Congratulations to LB Haringey who were named  Best all Round Small Business Friendly Borough; and LB Tower Hamlets, whose support for local businesses' to pivot in response to the pandemic, was named Best Programme of Support for Small Businesses at the Small Business Friendly Borough Awards 2022.

Congratulations too to all of the shortlisted boroughs at this year's awards whose work was recognised as going 'above and beyond'. These were: (Best All Round Small Business category) LB Barnet; Westminster City Council and LB Enfield; (Best Programme of Support category): LB Hounslow [Highly Commended]; LB Islington and LB Richmond upon Thames.

The awards were presented by London Councils Executive Member for Business, Economy and Culture Cllr Elizabeth Campbell, LEAP board member Nita P. Wood, and FSB North London Area Lead David Clare at the Guildhall, City of London last week.

You can read more about all of the winners and shortlisted candidates on our website here.

London Councils Chair Cllr Georgia Gould and the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan jointly hosted the  ‘London Greener and Warmer Buildings Summit’ yesterday (Tuesday 22 February 2022).

The summit showcased London boroughs' ambition to get all London homes to an EPC rating of B by 2030, which means retrofitting 3.8 million homes that are currently responsible for one third of London's carbon emissions.

In November 2019, London Environment Directors Network (LEDNet) and the Transport and Environment Committee (TEC) came together to discuss key climate change issues facing boroughs, and how they could work together to address them.

You can read more about London Councils' seven climate change programmes, including Retrofitting London, on our website here.

Boroughs continue to work hard in supporting Afghan evacuees and helping them settle into new lives in the UK.

London still has around 4,000 Afghan evacuees in bridging accommodation, around a third of the Afghan evacuee hotel population. Although more Afghan families are being matched and resettled, London is also continuing to receive new arrivals.

The government has provided more clarity on funding to cover local authorities’ housing costs for this work, with £25.5 million made available to help councils secure housing.

But there continue to be massive challenges in London where there is a particular lack of affordable, family-sized housing.

Cllr Darren Rodwell, London Councils’ Executive Member for Housing & Planning, said: “Boroughs are proud of our work supporting thousands of Afghan evacuees to settle in the UK and rebuild their lives.

“We’re committed to helping evacuees find new homes in London and we all want to see faster progress in moving evacuees out of hotels, but it’s extremely difficult to secure long-term accommodation options.

“We’re working closely with the Home Office, including escalating boroughs’ concerns and highlighting the need for adequate resources.”