London Councils responds to the panel looking into the cause of the August riots

Overview

When the riots began in August, London’s councils were faced with an unprecedented challenge.  Their responses, individually and collectively, demonstrated both an organisational agility and a determination to respond in the right way to highly unpredictable events.  Working alongside police, local communities and businesses, clean-up operations were carried out swiftly and effectively within hours of the disturbances ending. This was followed by a concerted effort to begin recovering from the disorder both within boroughs and across the capital to support the many residents who had been affected, as well as local businesses faced with financial uncertainty and a substantial loss of trade.

The much bigger question facing London local government is how it might ensure that disturbances on this scale don’t happen again.  The role of councils extends far beyond a timely and well-executed response to disruptive events.   Boroughs are there to shape their communities, actively addressing a wide span of challenges across society, by early intervention with families, through work to challenge gangs, rehabilitate offenders and develop policies that sustain their local economy and build communities.

London Councils develops policy and lobbies on behalf of 33 London boroughs.  There are a wide range of services provided by the London boroughs which we consider to be effective at tackling the issues that undermine social resilience which the panel is considering.   We wanted to focus on three areas we feel are important to draw to your attention.  These are  

• Early intervention and  prevention initiatives
• Dealing with those at a high risk of offending or re-offending
• Ensuring a healthy local economy and environment

In order to answer one of the key points the panel has raised, namely how public services engaged with communities before, during and after the riots, we have also set out in this paper the immediate response to the riots, and the recovery work which has been underway since they happened.

Please download the full report - available from this page