Mayor outlines new work to help London’s BAME communities thrive

• For the first time, Mayor’s draft London Plan puts the capital’s diversity at its heart, working to strengthen Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) communities and relationships across London’s diverse groups.
• Plan pledges to provide economic development opportunities for BAME Londoners, including tailored support to ensure their business needs are met.
• Boroughs encouraged to ensure BAME communities are benefitting from London’s cultural offer.

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has today (Wednesday 29 November) put the capital’s diverse communities at the centre of his work as he published his new draft London Plan.

For the first time, the draft Plan makes strengthening BAME communities and relationships across London’s diverse groups a key priority, outlining work to ensure Londoners from all backgrounds are given the opportunity to develop businesses and benefit from the capital’s cultural offer.

From the outset of his Mayoralty, Sadiq Khan has been clear that London’s diversity is its biggest strength, and that the capital is open to all, regardless of ethnicity, age, race, sexuality, gender or disability.

London is one of the most diverse cities in the world, with over 300 languages spoken and 40 percent of Londoners from BAME backgrounds. Sadiq Khan strongly believes the success of the capital’s communities relies upon this diversity and that they must remain open and inclusive, allowing everyone to share in and contribute towards the city’s success.

38 per cent of London’s working age population is BAME* and London has more minority-led businesses than the rest of the UK, with 16 per cent of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) led by minority ethnic groups.** The draft Plan provides a framework to ensure tailored support is given to BAME Londoners who want to start, or grow, a business. Complementing the Mayor’s Economic Development Strategy (EDS), this support includes the retention and provision of workspace, which offers valuable collaboration opportunities for fledging businesses. And with London’s population set to grow to around 10.8 million by 2041, the Mayor has outlined plans for new ‘growth corridors’ in areas of higher density, set out alongside planned new infrastructure which will support new employment opportunities. These include Crossrail 2, Thames Estuary, and the Bakerloo line extension.

As well as working to boost BAME employment, the Mayor is committed to ensuring all Londoners, whatever their background, have access to affordable housing. He is working to make 50 per cent of new homes built in the capital genuinely affordable, and his new draft Plan removes outdated constraints to give a significant boost to the number of new and affordable homes given planning permission in the capital.

The Plan also encourages Boroughs to consider how their cultural offer serves different groups of people including those from BAME backgrounds, how these facilities can be protected and where gaps may be. In addition, making London’s night-time culture accessible and safe for all is a priority, and the Mayor is urging Boroughs to work with local police, businesses and land owners to ensure Londoners of all backgrounds feel confident to go out at night.

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “London’s greatest strength is its diversity, where people of different ethnicities, nationalities, religious backgrounds and sexualities live side by side. Our capital is open to all – but everyone must be allowed to share in, and contribute to, its success if we are to truly thrive as a global city. BAME communities are a vital part of London’s rich tapestry, and helping them flourish and grow has to be at the heart of civic planning. By strengthening relationships between London’s communities, we can make sure all Londoners are benefitting from everything the capital has to offer, and create a city that prospers even more thanks to its incredible mix of people.”

The Director of the Khayaal Theatre Company, Luqman Ali, said: “We are excited by this promising and visionary draft plan to leverage the diversity of London to actualize a great deal of hitherto untapped potential for growth, dynamism and prosperity across multiple sectors. Sadiq Khan demonstrates emphatically that London is open and that it will continue in its ascendancy by being a capital of all its talents."

Race Equality Director for Business in the Community, Sandra Kerr OBE, said: “I am delighted to see the Mayor of London leading the way with the draft London Plan. By focusing on strengthening and including BAME residents and communities, it will ensure that everyone in London enjoys the benefits of living in such a vibrant city. The Plan offers many great opportunities to learn from what London has done well in the past. It will enable people who are living this experience but may have previously been unable to offer creative solutions to share innovative ideas and tackle systemic issues with fresh perspectives. Additionally, it will give SME owners from all backgrounds a huge initiative to contribute to, participate in and benefit from the capital’s success and prosperity.”

ENDS

* Statistic taken from Business in the Community https://race.bitc.org.uk/research-insight/factsheet/Londonlabourmarket#

** Statistic taken from the Small Business Survey 2016, Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/small-business-survey-2016-panel-report