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Your weekly update of London local government issues

07 Feb 24

MPs call on government to urgently act to plug council funding 'hole'

The Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (LUHC) Committee last week published a report into the range of financial pressures currently faced by councils in England, not least the rising demand for children’s and adults’ social care.

In their report, the cross-party group of MPs call on the government to fix the £4 billion hole in council funding arrangements for 2024/25, or risk severe impact to council services and the prospect of further councils in England facing effective bankruptcy. ( [link removed] )You can read the LUHC committee report in full here. ( [link removed] ) ( [link removed] )

Responding to the report, London Councils' Deputy Chair Cllr Claire Holland ( [link removed] ) said: “The LUHC Committee’s report provides a thorough assessment of why local authorities are facing financial distress, and what must be done to prevent more councils falling over and protect vital local services.

"The government must take the committee’s recommendations seriously. Now is the time to urgently work with councils to reform local government funding to ensure it is sufficient to meet the growing scale of demand, is more fairly distributed, more certain and less centrally controlled."

The House of Commons is due to debate the state of local government finances later today. London Councils has briefed London MPs ( [link removed] ) on the issues and challenges faced by London local authorities ahead of that debate.

London Office of Technology and Innovation: upcoming events

This month sees the return of the London Office of Technology and Innovation's (LOTI's) Adult Social Care Show & Tell series. In the first session (today at 10am), colleagues from Redbridge will be sharing learning from their project exploring the user journeys residents take when they need social care support. Upcoming sessions include: Piloting a home care cooperative in Clapton (Wednesday 21 February); Developing a data platform for social workers (Wednesday 6 March); and Care Assessment Automation in Kingston (Wednesday 13 March). ( [link removed] ) ( [link removed] )You can find out more and join the guestlist for the sessions here ( [link removed] ) ( [link removed] ).

Later this month (28 February) LOTI will host an online Lunch and Learn webinar exploring the lessons from fast paced innovation in the private sector. The webinar will be presented by Jacob Sutton from The Future Foundry, with time for questions at the end. ( [link removed] )You can find out more and register to attend the event here. ( [link removed] )

Repairing broken electrical devices 

Have any of your electronics or electricals (mobile phone, computer, ear buds, toaster etc) broken down recently? Whether or not you decided to repair your device, we are looking for participants to take part in a short survey to share their experiences.

The survey is being conducted by Imperial College London, as part of a project being run by LOTI in conjunction with LB Barnet Re:London, to find out more about how Londoners use or consider using repair services for electrical goods.

The survey is anonymous and will take around 8 minutes to complete. Please note that you need to be 18+ years-old to take part. Once you have completed the survey, you will be invited to enter a raffle to win one of four £25 IKEA vouchers.

Please click here if you would like to take part and help us improve repair choices in London. ( [link removed] ) ( [link removed] )

Freedom Pass renewals

Freedom Pass holders whose passes are due to expire on 31 March will have recently received a renewal letter.

If you have received a letter, you are advised to renew as soon as possible to ensure you get your updated card in good time.

You can renew quickly and easily online now at: www.freedompass.org/renewal ( [link removed] )

City of London Aldermanic elections

Emma Edhem ( [link removed] ) (Independent, Candlewick ward) and ( [link removed] )Robert Hughes-Penney, ( [link removed] ) ( [link removed] ) (Independent, Cheap ward) were both elected in uncontested Aldermanic elections in the City of London last week.

Aldermen are the senior Member of a ward in the City of London and also sit in the Court of Aldermen, which has historic functions such as approving people for Freedom of the City and approving the formation of new livery companies

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Media round-up...

Call for Household Support Fund to continue in London
( [link removed] )This is Local London ( [link removed] ) ( [link removed] )

Momentum builds to save ‘vital’ cost of living fund
( [link removed] )LGC ( [link removed] ) ( [link removed] )

Household Support Fund doubt leaving councils ‘in limbo’
( [link removed] )LocalGov ( [link removed] ) ( [link removed] )

Gove sets out productivity plans criteria as final settlement unveiled
( [link removed] )LGC ( [link removed] ) ( [link removed] )

Life expectancy falls by two years in London's poorest areas
( [link removed] )Evening Standard ( [link removed] ) ( [link removed] )

London chief steps down after bereavement
( [link removed] )LGC ( [link removed] ) ( [link removed] )

( [link removed] )
Find out more about the upcoming London Mayoral election and changes to how we vote ( [link removed] )

Useful resources

Help with cost of living ( [link removed] )

Disasters Emergency Committee ( [link removed] )

Freedom Pass ( [link removed] )

Taxicard ( [link removed] )

Parking Services ( [link removed] )

About London Councils ( [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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