London's recovery starts with you

There is a risk that there will not be enough social care workers in the near future for several reasons:

a. Social care relies on immigration: There are 232,000 jobs in adult social care in London and 39% of the workforce are NOT British nationals*. Social care workers are not likely to quality for a work visa under the new points-based system that will come into place in January 2021.

b. There is no slack in the system: There are 18,000 vacancies at any time and 48,000 people left in 2018/19*. Until there is vaccine for Covid-19, some staff will be off sick or self-isolating. If service-users - who are mainly frail older people - do not receive the support they need, they will deteriorate rapidly and could need to go to hospital within days or even die.

We urge you to take steps to ensure that the social care workforce is adequate to meet needs beyond Brexit.

*The Adult Social Care Sector and Workforce: London 2019. Skills for Care Workforce Intelligence 2019.

Can the GLA establish essential learning skills which schools could sensibly integrate into the curriculum such as money management or critical thinking; equipping young Londoners with all they need to earn a living and grasp opportunities in a proactive way.

COVID-19 has revealed our reliance on broken systems and reliable overseas supplies of goods, services and cheap labour. Brexit and the global recession will deepen this crisis, so growing entrepreneurs and creating an atmosphere of adaptable work and living spaces with free access to hi-speed connectivity will be essential for London's social and economic development. That's how the Assembly and Mayor can best help. Putting a green tinge to that recovery would improve local energy and food production; with all the benefits of self-reliance and job creation that brings in new technologies, infrastructure installation and creation.

The old industries and employment systems created to support them are no longer relevant. London has, or had, a thriving service sector, but needs a certain level of industry and basic goods to underpin it. The pandemic showed us that Londoners can adapt, quickly changing from creating one thing to producing essentials. This adaptability is a good model going forward and the Assembly and Mayor should do all in their power to encourage and nurture this sort of social and community growth. The model of 15 minute cities, which the Mayor has already considered, would enable this sort of development.

It needs a brave national Government and supportive local authorities to introduce the right subsidies, policies and incentives to nurture this long-term community driven response. Petty point scoring, short termism and tribal politics will hold us back. With national change, we could speed our recovery to create a new, better, fairer and more compassionate Britain we can all be proud of.

Thousands of Londoners have now been out of work since March. Where is the access to training? Before Covid, job seekers had to prove they were looking for work, that's not the case at the moment, so what's the motivation? Now the job market is ultra competitive, how are the clinically vulnerable going to survive. Access to support and training has to happen now. Funding for individual support, online courses and information on where to find them for those who need to find work. Otherwise mental and physically wellbeing, poverty, homelessness, crime rates, child welfare  are going to get worse. The power and financial equality gap needs to be addressed with training and opportunities for all. High levels of employment helps every part of society, this has to be the highest priority. 

Help what happens to the Buses when school's resume in September? At present especially at weekends the buses to Waltham Cross from
Edmonton Green run FULL 30 people this also like me Can't use my pass am a Key Worker working in a Residential Home

Am exstremely scared worried we in Enfield must have at least 30+ schools pupils coming in from other Areas using Public Transport

Help what happens to the Buses when school's resume in September? At present especially at weekends the buses to Waltham Cross from
Edmonton Green run FULL 30 people this also like me Can't use my pass am a Key Worker working in a Residential Home

Am exstremely scared worried we in Enfield must have at least 30+ schools pupils coming in from other Areas using Public Transport

Maybe you could put in a few examples of measures that might be taken to arrive at these aims. Otherwise they are just empty words. I was always taught that a strategy had to have achievable aims with short term measurable goals so you could check progress on your strategy at regular intervals. Without opening yourselves up to the possibility of being hung out to dry by an opposition due to failure to aceive your aims, and without losing your flexibility to cope with changed circumstances, WE NEED MEASURABLE AND IMMEDIATE GOALS PLEASE! 

I cannot help thinking Covid19 has revealed some truths that were not widely acknowledged.

My short list are:

Many people would prefer to work from home more. For many people commuting is expensive, frequently unpleasant. Working from home can ease the stresses of child care where parents (single or couples) must  work to afford the rent or mortgage.Reduced time commuting allows for a better work/life balance. In essence the trend for more flexible working is desirable and should be encouraged, not resisted. 

Too many people are living in housing which is not conducive to good mental health. Overcrowding, poor design, poor space standards, lack of safe open space (specifically gardens), poor external environment, are all factors which have made the experience of lockdown unbearable for too many households. Lack of affordable decent standard homes has been revealed by lockdown as a primary cause of disadvantage within London. The trend to more poor quality designed, rented/leasehold apartments, (especially unsustainable maintenance costs of high rise living) is going create a legacy of damaged communities, if not ghettos of impoverishment and poor mental health. 

As internet shopping has increased town centres are morphing from retail centres to new activity or service centres (i.e. bars, cafes, fast food outlets, gyms, cinemas, nurseries, playcentres, learning centres, parcel collection points, grooming services, tattoo palours, estate agents, health services). Lockdown has, if anything emphasised the need for local services. This is not altogether bad but to ensure this is better,not worse, requires planning and public investment if these community hubs are to be welcoming and enhance the quality of life for Londoners.

In summary, I am saying we must have an economy that serves the people and not a people that serves the economy.

Urgent priority should be given to addressing business accommodation shortages. The situation with industrial space especially can now be understood as a crisis, causing constriction of a large and vibrant chunk of London's economy. The Mayor / GLA should take this issue far more seriously. Many 10s of thousands of jobs are threatened as is the diversity of our city's economy.

What baffles me is that it took a life threatening virus like Covid for central and regional governments to realise that Londoners were/ are going through some difficult times?

Shouldn't we have a moral obligation to all in general, provide an infrastructure of good healthcare, education, wellbeing of ones mental health, access to clubs, leisure and cultural facilities regardless of caste, creed or colour as well as promoting business ideals in a free market economy?

It's as simple as balancing the books (funds available to generate all of the above) and putting procedures in place to encourage individuals to have a sense of responsibility and pride in the work that they do not only for themselves and their families but for others as well.

We are aware that as tube journeys have decreased there is the need to recoup losses by increasing other means of revenue, but taking from Paul to pay Peter is something we will need to avoid.

Likewise, the increase in council taxes and any other taxes and the encouragement of fines, should be avoided. How does unemployment equate to the ability in paying increasing rents and rates?

There will be a change in working patterns and consumer behaviour and the rise in the use of artificial intelligence. Perhaps, the current job training and future job opportunities can be geared towards this trend. Change, not always good, can be managed and in turn will be a force for good.

I think training should be open to all not just unemployed 

We have to change our way to live . No more using so extensively our cars but publuc transpots as much is possible.  Not crowded tube or buses in which you breathe directly into your travel mates, a bnew responsable travelling.

The transport fares shouldn't be organised on a worker 9 to 5 only but it should allow women to carry their shopping more easily at home with routes closer, more road lights at night, and allow women to move through their unpaid job of carer more easily: drog/ collect the children, shop for parents/ elderly familiars. To do that data have to be collected about the different need of the population, data divided for genders. So all issues can be met.

Otherwise nothing will change. If I have to carry my shopping bags for long and pay lots for transport to take it home I won't drop my car and this will have definitely an impact for example  on elderly people and children and people with respiratory disease. This has to be discussed and planned by the largest amount of persons to explore all the views, the solutions and the commitment to get there. 

There are a lot of empty or partially empty office blocks currently. They are not going to filled in the short term whatever you do. Partially open them up to schools to use so that they can offer their usual hours of education in a socially distanced way making it feasible for those without the budget for private childcare to get back to work properly. 

it is also a good opportunity to link business and education strongly, widen children's horizons. Let the business sector play their part. 

If you want to help the poorest in society then it is imperative the congestion charge is kept and if possible expanded as pollution affects the poorest the most.

London needs to prioritise pedestrians and people cycling, this is for the benefit of people living in London.

This should include making as many side roads as possible no through roads, building junctions that prioritise Pedestrians and cyclists, a 20mph enforced speed limit more pedestrianisation of high streets and a lot more segregated cycle paths, the amount we have is miniscule and not joined up.

We should never forget the yearly toll, the 20,000 people that die from vehicle pollution, the 500 pedestrians killed, the noise pollution, the children who will have underdeveloped lungs, the people made invalid from breathing conditions and the people who will develop dementia. Around 50% of car journeys are 2 miles or less.

I applaud these efforts quite sincerely, but all of the initiatives in the world can't work without people actually being able to commute in a way that they feel safe. I live in west London and work in the city. I would happily be back in the office, back walking to Borough Market to pick up lunch and groceries, back spending money at all the shops and businesses, but only if I didn't have to get on the tube. As it is, I'm working from home, groceries come from FarmDrop, MindfulChef, and my local mini-Sainsbury, and I'll just keep making my way through my to-read pile of books, thankyouverymuch. London must acknowledge that packing people like sardines in poorly ventilated cans underground is not a viable option until the population is successfully vaccinated. Full stop. Until then, I suggest closing a grid of several north-south and several east-west running secondary streets to traffic and establish efficient and safe biking/walking routes upon which people may cross town. I won't ride in the street with traffic, as safety protocols are never followed in London. The biking grid should have stoplights where it intersects with car roads, which the cyclists and motorists must heed, or pay a heavy fine. Commercial life requires that people like me, with jobs for which I have been able to work from home, to get out and spend. This will support bringing back the jobs that evaporated. But for people like me, until we feel safe, we just won't go. 

Lift congestion charge and immediately lift the punishing and life destroying social distancing measures which have destroyed the arts, entertainment, leisure shopping & restaurants.  This Covid disaster is caused by government policy, not by any black death virus.

I think this is good overall, but there needs to be a focus on free/affordable childcare. Sure start centres need to be better funded and continue to offer training opportunities to parents while their children are looked after. 
This investment in families and particularly children, at a very young age gives people a sense of worth and helps them to become a positive force for the community.