Wandsworth Council: local authority assessment

How we assess local authorities

Assessment published: 3 September 2025

About Wandsworth Council

Demographics

Wandsworth Council is a London Borough local authority with a population of 334.103, situated in South West London and includes several areas such as Battersea, Roehampton, Putney, Tooting, Clapham Junction and Earlsfield making Wandsworth the second largest inner London borough. Wandsworth has areas of deprivation such as Tooting and Roehampton. The population has an Index of Multiple Deprivation score of 3 (1 is the least deprived, 10 is the most deprived) meaning it is one of the least deprived local authorities in England.

The population is predominantly people of working age, but there is a growing ageing population. The population of people aged over 65 is projected to increase, with a 21% increase of people aged 80 plus by 2034. Wandsworth has one of the youngest populations in London and in the country and has the highest percentage of people aged between 20 and 45 years in London. Wandsworth is a diverse borough with 11.70% Asian, Asian British, 10.10% Black, Black British, Caribbean or African, 6.29% Mixed or multiple, 4.10% other and 67.81% White British.

The Integrated Care System covers the South West London Integrated Care Board (ICB), covering the boroughs of Richmond, Kingston, Merton, Sutton, Croydon and Wandsworth.

Wandsworth Council is led by Labour, it has 35 Labour Councillors, 22 Conservative and 1 Independent representing 22 wards. Wandsworth operates a shared public service team with Richmond Council. This means the senior management team are based across both Wandsworth and Richmond boroughs, with joint policies, procedures and workforce.

Financial facts  

• The local authority estimated that in 2023/24, its total budget would be £454,474,000. Its actual spend for that year was £509,922,000, which was £112,080,000 more than estimated.
• The local authority estimated that it would spend £108,155,000 of its total budget on adult social care in 2023/24. Its actual spend was £117,603,000 which was £9,448,000 more than estimated.
• In 2023/2024, 23.06% of the budget was spent on adult social care.
• The local authority has raised the full adult social care precept for 2023/24 with a value of 2%. Please note that the amount raised through Adult Social Care precept varies from local authority to local authority.  
• Approximately 3930 people were accessing long-term adult social care support, and approximately 810 people were accessing short-term adult social care support in 2023/24.  

This data is reproduced at the request of the Department of Health and Social Care. It has not been factored into our assessment and is presented for information purposes only.