COVID-19: London’s recovery three years on

The GLA Oversight Committee has written to the Mayor and London Councils with six recommendations following an investigation into the London Recovery Programme, three years on from the outbreak of COVID-19.

The Committee primarily focused on the role of the London Recovery Board and Recovery Programme, which were established and facilitated by the Mayor of London and the Chair of London Councils.

It also examined the future of the partnership as the Mayor launches proposals to replace the Recovery Board with a wider reaching partnership board.

The Committee identified positive impacts of the Recovery Programme, such as creating a sense of shared purpose around London’s Recovery Missions and a sense from partners that the Recovery Board has improved collaborative working in the capital. However, the Committee also identified areas for improvement.

The Committee made the following findings:

• The Committee is concerned about the impact of the GLA’s proposal to allocate just £200,000 in annual funding to the programme team supporting the London Partnership Board.
• The Committee believes that responding to the cost of living crisis should be a major priority of the London Partnership Board.
• There is a lack of clarity about the role of the Recovery Missions in the new partnership arrangements.
• The London Assembly has an important role to play in overseeing and scrutinising the London Partnership Board, its work programme and the Recovery Missions.

The Committee identified six recommendations for the Mayor and London Councils:

1. That the GLA and London Councils should publish information about the resources allocated to the London Partnership Board, including partner contributions, and how the use and performance of these resources will be measured.
2. That the GLA and London Councils should publish an organogram of the London Partnership Board that describes the roles and responsibilities of contributing organisations.
3. The London Partnership Board should prioritise addressing the cost of living crisis and structural inequalities in its work programme, whilst avoiding any duplication of work.
4. The GLA should clarify the role of the Recovery Missions in the context of the new partnership arrangements and commit to the London Partnership Board regularly publishing performance metrics.
5. The GLA should further define the outcomes for its non-economic focused Recovery Missions.
6. The GLA should commit to reporting to a London Assembly Plenary meeting on an annual basis and through the relevant Committees to explain the London Partnership Board’s progress.