living in distinctive and well-known neighbourhoods, which are an important part of this great city.
Westminster is seen as an affluent place, but it also faces significant challenges: responding to a highly mobile population, tackling wealth and other inequalities, managing increasing demand for services and now dealing with the impact of a global pandemic.
Over the next 2 to 3 years we intend to:
- Work with the local NHS to reverse the decision to close the Gordon hospital
- Review patient access to local GPs and hospitals
- Enrich our commitments (need specifics) on improving the way adult social care is delivered in Westminster
- Support schools to deliver education and training on issues of sexual harassment, rape, sexual assault, racial bullying, cyber-bulling and more
- Create new community facilities that can benefit young people
- Assess Council facilities across the city to identify where provisions needs to be restored for children
The council runs many flagship projects ones that you may be familiar with that run every year include West End Live in Trafalgar Square where all West End shows have the opportunity to showcase themselves for free so that people who cannot always afford to see a West End show will have the opportunity to. Another which was run this year for the first time was Skate the Strand, where the Strand, one of London’s most famous streets was turned into a skatepark for two weeks.
The council has recently launched its own development vehicle which aims to build 2,000 homes over the next 5 years with one of the finance team being a director of the company. Ensuring that the homes built are innovative and environmentally sustainable.
Services include Adult Social Care, Children’s Services, Environment and City Management, Finance and Resources and Growth Planning and Housing. The Corporate Finance team coordinate and report monthly monitoring and budget setting to senior internal stakeholders and members and statutory financial accounting to external stakeholders, as well as managing financial controls including bank reconciliations and VAT.
Westminster collects 8% of the country’s business rates. The businesses within the city generate over £54bn of economic output both of these are the highest amounts in the country for a local authority area.
Westminster has a centralised finance team and placements can be within any of the finance teams so that when you finish you will have had the opportunity work across the breadth of the finance team and decide where is best for you when you finish.
The council’s refreshed City for All vision is underpinned by the following four pillars: Cleaner and greener, vibrant communities, smart cities and thriving economy. This allows us to create the best possible services for all users of Westminster Council services.
