When Wandsworth Council has a thorny issue on its hands, there’s one tool it has increasingly turned to: the Task & Finish Group. These small, temporary working groups are set up to look at a single problem in detail, gather evidence from different voices, and then report back with recommendations.
They don’t make decisions themselves, but their reports often shape the policies that follow. And crucially, once their work is done, they dissolve — hence the name.
With the council now ordering not one but two assessments of the Putney bridge junction which could delay movement for months, and the closed-doors special ‘task force’ for traffic set up seven months ago having achieved little to nothing, Putney needs an official group whose job it is to dig into an issue, gather evidence and make public recommendations swiftly that come with political weight.
This week, the council’s Transport Overview and Scrutiny Committee will meet for the first time since June and part of its agenda is to look at its work plan for the coming year. In its papers, council officers have noted that:
“One of the methods the OSC may want to consider as part of the work programme to deep dive into issues is through the establishment of a Task and Finish Group. Task and Finish Groups should have clearly defined aims and outcomes.”
In recent years, Wandsworth has used Task and Finish Groups to tackle some of the borough’s biggest challenges. Here are three examples where they have delivered real results.
Rethinking democracy at the Town Hall
Last year, councillors decided it was time to take a look at how decisions were made in Wandsworth. Many felt Cabinet power was too concentrated and that backbench councillors didn’t have enough say.
The council set up a Democracy Review Task and Finish Group, made up of councillors from different parties, supported by officers and with input from the voluntary sector. Its job was to comb through the constitution, test ideas, and propose reforms.
By March 2025, the group’s recommendations had been debated and approved at Full Council. The changes included a new £1m threshold for key decisions, meaning that any Cabinet decision over that amount must now be classed as “key” and open to scrutiny. A brand-new General Overview and Scrutiny Committee was also created to keep Cabinet decisions under closer watch.
For Wandsworth, this was a landmark moment: one of the first times a Task and Finish Group had been used on a major strategic issue, and one that directly reshaped the council’s constitution. (Caveat: the jury is very much out when it comes to practical application of the recommendations however.)
How long it took: The Democracy Review TFG ran for around nine months, from mid-2024 until its recommendations were signed off in March 2025.
Writing a joint health strategy from scratch
When Wandsworth and Richmond needed to draw up their new Joint Local Health and Wellbeing Strategy, the council didn’t simply leave it to public health officers. Instead, it set up a Task & Finish Group to co-produce the plan.
This group wasn’t just councillors. It included the NHS South West London Integrated Care Board, St George’s Mental Health NHS Trust, Central London Community Healthcare, Healthwatch Wandsworth, the Wandsworth Care Alliance, and local GPs.
Over the course of a year, the group worked through the borough’s Joint Strategic Needs Assessment, ran evidence sessions, and put the draft strategy out for public consultation. The result was the “19 Steps to Health and Wellbeing” [pdf] strategy, which sets clear priorities across three life stages: Start Well, Live Well, Age Well.
The final document, now adopted, is guiding health policy until 2029, with measurable outcomes and a public dashboard. It’s an example of how bringing in outside expertise and resident voices through a temporary group can give a strategy legitimacy and weight.
How long it took: The Health & Wellbeing TFG ran for about twelve months, from early 2023 until the final strategy was approved in 2024.
Closing the sports participation gap
Another example came from the world of sport. Data showed women and girls in Wandsworth were far less likely than men to take part in regular exercise — 31.6% compared with 41.7%.
To understand why, the council created a Women and Girls Sports Task and Finish Group in late 2024. Councillors on the Environment Committee worked with local sports clubs, schools, community groups, and residents to uncover the barriers: cost, confidence, safety, and representation.
By June 2025, the group’s report was in front of the committee. Its recommendations included setting measurable targets, publishing annual progress, and committing real money. The council agreed, and now around £1m a year is being channelled into new programmes.
These include the Big Sister Project (free gym and swim passes with mentoring), women-only sessions, a Girls Active Festival, and classes designed for women going through menopause. It’s a clear case of a Task and Finish Group identifying a problem, working with the people affected, and turning its findings into funded, concrete action.
How long it took: The Women & Girls Sports TFG ran for about six to eight months, from late 2024 to its final report in June 2025.
Why a similar group could work for Putney traffic
These three groups show how Wandsworth has used the Task and Finish model to address major, complex issues: rewriting the council’s constitution, setting a joint health strategy, and closing a gender gap in sport. Each case followed the same pattern: assemble the right mix of councillors, partners and residents; investigate thoroughly; and report back with practical recommendations that the council then acted on.
The approach has worked because it is:
- Focused: one issue, clear remit, time-limited.
- Inclusive: not just councillors, but health partners, voluntary groups, schools, and residents.
- Action-oriented: designed to produce recommendations that committees and Cabinet can adopt.
That’s why it may be the best vehicle for Putney Bridge junction redevelopment — which has caused controversy over congestion, safety, and poor design.
The junction affects thousands daily, cuts across council and TfL responsibilities, and has sparked anger among residents and businesses. It’s too big to be sorted out in a single committee meeting, and too complex for one department alone. A Task and Finish Group could gather the evidence, listen to the community, and come back with clear, evidence-based recommendations.
Wandsworth has shown it can use this tool to deliver change on governance, health, and sport. The question now is whether it will do the same for one of Putney’s most pressing local problems.
