Developing key asks for the London Mayoral election candidates from
London’s voluntary and community sector
LVSC’s evidence suggests that London’s voluntary and community sector is
being disproportionately affected by local authority and other public funding
cuts, at a time when there is increasing demand for their services. The
recession and public spending cuts have had the greatest impact on the most
vulnerable, disadvantaged and marginalised Londoners, with a triple whammy
of reductions in their spending power, provision of specialist public services to
meet their needs and closure of the voluntary and community sector
organisations that support them. Our research suggests that it is preventative
services that are bearing the brunt of the cuts, resulting in short-term financial
gains for local authorities, but storing up long-term social and health problems
that will result in the need for higher spending across all government
departments in the future. The voluntary and community sector services under
particular pressure are advice and advocacy, children & young people and
health and care services.
To address these issues we therefore ask Mayoral election candidates to
support the following solutions.
Overall
Commit to championing and investing in early prevention services that
address issues before they develop further and save money for London in the
long-term.
Support for the voluntary and community sector
The Mayor of London should actively support and champion the voluntary and
community sector (VCS) in London by:
 Promoting and supporting community engagement through the sector
in developing Mayoral strategies, including community involvement
statements detailing how this was achieved in all Strategies and
promoting and supporting community development approaches to
address issues, so empowering and improving the health and wellbeing of the most disadvantaged Londoners. The Mayor should ensure
this engagement work is used to inform GLA intelligence and research
to ensure that any reported issues, particularly those affecting the most
disadvantaged Londoners, are assessed and addressed at the earliest
possible opportunity.
 Act as a neutral promoter and co-ordinator of funding into the voluntary
and community sector to ensure organisations retain their
independence and can remain accountable to the communities with
which they work.
 Commit the GLA to becoming a champion in spreading good practice
work across local authorities and an ‘exemplar’ of best commissioning
practice, conducting inclusive needs assessments, prioritising
according to need, developing a market of providers that includes small
and specialist VCS service providers and regularly monitoring and
evaluating the outcomes of these services, particularly for the most
disadvantaged Londoners.
Support for advice provision and poverty reduction
The Mayor of London should address the disproportionate impacts of current
Government policy on the income of the poorest Londoners by:
 Lobbying national Government to take account of the higher housing,
childcare and transport costs in London (a ‘London weighting’), when
implementing benefit and tax reforms.
 Introduce programmes that develop London as a ‘Financial Inclusion’
city where all its population have access to financial services and
products and have the skills to use and manage these as well as
through expanding the membership and remit of the London Debt
Strategy Group to better address issues across London drawing on
best practice and identifying and targeting resources to fill identified
gaps. Ensure adequate advice services for all Londoners so that their
problems are addressed at the earliest opportunity through a London
Advice Strategy Group that draws on the learning and successes of the
London Debt Strategy Group.
 Recognise the role of the voluntary and community sector in the
economic development of London in the Economic Development
Strategy, through a place on the Board of the London Local Enterprise
Partnership and through analysis of the long-term financial savings the
social and environmental work of the sector brings.
Children and Young People’s services
The Mayor of London should address the high levels of child poverty and
youth unemployment in London by:
 Recognising the disenfranchisement many young people across
London feel by supporting and developing programmes that address
this through targeted support for the poorest, intergenerational work
and lobbying for greater social responsibility in the City.
 Lobbying national Government to work to reduce the appallingly high
levels of child poverty in the capital through excluding child benefit from
the benefit cap and from assessments of working tax credit entitlement
or through a ‘London weighting’.
 Developing and supporting programmes that help parents to access
affordable childcare in London, and projects that actively engage the
poorest and most marginalised children and young people.
Improving health and reducing health inequalities
The Mayor has a statutory duty to improve the health of Londoners and
reduce health inequalities across the capital. They should fulfil this by
commiting to:
 Actively support and implement the London Living Wage, healthy
minimum income and maximum pay ratios across the GLA group and
all its contracted providers, champion these issues with employers
across all sectors, and lobby for their uptake by national government.
 Promote and support advocacy services that ensure that the most
disadvantaged communities can access health and care services

appropriate to their needs and can exercise an informed choice in the
face of huge reforms to health and care services.
Involve the voluntary and community sector in the work of the London
Health Improvement Board, providing a place on the Board for
accountable voluntary and community sector representation and
advocating for the sector’s involvement in local Health & Well-Being
Boards.