Tackling Loneliness in London

Jennette Arnold OBE AM moved, and Steve O'Connell AM seconded, the following motion which was agreed unanimously:

The Assembly is concerned about the numbers of Londoners who feel lonely. Right now, more than half of Londoners feel lonely sometimes and nearly one in 10 feel lonely a lot of the time.

Tackling loneliness is important as it is linked to poorer physical and mental health, as well as with cognitive decline and an increased risk of Alzheimer’s. People who are lonely are more likely to be readmitted to hospital, more likely to visit a GP or Accident & Emergency and more likely to enter local authority funded residential care. The healthcare cost of treating loneliness is £6,000 per person over 10 years.

In addition, there is also a stigma with loneliness itself. Research shows that 30 per cent of British people said they would be embarrassed to say they felt lonely with, 44 per cent of people saying it is making it more difficult for people them to seek support. With increasing numbers of people reporting that they feel lonely every year, there is still a long way to go in terms of awareness of loneliness and tackling its impacts, both on individuals and society at large.

The Assembly calls upon the Mayor to design and deliver an awareness campaign to tackle the stigma associated with experiencing loneliness and provide individuals, businesses and local authorities with the tools to tackle loneliness

In addition, the Assembly calls on the Government and the Mayor to introduce a Loneliness Test that assesses the impact of policy and decisions on loneliness in London.