Westminster & district · Local news you can trust
The Mayor's target was traffic-free by the end of summer. On 1 September buses 94, 139 and 390 still stop at Selfridges, and the council wants a full EIA.
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Schools
Westminster GCSE results 2026: 78% beats London 75.5%
Westminster reports 78% of GCSE entries at grade 4 or above, clearing England's 67% and London's tougher 16-year-old rate of 75.5%. One claim cannot be checked.
Schools
Westminster free school meals: 600 pupils lose lunch
Westminster has scrapped its free lunch for Years 7 to 9 from September. Of 967 pupils, about 367 are covered by the new national rules. The other 600 are not.
Queen's Park
Queen's Park Family Hub: £3.7m rebuild, open in 2027
Westminster has awarded a £3.69m contract to rebuild 17-23 Third Avenue as the Queen's Park Family Hub, £916,000 under estimate. It opens in autumn 2027.
Schools
Westminster A level results 2026: 86% at A*-C, above England
Westminster's 86% at A to C beat the 78.1% England figure. Harris Westminster hit 92%, Westminster City School held its record, and re-marks close on 20 August.
Council Tax
Westminster Council Tax: £160m gap, survey shuts 30 Sept
Government cuts leave Westminster a £160m gap, and a Band D bill of £1,048 could rise by £537 a year. What the survey asks, and the 30 September deadline.
Licensing
Westminster pub standing ban: what the council proposes
The council calls a pub standing ban '100 percent untrue'. What its closed licensing consultation proposes, and why the Mayor of London is now involved.
Transport
Dockless bikes in Westminster: operators agree clean-up
Lime, Voi, Forest and Bolt will share live data and clear badly parked bikes after a council summit. Fines are up nearly 200 per cent since May.
Local Info
Westminster house prices: £836,331, down 22.8%
The average Westminster home sold for £836,331 in May 2026, down 22.8% in a year. The typical sale was £805,000 and 86% were flats. Postcode by postcode.
Local Info
Westminster Tube times: £3.10 a trip, £8.90 a day
A Zone 1 Tube trip costs £3.10 at peak and the day is capped at £8.90. Journey times from Maida Vale, Pimlico and Paddington, plus Heathrow and Gatwick fares.
Local Info
Things to do in Westminster: the Abbey is £27 to 1 Sept
Westminster Abbey is £27.13 until 1 September, then £31. Buckingham Palace is £33 in advance, and three of the best things here cost nothing. Prices checked.
Local Info
Westminster planning: council loses Oxford Street 10 Aug
From 10 August the Oxford Street Development Corporation, not Westminster, decides planning there. Plus the new City Plan consultation, open until 11 December.
Local Info
Westminster Parking Zones: Hours End at 6.30pm, Not 9pm
Westminster pay-to-park and single yellow hours stop at 6.30pm in every zone. It is the resident bays that run to 24 hours, and the sign will not say.
Almost nobody says they live in Westminster. They say Marylebone, Pimlico, Bayswater, Paddington, St John’s Wood, Belgravia, Soho or Queen’s Park. The word means Parliament and the Abbey to the rest of the country, and a council to the people who live under it.
That council is worth paying attention to. It runs controlled parking zones and permits across nearly the whole borough, licenses the West End, and works through a planning caseload in which most buildings are listed or in a conservation area. All of it is published. We read it and write down what it says, with a link to the document on every fact.
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Every fact is linked to the official source it came from.