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Your weekly update of London local government issues

8 Mar 23

Women's Rough Sleeping Census

Today (8 March) is International Women's Day and London Councils is proud to have supported the first London-wide Women’s Rough Sleeping Census.

Led by the Single Homeless Project, the Women’s Development Unit, and St Mungo’s, the census is the first of its kind on a pan-London scale and is designed to improve understanding of the extent and nature of women’s rough sleeping in the capital.

With a new report on the census due out this week, boroughs are committed to working with partners across London’s homelessness sector to increase safety and improve outcomes for women sleeping rough.

Michelle Binfield, London Councils’ Rough Sleeping Programme Director, said: “Rough sleeping is particularly dangerous for women. The census is a vital tool for helping us understand the scale of the challenge and for targeting resources for successful prevention and front-line support work.

“Boroughs are proud to be part of the pan-London partnership tackling this issue and doing everything we can to help women off the streets and into safe accommodation.”

( [link removed] )More details on the Women’s Pan-London Rough Sleeping Census available here ( [link removed] ) ( [link removed] ).

Secondary School Offer Day 2023

Last Wednesday (1 March) was National Secondary School Offer Day 2023, when children due to start secondary school in September found out which school they'd be attending. There were 92, 641 applications for secondary school places in London. Of these, 94 per cent were offered a place at one of their prefered schools, figures published by the Pan London Admissions Board show.

( [link removed] )London Councils Executive Member for Children and Young People, Cllr Ian Edwards ( [link removed] ) ( [link removed] ), said:  “It is positive that once again the overwhelming majority of children have an offer from one of their preferred schools. Boroughs have worked diligently with schools to ensure there are sufficient places to meet the high demand for school places across the capital.

“London is an incredibly high-performing region at GCSE level with 90% of schools rated Good or Outstanding by Ofsted, which means local families can be confident that their child will receive an excellent education.

“We remain keen to work with Government to respond to pressures surrounding secondary school places and to support the growing demand for development of specialist SEND provision at a local level, ensuring that that all London pupils have the best start in life.”

The Future of Local Government Finance and Fiscal Devolution

It is now a decade since the London Finance Commission (LFC) highlighted that London enjoys considerably less financial autonomy than other world cities - pointing out, for example, that just 7 per cent of the tax generated in the capital was retained in the capital, compared with over 50 per cent in New York.

While London and the UK have changed considerably since 2013, both the logic that underpinned the original LFC and the recommendations it put forward are just as valid today, argues Paul Honeyben in a new collection of essays from Localis exploring where local government finance might be in 2030. ( [link removed] )You can read all the essays in Moving Through the Gears here. ( [link removed] ) ( [link removed] )

Leaders' Committee

London Councils Leaders' Committee met yesterday (7 March). Items on the agenda included: The Pan London Infrastructure Framework (finance and partnership options); Local Government Finance; Local Authority Housing Standards and a presentation on initial analysis of Census 2021 data. ( [link removed] )You can read the agenda and related reports in full on our website here. ( [link removed] ) ( [link removed] )

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Media round-up...

Main cogs of council finance ‘out of synch’, think tank says
( [link removed] )LocalGov ( [link removed] ) ( [link removed] )

Requests for publicly-funded care at record high
( [link removed] )The MJ ( [link removed] ) ( [link removed] )

Former Tower Hamlets interim chief appointed interim chief again
( [link removed] )LGC ( [link removed] ) ( [link removed] )

Snow and icy conditions to hit London as yellow alert issued
( [link removed] )BBC News ( [link removed] ) ( [link removed] )

London’s rental crisis sees number of homeless families living in hotels reach new record high
( [link removed] )Evening Standard ( [link removed] ) ( [link removed] )

Useful resources

Help with cost of living ( [link removed] )

Disasters Emergency Committee ( [link removed] )

Covid data and advice ( [link removed] )

Freedom Pass ( [link removed] )

Taxicard ( [link removed] )

Parking Services ( [link removed] )

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( [link removed] )You can now also follow London Councils  ( [link removed] )
on Instagram  ( [link removed] )

Comments or queries? Email the editor ( [email protected]?subject=Key%20Issues%3A )

visit londoncouncils.gov.uk ( [link removed] )

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London Councils is the collective of local government in London, the 32 boroughs and the City of London.We also run pan-London services like Freedom Pass and Taxicard. 59½ Southwark Street, London SE1 0AL | [email protected] ( [email protected] )

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