MD2309 GLA Food Programme 2018-19

The GLA’s SMEs, Food and London Economic Action Partnership (LEAP) team are responsible for developing and delivering food policy for London. Officers working on the food programme have a number of areas of responsibility including; facilitating and supporting the London Food Board, developing and implementing the new London Food Strategy; and delivering/supporting the delivery of projects, programmes and initiatives to help deliver good food for London.

The London Food Board (a non-statutory advisory board) was reconfigured in early 2017 and the new Board convened for the first time in March 2017. The board’s remit is to advise the Mayor of London and the Greater London Authority (GLA) on food matters across the capital; on the development and delivery of the proposed new London Food Strategy; and on the GLA’s food programme. It aims to provide thought leadership across the broad agenda of food in London, and build partnerships and collaborations to deliver improvements in London’s food system. The previous Chair of London Food Board, Rosie Boycott, stood down on 31 January 2018 and the new Chair, Claire Pritchard, was appointed by the Mayor in February 2018.

Work began in 2017 on the development of a new London Food Strategy, to be settled and published in 2018. This non-statutory strategy will complement the full range of Mayoral strategies which are being revised by the GLA and many of which include key steps to support good food for all Londoners. The new London Food Strategy will replace the current version of the strategy which was published in 2006.

The strategy is the Mayor’s vision for how to make food better in London for everyone. The Mayor, supported by the London Food Board and working with public and private partners across the food and public health sectors, will work to deliver the strategy. It aims to help all Londoners, London boroughs and other partners to adapt the city’s food system to meet the challenges which lie ahead. MD2278 approved publication of the draft London Food Strategy for an eight-week consultation commencing in May 2018.

The food programme comprises some projects which commence in the coming weeks, as well as other projects which will begin later in the year to help to deliver priorities of the new London Food Strategy once that is settled and published in the Autumn.

The food programme has a strong track record of delivering and supporting projects, programmes and initiatives that make a difference in improving London’s food system, often with much greater impact than the relatively small funding contributions would imply due to the strong influencing and advocacy role played by the team on behalf of the Mayor and the London Food Board. Officers will continue to work to build influential partnerships and explore innovative approaches in order to help us maximise the impact of the new London Food Strategy.

In addition to broader health, economic, environmental and cultural impacts, the Food Programme in 2018/19 will address Mayoral manifesto commitments to reduce childhood obesity and reduce Londoners’ reliance on food banks.

Through the publication of a new London Food Strategy in 2018, and its implementation, we will do the following to meet these aims:

• Support Sustain’s ‘Good Food for London’ and ‘Beyond the Food Bank’ reports, support five boroughs to develop Food Poverty Action Plans and five other boroughs to develop Good Food Retail Plans.
• Work in partnership with the Mayor’s Fund for London’s Kitchen Social programme to address school holiday hunger amongst children from low-income households.
• Support London to have a food system that offers opportunities for food businesses, for people to be trained to enter employment in the food sector and for food in London to be a positive force for the health, environment and community cohesion of the city.
• Showcase the excellence of London’s food producers through the Urban Food Awards and by promoting careers in the hospitality sector.
• Support the role of food businesses in tackling obesity and in regeneration by working on the Healthier Catering Commitment and other policy priorities which may emerge.
• Help London to have a network of safer, highly-engaged communities working together through food growing to improve the skills, opportunities and quality of life for residents.
• Work with the GLA culture team to improve food available for night-time workers in London, in line with priorities of Mayor’s Vision for a 24-Hour City.
• As part of our focus on the environmental impacts of the food system, including the potential for climate change to affect London’s food resilience, develop work to understand London’s food resilience to unexpected events.
• Help London to continue to be a world-class exponent of urban food policy, using the best of private, public and third sectors to make the food system work better for London’s economy, health and environment.
• Continue to build on the success of the GLA’s Silver award from the Sustainable Food Cities network and continue to engage in international food networks such as C40 Cities Food Network, Milan Urban Food Policy Pact and others as appropriate.
• Work with the London Food Board, the boroughs’ working group and other internal and external working groups to ensure that the Food Programme’s interventions and the new London Food Strategy are fully integrated and reflect the needs of different London population groups.
• Build on previous success to deliver a range of Mayoral priorities on environment, transport, regeneration, health, skills and culture that link into food.
• Continue to work to secure external income from suitable partners to raise additional revenue for Food Programme priorities.

*See Decision file for table outlining the main elements of the work programme, overall costs and immediate expenditure-related decisions.

Under Section 149 of the Equality Act 2010, as a public authority, the Mayor of London must have due regard to 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.

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 Mayor’s 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. Projects under the Food Programme aim to engage as many Londoners as possible and many focus specifically on harder-to-reach groups. Elements of food programme projects which help to meet the needs of people sharing protected characteristics under Section 149 of the Equality Act 2010 include:

• Capital Growth: 80% of Capital Growth’s sites are in the more deprived wards and 40% are in the most deprived wards. A third of Capital Growth’s 2500+ spaces are in schools and a fifth are on housing estates or run through social housing providers. 7% of Capital Growth projects are working directly with people experiencing mental health problems.

• Food Poverty: In 2018/19 one area of focus is addressing food poverty for Londoners, both through supporting the ‘Beyond the Food Bank’ report and the Borough Food Poverty Support project. These areas of work will help map and profile food poverty and support boroughs to respond to the differential impact that food poverty has on certain communities and families.

• Schools Holiday Provision programme: 700,000 children in London live in poverty and obesity prevalence is twice as high for children living in the most deprived areas in London compared to those living in the least deprived areas. Working in partnership with the Mayor’s Fund for London, this is a targeted intervention to reduce inequalities experienced by London’s children and young people from low income households during the school holidays.

• The London Food Board: Members of the Board work across London’s food system. Of the 19 members, 15 are women and four are from a black, Asian and minority (BAME) background. The London Food Board will ensure the London Food Strategy and the GLA’s Food Programme develop a better food system for all Londoners.

We will put in place mechanisms to help us continually review the potential to make our existing and emerging projects advance equality of opportunity for groups which have characteristics noted in the Equality Act. This will include continuing to work closely and strengthen the relationships with the external partners and community organisations who support vulnerable groups (i.e. those most likely to be affected by food insecurity) on a daily basis.

a) key risks and issues

The GLA will manage the overall operational aspects of the programmes, using its standard corporate approach to project management. The key risks and issues are outlined below:

Due to its small number of officers, the GLA Food Team may lack the resource and capacity to deliver the visions and ambitions of the upcoming new London Food Strategy. However, the GLA Food Team has historically worked effectively in partnerships with both internal and external stakeholders and will continue to do so to deliver the Food Programme. Officers have developed a workplan in order to align the priorities, commitments and objectives of the draft London Food Strategy with those of the Food Programme and London Food Board which will enable a more joined up and efficient approach. The Food Programme will contribute towards the ambitions of the London Food Strategy and the newly appointed London Food Board will also advise on policy and the Food Programme as well as share their insights and expertise with the Chair and the Food Team to shape the London Food Strategy and ensure its aims are both ambitious and deliverable.

b) links to Mayoral strategies and priorities

In terms of Mayoral Strategies, individual projects will contribute towards:

• Implementation of priorities in the proposed new London Food Strategy.
• Food-related elements of the new Health Inequalities Strategy particularly on childhood obesity, food access and the better health of all Londoners.
• The new Economic Development Strategy – food is a major employer and offers significant training and apprenticeship potential as well as high potential to increase business start-ups and innovation.
• The new Transport Strategy, including improving the way food industry vehicles in London operate to improve air quality and reduce congestion.
• The Environment Strategy – Food waste and the impact of the food system on climate change are both major challenges that food projects help to address.
• The London Plan, including policies on land for food, access to fresh food, hot food takeaways, transforming Londoners’ obesogenic food environments and more.
• The Culture Strategy – celebrating the vibrancy and diversity of London’s food cultures and supporting food-related community food projects.
• Team London objectives to encourage and enable Londoners to volunteer in their communities.

c) impact assessments and consultations.

An integrated impact assessment will be undertaken in parallel with the consultation on the draft London Food Strategy, which will run for eight weeks from early May.

As part of the development process of the London Food Programme in 2018/19 and during and after the upcoming consultation on the draft London Food Strategy, the Food Team will consult widely to ensure that the Food Programme interventions and Strategy are fully integrated and reflect the needs of different London population groups, including but not limited to: Londoners experiencing food poverty; schoolchildren who need access to a healthy diet, new and expectant mothers on low incomes; young people seeking employment; older people who may be engaged through the Programme’s community growing focus, London’s diverse communities, and others.

The Food Team is part of the Economic and Business Policy Unit, and will continue to work closely with GLA Regeneration, Health, Environment, Planning, Intelligence and Culture teams. This will ensure that interventions under the Food Programme complement and maximise the impacts of ongoing programmes of work undertaken by these teams, such as work on crowdfunding, health inequalities and the reduction of food waste.

A budget provision of £144,000 has been included in the 2018-19 budget to support the above-mentioned activities of the Food Programme in 2018-19. In addition to the core GLA contribution to the programme, officers will seek the external funding via sponsorship and partnership contributions to enhance the programme (wherever possible).

Sections 1 to 3 of this report indicate that:

The decisions requested of the Mayor (in accordance with the GLA’s Contracts and Funding Code) concerns the exercise of the GLA’s general powers, falling within the GLA’s statutory powers to do such things considered to further or which are facilitate of, conducive or incidental to the promotion of economic development and wealth creation, social development or the promotion of the improvement of the environment in Greater London; and in formulating the proposals in respect of which a decision is sought officers have complied with the GLA’s related statutory duties to:

• Pay due regard to the principle that there should be equality of opportunity for all people;
• Consider how the proposals will promote the improvements of health of persons, reduce health inequalities between persons and contribute towards the achievements of sustainable development in the United Kingdom; and
• Consult with appropriate bodies.

In taking the decisions requested, the Mayor must have due regard to the Public Sector Equality Duty as described in section 3 above. To this end, the Mayor should have regard to section 3 (above) of this report.

Any services or supplied required must be procured by Transport for London Commercial who will determine the detail of the procurement strategy to be adopted in accordance with the GLA’s Contracts and Funding Code. Officers must ensure that appropriate contract documentation is put in place and executed by the successful bidder(s) and the GLA before the commencement of the services or suppliers.

Officers have indicated at paragraph 2.2 above that there will be contributions of grant funding. Officers must ensure that the funding is distributed fairly, transparently, in accordance with the GLA’s equalities duty and in a manner which affords value for money in accordance with the GLA’s Contracts and Funding Code.

Officers must ensure that any sponsorship is sought in accordance with the GLA’s sponsorship policy and appropriate sponsorship agreements are put in place between and executed by the GLA and the sponsor(s) before any reliance is placed on the sponsorship income and benefits in kind.