London's declining birth rate is impacting on schools' budgets across the capital, a new report published by London Councils has revealed.

The majority of school revenue funding is allocated on a per pupil basis and a decrease in pupil numbers means a decrease in the funding a school receives. With many primary schools in London  already struggling to balance budgets due to a combination of factors, including inflationary price increases, and a shortage of teaching and support staff, means that schools will have to make further difficult decisions to balance their budgets.

London Councils' Executive Member for Children and Young People, Cllr Ian Edwards, said:  “London boroughs are working closely with schools experiencing decreasing demand for school places to achieve the best for young Londoners. London still has the best performing schools in the country and it is vital we ensure our schools thrive in this difficult climate and, most importantly, that children achieve the best outcomes. 

“London Councils will work closely with key education partners in London, including government, to mitigate the impact of this drop in demand for school places and to establish an effective framework to meet this challenge going forwards."

You can read the full report: Managing Surplus School Places in London (2023) here.

On Friday (13 January), the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy published the findings of the Net Zero Review, chaired by former Energy Minister Chris Skidmore MP.

His final report, Mission Zero, makes more than one hundred recommendations - covering areas including the role that business can play and delivering more energy efficient homes - to maximise economic investment, opportunities and jobs, while working towards achieving legally binding targets to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Responding to the report's findings, London Councils’ Executive Member for Climate Change, Transport and Environment, Mayor Philip Glanville, said: “[The] Net Zero Review confirms that in order to create a sustainable, effective transition to tackle climate change, local authorities must be at the core [and] it is positive to see our representations reflected in the report.

“The report highlights the number of barriers we face in delivering net zero targets. These include the complexity of government funding programmes and the lack of long-term certainty for funding, which has a knock-on effect on local places’ ability to strategically plan and deliver projects efficiently.

“We welcome the acknowledgement of these challenges, particularly the recommendation for central government to simplify the net zero funding landscape for all local authorities by the next Spending Review.

“We stand ready to work with government and other partners to achieve a successful, place-based transition to net zero that develops green jobs for the future.”

This week marked the five year anniversary since London became a 'fast track city', by signing up to the Paris Declaration on Fast Track Cities Ending the Aids Epidemic.

The agreement, signed by the Mayor of London, London Councils, Public Health England and NHS England, commits London to end new HIV infections, stop preventable HIV deaths and eliminate the discrimination and stigma associated with HIV by 2030.

The London HIV Prevention Programme (LHPP) and the public facing information campaign Do It London has played a key role in London' ambitions to achieve the fast track cities goals.