Phantom Buses
We have all suffered frustrations waiting at a bus stop for a bus that the Countdown screen or our phone app says is due in three minutes, but takes much longer than that to arrive. We can usually put that down to traffic congestion, road works, etc.
But over the past few months, many of us have had the welcome experience of our bus suddenly arriving unannounced. It sets you up for the day. But how does the Countdown system lose TfL’s buses?… Read more...
Royal Parks Police Disbanded
This article first appeared in The Greenwich Society newsletter
The Greenwich Society is very sorry to see the disbanding of the Royal Parks Police across London. At the last Safer Parks Panel meeting in April, Nick McLaughlin, Inspector of the Royal Parks Operational Command Unit, chaired this meeting and gave an update on the future of the Royal Parks Police and the dedicated police unit within Greenwich Park. A Police crime report for the last quarter was not presented to the meeting.… Read more...
Healthy Streets
The 2025 results for the Healthy Streets Scorecard for London boroughs have been published.
In its Results Overview, which shows the scores for each borough, the report states “Rising star Newham leaps five places in 2025 and receives special Most Improved Borough award. Accolades also go to overall winner City of London, best Inner London borough Islington, and best Outer London borough Waltham Forest.”
The indicators cover traffic-free School Streets, roads with a 20mph speed limit, Low Traffic Neighbourhoods, Controlled Parking Zones, Cycle tracks, and Bus priority.… Read more...
Social housing fund
The Government has announced an allocation of £11.7 billion to the GLA over ten years for the delivery of additional social and affordable housing with a minimum of 60% as Social Rent. The programme will support some regeneration schemes that provide a net increase in homes on a site. Five steps to a decade of renewal are explained in the policy paper, including for rents, borrowing costs, building safety, skills and capabilities.
Consultations on a new Decent Homes Standard and on Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards are open until September 2025.
Streetlink for rough sleeping
Further to last week’s update on rough sleeping, there is a website Streetlink that anyone can use to seek help for someone sleeping rough.
APCOA Civil Environmental Enforcement Officers working in partnership with Ealing and Hounslow Councils, will be able to connect people sleeping rough with local support by using an app installed on their handheld devices. Officers will be able to pinpoint the exact location where a person has been seen sleeping rough and provide a brief description to help support teams recognise and assist the individual.… Read more...
Reforming the Right to Buy
Following the consultation on this subject, the Government has responded with a set of reforms to be implemented when Parliamentary time allows. The changes include
- extension of Right to Buy eligibility to ten years,
- exempting newly built social and affordable housing from the Right to Buy for 35 years, and
- using more Right to Buy receipts to deliver new social and affordable housing.
Rough sleeping
The Mayor’s Rough Sleeping Plan of Action ensures that any Londoner at risk of homelessness can more easily access help no matter where in London they live, or which service they contact first.
A summary is here of the key initiatives and the dependencies on Government action to support the plan.
Comments from recipients of this update are welcomed on what their own borough does to support homeless people.
Safety in Social Rented homes
The Government announced in June 2025 its response to a 2022 consultation on electrical safety following the Grenfell Tower fire.
Mandatory electrical safety checks will be implemented in November 2025 for new social rented tenancies and May 2026 for existing tenancies. Private sector landlords have been required since 2020 to conduct such checks.
Reforms to the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) to speed up the review of new-build applications are being introduced.
To ensure all tenants live in safe, warm and decent homes, the Government has committed to update the 2004 Decent Homes Standard and the 2018 Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards.
Council housing finances
London Councils’ report Crunch Point for London Council Housing Finances warns that boroughs are not in a position to maintain spending in real terms on council housing stock, despite the urgent need for investment in improving housing conditions and building new homes.
Councillor Grace Williams, Executive Member for Housing & Regeneration, said: “A better future for London’s council housing is possible but it requires national policy decisions that give secure and sustainable finances.”
Planning appeals accelerated
More planning appeals that are decided via written representations will be processed faster under a new, simplified set of Government regulations. Only evidence put before the local planning authority during the application process will be accepted. Details of the changes and the effect on appellants, LPAs and interested parties are here.
The lawyer Simon Ricketts has commented on the revised procedure:
“If this results in a crisper appeal process, without any loss of quality, there is much to like here, although care will be needed:
- This makes it all the more important that applications when submitted are “appeal ready”, particularly as there is always a risk that the local planning authority may not allow amendments or additions to the application documentation to be submitted during the application process.
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