Key information
Decision type: Assistant Director
Reference code: ADD2143
Date signed:
Decision by: Patrick Feehily, Assistant Director, Environment
Executive summary
The GLA wishes to engage a consultant(s) to undertake the research for and the writing of the London Sustainable Development Commission’s (LSDC) fifth Quality of Life Indicators report (QOL).
This decision form asks for approval to spend £15,000 to that end.
Decision
That the Assistant Director of Environment approves:
1. Expenditure of up to £15,000 to engage a consultant to undertake research for and produce the LSDC’s fifth Quality of Life Indicators report 2017.
Part 1: Non-confidential facts and advice
The GLA wishes to engage a consultant(s) to undertake the research for and the writing of the London Sustainable Development Commission’s (LSDC) fifth Quality of Life Indicators report (QOL).
The purpose of the report is to monitor a suite of indicators chosen to provide a snapshot of London's sustainability performance and provide baseline data that will inform the LSDC’s future work programme.
To date, the QOL Report has:
• Provided an independent, overall ‘benchmark’ on the sustainability of London; and
• Identifies policy gaps the LSDC believes the Mayor may need to address in more detail.
The QOL Report will also be used as the basis in making the case for further interventions and to direct further research. It also provides an opportunity for the LSDC to highlight key sustainability issues that still exist in London and raise the profile of initiatives such as the development of a cleantech cluster for London.
The 2017 report data will need to be compared to previous QOL reports to show a long-term picture of sustainability in London and changes taking place. A high level international comparison with other large cities will be required as well as a consideration of other relevant initiatives such as the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Background
The London Sustainable Development Commission was appointed by the Mayor in 2002 to advise him on ways to make London a more sustainable city. A key role of the Commission is to promote sustainability in London.
The LSDC produced the first QOL Indicators Report in 2004, and in 2005 published its first progress report against the twenty QOL indicators. In 2005, the LSDC agreed they would move to three/four-yearly reporting on the indicators, and published a further Quality of Life Indicators Report in 2009 and 2012. On this timetable, a further report is now due.
Previous versions of the report can be found at:
http://www.londonsdc.org/documents/qol_reports/lsdc_qol_indicators_2004…
http://www.londonsdc.org/documents/qol_reports/lsdc_qol_indicators_2005…
http://www.londonsdc.org/documents/qol_reports/QoL_indicators.pdf
Latest version of report: http://www.londonsdc.org/lsdc/research.aspx
More information on the work of the LSDC can be found at www.londonsdc.org.
Requirements
The consultant(s) will produce a bespoke London report that will raise awareness and inform future debate:
• To inform action at the national, regional and local level, with a particular focus on Mayoral priorities;
• Provide a robust evidence base that can be used to analyse London’s sustainability performance and develop the LSDC future work programme.
The report will:
• Use and build on existing international, national and London research and data collection in this field;
• Use quantitative data, to back-up evidence and assumptions.
• The commentary for the key issues arising from the report will be illustrated with relevant good practice London case studies.
The report will contain the following elements:
• Assessment and analysis of the existing indicator and data set and provide recommendations of any updates necessary as highlighted in the previous report and through consultation with the steering group and key GLA stakeholders.
• Recommend a structure for the report taking into account of, for instance, any appropriate reference to “A City for all Londoners“ /get-involved/have-your-say/all-consultations/city-all-londoners ; the UN SDG’s; and comment on any improvements to the presentation of the report.
• A factual commentary on each indicator, and a paragraph/sentence on why this indicator was chosen/what it signifies
• For each indicator identify the EU regulation (or other non- EU Regulation if higher) or policy that covers it (if any), in order to identify gaps that would need to be filled by new, post-Brexit legislation/policies.
• A high level international comparison on sustainability performance with other major (comparable) world cities – using a limited number of indicators
• Commentary and analysis of the results emerging from the indicators drawing out three or four key issues that still need to be tackled in London as highlighted by the results
• Commentary on key issues arising from the report, illustrated with London case studies
• Future recommendations on report and data gaps
2017 Indicators
Generally the same indicators are expected to be used for the 2017 report as were used in the 2012 report in order to allow comparison, however they will need to be reviewed and some may need to be revised or added/deleted. A steering group will be set up to provide oversight for the project consisting of LSDC commissioners, GLA officers from the Sustainable Development Team, Intelligence and other officers as necessary. In addition an internal consultation will be undertaken with GLA officers for their advice and input in the revision of any indicators
See http://www.londonsdc.org/documents/research/LSDC_QoLindicators_2012_Evi… for the 33 Indicators used in the 2012 report.
Audiences
There are potentially multiple audiences for the QOL report for London: The GLA group, businesses, decision-makers in local authorities and other public bodies (e.g. Development Corporations; Primary Care Trusts etc). Consequently, the QOL report should have two levels of accessibility:
• a technical level providing data and information and the ability to drill down to specifics;
• and a generic level providing a narrative explaining the direction of travel for the headline indicators.
Outputs
• Final full report
• Executive Summary document
The report will comply with the GLA’s policies on equality and accessibility.
The report will cover a number of indicators that will cover the social, environmental and economic agendas.
In particular, the report will be looking to highlight equality issues in the report.
The evaluation process will be conducted to ensure that submissions are evaluated fairly to select the most economically advantageous offer. The quotation evaluation process will take account of the following:
Evaluation Criteria
The letting of the contract will be managed by the GLA’s sustainable Development Team. A contract will be granted after a competitive tender process.
The final QoL Indicators report be produced with consideration to making it accessible to Londoners, with non-technical summaries available for the public.
a) key risks and issues
High level risks
b) links to Mayoral strategies and priorities
The QoL indicators report covers indicators that link directly to the London Environment Strategy, London Plan and other Mayoral strategies, such as those dealing with housing, transport, economic development.
The QoL report will be written with input from the GLA directorates and departments to ensure that the indicators are robust and relevant.
c) impact assessments and consultations.
Production of the QoL Indicators report will be developed with consultation from key GLA teams who cover the issues and areas of focus for the report. In addition, external consultees such as the Environment agency and Natural England will also be consulted on the indicator set.
5.1 The expenditure of up to £15,000 will be funded from the Sustainable Development Programmes budget for 2017-18, held within the Communities and Intelligence Directorate.
Signed decision document
ADD2143 QoL Indicators (signed) PDF