Three-quarters of Londoners (75%) say the cost-of-living crisis has made it more difficult for them to take action to help prevent climate change, new polling commissioned by London Councils has revealed.

In the third year of polling by London Councils to gauge Londoners’ understanding of climate change and the effect it has on their lives, results showed the vast majority of Londoners (84%) are concerned about climate change. In addition to this, people are also becoming more worried about climate change with 72% of Londoners saying their level of concern has increased over the past 12 months.

However, those surveyed believe the cost-of-living crisis is having an impact on their ability to take action to prevent climate change. 40% of Londoners think the cost-of-living crisis has definitely made it more difficult for them to take action to help prevent climate change, with 36% saying it has made it slightly more difficult. Positively however, 57% of Londoners say the cost-of-living crisis motivates them to do more on climate change if it also helps to reduce their costs.

Ahead of the Autumn Statement expected to be delivered by Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt tomorrow (17 November), London Councils has briefed London MPs on the challenging financial outlook facing boroughs.

The energy crisis, soaring inflation, and rising demand for services has put huge additional financial pressures on boroughs’ budgets and opened a wide gap between the funding received and the amount spent on local services. Based on the government’s current funding plans, London boroughs face a gap of up to £400 million this year and £700 million in 2023/24.

London Councils Chair Cllr Georgia Gould said: “The funding outlook for boroughs is beyond bleak. The scale of the savings required is colossal and will inevitably mean cuts to the vital frontline services that so many Londoners rely on.

“Boroughs will do everything we can to protect our communities but a £700 million funding gap next year will force us into the toughest of tough decisions unless the government offers new support.

“We’re urging the government to listen to councils’ concerns and take swift action to avoid a bad situation becoming even worse.”

Local Authorities across London have supported research, led by London Innovation and Improvement Alliance (LIIA), to improve their understanding of how they can better support children’s social workers working in the region.

As part of this work, the LIIA has recently launched the #BigListen as an opportunity for all children's social workers in London to be heard in helping London’s regional response to improving the working environment.

Each of the #BigListen online focus groups will include up to 45 children's social workers practicing in London and will run from 24 November to 1 December. If you would like to participate you can find out more and register to attend here.

Information from the focus groups will be used by the 33 London Local Authorities and the 19 Authorities in the South East in partnership to develop a deeper understanding of how they can improve the workplace for children’s social workers.

The LIIA is the Association of London Directors of Children’s Services (ALDCS) sector-led improvement partnership and is hosted by London Councils.

The data boroughs collect and/or hold can be one of their most valuable assets - used intelligently, it can help them make better decisions, drive service improvements and better serve their residents. However, boroughs are acutely aware of the need to use data not just legally but also ethically, transparently and in a way that is worthy of their residents’ trust.

To help develop these tools and processes in local government, the London Office of Technology and Innovation (LOTI) - a coalition of the GLA, London Councils and boroughs who want to work together to bring the best of digital, data and innovation to improve public services for Londoners - have created a hands-on London Data Ethics Service. Boroughs can learn more about the Data Ethics Service on the LOTI website here.