What do we need to do to
make London a fairer city?
An Open Space Event
On 9th November 2015
By the London Fairness Commission
At Museum of London
Delegate List
Abu Waheed Parvaz
Ade Sofola
Alasdair Blackwell
Aminur Rashid
Andre-Omari John
Annette Zera
Anthony Jaimongal
Barbara Zeitler
Betsy Dillner
Brayan Rua
Chris Hurwitz
Claire Helman
Deborah Forster
Deirdre McGrath
Despina Tsiakalou
Deyon Thomas
Ernest Kwabena Wereko
Farah Aslam
Helen W Williamson
Hugh Partridge
Jack Madden
Jackie Rosenberg
James Scott
Jamie Wright
Janice Norris
Jasber Singh
John Carruthers
Joliu Philo
Julie Pal
Karen Amsden
Katherine Wilkinson
Kiara Smith
Lewis Eastland
Lin Corbell BEM
Linnet Butesi
Lisa Greensill
Liz Meek
Lizzy Willmington
Louise Barnell
Margarethe Theseira
Marufa Chowdhury
Matt Scott
Megan Jarvie
Mhairi McGhee
A New Direction
Children England
London Fairness Commissioner
A New Direction
A New Direction
Open Space Facilitator
Three Dr Johnson's Buildings
Generation Rent
A New Direction
Aston Mansfield
Blenheim CPD
LVSC
Every Voice
A New Direction
Kazuri Properties
Movement for Change
Paddington Development Trust
London Fairness Commission
Movement for Change
City Lit
Community Links
Community Barnet
Brighton and Hove Fairness Commission
Advice 4 Renters
A New Direction
A New Direction
A New Direction
LVSC
Centre for London and London Fairness Commissioner
London Fairness Commission
A New Direction
London Fairness Commission
Asian People's Disability Alliance
LVSC
Child Poverty Action Group
Haringey Women's Forums
Mosheen Miah
Munira Thobani
Nadia Mahmood
Rebecca Legister-Anderson
Reece Grant
Revell Dixon
Rita Grootendorst
Ruth Eghagha
Sean Baine
Sebastian Hurwitz
Shahira Ahmed
Sheikh Foqrul Islam
Sietske Van der Ploeg
Simon Zhao
Stephen Hope
Sumi Ejiri
Summer-Pearl Foster-Duhaney
Tasmyn Wint
Tom Nimmo
Valerie Amajoutt
Lord Victor Adebowale
Vince Braithwaite
Violet Afezat Alimi
A New Direction
OMP
A New Direction
A New Direction
A New Direction
A New Direction
A New Direction
Equality Trust and London Fairness Commissioner
A New Direction
A New Direction
Mayors Fund for London
A New Direction
A New Direction
A New Direction
A New Direction
Turning Point and London Fairness Commissioner
Public Media
A New Direction
Introduction
London is one of the world’s greatest
cities. It has become a byword for
dynamism, diversity and creativity. All the
signs are that London will continue to
attract business, people and money from
around the world. But a dark cloud of
unfairness hangs over London’s future.
Only half of London’s residents currently
believe they live in a fair city. Younger
Londoners, the self-employed, disabled
people and many ethnic minorities are
more likely to think London is unfair.
These groups make up a growing share of
the city’s population.
The London Fairness Commission was established to organise conversations across the
capital in response to this situation, asking Londoners to consider:
-
What is fairness?
Is London fair?
What should be done to make London a fairer city?
This is the first citywide debate on fairness since Charles Booth mapped levels of
poverty and wealth in London over one hundred years ago. We are supported by Trust
for London, Tudor Trust, City Bridge Trust and London Funders.
The London Fairness Commission wants to make the issues raised through this debate
central to the coming Mayoral election. However, the Commission is not just about
engaging politicians. We want an inclusive conversation with the widest possible range
of Londoners from all walks of life, all parts of the city, and all sectors of the economy.
To this end we are organising a series of Open Space events with groups from across
London, hearing the voice of civil society, older Londoners, ethnic minorities, and
younger Londoners.
This report outlines the results of the first of these events with civil society, held in
partnership with the London Voluntary Services Council and supported by the Museum
of London.
Thank you to all who took part, your ideas and enthusiasm for building a fairer city are
invaluable to the work of the London Fairness Commission.
Lord Victor Adebowale
Chair of the London Fairness Commission
Open Space
What do we need to do to make London a fairer city?
Prompted by this question, the meeting used the Open Space process to
create an agenda for the day. Topics were discussed in groups and ideas
and recommendations noted. These notes appear in the following pages
with our apologies for any errors in transcription!
At the end of the meeting delegates prioritised the different ideas and the
numbers in brackets below reflect their votes. We have picked out the
recommendations that received more than five votes and listed them
below:







How can you increase networks in areas that you are interested
in? Job Centres need to focus on building a career rather than just
a job. (11)
Cheaper rents and more affordable housing based on income. (8)
Philanthropic giving and sharing on expertise. Thinking harder
about what we expect them to give. (7)
o Increase flow of funds and improve relationships of
corporate givers. Ensure more sustainable giving and
deeper commitment.
o Smarter use of community assets and financial literacy. Set
up a community land trust using City expertise.
Pay cap for rich, no more than 10 times the lowest paid person in
the company. So you can pay the top person high wages but this
will increase the lowest paid person. (7)
Build more homes – social rents. (6)
Give young people a chance to speak about what they want
regardless of background (regarding employment)? (6)
Legislate for a proper land tax as council tax is inadequate.
Property is the last great untaxed asset and has seriously skewed
market and rents. (5)
DAY session
How do we make the wealth of the City of London and financial services work
for all Londoners?







Philanthropic giving and sharing on expertise. Thinking harder about what
we expect them to give. (7)
o Increase flow of funds and improve relationships of corporate givers.
Ensure more sustainable giving and deeper commitment.
o Smarter use of community assets and financial literacy. Set up a
community land trust using City expertise.
Tax avoidance/evasion:
o Ensure greater compliance with tax laws. Review mechanisms that
enable ‘tax efficiency’ to ensure revenues flow to areas of need. (4)
Review flow of financial services funds to Mayoral candidates – support an
upper limit of 20% of total company funds. (3)
Via bonus tax: tobin tax on financial transactions and Libor related fines
create a ‘Peoples Wealth Fund’ which distributes money to poorest areas
and sharing expertise. (1)
Restrict property development and gap between top salaries and the rest.
Limit public officials and elected politicians revolving doors regarding jobs
to and from the city.
Change the debate: courses on economics. Change/reform the City of
London Corporation – open it out.
How do we help protect tenants?







Independent body to protect tenants from bad practice (4)
o Enforces law
o Fund tenant justice
o Educate tenants
o Educate landlords
o Campaign on issues
o Support for tenants
Landlord registration and regulation
o Annual fee/tax to rent which goes to funding enforcement (4)
‘Rate your Landlord’ scheme or app.
o Promote good and warn of bad.
May prevent ‘Buy to Let’ (1)
Reduce rents to be affordable for key workers – Will help travel costs etc
(1)
Bring house prices down
Landlords will be ‘shamed’ into improving and maintaining their
properties
How can we grow a London economy that builds fairness and not inequality?




Developing an index that measures health, well being, access to
opportunities, wealth and prosperity income equality (distribution), living
wage, MIS (citizens income). (4)
Measurement across indices of income – how far do people commute?
Practice tools for young people – Jobs Growth Wales – incentivise
employers supporting local economies similar to Living Wage.
Competition – high aspiration is great but can lead to young people and
adults under high pressure to compete (London is a global city) with high
levels of stress. Slavery.
How do we develop communities with regeneration schemes without them
feeling alienated?







Bottom-up ‘real community development’. It’s about a community model
that works. (4)
Social value in procurement is defined in terms of employment
opportunities for local communities. (2)
Accountability between the community in question and the decision
makers (1)
In work progression – making first jobs a stepping stone. Support to
understand and realise options. (1)
Building a business case for responsible employment and tackling
inequalities e.g. Starbucks loans for private renter (especially parents).
Taking a job in London can be high risk. We need to help minimise the risk
and manage the risk personally e.g. taster sessions for different jobs.
Employers closing people out of jobs – guidance needed for employers
e.g. where advertised, described in simple English.
What will make London feel fairer to BAME people? How do we tackle racism
and other forms of discrimination to create a fair city?




















Strengthening the Equalities Act and protecting the Human Rights Act. (3)
How many reports have there been? Why are leaders not acting? Who is
challenging this? Look at number of reports published and hold enquiries
and government committees to account. (1)
Tackle culture of racism in London. (1)
Greater solidarity and unity amongst groups. (1)
Access to justice e.g. legal aid. (1)
There should be localised race equality schemes
There should be good ethnic monitoring in institutions. What’s being done
with statistics?
Revive positive action policies. Better representation at all levels.
Learning from other countries and cities in the world, e.g. New
York/India/South Africa (Constitution)
Leaders of institutions to be held to account for racism (not shifting the
blame to institution e.g. stop and search).
Focus on differences in groups, measures to ensure there is a progression
Equalities Assessment on legislation and Judicial Review.
Looking at systems that create unfairness. Inequality in jobs increased.
Institutions run by white people for white people.
Need to tackle structural unfairness
o Stop and search
o Right to safety
Not all about economics; need to tackle culture of racism and structural
racism. Police can make life better for people but until racism is
addressed we will have the same problems – economics alone will not fix
it.
Stereotyping and discrimination against Muslim community is a real
problem. We have taken the eye off the ball of race in/equality.
Equality Act needs strengthening and Human Rights Act needs
protecting. Stronger legislation and enactment of current legislation.
BAME inequality in employment, schools and housing.
Education is a hotbed of racism. Good leadership is needed, real focus on
equality and success of all people.
Not essentialising BME Groups – not all defined as ‘other in the same way.
Those who are closest identified to supporting ‘white men’ the more they
are able to get on. They are regarded differently in some way. Move from
divide and rule to more UNITY among BME.






Different groups have different levels of cultural power which keeps
groups and communities divided.
We are not focused on challenging white privilege, but more on identity
politics and not anti-racism politics.
A lot of people in London don’t find British Foreign Policies fair, for
example, Modi being invited – Britain propping up regimes that treat their
minorities in abominable ways.
London has its racist disposition which it has not shifted. White people
benefiting from diversity all the time. Multiculturalism is not working as
racism is rising. Narratives that BME communities are very much part of
Britain/London are needed.
Segregation in employment and housing in London. We need to
understand this in London. Communities live separate lives – reframe to
succession. Patterns are that the closer you are to supporting whiteness
the more incorporated/assimilated you can be. So we want assimilation?
Sign of success in leaving community rather than building up your
communities.
So many reports produced but no change – where is the political will to
implement report recommendations?
How can we better engage employers in addressing youth unemployment?



Build a stronger business case for inclusive recruitment and progression
policies so that young people from different backgrounds have more
equal access. (1)
Build a coalition of leading employers that can drive change across
London. LLW, good recruitment practice. (1)
Actively involve employers in designing apprenticeships, in-school careers
guidance, paid work placements.
How can we welcome migrants, refugees and asylum seeker?





Some of the worst outcomes are faced disproportionately by women. We
need gender focused and targeted approaches such as ring fence funding
for women’s shelters and services. We should use the Equalities Act re
disproportionality. (2)
We need clarity over terms.
Sanctuary schemes run by councils and volunteer sector linked to access
to housing, ESOL etc. funded by the windfall tax on financial services and
/ or fines via LIBOR.
‘Big lunch’ idea – welcoming events which are funded by the windfall tax
on financial services and / or fines via LIBOR.
We need to change the narrative and challenge negative stereotypes,
perhaps through press regulation and hold politicians to account for
misrepresenting and selectively using facts and statistics.
How can we ensure that even the poorest can afford to live in London?













Local Authorities – what are they doing to renegotiate redevelopment? (4)
London Local Authorities to pay London living wage to local and central
government. (2)
Local Authorities to be held to account for regeneration levels – are they
delivering on targets? (2)
Next mayor to be committed to tackling poverty. (2)
Mix economy of housing levels to be set at a national level and locals to
be delivered through housing needs assessments. (1)
Holistic picture in order to bring top and lower levers of incomes together.
Why does poverty matter, at what point is it intolerable?
Addressing the question of how rich should the rich be?
Low-income/mid-income (zero hours) to have access to housing in inner
London.
Discussion with middle class and poorer groups together to discuss why
inequality is a problem.
More policy to support Londoners to live where they do currently.
Local Authorities to do more to support those affected by the benefit
caps.
More funding for voluntary and community groups. Local developers to
contribute towards VCS.
Cuts to benefits – making housing etc more unaffordable.
Evening Session
Give everyone an opportunity no matter what background. (1)



Quotas – have a set amount of people from different backgrounds who
should be selected for specific jobs. (4)
Have a conference to see where everyone is coming from, so the topics
are out there and they can address it. (2)
Train people in positions where there is no diversity of people there. (1)
Does diversity mean equity, in terms of gender, ethnicity, financial background
and educational opportunities? (1)




Who gets to create the choices that are offered? Create more ‘open space’
dialogues through Local Authority and Local Council meetings in order to
offer opportunity for communities to make their own choices. (1)
What is the difference between diversity and co-opted diversity in
statistics?
Create evidence based policies using new and existing evidence and
reports, rather than selective evidence.
Encourage community leaders to network for solidarity between
communities rather than enclaves.
A fairer education for London’s children.



Extra educational funding for poor children i.e. pupil premium and advice
on how to best to use it. (2)
Twinning private prep schools with inner-city primary state schools. (2)
Extended school day to support families and poorer children. (1)
Awareness of cultural sensitivities.


Give young people a chance to speak about what they want regardless of
background (regarding employment)? (6)
Should more training be offered to professionals (regarding cultural
issues)? (1)
Can we afford the rich?



Tax evasion and avoidance (2)
o Tax capital
o Bring back higher inheritance tax
Positive industry policy, including regional development. (1)
Raise London living wage. Use the GLA powers and work with local
authorities. (1)
Removing the class system from London.



People should be judged entirely based on their skills and knowledge. (4)
Role reversal: people need to be more vocal about inequality. For
example, in Tudor England classism, as we know it today, was the
ultimate ruler. It went the King, closely followed by the church, then other
royalty and right at the bottom was everybody else. Nowadays the same
exists, though the players are different. The concept is the same but it is
more hush hush. Changing the class system, removing it, is essentially
overhauling a culture.
It is not about fairness for the sake of fairness. We need to get to a point
where anything is possible for anybody, providing they are right for
whatever it is they want. The class system in a highly advanced biometric
force field, allowing only certain people through.
Flexible contracts, zero hour contracts and in-work poverty.



Strengthen the rights of casual labour and avoid the practice of being ‘on
call’ for work. (2)
Employ more health and safety inspections.
How does the state react to this casualisation of the job market? We need
a balance.
Increasing living wage and a pay cap for the rich.










Pay cap for rich, no more than 10 times the lowest paid person in the
company. So you can pay the top person high wages but this will increase
the lowest paid person. (7)
Tax the rich more and create a more progressive tax system. Tax growth
in wealth too. (4)
More rights for temporary workers, especially young people who are temp
workers. (2)
Shaming companies who don’t pay well and fining them as well. Also
praise companies who pay well (1)
Follow John Lewis; everyone should be a partner. (1)
London living wage needs to be higher than the rest of the UK. Match pay
to living wage. Needs to be equal to all ages.
Increase wages in UK generally – low in comparison to the rest of Europe.
More people to join unions.
Transparent pay structure so we know what everyone is earning to allow
for more openness and less corruption.
Raise awareness of equality, in pay as well.
Excessive public transport costs. How can they be made fairer? (2)



Employers to subsidise their employees transport costs. (2)
Re-thinking London zones and fare structure, in particular with regards to
people commuting from suburbs. (1)
Business exceeding certain turn over and having a certain number of
employees to contribute to percentage to transport costs (TFL).
Tax capital, not just income, properly – including property.





Legislate for a proper land tax as council tax is inadequate. Property is the
last great untaxed asset and has seriously skewed market and rents. (5)
Government should not be frightened to tax big corporations properly, as
this erodes tax base, needed for investment which we and they rely on.
Review tax relief for debt (not equity), which funds our care home sector
for the elderly, for example.
Make the acquisition of UK property harder for non-resident people
merely investing. Change the tax system to counter transfer-pricing
manipulation.
Deal effectively with City of London as a tax haven and the head of the tax
haven network. Also deal with lobbying by the City of London with
government.
Bloated (financial) services industry. No protection for small businesses is
destroying core jobs and industry out of London.
Planning rules that really listen to local people, not developers.




Better engagement of local residence around section 106/CI Levvy to
improve local areas, social enterprises, SME’s etc. (2)
More transparency on decision making process. No more deals behind
closed doors. This requires legislation. (1)
Better engagement with local people to plan out crime.
Protecting communities in their own places; no more social engineering.
How to get young people into ‘good (continual learning, interesting friendly)
jobs’?






How can you increase networks in areas that you are interested in? Job
Centres need to focus on building a career rather than just a job. (11)
Feedback from applications process. At least let you know it you have got
the job or not. (1)
Sandwich courses, apprenticeships and internships to gain experience.
Offer lunch and travel costs as minimum.
Shorter sandwich courses (6 months not 12 months) at university.
Job researching skills and interview skills.
Engagement with employers, especially international companies.
How can we achieve more proper affordable, decent, secure and properly
managed rented homes to meet the needs of all?










Cheaper rents and more affordable housing based on income. (8)
Build more homes – social rents. (6)
More tenancy rights (4)
o Longer leases
o More security.
Tax land. (2)
Public land to stay in public hands permanently. (1)
Accountability for those who own and manage properties through
licensing. (1)
Tax empty property (1)
Encourage an honest debate on social housing and its costs etc. (1)
Research and implement rent caps/stabilisation.
Make private landlords rent to people on benefits.
How do we make London feel safer by increasing reporting on hate crime?




Educating primary school children about hate crime
Working with families to feel more confident about reporting hate crime.
Make hate crime reporting more anonymous.
Establish support groups for young people and their families to empower
them to know what to do?
Are there equal opportunities in London for all financial backgrounds, across
boroughs and for all ethnicities?




Public versus state school education
Networking, cronyism and nepotism.
Money is power
Turn the pyramided class system upside down!
Create a permanent voice for communities through the media so that local
issues can be resolved by everyone being engaged.


Encourage communities to take ownership of the LFC report and
recommendations so as to monitor its progress with the Mayor’s office.
With the help of LVSC to work with community groups to maintain a
website taking over its operation from existing LFC website. (2)
Create a media pack to encourage community radio and other media to
carry on the conversation about fairness in their communities. (1)
Concluding Remarks
The meeting was concluded with comments from the group:
Today has been an interesting way of framing the discussions, in terms of
framing our own questions. There have been some really great discussions and
recommendations.
The particular focus of youth unemployment and how businesses need to work
in other ways to solve these issues has been really important.
How do we get public and political support for these ideas?
Access to jobs for young people in local communities needs to be a priority.
It has been really useful to have some space to think of London as a whole – we
often think in silos. Through today we have been creating a positive approach to
what kind of London we want.
I work at a local level so today has been really great to allow me to take some of
this discussion to tack back to my council.
I really value the energy of today. It is good to talk to like minded people, I am
energised from today.
We need to look beyond the economics and look at cultural aspects – unfairness
runs deep in London.
It has been a great space; to be here to be part of making a change. This has
also been a great networking opportunity to meet lots of like minded people
and a chance to work together. We are not here to be run – we want to run it!
We as a group of people can present a great challenge.
Often it appears that things can’t be changed so it is great to be here in a space
that has made clear direct objectives to make changes.
I am looking forward to work out how I take this back to where I work and
implement it. It has been really useful
Really great forum, key points made.
Just to be part of this group is incredible and the amount of recommendations
that have come out of this group in a short space of time is great.
Important the Human Rights Act was remembered. Freedom, equality and
fairness need to be protected and rescued. I would like to see a lot of action
come out of the report because that is what is going to make a difference.
It is really important to get the energy back – really refreshing.
I’ve been struck by conversations today that recognise structural and systematic
unfairness is being felt by the people in the discussions today. It shows how
systematic and institutional our approach needs to be. It needs a massive turn
around, which is what I am taking out of today.
I have come up from Brighton today from our Fairness Commission. I have
learnt a lot from today that I can take back to our process and work.
How do we change the overall narrative about London? What are our pegs on to
which we change the narratives. Housing is a key peg, the living wage,
excessive pay.
Every single one of these ideas will be read and considered.
I think that the young people in the room today contributed a lot and we are in
safe hands with these young people.
If we want to change the way we tackle fairness in London it has to come from
the very top. The whole culture needs to be overhauled. People should be able
to get wherever they want to be. If we allow people to get up in the world then
we will have a fairer world.
This is my first time doing this kind of meeting and this is a wonderful process
and great to hear and meet so many new people.
The issues of employment and whether BAME communities are getting the
opportunities they should be getting. When I was younger we thought the
world would have changed by the 21st century. It is soul destroying to still be
hearing the same issues. We need to get everyone involved to make change. To
progress these issues beyond just the production of a report we need to get
everyone involved. If it is going to have life and mean something we need to
take this further together. It is down to us.
These past few years I have felt really despondent about the screaming
inequalities in London. After tonight I feel a little less despondent.
I’ve been very surprised to how this has turned out. Not once have I nodded off.
This has been really worth coming to.
I really hope some of these point made today get implemented soon.
I am a fan of this type of dialogue and communication, of convincing each other
of our ideas.
It is really good to hear and feel other Londoners are concerned about inequality
as well. Personal responsibility is so important to understand what we can do to
tackle unfairness.
Getting this across to the mayor is incredibly important. This is a dialogue – a
continued dialogue between LFC and Londoners.
It is great to see different ideas of fairness.
London is a city of young people, it should be for young people. It is hardest for
you and the unfairness in cyclical. Sometimes it is so obvious something has to
change that something will change. I think that time is here.
Thank you so much, it has been incredibly inspiring here this evening. It is so
important that you guys go out and continue these ideas in your lives and your
friends.