## London Councils Annual Review 2015/16 Contents

1. Foreword, Mayor Jules Pipe 2. About London Councils 3. Adding value for London boroughs 
4. Advancing London local government 5. Devolution and Public Service Reform 
6. Finance and Resources 7. Housing and Planning 8. Transport, Environment and Infrastructure 
9. Economic Growth and Regeneration 10. 
Education and Children 
11. 
Health and Social Care 
12. 
Policing and Crime 
13. 
Transport and Mobility Services 
14. 
Young People's Education and Skills 
15. 
Capital Ambition 
16. 
Community Services and Grants 
17. 
London Self Improvement Board 
18. 
London Procurement Strategy Board 
19. 
Events and Awards 
20. 
Keeping you informed 
21. 
Income and Expenditure 
22. 
Executive Members 
 Please note that the 2015/16 London Councils Annual Review will be an online only edition available at www.londoncouncils.gov.uk/review-15-16 
 

## Foreword

At the same time as London's newly elected Mayor takes office, it is worth reflecting back on the journey that London local government - the Mayor and the 32 London boroughs and the City of London - has been making in recent years, and particularly the significant milestones achieved in the period covered by this annual review. The starting point of this review - 1st April 2015 - marked exactly 50 years since boroughs assumed their powers and responsibilities. As Professor Tony Travers observed in his excellent lecture to mark that anniversary: "In a country which frequently reorganises its governmental machinery, 50 years is a long time." 
And, just as the London in which we live is both the same and very different to the London of 1965, so too in many ways are the London boroughs that serve Londoners today. The longevity of the boroughs reflects their relevance for the task at hand. Over those 50 years the London County Council, the Greater London Council and the Government Office for London have come and gone. Today, of course, we have a directly elected Mayor working with the boroughs and the City of London to provide leadership and secure critical public services for our capital city. We look forward to working with the new Mayor to ensure that London has the right powers and resources so together we can focus on the pressing needs of London right across the capital. We in the boroughs won't simply be able to carry on delivering services in the same way, especially not when London boroughs have seen a cut of 44 per cent to their grants from central government - a direction of travel that is likely to be maintained for the next four years. Boroughs have long been at the forefront of innovation in public service delivery, but it is now widely recognised that meeting the needs of London's rapidly growing population (expected to reach 11 million by 2050), most particularly at a time of public finance restraint, cannot be achieved by simply continuing to try and make existing systems work better or faster. That is why London's leaders have collectively tasked London Councils with making the case to government, with the Mayor and with partners across the capital and beyond, that future needs can only be met by a new settlement - one that sees the UK's traditional centralism give way to devolved government capable of delivering joined-up solutions that can target limited resources to their maximum effect.  
This year London Councils and the Mayor of London submitted a set of joint proposals and inter-related reforms that London government wishes to see in order to provide sustainable solutions to the capital's challenges. These have been recognised by government in the areas of employment support, skills, health and fiscal devolution that are explored in this review. These are significant steps in the journey we are undertaking collectively. In addition, the urgency of working together with the Mayor and government to boost housing supply in London cannot be overestimated. As ever, we know that we now need to go further and faster to match our members' 
ambitions for their communities and businesses. This review, however, is a useful way station in the journey and marks what can be achieved when London local government works together in the collective interests of Londoners. I look forward to continuing to work on our shared ambitions for London in the year ahead. 

  
Mayor Jules Pipe Chair, London Councils 

## About London Councils

London Councils represents London's 32 borough councils and the City of London. 

It is a cross-party organisation that works on behalf of all of its member authorities regardless of political persuasion. London Councils makes the case to government, the Mayor and others to get the best deal for Londoners and to ensure that our member authorities have the resources, freedoms and powers to do the best possible job for their residents and local businesses. 

London Councils runs a number of direct services for member authorities including the Freedom Pass, Taxicard and Health Emergency Badge. It also runs an independent parking appeals service and a pan-London grants programme for voluntary organisations. London Councils acts as a catalyst for effective sharing among boroughs - be that ideas, good practice, people, resources, or policies and new approaches. The strategic direction of London Councils is set by the Leaders' Committee, which comprises the Leaders and directly elected Mayors of all of London's local authorities. There is also a cross-party Executive, which guides the organisation's day-to-day work. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

## Adding Value For London Boroughs

London Councils acts as host for a number of bodies which add value to the work of our member authorities by helping them co-ordinate their work with pan-London organisations. These include: 
London Safeguarding Children Board (LSCB), representing London's councils in a broader partnership with police, health and other partners to promote child safeguarding across London. 

London Young People's Education and Skills (YPES) Board - the lead strategic body for 14-19 education and training in the capital. 

London Councils is the **Regional Employers' body for London local authorities**. 

Boroughs are members of the Greater London Employment Forum and are represented on the Greater London Provincial Council for the purposes of negotiations with trades unions. 

Capital Ambition, established in 2008 as the regional improvement and efficiency partnership for London. Capital Ambition has led and supported London local authorities in realising greater efficiency, performance improvement, innovation and new ways of working together to delivery local public services in the boroughs. Since 
2013, Capital Ambition has driven innovation in local government through the London Ventures programme. London European Partnership for Transport (LEPT), which provides the London boroughs with support and access to European funding for transport projects. 

London Councils was also instrumental in 2015 in the creation of a new collective investment vehicle for Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) funds, the London CIV. The London CIV, established by London Councils and initially chaired by Mayor Jules Pipe, was created to help reduce costs and improve investment returns for LGPS funds across the capital.  
In September 2015 Lord Kerslake was appointed non-executive chair of the interim board of directors and in November 2015 the London CIV became the first such scheme to be fully authorised in the UK by the Financial Conduct Authority.  
London Councils also provides a key interface between boroughs, the London Fire Brigade, the Greater London Authority (GLA) and the other emergency services on issues around city management and resilience. 

## Advancing London Local Government

Member authorities have their own relationships with pan-London organisations and in particular with the Mayor and the GLA. There are, however, a range of issues where the Mayor, the GLA and other pan-London organisations seek to establish negotiation or dialogue with London's boroughs. On these issues, London Councils acts as the focal point for representing borough interests - informed by the political and professional networks that we run. We then enable that information to be shared and disseminated quickly with member boroughs. 

To ensure that our member authorities have influence in the decisions made at pan-
London level that impact on them and the communities they serve, London Councils has developed a series of shared arrangements with the Mayor, Transport for London (TfL), Metropolitan Police, health and other partners, including London business organisations. London Councils nominates - on a cross party basis - 
members to serve in such shared governance arrangements, including the: 

- London Crime Reduction Board - London Enterprise Partnership - London Health Board - Homes for London Board - London Waste and Recycling Board 
 Some of these have statutory underpinning. The overall progress of these is monitored jointly by the Mayor and borough leaders. 

In addition, London Councils ensures that the London local government perspective is part of policy development at national level by, for example, organising a full set of ministerial meetings and senior official discussions, and also by promoting ideas and policies at each of the party conferences.  
London Councils was also instrumental in establishing the London All Party Political Group (APPG) in May 2015, set up to promote London in the interests of all its people, places and businesses as a global city and powerhouse of the economy. Since then the London APPG has met regularly to explore a London approach to key areas of the devolution agenda, housing, transport, welfare and infrastructure. Most recently the APPG secured a debate on education funding in London. London Councils provides the secretariat to the group on behalf of London government, including the Mayor of London and the London Assembly. 

## Devolution And Public Service Reform

Both in their scale and in their complexity, the challenges facing London are unique. At a time of growing demand and ongoing public finance constraint, devolution and public service reform are not merely desirable but essential. That is why London Councils, in partnership with the Mayor, has been making the case for an ambitious new settlement across all tiers of government that can provide a sustainable solution. Over the past four years the Mayor and the boroughs have worked together, and with partners across London and beyond, to promote the benefits of reform. We have argued that democratically accountable, locally integrated services offer the best solutions to meeting the challenges faced by a global city in the 21st century. London Councils has long been in the vanguard of the devolution debate; supporting the Mayor of London's London Finance Commission, jointly commissioning the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufacturers and Commerce (RSA) City Growth Commission with the Core Cities, Local Government Association and Greater London Authority and working closely with the Greater London Authority on the London Growth Deal. In July 2015, the Mayor and the borough leaders agreed a 'London Proposition on Devolution and Reform' that encapsulated the broad territory for negotiation with government officials on a package of measures designed to deliver clear benefits for Londoners, the economy in London and in the country as a whole. In September 2015, London Councils and the Mayor of London submitted joint proposals to government setting out a series of inter-related reforms that London government wishes to deliver to provide a sustainable solution to tackling the capital's deep seated challenges. In its response to these proposals, the government has agreed significant next steps in the areas of employment support, skills, health and fiscal devolution.  

- The government has made a specific commitment that the Mayor of London 
and London boroughs will jointly commission employment support to assist the very long term unemployed and those with health conditions and disabilities to (re)-enter work-(from 2017 through the new Health and Work 
Programme).  
- The government has indicated that the Adult Education Budget will be 
devolved to London government from 2018/19 onwards. 
- A London Health and Care Collaboration Agreement and a London Health 
Devolution Agreement between the Chancellor, Mayor of London, and Health 
partners. The London Health and Care Collaboration Agreement describes the role of five pilots in delivering transformation across London.  
 
In October 2015 the government proposed that local government should retain 100 per cent of the business rates it collects by 2020. London Councils has long advocated the devolution of business rates, along with other taxes, and has worked consistently to develop practical proposals to support that aim. In December, our Leaders' Committee agreed to work jointly with the Mayor of London to develop a 'London Proposition' for business rates, and endorsed four overarching ambitions for the proposed reforms, stating that rates retention and the transfer of responsibilities should: 

- Be contingent on improvements to the business rates system. 
- Support London's ambitions for devolution and public service reform. - Support the devolved governance of London. - Be the start, not the end, of fiscal devolution. 
 London Councils has been leading the work with London local government as a whole, and with the Mayor of London, to translate these ambitions into a set of principles that can underpin discussions with government on a devolved regional approach to setting, collecting and managing business rates in the capital. In March, the government confirmed that it would explore early implementation of the reforms in London (along with Greater Manchester and Liverpool). 

## Finance And Resources

An essential core of London Councils' work is to ensure that our member boroughs have the resources to deliver and improve services for Londoners and the places our communities live and work. We make the case to government and others on behalf of member boroughs in terms of both specific funding streams and overall resources base to ensure the capital's councils are able to continue to deliver the services and environment a global city requires. In 2015/16, we: 

- Made the case for and secured four year funding allocations in the 2016/17 
Local Government Finance Settlement in February, providing greater certainty over medium term funding allocations. 
 
- Produced a range of analysis and tools for boroughs to use as part of their 
financial planning. 
 
- Lobbied for a more equitable method for distributing Revenue Support Grant 
to be more reflective of need and wider resources available to local authorities. The government listened, changing the method of RSG 
distribution in the 2016/17 Local Government Finance Settlement to the 
benefit of London boroughs as a whole by around £500 million over four years. 
 
- Lobbied consistently for the retention of business rates for London - including 
in our in SR15 submission. The government announced in October 2015 that the sector as a whole will retain 100 per cent of business rates by 2020. 
London has been announced as a pilot area to explore devolution of business rates prior to 2020 (confirmed in Budget 2016). London Councils has been leading the work with London local government as a whole and with the Mayor of London, to develop the principles that would underpin a London Proposition to government on Business Rate Retention. 
 
- Lobbied for adult social care funding pressures to be fully funded at the 2015 
Spending Review. The government found an additional £3.5 billion nationally for adult social care over the next four years. While this is unlikely to be enough to fully fund adult social care pressures in London, it does show the lobbying arguments proposed by London Councils, the LGA, ADASS and others about the adult social care funding pressures were recognised by government. 
- Successful engagement with Department for Work and Pensions over 
discretionary housing payment allocations led to amendment to distribution methodology that directed an extra £1 million to London boroughs. 

## Housing And Planning

Housing is a critical issue for London. The capital's housing market has become increasingly out of kilter with the rest of the country, resulting in real pressures on affordability for a growing number of Londoners. We need to build tens of thousands of new homes every year to keep pace with a growing population and address a long standing housing need backlog that has a range of implications for the capital and its economy. In December the number of homeless London households in temporary accommodation exceeded 50,000, representing three quarters of all households in temporary accommodation in England. In a survey commissioned by London Councils and carried out by Ipsos MORI in October 2015, more than 88 per cent of Londoners cited housing as their number one concern, compared to Ipsos' national monthly issues index where housing is only the fifth most important issue for those outside the capital. London Councils has been at the forefront of highlighting London's housing crisis and its implications. We continue to work closely with boroughs to support their efforts to manage the effects of the crisis and make the case for stronger housing delivery powers to help powers address its cause. In 2015/16 this work has included: 

- Working closely with MPs, peers and government officials through the 
passage of the Housing and Planning Bill to promote amendments and influence the shape of the legislation.  
- Commissioning research to scope the potential for collaborative housing 
delivery mechanisms across London boroughs and agreeing a set of asks of 
government to support a new approach. 
- Negotiating a joint London government proposal for a case to government for 
reforms in housing and planning to increase supply. 
- Supported the early activity of the London Land Commission and 
implementation of the Mayor's Housing Zones policy. 
- Lobbied to raise concerns about the impact of the 1 per cent rents cut on 
housing in London, presenting evidence on the impact on housing supply, and calling for an exemption for supported housing. This cut has now been suspended for a year pending further government consideration. 
- Responded to government's proposals to 'Pay to Stay' for social housing 
tenants, promoting the need for more local discretion and a taper system. 
Following our lobbying, government has confirmed intention to introduce a taper system to help ensure rent increases are proportionate.  
- Lobbied government for flexibilities around the use of council Right to Buy 
receipts, including full receipt retention locally and the ability to combine with other funding streams. 
- Influenced the housing debate through submissions to the Lyons 
Commission, IPPR London Housing Commission, and others. 
- Supported borough housing development activity by publishing case studies 
of local housing investment approaches and facilitating a workshop for officers to discuss local housing companies, share good practice and hear legal 
advice. 
- Commissioning and promoting polling data from Ipsos Mori that secured 
coverage in *Evening Standard* and other key media. 
- Conducting research into the impact of office to residential permitted 
development rights in London, backed with a media campaign, successfully securing continued exemptions until 2019. 
- Responded to government consultation on proposed changes to National 
Planning Policy Framework, highlighting London's concerns about changing definitions of affordability, and securing Starter Homes amendments in the House of Lords 
- Pressed the government to localise planning fees: following pressure from 
London Councils and partners, government has recently announced a 
commitment to allow 'well-performing' councils to increase their fees in line with inflation 
- Publishing independent research to assess how councils are contributing to 
temporary accommodation (TA) costs through their own local resources and to understand how homelessness pressures have changed over recent years. 
- Submitted evidence to Treasury and DCLG on the costs of TA to local 
authorities and calling for the protection of the homelessness prevention grant funding, which has now been maintained; our lobbying also helped secure an increased and devolved settlement for the TA management fee, as well as an additional £5 million funding for London boroughs to help relieve TA pressures. 
- Published homelessness information resource for journalists and borough 
communications teams, to clarify local authority responsibilities and the context in which decisions are taken. 
- Working with boroughs to improve data sharing and notification in relation to 
temporary accommodation placements outside London, to ensure a better understanding of the issue and more accurate media coverage.  
- Promoting collaboration between boroughs to secure a consistent approach to 
nightly paid TA, securing costs savings for boroughs on new nightly bookings. 
- Facilitating events and case studies for borough officers to share best practice 
on homelessness relief and prevention. 

## Transport, Environment And Infrastructure

London Councils works with and for its member boroughs on a range of transport, environment and infrastructure challenges faced by the capital. London Councils' work in this area is governed by its Transport and Environment Committee (TEC), a statutory committee of councillors from the 32 London boroughs and the City of London. In 2015/16, we: 

- Agreed Joint Working Arrangements between TEC and Thames Regional 
Flood and Coastal Committee (TRFCC) and approved levy increase.  
- Set Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN) levels for anti-social spitting and urinating etc 
in public, noise in public, feeding birds in public spaces; and Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) levels for illegal builders' skips. For clarity, we published a comprehensive FPN/PCN table on our public website. 
- Worked with TfL to develop a Car Club Strategy for London. - Made the case for increased resource and capacity for flood management. - Provided legal advice to boroughs on EU infraction through the London Air 
Quality Steering Group. 
- Opposed TfL's proposal to replace the 10 year age limit for taxis with a 
voluntary decommissioning scheme for taxis between 10 and 15 years-old. 
- Developed closer working with LEDNET through a new officer post 
established within London Councils and through a joint response to London 
Assembly investigation on environmental pressures of growth. 
- Commissioned polling of Londoners' attitudes to infrastructure on London and 
how it should be funded - and hosting a successful member and officer event 
on Opportunity Areas and their infrastructure needs.  London Councils first 
infographic 'London Needs' (November 2015). 
- Established a working group with TfL and borough reps to influence TfL's 
decision regarding the process for LIP funding in 2017/18 and 2018/19. 
- Jointly, with London Travel Watch and Trust for London, commissioning and 
publicising research into the travel costs of outer London commuters. The final report 'Living on the Edge' achieved wide media coverage. 
- Made successful representations to the London Assembly Transport 
Committee on boroughs' concerns about rail devolution (impact on Freedom Pass costs and the need to involve boroughs in franchising decisions). 
- Submitted a successful OLEV bid with TfL and GLA and receiving £13 million 
in OLEV funding as a result. 
- Made the case for increased borough input into rail franchises that has been 
reflected in the DfT / TfL rail prospectus launched in January 2016. 
We have represented borough views on a wide range of consultations and reviews in the past year, including: 

o The London Assembly investigation on solar power in London o TfL night bus consultation response  
o Crossrail 2 Growth Commission consultation (and gave oral evidence) o TfL Crossrail 2 Consultation (January 2016) 
o TfL Private Hire Regulations Review 
o The National Infrastructure Commission call for evidence o The Mayor's London Local Air Quality Management proposals (borough 
concerns discussed with the GLA prior to the consultation led to changes with outstanding borough concerns reflected in London Councils 
consultation response. 
o TfL consultation on ULEZ; this resulted in positive outcomes with TfL 
announcing that a further 400 Euro V buses outside central London would be retrofitted to meet the Euro VI standard, which responded to one of our key ULEZ lobbying points. TfL has also started work to consider the expansion of the ULEZ, following our lobbying and boroughs have been invited to be part of an engagement group. TfL has kept boroughs engaged in the process of considering options for expanding the ULEZ, which included an update to TEC (December 2015) 
o We also submitted a response to the Energy and Climate Change 
Committee's call for priorities for scrutiny, suggesting the scrapping of zero carbon homes and Green Deal without replacement, the Climate Change Levy, changes to FiT, changes to VED and the roll out of smart meters (August 2015) 

## Economic Growth And Regeneration

The London economy is the biggest net contributor to both government finance and the UK economy. London has led the recovery and over the past decade it has created more than three quarters of a million jobs. But despite its size, London has a varied economy, and Londoners face a distinct set of challenges in accessing the labour market. Too many Londoners are workless and we need to do more to ensure our residents have the skills to compete effectively in a competitive global economy. Over recent years, London Councils has been making to case, in partnership with the Mayor of London and other partners both within the capital and nationally, that devolution and reform of public services will be essential to deliver clear benefits for Londoners, the economy in London and in the country as a whole. In pursuit of these goals in 2015/16, we: 

- Secured a commitment in the 2015 Spending Review that the government will 
co-design and co-commission the new Work and Health Programme with London government. Only London and Manchester received this level of commitment. 
- Secured a commitment in the 2015 Spending Review that JCP will increase 
its co-location with local authorities and are working with DWP to inform the 
development of Universal Support. 
- Ensured that London boroughs played a leadership role in the Area Review 
process around adult skills, with borough Leaders chairing the sub-regional area review steering groups and London Councils determining sub-regional geographies for the area reviews that reflect boroughs' joint working. 
- Developed proposals for a two-tier system of devolution of adult skills in 
London, where some funding will pass to sub-regional groups of boroughs, 
and agreed this with the Mayor of London. 
- Developed a skills vision for London, working with the GLA, to guide the 
commissioning of the Adult Education Budget (AEB) should this be devolved to London government. 
- Developed specifications for European Social Fund (ESF) programmes 
around adult skills and troubled families that reflect London borough priorities. These will be commissioned by the Skills Funding Agency (SFA) and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) on a sub-regional basis, 
determined by London boroughs. 
- Published a summary report to demonstrate the wide range of support that 
London boroughs provide for arts and culture, with proposals for sustaining some of this report under financial pressure, and secured extensive media coverage for this. 
- Published a report outlining the tools and powers London boroughs need to 
continue to support economic growth in their high streets and town centres. 
- Held our annual London Borough Apprenticeship Awards in September 2015 
to celebrate the work of London boroughs in generating and supporting apprenticeships and continued to support boroughs to create over 1,500 apprenticeships in 2014/15. 
- With the Federation of Small Businesses, held a Small Business Friendly 
Borough Awards in November 2015 to celebrate the work of boroughs to 
support small businesses in their area. 

## Education And Children

Our Children and Young People team co-ordinates policy work and represents the interests of boroughs on a pan-London basis in relation to all aspects of children's services in the capital. They work closely with groups such as the Association of London Directors of Children's Services (ALDCS) on a wide range of issues relating to children, young people and their families.  

## School Places

London schools have been transformed over the past 15 years. In 1989, the year before boroughs took over responsibility from the Inner London Education Authority, fewer than 9 per cent of pupils in inner London secondary schools achieved five or more GCSE at grade A* - C, compared to 
17 per cent nationally. Today, the equivalent figures are 71.2 per cent for London compared to 66.5 per cent nationally. 

Demand for London schools continues to grow and London has seen its school age population grow at twice the rate of any other region in recent years. In April 2015, London boroughs received 103,387 applications for primary school places - a record number for the capital and 900 more than in the previous year. And in March 2016 the number of applications for London secondary schools was 86,954, a 3 per cent increase over the previous year and reflecting the emerging pressure London is facing as London's primary growth works its way through to secondary schools. 

Keeping pace with such a rapid increase in pupils is a significant challenge for London's boroughs. In recent years boroughs, with the hard work of school leaders, have managed to increase school capacity by nearly 213,000 places across the capital (May 2010 - May 2014), but a further 10 per cent capacity will need to be added between 2015 and 2020, almost twice as much capacity compared to the rest of England. London Councils' research has been key to making the case to government that London cannot realistically continue to meet the growing shortfall in school capacity without sufficient funds. In September 2015, London Councils published the latest in its series of *Do the Maths* publications, which track the pressure on the capital's schools. This analysis demonstrated that London will need to create an additional 146,000 (78,275 primary and 34,845 secondary) school places over the next five years. London needs at least £1.5 billion of Basic Needs Funding by 2020 to create the new places required. 

And the picture of school demand in the capital is further complicated by the fact that more London pupils cross boundaries to attend school than anywhere else in England, with more than 136,000 London pupils being taught in a school outside of the local authority they live in. This represents 13 per cent of the total and is twice the rate in Greater Manchester (6 per cent). Getting the right schools in the right places is vital to the continuing success of the capital's schools and, in October 2015, a YouGov poll commissioned by London Councils found that 80 per cent of the capital's parents agreed that their local council should have the final say on the location of new schools within their boundaries. London Councils' analysis has supported a widespread campaign to raise awareness of the pressures on London schools that has achieved considerable media coverage, including a front page story in the *Evening Standard*. In November 2015 the government announced plans to introduce a new National Funding Formula for schools and in the 2016 Spring Budget the Chancellor announced plans to require all schools to become Academy schools by 2022. London Councils recently submitted its response to the first part of the consultation on the introduction of the NFF for schools in April 2017. This response made clear London local authority concerns that any change to the way schools are funded should be fair and transparent and that no local authority area should experience a loss in schools funding as a result of the introduction of the NFF. We have led calls on behalf of London boroughs for a levelling up of funding across the country to ensure every school is given the tools to be able to match the country's best performing schools in London. The consultation response also makes clear boroughs' concerns that rolling out an NFF at the same time that maintained schools will be converting to academy status could create considerable turbulence in the system that could financially destabilise our schools and put continued improvement at risk. Other key outcomes in 2015/16 included: 

- Securing £200 million of new SEND school places funding - Securing government agreement to conduct an independent analysis of the 
costs of childcare 
- Coordinating the successful transfer of commissioning responsibility for health 
visiting and Family Nurse Partnership commissioning and secured additional funding that ensures the London starting position is £5.4 million per year better than it would have been  
- Promoting ideas and best practice to improve child protection in the capital, 
including through the London Safeguarding Children Awards and, in March 2016, a conference on safeguarding children from extremism. 

## Health And Adult Care

London boroughs have longstanding responsibilities for adult social care and have more recent widened responsibilities for new public health functions. London faces the significant challenge of taking on these new responsibilities and caring for a rapidly growing population, particularly among vulnerable groups more likely to need care, at a time of ongoing tightening public finances and significant reform of health services generally. 

London Councils has been engaging with government and the NHS to ensure London local government's commitment to and responsibilities for the health of Londoners are recognised and reflected in reforms. London Councils was the first to develop a credible model of the financial costs of the Care Act used to highlight new burdens pressures of £85 million in 2015/16 and further new burdens of at least £738 million between 2016/17 and 2019/20. 

This work was critical in getting the Department of Health to redistribute funds available for the introduction of the Care Act in 2015/16 and London Councils' lobbying for additional funding for adult social care was also exemplified in the new power to levy an adult social care precept, announced in the 2015 Spending Review. 

London Councils fully supports moves to greater integration between health and care and supports the government's ambitions for the Better Care Fund (BCF) to drive forward transformation and integration.  
London Councils made the case for a reduction of the overly bureaucratic and complex systems that local areas had to go through in reporting for the 2015/16 BCF plans, and it is therefore particularly welcome that in 2016/17 there will be a reduction in the reporting that local areas will have to go through in the assurance process. All local areas also now have a target of 2017 to ensure that they have a plan for how they will achieve full integration by 2020. London Councils will be lobbying government to ensure that local areas are not overly burdened by complex systems and that they are given flexibility in drawing up their local plans for full integration. 

London Councils has also played a key role in bringing together boroughs and partners across the health landscape to secure a collective agreement to transform health and wellbeing outcomes for Londoners. In December 2015 negotiations with government concluded and two public agreements were announced: 
1. A Health and Care Collaboration Agreement between London partners, CCGs, London boroughs, the Mayor of London, NHS England in London and Public health England in London. The Agreement describes the role of five pilots in delivering transformation across London: 

o Sub-regional care transformation - Barking & Dagenham, Havering and 
Redbridge 
o Sub-regional estates - Barnet, Camden, Enfield, Haringey and Islington 
o Local care integration (two pilots) - one in Hackney and one in Lewisham 
o Local prevention - Haringey 
 
2. A London Health Devolution Agreement between the Chancellor, Mayor of London, the Chief Executive of the NHS, the Chair of London Councils, the Secretary of State for Health, the Chair of the London Clinical Commissioning Council and the Chief Executive of Public Health England. Taken together both agreements present significant opportunities to improve the health and care of Londoners through devolution and a significant programme of work for London boroughs engaged in the devolution pilots that will require governance at a borough, sub-regional and pan-London level. 

## Policing And Crime

Crime is naturally a key concern for residents, businesses and visitors to the capital and London Councils works to ensure that the interests of Londoners and their local democratic representatives are fully recognised in policing the capital, in the development of community safety policies and in the allocation of funding. Our team works on a wide range of policy issues relating to crime, criminal justice and community safety, including the threat of terrorism, violence against women and girls, anti-social behaviour, anti-violence and reducing re-offending. 

Work in 2015/16 included: 

- Setting up and supporting the delivery of the new London CONTEST board, in 
collaboration with the Metropolitan Police Service, the Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime and government. Launched in July 2015, the London CONTEST board has been created to deliver a strategic approach to tackling threat, risks and vulnerabilities in London, looking across the four strands of the government's counter-terrorism strategy: Prevent, Protect, Pursue and Prepare.  
 
- Working to influence the future of local policing and community safety during a 
critical time in the public spending and planning cycle.  This included responding  to the MPS/ Royal Society of Arts consultation on the future of the MPS, to emphasise the importance of local and neighbourhood policing.  We have also facilitated informal conversations with MPS Management Board and worked with MOPA to help shape future Crime Prevention Funding 
 
- Fully engaging with pan-London partnership working, including through the 
London Crime Reduction Board and on a bilateral basis , for example with the Community Rehabilitation Company to make the case for a continued local approach to integrated Offender management. 
- Work with MOPAC and the CRC to ensure that boroughs are able to 
maximise their use of the Pan-London Gangs Exit and Resettlement. Our focus is on ensuring that the referral routes are well publicised and all boroughs have fair access to the 300 places that will be avail on the scheme per year. 
 
- Supported boroughs in delivering locally led  youth justice provision, engaging 
with national and regional partners on options for reform and arguing for the maintenance of local resources . 
 
- Supported local government in leading on tackling Anti-Social Behaviour.  
This included collating and publishing a comprehensive set of borough good practice case studies showcasing borough approaches to managing risk and vulnerability in relation to anti-social behaviour and examples of ways in which 
boroughs have successfully implemented new tools and powers available under the  Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2014. 
 
- Supporting and promoting local responses to tackling crime and its causes 
through the POP (Problem Oriented Partnership) Awards. The awards are a collaboration between London Councils, the Metropolitan Police Service, the Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime and Transport for London. Now in their 
10th year, 2015 Award winners included schemes in Ealing, Lambeth, 
Newham and Waltham Forest. 
- Supported boroughs in tackling violence against women and girls, working 
with MOPAC and  the VAWG Panel, to take forward the 5 objectives agreed as part of the London Strategy;  This included organising and hosting a well attended member event on tackling sexual and domestic violence and publishing a number of borough case studies highlighting good practice and sharing learning in tackling violence against women and girls. 

## Transport And Mobility Services

Alongside our policy work, London Councils runs a number of direct services for and on behalf of Londoners and our member boroughs, where leaders have identified a clear benefit in these being administered by London Councils. In 2015/16, work in these areas included: 

## Freedom Pass:

- Successfully completing the renewal of 805,000 Freedom Passes which 
expired in March 2015, achieving an 87 per cent renewal rate and far exceeding expectations and with 74 per cent renewing via the newly developed online portal. 
- Planned and began the renewal process of a further 175,000 Freedom 
Passes due to expire at the end of March 2016. 

## Taxicard:

- Carried out research into the declining use of the Taxicard scheme. This 
found that there was a high degree of satisfaction among users of the Taxicard, with 83 per cent stating that Taxicard met their expectations and 75 per cent were either extremely satisfied, or very satisfied. However the 
research indicated a complex set of factors relating to users' mobility needs were affecting overall usage. Many of these issues will be taken up by London Councils as part of the work with TfL on the Social Needs Transport Review. 

## Lept:

- Successfully delivered the final stages of the STARS and PTP-Cycle LEPT 
projects as lead partner. (see case studies below) 

## London Tribunals:

- Managed the move of all appeals staff and infrastructure from Angel Square 
to new premises at Chancery Exchange. 
- Managed the contract transition from CAPITA to Northgate Public Services in 
July 2015 for the provision back office and IT services, including the introduction of entirely new IT systems. 
- Introduced the facility to make on-line appeals for the first time and on-line 
case management for boroughs. 
- Rebranded from the Parking and Traffic Appeals Service to London Tribunals, 
supporting the Environment and Traffic Adjudicators and the Road User Charging Adjudicators. 

## Freight And Lorry Control:

- Working with all boroughs, assisted TfL to launch the new London Safer Lorry 
Scheme in September, which requires the fitting of side-guards and extended view mirrors to all vehicles over 3.5 tonnes. 
- Worked closely with TfL on developing a more strategic approach to 
managing freight in London, including the establishment of a new Freight Borough Officer Liaison Group. 

## Traffic And Parking:

- Published a Code of Practice for the erection of signs and lighting on buildings 
so boroughs can adopt new legislative powers that will help reduce street clutter and costs. 
- Through persistent lobbying at each stage of the Deregulation Bill achieved 
significant concessions that helped ensure the Government's parking reforms had minimal impact on London authorities ability to manage parking effectively, especially in relation to retaining the use of CCTV enforcement outside schools and on red routes. 
- Facilitated seminars, workshops and the sharing of good practice for the 
better coordination of Car Clubs across London. 
- Consulted and agreed penalty charge levels for the enforcement of builders 
skips unlawfully sited on the public highway. 

## Trace:

- Successfully implemented a new web-based portal to allow people to search 
for their towed away vehicle on-line and via smart phones. 

## Young People'S Education And Skills

The Young People's Education and Skills Board is the lead strategic body for 14 to 19 education and training in London. It provides pan-London leadership for 14 to 19 education and training provision in relation to the current and future needs of learners and employers, supports local authorities in undertaking their statutory functions, and assists other stakeholders in planning, policy and provision. 

Young People's Education and Skills works for London's boroughs and exists to guide and support them in developing their local strategic plans in tune with regional priorities. The Board brings together key stakeholders from across London to help set the region's priorities to influence and shape the education provision on offer to young people. A small staff resource is based in London Councils to support the work generated by the Board. In 2015/16 the team worked to further four key priorities: 

- Business and Education - London's education and learning institutions and 
the business community should work better together to enable more young people to succeed. 
- Careers Guidance - Young people should expect to exercise informed 
choices about their options, progress and reach their potential. 
- Better Support to Young People at 17 and 19 - Young people need to be 
better prepared, especially at 17 and 19, for progression to further and higher education and employment. 
- Working Together - Stakeholders should work collaboratively in the interests 
of young people.  

## Achievements In 2015/16 Included:

- Launching and leading the design and delivery of a coherent framework for a 
careers offer for all London's young people - London Ambitions - in 
partnership with the London Enterprise Panel and the Greater London Authority 
- Successfully delivering phase one of a labour market tool for London - Skills 
Match - with no cost burden to London's local authorities (Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and Cabinet Office funding) 
- Supporting local authority colleagues with implementing significant special 
educational needs and disability reforms initiated by the Children and Families Act 2014 
- Commissioning research into the progression of young Londoner's into Higher 
Education, with a particular focus on graduate job entry, to support boroughs to widen participation and improve social mobility 
- Sponsoring Skills London, the single largest jobs and careers fair in London. 

## Capital Ambition

London Councils is home to the Capital Ambition programme that evolved from the regional improvement and efficiency partnership. Between 2008 and 2013 the Capital Ambition grants programme invested £34 million in funding projects in all London local authorities to achieve £87 million of cashable savings. By 2016 the programme is forecast to have delivered total savings of £356 million. This would take the programme return on investment to an impressive 13:1. 

The Capital Ambition Board continues to oversee and support a wide range of innovative projects, programmes and activities in London. Over the past year some of the key highlights included: 

- The London Ventures programme. Working in partnership with EY, this 
programme seeks to provide London's local authorities with access to innovative products that will raise the effectiveness and efficiency of how services are delivered (see case study below). 
- Supporting health and social care integration through a collaborative project 
with GLA, local authorities and NHS. 
- Working with the Behavioural Insights Team to support local authorities in 
improving how citizens can access and use services, with the ultimate aim of improving effectiveness and efficiency while reducing costs. 
Despite the financial challenges facing London and its citizens and the significant pressures on public services Capital Ambition remains committed to providing a space for innovation and support for London's local authorities. 

 

## Case Study: London Ventures

Issue: The need to maintain and improve service delivery to a growing number of Londoners while reducing costs. 

Activities: Set up using Capital Ambition funds in 2013, London Ventures brings innovative private sector products and ideas to London's local authorities in order to deliver significant benefits for London residents through reducing costs and improving the effectiveness and efficiency of services. London Ventures is a joint partnership between EY and London Councils and is overseen by the Capital Ambition Board. London Ventures' main priorities in choosing venture partners are for them to:  

- Work cross organisation and cross sector 
- Reduce cost - Achieve better outcomes for Londoners 
- Achieve increased investment in public services. 
Process: EY brokers conversations with potential London Venture partners - those with viable sounding propositions are asked to submit their 'big idea' for evaluation by the Capital Ambition Board. Using a rapid, *dragon's den* style approach EY present the ideas to the Board. The Board members have the opportunity to ask questions and decide if the potential Venture is of strategic importance and if it sounds commercially viable. If successful in the 'dragon's den' potential Venture Partners are asked to develop an outline business case. The outline business case is presented to the Board by the potential Venture partner - and again allows Board members the opportunity to ask more questions. If the outline business case is approved by the Board, EY broker a commercial deal with the new London Ventures Partner. This outlines the commercial arrangement with the partner. The London Councils programme team plays a key role in awareness raising of the programme with local authorities. 

Outcomes: London Ventures currently operates a portfolio approach with delivery focused on ventures representing greatest strategic importance and commercial viability. The London Ventures portfolio consists of 11 venture partners across three generations. Approximately two thirds of London Local Authorities have implemented at least one venture and all London Local Authorities have engaged with the programme. To date, the programme has identified more than £6 million in potential financial benefits for London's boroughs. Examples of some of the products and services being developed or offered through London Ventures includes: 

- **Oxygen Finance's Early Payment Programme** allows participating Local 
Authorities to generate a new source of revenue while  improving their relationship with suppliers. This initiative allows Local Authorities and their suppliers to negotiate a revenue stream through early payment of invoices. As 
a result, local authorities generate income. 
- **Xantura's Child Safeguarding Profiling model** has achieved better 
outcomes for Londoners by identifying children most at risk of neglect or abuse but not previously known to Local Authorities.  
- **FISCAL Technologies** software solution supports councils in three key areas 
of financial accountabilities; strong governance, improved risk mitigation and strengthening compliance. The software works alongside all Enterprise 
Resource Planning (ERP) systems on a continuous monitoring basis to prevent payment errors and identify potential fraud, reducing the need for time-consuming manual checks and recovery audit fees to ultimately save 
time and money.  

## Grants And Community Services

London Councils runs a longstanding, pan-London grants scheme on behalf of all 33 
London councils. Through our grants programme, we fund projects to address four pan-London priorities:  

- Homelessness - Sexual and Domestic Violence 
- Tackling poverty through employment 
- Supporting voluntary and community organisations to improve 
services. 
The third priority - tackling poverty through employment - is half-funded by the European Social Fund (ESF) - every pound the boroughs contribute is matched by a pound of European Social Fund. In the first three quarters of 2015/16*, our grants programme delivered: 

- Nearly 7,000 interventions to prevent homelessness and tackle it early - Nearly 7,000 interventions with young people - More than 500 interventions to support voluntary and community 
organisations in tackling homelessness 
- More than 8,000 interventions to prevent sexual and domestic violence - Nearly 36,000 advice sessions - Help with finding refuge in 1,000 cases 
- Emergency refuge to people in 194 cases - 460 interventions to support voluntary and community organisations in 
tackling sexual and domestic violence 
- Nearly 2,000 interventions to tackle harmful practices such as female genital 
mutilation 
- More than 700 interventions to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of 
services 
- More than 600 interventions to improve effectiveness by improving 
engagement in services 
- Some 500 interventions to tackle inequalities in services. 
**Full year figures will be available in July 2016 and will be presented to the Grants Committee then* 
In the cycle ending in this year, the ESF-funded element helped: 

- Nearly 1,500 people into work 
- More than 700 people into work that lasted more than 26 weeks 
- More than 950 people into education and training. 
In March 2016, borough leaders agreed that there should be a London Councils Grants programme beyond the end of the current four-year funding cycle in March 2017, addressing the first three of the four priorities in the cycle.  This will ensure vital support for vulnerable Londoners for a further four years. 

 

## London Care Services

London Care Services works on behalf of 40 local authorities (32 London boroughs, the City of London and seven partner authorities). It supports them in their local commissioning of outstanding services for looked-after children and young people. To do this, London Care Services has developed a single model contract for services for looked-after children. It negotiates and signs the contract and fees with providers across all 40 participating authorities. The authorities can then draw down the services from the providers without having to renegotiate contract terms and fees. This service eliminates wasteful bureaucracy by centralising the contracting work, while giving councils the freedom they need to choose between contracted providers. It removes the need for boroughs to undertake the same checks on the same contracts and organisations. In representing 40 members, London Care Services has a significantly stronger bargaining position when negotiating fees with providers. This produces value for money for boroughs in a large, complex and costly market. In 2015/16 we completed the following work on behalf of member boroughs: 

- Signed up 163 providers of 332 resources. - Drew up a new contract, agreed with boroughs, which is being used in 
2016/17. 
 

## London Self Improvement Board

London Councils co-ordinates and helps to encourage collaborative work between boroughs on self-improvement and mutual challenge through supporting the London Self Improvement Board (SIB). Comprising a number of borough chief executives, senior chief officer representatives and the chief executive of London Councils, SIB liaises at a political level with the Chair of the London Councils Leaders' Committee on key issues and with relevant political portfolio holders across London. 

The board seeks to offer both challenge and support to London local government performance. 

Since 2013, SIB has identified key risk areas where it wishes to concentrate its efforts; Adult Social Care, Children's Social Services and the overall financial and corporate health of individual authorities.  
Under the Board's direction, London Councils has helped to develop, review and challenge some of the hard and soft tools available for gathering and analysing performance information. The London Authority Performance Solution (LAPS) and Chief Executive to Chief Executive (CE2CE) and Treasurer to Treasurer (T2T) peer challenge processes are part of these developments.  
SIB believes it is valuable for the sector to demonstrate a consistent approach to self-improvement and that councils are inviting a level of challenge from their peers to show that they are open to identifying performance challenges and acting upon them. 2015 saw the highest number of boroughs represented since each programme began. 

 
Work in 2015/16 included: 
 
- Continued provision of the LAPS performance measurement tool used 
consistently by the vast majority of boroughs in 2015/16 
- Continued provision of the HR metrics service - which received overall ratings 
of 92 per cent from member boroughs in the recent light touch review 
- Continued provision of the school performance toolkit - delivering key 
performance benchmarking indicators for London boroughs' schools performance managers 
- Increased participation of the peer support programmes for Chief Executives 
and Treasurers. 
 

## London Procurement Strategy Board

London boroughs spend around £8 billion on purchasing goods and services from third parties and the London Procurement Strategy Board (LPSB) was formed by Leaders in 2010 to assess what opportunities exist to achieve greater savings by exploiting the significant purchasing power of London local government. The LPSB acts as the governance board (when required) for London-wide procurement projects; reviews existing, and proposals for new, framework structures across London in order to support the development of a consistent and coherent approach; and provides a forum for sharing expertise, learning and good practice between London local authorities. The board draws on the expertise of its membership which includes representatives from London Councils, the Society of London Treasurers, the London Procurement Network and sub-regional shared services groupings. In 2015/16 work included: 
 

- The continued sharing of contract and spend data through the London 
contracts register and spend analytics tools 
- Delivering a regular London Procurement Newsletter to member boroughs 
- Providing support and advice for a number of pan-London procurement 
projects including: 
- 
Postal Services Collaboration - a framework contract agreed with 24 boroughs enabling significant purchasing influence to be exerted in contract and performance talks with Royal Mail. Generated savings of £1.2 
million in 2015/16 and achieved finalist status at this year's National GO 
Awards 
- 
MSTAR 1 project - standardised pay rates for children's social care 
agency staff across 17 boroughs. Has generated £14.5 million of savings from temporary agency spend since 2011. 
- 
Supplier Chain Resilience Review Project - developing a toolkit and 
consolidated framework for supply chain resilience management. Involved 9 boroughs and partners Zurich Municipal - work is ongoing in 2016/17 (nominated for an Alarm Risk Award 2016 for partnership work). 
 

## Events And Awards

The London Summit - Our annual flagship event is free to all London members and senior borough officers. Our 2015 Summit - held on Saturday 21 November at the City of London's Guildhall - saw hundreds of delegates - councillors of all political parties from the 32 London boroughs and the City of London, as well as representatives from the business, public and voluntary sectors - gather to engage in debate and share experiences from across the capital. You can watch a short video of the day here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hemboIDJLyU 
 
Awards - London Councils supports and organises a number of awards on behalf of boroughs that highlight and share their successes: 
The London Borough Apprenticeship Awards: Established in 2011 to showcase the value of apprenticeships to London boroughs, how borough staff have contributed to apprentices' success and how boroughs are helping to maximise apprenticeship opportunities with contractors and suppliers. The 2015 Awards attracted a record number of entrants. The Apprentice of the Year was Sidonie Smith, a Domestic Violence Support Officer at the London borough of Bexley. Apprentices from Camden, the City of London, Greenwich and Southwark were also among the winners of individual awards. 

The London Homelessness Awards - in memory of Andy Ludlow: The awards are sponsored by the London Housing Foundation, the London boroughs and Shelter and run by London Councils. Inside Housing magazine is our media partner. The awards are the country's leading homelessness awards, with prize money awarded to the organisations that demonstrate innovative and creative solutions for tackling homelessness in the capital. The Asylum Support Appeals Project's Defending Asylum Seekers Rights to Food and Shelter was the overall winner of the 2015 Award,  
The Small Business Friendly Awards - organised by London Councils and the London Region of The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) the awards are an opportunity to celebrate projects or initiatives delivered by the London boroughs that have a positive impact on London's small business community. Harrow was named best all round small business friendly borough in the 2015 Awards, while the work of Bexley, Enfield, Greenwich, Merton and Westminster was also recognised in individual categories. 

## Keeping You Informed

Website - London Councils' website was visited by just under 1 million unique visitors and had 4.5 million page views in 2015/16. The website, which was completely updated and relaunched in April 2015, serves a variety of purposes and functions for a wide range of stakeholders, including members, officers and policy makers, as well as Londoners and London businesses who rely on services such as the Freedom Pass, the Health Emergency Badge or the London Lorry Control Scheme.  
Among the features of the new website are:  

- a fully updated and responsive (easier to view and navigate on tablets and 
mobile phones as well as PCs)  
- the members' dashboard, which enables our members to edit and personalise 
their own content  
- a new platform for our rich policy and services content including comments, 
blogging and more 
Key Issues - our weekly e-newsletter, sent to more than 12,000 subscribers across the capital each Wednesday morning, provides a quick summary of the issues affecting London local government and the evolving policy landscape in the capital. Member Briefings - our member briefing service provides members with timely policy analysis and information across all our main policy themes directly to their inbox. The newly designed website enables members to edit and amend their preferences more easily than ever before. In 2015/16 we sent 77 policy briefings to subscribing members. 

Parliamentary Briefings - we regularly brief MPs and Peers on government bills that affect London Boroughs. In 2015/16 these included briefings in support of our lobbying work on several bills including the Housing and Planning Bill, on issues such as starter homes, right to buy and pay to stay, the Welfare and Reform Bill and the Cities and Local Government Devolution Bill. In addition, we have briefed on the Local Government Finance Settlement. Our briefings and policy positions were cited on a large number of occasions in both Houses. 

Twitter - London Councils' Twitter account @londoncouncils has more than 16,300 
followers who receive up-to-date news on all the latest developments in London local government as they happen. London Government Directory - a free copy of our annual London Government Directory, sponsored by the London Communication Agency, is sent to every member and senior officers in all 33 London local authorities. The Directory is also available to view online at www.directory.londoncouncils.gov.uk Policy reports - London Councils publishes a comprehensive range of policy reports providing data, analysis and recommendations on key policy challenges in the capital. In 2015/16 these included reports on: Developing Employment Support; 
Local Government Support for Arts and Culture; School Places Pressure; Young Londoners' Higher Education Journey; Work Programme Equalities Impact Assessment; The Impact of Permitted Development Rights for Office to Residential Conversions; London's Future Infrastructure Needs; the Impact of Freezing LHA Rates; Building on the Success of London's Town Centres; Transport Affordability; and Joint Working to Deliver Better Care. 

 

## Income And Expenditure 2015/16

Expenditure 


Employee costs 
5,327,000 
Running costs 
2,555,000 
Direct services - Parking and traffic 
9,430,000 
Direct services - Other 
148,000 
Payments in respect of Freedom Pass and Taxicard 
365,827,000 
Commissioned grant payments 
9,885,000 
Improvement and efficiency  
305,000 
Young People Education and Skills (YPES) regional/provider activity 
64,000 
Commissioning and Research 
640,000 
One-off borough payment 
825,000 
Other operating expenditure 
60,000 
395,066,000 
 
Income 
 
Contribution in respect of Freedom Pass and Taxicard 
366,381,000 
Borough contribution towards commissioned grant payments 
8,505,000 
Borough contribution towards YPES activity 
180,000 
Direct services - Parking and traffic 
10,313,000 
Direct services - Other 
82,000 
Core member subscriptions 
5,888,000 
Borough contribution to LCP payments 
222,000 
Government grants 
1,381,000 
Other income 
460,000 
Use of Reserves 
1,654,000 
395,066,000 

 

## London Councils Executive Members 2015/16

Our Leaders' Committee, which consists of the Leaders and directly elected Mayors of London's 33 local authorities, meets regularly throughout the year to discuss and agree policy issues of importance to Londoners. A list of all Leaders' Committee dates, along with agenda and minutes of past meetings is available at www.londoncouncils.gov.uk/committees. At its summer AGM, the Leaders' Committee elects a chair, deputy chair and vice chairs for the organisation. A cross-party Executive acts as a forum for more detailed policy development and reports to the Leaders' Committee. 

The Executive is made up of 11 councillors from across the political parties. Our leading members and their portfolios in 2015/16 were: 

## Mayor Jules Pipe (Lab) - Chair Of London Councils

Cllr Claire Kober (Lab) - Deputy Chair and executive member for infrastructure and regeneration Cllr Teresa O'Neill (Con) - Vice Chair and executive member for health  
Cllr Ruth Dombey (Lib Dem) - Vice Chair Mark Boleat (Ind) - Vice Chair Cllr Julian Bell (Lab) - Chair of London Councils' Transport and Environment Committee Mayor Sir Steve Bullock (Lab) - Executive member for housing Cllr Peter John (Lab) - Executive member for children, skills and employment Cllr Lib Peck (Lab) - Executive member for crime and public protection Cllr Ray Puddifoot MBE (Con) - Executive member for adult social care Cllr Philippa Roe (Con) - Executive member and Conservative Group Lead on devolution and public service reform In addition, the following members also played key leadership roles: 
Cllr Paul McGlone (Lab) - Chair of Grants Committee Cllr Roger Ramsey (Con) - Chair of Audit Committee 

## Cllr Muhammed Butt (Lab) - Lead Member For Equalities

Edward Lord OBE JP (Ind) - Chair of Capital Ambition Board 
 
Group whips Labour **Cllr Clyde Loakes** (Waltham Forest) 
Conservative **Cllr Ravi Govindia** (Wandsworth) 
 
London Councils Co-Presidents for 2105/16 were: 
The Rt Hon the Lord Adonis (Lab) 
The Baroness Hamwee (Lib Dem) 
The Baroness Hanham (Con)