London Councils is working with London local authorities on the implementation of the Every Child Matters programme and government initiatives such as Young London Matters and implementation of the Children in Care White Paper. Work undertaken addresses the specific challenges of providing services in London, like high levels of mobility among young people and the need to work across borough boundaries. Other key areas of work covered at the moment includes: youth crime, education for 14 to 19 year olds, safeguarding children, childcare, child poverty, asylum seekers and vulnerable children.

On 22 April, London Councils and the Local Government Association (LGA) attended a joint meeting about asylum funding with Liam Byrne MP, Minister for Borders and Immigration and Kevin Brennan MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Children, Young People and Families. The two issues raised were:

Through its work with the London Youth Crime Prevention Board, London Councils has identified pupil referral units as a key safety net that can help transform the attitudes of young people at risk of becoming involved in crime.

London Councils' crime and public protection work programme covers key policy developments in the public safely field, particularly in relation to the reduction and prevention of anti social behaviour, violent crime and the fear of crime. Work on public protection has focused on improving London's resilience and on working in partnership with key community safety agencies.

Priorities for culture and tourism include working with boroughs to improve cultural services, ensuring that culture is embedded in Local Area Agreements (LAAs) and plans for sustainable communities, investing joint work around efficiency savings and increasing the geographical spread, diversity and accessibility of London's tourism. Priorities for 2012 are to ensure that potential opportunities of hosting the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games are maximised, that the benefits are spread across all London boroughs and that London Councils and boroughs are at the heart of strategy, planning, delivery and particularly legacy phases of the project.

Social Services Formula: Adult Social Services: In April 2006 the Department of Health (DoH) introduced a new funding formula for personal social services for adults aged 18-24.  This new statistical approach to measuring the need for services has had a devastating effect on the funding for vulnerable adults in London.  London Councils has estimated that the losses in London are equivalent to £863milliion for the 2008-2011 by London Councils analysis of the CLG (Communities and Local Government) settlement data.

London Councils believes the formula is unfair and unreliable and is concerned that the disparity between borough costs and client numbers and levels of need will no longer be reflected in the grant levels they receive.  Thus making the most vulnerable members of society particularly, those with learning disabilities and adults with physical and mental illness without the support services they need. Local Government Finance is continuing to lobby the DoH and CLG to accept that the formula is unreliable and greatly distorts the funding distribution. London Councils is seeking that these agencies undertake some urgent work to develop a formula that is able to respond to the high complex health care needs of London's population.

Healthcare of London: The Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee (JOSC) published a report in April 2008 setting out its findings in response to Lord Darzi's report `Healthcare for London' proposals.  The JOSC Committee is the first scrutiny committee to represent such a wide population including London boroughs, Essex and Surrey County Councils and was established to provide an effective mechanism through which Members could represent the views of their communities to NHS London. The report provides findings, concerns and makes a number of recommendations designed to influence Lord Darzi's proposals. NHS London will release further proposals in the autumn which will be considered by the JOSC.

London Councils' housing work is primarily focused on the themes contained within the London Councils housing vision; making home ownership more affordable, developing mixed and sustainable communities, tackling homelessness more effectively within the context of maximising housing capital and revenue funding for the boroughs. Work streams and research are currently being developed to take forward the London Councils housing vision over the next 12 months.

Key issues and lobbying priorities will focus on the Housing and Regeneration Bill, ensuring that the reform of the housing revenue account addresses London funding needs, addressing health and obesity issues and in particular the Social Care Reform paper which it is understand will be published in June 2008.

On 1 April 2008 the London Centre of Excellence merged with Capital Ambition and the Improvement and Employment Division of London Councils to form London's new Improvement and Efficiency Partnership, retaining the title and branding of Capital Ambition. The core and development e-government work with London Connects will also move across to Capital ambition from 1 June 2008. 

The Interim Improvement and Efficiency Strategy 2008-12 received ministerial approval on 18 March, on which date the London Collaborative (a project looking at building a shared understanding of London's critical challenges over the next decade) was also launched.

A key aspect of London Councils current planning policy work focuses on the government's Planning Bill currently going through parliament. We are seeking amendments to proposals relating to the introduction of the Infrastructure Planning Commission (IPC) and the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL). London Councils would like the Bill to be amended to state that the Secretary of State has to make the final decision and announcement regarding Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects, basing that decision on the recommendation of the IPC. This would ensure that democratic accountability is maintained and that the government is required to take responsibility for decisions which in many cases are likely to be difficult or controversial, rather than allowing an unelected body to make these decisions.

London Councils is also seeking amendments to the clauses on CIL to ensure that London boroughs do not lose out if there is more than one charging authority in an area and to require other stakeholders, such as the Mayor and health authorities, to co-operate with the local authority in preparing an appropriate charging schedule.

London Councils policy and public affairs officers have attended a further meeting at DCLG to discuss these issues with civil servants. Another meeting has been arranged for mid June to discuss the particular issues around CIL and how it will work in London. The GLA and London First have also been invited to attend this meeting.

The London Borough Climate Change Group Information Portal is now up and running with information from 31 boroughs now on the portal. London Councils is working on a project on the capacity of London Building Control departments to contribute to sustainability and action on climate change. This project funded by Capital Ambition has now reported and the findings are being considered by the Capital Ambition Programme Board.

London Councils met with Environmental Protection UK and the Local Authorities Coordinators of Regulatory Services (LACORS). This group will now be looking at the creation of UK wide guidance on the use of biomass boilers in the context of air quality implications.

Initial work on the Local Climate Impacts Profile (LCLIP) for London has begun with the London Climate Change Partnership. This will help boroughs meet their commitments of meeting the new National Indicator on climate change adaptation (NI 188).

The new national bus concession started on 1 April allowing free bus travel for elderly and eligible disabled English people on all local bus services in England outside of the Monday to Friday morning peak. Negotiations on the annual Freedom Pass settlement are continuing and London Councils is actively involved in government working groups looking at the introduction of the national off peak bus concession from 2008. The Freedom Pass studies into the legislative context and apportionment are continuing with an oral hearing on the apportionment study on 13th May.

London Councils maintains its policy of opposing expansion at Heathrow, most recently endorsed by Transport and Environment Committee on 7 February.

The London Waste and Recycling Board is being established in shadow form pending the Order which will set up the statutory board. London Councils and the Mayor's Office have written to Environment Minister proposing that there should be an eight member Board with the Mayor chairing (or nominating a deputy) and appointing one independent member. London Councils will appoint four Borough members and two independent members. The Order is expected to come into force in the summer. London Councils is providing support for the shadow Board, but once the Board is formally set up it will decide how it wishes to operate.

This years Capital Clean Up, co-ordinated by Capital Standards was launched on 10 March, with a clean-up of the River Thames foreshore on both sides of Tower Bridge. The annual campaign was created to meet the Prime Minster's challenge of the delivery of a 100 days clean-up activity for London outlined within the document `London's Challenge for 2012 - Building on Success'. Clean-up events will take place the length and breadth of the city over the next 100 days. The 2008 campaign will run until 18 June 2008.

London Councils co-ordinates the promotion of the London Local Authorities Bills through Parliament in partnership with the City of Westminster, on behalf of all 32 London boroughs and the City of London. These are Private Bills only apply to the Greater London area, and confer additional powers on London local authorities across a range of policy areas.

The 10^th London Local Authority Bill, which deals largely with environmental issues, and the 3^rd London Local Authority & Transport for London Bill, which relates to the highways have both received Second Reading and will now go to the Select Committee stage on dates to be decided in consultation with the House authorities. The 10^th Bill dates will provisionally be in late June or early July, while the 3^rd joint Bill is likely to be in Committee after the summer recess. Meetings have been held with many of the organisations petitioning against the Bills with more planned.

Leaders' Committee in November 2007 agreed to deposit a separate bill - the London Local Authorities (Shopping Bags) Bill - the aim of which is to bring about a ban on single-use throwaway shopping bags in the capital. The formal First Reading took place on 22 January 2008; the Second Reading on 29 January.

Support for a ban on single-use throwaway shopping bags has gained momentum in the press and London Councils' proposals have attracted considerable attention. Most notably a recent campaign by the Daily Mail to `banish the bag' as highlighted the proposals put forward in the Bill and has encouraged government to act on the issue.

In the budget on Tuesday 12 March, the Chancellor said: “Given the damage that single-use carrier bags inflict on the environment, we want to be able to take action. We will introduce legislation to impose a charge on them if we have not seen sufficient progress on a voluntary basis. Legislation would come into force in 2009 and based on other countries' experience, it could lead to a 90 percent reduction, with around 12 billion fewer plastic bags in circulation. The money raised should go to environmental charities.”

Meetings have been held with most of the MPs who have put a blocking motion down against the Bill, and meeting the others will take place soon. Meetings with petitioners against the Bill have also taken place. A date is being sought for the Second Reading of the Bill in the House of Commons; however this is unlikely to take place until the autumn.