Your council

Waltham Forest: what’s happening where you live

What the council itself has published on the five things it most shapes for a household: homes, getting about, the bill, the local environment and schools. Each line is quoted from the council’s own document, with the link. This page says what was decided or proposed; it never says whether it was right.

This page is built from official registers only; the council’s own publications have not been read yet, and every line below says so where that leaves a gap.

London Borough of Waltham Forest: London borough (unitary), England, London; part of the GLA combined authority. GOV.UK lists it as a unitary council. ONS code E09000031.

Council website · Publication scheme

Do it online

The council’s own service pages as listed by GOV.UK’s Local Links Manager (Open Government Licence), refreshed weekly; the same list of everyday services, in the same order, for every council, in GOV.UK’s wording.

Housing

We haven't read this council's own publications yet. The council’s website

Transport

We haven't read this council's own publications yet. The council’s website

Council tax

Band D set by Waltham Forest for 2026–27: £1,876.45 of a £2,386.96 total bill in the area. MHCLG, Council Tax levels set by local authorities in England 2026 to 2027 (Open Government Licence).

We haven't read this council's own publications yet. The council’s website

Environment

We haven't read this council's own publications yet. The council’s website

Education

We haven't read this council's own publications yet. The council’s website

Changes to schools in this area recorded by the Department for Education Updated automatically

No school here is currently recorded as proposed to open or close.

In the last twelve months: 1 opened (1 academy converter), 2 closed (1 academy converter, 1 closure)

Our Lady and St George's Catholic Primary School (primary) — closed; reason recorded: academy converter, 31 August 2026
Walthamstow Montessori School — closed; reason recorded: closure, 22 June 2026
Our Lady and St George's Catholic Primary School (primary) — open; reason recorded: academy converter, 1 September 2026

Get Information about Schools, DfE’s register of every school in England, refreshed daily (Open Government Licence). The register’s own reason is shown: most closures and openings are a school becoming an academy, which changes who runs it, not whether it is there.

What the council plans to spend, 2026–27

The budget for each service, as Waltham Forest reported it to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. The same headings, in the same order, for every council in England.

Waltham Forest: budget by service, 2026 to 2027
Service	Budget
Education services	£328.0 million
Highways and transport services	£11.7 million
Children's social care	£70.1 million
Adult social care	£126.0 million
Public health	£21.6 million
Housing services (general fund only)	£28.4 million
Cultural and related services	£10.0 million
Environmental and regulatory services	£28.2 million
Planning and development services	£4.0 million
Police services	none budgeted
Fire and rescue services	none budgeted
Central services	£30.9 million
Other services	£955,000
Total service expenditure	£659.8 million

Net current expenditure: net of sales, fees and charges; spending funded by the NHS, such as through the Better Care Fund, is excluded.A minus figure means the service’s income is budgeted to be more than its spending. “None budgeted” usually means another body runs that service here. Source: Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, Revenue Account Budget 2026 to 2027, individual local authority data (part 1), updated 11 June 2026 (Open Government Licence).

Waltham Forest in numbers

Official statistics for the whole council area. Each figure is the latest published, with the period it covers.

Total population: 279,737 people 30 June 2024 · Office for National StatisticsMid-year estimate of the total number of people
Median age: 36 years 30 June 2024 · Office for National StatisticsMedian age of people
Gross disposable household income per head: £28,981 2024 · Office for National StatisticsAverage income per person (£) after taxes and direct benefits
Gross median weekly pay: £747 30 April 2025 · Office for National StatisticsGross median weekly pay based on where people live (£)
Children in relative poverty after housing costs: 32.2% April 2024 to March 2025 · Department for Work and PensionsPercentage of children aged under 16 living in relative low income families After Housing Costs (AHC)
Claimant Count: 6.8% 2025 · Office for National StatisticsPercentage of people aged 16 to 64 who are claiming unemployment-related benefits
Average house price: £529,102 July 2026 · HM Land RegistryAverage monthly price of a property (£)
Housing affordability ratio (residence-based): 11.9 affordability ratio 1 April 2025 · Office for National StatisticsRatio of median house price to median gross annual residence-based earnings
Female healthy life expectancy: 64.5 years 2022 to 2024 · Office for National StatisticsAverage years expected to be lived in good health for females born in the given year
Male healthy life expectancy: 64.4 years 2022 to 2024 · Office for National StatisticsAverage years expected to be lived in good health for males born in the given year
Greenhouse gas emissions: 2.1 tCO2e per capita 2024 · Department for Energy Security and Net ZeroGreenhouse gas emissions (tCO2e) per capita
Gigabit capable broadband: 94.1% 1 January 2026 · OfcomPercentage of premises that have coverage from a gigabit-capable service (download speeds of 1,000 Mbps or more)
Public electric vehicle chargers: 663.1 per 100,000 population 1 July 2026 · Department for Transport, sourced from ZapmapPublicly available electric vehicle chargers at all speeds per 100,000 people
Active businesses: 13,685 number of enterprises 2024 · Office for National StatisticsBusinesses with turnover or employment in current year

Gathered by the Office for National Statistics in Explore Local Statistics (Open Government Licence), refreshed daily. Some figures aren’t published for every nation, so the list can be shorter outside England.

Who runs the council

60 seats in 2026. Run by: Greens, with a majority. Open Council Data (public domain).

Councillors by party: Green Party (E&W) 31, Labour Party 15, Conservative and Unionist 14.

Next scheduled council election: 2 May 2030.

All 60 councillors, by ward

Eva Tabbasam (Green Party (E&W)) — Cann Hall
Peter Richardson (Green Party (E&W)) — Cann Hall
Tom Hainge (Green Party (E&W)) — Cann Hall
Aisha Abubakar (Labour Party) — Cathall
Rachel Barrat (Green Party (E&W)) — Cathall
Layla Rosa (Green Party (E&W)) — Chapel End
Luke Glazzard (Green Party (E&W)) — Chapel End
Sue Wheat (Green Party (E&W)) — Chapel End
Kay Isa (Conservative and Unionist) — Chingford Green
Kelly Summers (Conservative and Unionist) — Chingford Green
Mitchell Goldie (Conservative and Unionist) — Chingford Green
Emma Best (Conservative and Unionist) — Endlebury
Roy Berg (Conservative and Unionist) — Endlebury
Paul Perkins (Green Party (E&W)) — Forest
Simone Mcnichols-Thomas (Green Party (E&W)) — Forest
Yuksel Gonul (Green Party (E&W)) — Forest
Charlotte Lafferty (Green Party (E&W)) — Grove Green
Paul Treacy (Green Party (E&W)) — Grove Green
Sarah Bentley (Green Party (E&W)) — Grove Green
Rosalind Doré (Labour Party) — Hale End & Highams Park South
Tony Bell (Labour Party) — Hale End & Highams Park South
Shenise Adam (Conservative and Unionist) — Hatch Lane & Highams Park North
Siobhan Wing (Conservative and Unionist) — Hatch Lane & Highams Park North
Umar Ali (Conservative and Unionist) — Hatch Lane & Highams Park North
John Donegan (Green Party (E&W)) — High Street
Lisa Bryan (Green Party (E&W)) — High Street
Marcelo Hart-Camus (Green Party (E&W)) — High Street
Em Dean (Green Party (E&W)) — Higham Hill
Karen Bellamy (Labour Party) — Higham Hill
Louise Ashcroft (Green Party (E&W)) — Higham Hill
Ahsan Khan (Labour Party) — Hoe Street
Andrew Dixon (Labour Party) — Hoe Street
Miriam Mirwitch (Labour Party) — Hoe Street
Catherine Saumarez (Conservative and Unionist) — Larkswood
John Moss (Conservative and Unionist) — Larkswood
Sam O'Connell (Conservative and Unionist) — Larkswood
Liz Biggs (Green Party (E&W)) — Lea Bridge
Rosalind Rowlands (Green Party (E&W)) — Lea Bridge
Solène Fabios (Green Party (E&W)) — Lea Bridge
Daisy Richards (Green Party (E&W)) — Leyton
Demetrius Williams (Green Party (E&W)) — Leyton
Rob Gardner (Green Party (E&W)) — Leyton
Clyde Loakes (Labour Party) — Leytonstone
Denise Alder (Green Party (E&W)) — Leytonstone
RoseMary Warrington (Green Party (E&W)) — Leytonstone
Chanté Johnson (Green Party (E&W)) — Markhouse
Johar Khan (Labour Party) — Markhouse
Anna Kerr (Green Party (E&W)) — St James
David Berrie (Green Party (E&W)) — St James
Martin Edobor (Green Party (E&W)) — St James
Caramel Quin (Labour Party) — Upper Walthamstow
Yusuf Patel (Labour Party) — Upper Walthamstow
Afzal Akram (Conservative and Unionist) — Valley
Jemma Hemsted (Conservative and Unionist) — Valley
Toby Garrett (Conservative and Unionist) — Valley
Ben Copsey (Green Party (E&W)) — William Morris
Grace Williams (Labour Party) — William Morris
Kizzy Gardiner (Labour Party) — William Morris
Richard Sweden (Labour Party) — Wood Street
Stephanie Talbut (Labour Party) — Wood Street

Each councillor’s register of interests is on the council’s own website; we have not yet located the page. Councillors from Open Council Data as recorded after the May 2026 elections; a by-election since then may have changed one seat. Attendance and allowances are not shown.

This council’s meeting papers are not yet read automatically, so decisions and motions are not listed here; they are on the council’s website.

Write to your councillors → WriteToThem (mySociety) finds them from your postcode; nothing is sent through this site.

Cite this page

Harvard style. Every figure on the page also names its original source, which is usually the better thing to cite.

Every council page has the same five headings in the same order. Sources are the council’s own publications and official statistics. Council list: mySociety, UK Local Authorities (CC BY 4.0) and WhatDoTheyKnow authorities (CC BY-SA 4.0); council websites, tiers and service links: GOV.UK (Open Government Licence); codes: ONS Code History Database (Open Government Licence). Corrections: hello@whatsittome.org.