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Your weekly London local government update

27 Aug 25

‘Don’t ignore deprivation and housing poverty in the capital’

London Councils has urged the government to reconsider key elements of plans to reform council funding in its response to the Fair Funding Review 2.0 consultation, which closed recently.

In particular, the cross-party group highlighted the need to accurately measure the capital’s high levels of deprivation, with the impact of housing costs properly factored in.

Boroughs argue ‘flawed’ deprivation measures risk undermining the government’s aim of ensuring funding follows need. For example, the deprivation measure currently proposed gives ‘road distance to a post office’ equal weighting to levels of homelessness – suggesting these factors have the same level of impact on deprivation in a community.

London Councils Chair, Cllr Claire Holland ( [link removed] ), said: “We have long called for reform to local government funding to ensure money is distributed fairly on the basis of need. However, the current proposals risk failing to achieve this. After more than a decade of structural underfunding, rising demand and skyrocketing costs, the impact on London could be severe.

“It is right to focus resources on areas with the highest levels of deprivation, but we can’t ignore deprivation in the capital – London has the highest rate of poverty in the country once housing costs are factored in. It is difficult to explain how proximity to a post office affects someone’s life as much as homelessness, yet these factors are given equal weighting under the current proposals.

“As the government considers the responses to the consultation, we will continue working with them to ensure we create a funding regime that genuinely matches resources to need and helps restore financial stability to the sector. This is critical to us delivering on our shared priorities, including building homes, creating jobs and driving economic growth.”

By-election result

A by-election took place in LB Hounslow’s Cranford ward last week (21 August). The by-election was won by Hira Singh Dhillon (Lab). You can read the result in full here. ( [link removed] )

Case studies in prevention

To celebrate 60 years of the London boroughs, each week, London Councils is sharing prevention case studies highlighting how preventative action by London boroughs is helping to save money and improve the lives of their residents.

This week, our case study is from the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames where its Family Hub model is helping residents in need of additional support navigate the complex system of services available, improving outcomes for children and young people.

You can read Kingston's case study in full on our LinkedIn page here. ( [link removed] )

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In the news this week...

Limitations of truly fair funding exposed
LGC ( [link removed] )
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London Councils: Funding reforms could be ‘devastating’ for capital
LocalGov ( [link removed] )
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London council directors launch business-planning toolkit for Housing Revenue Accounts
Social Housing ( [link removed] )
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Turning building connections into a corporate strength
The MJ ( [link removed] )
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You can find contact details for every councillor in London in our London Government Directory here ( [link removed] ).

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Comments or queries? Email the editor ( [email protected]?subject=Key%20Issues%3A )

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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.
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