The project examined:

London is a cosmopolitan city with a long history of in and out-migration. Patterns of population and demography have a direct impact on public service planning. This report sought to inform this planning process.

A review of relevant literature was carried out. The main research findings were based on documents provided by the seven case study boroughs, and interviews with key staff in local government from each borough.

The past decade has seen a marked increase in London’s population mobility. Despite this, there is little quantitative research on the subject. Few boroughs have looked specifically at the impact of mobility on public service provision, although some were able to point to services whose provision had clearly been affected by changes in population such as translation services, housing, council tax registration costs and social services for children.

Social cohesion was found to be an issue of concern to the participating boroughs, although diversity was often seen in a positive light. The local government Revenue Support Grant (RSG) is not designed to take population mobility into account, and local government funding generally is too centralised to take account of local variation.

The report concluded that, in many situations, mobile populations impose few additional costs on service providers and integrate readily into communities, but equally many types of mobile population impact significantly or negatively. It is recommended that the London boroughs take heed of the need for measurement and appropriate funding systems if they are not to run into difficulties in future years.

London Councils (formerly the Association of London Government)
Phone: +44 20 7934 9999
info@londoncouncils.gov.uk

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01/02/2007

Tony Travers, Rebecca Tunstall, Christine Whitehead and Segolene Pruvot, London School of Economics and Political Science

research

Urban Policy > Social inclusion & integration

Integration of social groups