Congratulations to the London boroughs named among the winners at this year's LGC Awards, including: Brent who took top spot in both the Diversity and Inclusion and the Economic Support Categories; Enfield who were named winners in the Public Health category; and Hackney who won the Climate Response category.

Kensington and Chelsea Chief Executive Barry Quirk's contribution to London local government was recognised with a special Lifetime Achievement award.

You can find more details on all of the winners here.

The Mayor of London this week announced a £5 million funding package to support all 32 London Boroughs in delivering prevention and early intervention programmes to drive down violence this summer.

Lib Peck, Director of London’s Violence Reduction Unit, said: “Our approach to tackling violence in London is rooted in prevention and early intervention. We know the challenges that the summer brings when traditionally we’ve seen increases in violence. That’s why it’s absolutely crucial we work in partnership with councils and others across the capital to deliver a programme of activities and opportunities for young Londoners."

London Councils Leaders' Committee will meet later today (27 July). Items on the agenda include London Councils' Shared Ambitions and an update on the latest issues relating to local government finance, including the government’s planned funding reforms, the rising costs of inflation, high needs deficits, adult social care reform, concerns regarding the 2021 Census, and reforms to homelessness funding.

You can watch a livestream of the meeting here (from 11.30am)

As boroughs look to make the best use of office space, hybrid, agile and new ways of collaborative working, the London Office of Technology and Innovation recently hosted a tour of four of the most innovative offices across different sectors in the capital.

The tour, which brought together 32 officers from 21 London boroughs, visited offices in Camden council, Zoom, Bloomberg and Microsoft to explore and share thinking about possible future workplaces and the role technology can play.

You can read a blog about the tour here.

London Councils is looking to recruit a confident, friendly and highly-motivated parliamentary officer with a background in parliamentary affairs and knowledge of, and a passion for, local government and public service reform to join our communications team.

Full details on our website here.