The session was focused on understanding the key priorities for Levelling Up and what could be the key challenges & opportunities for the Comprehensive Spending Review, with a London perspective from the GLA and the national perspective from the Institute for Government With Graham Atkins, Associate Director, Institute for Government and Dr Michelle Reeves, Senior Manager - Policy and Programmes, Strategy Team, City Intelligence Unit, GLA. The presentations were followed by a discussion on what key issues for councils and public services in London.

1. GLA approach to Levelling
Up & Spending Review 2021
7 October 2021
Dr Michelle Reeves
Strategy Team, GLA

2. Levelling Up London
AGENDA
1. Levelling Up approach and case for London
2. GLA CSR bid and key asks

3. Levelling Up London
• Our response to the Government’s Levelling Up (LU) agenda and to
the Comprehensive Spending Review 2021 are overlapping pieces
of work.
• Sought a pan-London view on LU with a high-level position
statement through London’s Recovery Board (LRB).
• Since summer 2020, LRB has convened leaders from across
London’s government, business and civil society, as well as the
health and education sectors, trade unions and the police, to
oversee the long-term recovery effort. It is jointly chaired jointly by
the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, and the Chair of London
Councils, Councillor Georgia Gould.

4. Why the capital needs levelling up?

7. Comprehensive Spending Review
• Worked with GLA Group on the Mayor of London submission.
• Our approach this time round has been to defend our baseline
funding so what we need for ‘business as usual’ operations and
to then focus on only a handful of ‘big ticket’ asks where we
would need new or additional funding.
• Our submission has six core themes...

8. Outline of key asks
1. Keeping Londoners Safe – Policing, London Fire Brigade
2. Transport – TfL sustainable funding deal
3. Housing – Delivering affordable homes, community led
housing, tackling homelessness, protecting leaseholders post Grenfell
4. Education & Skills – Skills, jobs and growth, Adult Education Budget,
UKSPF
5. Economic Recovery – Tourism, Creative Industries, East
Bank, Business Rates
6. Environment – Retrofit, Green Finance, decarbonisation of transport,
net zero targets

9. Keeping Londoners Safe
• Funding for police:
o Additional 6,000 officers, multi-year settlements that reflect the true
cost of policing London as a capital city, support for the Met’s capital
programme, protecting key victim and crime prevention services run by
the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime
• Funding for London Fire Brigade:
o Post-Grenfell changes and fire safety, dealing with extreme weather
events such as flooding, supporting counter terrorism efforts, funding
significant pensions pressures.

10. Transport & Housing key asks
Maintain baseline funding
Transport – support for TfL:
• A commitment from the government to move to a predictable and efficient system of multi-year investment control
periods in addition to its existing funding sources.
• TfL’s Long-Term Capital Plan requires £1bn-£1.5bn of additional government investment each year above current
arrangements.
Housing:
• National Homes Building Fund should be delivered, in London, as a partnership between the Government and
GLA.
• Funding for the development corporation (OPDC) of £300-£350m to support both land assembly and infrastructure
investment as required, to unlock the next phase of c9,000 homes at Old Oak.
• Funding for further feasibility and design work to extend the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) from Gallions Reach
to Thamesmead via Beckton Riverside and confirmation of capital support. Capacity for up to 28,000 homes in the
area.
• As well as funding for community-led housing projects and full funding to tackle the cladding and fire safety crisis

11. Skills, Education & Economic Recovery
Economy:
• Adult Education Budget and Skills Fund:
o Retaining amount of AEB funding currently allocated to the capital as well as the delegated powers needed to deploy AEB funding
strategically to meet the needs of its citizens and businesses.
o Funding and powers associated with the skills element of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF), 19-24 Traineeships,
Bootcamps and the endorsement of Employer Representative Bodies and Local Skills Improvement Plans to be delegated to the
GLA and the Mayors of England’s Combined Authorities as part of the new single Skills Fund.
• More flexible single multi-year programme than those currently supported through the LEAP, ERDF and ESF.
• UKSPF to be delegated.
• Film and TV studio space.
• Tourism
• £56m over two years to deliver an international marketing campaign
• Investment in East Bank
• Business rates:
o Some transitional rates relief support needs to continue beyond 1 April 2022
o Government should make an early announcement on the allocations to local authorities of its £1.5bn support fund for ratepayers
affected by the pandemic which was announced on 25 March, so that this help can get to the businesses that need it as soon as
possible.

12. Environment
• A substantial retrofit programme across all tenures delivered by the GLA and London boroughs -
£2.1bn over the next three years as the first part of a multi-year £6.4bn investment programme
• Funding from Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund and the Energy Company Obligation for whole-
house retrofit and tackling fuel poverty
• £300 million per year, for three years, to decarbonise London’s public sector buildings
• £60 million to accelerate supply chain growth by funding an increase in training facilities and
courses
• £27m over two years to secure the introduction of 1,300 new electric buses by 2024
• Investment in electric vehicle charging infrastructure.
• Support for Mayor's Energy Efficiency Fund.
• Support from UK Investment Bank for green finance
• Call for a Drain London II fund to tackle the growing flood risks to the capital from climate change

13. For more information
• Our partnership based approach to levelling up London in recovery
from the pandemic
at: https://www.london.gov.uk/coronavirus/londons-recovery-
coronavirus-crisis/recovery-context/levelling
• We have a wealth of data at the London Data
Store: https://data.london.gov.uk/
• Any other questions, please get in touch with:
StrategyTeam@london.gov.uk