ADD2782 London Plan Annual Monitoring Report 20 2022-23

1.1.    The London Plan Annual Monitoring Report (AMR) is a legal requirement and should be published every year, ideally in spring. The framework for monitoring the London Plan (published in March 2021) was approved by Mayoral Decision (MD) 2978 in June 2022. There have been delays in the publication of this AMR, to ensure veracity of the data following transition to a live data service.
1.2.    Chapter 12 of the London Plan sets out 12 key performance indicators (KPIs) for monitoring the Plan. It also notes that more detailed data and performance measures will sit alongside the KPIs in the AMR. The chapter also covers monitoring of referable applications and Opportunity Areas. All of these elements have been incorporated into the approved framework.
1.3.    The AMR20 is the second AMR to use this framework, which monitors delivery against the six Good Growth objectives set out in the London Plan. As with AMR19, it remains too early to draw long-term conclusions given it reflects just two years of full implementation.

2.1.    The AMR is how the Mayor discharges his statutory duty to monitor the implementation of the London Plan through the publication of annual datasets and narrative analysis. Over time, these reports will support: 
•    understanding of the London Plan implementation;
•    the statutory London Plan review process; and
•    future alteration or replacement of the London Plan.
 

3.1.    The Mayor and the GLA are subject to the Duty, as set out in section 149 of the Equality Act 2010 covering race, disability, sex, age, sexual orientation, religion or belief, pregnancy and maternity, gender reassignment, and marital or civil partnership status. These are the grounds upon which discrimination is unlawful, and are referred to as ‘protected characteristics’. The Duty requires the Mayor, when exercising his functions, to have due regard to the need to eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other conduct prohibited by the Act; and to advance equality of opportunity, and foster good relations, between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not.
3.2.    Having due regard to the need to advance equality of opportunity between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it involves having due regard, in particular, to the need to: 
•    remove or minimise disadvantages suffered by persons who share a relevant protected characteristic that are connected to that characteristic
•    take steps to meet the needs of persons who share a relevant protected characteristic that are different from the needs of persons who do not 
•    encourage persons who share a relevant protected characteristic to participate in public life or in any other activity in which participation by such persons is disproportionately low. 
3.3.    The AMR is a monitoring framework and does not have direct implications with respect to the Duty. However, it provides some relevant data to support the Mayor and others in seeking to advance equality of opportunity, to understand how certain aspects are changing and to inform wider policy and programmes. 
3.4.    For example, with regards to income inequality within London, reporting in AMR20 indicates a slight improvement in the most recent data, relative to previous measurements. However, the report also highlights a fall in housing completions over the monitioring period which further impacts on the undersupply of housing in London with impacts on equitable accessibility to housing. AMR20 also indicates that ethinic minorities and those living in deprived areas are at an increased risk of injury or death from road traffic collisions and are more likley to have limited access to local green spaces. These findings should be used to inform planning decisions and future public realm and street design.
 

Key risks and issues
4.1.    There are risks associated with further delays to the publication of AMR20. Ideally, it would have been published in 2024. These delays reflect a combination of factors, including resourcing pressures, the timing of data availability, and the need to ensure validation of datasets before publication. While this has extended the preparation process, it has also strengthened confidence in the quality of the outputs. We have sought to mitigate the impacts of the delay and provide timely access to the underlying evidence base during the interim period by making many of the live datasets covered in the report available on the Planning London Data Hub dashboards. 
4.2.    We would note that while we consider that the data is now sufficiently robust for publication the AMR draws on live datasets, and therefore future downloads may result in slightly different figures. Dates of data download have been published alongside appropriate caveats within the document, highlighting that there may be slight changes in future figures drawn from the Planning Datahub.
4.3.    The data for AMR21, covering the 2023–24 monitoring year, is ready and is undergoing analysis before publication. This will shortly follow AMR20 this autumn, with the aim of returning to the on-time publication cycle (with AMR22, covering 2024–25 in 2026). 
4.4.    The AMR20 highlights a number of areas where the KPIs for the London Plan have not been met. These are housing approvals and completions (KPI 1); transport mode share (KPI 8); installation of cycle parking (KPI 9); and the provision of cultural infrastructure (KPI 12). 
4.5.    An accurate assessment of a trend in the supply of affordable worksapce (KPI 4) was difficult to obtain as this is only the second monitoring period that this metric has been measured, though an increase is observed relative to the previous year. Additionally, for both air quality (KPI 10) and heritage (KPI 11) metrics, long term trends are not available due to limited data reporting. However, for KPI 10, an increase in the number of referable applications meeting air quality neutral (AQN) standards is seen relative to the previous monitoring period.
Links to Mayoral strategies and priorities
4.6.    The AMR is the framework for monitoring the London Plan (2021). It provides an updated evidence base assessing how effectively the Plan’s policies are being implemented, tracking delivery against key targets such as housing, economic growth, industrial capacity, transport, and environmental sustainability. In doing so, the AMR not only informs future reviews and alterations of the London Plan but also provides an important cross-cutting evidence base for other Mayoral strategies, including the London Housing Strategy, the London Environment Strategy, the Mayor’s Transport Strategy and the Economic Development Strategy.
Consultations and impact assessments
4.7.    There is no consultation process associated with the AMR, although there is provision for the public to send in comments, concerns or other feedback within six weeks of publication, so that this feedback can be considered when preparing the next AMR.
Conflicts of interest
4.8.    No conflicts of interest have been identified for any officers involved in the development of this proposal or drafting or clearance of this decision form.
 

5.1.    There are no identified financial implications for the GLA from this decision. 

6.1.    The Mayor's statutory plan-making powers are set out in Part VIII of the Greater London Authority Act 1999 (the Act). Section 334 of the Act requires the Mayor to prepare and publish the London Plan. Section 346 of the Act requires the Mayor to monitor the implementation of the London Plan. Further to MD297 (which authorised the AMR Framework to ensure the London Plan is monitored using principles clearly set out in this framework, in accordance with Chapter 12 of the London Plan and the Sustainability Statement published alongside it), this ADD seeks authority to publish the AMR for 2022-23.

7.1.    The AMR20 (2022-23) will be published as a pdf on LGOV, along with associated data tables on the London Datastore, once it has been approved.