Reimagining public services

For me, living a happy and healthy life means feeling supported, connected and included. In my community, diversity and active local groups play a key role in strengthening wellbeing. Day to day, clear information and accessible digital services help me achieve this, while safe and welcoming spaces make a real difference.

Support that would truly matter includes better guidance on available services, early help when needs arise and stronger mental health and wellbeing support. I believe both public services and trusted community organisations have an important role to play in helping people and communities thrive.

Public services are in a dire state. We don't have enough GPs already but the Mayor keeps pushing through massive housing developments. Great to have housing but you need the infrastructure as well. In 2000 London's population was 7.3 million and there were approximately 30,000 hospital beds. In 2026 the population is approximately 9.9 million i.e. 2.6 million more, but there are 7,000 fewer hospital beds and the ratio of patients to GPs has risen every year. According to the BMA in London the ratio is now 2,450 to 2,562 patients per fully-qualified, FTE GP compared to the BMAs safe working limit of 1,800 patients per FTE GP. Everything in London is under strain and the answer is not always "it will be better with AI". We need physical resources like new hospitals, more GPs, more and better bus services (our local bus route was cut to "make it more efficient" but it bypasses the two local supermarket which it used to stop outside, impacting elderly residents who don't have a car), more reservoirs to meet the increase water requirement, more powerlines to bring in the additional electrical loading yet planners allow even more data centres in and on the outskirts of greater London. Local library opening hours have been cut. London is brilliant if you are rich and can access private services. If you are a pensioner or on a minimum wage its getting too hard to live here.

I had to state my activities are impaired because of depression that generally is caused by money or gov't bodies (like home office) or HMO living... There is no support for people who are single and want to stay single. Everything you purchase is for 2 people except your coffee and beer. 

Anyway, before coming to community support, we all need personal comfort with money and living conditions. Community cannot support broken minded individuals like me.

Quite clearly this survey was prepared to get some specific predetermined answers, which was disappointing.  It didn’t ask about cleaner streets, fewer vagrants, better traffic management, coordinated roadworks etc - all things that would really make our lives easier. 

there are so many good points out there but there is one thing that I don't understand that is that there are so many road works and on the pavements going on and all I see is that the workers sitting in there vans all day reading the paper or on there phones and drinking drinks are not doing anything for 2-3 weeks and then they take there time to do the works and some times a few weeks later later they have it all up again to carry out more works but I do think that we need far better services that we have got now that that would benefit everyone

I agree the survey was not clear or simple to follow. My main concern is that cycles are often dangerous and totally out of control. Many don't observe any of the rules of the road, ride on pavements and motorised ones overtake me when I am driving in 20 MPH limits. There doesn't appear to be anyone interested in enforcing the rules.

Some questions refer to yourself and community others just to yourself.  I would have had more comments if community was covered separately. 

Rubbish survey not asking real questions! Life in London would be a lot happier if we had police on the streets, fewer potholes, less cycle lanes and getting back to 30mph in our roads. The city would then move and you would see more growth. Kahn needs to accept the city is dangerous and he should be doing something about it, not gaslighting the residents.

I found this survey rather obscure and therefore difficult to respond to.  It covered wildly different topics and in my efforts to get through it my answers were rather random. How you would analyse the results I can't imagine. If you want to get people's opinions I think you need to focus on one topic at a time.

I find it somewhat laughable that most of London (quite rightly) has a 20mph speed limit, but the residential road where I live has no speed limit markings (even though I have asked for them and every other road in my neighborhood has 20mph markings), whilst many drivers go over 20mph and in the summer (when windows are open) the noise is very aggravating.

This all seemed geared to the application of ever more AI, ever more online interaction, so a robot call centre if you're lucky. Who's going to pick up the bins digitally, or build council houses digitally? It's a sticking plaster over a real wound, which is cuts to budgets and collapse in provision.

London transport is free to disabled people but not for their carers. As the disabled client has to pay for their carer, this means free transport is not free at all. I have tackled people at every level about this and they all come back with the same information, a list of discounted fares and services that are irrelevant to someone like me just wanting to go with my carer from where I live to the supermarke thalf a mile away. They even suggested Dial a ride, when all they need to do is add a ' +1' to the disabled freedom pass, 

nA few of the things that help me live a happy and healthy life include: being able to get around the whole of London using our brilliant public trasnport system (but what are we doing for the elderly and those on the margins who don't have such good access - do we styill have dial-a-ride services and how do you access it; going to the pub and music venues (make sure these do not close down - if they do ensure the locations have to be used for similar purposes; and make sure licences to sell alcohol and open late are granted in tour town/city centres regardless of NIMBY complaints); the freedom to walk and cycle around our great city (we have hundreds if not thousands of parks and cycling infrastructure is improving); 

Support that would help me would include: certainty about health appointments (if I have to wait for weeks or months for an appointment I would at least like to know within a window when it aill be; clarity on how and when to contact my GP - there are online and phone options); more segregated cycle lanes that join up with other cycle lanes (the infrastructure has improved massively but lanes often run out just as you arrive at the most dangerous junctions); a massive campaign about the importance of keeping London tidy with real enforcement of littering and fly-tipping offenders (a dirty town is an unhappy town, an unhappy town is an unhealthy town). 

We all have a role in ensuring we can live happy and healthy lives (we can walk instead of drive, take our litter home, report problems rather than moan about them). However, some things are too big for individuals. I'm all for devolution up to a point but some thing need to be standardised to minimise confusuon - e.g. can we have at least a London wide standardisation on recycling collections. In the other direction, all roads in a borough should be the responsibility of the borough - at the moment tfl manage the main roads and this leads to confusion.

The survey was extremely poorly phrased, and seemed written against a rubric that might have made sense against a local government planning document but didn't as a respondent. Mentally, bin collections, the tube, calling an ambulance, and enjoying a public park do not fit into the same mental category. How often do I interact with the planning authority? As a renter, never or daily, as their (restrictive) decision-making increases my bills. Do I support the use of AI in public services? Probably, at an abstract level, no. Do I support faster, more personalised, and more efficient public services supported by AI? Obviously. 

It also seems like almost everyone in this comment section is either in or nearing retirement age. It's important to take the views of older Londoners into account, but the needs of the other ~90% of Londoners also should be recognised. 

All public services should be judged by how accessible to the most marginalised in our society, e.g. those who are housebound, in prison trapped by domestic abuse.

Developing creativity should be the priority for all councils and the Mayor;s office. If this occurs all other goods will follow.

It would be nice if local councils followed the guidance in  Ageing Better’s series of Age Friendly Quick Guides covering Parks& Green Spaces, Public and Community Buildings, seating and Rest Areas, Toilets and Bus Stops.  Although intended to help the elderly things like clearer signage, sensible seating and accessible buildings help everyone. 

After the heatwave last week, the one issue that was high on my list the unbearable heat on the buses.  A short journey from Hampton to Richmond was atrocious, no air and felt like we were travelling in a sauna.  Surely with the temperatures rises, something should be done for passengers travelling on public transport.  You make things difficult for people to drive into central London but nothing is being done to help people move around comfortably on the service that is being provided.  This needs to be improved on.

We also have a council that doesn’t consult its residents, just decides to close roads because councillors live on them and don’t want traffic going near their homes.  The councils need to tidy up the area, it’s appalling looking out and seeing rubbish dumped in streets and weeds growing a foot high.

My understanding of public services include travel services (include buses and trains) which in the area I live are atrocious and as the other alternative is car for elderly people and london council is making it impossible by having no suitable parking facilities at reasonable prices. The London councils are obsessed with cycling and have no regard for the elderly who cannot use cycling for every day needs. London especially need to wake up for the transport needs of elderly who are not classed as disabled.

Here in Ealing we had timetabled meetings with Councillors and Council staff.

Area Committes. Ward Forums and Surgeries. All have disappeared. We don't think our council or our officers listen and/or represent us. No consultation about local (some major some minor) issues. Feel disenfranchised. Made worse by not having a local newspaper to hold Council, members and officers to account and to keep tyhe public informed and involved.

I would like to see responsive and accessible health care -ending of corridor care -which is so awful to experience! also more support for voluntary organisations who harness volunteers' time and experience to provide crucial services at very little cost to the public purse.