MD2141 National Park City Programme

1.1. London’s parks, green spaces, and natural landscapes are the places where Londoners can relax, exercise, play and enjoy the capital’s natural heritage and culture. They also provide habitat for wildlife, and contribute both to protecting London from the impact of climate change and helping to improve London’s air quality.

1.2. Enhancing the public realm and greening the capital improves the usability and the look and feel of the city, making it a more pleasant place for residents and visitors, and an environment in which businesses can thrive. Furthermore, maximising the benefits of London’s ‘green infrastructure’ contributes to maintaining and improving London’s image as the world’s greenest big city, driving up the capital’s rank in world surveys which helps to attract inward investment leading to jobs and growth. This MD sets out how the Environment Team will make London a National Park City and create a legacy of environmental stewardship in London.

1.3. The Mayor’s manifesto included a commitment to “make London the first National Park City”. This is an overarching pledge for other manifesto commitments including: strengthened protection for open spaces including playing fields, Metropolitan Open Land, and our Sites of Importance for Local Nature Conservation; enhancing biodiversity by creating green corridors; and, embarking on a major tree-planting programme.

1.4. The draft London Environment Strategy (LES) includes a chapter on Green Infrastructure and Natural Capital. This sets out how we intend to work with partners and stakeholders to improve London’s natural environment and make the city greener. Making London a National Park City (NPC) provides the overarching narrative for delivering the strategy objectives and outcomes and provides a compelling public-facing expression for the programme of work that the Mayor will implement, and the activities of our partners that the Mayor will support. The programme will demonstrate the role of the Mayor in terms of: leadership – through better policy and stronger advocacy; and delivery – through projects that are tangible manifestations of policy and advocacy. This MD sets out the approach proposed to move the Mayor’s vision into delivery and covers financial years 2017-18, 2018-19, 2019-20 and 2020-21.

1.5. This MD builds and expands on the Mayor’s approval (under cover of MD2050) of the allocation of £750,000 of funding in 2016-2017 to support tree planting. That one-off grant round is now complete with 29 grants issued and 41,000 trees planted.

1.6. The £9m budget for the NPC Delivery Programme was approved by the Mayor under cover of MD 2076.

1.7. The £238,000 budget for the NPC Policy and Advocacy work was approved by the Mayor under cover of MD 2091.

1.8. Any further decisions relating to the National Park City Programme will be subject to Director Decision (DD) approval process.

2.1. The NPC Programme will promote the benefits of Green Infrastructure (GI) and demonstrate that its principles are as integral to the success of our city as any other type of infrastructure.

2.2. The NPC programme has two overarching objectives:

Objective 1 – Establish London as a National Park City

Objective 2 – Deliver a £9 million tree and park programme to contribute to increasing London’s green cover and tree cover.

2.3. These programme objectives support the aims (subject to consultation) as set out in the draft LES:

• Making more than half of London’s area green by 2050

• Conserving and enhancing wildlife and natural habitats

• Promoting and valuing London’s natural capital as an economic asset and developing the business case for investment in green infrastructure

2.4. Additionally there are the following programme principals that underpin all activity:

• Empowering communities to take part in environmental activities

• Supporting boroughs to use their planning powers and land-management responsibilities to enhance and increase green infrastructure through tree planting; greening the built environment; enhancing the amenity and function of parks and green spaces

• Encouraging businesses to recognise and promote the economic benefit of greening the city

• Aligning with, and complementing other Mayoral priorities , such as: improving air quality; creating healthy streets; providing good quality housing in liveable neighbourhoods; addressing inequalities (especially in health) and promoting social cohesion

2.5. The long term outcomes that this programme is trying to realise are:

• The conservation of our most special landscapes, habitats and species

• The enhancement of natural processes for the benefit of London’s people and wildlife

• A city with cleaner air that is better protected from flooding and overheating

• Improved health for Londoners

• A range of outdoor space for cultural, civic, learning and community activity, including productive landscapes

• London being recognised as one of the greenest of the world’s big cities

2.6. Objective 1 – Establish London as National Park City

Creating a National Park City requires not only the protection and management of existing assets (such as the network of parks, green spaces, wildlife habitats, street trees etc.) but investment in these assets to improve their quality and support a significant increase in the greening of the built environment to ensure all Londoners benefit from a green infrastructure that is extensive and accessible. Consequently, a programme of policy and advocacy work is required to ensure that London as a NPC is a success and the benefits of such an approach can be realised.

2.7. The NPC Policy and Advocacy Programme will:

• Highlight the value of green infrastructure for Londoners, London’s economy and London’s resilience in order to make the case for the long-term investment required to maintain, increase and enhance the city’s green infrastructure

• Improve the policy framework for protecting green infrastructure and ensuring green infrastructure is incorporated into the built environment

• Support and influence those with primary responsibility for managing and maintaining green infrastructure to ensure they have the resources and tools they need to make London a National Park City

• Create the platform upon which London (and other cities worldwide) can be declared a National Park City

Table 1 – Policy and Advocacy Detail and Budget 2017/18

This table sets out the main elements of the work programme, overall costs and immediate expenditure related decisions:

3.1. Under Section 149 of the Equality Act 2010, as a public authority, the Mayor of London must have ‘due Regard’ of the need to eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation as well as to advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations between people who have a protected characteristic and those who do not.

3.2. Gender Equality and Equal Opportunities are enshrined within the GLA’s programmes and activities according to the Mayor’s Framework for Equal Life Chances (June 2014) and the new Mayor’s forthcoming Diversity and Inclusion Strategy. The framework aims to bring Londoners together rather than dividing them. It promotes outcomes for a diverse range of communities that seek to bring real changes to the quality of life for all Londoners. The NPC Programme stems from the current work on the LES which is informed by a full Integrated Impact Assessment, which includes a consideration of equalities.

3.3. As a result Environment programmes and projects look to maximise their positive impact on all Londoners. For the NPC programme this could include for example: increasing access to green space, contributing to urban cooling, reducing the health impact of air quality,

3.4. Projects delivered through the Mayor’s NPC programme will aim to engage as many Londoners as possible to help to meet the needs of people sharing protected characteristics under Section 149 of the Equality Act 2010. Grant assessment criteria will aim to deliver projects in deprived wards; engaging people with disabilities; engaging those over 60 and under the ages of 16; engaging with different population groups including those with protected characteristics.

3.5. Grant application processes will require a statement about the organisations’ approach to equality and/or the submission of organisations’ equality policies.

3.6. Recipients of funding will be required to outline how projects will provide environmental and community benefit. This includes information on the intended beneficiaries. They will be required to advertise their volunteering opportunities via Team London where appropriate.

4.1. Key risks and issues

4.2. Links to Mayoral strategies and priorities

The National Park City Programme will contribute towards:

• The efficient and effective delivery of Mayoral manifesto commitments

• The efficient and effective delivery of policies and targets in the London Plan and commitments in the forthcoming draft LES, specifically:

o To protect, enhance and increase green areas in the city and ensure it is providing the green infrastructure services and benefits for a future London

o To ensure no net loss of biodiversity and restore ecological connectivity by protecting a core network of nature conservation sites and improving the ecology of green spaces and the built environment

o To provide more coherent strategic co-ordination of London’s green infrastructure and new funding programmes to support project delivery.

4.3. Impact Assessments and consultations

The draft LES, where much of the National Park City work programme has been drawn from, has been through a pre-consultation exercise and integrated impact assessments have been undertaken. A formal consultation will take place in summer 2017.

5.1 Mayoral approval is being sought to approve the funding of up to £9,000,000 to support the increase of London’s tree canopy and to improve London’s green spaces.

5.2 It is proposed that the National Park City Delivery Programme will be profiled over four financial years. The expenditure will be apportioned as follows from the Trees Environment Programme Budget; Capital £2,940,000 and Revenue £6,060,000.

5.3 As this programme of works involves funding agreements, officers are reminded to ensure that they liaise with both the Legal and Finance Teams in the preparation and execution of the agreements. In addition the award and monitoring of the funding and associated payments should be in line with the Authority’s Funding Agreement Toolkit.

5.4 Approval is also being sought for expenditure of up to £238,000 on Policy and Advocacy for the National Park City Programme. This comprises of £66,000 for Grade 10 Policy and Programme Post, £63,000 for indirect costs and £110,000 for direct costs. The programme will be funded from Urban Greening 2017-2018 Programme Budget.

6.1 The foregoing sections of this report indicate that:

6.1.1 the decisions requested of the Mayor concern the exercise of the GLA’s general powers, falling within the statutory powers of the GLA to do such things as may be considered to further, and or be facilitative of or conducive or incidental to the furthering of, the promotion of the improvement of the environment in Greater London; and

6.1.2 in formulating the proposals in respect of which a decision is sought officers have complied with the GLA’s related statutory duties to:

(a) pay due regard to the principle that there should be equality of opportunity for all people;

(b) consider how the proposals will promote the improvement of health of persons, health inequalities between persons and to contribute towards the achievement of sustainable development in the United Kingdom; and

(c) consult with appropriate bodies.

6.2 In taking the decisions requested, the Mayor must have due regard to the Public Sector Equality Duty; namely the need to eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other conduct prohibited by the Equality Act 2010, and to advance equality of opportunity between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic (race, disability, gender, age, sexual orientation, religion or belief, pregnancy and maternity and gender reassignment) and persons who do not share it and foster good relations between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it (section 149 of the Equality Act 2010). To this end, the director should have particular regard to section 3 (above) of this report.

6.3 Officers have indicated that report that a significant proportion of the expenditure proposed will amount to the provision of grant funding as a contribution to the project costs of successful funding applicants and not a payment for services to be provided. They must ensure that the proposed funding is disbursed in a fair and transparent manner in accordance with the GLA’s Contracts and Funding Code and a funding agreement is put in place between and executed by the GLA and successful applicants before any commitment to the provide funding is made.

6.4 To the extent that it is proposed that expenditure is incurred on the procurement of works, services or supplies, officers must ensure that the works, services or supplies are procured in accordance with the GLA’s Contracts and Funding Code and that appropriate contract documentation is put in place and executed by the successful bidder(s) and the GLA before the commencement of any works, services or supplies.

6.5 The Mayor may, under section 38 of the Greater London Authority Act 1999, delegate the exercise of the GLA’s functions to the Executive Director – Development, Enterprise & Environment as proposed should he so wish.

a. Objective 1 - The NPC policy and programme activity will be delivered in 17/18 as part of the Green Infrastructure Team business plan.

b. Objective 2 - The NPC delivery programme will be delivered as set out below: