DOCSLIB.ORG

Written Evidence Submitted by London Councils [FSS 014]

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Written Evidence Submitted by London Councils [FSS 014] Written evidence submitted by London Councils [FSS 014] Summary London Councils welcomes the inquiry. Our submission highlights the following key points: London boroughs were under significant financial pressure even before the coronavirus outbreak due to a decade of funding reductions, increased demand, and underfunded new duties. A number of other structural funding issues have increased the financial pressures on London boroughs and hampered their ability to plan their finances sustainably, including: a short-term approach to funding by Government; delays to reform of the finance system; and the potential impact of DSG deficits on general fund budgets. Covid-19 has intensified the financial pressure: Even after c.£1.6 billion in pandemic funding from central government, London boroughs forecast a potential shortfall of £700 million in 2020-21. While commercial property investment has increased in recent years, spending has been concentrated in a minority of authorities and is not having a distortionary effect on overall property market activity, and investments are subject to significant internal and external scrutiny. There are a number of measures the Government can undertake to support the financial sustainability of the sector over the short-, medium- and long-term, including: o most immediately, by making good on the promise to fully support local government through the pandemic; o in the medium term, providing certainty by delivering a multi-year Spending Review that provides sufficient resources to stabilise the sector, acknowledges the underlying structural funding pressures, and new demand pressures being put on local government as a result of the pandemic; and o in the longer term, use the key events in the next year (the fundamental review of business rates, CSR, Devolution White Paper, reforms to Adult Social Care, and the Fair Funding Review) to reform local government finance by including access to a broader range of revenue raising powers and flexibilities, so the sector is not overly reliant on one particular tax. Introduction 1. London Councils represents London’s 32 borough councils and the City of London. It is a cross party organisation that works on behalf of all its member authorities regardless of political persuasion. 2. We welcome the opportunity to provide evidence to the Housing Communities and Local Government Committee’s inquiry into local authority financial sustainability and the Section 114 Regime. Our member authorities have been put under immense financial pressure by a decade of austerity, rising demand for services and, in the last 10 months, the Covid-19 pandemic. 3. This submission is split into four sections that reflect the call for evidence as follows: a. Section 1 covers issues likely to impact the financial sustainability of local authorities b. Section 2 looks at the scale of the sustainability challenge facing local authorities c. Section 3 briefly covers the role of MHCLG, and d. Section 4 looks at measures that the government could take to support Local authority financial sustainability. Section 1: Issues likely to impact the financial sustainability of local authorities Structural funding issues Disproportionate austerity 4. Even before the coronavirus outbreak, London boroughs were under significant financial pressure following a decade of funding reductions. The overall resources available to London local government fell by over a quarter in real terms since 2010- 11. The equivalent cut to overall Resource DEL (including spending on Health, Education, and Police) was 12%. Meanwhile, overall public spending (Total Manged Expenditure) actually increased by 5% in real terms over the same period (see Figure 1 below), suggesting local services bore a disproportionate share of austerity. 5. Over the same period, demand for services increased significantly as London’s population grew by 12%: almost twice the rate of growth across the rest of England (7%) meaning that London boroughs now serve nearly a million more people than in 20101. At the same time, new policies and legislation also transferred additional responsibilities - and associated costs - from central to local government without sufficient funding, which have added further financial pressures of around £1 billion to London boroughs. Figure 1 – Cumulative like-for-like change in public spending - 2010-11 to 2020-21 1 ONS – Mid-year estimates and Sub-national population projections Source: OBR – historical official forecasts database; MHCLG (LGF Settlements 2011-12 to 2020-21) 6. Boroughs have coped by restructuring; investing in demand reduction; renegotiating contracts; sharing services and back office functions; embracing digitisation; and becoming more commercial. As a result, they are now more efficient and leaner organisations – with 53,000 fewer staff than in 2010 (a reduction of 29%)2. With so much already done, and many of these activities providing only one-off savings, councils are fast running out of options. 7. Even before Covid-19, London boroughs were planning £400 million of savings this year, as part of £2 billion needed over the 4-year Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) period to balance their books. The level of overall funding restraint has weakened the financial resilience of the sector overall and meant that some individual authorities were already in a difficult financial position before the pandemic hit. The short-term approach to local government funding 8. A further underlying issue that is likely to have adversely affected the ability of some authorities to plan their finances in the most strategic, efficient and effective way over the last 5 years, has been the Government’s short-term approach to funding, and its delays to reform of the finance system. 9. The scale of the funding crisis in adult social care in recent years has required several major policy interventions. Since the start of the last multi-year Spending Review period in 2016-17, the Government has repeatedly changed its approach to adult social care funding via a series of short term funding solutions, creating new grants, extending previous ones (like the Improved Better Care Fund), and extending the social care precept annually. Had an appropriate level of funding been provided for the sector at SR15, the emergency measures may not have been required, and 2 LGA - Quarterly Public Sector Employment Survey, https://www.local.gov.uk/ons-quarterly-public-sector- employment-survey councils could have spent the funding in a much more strategic and effective way. Funding that is announced late in the financial year is very difficult to spend in a way that does not simply perpetuate the status quo. 10. More broadly, the last two years have seen a growing level of uncertainty regarding local government finance, with two single year spending reviews, repeated delays to the conclusion of the Fair Funding Review, and the lack of a clear policy on further business rates retention. The latter starting in 2015 with a clear ambition for 100% retention by 2020, followed by a heterogenous approach to piloting further retention across the country, and the current position is that even the scaled-back 75% retention scheme and proposed simplified “alternative model” are uncertain to happen. 11. Finally, the annual settlement process, and its lateness in the financial year, stifles a strategic approach to funding local services, and hinders councils in developing long- term plans. Medium-term funding certainty would provide the platform to deliver transformation plans and longer-lasting efficiencies through prevention and invest-to save initiatives that are required to ensure longer-term financial resilience – particularly following a period prolonged funding restraint. DSG deficits 12. A further structural issue that has progressed rapidly in recent years is the growing level of accumulated deficits on the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) – driven primarily by the huge increase in demand for support for children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), following changes set out in the Children and Families Act 2014. Demand has risen by over 50% since 2015, and what began as only a few authorities building up large deficits is now a widespread issue across the sector. London boroughs anticipate accumulated deficits on the DSG of over £300 million by the end of the current financial year and over £400 million by the end of next year without further significant support from government. The scale of deficits for some London boroughs mean they have little or no prospect of recovering them over the next three years. The recent statutory override provided by DfE, which effectively hardens the ringfence on the DSG by asking authorities to change negative DSG balances to separate account solely for this purpose, rather than charging to the general fund revenue account (applicable for the next three years) is welcome in the short term, it does nothing to help the longer term position or to provide councils with the assurance they need that auditors won’t ultimately make adverse judgements regarding the ability of councils to balance their general funds because of the issues with the DSG. 13. All of these structural factors have put local government in a far weaker position with regards to financial resilience than it was a decade or so ago. Commercial investment decisions 14. The scale of the funding reductions since 2010 has coincided with councils diversifying and developing alternative sources of revenue within the confines of the current legislation. However, there has been a growing degree of criticism of commercial investment decisions from commentators and the Government in recent years. 15. Local authorities have a long track record of investing in property - including commercial property - for the benefit of the local area. This is a core part of regeneration and place-shaping activity (a core local government duty) with many projects containing a blend of objectives. The powers to do so are well established3, and the use of legal powers is subject to checks and balances. This includes the prudential framework, an array of guidance provided by CIPFA, as well as internal oversight and scrutiny, and the external audit regime.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Children's 76
    CHILDREN'S 76 this Committee agree to make provision in revenue estimates for continuing, on a proportionate basis, the financial aid at present being afforded by Middlesex County Council to the extent shown hereunder to the Voluntary Organisations respectively named, viz.: — £ The Middlesex Association for the Blind ... ... 150 approx. The Southern Regional Association for the Blind ... 49 approx. Middlesex and Surrey League for the Hard of Hearing ... 150 approx. 27. Appointment of Deputy Welfare Officer: RESOLVED: That the Com­ mittee note the appointment by the Establishment Committee (Appointments Sub-Committee) on 16th November, 1964, of Mr. Henry James Vagg to this post (Scales A/B). (The meeting dosed at 9.10 p.m.) c Chairman. CHILDREN'S COMMITTEE: 30th December, 1964. Present: Councillors Mrs. Nott Cock (in the Chair), Cohen, G. Da vies, Mrs. Edwards, Mrs. Haslam, Mrs. Rees, Rouse, Tackley and B. C. A. Turner. PART I.—RECOMMENDATIONS.—NIL. PART n.—MINUTES. 10. Minutes: RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 30th September, 1964, having been circulated, be taken as read and signed as a correct record. 11. Appointment of Children's Officer: RESOLVED: That the Committee re­ ceive the report of the Town Clerk that the London Borough of Harrow Appointments Sub-Committee on 16th November, 1964, appointed Miss C. L. J. S. Boag, at present Area Children's Officer Middlesex County Coun­ cil, to the post of Children's Officer in the Department of the Medical Officer of Health with effect from 1st April, 1965, at a salary in accordance with lettered Grades C/D.
    [Show full text]
  • Local Government in London Had Always Been More Overtly Partisan Than in Other Parts of the Country but Now Things Became Much Worse
    Part 2 The evolution of London Local Government For more than two centuries the practicalities of making effective governance arrangements for London have challenged Government and Parliament because of both the scale of the metropolis and the distinctive character, history and interests of the communities that make up the capital city. From its origins in the middle ages, the City of London enjoyed effective local government arrangements based on the Lord Mayor and Corporation of London and the famous livery companies and guilds of London’s merchants. The essential problem was that these capable governance arrangements were limited to the boundaries of the City of London – the historic square mile. Outside the City, local government was based on the Justices of the Peace and local vestries, analogous to parish or church boundaries. While some of these vestries in what had become central London carried out extensive local authority functions, the framework was not capable of governing a large city facing huge transport, housing and social challenges. The City accounted for less than a sixth of the total population of London in 1801 and less than a twentieth in 1851. The Corporation of London was adamant that it neither wanted to widen its boundaries to include the growing communities created by London’s expansion nor allow itself to be subsumed into a London-wide local authority created by an Act of Parliament. This, in many respects, is the heart of London’s governance challenge. The metropolis is too big to be managed by one authority, and local communities are adamant that they want their own local government arrangements for their part of London.
    [Show full text]
  • Guide to London Councils
    Our leadership London London needs to build an extra we are a member-led organisation by numbers 800,000 Guide to new homes The Leaders’ Committee is our main decision-making by 2021 to clear its backlog and keep pace body. The committee includes the Leaders of each With a population of more than with its growing population London borough council. Leaders’ Committee sets policy and takes decisions on the latest developments affecting London , London local government. The committee meets at 59½ 8.3million London is the most populous city in Europe London Underground trains carried more than Southwark Street. Meeting dates, agendas and minutes are available at www.londoncouncils.gov/uk/committees 1.17 billion Councils There are passengers Our Executive acts as a forum for more detailed policy in 2012, a new record development and reports to the Leaders’ Committee. 33 local The Executive is made up of 11 members from across the political groups. authorities in London comprised of Between December 2012 and December 2013, 629 wards the Metropolitan Police dealt with just over Our Grants Committee, comprising 33 councillors, and represented by 709,000 one from each of London’s local councils, oversees the London Boroughs Grants Scheme, set up under the 1985 crimes 1,855 elected (all notifiable offences), more than Local Government Act. The grants programme is funded 10 per cent fewer than the previous year and governed by the 32 London boroughs and the City councillors of London. There are more than London’s councils collect around The Transport and Environment Committee (TEC), provides a range of high quality operational services 3,000 schools 4 million such as parking and traffic appeals, the lorry control in London, educating around scheme, the Freedom Pass and Taxicard schemes.
    [Show full text]
  • Statement of Common Ground with Bexley
    Statement of Common Ground between LB Southwark and LB Bexley November 2019 1 Introduction This Statement of Common Ground (SCG) addresses the strategic matters specific to Southwark and Bexley. This SCG has been prepared by Southwark Council in agreement with the London Borough of Bexley. The purpose of the SCG is to document the cross-boundary matters being addressed and progress in cooperating to address them. This SCG ensures that the requirements set out in the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) have been met. The NPPF states, “Local planning authorities and county councils (in two-tier areas) are under a duty to cooperate with each other, and with other prescribed bodies, on strategic matters that cross administrative boundaries.” Southwark Council engages with other boroughs and the City of London through regular meetings either between officers or elected members with formalised governance arrangements such as the London Councils Leaders’ Committee, Association of London Borough Planning Officers, the Cross River Partnership, and the South East London Duty to Cooperate Group. We also maintain correspondence between planning departments on a variety of issues and projects and organise additional meetings on strategic planning matters when needed. Figure 1: Locations of Southwark and Bexley within Greater London. 2 Strategic Geography London Borough of Southwark Southwark is a densely populated and diverse inner London borough set over almost 30km of land to the south of the River Thames. Home to over 314,000 people, the borough is a patchwork of communities set over 23 diverse wards. Whilst the northern part of the borough already enjoys excellent transport links to the rest of London, the south is due to benefit from the extension of the Bakerloo Line, which will open up areas including the Old Kent Road to new growth.
    [Show full text]
  • Common Council
    Public Document Pack PLEASE BRING THIS AGENDA WITH YOU 1 The Lord Mayor will take the Chair at ONE of the clock in the afternoon precisely. COMMON COUNCIL SIR/MADAM, You are desired to be at a Court of Court of Common Council, at GUILDHALL , on THURSDAY next, the 21st day of June, 2012. CHRISTOPHER DUFFIELD, Town Clerk & Chief Executive . Guildhall, Wednesday 13th June 2012 Sir Robert Finch Aldermen on the Rota John Garbutt 2 1 Question - That the Minutes of the last Court are correctly recorded? 2 The Right Honourable The Lord Mayor's report on overseas visits. 3 Resolutions on Retirements, Congratulatory Resolutions, Memorials, etc. 4 Statement from the Chairman of the Policy and Resources Committee. 5 Docquets for the Hospital Seal. 6 List of applicants for the Freedom of the City: (A list of names, together with those of the nominators, has been separately circulated). 7 The Town Clerk to report the results of ballots taken at the last Court, viz:- * denotes appointment § denotes less than ten years’ service on the Court; # denotes less than five years’ service on the Court; and < denotes a Member who served on the original Governance Review Working Party. (a) One Member on the Board of Governors of the Museum of London for the balance of a term expiring in November 2013; Michael Henderson-Begg 3 Wendy Marilyn Hyde 13 Jeremy Paul Mayhew, M.A., M.B.A. 14 Ann Marjorie Francescia Pembroke 7 Neil Graham Morgan Redcliffe, Alderman 14 John George Stewart Scott, J.P., B.A.(Hons) 33 * Jeremy Lewis Simons M.Sc.
    [Show full text]
  • Research Unit
    September 2019 Research Unit Briefing: Mapping the Mayor’s Strategies An analysis of the Mayor of London’s strategic policy and spending priorities 1 September 2019 Briefing: Mapping the Mayor’s Strategies About the London Assembly The London Assembly is part of the Greater London Authority (GLA). The Assembly is made up of 25 Members who are elected by Londoners at the same time as the Mayor. It is the job of the Assembly to hold the Mayor and Mayoral advisers to account by publicly examining policies, activities and decisions that affect Londoners. The London Assembly question the Mayor’s plans and actions directly at Mayor’s Question Time and our committees examine issues that matter to Londoners through public meetings and investigations. Jennette Arnold OBE Tony Arbour Gareth Bacon Shaun Bailey Sian Berry Labour Conservative Conservative Conservative Green Andrew Boff Leonie Cooper Tom Copley Unmesh Desai Tony Devenish Conservative Labour Labour Labour Conservative Andrew Dismore Len Duvall OBE Florence Eshalomi Nicky Gavron Susan Hall Labour Labour Labour Labour Conservative David Kurten Joanne McCartney Steve O’Connell Caroline Pidgeon MBE Keith Prince Brexit Alliance Labour Conservative Liberal Democrat Conservative Caroline Russell Dr Onkar Sahota Navin Shah Fiona Twycross Peter Whittle Green Labour Labour Labour Brexit Alliance 2 September 2019 Contents 1 Introduction .........................................................................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • London Councils
    London Councils Minutes of the London Councils Leaders’ Committee held on 15 July 2014 Mayor Jules Pipe chaired the meeting Present: BARKING AND DAGENHAM Cllr D. J. Rodwell BARNET Cllr Richard Cornelius BEXLEY Cllr Teresa O’Neill BRENT Cllr M. A. Butt BROMLEY Cllr Stephen Carr CAMDEN Cllr Sarah Hayward CROYDON Cllr Tony Newman EALING Cllr Julian Bell ENFIELD Cllr Doug Taylor GREENWICH Cllr Denise Hyland HACKNEY Mayor Jules Pipe HAMMERSMITH & FULHAM Cllr Stephen Cowan HARINGEY Cllr Claire Kober HARROW Cllr David Perry HAVERING Cllr Roger Ramsey HILLINGDON Cllr Ray Puddifoot MBE HOUNSLOW Cllr Amrit Mann ISLINGTON Cllr Richard Watts KENSINGTON & CHELSEA Cllr Nicholas Paget-Brown KINGSTON Cllr Kevin Davis LAMBETH Cllr Lib Peck LEWISHAM Cllr Alan Smith MERTON Cllr Stephen Alambritis NEWHAM - REDBRIDGE Cllr Jas Athwal RICHMOND UPON THAMES Cllr Lord True SOUTHWARK Cllr Peter John SUTTON Cllr Ruth Dombey TOWER HAMLETS - WALTHAM FOREST Cllr Clyde Loakes WANDSWORTH Cllr Ravi Govindia WESTMINSTER Cllr Melvyn Caplan CITY OF LONDON Mr Mark Boleat LFEPA - CO-PRESIDENT Lord Andrew Adonis Apologies: CO-PRESIDENT Baroness Joan Hanham CO-PRESIDENT Baroness Sally Hamwee LEWISHAM Mayor Sir Steve Bullock HOUNSLOW Cllr Steve Curran NEWHAM Mayor Sir Robin Wales TOWER HAMLETS Mayor Lutfur Rahman WALTHAM FOREST Cllr Chris Robbins WESTMINSTER Cllr Philippa Roe EQUALITIES Cllr Marie Pye Ex officio (under the provisions of Standing Order 2.2) CAPITAL AMBITION Mr Edward Lord JP OBE CC GRANTS Cllr Paul McGlone In attendance: Isabel Dedring, Deputy Mayor Transport, GLA Jeremy Skinner, Head of Strategic Projects and Policy Evaluation, GLA Jeff Jacobs, Head of Paid Service, Executive Director, Communities and Intelligence, GLA Fiona Fletcher-Smith, Executive Director for Development, Enterprise and Environment, GLA Professor Tony Travers, LSE and London Councils officers 1.
    [Show full text]
  • London Councils' Transport and Environment Committee
    London Councils’ Transport and Environment Committee Dockless Bicycles – Item No: E2 Londonwide Byelaw x x Report by: Katharina Winbeck Job title: Strategic Lead, Transport & Environment, Policy and Public Affairs Division Date: 10 October 2019 Contact Officer: Katharina Winbeck Telephone: 020 7934 9945 Email:Katharina.winbeck@londoncoun cils.gov.uk Summary: This report updates TEC on the proposed pan-London parking byelaw for the regulation of dockless bicycle hire schemes in London. Recommendations: Members are asked to: 1. Note the update; 2. Note the current draft text of the byelaw; 3. Note that the next step in the timetable is sharing the draft wording of the byelaw with dockless operators Dockless Bicycles - Londonwide Byelaw London Councils’ TEC – 10 October 2019 Agenda Item E2, Page 1 Update 1. TEC has previously agreed that the correct future approach for dockless bike sharing is to move away from the status quo, where Boroughs reach individual agreements with specific operators, and instead move to borderless operations throughout Greater London. 2. Controlling bike fleets would be achieved by Boroughs using existing powers to designate parking places for dockless bikes, and (following the necessary delegation of powers which was discussed and agreed at the June 2019 TEC meeting) TEC promoting a pan-London byelaw on Boroughs’ behalf to prohibit bike operators from parking dockless bikes other than at those approved designated parking places. 3. Discussions between TfL, London Councils and Borough Officers have led to the attached draft byelaw. 4. There are currently five dockless bike operators working in London and a sixth may launch before next spring.
    [Show full text]
  • A Mayor and Assembly for London: 10 Years On
    2 July 2010 A Mayor and Assembly for London: 10 years on Tony Travers and Christine Whitehead A brief history… It is 10 years since the Greater London Authority was created as a metropolitan or regional tier of government for London. There have been five different arrangements of ‘upper tier’ government in the capital since the Metropolitan Board of Works (MBW) was created in 1855 to build infrastructure. The MBW was succeeded by the London County Council (LCC), a powerful authority for the inner part of the contemporary city. Within this area 28 metropolitan boroughs and the City of London delivered ‘local’ services. Two factors were particularly important in influencing the progress of London’s government. First, the physical expansion of the city created demands for provision across a wider area than the City of London’s original and long-evolved ‘square mile’. The Metropolitan Police Service was created by the government in 1829 to meet the law and order requirements of a fast-growing city. The squalor and chaos of the London of the 1850s prompted Parliament to legislate for London’s first-ever metropolitan government, an indirectly-elected entity. Further physical expansion between the end of the 19 th century and 1939 generated a debate about the need for a ‘Greater London’ government 1. The second important factor in determining the kinds of institutions that emerged was the local power and parochialism of both the City of London and the parish-based or ad hoc bodies that developed to deliver services in the absence of a city-wide government.
    [Show full text]
  • The Content, Function. and Character of the Civic Registers of London and York C.1274-C.1482
    'The Veray Registre of All Trouthe': The Content, Function. and Character of the Civic Registers of London and York c.1274-c.1482 Deborah Jean Steele O'Brien A Thesis Submitted for the Qualification of D.Phil. at the Centre for Medieval Studies, the University of York May. 1999 2 Abstract This thesis offers a characterisation of the medieval civic register, based on a study of the content, structure, presentation and function of manuscript registers held by the administrations of London and York between c. 1274 and c. 1482. Previous scholarly discussions of administrative writing produced in medieval English towns have tended to treat this material simply as an unproblematic source of historical data, or either to focus on single records, or provide a survey of urban, or even national, documentation in general. This study argues that the civic register functioned as a distinct genre in the medieval city, and that treatment of it in its own right as an element of urban culture provides significant evidence of both literate practice and a sense of citizenship in this period. Chapter One discusses the context of the production and reception of writing in the medieval English city in which these civic registers were compiled. Chapters Two and Three constitute detailed studies of the content, structure, and the circumstances surrounding the production of civic registers from London and York respectively. Chapter Two focuses on four of the manuscripts categorised as custumals in London's Corporation of London Record Office, comparing them with other administrative and privately held manuscripts from the city. Chapter Three engages in a process of reconstructing the likely medieval state of both one of York's medieval registers, and the collection of registers in its archive as a whole, based on surviving manuscript evidence.
    [Show full text]
  • MARCH 8, 2011 Page 1 of 6 5 D - CC
    MARCH 8, 2011 Page 1 of 6 5 d - CC MIDDLESEX-LONDON HEALTH UNIT TO: Warden and Members of Middlesex County Council FROM: Graham L. Pollett, MD, FRCPC Medical Officer of Health DATE: March 8, 2011 ______________________________________________________________________________ Recommendation It is recommended that Middlesex County Council authorize the submission to the Ontario Ministry of the Environment of a Certificate of Approval Application for the installation of a 400kw back-up power generator for the 50 King St. premises. At the March 18, 2010 Board of Health meeting, the Board of Health endorsed, subject to Middlesex County Council approval, the purchase and installation of a back-up power generator for the 50 King St. office. At the same meeting the Board of Health passed the following resolution: That the Board of Health request of Middlesex County and City of London Councils authority to apply up to $400,000 of unspent 2009 municipal funds to purchase and install a back-up power generator at 50 King Street. Both Middlesex County and City of London Councils subsequently approved the allocation of a portion of their share of the 2009 Health Unit municipal operating surplus for this purpose. For the City of London $336,000 was allocated; for Middlesex County $64,000. Health Unit staff then engaged Stantec Consulting to develop the technical components for a Request For Proposal (RFP) process. Seven reputable mechanical contracting firms were invited to submit a bid and the Board of Health endorsed the awarding of the contract to CF Industrial Products Inc. for construction of a 400kw natural gas generator.
    [Show full text]
  • Consultants Brief the Crystal Palace Area
    Consultants Brief The Crystal Palace Area - Regeneration and urban design study 1 1 Introduction Where is Crystal Palace? Well that depends on who you ask. To some people it is Crystal Palace Park, to others the Upper Norwood ‘triangle, then there is Anerley and Penge, are they part of Crystal Palace area? If you google Crystal Palace, Crystal Palace FC pops up first followed by the magnificent Crystal Palace building that burnt down in 1936. We would like to employ consultants to explore the uncertain identity of Crystal Palace and what the future might hold, with people living and working in the area, those who own land in the area, or provide services or represent the people living there. We are seeking to appoint a suitably experienced team to carry out a regeneration and urban design study that explores future opportunities for the Crystal Palace and its surrounding town centres in light of the potential new designation of Crystal Palace as an Strategic Outer London Development centre with a strategic function around leisure/ tourism/ arts/ culture/ sports and the emerging development proposals within the park boundary. The study should consider implications and opportunities for regeneration of the area, through a range of potential strategies and interventions, and be flexible enough to be relevant given a range of scenarios regarding the nature of the redevelopment of Crystal Palace Park and the facilities located there. A key requirement of the study is that it is informed by meaningful community dialogue. The timetable for this procurement and the subsequent delivery of the project is set out in the process section of this document.
    [Show full text]