Labour-run London council to dim street lights to save money after splurging £25m on climate initiatives

The council has claimed that it intended to raise parking charges, while discussing possible changes to council tax and children’s centre provisions.

Currently, the council is paying 40 of its staff a salary higher than £100,000 each year, The Times reports.

Last week, Lambeth council published a financial strategy report which predicted a shocking deficit of £69million by 2028.

Dimming the street light would “allow the council to strengthen its environmental record by tackling light pollution and energy use, whilst ensuring our streets and green spaces remain safe”.

The council has not specified the amount of money that it would save by reducing these lights.

Additionally, the council has been spending large amounts of money on rain gardens, low traffic neighbourhoods, cycle lanes, "prioritising net zero targets over primary core services for its residents", according to an investigation by The Times.

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In 2019, Lambeth was the first London council to announce a climate emergency, committing itself to net zero targets by 2030.

Meanwhile, Government data has proven that Lambeth is considered one of the “least effective” councils across the nation for providing the most basic of services, spanning across areas such as housing and adult social care.

Raising concerns surrounding the lower lighting, campaigners against public sexual harassment have spoken out about the issue.

Charity Our Streets Now has said that councils treat the safety of women as a mere “afterthought”.

Lambeth council said in a statement: “We must save almost £70 million, mainly because of a big rise in the cost of housing homeless families, and the spike in inflation having made providing community services far more expensive.

“The rise in demand for services follows more than a decade of deep cuts to council budgets.”

They added that the current situation has meant that all spending must be reviewed.

“Like many other councils, we will explore options around adaptive street lighting and dimming street lighting, mostly during the middle of the night,” they said.