Last week, Do It London, the multimedia campaign by the London HIV Prevention Programme (LHPP), marked Sexual Health Week 2023 by teaming up with Nathaniel Hall from Channel 4's Its A Sin and Joseph Mendez from BBC's I Kissed A Boy.

This year's theme was 'playing it safe' and Nathaniel Hall said: "With so many options, it's now easier than ever to prevent HIV transmissions and Sexual Health Week is the ideal time to find out how you can protect yourself."

London boroughs have agreed to extend the vital work being done by Do It London for a further three years, until March 2027.

London Councils' Executive Member for Health, Wellbeing and Adult Social Care, Cllr Nesil Caliskan, said: "Sexual Health Week is an opportunity to underline the vital importance of HIV prevention in London and it's fantastic to have Joseph and Nathaniel's support for Do It London."

"So much great work is being done by London boroughs to prevent HIV in our communities, tackle the stigma surrounding having an HIV diagnosis and ensure diagnoses occur at the earliest possible stage. This is having a significant impact - between 2015 and 2021 new diagnoses in London fell by 66%."

To see more about the work done across Sexual Health Week, take a look at Do It London's social media.

London Councils will be hosting events at all three of the upcoming major political party conferences. 

Next week we will be at the Liberal Democrat Party Conference in Bournemouth to discuss what’s next for the devolution agenda and how London can lead the way.

Attendees are welcome to join us on Monday 25 September, 11.30-12.30 in the Bayview Suite 2, Bournemouth International Centre. A light lunch and refreshments will be provided.

Speakers at the event will include:

Cllr Gareth Roberts, Vice Chair of London Councils and Leader of the London Borough of Richmond

Caroline Pidgeon MBE, Assembly Member, London Assembly

Cllr Bridget Smith, Leader, South Cambridgeshire District Council

Sonika Sidhu, Principal Policy Adviser, Local Government Association

Akash Paun, Programme Director – Devolution, Institute for Government

Over the summer of 2023, the London Office of Technology and Innovation (LOTI) has been working with its members and partners to create guidance for local authorities on the topic of Generative AI (GenAI).

There are four new resources available online, including one-pagers for local authority leaders and staff, a State of Play report and a guidance for CIOs produced with Faculty AI. You can find them all on the LOTI website here.

A by-election took place in the Mayesbrook ward (Barking and Dagenham) last week. The by-election was won by Summya Sohaib (Lab). You can read the result in full here.