London Councils Annual Review 2009-10

The challenge facing London's local authorities to continue to improve and enhance services for their residents within the context of severely reduced public sector finances over the coming years is unavoidable; but one that we in London are well-placed to take on.

Our central aim is to help London local government in its work on behalf of Londoners. We shall be working to win the sort of deal for our member authorities that means they will be able to bring local public services together to deliver better outcomes at lower cost. We shall continue to deliver high quality services on behalf of all boroughs where it is more efficient and effective to do so. We shall work with all of London's boroughs to help drive improvement, innovation and efficiency across London's public services.

The past year saw a number of particular successes. We secured an additional £145 million for 17 London boroughs to fund vital primary school places, following a campaign demonstrating the pressures facing London local authorities in meeting a rising demand that was unacknowledged in government funding plans. We launched a renewal campaign to update the Freedom Passes of more than 1.2 million older and disabled Londoners to allow them to continue benefitting from free travel on London's buses, tubes and trains, paid for by the boroughs.

Capital Ambition's innovative and wide-ranging programme of improvement and efficiency work continued to pay significant dividends - delivering £59.5 million in savings already and on track for a further £68 million by the end of 2010/11. In the run-up to local and national elections in 2010, London Councils consulted widely with stakeholders and members across all political parties to develop our Manifesto for Londoners, setting out proposals for greater devolution that would lead to better services in the capital and give Londoners more say over issues affecting their everyday lives.

The manifesto builds on London Councils' pan-London work to deliver a strong set of asks for central government, and to make a powerful and unified case for greater freedoms and devolution to the level of elected government best placed to deliver improvements to our city, for those that live, work and visit here.