London Councils is calling on the government to provide certainty on funding for London boroughs for the rest of this year as they continue to support Londoners and businesses through the Covid-19 pandemic.

The impact of the pandemic is casting a long shadow, with boroughs anticipating spending pressures and lost income of more than £600 million for the first half of 2021/22, and growing uncertainty over funding with a number of key funding and compensation streams ending last month.

The ending of the furlough scheme in September, the tapering of business rates reliefs and ending of business support grants will mean that lost income from business rates, fees and charges, commercial and housing rents is unlikely to return to pre-pandemic levels for some time.

London Councils is asking the government to confirm, as soon as possible, the funding envelope for London boroughs to continue to address the pandemic for the remainder of the year, including:

• extending the Sales Fees & Charges scheme for the remainder of the year;
• implementing a compensation scheme for tax losses in 2021-22;
• ensuring funding for ongoing spending pressures relating to outbreak management including new variants of concern; and
• extending the Test and Trace Support Scheme to help incentivise self-isolation beyond June.

Local leaders in London are calling for people to treat frontline workers with kindness following a growing number of reports of increasingly hostile incidents.

This comes after stepping up London’s drive to get more Londoners vaccinated and tested while delivering other crucial face-to-face health and care services as we move towards the final phase of the coronavirus pandemic.

Chair of London Councils, Cllr Georgia Gould, said:

“We are now reaching an important point in the battle against the pandemic. The vast majority of Londoners have been respectful and patient with the capital’s boroughs’ and NHS frontline staff as they work to help keep London safe.

“Unfortunately, some people are losing their patience and feel it is okay to be rude, abusive and sometime violent to these hard-working heroes who have worked ceaselessly for the last 16 months.

“Services will slowly return to some kind of normality, but testing and vaccinations are essential to establishing a route out of the pandemic. Even if you have a complaint or difference of opinion, please be respectful to people who have made caring for Londoners their priority throughout this public health crisis.

“The last year has been incredibly difficult for so many Londoners but we are a city that looks out for each other and we must keep this spirit alive, especially in this final push.”

Hannah Doody was formally confirmed as the new Chief Executive of the London Borough of Merton, following cross-party endorsement at a meeting of the full council last week.

She has been Director of Community and Housing at the authority for the past four years and replaces outgoing Chief Executive Ged Curran, who has retired from Merton after 17 years at its most senior officer.

And in Hackney, Mark Carroll, who is currently executive Director for Place and Public Health at Essex County Council, is due to replace former Chief Executive Tim Shields, who retired in May.

He is expected to take on the new role later this year, subject to approval at Hackney's next full council meeting on 21 July.

A new bootcamp to increase data science skills across London’s local government has been launched this week by the London Office of Technology and Innovation (LOTI) and the Office for National Statistics’ (ONS) Data Science Campus.

Fifteen officers working for London boroughs and the Greater London Authority (GLA) have been selected for the pilot cohort of this new data science bootcamp.

The 12-week programme will improve the officers’ ability to help London boroughs and the GLA to use data to gain a deeper understanding of the city, underpin policy and design more effective services.

London Councils' Leaders' Committee met yesterday (Tuesday 13 July). Items on the agenda included an update on Local Government Finance; the NHS White Paper and Health Bill; London ‘s Economic Recovery and Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children and Asylum and Migration Issues in the Capital.

London Councils has added an Instagram account to its social media. You can follow us @londoncouncils