Riot regeneration funding

In letters to the Mayor and Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, the Assembly’s Economy, Culture and Sport (ECS) Committee underlines the need for a long-term approach to riot regeneration, to accompany the one-off physical regeneration already under way.

The Mayor has provided £50m for regeneration projects in town centres affected by the disturbances, with the Government providing £20m specifically for Tottenham and Croydon. A further £40m could be available as part of the Mayor’s ongoing Outer London Fund. This ‘capital funding’ is a one-off lump sum.

While welcoming the investment in physical regeneration, the Committee supports the Mayor’s view that long-term ‘revenue funding’ is also needed to pay for schemes that support local residents and address underlying problems like the high level of unemployment.

Other relevant work

On 1 November 2011 the Budget and Performance Committee discussed the issue with representatives of the Metropolitan Police Service, as did the Budget Monitoring Sub-Committee at its 18 October meeting 2011 with the Metropolitan Police Authority and the London Fire & Emergency Planning Authority.

On 14 September 2011.Assembly Members raised the topic with the Mayor and unanimously agreed a motion praising the bravery and dedication of the emergency services during the riots and and setting out steps to ensure London fully recovers from the impact of the disturbances.

The Budget and Performance Committee questioned Mayor's Chief of Staff, Sir Eddie Lister, on 14 September 2011 about the GLA's expenditure on recovery initiatives and other related programmes.

The issue was also discussed by the Assembly at a public meeting on 7 September 2011 and as part of its review of the London Ambulance Service, the Health and Public Services Committee has also written to the Service requesting information about any implications arising from the disturbances.