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Your weekly update of London local government issues

01 Nov 23

Increase in housing pressures puts council budgets under strain

With reports that the national housing crisis is putting increasing pressure on councils' budgets across the country, London Councils is reiterating calls for the government to work with councils to reverse the number of households relying on temporary accommodation.

The number of households entitled to homelessness support from a London borough increased 15.2% between April 2022 and April 2023. London Councils is urging the government to take the following steps:

Raise Local Housing Allowance (LHA). LHA, which eligible households receive as part of their housing benefit or Universal Credit if they have a private landlord, has been frozen since 2020 despite private rents increasing since then. Boroughs believe LHA should be increased to cover at least 30% of local market rents – a policy the government adopted successfully at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Support councils to buy accommodation sold by private landlords. 40% of all homes listed for sale in London in 2022 were previously let by a private landlord. The government should build on initiatives such as the Local Authority Housing Fund by providing increased capital investment for housing acquisitions, particularly to acquire homes being sold by private landlords as they exit the market.

Boost Homelessness Prevention Grant funding. Local authorities play a vital role in supporting struggling households to avoid homelessness. Councils require an immediate emergency funding increase to ensure local services have the resources needed in the face of rising levels of demand for support.

Increase Discretionary Housing Payments. These payments are used by councils to help residents in financial crisis meet their housing costs. They are an essential homelessness prevention tool, but government funding for Discretionary Housing Payments in 2023-24 has been frozen at 2022-23 levels, despite significantly increasing homelessness pressures.

Bring forward a cross-departmental strategy to reduce homelessness. Tackling homelessness must become a major priority at a national level with government departments working together – in addition to key partners such as local authorities – as effectively as possible.

Eco-refill project is putting the circular economy in schools

Pupils in Richmond and Wandsworth are being encouraged to change behaviours around plastic consumption and develop entrepreneurial skills through eco-refill shops located in their schools.

The project, currently being piloted in 11 schools across the two boroughs, is explained in this blog, by Ali Malvern, Programme & Policy Lead, Climate Change and Sustainability, for Richmond & Wandsworth Councils ( [link removed] ), who says. "the model for these eco-refill shops is a great example of affordable circular economy in the local area while working to draw in the wider community."

The blog space has been created by London Councils to share learning from borough officers and leaders about London local government's progress on net zero and adaptation. ( [link removed] )You can follow the blogs here ( [link removed] ) ( [link removed] ).

London boroughs are i ( [link removed] )nvesting £2 million in the next phase of London Councils’ Climate Programme ( [link removed] ), accelerating local government’s collaborative work to tackle the climate emergency. You can read more about the programme and its seven themes here ( [link removed] ).

By-election result

A by-election took place in the Higham Hill ward in Waltham Forest last week (Thursday 26 October).

The by-election was won by Shumon Ali-Rahman (Labour). ( [link removed] )You can read the result in full here ( [link removed] ) ( [link removed] ).

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Media round-up...

Councils in England facing bankruptcy as lack of housing pushes up costs
( [link removed] )The Guardian ( [link removed] ) ( [link removed] )

London's plea for unity: Tory and Labour voices unite to call for tolerance over Middle East conflict
( [link removed] )Evening Standard ( [link removed] ) ( [link removed] )

Councils scale back levelling up ambitions as costs rise
( [link removed] )The Independent ( [link removed] ) ( [link removed] )

Oflog moves to expand remit
( [link removed] )LocalGov ( [link removed] ) ( [link removed] )

Child protection enquiry total hits new annual high but proportion finding abuse continues to shrink
( [link removed] )Community Care ( [link removed] ) ( [link removed] )

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London Councils is the collective of local government in London, the 32 boroughs and the City of London.We also run pan-London services like Freedom Pass and Taxicard. 59½ Southwark Street, London SE1 0AL | [email protected] ( [email protected] )

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