Friday (24 February) was the anniversary of the launch of the full scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia. To mark the anniversary and reiterate their unwavering support for the people of Ukraine, London Councils Chair Cllr Georgia Gould, and Vice Chairs Baroness O'Neill of Bexley OBE; Cllr Ruth Dombey OBE; and Deputy Chris Hayward, issued a joint statement:

"London boroughs and Londoners stand with the people of Ukraine.

"One year on from the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, we mourn the lives lost and communities torn apart by this brutal war.

"We pledge to continue showing our support by opening our homes, our schools and our hearts to Ukrainians arriving in the capital."

Today (1 March) marks the anniversary of the launch of the Homes for Ukraine scheme and a Westminster Hall debate is due to take place later today.

The London Office of Technology and Innovation (LOTI) is exploring ways that data can be better used to help London boroughs tackle rough sleeping by identifying pathways into and out of homelessness and addressing 'blind spots' in understanding rough sleeping.

LOTI is working with London Councils, the Greater London Authority and Bloomberg Associates to develop and deliver a data tool that can support the aims of the London Life Off the Streets Programme to make rough sleeping in the capital "rare, brief and non-recurring."

You can read more about the project and its development in this blog post by LOTI's Data, Smart Cities and Cyber Security Programme Manager, Jay Saggar.

London Funders - the cross-sector membership network for funders and investors in London’s civil society - will host an event on 22 March (6-8pm) to explore the issue of what  ‘sharing power’ actually means for those making decisions about where funding goes.

The panel, which will include Paul Formosa (Trustee at the Cripplegate Foundation), Kamna Muralidharan (Chair of the Institute for Voluntary Action Research) and Juliet Campbell (Lewisham’s Cabinet Member for Communities, Refugees & Wellbeing) will be chaired by Yolande Burgess (Trustee of London Funders and Strategy Director at London Councils) and will take place at the Impact Hub in Kings Cross.

Please note that this is a member-only event. Trustees of London Funders members and elected members of London’s councils are very welcome to attend. More details here.

Following a by-election in Barnet on Thursday 16 February, Conservative candidate Peter Zinkin was elected to represent the Golders Green ward. You can read the result in full here