The Future of London: 2030 and beyond

London’s health, further education and skills systems are fragmented, complex and unlikely to deliver optimal outcomes unless more power is devolved to the city’s Mayor.

This is according to London 2030 and beyond – a report from the King’s Commission on London, launched this morning at City Hall with Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan.

The report includes newly commissioned research, by Cambridge Econometrics and SQW, into London’s economic future.

Set up in 2016 by the Policy Institute at King’s, the Commission – co‐chaired by Lord Andrew Adonis, former Cabinet Minister and Transport Secretary, and Professor Tony Travers Director of LSE London – makes the following recommendations:

• The Mayor and boroughs should establish a London‐wide strategic body for the NHS and social care in the capital with the power to manage clinical networks and joint planning of services.
• Reintroduce deprivation funding to improve primary healthcare in deprived areas.
• Continue with full and unconstrained devolution of the Adult Education Budget to London in 2019/20.
• Allow a proportion of any unspent apprenticeship levy funds to be allocated to the Mayor and boroughs to supplement skills funding in the capital.
• Establish an Apprenticeship Levy Council, chaired by the Mayor, with members from the boroughs, businesses and colleges, to advise companies on how to spend their levy.

The analysis highlights four possible scenarios, developed by Cambridge Econometrics and SQW, for the city’s economy in 2030, dependent on two factors: the effects of Brexit on the capital and the approach of the UK government towards London:

1. “Paris on Thames” – National government is very supportive and provides substantial funding, but London becomes more like Paris, ceasing to be especially international and open.
2. “1970s London” – The capital’s economy returns to the state it was in around 50 years ago: far more domestic than international, with government reluctant to provide the resources the city needs to prosper.
3. “Modern Rome” – In contrast to “Paris on Thames”, London, like Rome today, remains substantially open and international but is severely deprived by national government of the resources it needs.
4. “Super city” – London continues to be both internationally open and a leading global city, with most of the resources it needs to thrive.

The Commission advocates that, for London to achieve its greatest potential – for the wider UK as well as the city itself – through to 2030 and beyond, it needs policymakers, both in national and London government, to aim to be an international super city.

For the full report, please see here.

For the full press release, please see here.