--- election_year: 2016 party_id: labour party_name: Labour Party party_leader: Sadiq Khan political_spectrum: centre-left victory: true government_outcome: majority sections: - economy - taxation - health - education - housing - immigration - foreign-policy - environment - transport - law-and-order - welfare - democracy-and-constitution - energy - devolution - science-and-technology - local-government --- # Labour Party London Mayoral Manifesto 2016 SADIQ KHAN FOR LONDON A Manifesto for all Londoners # A Manifesto for all Londoners Sadiq Khan and London Labour’s Manifesto 2016 ## CONTENTS - Foreword 4 - My priorities 8 - Business, prosperity and opportunity 10 - Homes for Londoners 18 - A modern and affordable transport network 28 - A safer and more secure London 38 - Skills for Londoners 46 - A fairer and more equal city 54 - A greener, cleaner London 62 - Improving London’s health 70 - Making the most of arts, culture and creativity 76 x160668_TLP_Inset_p2_sh.indd 2 03/03/2016 14:24 ## FOREWORD London is the greatest city in the world. But we are at a crossroads. Our city gave me the opportunity to go from the council estate where I grew up to helping to run a business, serving as Transport Minister and now running for Mayor. I had the benefit of a good state school, a place at university that I could afford, and ultimately, good jobs for my wife and me that enabled us to buy a family home. But today, Londoners are being priced out of our city. The next generation is missing out on the opportunities that our city gave me when I was growing up. For a child on a council estate today, London is not the city of opportunity that it was for my brothers, my sister and me. For young families and individuals on average incomes, housing is increasingly unaffordable – with home ownership a distant dream. Social mobility is failing. In-work poverty is rising. Rocketing transport fares are making it more expensive to get to work or training. London’s status as one of the world’s leading commercial and cultural capitals, and the prosperity that it brings, is not assured. We are in competition, not just with New York, Paris, LA and Tokyo, but with rising powerhouse city economies such as Beijing, Shanghai, Sao Paulo, Mumbai, Mexico City and Moscow. We cannot afford to price ordinary, working Londoners out of our city. If we shut down opportunity, London will become closed to the young, to the entrepreneurs, and to the hard-working people who make our economy and communities tick. My mission is to restore opportunity, and in doing so to protect and advance London’s competitiveness and its status as a world-leading city for business, creativity, and fairness. My first priority will be tackling the housing crisis. We need to build more homes, including more genuinely affordable homes for Londoners, and fewer gold bricks for overseas investors. And I’ll be the most pro-business Mayor yet. Not just because I’ve helped to run a business, and understand the challenges that those trying to grow an enterprise face, but because I know that a prosperous, growing economy is central to ensuring that our city remains a place of opportunity. I’ll work with businesses to ensure that more Londoners have access to the skills they and our economy need, and I’ll stand alongside business leaders in campaigning for Britain to stay in the EU. I’ll also be the greenest Mayor ever, seeking to establish London as a leader in low-carbon innovation and industry, cleaning up our dangerously polluted air, and setting out an ambitious long-term plan for clean energy in our capital. I’ll make sure that our transport services meet the needs of a modern economy, while remaining affordable. And I will make London safer and more secure, with a renewed focus on neighbourhood policing, action to tackle the spread of extremism, and fighting for the resources our police and fire services need. In doing so, I will keep the GLA council tax precept down as far as possible. With money so tight for so many Londoners, I supported the decision to cut council tax following the end of the Olympic precept. My promise is to keep council tax as low as possible without risking Londoners’ safety. I’ve got the experience, values and vision to put London back on the right track. I’ll be a Mayor for all Londoners. Sadiq Khan MP Labour’s candidate for Mayor of London sadiq.london 7 A Manifesto for all Londoners x160668_TLP_Inset_p2_sh.indd 6 03/03/2016 14:24 ## MY PRIORITIES * Tackle the housing crisis, building thousands more homes for Londoners each year, setting an ambitious target of 50 per cent of new homes being genuinely affordable, and getting a better deal for renters. * Freeze TfL transport fares for four years and introduce a one-hour bus ‘Hopper’ ticket, paid for by making TfL more efficient and exploring new revenue-raising opportunities. Londoners won’t pay a penny more for their travel in 2020 than they do today. * Make London safer, with action to restore neighbourhood policing, tackle gangs and knife crime, a plan to tackle the spread of extremism, and a review of the resourcing of our fire service. * Be the most pro-business Mayor yet, working in partnership with industry to deliver on skills, infrastructure, and growth. * Restore London’s air quality to legal and safe levels, with action to make travel greener and pedestrianise Oxford Street, while protecting the green belt. * Set up Skills for Londoners to ensure all Londoners have the opportunity to train in the skills that our economy needs. * Tackle low pay, working with employers to make London a Living Wage City. * Challenge gender inequality, working to close the gender pay gap and support women to break the glass ceiling while helping to remove the barriers to women’s success. * Make cycling and walking safer, with more segregated cycle routes, action on dangerous junctions, and safer lorries. * Make London a fairer and more tolerant city, open and accessible to all, and one in which all can live and prosper free from prejudice. x160668_TLP_Inset_p2_sh.indd 8 03/03/2016 14:24 ## BUSINESS, PROSPERITY AND OPPORTUNITY ## BUSINESS, PROSPERITY AND OPPORTUNITY The opportunities that I benefited from – which led to me becoming a partner in a law firm and then MP for the neighbourhood where I grew up – I owe to London’s prosperity, openness and spirit of enterprise. Helping run and grow that business, taught me about the challenges that the business community faces. I want to be the most pro-business Mayor yet - working with business, in partnership, to make London a more prosperous city and to spread the opportunity that brings to all Londoners. London is the world’s greatest commercial centre – the business capital not just of Britain, but of Europe. We are an established world leader in finance, creative industries and business services, and a growing force in newer industries such as tech, low carbon and life sciences, as well as having some of the most innovative manufacturing businesses around. Because it is such a great place to live and work in, London attracts organisations, talent and investment from across the globe. But retaining our place at the top is not a given. We need to work hard together to stay competitive, to increase productivity, and to make the most of opportunities for growth in our traditional and new industries. And we need to make it possible for all Londoners to reach the top, regardless of their background, race, religion or gender. The wellbeing of Londoners and the prosperity of our businesses are inseparable and mutually dependent. Many of the challenges that affect the prosperity and living standards of you and your family are the same problems that hold business back – the housing crisis, the need for a more affordable transport network with new capacity, the shortage of skills, and the lack of available business space. Dismantling the barriers to growth that exist, and increasing productivity, will be one of my priorities. I’m determined to be a ceaseless advocate for investment in London, and a champion for the interests of our industries, at home and abroad. I believe an active Mayor, committed to London’s continued growth and prosperity, can do much more to support business than just attending a few trade missions and ribbon cuttings (though I’ll continue with those as well!). That’s why I’m determined to be the most pro-business Mayor of London yet. I’ll make engagement with industry – from small independents and start-ups to global corporations – a key part of decision making at City Hall. When it comes to planning London’s future economic development, infrastructure, skills and housing will be my foremost priorities. And I’ll build stronger partnerships between the private sector, public and voluntary agencies to work strategically across London – making sure that the good work that is done across the city on skills and economic development is properly joined up. ### A partnership with business I will work in partnership with business to deliver solutions to the challenges that hold growth back, and to help spread opportunity throughout our city. ### I will: * Create a Business Advisory Board – made up of experts, not of political allies – to provide me with guidance and insight to find the solutions to London’s growth challenges and to provide feedback on my policy. * Involve business in decision making on key issues of policy and planning, from skills and housing costs, to transport infrastructure and business space. * Establish Skills for Londoners, working with business to ensure Londoners have the skills they need to grow. ## Supporting competitiveness and productivity An active Mayor can help to break down the obstacles that hold back London’s firms and affect their competitiveness. ### I will: * Take action on London’s housing crisis – a step change in new housing supply, to rent and to buy, with first dibs for Londoners, and exploring incentives for businesses to provide investment in new homes which could benefit their workforce. * Make childcare more affordable and accessible with a strategy that delivers for business and workers – including key-worker status for childcare workers and campaigning for business rate relief for childcare providers. * Challenge unfair visa rules which make it harder for London businesses to bring in the world’s best talent, who in turn create future opportunities for Londoners. ## Supporting small business and protecting business space Our small businesses, start-ups and entrepreneurs are at the heart of our economy and our communities, and supporting them to grow, innovate and create wealth and jobs will be central to my plans. I will: * Prevent the loss of business space, by working with local authorities to stop the excessive conversion of commercial space under permitted development rights. * Promote the provision of small business and start-up premises in housing and commercial developments through the London Plan. * Provide live-work units as part of the Mayor’s affordable housing programme. * Support communities which want to keep the character of their high streets intact. ## Championing London at home and abroad London needs a passionate advocate, at home and abroad, to make the case for our businesses, for inward investment and tourism, and to ensure that decision makers in Westminster, Brussels and elsewhere hear the voice of Europe’s biggest commercial centre loud and clear. I will: * Champion London industry at home and abroad, making the case for inward investment in our city, and working to attract ever more global business. * Campaign to stay in a reformed EU, defending competitiveness and jobs by fighting for our membership of the world’s largest market, and protecting London’s status as its financial capital. * Establish City Hall as a strong voice for business at both UK and EU level, working to ensure a level playing field for London and to protect our economy from unnecessary red tape and laws which could put our competitiveness at risk. ## Building the infrastructure of the future I speak with businesses across the city and I know how important it is we have the modern infrastructure we need as a city to grow and expand. ### I will: * Put business centre stage in planning our future infrastructure needs. * Plan for the long term, securing Crossrail 2, Bakerloo line and London Overground extensions, as well as new river crossings, and move on to discussions about Crossrail 3 and new orbital links. * Support new aviation capacity for London, backing a second runway at Gatwick and reviewing Boris Johnson’s decision on London City. * Seek additional fundraising powers from the Government for major infrastructure projects, such as those used for Crossrail. ## Taking Tech to the next level London can become a world-leading tech hub – as Mayor I’ll work to remove the barriers to growth in London tech, and take advantage of the innovative work happening in our city to improve governance. ### I will: * Establish a tech talent pipeline, through the Skills for Londoners taskforce, following the model developed by Bill de Blasio in New York, with more young people enabled and encouraged to gain key digital skills, and more apprenticeships in the sector. In particular I will ensure more girls are supported to develop tech skills, so that we can turn around the under-representation of women in tech jobs. * Improve our connectivity, making it a priority to tackle London’s ‘notspots’, ensuring better access to public-sector property for digital infrastructure, and treating digital infrastructure with the same status as other key public utilities. * Broker a deal between providers and local authorities to provide better access to public property and land for the installation of broadband infrastructure. * Appoint a Chief Digital Officer to oversee growth in the sector as well as taking responsibility for increasing digital inclusion across our city and leading on cyber-security. * Put an open data strategy at the heart of London government, with a new London data office working to bring data from across London’s boroughs and public agencies together, and opening it up to enable quicker decision making, better services, more efficient government, and greater transparency. * Support innovative tech solutions which enable Londoners to access and use public services and information more easily and efficiently. HOMES FOR LONDONERS x160668_TLP_Inset_p2_sh.indd 16 03/03/2016 14:24 HOMES FOR LONDONERS x160668_TLP_Inset_p2_sh.indd 17 03/03/2016 14:24 ## **HOMES FOR LONDONERS** The housing crisis is the single biggest barrier to prosperity, growth and fairness facing Londoners today. I’ve found that, both as a MP, and throughout my campaign to be Mayor of London, it doesn’t matter whether you’re talking to business leaders, local residents, charities or community groups: far and away the biggest issue across the board is London’s housing crisis. The city’s shortage of decent and affordable homes is causing real misery to millions of Londoners, and damaging London’s competitiveness. The effects are well known. People who grew up in London unable to rent or buy, parents forced to raise children in homes that are too small, and rents taking up more and more of people’s income. Home ownership is slipping increasingly out of reach for more and more Londoners, and homelessness is rising for the first time in a generation. Many Londoners now face far longer and more expensive commutes, and businesses struggle to recruit and retain the people they need to grow and prosper. That’s why, if I am elected Mayor, my single biggest priority will be to build thousands more homes every year, for you, your family and your friends – and to give first dibs to Londoners on new homes. Our capital needs more than 50,000 new homes a year – yet the current Mayor has built barely half that number. And when they are built, too often they are not the properties that London needs. Too many are sold off-plan to overseas investors, only to sit empty, and too many are simply not affordable – a consequence of the Mayor’s failure to set a clearer target for affordable housing. Yet, rather than taking action to create genuinely affordable homes, the Government has shifted the definition of affordable housing to include homes that cost up to £450,000 to buy, or 80 per cent of market rent. ### **Homes for Londoners to rent and buy** My housing priority is to get London building the homes and communities we need, with a target of half of all the new homes that are built across London being genuinely affordable to rent or buy. I’ll break the homebuilding logjam by setting up Homes for Londoners – a new and powerful team at the heart of City Hall – and building an alliance of all those with a stake in building new homes for Londoners. This will include councils, housing associations, developers, home-builders, investors, businesses, residents’ organisations – and together we will set out what we need from central government to enable us to build more homes. Homes for Londoners will bring together all the Mayor’s housing, planning, funding, and land powers alongside new experts to raise investment, assemble land, make sure Londoners get a fair deal from developers, and commission and construct new homes. ## GENUINELY AFFORDABLE HOMES Homes for Londoners will build the genuinely affordable homes we need, including: * Homes for social rent, supporting councils and housing associations to build. * Homes for **London Living Rent** – a new type of home for people struggling to rent privately, where rents are based on one-third of average local wages. * Homes for first-time buyers to ‘**part-buy part-rent**’, where on mayoral and other public land my aim is to cut their cost and give first dibs to Londoners who have been stuck renting for over five years – especially in outer London where the biggest falls in homeownership have been seen. * Homes to buy where we can give Londoners first dibs – building on brownfield public land and using the Mayor’s planning powers to their fullest extent. This stands in contrast to the Conservative Government’s definition of affordable housing, which includes: * So-called ‘Affordable Rent’ homes in which tenants pay up to 80 per cent of private market rent. * ‘Starter homes’ to buy costing up to £450,000. ## Homes for Londoners will drive up homebuilding by: * Building new homes on land owned by the Mayor, including Transport for London land, and bidding to develop other public sector land - with a proportion of homes on the capital’s NHS sites aimed at health service workers. * Supporting housing associations, which build 40 per cent of all London’s new homes, and which have committed to double their construction pipelines from 90,000 to 180,000 homes. * Long-term planning for new and affordable homes tied in with new transport infrastructure, including proposals such as Docklands Light Railway extensions, the Bakerloo line extension, and Crossrail 2. I’ll work with boroughs to deliver on my target of half of all new homes being genuinely affordable – a target that many Labour boroughs have met in recent years despite being undermined by the Mayor. I’ll seek out new sources of investment and use planning powers effectively to raise the number of new and affordable homes London builds. ### I will: * Set clear guidelines for which developments the Mayor will ‘call in’, including where planning has stalled, and where opportunities to deliver more new or affordable homes are being missed. * Support councils to enforce clear, new rules to maximise the affordable housing in new developments, with greater transparency around viability assessments, and the option to set local affordable housing targets. * Work with councils, housing associations and co-operatives to help them invest their land and resources effectively, including right-to-buy receipts and resources from smaller organisations. * Using public land creatively to generate future income. * Use City Hall as a platform to attract institutional investors, pension and other investment funds to finance homes for long-term, secure rent. * Explore incentives for businesses to provide investment in new homes which could benefit their workforce. I will fight Londoners’ corner, working with anyone who puts the capital first. I’ll work with the alliance of all those who want to get London building to secure the best deal for London from the national government, arguing for more devolution to London, including powers to: * Invest more in new homes for Londoners, with prudential borrowing powers for councils to invest in new affordable housing, and the Mayor taking the lead developing public land. * Exercise ‘use it or lose it’ powers to make sure developers who have planning permission build homes and do not land-bank. ### Supporting renters and homeowners Many Londoners want to buy a home of their own. Many others want and need social rent to live in London affordably. I will do what I can to help Londoners fulfil their aspirations. But it is also the case that more than one in four Londoners rent privately, and that the private rented sector will continue to grow. I know from my visits across the city that more and more Londoners are finding it increasingly difficult to find somewhere to rent that is affordable. Many face letting agency fees that are too high and property standards that are too low. Most landlords treat their tenants well – but I’m determined we will improve Londoners’ experience of private renting. I will fight for the Mayor and London councils to have a greater say in strengthening renters’ rights over tenancy lengths, rent rises, and the quality of accommodation. I’ll work with councils, landlords, tenants, and business to improve the private rented sector for both renters and for good landlords by: * Setting up a London-wide not-for-profit lettings agency for good landlords, building on the work that councils have started, and ending rip-off fees for renters. * Working alongside boroughs to promote landlord licensing schemes to drive up standards, and make the case to government for London-wide landlord licensing. * Name and shame rogue landlords and ensure tenants have access to this information online. Alongside a modernised private rented sector, London needs to protect its social housing as a vital asset. I am opposed to the Government’s plans to raise rents for working families and to force the sell off of council homes to the highest bidder, which will lead to a hollowing out of the capital, damaging our social mix. London boroughs and housing associations should be investing money from the right-to- buy and other sources in new social housing in the local area and other genuinely affordable homes in London. That’s why I oppose the Government’s plans and why I’ll fight to protect Londoners from the worst effects of their policies. I will: * Work with housing associations to keep their rents down, and help councils to protect tenants unable to afford rents up to market rates under ‘pay-to-stay’ rules if they go ahead. * Require that estate regeneration only takes place where there is resident support, based on full and transparent consultation, and that demolition is only permitted where it does not result in a loss of social housing, or where all other options have been exhausted, with full rights to return for displaced tenants and a fair deal for leaseholders. Many Londoners already own their own homes but some struggle to meet their housing costs and maintain their property as they would wish. I want to support existing homeowners through measures including: * Investment in older homes to make them more energy-efficient as part of the ‘100 per cent London’ campaign to switch London over to clean energy. * Working with London boroughs to ensure leaseholders can access high-quality advice on service charges and leasehold extension. ## Homelessness Rough-sleeping has doubled in the last five years, and the number of homeless children living in temporary accommodation has risen by a quarter in the last three years. I’m determined to tackle the scourge of homelessness. I will: * Set up a ‘No Nights Sleeping Rough’ initiative – a London-wide taskforce to oversee the implementation of the Mayor’s rough sleeping work and funding priorities. * Focus on help for young people facing homelessness, who are increasingly caught in a trap as they struggle to find somewhere to move on to, including prevention measures such as family mediation and steps to help young people into work. * Coordinate councils’ efforts to find stable private rented housing for those in need who are not able to move into social housing, instead of desperate boroughs being forced to outbid each other for homes from landlords. ## Planning for the future As London’s population grows it is vital that we look at developing new forms of housing to meet the future needs of the capital, such as community land trusts, co-housing, and housing which allows older Londoners to downsize. It is important that we do more to protect the character of London’s communities while delivering the new and affordable homes we need to cope with a rising population. I will put good design and sustainability at the heart of the London Plan. I will: * Amend the London Plan to give greater protection for residents affected by large-scale basement excavation works, and include stronger policies to ensure tall buildings respect the character of existing neighbourhoods. * Support ‘tenure-blind’ development, avoiding the use of ‘poor doors’, so that the access and communal areas for affordable housing are indistinguishable from those serving other homes. * Protect the green belt, green spaces and play spaces, prioritising development on brownfield sites, and developing appropriate design principles to build up areas around town centres across the capital. * Support councils in bringing empty homes back into use, using compulsory purchase orders where necessary, and developing planning rules to control ‘buy-to-leave’. * Retain in the London Plan targets for all new homes to meet Lifetime Homes standards and 10 per cent of new homes to be wheelchair accessible * Improve planning and design policies to offer older Londoners more choice, whether they are active older people, downsizers or in need of specialist and extra care homes, and by making it easier for owner-occupiers to adapt their homes when they want others, including carers and lodgers, to live with them. ## A MODERN ## AND AFFORDABLE ## TRANSPORT NETWORK A MODERN AND AFFORDABLE TRANSPORT NETWORK x160668_TLP_Inset_p2_sh.indd 27 03/03/2016 14:24 ## A MODERN AND AFFORDABLE TRANSPORT NETWORK London’s transport has always been a big part of my life – my dad drove the number 44 bus. And more recently, I served as a Transport Minister in the last Labour Government, working on schemes such as Crossrail. But above all, like most Londoners, I’ve relied on it throughout my life to get me around. We can’t afford to let the cost of travel become a barrier to work. That’s why it’s vital we put a hold on the rocketing fares of the last eight years. London’s transport infrastructure is at the heart of our city’s economy. But the short-termism of the past has left growth in demand outstripping growth in capacity. Meanwhile, Londoners already struggling to afford housing and household bills face some of the highest public transport fares in Europe. We live in a world-class city, and my ambition is to create a transport network which offers commuters a world-class and affordable experience. To ensure this happens, I’ll personally chair Transport for London, working with businesses and boroughs to plan the transport capacity we need for London’s future, while modernising TfL, turning it into a more efficient, and more profitable public sector organisation. We can learn much from the example set by publicly owned transport companies in France, Germany and the Netherlands which run services commercially in other cities and countries – including our own. I will use the savings and profits that a modernised TfL delivers to continue investment in new capacity on our network while keeping fares down. ### Keeping fares affordable Londoners currently pay some of the highest public transport fares of any major city. For many, that means less money for food, to clothe their children or heat their homes. This is why I am committed to freeze fares for the next four years. I’ll turn the corner on the soaring fares of the last eight years, while pay growth catches up. I will: * Freeze all TfL fares and charges for the Mayor’s cycle hire scheme for four years * Introduce ‘The Hopper’ – a new one-hour bus ticket allowing unlimited changes within an hour, so that a £1.50 single ticket pays for a full journey. * Continue to support both Oyster and contactless payment card methods and ensure fare structures remain equal so that nobody is disadvantaged by choosing either payment method. * Guarantee the Freedom Pass and the over-60s Oyster card, along with all other existing concessionary fares schemes. hopper FREEZE FARES ## FUNDING THE FARES FREEZE My plan to freeze transport fares will be funded by making TfL a more efficient and profitable operation, not by cuts to spending on better services and more capacity. TfL is a vast organisation, and does many things well. But it is also inefficient and flabby – spending hundreds of millions of pounds each year on agency and consultancy fees, failing to implement shared procurement and functions between its surface and underground transport divisions, and allocating public money to Boris Johnson’s vanity schemes such as the cable car. The current Mayor has avoided challenging TfL to make the savings which other public sector organisations have been forced to make over recent years. I will reverse that approach. I will: * Merge engineering functions within TfL – ensuring shared procurement and office functions save millions each year. * Deliver major efficiency savings within TfL - cutting duplication and waste and reducing the overuse of consultants and agency staff. TfL spent £383 million on consultants and agency staff last year – a figure which I will aim to halve. FREEZE FARES TfL will explore the generation of new income streams by: * Establishing a trading arm that can run bus and other local transport services and sell TfL’s expertise, at home and abroad. The revenues it makes will be used to keep fares down in London just as foreign state-owned transport firms currently take profits made here to subsidise their services. * Put spare TfL land to better use, retaining ownership while building affordable and market homes, as well as commercial space, generating a long-term and secure revenue stream. And I will end Boris Johnson’s practice of using Londoners’ money to fund expensive vanity projects – such as the cable car and the failing ‘new Routemaster’ buses. ## A safe capital for cycling and walking My aim is to make London a byword for cycling around the world – with a plan to make cycling and walking safer and easier in the capital. Although a great deal of progress has been made, we still have a lot of work to do to protect cyclists and pedestrians from collisions. I’ll continue the good work that has been done by the last two Mayors on cycling, and increase the pace of change. I will: * Increase the proportion of TfL’s budget spent on cycling. * Continue the Cycle Superhighway Programme, investing in new routes and learning the lessons from earlier schemes, with a focus on segregated provision. * Prioritise Quietways – continuous cycling routes running through parks, alongside waterways and down quiet backstreets – to broaden London’s safe cycle network, while completing the roll out of current town-centre cycling improvement plans, and beginning a new round of schemes. * Promote safer, cleaner lorries – working with the boroughs and using City Hall procurement to set new safety standards, moving towards City Hall and TfL contracts specifying ‘direct-vision’ lorries. * Review the Safer Junction Programmes to identify and commence priority improvements at more of London’s major accident blackspots. * Deliver more cycle storage and parking, using the London Plan to ensure provision in new developments, while working with London boroughs to deliver on-street secure provision. * Work to break down some of the city’s physical barriers, such as by backing the Rotherhithe-Canary Wharf cycle and pedestrian bridge. But there’s more I’m determined to do to make getting around safer for everyone - walkers and cyclists, as well as motorists – and particularly for those with disabilities which make negotiating London’s streets that much harder. I will: * Establish safe walking routes, to give children cleaner and safer journeys to school, avoiding busy and polluted roads where possible. * Reduce street and pavement clutter on TfL roads and support urban realm improvements across town centres. * Encourage the roll out of 20mph zones across the city by backing the ‘20’s Plenty For Us’ campaign. ## Planning for our future needs As London grows, we need to take a long term view of our future transport needs. By 2050, the capital’s population is expected to grow to 11 million – a third larger than it is today. That means the next Mayor must start planning and delivering the infrastructure and new capacity for the future straight away – and making sure that the plans deliver the highest possible gains in terms of new homes for Londoners. I will: * Get Crossrail 2 off the ground, using my experience as a Minister responsible for the original Crossrail to secure the funding package, and ensure the route enables the building of thousands of new homes. * Plan the next major infrastructure projects for the long term – such as a potential Crossrail 3, new orbital links for outer London, DLR and tram extensions, and new river crossings for East London - while exploring additional sources of funding for major projects. and enabling the new TfL commercial arm to bid. * Work to secure the proposed Bakerloo line extension to Lewisham and beyond. ## **Better services across the network** All Londoners deserve world-class services, whatever mode of transport they use. Improving our network is about investing in services, and also about innovating. I won’t be afraid to challenge the old ways of doing things. I will: * Push for TfL to take over responsibility for more commuter routes, building on the success of the London Overground and the successful transfer of Greater Anglia services to TfL Rail. * Encourage more competition in the bus sector, making it easier for not-for-profit and mutual operations to win contracts * Deliver the Night Tube if Boris Johnson fails to get it up and running by May, ensuring we implement this much-needed new service in the most efficient way possible. * Reduce the number of days lost to strike action, by maintaining better industrial relations and abandoning Boris Johnson’s policy of refusing to meet with representatives of TfL transport workers. * Ensure London’s transport system is accessible to all users, with the next fleet of buses designed with sufficient space for wheelchair users, and a more ambitious approach to step-free access in London Underground and TfL-run stations. * Examine the impact of ticket office closures and explore what could be done at key locations to ensure everyone is able to purchase tickets and access the information they need to get around London, while keeping passengers safe. ## An internationally connected capital Our airports are vital to our prosperity, and as a former Transport Minister I understand how urgently our city’s economy needs additional aviation capacity in order to stay competitive with other major world cities. This must be done without further breaching the limits on pollution that are so vital to protecting our health. ### I will: * Make the case for a second runway at Gatwick, as the cheapest, greenest and most viable option presented by the Airports Commission. * Oppose a third runway at Heathrow and, if the Government chooses to pursue this option, continue to call for a new runway at Gatwick as a more viable, cheaper and easier-to-build alternative. * Work to make better use of existing capacity, fighting to secure the upgrade of the West Anglian rail line in Network Rail’s next investment period, to improve journeys to Stansted, support housing development in north London and deliver faster journeys to Cambridge. ## An iconic taxi service As the world’s greatest city it is absolutely right that we have, and continue to have, the best and most qualified cabbies in the world. London’s black taxi drivers are highly trained and properly checked to a high safety standard, driving wheelchair accessible vehicles, with the incredible geographical recall and sense of direction that only those with The Knowledge have. With people like this at the wheel, it’s understandable that the London black cab is an icon known around the world and a source of pride for Londoners. ### I will: * Ensure that the markets for licensed taxi drivers and for private hire drivers are fair - with special privileges built in, as they always have been, for those who become a licensed London taxi driver. * Ensure that driver safety standards are rigorously enforced across the black cab and private hire industries. * Retain the exclusive right of licensed black taxi drivers to use bus lanes and ply for hire. ### Keeping London’s roads moving Congestion on London’s streets continues to cause real problems for many motorists, and is a real drag on business competitiveness. I will: * Direct TfL to work with utility companies to coordinate maintenance and upgrading of infrastructure, in order to ensure that the same sections of road are not repeatedly subjected to works. * Prioritise delivery of new river crossings in the east of the city. * Seek additional powers to regulate rickshaws on the city’s streets. * Work with businesses, local authorities and freight companies to reduce the number of large lorries on the city’s roads, particularly at the busiest times. * Support Car Clubs as a means of reducing congestion and demand for parking. * Maintain the Congestion Charge at its current level. * Continue to allocate resources to councils to spend through their Local Implementation Plans, on projects which support my transport strategy. * Encourage greater use of the river to transport passengers and freight. x160668_TLP_Inset_p2_sh.indd 36 03/03/2016 14:24 ## A SAFER AND MORE SECURE LONDON # A SAFER AND MORE SECURE LONDON We all have friends, neighbours and colleagues whose lives have been blighted by crime. And many Londoners are rightly worried that cuts in policing are making our streets and neighbourhoods less safe. The Conservatives have left London a less safe city, and dangerously vulnerable, because our police force is spread so thinly. Cuts to the policing budget under the Tories have seen 63 of our local police stations close, and 23 per cent of our frontline policing presence lost. Most of the capital’s neighbourhood policing capacity – the officers you see walking your local streets – has been lost. On the Tories’ watch, there’s been a worrying rise in violent crime, particularly knife crime. Hate crime is also on the rise, particularly troubling in a city known for its openness and tolerance. Too many victims of crime are treated as an afterthought or ignored altogether. For too long, London’s emergency services have been planned on the basis of cuts rather than Londoners’ needs – as a result, fire services have been cut so much that response times are now a danger to the safety of Londoners and there are serious questions about our preparedness for a major incident or attack. London faces a real and constant threat from the spread of extremism, and I’m concerned that, right now, not enough is being done to root out and stop the people who are spreading vile ideologies and promoting terror. Alongside ensuring our uniformed services are prepared for the worst case scenario of another terrorist attack on London, these are undoubtedly the biggest security challenges London faces - and I do not believe the current Government’s strategy is delivering. Trust and confidence are the cornerstones of the police’s legitimacy in the eyes of the community – and the basis on which members of the public feel comfortable in coming forward with evidence and intelligence. Without such information, the detection and prevention of crime, the challenging of gang activity, and even the identification of those spreading extremism or planning attacks upon our city are made more difficult. So I will ensure that building trust across London, with all communities, is a core priority for the Met over the coming years. ## Keeping our communities safer As Mayor, keeping you, your family, and your community safe will be my top priority. That means ensuring that our police and fire services have the right priorities and resources, particularly at a time when the Government is starving them of the funding they need. I will: * Ensure that the restoration of real neighbourhood policing is the top priority for the Met, maintaining the role of officers as a visible local presence, helping to prevent and detect crime, and as the local eyes and ears our security services need to identify the spread of extremism at its roots. * Commit to tackling violence against women and girls, including prioritising a greater police presence on public transport at key times to clamp down on sexual assault, zero tolerance of domestic and sexual violence and working closely with public sector and voluntary organisations on developing better support for victims of sexual and domestic violence. * Develop a cyber-security strategy, led by the Chief Digital Officer I will appoint, working with the police and security services to ensure Londoners and businesses have the information and resources they need to stay safe online. * Undertake a full review of the resources required by the London Fire Brigade, with the aim of ensuring the service is fully equipped for the challenges ahead, not only for dealing with and preventing fires but also coping with major civil contingencies such as a terrorist attack or a flood. We need to look at both frontline and control room functions, and consider the impact and effectiveness of outsourcing. * Support the police to do their job efficiently and effectively, and make best use of officers’ time so that they can spend more time on the front line. I will invest in new technology that enables officers to access the information and data they need at their fingertips, and to record reports and witness statements speedily without officers having to return to a police station. ## Challenging gangs, knife crime and violence For many communities, gang activity, the related threat of violence, and in particular knife crime, are a shocking daily reality. No Londoner deserves to live in fear, and nor does any young Londoner deserve to be sucked into the gang lifestyle for lack of hope, opportunity or a strong role model. I will challenge gang culture and knife crime head on. ### I will: * Implement a tough knife crime strategy that focuses resources on tackling the city’s gangs, cracking down on shops illegally selling knives and working on tougher community payback for those caught with knives, in addition to jail time and traditional sentencing. * Work closely with local authorities, schools and youth services to develop anti-gang strategies, while working with community organisations to further youth engagement, building upon a review of the anti-gang Matrix system. * Ensure that school liaison officers continue to work closely with schools, and continue to back the City Safe Haven initiative. * Sell Boris Johnson’s water cannon and spend the receipts on youth projects aimed at decreasing gang crime. * Fight for further powers over youth justice, probation and courts, so that the Mayor has a joined-up role across the justice system in cutting crime and reoffending. ## Stopping the spread of extremism Rooting out all forms of extremism and radicalisation is crucial if we are to keep our city free from the threat of terrorism. ### I will: * Lead a renewed push to tackle extremism and radicalisation in London, promoting the integration of different communities, and supporting and empowering mainstream Muslims in speaking out and challenging extremism. * Ensure that our frontline, neighbourhood police have sufficient resources to do their job and capture the vital information our security services rely on. * Initiate an urgent review of the Met’s armed response capability to ensure the city is able to cope with the threat of major terrorism incidents. ## Strengthening community and police relations Too many communities and individual Londoners view the police with suspicion. This makes people within those communities less likely to report crimes or pass on information about gangs, or identify those who spread hatred or extremism. We can do more to build better relations between communities and the police, ensuring bonds of trust are developed. I will: * Promote a police force that looks like the communities it is charged with keeping safe, with the aim of having a Met that is as diverse as London’s population. * Ensure that stop and search is used in an evidence-based and targeted manner. When used in such a way, stop and search is a valuable tool in the fight against crime – but when used indiscriminately it can harm trust in the police. * Roll out the use of body cameras worn by the police, encouraging community confidence in policing and the capturing of crucial evidence. * Direct the Met to adopt a strict zero tolerance approach to hate crime – be it on the basis of someone’s age, sexuality, gender, religion, race, nationality or disability – and ensure officers have the resources and training they need. In particular I will challenge the appalling increase in homophobic, anti-Semitic, and Islamophobic hate crimes. * Improve the experiences of victims of crime by introducing an online Track My Crime online portal to give victims information on progress on their case, and appoint an independent Victims Commissioner to stand up for victims across the capital. ## BUSINESS, GROWTH AND PROSPERITY ### SKILLS FOR LONDONERS ## SKILLS FOR LONDONERS ## SKILLS FOR LONDONERS As a child I had a great education in local state schools – with teachers who inspired me. Today’s teachers are among the uncelebrated champions of our communities, but their job is getting tougher and tougher. Meanwhile we have a skills gap which is holding our economy back. I strongly believe that how we educate and train people – both as youngsters and throughout their lives – has a profound impact not only on their own chances in life but on London’s economy and competitiveness. But while London is a great place to learn and train, with thousands of fantastic schools and some of the best institutions of higher and further education anywhere in the world, we are still failing to enable all Londoners to live up to their potential. Because of this, we stop businesses from growing, forcing them to look further afield for the skills they need. It’s a scandal that more than 44,000 children in London are taught in classes of more than 30 – with some taught in classes of more than 40. Analysis by London Councils suggests that the Government’s plans to reform funding could lead to London schools losing up to £260 million if they were in place now, with the harshest cuts falling on the most deprived areas. I will put up a fight against any such proposals, and demand that the Government rethinks any formula which puts London’s schools at risk. Currently the Mayor has few powers relating to schools. However, Londoners starting a family don’t care about the boundaries between 32 London boroughs - they want to know their child will get a place in a good school near where they live, in a class of 30 or fewer. I’ll play a city-wide strategic leadership role, seeking to make a big dent in the school places crisis. Meanwhile, I hear from businesses that a lack of the skills they need in the London workforce is a key barrier to growth. For some, such as in the tech sector, the problem is a shortage of young Londoners with advanced technical skills, such as in coding, or web design. For others, not least some of our world-leading financial companies, a weakness in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) skills among London’s workforce makes hiring young people more difficult than it needs to be. I’ll be a Mayor who leads a new skills agenda for London – Skills for Londoners – making sure businesses and Londoners get the skills they need to succeed. ### Training Londoners for London’s success I will create a new Skills for Londoners taskforce, learning from the Jobs for New Yorkers taskforce established by Bill de Blasio. Working in concert with the London Enterprise Panel, it will consist of business leaders and other employers alongside the Mayor, London councils and representatives of HE, FE and schools to: * Develop a city-wide, strategic approach to skills, identifying gaps in provision and ensuring that currently disparate programmes and funding streams, across the public, private and voluntary sectors, work in concert. * Map the skills gap, and commission programmes to create a pipeline of skilled London workers to make the most of the opportunities in London’s growth sectors. * Work with schools to improve careers advice and to promote opportunities for children to get an early start in career skills such as coding or engineering – and making sure all such advice and programmes are gender blind, creating equal opportunities for boys and girls. * Ensure that communities across London have access to training, and that from a young age both girls and boys are encouraged to explore the skills they need to get on in the future economy. * Make gender equality a focus, creating targeted opportunities for girls to excel in STEM skills in particular. * Create thousands of new, highquality apprenticeships by commissioning places using the levy paid by business to government. The levy paid by London’s employers should be ring- fenced to the capital to make sure this benefits young people and businesses in London. * Develop high-quality apprenticeship programmes in partnership with industry. * Establish a construction academy scheme, with the housebuilding industry, to close the gap between our ambitious housing targets and the need for more skilled constriction workers in London. ### Better schools for London’s children I’ll take a lead on education, providing the strategic leadership and city-wide planning that London’s schools are lacking. I will: * Break down the boundaries between boroughs and co- ordinate school-place planning, working with local authorities to prepare properly for long-term population growth. * Develop a city-wide STEM strategy and establish a London STEM Commission to link schools with science jobs and careers. * Improve provision of careers advice in schools through the new Skills for Londoners taskforce. * Work with councils to challenge coasting or poor-performing schools of all types and support those schools that need it, support calls for local democratic scrutiny of all state schools, and ensure that both teachers and school support staff alike are properly recognised, respected and rewarded. ## Supporting further education I will also seek a devolution deal over further education which recognises the strategic importance of a London-wide approach to FE, aligned with the needs of employers and students. ### I will: * Be a champion for London’s neglected FE sector. * Use the local area review process to ensure FE provision meets the needs of London’s economy and is of the high-quality that Londoners deserve. * Call for the devolution of further education funding for 16–19 year olds and adults to create high-performing colleges that meet the needs of London’s economy and help to reduce youth unemployment. * Promote the take-up of Adult Learning loans. * Oppose the cuts to English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) classes in London’s colleges, and lobby the Government to restore funding. Skills for Londoners 52 x160668_TLP_Inset_p2_sh.indd 51 03/03/2016 14:24 ## A FAIRER AND MORE EQUAL CITY A FAIRER AND MORE EQUAL CITY x160668_TLP_Inset_p2_sh.indd 53 03/03/2016 14:24 ## A FAIRER AND MORE EQUAL CITY London’s prosperity is founded on its openness, its spirit of innovation, and its proud history of offering opportunity to people from all backgrounds. But I’m worried that many people are denied opportunities to succeed, and too many Londoners are treated unfairly because of their gender, ethnicity, faith, sexuality, gender identity or disability. Although London has made great strides over the years in tackling sexism, racism, homophobia, and discrimination against people with disabilities, there is still a great deal of work to do. I will always stand up against prejudice and hatred, and will make challenging the alarming rise in anti-Semitism and Islamophobia that we have seen in recent years a priority. Although it seems incredible in 2016, in one of the world’s most progressive cities, that someone’s pay, or their ability to progress to the highest level in their chosen profession, should depend on their gender, the pay gap and the under-representation of women at boardroom level proves that equality between women and men still does not exist. I will be a proud feminist in City Hall. I will fight to break down the barriers to success for women, ensuring that from childhood, girls are provided with opportunities to learn the skills they need to succeed to the full extent of their ability. And I will challenge employers to look at the gender balance among their senior employees. I’m passionate about the importance of fairness and social justice and will ensure that opportunity and prosperity are shared, and that the vulnerable are protected from exploitation. In a city as prosperous as London, there is no excuse for child poverty, or for people to have to rely on food banks in order to feed their children, and I will ensure that monitoring and effective, targeted intervention strategies are in place. ## Challenging inequality and promoting tolerance London should be a global beacon of tolerance, acceptance and respect. On the whole, Londoners reject sexism, racism, homophobia, and discrimination against people with disabilities. But I know there’s still much more to be done. ### I will: * Prioritise closing the gender pay gap and breaking the glass ceiling as key aims of my time as Mayor. * Make tackling hate crime of all types a priority for the police. * Work with the LGBT+ community, schools, police and others to highlight and challenge transphobia, which remains all too prevalent, and promote acceptance of gender diversity. ## Opening up opportunity If all Londoners are to prosper, then nobody should be held back by a lack of the basic skills and facilities required to access work, public services, and essential amenities. ### I will: * Implement a digital inclusion strategy, led by the new Chief Digital Officer, to ensure that everyone in London, including older Londoners, have the skills, and online access they need to access public services, job opportunities and information. * Promote financial inclusion, through partnership with the financial sector, including social enterprises and credit unions, with the goal of ensuring that every adult can access financial services in affordable ways that meet their needs, and that all young Londoners leave education with numeracy skills and an understanding of finance. * Make gender equality a focus of Skills for Londoners, creating targeted opportunities for girls to excel in STEM skills in particular. ## Making London accessible for all Nobody in London should be denied the opportunity to make the most of what it has to offer – in work, travel and leisure. I’ll make it a priority to do all I can to make our city more accessible for people with disabilities and older Londoners. ### I will: * Consult on all future transport and planning matters – with genuine engagement between the Mayor’s office and people with disabilities. * Review the protections provided by the London Plan, and retain targets for new build homes to meet the Lifetime Homes Standard with at least 10 per cent of new- build homes that are wheelchair accessible. * Improve accessibility at rail and tube stations, ensuring that wheelchair accessibility is central to all infrastructure development and maintenance plans, and that disabled or older Londoners are not excluded from our transport network. * Make sure that London’s transport workers understand the needs of disabled and older passengers. * Ensure Dial-a-Ride and Taxicard continue to provide crucial support for those less able to get around London. * Tackle disability hate crime. * Support the development of, and protect schemes which expand opportunities for people with disabilities to work and gain skills. ## Sharing the rewards of prosperity I am passionate about tackling low pay and improving working conditions. Both, in my view, are central to ensuring London’s place as a world leading commercial centre, and as a fair and just city. These values are also central to Labour’s core mission of challenging economic and social injustice. ### I will: * Strive to make London a Living Wage city, in which all workers are paid fairly: a real London Living Wage for every working Londoner. I’ll use devolved financial powers to offer business-rate relief for small firms who pay the London Living Wage, use GLA and TfL procurement to lead by example, and work with the new Living Wage Commission to ensure the formula reflects the real costs of housing in London, which should see the LLW rise to £10 and beyond during my first term as Mayor. * Establish a new team in the Mayor’s Office dedicated to economic fairness – promoting the London Living Wage, working with business to create apprenticeships, encourage sustainability and good corporate citizenship, and root out and tackle unacceptable practices such as blacklisting. The team will forge a new business compact - based on exemplary standards in pay and employment rights for workers. And it will seek to expand opportunities for people with disabilities to work and gain skills. * Work to smash the glass ceiling – as Mayor I’ll play a leadership role in challenging the under-representation of women in senior roles, making a clear statement by ensuring my business advisory board is gender-balanced. * Promote the uplift of London weighting, which over the years has fallen behind the growing gap in living costs between inner and outer London and elsewhere. ## Leading by example It will be my responsibility as Mayor to lead the way as a model employer, adopting the highest possible standards for fair pay, good working conditions and gender equality. ### I will: * Pay all employees of the GLA and its agencies the London Living Wage as a minimum, and require that all contractors and suppliers do the same. * Publish an annual City Hall gender pay audit, and require that large contractors do the same. * Establish a unified, fair pay structure across London for bus drivers. * Never use zero-hours contracts to exploit workers. * Be an open and transparent Mayor, with major contracts subjected to Freedom of Information, and City Hall signing up to the UK Statistics Authority’s Code of Practice for Official Statistics, to improve public confidence. * Join other European cities like Berlin, Amsterdam and Barcelona in signing up to the United Nations Global Compact Cities Programme. A fairer and more equal city 60 x160668_TLP_Inset_p2_sh.indd 59 03/03/2016 14:24 ## A GREENER, CLEANER LONDON ## A GREENER, CLEANER LONDON ## A GREENER, CLEANER LONDON Our parks and acres of green open space are part of our city’s DNA, but London is also one of the world’s most polluted cities. Too many of our family and friends are suffering from London’s filthy air, and we need to act now. When the Conservatives took over City Hall eight years ago, they inherited a city that, in environmental terms, was leading the world with innovative policies and programmes. Fast forward to 2016 and our city has a record that is mediocre at best. Other cities across the world - and even cities here in Britain like Nottingham - are leaving London behind. You, your family and friends are suffering, and almost 10,000 of our fellow Londoners die prematurely each year, because of air so filthy it is actually illegal. I want to be the Mayor who makes London one of the world’s greenest cities. Environmental checks are not simply a side concern to be weighed up against economic and social benefits. A greener future is central to my vision for London, to the kind of city I want my children to live in. I want, for all of our children, a city in which the air is clean, green space is accessible, and the energy we consume is increasingly drawn from renewable and local sources. And I want them to work in an economy which leads the world in the new low-carbon technologies and industries that represent the jobs and businesses of the future. ### Cleaning our air Our most pressing environmental challenge is cleaning up London’s air. I know from personal experience that the city’s air is damaging people’s health, as I suffer from adult-onset asthma. So many pollution hotspots in the city are around schools, exposing our children to dangerously polluted air, and putting them at greater risk of respiratory conditions like mine. ### I will: * Consult on bringing forward the Ultra-Low Emission Zone and expanding it along major arterial routes or a wider section of central London. * Introduce Clean Bus Corridors – prioritising new, clean buses for those services which run on the most polluted roads in the city. * Set a target of only buying clean electric or hydrogen buses from 2020, seeking an agreement across other major European and global cities to do the same, in order to send a signal to bus manufacturers and create a race to the top in clean bus technology. * Deliver the electric charging infrastructure, in partnership with the private sector, necessary for a major expansion in the use of electric vehicles. * Oppose the construction of a third runway at Heathrow Airport. * Introduce Cleaner Walking Routes to School, working with local councils to reduce congestion around schools as a means of protecting children from filthy air. * Embark on a major tree-planting programme across London, in partnership with businesses and the public sector, with a particular focus on schools and colleges. * Make cycling an easier and safer choice for more Londoners. * Call upon the Government to introduce a diesel vehicle scrappage scheme to support those who wish to change to a greener car. ## World class public spaces As Londoners we are lucky enough to have access to some of the world’s best public spaces and world-famous streets and squares, but too many are blighted with poor design, clutter, congestion and pollution. I will work with communities, boroughs and the private sector to improve our public spaces and create more liveable streets and spaces. I will: * Prioritise the improvement of High Streets, squares and public spaces across the city - including outer London and inner London. * Work with Westminster Council, local businesses, Transport for London (TfL) and taxis, to pedestrianise Oxford Street. I will start by bringing back car-free days, and possibly weekends, before moving towards full pedestrianisation. Our eventual ambition should be to turn one of the world’s most polluted streets into one of the world’s finest public spaces – a tree-lined avenue from Tottenham Court Road to Marble Arch. * Revive plans to part-pedestrianise Parliament Square, and seek to integrate it into the Palace of Westminster and Westminster Abbey UNESCO World Heritage Site. * Appoint a pedestrian champion at TfL, to lead on measures to make walking safer and easier across London. ## Protecting and enhancing our natural environment I am passionate about the amazing green spaces and views – commons, parks, heaths, playing fields and waterways – that do so much to make London a fantastic place to live. It is in these green spaces that our city’s biodiversity and wildlife is most concentrated, our children play and learn about nature, and we go to relax. With huge pressures on land for housing and other uses, it is essential that we maintain these spaces, and even expand upon them. ## I will: * Make London the first ‘National Park City’ – setting a long term target to make more than 50 per cent of our city green and ensure that all children have access to nature. * Complete the Thames Path, working with boroughs, landowners and business to complete missing sections and protect access to what is already open. * Open up more walking routes around London, and work with local authorities and TfL to improve the London Loop and Capital Ring walks. * Use planning powers to prevent fracking within Greater London. * Oppose building on the Green Belt, which is even more important today than it was when it was created. * Strengthen protections for open spaces within the London Plan, including playing fields, Metropolitan Open Land, and our Sites of Importance for Local Nature Conservation and nature reserves. * Protect wildlife and biodiversity by creating green corridors through the city. * Ensure that the Met’s Wildlife Crime Unit continues to receive the resources it needs to be effective. * Press ahead with planning for the replacement of the Thames Barrier when it reaches the end of its life to protect London from flooding for future generations. ## Making London a low-carbon beacon If London is to move to being a greener city, we have to get so much better at producing more of our own energy from clean, low-carbon sources. We need to reduce our CO2 emissions while also being better prepared to adapt to climate change. My plan to revive London’s clean energy sector includes committing London to an ambitious target of becoming a zero-carbon city by 2050. ## I will: * Establish Energy for Londoners, a not-for-profit company providing a comprehensive range of energy services to help Londoners generate more low-carbon energy and increase their energy efficiency, support local and community energy enterprises, and buy clean energy generated across the city, using it to power GLA and TfL facilities. * Lead on work to cut energy bills for Londoners by promoting the roll out of smart meters and exploring the business case for potential savings on bills by bulk-buying energy. * Make the most of the city’s roofs, public buildings and land owned by TfL for energy generation by producing a solar energy strategy. * Ensure all new developments meet low carbon, energy efficiency and sustainability standards. * Reduce energy demand by working with the industry to accelerate the roll out of smart meters. * Back district heating schemes that make the most of waste heat from the Tube, such as that in Bunhill, Islington. London also needs to up its game on resource efficiency – we still produce too much waste and don’t recycle enough, and we don’t treat water like the scarce resource it is. ## I will: * Reinvigorate efforts to increase the amount London recycles, so that we get back on track with hitting the 65 per cent target by 2030, including seeing waste as an opportunity to create jobs in reuse, repair, remanufacturing and materials innovation. * Promote initiatives that reduce water consumption in London, including the roll out of, and more public information about water metering. As Mayor, I’ll lead by example. I will: * Take all possible steps to divest the London Pension Fund Authority of its remaining investments in fossil-fuel industries. * Make sure City Hall and all other GLA buildings maintain the highest environmental standards on heating, lighting and waste. * Lead on reducing the city’s waste footprint, working to increase recycling and cut the amount London sends to landfill. * Collaborate with other cities through international networks such as the C40 and ICLEI to develop innovative solutions to the challenges of tackling climate change and other environmental challenges cities like London face. x160668_TLP_Inset_p2_sh.indd 68 03/03/2016 14:24 ## IMPROVING LONDON’S HEALTH ## IMPROVING LONDON’S HEALTH I owe the NHS everything. I was born in St George’s Hospital in Tooting, as were my two daughters. I know how crucial our health service is to millions of Londoners on a daily basis. That’s why so many Londoners share my alarm at how the Tories have allowed the NHS to drift into crisis. Despite the magnificent efforts of our doctors, nurses, and other healthcare workers, patients are suffering. Year on year, waiting lists get longer, it’s harder to see your GP, and waiting times in A&E and for ambulances are increasing. The NHS in London has fallen into a large financial deficit, threatening future cuts to services, while mental health services can’t cope with growing demand. The high cost of living and shortage of affordable homes means many hospitals are struggling to recruit and retain health workers. Underfunded social care services mean that many Londoners don’t receive early support to prevent avoidable hospital admissions. And, since NHS London was abolished by the Tories, London is without the city-wide strategic leadership on health it desperately needs. using City Hall to argue for the resources the NHS needs, defending it against Tory attacks, and campaigning alongside patients, health workers and all NHS supporters against any service closures or reconfigurations without proper consultation. I will fight for new powers to plan and coordinate services across the city, and use them, in collaboration with partners, to ensure that all Londoners have proper access to health services, with solutions tailored to the different needs of patients, communities and places. And I will do what I can to ensure that we move towards parity of esteem between physical and mental health illness. Londoners need a Mayor who will stand up for the city’s health services. I’m determined to be that Mayor, ## Leadership on health As Mayor, I want to take the lead on health in the city. I will: * Be a champion for London’s NHS, protecting you, your friends and your family from the worst of the Government’s failure on health in the capital, fighting for greater support for GP, A&E, London Ambulance Service and mental health services, and integration of services around the patient. * Campaign for extra powers to coordinate your health services across the city to provide proper strategic planning, and ensure greater access for Londoners to crucial services while providing democratic scrutiny of London-wide health services. * Work with the NHS and the London Ambulance Service to help improve staff retention and recruitment. * Champion the need for additional funding to plug the social care gap, and the joining up of services to reduce unnecessary hospital admissions. I will promote borough innovation and leadership on the ground to shift from reactive care to prevention, early intervention and care closer to home. * Launch a review of the provision of bus services to London’s hospitals. ## Improving public health I will be a Mayor who takes action to improve public health and tackle health inequalities in London. The current Mayor has neglected this crucial area, despite the spreading of diseases that we once thought were eradicated here such as TB and measles, worsening air pollution, and the alarming growth in childhood obesity. I won’t duck the difficult decisions necessary to improve the health of all Londoners. ## I will: * Get to grips with health inequality in London, leading from City Hall on reducing the spread of infectious diseases and promoting healthier lifestyles to harder-to-reach groups and communities, while improving the screening of Londoners to halt the spread of TB. * Develop a comprehensive public health strategy, focused around the promotion of active lifestyles, including sport, walking and cycling, to all Londoners, supporting those who want to shake off lifestyle risks such as drugs, smoking and alcohol, and tackling childhood obesity, including through challenging the spread of fast food shops in areas close to schools. * Tackle London’s dangerously polluted air. * Renew our focus on prevention of and screening for HIV, working with boroughs on collective commissioning and provision of prevention services and ensuring that effective information on HIV reaches the right audiences. ## Greater support for mental health So many of us suffer from mental health problems at some point in our lives, yet there is still a stigma attached to mental illness, and within our health services, mental health still does not enjoy parity of esteem with physical health. ### I will: * Lead a campaign to break down the stigma of mental illness, and improve the availability of information and support, particularly amongst young men in London, and particular at-risk groups such as BAME men, and the LGBT+ community. * Promote and support Mental Health Awareness Week. * Coordinate efforts to reduce the number of people who take their own lives. I will expand best practice in crisis care support, and encourage better joint working between boroughs, health services, police, transport and voluntary sectors when dealing with people with mental health issues. MAKING THE MOST OF ARTS, CULTURE AND CREATIVITY x160668_TLP_Inset_p2_sh.indd 74 03/03/2016 14:24 ## MAKING THE MOST OF ARTS, CULTURE AND CREATIVITY ## MAKING THE MOST OF ARTS, CULTURE AND CREATIVITY There are few places on earth that can rival our city for its arts and culture. Growing up, the bright lights of the West End were always something special, while visits to the many amazing museums and galleries were great adventures. Of course, London’s cultural hotspots extend way beyond the centre. We are blessed with local museums, sporting venues, theatres and tourist attractions across all parts of our city. I’m enormously proud of what London has to offer. Our arts and culture help make London an amazing city to live in, and are a big draw to people from all over the world – both tourists and those looking to the city to work and set up businesses. But I know London’s artistic, cultural and creative life faces some real challenges. Too many Londoners don’t get to make the most of our city’s cultural assets. Funding for London’s arts is increasingly stretched. In the last decade, London has lost around 185 live music venues, and the unique character of areas such as Soho is under threat from soaring rents. The rising cost of living and surging property prices have led to the loss of artist studios and small business start-up space while our city’s creative workforce is being driven out, often to cheaper cities across Britain and Europe. ### Protecting and promoting our cultural riches I want London to continue being the world’s artistic and cultural capital - so I’ll make sure the city’s fashion, design and creative sectors are given the support they need. I’ll build on the success of the Olympics and attract more global events to the city. And I’ll support and protect London’s workspaces and venues threatened by encroaching development. I will: * Produce a Cultural Infrastructure Plan for 2030 to identify what we need in order to sustain London’s future as a cultural capital. * Build on London’s vital tourist industry by promoting the city’s cultural riches – our fashion, music, design, film, art and architecture – to Londoners, the rest of Britain and the world, taking forward the work of London & Partners in this area. * Set up Creative Enterprise Zones, providing dedicated small workspace with live-in space so that creative industries, artists and the fashion industry are given extra support to flourish. * Strengthen planning protections for small industrial and creative workspaces, and for London’s iconic pubs. * Protect London’s live music venues, clubs and pubs by introducing an ’Agent for Change’ rule so new developments next to existing venues meet soundproofing costs. * Work with boroughs to promote and protect London’s libraries, community centres, and suburban arts venues. ### Access to the arts I’m also determined that all Londoners should benefit from the city’s fantastic arts and culture. I will: * Establish a London Borough of Culture, like the European City of Culture, so that every year a different borough is the focus of a celebration of the city’s arts and culture. * Continue to back major cultural festivals to celebrate London’s religious and racial diversity, and ensure Pride continues to be a fantastic, community-led showcase of all of London’s LGBT+ communities. * Support London’s theatres, galleries and museums to open up access for all Londoners, and to spread their activity and presence across the city. * Create a Love London Pass, giving Londoners discounts and reductions across the city to exhibitions, galleries, restaurants, shows and concerts. * Appoint a ‘Night Czar’ to champion London’s vibrant night-time economy. ### Building on our sporting success London is a sporting city, and I’ll ensure that while retaining our global status as a venue for professional sporting competition, we do all we can as a city to enable and encourage more people to participate and compete at every level. ## I will: * Use the London Plan to protect playing fields. * Work with London’s football and other major sports clubs to support and expand their vast capacity for making a positive impact in the community, especially with young people. * Work to bring a NFL franchise to London. * Build on the city’s success in hosting the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games by bidding for similar global sporting, cultural and artistic events to come to London, in particular bringing the Tour de France back to London. * Rebuild our Olympic Legacy, turning around the failure of the last four years, promoting and supporting sport for more people of all ages. Making the most of arts, culture and creativity 80 # A Manifesto for all Londoners 7791 _16 Promoted by Dan Simpson on behalf of the London Labour Party both at Ergon House, Horseferry Rd, London SWIP 2AL. Printed by Potts Print (UK), Atlas House, Nelson Park, Cramlington, Northumberland, NE23 1WG