Yesterday Sadiq Khan released his manifesto for London, following the Liberal Democrats and Greens last week. Susan Hall has meanwhile released a “Plan for London”. Below is a summary in relation to young people.
Sadiq Khan – Labour Party
Sadiq Khan’s manifesto has 57 references to either young Londoners, young people, or youth in it. Young people feature heavily, but especially around his key themes of “Making London Fairer” and “Making London Safer”. You can find his manifesto here: https://sadiq.london/manifesto/foreword/
Investment in youth clubs and youth workers - “That’s why I commit to investing in more youth clubs and providing investment to fund 250,000 more positive opportunities for young Londoners. This will include access to quality mentoring, alongside investment in more youth workers with a particular focus on schools, pupil referral units, custody centres and major A&Es.”
Making universal free school meals permanent - “If elected, I will work with London’s boroughs and other partners to make the provision of universal free school meals permanent, ensuring no child in our state primary schools will go hungry.”
Tackling violence against women and girls, with focus on work in schools - “Build on our pioneering work to tackle misogyny with a renewed focus on schools, including a new initiative to develop a generation of young leaders who are empowered to stand up and speak out, instead of being bystanders.”
Youth services, activities, and sports for children during and outside term time - “I want to do more to support young Londoners and parents during the school holidays. So, I plan to build on this offer by investing in a new Holiday Hope policy which will provide youth services and activities during the school holidays. We will also work with partners to provide free access to sports facilities for children outside of term time.”
Creation of an Erasmus style system for young people - “I will work with international partners in the C40 cities network and businesses to explore the creation of a similar scheme, which would allow young people to study and undertake work experience overseas.
London Growth Plan, focused on young Londoners from low-income households – “So I will set a target of creating more than 150,000 good jobs by 2028. I’ll ensure that young Londoners, especially those from lower income households, are given the opportunities to secure these high-quality, well-paid jobs that will enable them to get on.”
Involving young people in community-led projects - “We know that the best way to reduce violence in the long term is to promote community involvement, and put local people, at the heart of designing community-led prevention projects.”
Susan Hall – Conservative Party
Susan Hall has not released a full manifesto, but has released a short “Plan for London”, it has two references to young people in it. Both are in relation to her policy to “Stop Sadiq Khan’s inappropriate tower blocks. Build family homes. You can read the plan here: https://www.susan.london/plan
“It is far too difficult for younger people to lay down roots in London. My plan will focus on beautiful, green, community-oriented places that are high density but not high rise, inspired by the Create Streets model.”
Rob Blackie – The Liberal Democrats
There are 4 references to youth or young people in Rob Blackie’s manifesto, which are found in Chapter 5: Economy and Culture. It can be found here: https://www.londonlibdems.org.uk/robblackie/our-manifesto
London Apprenticeships Hub – “Pilot a London Apprenticeships Hub to offer technical support to businesses to help unlock more apprenticeships and create a platform for young Londoners to find those opportunities for skills training and work.”
Extension of the Youth Mobility Scheme – “Campaign to secure visa-free travel for touring artists across Europe and an extension of the Youth Mobility Scheme to make it easier for young Londoners to work in the EU and vice versa.”
London Erasmus-style programme – “Pilot a London Erasmus-style programme for young people across the capital.”
London Wellbeing Strategy – “Introducing the Mayor’s first ever London Wellbeing Strategy. Working with borough councils to improve sex and relationship education in schools, including educating boys about respect, consent and healthy relationships…Continuing to provide free school meals for primary school children.”
Zoë Garbett – The Green Party
The Green Party manifesto has 80 references to youth, young people, young Londoners, or teenagers, the most of any released Manifesto, though this can reflect it being the longest manifesto of any released by some margin. It can be found here: https://london.greenparty.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2024/04/Full-Manifesto.pdf
Supported housing for young people – “Improve housing needs projections, so that councils make suitable provision for accessible and supported housing for young people who become adults with disabilities…Make sure young people under 25 facing homelessness have dedicated accommodation and support, with enough GLA funding set aside to help them.”
Reform on police interaction with young people – “Whilst practice improves, we will work with partners and educate young people about police practices, equipping them with the tools and skills needed to stay in control in police interactions…The excessive use of handcuffs is causing irrevocable damage to community relations and traumatising many young people. A Green Mayor will ensure National Police Chiefs’ Council guidance on handcuff usage is followed and that there is transparency with ‘good objective grounds’ for usage recorded and published.”
Provide trauma victim support – “Regular Police training and support will be expanded to make sure officers and victim support services refer trauma victims to the right support services as a continuation of their duty of care to victims. This could include young people that witness violent attacks being referred to counselling services.”
Expand the Young Londoners Fund – “A Green Mayor will expand the Young Londoners Fund further, including funding for neurodiverse friendly youth services where carers don’t have to supervise their children.”
Invest in youth workers – “A Green Mayor will invest in youth workers, ensuring they have opportunities to develop and progress their careers.”
Invest in the VRU – “We support the work of the Violence Reduction Unit (VRU) reducing the deep causes and adverse childhood experiences that underlie increases in violence, learning from examples in other cities. A Green Mayor will give the VRU more funding to carry out its work and recommend changes to policing.”
Opportunities to those starting out work – “Commit to ensuring flexible, secure, age-friendly job opportunities for older people returning to work or going into sudden retirement, as well as young people starting out, in collaboration with our Just Transition Commission, our Elders’ Champion and our Youth Assembly.”
Replacement of UK Shared Prosperity Fund – “When the UK Shared Prosperity Fund elapses in 2025, we will work with the London Youth Assembly and relevant organisations to develop effective new funding streams to address intersectional barriers faced by young people.”
Apprenticeship Levy reform – “We will lobby for reforms to the Apprenticeship Levy so businesses and youth organisations can provide more flexible opportunities to young people.”
Establish Deputy Mayor for Young People – “We will establish a Deputy Mayor for Young People to convene a forum with the London Youth Assembly, youth organisations and related community networks to develop a fair and effective strategy for statutory and voluntary youth service provision across all of London that can address intersectional inequalities, mental health support and equal access.”
Youth Assembly reform – “We will ensure young carers and young people in care are represented on the Youth Assembly…We will empower the Youth Assembly to hold the Mayor to account through a minimum of six Youth Assembly Mayor’s Question Time sessions every year…As with all our citizen participants, we will pay Youth Assembly Members a London Living Wage for their time to acknowledge the importance of their contributions.”
Undocumented young people – “We will work to regularise and confirm the residency status of all young people in London currently without documentation and, where necessary, help families with the cost of applications.”
Creative Autonomy Allowance – “We will introduce a Creative Autonomy Allowance to encourage more young people to start arts-related businesses and pursue careers in the arts.”