Questions to the Mayor
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Appendix 3 Questions to the Mayor 18 March, 2021 WRITTEN ANSWER REPORT Subject: MQT on 18 March, 2021 Report of: Executive Director of Secretariat Decision-making Question No: 2021/1227 Shaun Bailey What have you done to ensure that decision-making in City Hall is as effective as possible? Decision-making The Mayor Last updated: 20 March, 2021 It’s important that we continue to improve our governance processes whenever we can. We’ve begun publishing Chief Officer forms for the first time, and we’ve asked all decision authors to consider conflicts of interest more formally. We’ve overhauled the approach to budget setting and now publish a significantly more comprehensive and transparent GLA: Mayor budget document. We’ve continually been looking for ways to improve our engagement with Londoners, so we can make better decisions. Talk London now has a membership of nearly 60,000 Londoners from all walks of life, and we’ve used this amazing resource to help shape the work of the London Recovery Board. This approach – listening to and working with Londoners – has shaped my decisions as Mayor. Post-Covid London Question No: 2021/1312 Susan Hall What aspects of London life would you like to see get back to normal first? Post-Covid London The Mayor Last updated: 20 March, 2021 I welcome the publication of the Government’s roadmap – it’s good to see ministers finally learning from past mistakes and taking a cautious approach. Working with businesses and London Councils, I’ve published a London-specific roadmap for the safe and full reopening of London’s economy. In the short term we must support people and businesses before the economy fully reopens, which we know will not be before 21 June. I have pledged £5 million to support the safe reopening of central London and am leading a campaign to attract visitors back to our retail, hospitality and cultural venues – as soon as it’s safe to do so. In the medium to long term, the London Recovery Board is bringing together all of London’s major leaders to build a fairer, greener and more prosperous city. I hope the Government will come forward with a recovery plan to match the scale of the challenge. Heathrow expansion and the London Plan Question No: 2021/0969 Siân Berry Will the policies in your London Plan be able to stop expansion at Heathrow? Heathrow expansion and the London Plan The Mayor Last updated: 20 March, 2021 Expansion at Heathrow would be bad for London and I remain resolutely opposed to it. I have fought the Government’s Airports National Policy Statement (ANPS) in the courts and I am deeply frustrated that the Supreme Court decided to reinstate the ANPS after it had been suspended. The London Environment Strategy, my Transport Strategy and the London Plan rightly set a very high bar for any proposals for a third runway at Heathrow, which the plans do not reach. However, as long as the Government’s ANPS remains in place in its current form, it will have weight in decision making. I wrote to the Secretary of State for Transport on 6 January to reiterate my request that he review the ANPS in light of the latest climate change targets. I will also respond to the Government’s long-delayed consultation on aviation and net zero carbon when it is finally published. Hit and run prosecutions 2020 Question No: 2021/0970 Siân Berry Could you report the most recent figures for numbers of casualties relating to hit and runs in London in 2020, with a breakdown by: a) road user mode, b) severity type, c) borough, and d) whether there was a prosecution? Hit and run prosecutions 2020 The Mayor Last updated: 20 March, 2021 Please find the requested information attached. A notes page is provided to aid in interpretation. Please note to due to issues with the way fail to stop collisions are recorded it is not possible to provide accurate statistics about the true number of failed to stop collisions and the resulting outcomes. The reason for this is that the data includes records where, despite the initial determination being that the driver failed to stop, subsequent checks have established that the driver did then go on to report either on-line or at a police station. This satisfies the requirements under Section 170 of the Road Traffic Act and no further enforcement action would be taken unless a driving offence was identified. Unfortunately, it is not possible to report how many of these records would fall into this criterion. Youth workers trained by the Violence Reduction Unit Question No: 2021/0971 Siân Berry In a meeting of the Police and Crime Committee on 24 February 2021, the Assembly heard from Lib Peck, the director of the Violence Reduction Unit (VRU), that the VRU was involved in training youth workers. Could you tell me: a) the number of training programmes, b) the number of youth workers trained, c) where VRU youth workers have been deployed, and d) how they offer continuity of service and contact to the young people they engage with? Youth workers trained by the Violence Reduction Unit The Mayor Last updated: 20 March, 2021 My Violence Reduction Unit is prioritising investment to those who hold key trusted relationships with young people most at risk of exploitation and violence. Frontline youth workers have the relationships with young people to deliver early interventions that can make all the difference to a young person’s future. ‘Rise Up’ launched on 30th September 2020 and is led by London Youth in partnership with Leap Confronting Conflict and Clore Social Leadership. Youth leaders receive training and development – including modules on safeguarding, mental health and employment opportunities – to act as a community-led first line of defence for young people most at risk. Full details of the leadership programme can be found online at: Rise Up: Youth Practitioners Leadership Programme. The programme currently has 94 practitioners representing organisations across 27 boroughs and who are directly supporting young people within their communities. Trainee officers in the Violence Suppression Units Question No: 2021/0972 Siân Berry Could you tell me how many Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) officers currently working in the Violence Suppression Units (VSUs) are trainees completing a four-week programme? Trainee officers in the Violence Suppression Units The Mayor Last updated: 20 March, 2021 On completion of their ‘street duties’ training, probationer constables undertake several operational rotations on their Basic Command Unit (BCU) as part of their learning journey. The first rotation is a 4 week attachment to a Violence Suppression Unit (VSU). The exact number of probationer constables within the VSUs varies from month to month. In March 2021, there were around 170 probationer constables on operational attachment to VSUs across the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS). These probationer constables are in addition to over 600 officers in permanent VSU posts across the MPS. Green New Deal expert advisory panel Question No: 2021/0973 Caroline Russell Who are the members of your Green New Deal expert advisory panel? Green New Deal expert advisory panel The Mayor Last updated: 20 March, 2021 As part of my efforts to drive forward London’s green recovery, I have established a “Green New Deal Expert Advisory Group” to provide strategic advice on the implementation of the Green New Deal mission and support work to embed sustainability in London’s recovery. The group, co-chaired by my Deputy Mayor for Environment and Energy, Shirley Rodrigues, and Mayor of Hackney Philip Glanville, brings together a diverse group of experts from community, business and NGOs who are able to bring different perspectives, experience and insights from their sectors. The current membership, which has been agreed in discussions with London Councils and GLA is set out below. We expect to add to membership as the Group evolves. Invitees to March’s expert advisory group are: Name Organisation (area of expertise) Shirley Rodrigues Deputy Mayor for Environment and Energy (Co-chair) Philip Glanville (Co- Mayor of Hackney – Chair London Councils Transport and chair) Environment Committee Ashok Sinha London Sustainable Development Commission – Sustainable Development Chaitanya Kumar New Economics Foundation – Green New Deal Jazmin Burgess C40 - Cities Climate Leadership Group - International Jeanne Capey Environment Agency - Environment Joss Garman European Climate Foundation - Climate Katarzyna Szwarc Grantham Institute, London School of Economics – Sustainable Finance and Just Transition Beccy Speight Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and London Recovery Board member – Environment Niall Bolger London Chief Executive Committee - Lead advisor on environment for London Councils Polly Billington UK100 Cities Network – UK local governments (climate and clean energy) Rishi Madlani LB – Camden - Sustainable Finance Sam Gurney Trades Union Congress – Just Transition Syed Ahmed Energy for London – Renewable Energy Wayne Hubbard ReLondon – Circular Economy Transport for London policy on biodiversity (1) Question No: 2021/0974 Caroline Russell Transport for London (TfL) issued a Biodiversity Action Plan for London Underground in 2010, have there been any updates or further progress on biodiversity policies since then? Transport for London policy on biodiversity (1) The Mayor Last updated: 20 March, 2021 Although a decade has passed since the publication of the London Underground Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP), the principles behind it (Lawton review “Making Space for Nature”) remain not only sound but of even greater significance today (as detailed in the recent Dasgupta review “The Economics of Biodiversity”). Since its publication, Transport for London (TfL) has evolved as an organisation and so have the polices that TfL adheres to. Both my Transport and Environment Strategies contain policies to deliver a net gain in biodiversity. TfL has developed an innovative biodiversity baseline map of its entire estate, as well as new processes and procedures, such as a biodiversity toolkit and new biosecurity policy within its management system.