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Your weekly London local government update

22 Oct 25

Flood risk resilience warning

A new report from a Select Committee of MPs ( [link removed] ) has warned that flooding in England is a systemic and growing climate risk and that, while the government has committed new capital funding, the scale of investment remains insufficient relative to overall flood risk.

The report from the Environmental Audit Committee argues that the current system, though delivering important defences, is fragmented and reactive, leaving major gaps in long-term resilience that must be urgently addressed.

In London, partners across the capital have joined forces to take action in making London more resilient to flooding from surface water and last year published the first London Surface Water Strategy.

The London Surface Water Strategy is published by the Flood Ready London partnership, made up of Environment Agency, London Councils, London Fire Brigade, Mayor of London, Thames Water, and Transport for London. It provides detailed water and geographical information to help the water industry, developers and planners learn more about London’s flood risk to develop policy, design schemes or inform local action to help prevent and reduce the risk of surface flooding in the capital.

Flood Ready London is also working to find the best, most practical and cost-effective ways to help Londoners be prepared for flooding. Developed through a series of consultations with boroughs, environmental organisations, and community groups, the solutions proposed rely on collective, pan-London working.

You can read more about how the first London Surface Water Strategy is leading the way in making
London more resilient to flooding here ( [link removed] ).

Armed Forces Covenant

The Forces in Mind Trust, ( [link removed] ) which works within the military charities sector and more widely, to support the United Kingdom’s Armed Forces Community, has published a new report exploring the progress achieved in delivering the Armed Forces Covenant.

The report, which builds on previous work examining the delivery and impact of the Covenant, finds that significant progress has been made, often enabled by an increasing awareness of the Covenant. Despite this progress, Covenant delivery remains inconsistent, with improvements needed to continue raising awareness of both the Armed Forces community and the Covenant among frontline staff.

You can read the report 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 London Borough of Sutton, where the council's Residential Strategy has helped reduce the number of children in unregistered placements, providing more stability, helping children stay connected with their local communities, and providing long-term care for children where appropriate.

You can read the case study in full on our LinkedIn page ( [link removed] ) and all of our prevention case studies here ( [link removed] ).

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In the news this week...

Will affordable housing be the casualty as London tackles its building emergency?
The Guardian ( [link removed] )
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LGA: Costs pushing many to financial brink
The MJ ( [link removed] )
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Cllr Grace Williams on London's temporary accommodation crisis (from 2h 11m)
BBC Radio London ( [link removed] )
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Reorganisation and fair funding will 'throw cards up in the air' on budgets
LGC ( [link removed] )

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Londoners forced to move out of capital to have children, experts warn - as scale of families exodus revealed
The Standard ( [link removed] )
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Circular Economy Week

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Circular Economy week, hosted by ReLondon ( [link removed] ), celebrates the inspiring work communities, boroughs, and organisations across London are doing to: Reduce waste; Promote reuse and repair; and Rethink the way we consume. Find out more on our LinkedIn post here ( [link removed]- )

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London Local Government 
Directory

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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visit londoncouncils.gov.uk ( [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.
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