LDN Weekly – Issue 223 – 8 June 2022 - The Show Goes On
THE SHOW GOES ON
| No images? Click here  THE SHOW GOES ONOur first two stories today tell the story of London. A London that leads the world in festivity, fashion, inclusivity, culture and fun but that is burdened, perhaps more so than ever, by discontent, inequality and an uncertain future. The good news is that, following the local elections, there is a fresh cohort of councillors in place to meet these challenges – we take a look at how they are settling in below . The bad news, this newly stabilised political landscape is a stark contrast to the national scene and we know that when this Prime Minister needs to score points, they often come at London’s expense. Meanwhile, next week is the 5th anniversary of the terrible tragedy at Grenfell where 72 people died. In those five years this city has changed indelibly, for better and for worse but every Londoner, and everyone who works in and for the capital including our 1,800 councillors, MPs and Government, should carry the scar of that day as they consider the future of the city. We hope you enjoy this edition and if you don't already, do follow us on Twitter and Instagram and feel free to visit our website for more information on LCA’s team, services, and clients. Oh and a technical note: If you like hearing from us, make sure to add ldn@londoncommunications.co.uk to your contacts or ‘safe sender’ list – this will help ensure our news bulletin lands in your inbox.  JUBILANT CITYThe Queen’s Platinum Jubilee burnished London’s credentials as the party capital of the world – and there’s no shortage of occasions to keep the festivities going over the summer. The capital played host to the Trooping of the Colour, a Service of Thanksgiving at St Paul’s Cathedral, the Platinum Party at the Palace and the Platinum Jubilee Pageant to mark the Queen’s 70th year as monarch, while street parties and other events took place across the city. Speaking to LBC, the Mayor said that the festivities are thought to have brought over 2.6m domestic and international tourists to London over the weekend, who spent approximately £80m in the West End alone. Looking ahead, it’s heart-warming to see London emerge from the pandemic’s forced hibernation. The London Festival of Architecture is taking place over the course of June, as is London Fashion Week. Meanwhile Pride in London is also returning on 2 July, after a two-year break, with the theme of #AllOurPride and commemorating the 50th anniversary of the original Pride march in the UK. For music fans, ABBA Voyage, the band’s virtual concert residency, has now started at the purpose-built ABBA Arena in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in East London, which will also be hosting celebrations to mark the 10th anniversary and legacy of the 2012 London Olympics. Then, in August, the iconic Notting Hill Carnival will finally return for the first time since 2019. Party on London! GRIDLOCK CAPITAL?Unfortunately, no amount of pomp and pageantry can paper over the significant challenges faced by the city. London’s ongoing transport troubles in particular will throw a spanner in the works for those hoping to enjoy all the capital has to offer – and for the city’s economic recovery more generally. There was a tube strike last Monday and other upcoming industrial action, including yet another Tube strike that looks likely to go ahead on 21 June in tandem with separate national rail strikes on 21, 23 and 25 June (which in effect means five days of disruption for Londoners). Looking beyond headlines dominated by name-calling and doom-mongering, the issue for TfL is actually about the nuts-and-bolts of how London’s public transport system is sustainably structured, managed and funded. With income from fares still below pre-pandemic levels, unions fear pension and job cuts - and while TfL has offered assurances that no such actions are planned, proposals for sweeping changes to London’s bus network do not bode well. Even more ominously, TfL’s current funding agreement with Government expires on 24 June and the papers published ahead of today’s TfL Board meeting state that there has been ‘limited progress’ in discussions with Government about further funding. 5 MAY'S TAILSAbout a month on from the local election, all of London’s councils have finally confirmed their new leadership cadre and are getting down to business. All Annual General Meetings (AGMs) have taken place, formally confirming Leaders, Cabinet and Committee memberships, as well as constitutional changes. While most were tick box affairs, some were distinctly dramatic. For example, in Havering, a weakened Tory minority administration was toppled and replaced by a minority administration comprised of Havering Residents’ Association (HRA) councillors, headed up by Cllr Ray Morgon and propped up by votes from the Labour group. In all, 11 of London’s 32 councils now have new leaders or directly elected Mayors, whereas the figure immediately following the 2018 election was eight. Umbrella body London Councils in turn held its own ‘AGM of AGMs’ yesterday, with its Leaders’ Committee re-electing Camden’s returning Leader Georgia Gould (Lab) as its Chair and Barking & Dagenham’s Darren Rodwell (Lab) as Deputy Chair, both for a second term (more on this below). Ten other Leaders and directly Elected Mayors comprise the London Councils’ Leaders Committee’s new line-up of Vice Chairs and Executive Members – who will act as spokespeople for London across key policy areas – though we noticed three conspicuous absentees from the Committee’s ‘family photo’ – a prize is on offer to the first reader who tells us the names of those missing... FIRST STEPSNew administrations are also beginning to make their mark in policy terms – and we’ve been keeping a close eye on their first steps in the wider built environment. In Barnet, the borough’s new Labour leadership has pledged to revisit the Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) for the major Hendon Hub scheme, which had been put forward by the previous Tory administration. Next door in Haringey, the returning Labour administration has moved forward with its manifesto pledge to ‘insource’ its housing services. Meanwhile, we attended a ‘Meet the Westminster team’ event, where the Council’s new Leader Cllr Adam Hug and key Cabinet members set out their vision for the council. Cabinet Member for Planning and Economic Development Cllr Geoff Barraclough notably reiterated the Labour group’s commitment to ending what they refer to as a ‘cosy relationship’ with property developers, promising greater transparency and clearer separation between the leadership’s planning policy and the planning committee’s decisions. Over the past couple of weeks we’ve also been observing the first post-election planning committee sessions in boroughs from Kingston to Haringey. But other boroughs – particularly those with significantly new line-ups of members, chairs and vice chairs – have yet to hold their first meeting of the new municipal year. Looking ahead, we’ll be watching several such ‘maiden’ planning committee meetings especially closely, notably including Tower Hamlets’ (later today), Camden’s (tomorrow), Barnet and Croydon’s (both on 16 June), Harrow’s (22 June), and Wandsworth’s (only on… 28 June). LONDON PLANNING ROUNDUP
PEOPLE MOVES
 A JUBILEE PUTSCH?The Prime Minister has narrowly survived a vote of no confidence in his leadership by Tory backbenchers, so what’s next? While Boris Johnson and his supporters have called it a ‘decisive’ and ‘convincing’ vote of confidence, others are not so sure. Indeed, while 211 Tory MPs did vote in his favour, a not-insignificant 148 voted against, a margin similar to (and in some cases even less than) the votes won by Prime Ministers who went on to resign within months. Nonetheless, Johnson remains defiant, urging his Cabinet to ‘draw a line’ under questions about his leadership and promising a return to ‘fundamental’ Tory policies. Clearly keen to hit ‘reset’, the PM is reportedly considering a potentially imminent Cabinet reshuffle, as well as a ‘blitz’ of policy announcements. The latter are said to include new tax cuts, an extension of Right to Buy to housing association tenants and building more modular homes – none of which is all that new, though this may herald a substantial acceleration of their implementation. There are many challenges and pitfalls ahead for Johnson, including widespread scepticism about the efficacy of such policymaking-on-the-fly; further evidence from Parliament that the Government’s ‘Levelling Up’ agenda remains rather thin; calls by the opposition for a second motion of no confidence in the Commons; and reports that rebel MPs are now plotting to stymie Government legislation. To wit, the Prime Minister is in no way out of the woods – but with Teflon Boris, who knows? CLADDING BANThe Government has made what is arguably one of its most important building safety interventions since the Grenfell Tower fire – a tragedy that occurred five years ago this coming Tuesday. The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) has announced that the cladding used on Grenfell Tower has now been banned outright for all buildings. This is, actually, only one of several changes to Approved Document B of Building Regulation’s guidance (see further technical details here), which also include additional requirements for safety features on new tall buildings, as well as the extension of a ban on the use of combustible materials for the external walls of residential, healthcare and education structures of over 18 metres in height, which will also cover new hospitality buildings. As per analyses by trade media including Inside Housing, Architects’ Journal and Construction News, these changes – which come into effect in England on 1 December – are not retroactive and apply only to new and in-construction buildings. That said, the changes have been broadly welcomed as an overdue strengthening of the fire safety regime. SC1 IS GOThis week saw the launch of London’s newest innovation district, the SC1 life science district in south central London. SC1’s mission, to reimagine innovation and health equity, is a laudable one and we are excited to see the developments underway bring it to life. This includes Royal Street and Snowsfields Quarter, both on land owned by our client Guy’s & St Thomas’ Foundation and being brought to fruition by joint ventures of Stanhope / Baupost and Reef Group / Oxford Properties respectively. The launch event, held at County Hall, was a buzzy affair with speakers including George Freeman MP, Minister for Science, Research & Innovation, Dame Kate Bingham and Joanne Henderson, Executive Director, Head of Life Sciences, CBRE. BIRTHDAY HONOURS LISTAs is our tradition, we’ve scoured the Queen’s Birthday Honours’ list for prominent Londoners, political leaders and representatives of the sectors we are most active in – and we list some of the highlights below.
Our congratulations! 
Our roadshow of presentations on the outcome of the local election and what it means for London continues. On Monday, our editor (also, in her spare time, LCA Partner and Managing Director, Insight) Jenna Goldberg teamed up with LSE’s Professor Tony Travers to analyse the election’s results for an audience of senior staff at London Councils. Earlier today, Jenna also delivered a talk on the election’s particular implications for development in the capital, at a webinar hosted by the British Property Federation and chaired by their Director of Policy Ian Fletcher. Looking ahead, Jenna and our Senior Insight Manager Stefanos Koryzis will be joining an all-star cast of top local government officials in a session hosted by Future of London next Wednesday (15 June), which will unpick how the election results might impact the planning, housing, regeneration and infrastructure sectors more generally – you can register to attend the event here. LDN CONTRIBUTORSRobert Gordon Clark, Senior Advisor and Partner Jenna Goldberg, Partner & Managing Director, Insight Stefanos Koryzis, Senior Insight Manager Emily Clinton, Senior Insight Executive Rahul Shah, Account Executive Aroa Maquedano Pulido, Middleweight Designer LCA prides itself on its intelligence-led approach to PR and communications and our dedicated insight team monitors London politics, news and issues as it happens. If you would like to know more about LCA or anything in this edition of LDN – London in short please get in touch.If you have received LDN Weekly indirectly and would like to subscribe to receive it every week, please click here to register your details.LDN is put together by a dedicated team at London Communications Agency. The content for each edition is developed from news drawn from the last week from every London local paper as well as the regional and national press, from intelligence gathered by monitoring local, regional and national government activity and from the insight and expert knowledge of the entire LCA team.    |