London’s leading campaign group, 91, has published its manifesto for the next Mayor, setting out bold recommendations designed to drive growth and investment by ensuring the city remains the best in the world to do business, working with and for the whole UK.
With the Mayoral election just over a month away, the manifesto – developed following extensive engagement with leading London businesses – sets out practical steps to tackle critical challenges for the capital’s future competitiveness covering the economy, planning and development, housing, transport, infrastructure, skills and immigration, crime, climate and devolution.
Among the key recommendations for the next Mayor are: undertaking a review of London’s green belt to identify poor quality parts close to existing or future transport nodes that are appropriate for new homes; launching a new London Careers Service to unlock opportunity for young and adult workers across the capital; securing a multi-year capital funding deal from central government for Transport for London while making the case for devolution to enable the city to make its own transport decisions; and working with business to co-create London’s growth strategy and next economic development plan to boost investment.
91 CEO John Dickie said: “London is the best city in the world in which to do business but we can’t afford to be complacent in the face of strong economic headwinds and growing international competition.
“The next Mayor needs to ensure the capital remains an attractive place to live, work, study and visit. This will require tackling the housing crisis by building more homes, modernising ageing infrastructure, helping Londoners to reskill and upskill so they keep pace with a fast-evolving jobs market and delivering a smooth transition to net zero.
“In order to deliver on this ambitious agenda, the Mayor must work closely with business, the boroughs and central government to ensure London is firing on all cylinders. Central to this partnership will be making the case for the capital – like other parts of the country – to be given the powers it needs so the Mayor can drive positive change and meet the needs of Londoners. A globally competitive London will drive jobs, investment and growth locally and across the UK.”&Բ;
The manifesto includes a wide range of other asks from the capital’s business community on the next Mayor, including:
- working with business to deliver the London Local Skills Improvement Plan and future-proof the capital’s labour market, including by embedding green, transferable and essential digital skills as a core part of training provision funded by London’s Adult Education Budget;
- streamlining the London Plan to make it more concise, strategic and flexible in nature so that it focuses on the key issues for the capital and boosts development;
- establishing a City Hall Developer focused on unlocking more public land for development which works in partnership with the public and private sector;
- working with business to innovate further on fares across London’s public transport network, building on recent initiatives, such as the off-peak #LetsdoFridays, to develop a more flexible system that is fit for post-pandemic travel patterns;
- ensuring the Metropolitan Police collaborates with business to have a more visible presence on high streets and sends officers out to a greater proportion of shoplifting incidents;
- supporting boroughs on implementation of Local Area Energy Plans to match future energy supply against forecast demand, providing an evidence base for new investment to support future growth;
- working with boroughs to devise and oversee a plan for retrofitting homes in the capital and within that plan prioritise the development of incentives for homeowners; and
- making the case for wholesale reform of the business rates system to safeguard the future of high streets.