Agenda item

Housing

Deputy James Thomson asked a question of the Chairman of the Policy and Resources Committee seeking an update in respect of the City Corporation’s commitment to help ease the housing shortage in London.

In reply, the Chairman advised that plans were in place to build 700 new homes on the City’s existing housing estates, with a further 3000 planned on land belonging to the City Corporation. He expressed confidence that the target would be achieved by the 2025 deadline and thanked the Chairman of the Community and Children’s Services Committee for that Committee’s hard work in respect of the 700 homes being built on the City’s estates.

In response to a supplementary question from Patrick Streeter concerning the availability of a specific site for development, the Chairman reminded Honourable Members of the response which had been provided at a previous meeting and reiterated the position.

Ludgate Circus

Emma Edhem asked a question of the Chairman of the Planning and Transportation Committee concerning traffic flow at Ludgate Circus.

The Chairman reassured Members that officers were pressing Transport for London to undertake stricter enforcement with regard to the yellow box at the junction and agreed to update the Member once further information was received from TfL. Similarly the potential to re-phase traffic lights was also currently being explored with TfL; however, he was advised that it was unfortunately not possible for a right-turn from Upper Thames Street on to Southwark Bridge to be permitted as one possible option to alleviate traffic, due to a combination of safety concerns and the likely impact on congestion across the wider network.

The Chairman added that a report exploring potential options for tackling traffic congestion across the City would also be coming forward to the November Policy and Resources and Planning and Transportation Committee meetings.

Use of mobile phones by motorists

Deputy Robert Merrett asked a question of the Chairman of the Police Committee concerning enforcement activity associated with the use of mobile phones while driving.

Responding, the Chairman outlined the significant enforcement activity to date and confirmed that road safety, including the illegal use of mobile phones by motorists, remained a Force priority. He noted that the City of London Police was one of only ten Forces across the country which had achieved an increase in the level of enforcement activity over the past three years, adding that enforcement activity had already been recorded against 656 offenders in the year to date, a figure which highlighted the seriousness with which the Force was taking this issue. In addition, only one collision had been recorded in the City in this three year period where the use of a mobile phone had been identified as a contributory factor. 

He also stressed the importance of education and changing societal attitudes towards such dangerous driving, drawing parallels with the successful drink driving campaigns of previous years, in effecting long-term change. As part of this, the Force would be aiming to increase the range of educational schemes that they could refer offenders to, as well as continuing to deliver targeted educational campaigns to improve road user behaviour, supporting both their and the City Corporation’s aim to reduce the number of accidents and injuries on the City’s roads.