London Borough of Southwark: local authority assessment

Published: 27 February 2026 Page last updated: 27 February 2026

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How we assess local authorities

Assessment published: 27 February 2026

About London Borough of Southwark

Demographics

The London Borough of Southwark is in Greater London, with Lambeth to the west and Lewisham to the east. It is densely populated and approximately 315,500 people live there, making it the fifth largest London borough by population. The population increased by 7% between 2011 and 2021. Southwark is made up of a patchwork of communities. The north of the borough includes the South Bank, Borough and Bermondsey. The south includes areas such as Peckham, Camberwell and Dulwich. Southwark is a borough of contrasts, with high levels of wealth in parts of the Southbank and Dulwich Village, and areas of socio-economic disadvantage in Faraday ward and Peckham. 40% of Southwark residents live in social housing.

Southwark has a much higher working age population than the England average, at 73.32% compared to 60.51% nationally. 8.77% of people are aged 65+, much lower than the England Average of 18.69%. The borough is very diverse, with 48.56% of people from Black, Asian and minority ethnicity backgrounds. Southwark is home to the biggest Latin American community in the UK. There is a large LGBTQ+ population of over 8% of adults compared to 4% in London and 3% nationally.

Southwark’s Index of Multiple Deprivation decile is 8 (1 being the least deprived and 10 being the most deprived), and it is ranked 35 of 153 local authorities (1 being the most deprived and 153 being the least deprived). Male life expectancy in the most deprived wards of Southwark is up to 12.2 years lower than in the least deprived wards. Female life expectancy in the most deprived wards is up to 9.4 years lower than the least deprived.

Southwark is part of the NHS South East London Integrated Care System along with 5 other local authorities. At the time of our assessment the Labour Party had majority control of the council.

Financial facts

  • The local authority estimated its total budget in 2023/24 would be £632,056,000. Its actual spend for that year was £588,250,000, which was £43,806,000 less than estimated.  

  • The local authority estimated it would spend £99,769,000 of its total budget on adult social care in 2023/24. Its actual spend was £107,902,999, which was £8,133,000 more than estimated. 

  • In 2023/24 18.34% 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 4055 people were accessing long-term adult social care support, and approximately 455 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.