LDN Weekly – Issue 13 – 17 January 2018
Apologies if this week’s edition looks a little bit longer on your phone than usual, but a lot has happened in London over the past seven days....
| No Images? Click here  LONDON BACK TO ITS BUSIESTApologies if this week’s edition looks a little bit longer on your phone than usual, but a lot has happened in London over the past seven days.Construction giant Carillion went into liquidation, leaving question marks over a number of large London projects, while Delancey saw its plans for almost 1,000 new homes as part of the redevelopment of the Elephant & Castle Shopping Centre deferred by Southwark Council’s Planning Committee. Meanwhile, Sadiq has plenty to say about the capital’s air quality and the impact of Brexit and is probably quite relieved not to have to deal with a visit from Donald Trump too. Thank you for reading and do get in touch if you have any feedback. You can also follow us on Twitter @LDNComms.  CARILLION COLLAPSEThe UK’s second largest construction company has gone into liquidation having amassed around £1.5bn in debts. Profit warnings were first issued in July and the collapse follows crisis talks between Carillion, its lenders and the government, which failed to reach a deal to save the company. The story has been widely reported but looking specifically at London, Carillion is notably involved in the Battersea Power Station redevelopment and HS2, with contracts for the latter likely to be taken over by its partners Kier and Eiffage. It is also responsible for works on Crossrail, the London Overground, Heathrow Express as well as the east London line extension (rail workers’ union RMT has asked Sadiq Khan to take control of its rail contract work in the capital through TfL). Carillion additionally runs a number of public libraries on behalf of London boroughs. Labour has accused the government of negligence and cites the whole affair as proof that Britain should ‘end rip-off privatisations’. This stance will potentially compound the discomfort of Labour-led boroughs that have tendered out services to private contractors or are engaged in major public-private partnerships. Looking ahead, the review and liquidation process is likely to last months. THE ELEPHANT IN THE CASTLESouthwark Council’s Planning Committee last night (Tuesday) voted to defer an application for the mixed-use redevelopment of the Elephant & Castle shopping centre, which included plans for almost a thousand new homes (providing 36% affordable homes or 342 in total). The vote effectively represents a refusal, though this will be formalised at the next committee on 30 January. The marathon session, which lasted seven and a half hours, included seven objection speeches, hours of questioning of the applicant Delancey, several adjournments for legal advice and then a vote of four against three and one abstention. It is the third time that plans to redevelop the shopping centre, spanning several decades, have failed to progress. Aside from the Committee’s next session at the end of the month, it will also be very interesting to see whether the Mayor decides to take action and of course what Delancey does next. SECESSION PAINSThe Mayor of London has published economic analysis of the impact of Brexit on the capital. Cambridge Econometrics’ report, Preparing for Brexit, has modelled five possible scenarios for several key sectors, ranging from a ‘close to status quo’ arrangement where the UK remains part of both the single market and customs union, to a World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules ‘cliff-edge’ future scenario. The report estimates the scale of loss to London in terms of GVA (Gross Value Added) and employment could be anywhere between £4.1bn and 30,500 jobs, to £10.8bn and 87,000 jobs by 2030. In a worst-case scenario, the construction and financial & professional services jobs markets could shrink in London between 2.1% – 2.4% in that time. However, the analysis has indicated that London’s economy would suffer less as a result of Brexit than the rest of the UK. For example, it estimates that a ‘hard Brexit’ scenario could see economic output on average 1.9 – 2.1% lower in London by 2030, compared to 3 – 3.3% lower for the rest of the country. The report has been used by Sadiq to argue that a bad Brexit for London is an even worse Brexit for the country, though Brexiteers have rejected its analysis as politically biased and partisan. THE TROUBLE WITH TRUMPPresident Donald Trump has confirmed that he will not be visiting London for the official opening of the new US embassy at Nine Elms. Trump has blamed the Obama administration for having sold the old embassy in Mayfair for ‘peanuts’ and building a new one in an ‘off location’ for $1.2bn. In tandem, Boris blasted Labour for appearing to scare away Britain’s closest ally, whilst No 10 Downing Street insisted that US-UK relations remain intact and a handful of pro-Brexit protesters disrupted a Fabian Society event in an attempt to place Sadiq Khan under ‘citizen’s arrest’. Meanwhile, Madame Tussauds saw an opening for some guerrilla marketing, placing a waxwork of Trump outside the new Embassy. The US Ambassador himself has confirmed that the plan to move from Mayfair to Nine Elms was decided when Republican George W. Bush was president and that it ‘did not cost the US taxpayer a cent’. It does, however, appear to be the case that the Mayfair building’s sale to Qatari Diar in 2009 raised less than the £500m originally estimated, after it was made a Grade II listed building. As for Nine Elms, the massive regeneration project is one of the capital’s flagship development areas, so perhaps ‘up-and-coming’ would be a more accurate description than ‘off location’. Meanwhile embassy staff have now moved to the ‘off location’ in Nine Elms which is, as the crow flies, all of a mile and half further to No 10 Downing Street than their old Mayfair location. GLA HEAD OF PAID SERVICE TO STEP DOWNAt this year’s London Government Dinner, the Mayor of London’s speech focused on his plans for a new industrial strategy for London with the aim of ‘maximising growth and protecting the capital’s economy post-Brexit’. But Sadiq Khan also mentioned that the long-serving Head of Paid Service, Jeff Jacobs, will soon be stepping down, something which so far appears to have gone unnoticed by the press. Jacobs is a seasoned civil servant, cut from cloth they really don’t make anymore: He joined the GLA in 2007 as a senior adviser to Ken Livingstone and subsequently served both the Boris Johnson and Sadiq Khan administrations as their Head of Paid Service (which is only the Mandarin term for Chief Executive). He previously led the Government Olympic Executive and has held a number of other senior roles with central government authorities including the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions and the office of Deputy Prime Minister (at the time, John Prescott). Jacobs has, perhaps, shaped the GLA more than any other single Civil Servant in its employ; his expertise, experience and discreet authority will certainly be missed. BREATHING EASIER?On a more positive note, City Hall announced this Monday that Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) air pollution levels in London remained within legal limits for the first two weeks January, for the first time since records began. The press release attributes this partly to ‘hard-hitting measures’ such as the Toxicity Charge (T-Charge) and the first two in a series of Low Emission Bus Zones. However, it goes on to clarify that records only began ten years ago and that ‘air quality is still likely to exceed the NO2 hourly limit later this month’, mentioning also that ‘recent City Hall analysis shows every part of London exceeded World Health Organisation guidelines for dangerous particles (PM2.5)’. As an issue Sadiq campaigned on in 2016, he will be pleased to see this progress. HEATHROW UNVEILS NEW EXPANSION PLANSMeanwhile, Heathrow has published plans for a shorter third runway in order to push its expansion ambitions through. Now 300m shorter, Heathrow expects the runway can be delivered at a reduced cost of £14.3bn (£2.5bn less than originally stated), also allowing the airport to keep passenger charges ‘close to’ today’s levels, a request made by government following recommendations from the independent Airports Commission. Heathrow must now again run the gauntlet of public opinion over what is likely to be a testy 10-week consultation, starting today. The airport will hope it can dampen opposition by pledging higher compensation for local residents, a six-and-a-half hour ban on scheduled night flights and a promise to stay within air quality limits. Accusations are already being levelled by some expansion opponents that a shorter runway cannot deliver the economic benefits originally calculated – and that this could invite a judicial review from the likes of Gatwick or Heathrow Hub, an independent proposal to expand capacity. HOUSING ASSOCIATION MERGER MANIANotting Hill and Genesis housing association shareholders have voted in favour of a merger between both organisations. Shareholders agreed in principle to the decision, with a two-thirds majority achieved at both. The merger will give birth to the re-branded ‘Notting Hill Genesis’, which will have 54,000 homes across London (and an additional 10,000 in the wider South East), half of which will be general needs homes with social or affordable rents. This is now the fifth merger between housing associations in the past 15 months – as usefully catalogued by the g15 group. Notting Hill and Genesis shareholders will meet again on 1 February to confirm the decision.  PARTY’S OVERPhilip Kolvin QC has decided to call it a night and not renew his contract with the Mayor of London as Chair of the Night Time Commission. In a letter seen by the Evening Standard, Kolvin said he was left with ‘no option’ but to step down, asserting that the Mayor’s team had not provided the independence the commission required and that administrative support from City Hall had been ‘found wanting’. Kolvin famously played a key role in securing the re-opening of London nightclub Fabric and in policy terms has done a great deal to shape the vision for London’s night time economy. Meanwhile, the Mayor’s draft Culture Strategy, originally expected last Autumn, has yet to be published. NEW EUROSTAR CHIEFEurostar has announced the appointment of Mike Cooper as its new Chief Executive Officer, succeeding Nicolas Petrovic who will be leaving at the end of February to lead Siemens France. Cooper, currently CEO of the delivery service firm Yodel, brings a wealth of transport sector experience to Eurostar having previously held senior positions at Arriva, EasyJet and Portland Travel. Eurostar is due to launch a new route to the Netherlands this Spring – the twice-daily service will travel directly from London St Pancras to Amsterdam in about four hours, via Brussels and Rotterdam. NEW WESTMINSTER CITY COUNCIL CEOWestminster City Council’s Appointments Sub-Committee has unanimously agreed to recommend Stuart Love for the post of Chief Executive, and this recommendation will now go to Full Council on 24 January for endorsement. Love is already Westminster’s interim Chief Executive, and has previously held other senior positions within the borough. Beyond Westminster, his other experience includes positions at Isle of Wight Council and Southampton City Council. LABOUR RESULT: ANYTHING BUT NEC AND NECCandidates endorsed by Momentum had a clean sweep at Labour’s National Executive Committee (NEC) election results on Monday, with a 33.2% majority over the three Labour First backed candidates (out of 315,003 votes cast). Yasmine Dar, Rachel Garnham and Momentum Chair Jon Lansman will join the existing 36 members, swinging the balance decisively in favour of those to the left of party and giving them a clear working majority. NEC members sympathetic to Momentum’s politics will now be able to set Labour’s policy narrative, preside over selection processes, and enforce changes to the Labour Party Rule Book more effectively. The newly left-leaning NEC has lost little time in making its mark as it has already voted (by 22 to 15) to eject the incumbent chair of the party’s disputes panel Ann Black and replace her with Christine Shawcroft - a director of pro-Corbyn campaign group Momentum. LETWIN PANEL ANNOUNCEDThe Letwin Review into understanding why hundreds of thousands of permitted homes haven’t been built, has this week announced its panel of experts. The cross-party panel includes former Labour secretary of state John Hutton, Conservative Party donor Lord Jitesh Gadhia and Emeritus Professor of Housing Economics at LSE, Christine Whitehead. An interim report is expected at the Spring Statement in March. PLANNING APPLICATION FEES INCREASEAs of today, the 20% increase of application fees across England comes into force. This means that councils and other planning authorities will now be able to charge application fees from £96 to £300,000, compared to the current range of £80 to £250,000. They are widely expected to use any additional funds primarily on recruiting much-needed extra staff, but are also likely to invest a portion of their funds in improving and streamlining planning processes. ASSEMBLY SETS A DATE WITH BORISThe London Assembly’s GLA Oversight Committee has announced that it will be questioning former Mayor of London Boris Johnson on the procurement of the now-defunct Garden Bridge project, during its session on 1 March. The Foreign Secretary was originally summoned to appear before the Committee on 22 February, but it appears that an agreement has been reached to postpone it. Boris had chosen not to participate in Dame Margaret Hodge’s review into the Garden Bridge, but is required by law to appear before the Assembly if formally requested. The official summons document will be published here along with the relevant Committee papers on 23 January. MULLINS FOR MAYORCharlie Mullins OBE, the founder and CEO of Pimlico Plumbers, has announced that he intends to stand as an independent candidate in the 2020 Mayoral elections. Since humble beginnings in 1979, Pimlico Plumbers has grown to become a major home service company, with its signature blue vans a familiar sight across London. In a blog, Mullins highlights apprenticeships and skills training as the core of his platform and characterizes Sadiq Khan as a ‘mild-mannered solicitor by trade’ who ‘just isn't up to the job.’ 
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