Question No: 2024/4268
Question (Thomas Turrell AM): 19th December 2024
The London Assembly’s Environment Committee’s report ‘Water and London’s Rivers’ from March 2024 included recommendations that the Mayor 'should significantly scale up funding and installation of sustainable drainage systems (SuDS), and scale up the resources available for local boroughs and other landowners to increase their own SuDS installation'. Have you increased funding for SuDS?
Answer (Sadiq Khan): 23rd December 2024
Current delivery of SuDS and nature based solutions is absolutely critical to adapt London to climate risks and protect the most vulnerable. Funding for SuDS is often difficult to access due to its distributed and small scale which is fragmented across a wide range of public sector funding streams and grants. DEFRA provides capital funds called the Flood Defence Grant in Aid (FDGiA), in addition there is local levy and competitive grant funding administered by the Environment Agency. Private sector and third sector funding is limited. Through my next year's budget I will be investing early £3.5m in delivering climate resilience and greening measures across the city.
My Deputy Mayor for London is a member of the London Surface Water Strategic Group, which established as a result of the Roundtables I led after the 2021 flooding. This has identified the need for scaled regionalised funding to support the resourcing and funding challenges and reduce the resource intensiveness of applying for money for small scale SuDS. The final London Surface Water Strategy will set out the recommendations and actions to identify and leverage funding sources to ensure more funding is directed to support scaled-up delivery of SuDS in London.
Question No: 2024/4269
Question (Thomas Turrell AM): 19th December 2024
The Water and London’s Rivers report recommended that you should 'double the target in [your] Transport Strategy to 100,000 square meters a year of roads draining into sustainable drainage systems (SuDS) per year. Transport for London (TfL) should also double its targets for SuDS installation to deliver 10,000 square metres of roads draining into SuDS per year'. What conversations and actions have you undertaken with TfL to achieve this?
Answer (Sadiq Khan): 23rd December 2024
London’s first Surface Water Strategy, which will be published early in 2025, will be a major factor in setting the ambition for strategic SuDS delivery across London. TfL are a key partner for the GLA in developing this Strategy, and have contributed to funding opportunity modelling, which will provide the evidence base for determining the scale of SuDS need and the most beneficial locations to install them. Numerous actions to improve flood risk management and emergency response have been delivered since the London Surface Water Strategic group was formed. The London Resilience Partnership have reviewed and updated the Strategic Flood Response Framework and Surface Water & Natural Hazards Framework and the Strategic Group have published an interim report which sets out the principles that the full strategy will follow. More detail can be found here. The work of the London Surface Water Strategic Group, SuDS Marketplace development and alignment with borough schemes will all help improve delivery across London.
Question No: 2024/4270
Question (Thomas Turrell AM): 19th December 2024
The Water and London's Rivers Report recommended that the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs should work with the London Surface Water Strategic Group to 'establish a need-based fund to enable boroughs to access simple and long-term funding for sustainable drainage systems (SuDS), while significantly increasing funding available for SuDS installation'. What conversations have you had with the Strategic Group to support them in this endeavour?
Answer (Sadiq Khan): 23rd December 2024
I am committed to cleaning our waterways and this mean tackling surface water flooding – a matter I have raised with the Secretary of State for Environment. My officers have met with DEFRA officials to highlight the work on the London Surface Water Strategy in October and the ambitions set out in the Interim report of the London Surface Water group published in July. My Deputy Mayor meets regularly with the chair of the Strategic group to offer support and my officers continue to support the group and its working groups taking forward actions such as unlocking funding.
Question No: 2024/4271
Question (Thomas Turrell AM): 19th December 2024
The Water and London's Rivers Report recommended that the Mayor should 'consider how to use his wider planning powers to ensure councils develop riverside strategies and landowners take appropriate action to construct and manage higher walls.' What considerations and action have you taken to support councils building higher walls, and have you considered any changes to planning policy to support this recommendation?
Answer (Sadiq Khan): 23rd December 2024
I was elected last summer on a manifesto that promised Londoners I will develop a plan for cleaning our waterways. Delivering this plan will include thinking how we manage our rivers. My London Plan already requires development Plans and proposals to contribute to the delivery of measures set out in the Thames Estuary 2100 (TE2100) Plan. As a partner to the TE2100, I hosted the launch of the updated plan in 2023 at city hall. My officers are engaging with the Environment Agency to work out actions needed to achieve the outcomes and benefits detailed in the TE2100 Plan. This includes commissioning work to establish how we will maintain and improve defences on GLA-owned land and sharing best practice to support other landowners to do the same. Officers are also supporting the Thames Estuary Partnership in their efforts to update and deliver the Joint Thames Strategy, superseding the need for individual borough Riverside Strategies, ensuring tidal flood risk needs are met, whilst achieving wider benefits for people, nature and the economy. As we develop the next London Plan, we will consider necessary updates to existing policies to align with the updated TE2100 Plan.
Question No: 2024/4272
Question (Thomas Turrell AM): 19th December 2024
The Water and London's Rivers Report recommended that the Mayor should 'continue to support the London Surface Water Strategic Group to encourage a joined-up approach across London.' What action have you taken this year to support this group?
Answer (Sadiq Khan): 23rd December 2024
The GLA have been a key founding member of the surface water group since the Mayor called the flooding roundtable in 2021 to drive forward more coordinated action on surface water flooding. Please see Mayor’s Question 2024/4269
Question No: 2024/4273
Question (Thomas Turrell AM): 19th December 2024
The Water and London's Rivers Report recommended 'the Mayor should work with the Port of London Authority (PLA) to carry out and publish a status report on existing river-based energy projects by the end of 2024. This should include an assessment of potential barriers and opportunities for further renewable energy generation projects on the Thames'. Will this be published before the end of 2024 and if not, have you engaged with the Port of London Authority to gather the status of all rivers projects on the Thames?
Answer
Officers are drafting a response. Answer pending.
Question No: 2024/4274
Question (Thomas Turrell AM): 19th December 2024
The Water and London's Rivers Report recommended the Mayor and Port of London Authority 'should set out clear and ambitious targets for expanding the proportion of craft using zero emission and renewable fuel sources on the section of the river from the O2 to Teddington, with targets for 2030, 2035 and 2040’. Have you engaged with the Port of London Authority (PLA) to set out a clear target for crafts using zero emissions and renewable fuel sources between Teddington and the O2 for the above dates? If not why not, and when will this be done by?
Answer (Sadiq Khan): 23rd December 2024
I was elected this year on a manifesto that promised Londoners I would develop a plan to clean our waterways. While I do not hold any formal powers to control emissions from vessels on the river, my officers are engaging with the PLA on how they can be part of this plan, reducing pollution from river traffice. I am supportive of the PLA net zero river plan (2024-2027) which pushes for faster decarbonisation of river-based emission routes, primarily from vessel movements.
Whilst I do not hold the necessary powers to enforce zero-emission waterways, I am working with the regulators and vessel operators through the Thames and London Waterways Forum to improve river services and reduce emissions. The Thames and London Waterways Forum includes representatives from GLA, TfL and PLA. This forum last met in December 2023.
I am also leading by example with the new Woolwich ferries, which are among the cleanest vessels regularly working on the Thames, and through my Air Quality Fund, which I have used to support the Clean Air Thames project and the Healthy Waterways project.
Question No: 2024/4275
Question (Thomas Turrell AM): 19th December 2024
The Water and London's Rivers Report recommended the Mayor 'should set out the major environmental achievements of the Thames and London Waterways Forum over the last five years, and his key priorities for the forum in 2024-25. The GLA should also swiftly publish meeting notes of the Thames and London Waterways Forum since 2018, as well as a schedule of its future meetings'. Have you set out the achievements of the London Waterways Forum, the priorities for 2024-25 and the notes from the meetings with the Forum? If not, when will this be done by?
Answer (Sadiq Khan): 23rd December 2024
My officers are working with the Port of London Authority (PLA) on priorities for the Thames and London Waterways Forum going forward. Future meeting dates will be shared once these have been arranged, along with the relevant minutes after the meetings. The last meeting was held in December 2023, however no minutes were taken for this meeting.
