London Councils

Today we’ve launched the London Growth Plan – a blueprint to turbocharge 🚀 inclusive economic growth and increase prosperity 📈 in the capital and across the UK. Developing the Plan has been a true partnership effort with the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan and the Greater London Authority, London & Partners, boroughs, businesses, higher and further education, trade unions, communities and other London partners. At our launch event for the Plan at Imperial College London it was great to mark this moment with so many stakeholders.   Boroughs are resolutely pro-growth and are committed to working with businesses, the Mayor of London and national government on this important agenda. Through London Councils, boroughs have played a leading role in the development of the London Growth Plan and will be crucial in delivering it – whether it’s building new housing and infrastructure, supporting growth sectors in local areas across inner and outer London, or helping people upskill and get jobs as part of the Inclusive Talent Strategy. London cannot achieve its potential until all Londoners achieve their potential. So it’s vital that London’s future economic growth is inclusive - raising the incomes of the lowest-earning Londoners is a central ambition of the Plan. Joint press release: https://lnkd.in/eqnP9xCJ London Growth Plan website: https://growthplan.london/

The worsening #homelessness emergency is putting immense and unsustainable pressure on councils across the country. According to a story in the Financial Times, spending by local authorities on emergency accommodation for homeless families rose by nearly 80% in the year to March 2024. Using research from The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) commissioned by Crisis, the article highlights that the cost of housing homeless families in stop-gap accommodation - including hostels, bed and breakfasts and other places charged on a nightly basis - soared from £411m in 2022-23 to £732mn in 2023-24. This chimes with what we are seeing in London, where one in 50 Londoners is currently homeless and living in temporary accommodation. Our analysis shows that London boroughs spend £4m every day on accommodation for homeless households. The full story is available here (behind a paywall £) ⬇️

We're Hiring!    We are looking for a new Head of Programme (Retrofit) to lead London’s Strategic SHF Partnership.   Do you have a strong background of delivering retrofit at scale, dynamic programme management skills, alongside substantial leadership experience? Do you also want to join and shape a brand new organisation, right at the start of our critical journey towards delivering warmer homes in London, that are cheaper to heat and more energy efficient for the environment? The partnership will be managed and co-ordinated from within Warmer Homes London, this new joint endeavour of the GLA and London Councils has been established to accelerate the pace and scale of quality retrofit across the capital. Apply or find out more here: https://lnkd.in/gxryXM5H

In the face of growing budget pressures, the government has confirmed allocations of 'Exceptional Financial Support' to local authorities for the coming year. Seven London boroughs will receive EFS in 2025-26 totalling £418m – a significant jump from the two London boroughs receiving EFS of £71m in 2024-25. We are concerned that EFS is burdening councils with further debts and servicing costs – without enabling them to return their finances to a sustainable footing. Read our statement here: https://lnkd.in/eZVpiaYE #localgov #councilfinances #councilfunding #MHCLG

*NEW REPORT* Our new report analyses predicted school places demand across the capital and shows that the decline in pupil numbers in London is set to continue: 📉 Over the next four years London will need 117 fewer reception classes and 100 fewer year seven classes. 🐣 London’s birth rate is the main reason for the decrease in demand for school places. Between 2012-2022 there has been a 20% decrease of the birth rate in London. 🏙️ The drop in birth rate is mainly due to the severe shortage of affordable family housing in the capital, leading to more people deciding not to have families in London. 🏫 As schools receive funding per pupil, London schools are having to make difficult decisions about how to balance their budgets. This could include reducing teaching staff or as a last resort having to close or merge schools. 💡 To help London schools and London boroughs manage the situation, we're calling for: 1) stronger powers for local authorities on school places - particularly over the future of closed schools, and 2) for local authorities to be allowed to manage in year admissions for all schools. Read the full report here: https://lnkd.in/eQ2rs9MG

We're hiring! In a fast-evolving media landscape, do you have the determination, creativity and skills to ensure local public services in London get the media attention they deserve? We want to recruit a highly-motivated, confident and astute Media Officer to join our communications team. You will have a background in media relations, politics or campaigns with knowledge of and keen interest in London local government, and a track record of success in creating and delivering impactful media relations strategies to support organisational priorities. Apply here: https://lnkd.in/eSr-qSRH

Read the latest Climate Blog - Beating Blue Monday with Sustainable Action: Highlights from the One World Living Textiles Visit: https://lnkd.in/eQ6McPWm

The #SpendingReview is a vital opportunity to end the permacrisis in #localgov finances and boost economic growth. In our representation to the government, we highlight boroughs’ determination to champion growth in their communities – especially through boosting delivery of new affordable homes. However, this requires stable finances. London boroughs receive 28% less funding per Londoner than they did in 2010, and will be left grappling with a £500m funding shortfall in the coming year. We are making the case for much-needed investment in local services after a prolonged period of underfunding. Find out more here: https://lnkd.in/ePxGWAAC

As the Consultation on the Spending Review came to an end this weekend, check out this insightful piece in Inside Housing from our Executive Group Director for Development & Sales, Vicky Savage o her from the All-Party Parliamentary Group for London’s event on housebuilding: https://lnkd.in/eP8p6uea

Today we're launching Warmer Homes London, a joint initiative from London Councils, the boroughs and the Mayor of London to fix the wiring and help build a system capable of improving thousands not hundreds, of homes. Our ambition is all about scale. We're putting together a partnership to find solutions to the things that are holding us back - finance and funding, supply chain, data, public engagement and fragmentation - all while supporting landlords and homeowners to deliver on their energy efficiency programmes today. Our small but mighty group of retrofit obsessives across London government started this work almost 3 years ago and we've been joined by brilliant colleagues, supporters, and political leaders along the way. Today is the start of our set up phase. We'll be sharing more about the what, how and when over the coming months. We'll also be looking for people to join our team, so watch this space 👀 Dr. Austin Entonu, MBE, MBA, FACCA, PRINCE2 and CFA Eleanor Purser Philip Graham Piali Das Gupta Becci Taylor Jack Ostrofsky Catherine Barber