Posts by Kumail Jaffer, Local Democracy Reporter
Hackney has run out of space to bury its dead
Three London boroughs have no burial space left, and City Hall has been warned the shortage will spread across the capital within 15 years unless the London mayor intervenes
Read More‘Walking the walk’: London mayor hails PM’s plan to hand cities a share of income tax
Andy Burnham’s imminent announcement on devolving more fiscal powers to London and other cities should “encourage” Londoners, Sir Sadiq Khan has said.
Read MoreLondon mayor launches £1.8bn river clean-up plan at West Reservoir
Sadiq Khan blames ‘decades of neglect’ by water firms as Thames Water commits £1.7bn — and singles out Hackney for praise on opening up its “blue spaces”
Read More‘Be more French’: Sir Sadiq urged to cut speed limits during ozone alerts
The London Assembly’s Green group leader wants City Hall to copy Paris, where speed limits drop by 20km/h when ground-level ozone spikes
Read More‘A work of fiction’: Draft London Plan slashes housing ambition as critics round on Sadiq Khan
City Hall pitches for 558,000 new homes by 2037 — well short of the 850,000 set by ministers — as deputy mayor Jules Pipe insists lower figure is the only ‘deliverable’ number
Read MoreFormer Hackney councillor ‘debanked’ by HSBC after Ukraine trip
Andrew Boff, once a Queensbridge councillor and now chair of the London Assembly, says First Direct closed his account of 30 years over a £36 card payment in Kyiv
Read MoreSadiq Khan misses affordable homes target — even after it was cut
Only a tenth of affordable homes completed since 2015 were social rent, as the London mayor misses his downgraded delivery target by thousands of homes
Read MoreHackney bus drivers among 1,900 balloted for strike as London Assembly backs Bill of Rights
Clapton and Stamford Hill depots are among 10 facing strike ballots over ‘unbearable’ heat, as City Hall unites behind a dozen new protections for drivers
Read MoreHackney leads London on street cycle storage — but City Hall told private bike spaces in new flats sit mostly empty
As Sadiq Khan faces calls to loosen cycle parking rules for new developments, research shows three-quarters of spaces lie unused across the capital — even as Hackney residents wait for on-street hangars
Read MoreHackney among boroughs warning climate change could cost London £15bn a year by 2050
Worsening heatwaves, floods and drought will hit unless government acts, warns a partnership of 12 central boroughs including Hackney
Read MoreSadiq Khan backs Andy Burnham on devolution but warns him not to freeze out London
Andy Burnham ‘gets it’ when it comes to devolving power to mayors and ensuring London’s success will benefit the whole UK, Sir Sadiq has said
Read MoreLondon Mayor admits developers must use ‘every tool’ as calls grow for air conditioning in new homes
The Mayor of London may be leaning towards removing guidance in the new London Plan that effectively blocks air conditioning from being installed in new-build homes, after declining to rule out a change
Read MoreMore than one million homes in London need retrofitting due to increasing temperatures
The city’s properties are particularly vulnerable to heat due to the urban heat island (UHI) effect, a phenomenon where higher temperatures are experienced in built-up areas due to the heat-absorptive properties of buildings and roads.
Read MoreLondon Councils vows to continue funding Freedom Pass after pressure from campaigners
Concerns were initially raised after a meeting in which discussions took place to restrict the free travel to buses only
Read MoreCity Hall vows to drive down EV costs for Londoners as TfL unveils first of 25 major charging hubs at stations
But only once the zero-emission machines become widely adopted
Read MoreSadiq Khan rejects New York-style air conditioning rules
Big Apple bosses banned stores from leaving doors open with air con running back in 2015
Read MoreLondon to miss 2030 Net Zero target, Mayor admits as he calls for more ‘energy devolution’
Green party leader brands City Hall’s climate policies ‘siloed’ and disjointed
Read MoreCity Hall to cut 80 jobs in £6.6m ‘efficiency’ drive
Fury as axes falls but no cuts Mayor’s office
Read MoreRegeneration drives sharp fall in East London’s deprived neighbourhoods
Since 2010, the figure has fallen from 23 to 16 per cent in London, according to new research
Read MoreCity Hall scraps Met Police deal with Palantir
City Hall has blocked a £50 million contract over a “clear and serious breach” of procurement rules
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