Category: Press Releases

• Mayor’s programmes have delivered more than 1,000 longer-term homes for Londoners sleeping rough, 18 months ahead of April 2024 target 
• Mayor announces milestone on a visit to a No Second Night Out (NSNO) service, which provides support and temporary accommodation before supporting people off the streets 
• Sadiq launches his annual winter rough sleeping campaign, warning that rising bills and housing costs are forcing growing numbers of people to sleep rough on London’s streets

 The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan today announced he has supported more than 1,000 Londoners sleeping rough into safe, warm, and supportive homes since he was re-elected Mayor last year, as he launched his annual winter rough sleeping fundraising campaign.

The Mayor has fulfilled his manifesto pledge to deliver more than 1,000 homes for Londoners sleeping rough 18 months ahead of his April 2024 target. This landmark achievement has been made possible thanks to the Mayor’s Move On Programme (MOP) and Rough Sleeping Accommodation Programme (RSAP), which provide capital and revenue funding to enable the delivery of homes with support to help Londoners sleeping rough towards housing independence. Across the two programmes, more than £120m of capital and £38m of revenue have been allocated to housing associations, local authorities, charities and other registered providers and support organisations, to support rough sleepers off the streets and into longer-term homes.

Examples of schemes funded by the RSAP include:

• A 32-unit modular housing scheme in Haringey providing on-site support to people sleeping rough or housed in emergency accommodation from the COVID-19 pandemic.
• A purchase and repair programme delivering 30 self-contained homes with support provided by the GLA commissioned tenancy sustainment teams.
• Repurposing of social rented homes to deliver supported accommodation for rough sleepers with multiple complex needs.
• A range of Housing First schemes delivering longer-term homes with accompanying support to help individuals sustain tenancies and live independently.

This achievement builds on the unprecedented support offered to Londoners sleeping rough by City Hall since Sadiq became Mayor. The Mayor’s rough sleeping budget has quadrupled since 2016, and more than 13,500 people have been helped off the street by City Hall services – a record number.

But Sadiq is warning that rising bills and housing costs are forcing growing numbers of people to sleep rough on London’s streets, with the latest quarterly figures from the Combined Homelessness and Information Network (CHAIN) showing the number of people sleeping rough in London has jumped 24 per cent in the past year, meaning more than 3,600 people slept on the capital’s streets between June and September.

Reports from those within the sector suggest this rise is in part due to cost of living pressures. The rate of consumer price inflation (CPI) hit 11.1 per cent in the 12 months to October 2022. The cost of renting has also risen dramatically – analysis from Hometrack suggests that annual London rental inflation had risen to almost 18 per cent by July. Households are also likely to face further financial challenges in the coming months from higher energy bills and borrowing costs.

The Mayor is repeating his call on Government to:

• Immediately freeze private sector rents – saving the average London renter nearly £3,000 over two years.
• Reinstate the social security safety net which prevents people from becoming homeless. This must include lifting the benefit cap, unfreezing Local Housing Allowance rates and suspending the habitual residence test, which can restrict access to benefits for European Economic Area (EEA) nationals with rights to live in the UK.
• Give local authorities the funding needed to meet their duties under the Homelessness Reduction Act and properly providing local support services which are vital to preventing and ending homelessness, such as drug and alcohol treatment.
• Deliver the promised reforms to the Private Rented Sector, including ending Section 21 evictions.
• Take measures to stop refugees and asylum seekers being pushed into homelessness. This includes extending the move-on period for newly recognised refugees from 28 days to 56 days, in line with local authorities’ duties under the Homelessness Reduction Act.
• Suspend the No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF) condition, which puts many people with NRPF status at serious risk of destitution and homelessness.

Sadiq today also launched his annual winter rough sleeping fundraising campaign during a visit to a No Second Night Out assessment accommodation service in Lambeth which provides people with their own room whilst they receive specialist support, including housing advice, and health and immigration support. The hotel was initially used as part of Everyone In – the initiative to ensure that rough sleepers at risk of Covid-19 were safely accommodated during the pandemic, which was pioneered in London. It was one of 16 City Hall-procured hotels that supported over 1,700 people.

City Hall is working with charity partner TAP London to raise money for four charities that work with young homeless Londoners: akt, Centrepoint, Depaul UK, and New Horizon Youth Centre.

Londoners can donate to the campaign in a number of ways, including at one of the TAP points or using this link. There are 35 TAP points across London, including at Waterloo, Victoria, London Bridge and Liverpool Street stations.

Londoners can also use the StreetLink app or website to connect people they see sleeping rough with local support services.

What your donation could provide:

• £5 could cover the cost of sanitary products for a young person fleeing domestic abuse.
• £20 could help a young person to stay connected to friends and family with a smartphone.
• £50 could cover one night’s accommodation at an LGBTQ+ friendly hostel, plus food and travel vouchers.
• £100 could cover the cost of counselling for up to 10 young people experiencing homelessness.

• £500 could pay for two street outreach sessions per week, to locate and support young people who are sleeping rough.

Sadiq’s winter rough sleeping campaign has raised more than £600,000 since 2017.

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “I’m pleased that City Hall’s programmes have taken over 13,500 rough sleepers off London streets, with over three quarters moving on to longer term accommodation under our ‘In for Good’ policies. It’s wonderful that more than 1,000 people have permanent safe, warm homes as we work to build a fairer London for everyone. But extraordinary financial pressures are threatening to reverse the progress made since 2016 and particularly during the pandemic when more than 10,000 people were helped off the streets and into hotels by City Hall and London boroughs. The poorest Londoners are at growing risk of homelessness with the number of people sleeping rough already up by a fifth year on year, and we are increasingly seeing people ending up homeless as a result of this escalating cost of living crisis.

“I’m confident Londoners will once again show their generosity by backing my winter fundraising campaign and helping to support Londoners who find themselves homeless. But to end rough sleeping in our capital, particularly amid the cost of living crisis, the Government must intervene to prevent the circumstances that lead to people sleeping rough before thousands more are forced to face a winter on the streets.”

St Mungo’s Director of Rough Sleeping, Petra Salva OBE said: “Our teams are out in the streets of London 365 days of the year and see first had the damage and harm sleeping rough causes to people. The services we provide, many of which are funded by the Mayor’s office, offer a vital lifeline and direct help to get people off the streets as quickly as possible. It is testament to the hard work of our staff and volunteers – and colleagues in other homelessness organisations – that more than 1,000 people have been supported to exit rough sleeping in this way across London.

“We are acutely aware of the increased dangers people sleeping rough face, which will increase as the temperatures fall, and the cost of living crisis is likely to force more people onto the streets this winter. But, with our partners in local authorities and the GLA, our teams will continue to work tirelessly to make every night someone’s last on the streets.”

Phil Kerry, CEO, New Horizon Youth Centre: “Our numbers indicate that a busload of young Londoners become homeless every single day. Worryingly, at New Horizon we already see the situation for young people worsening due to the cost of living crisis, putting many at risk of harm and rough sleeping. We are therefore grateful for the Mayor’s support of our Youth Hub for young people sleeping rough and his winter fundraising campaign for youth homelessness charities in London. With many young people struggling to get support from their council, we share the Mayor’s call to Government for local authority funding to help us to prevent any person ending up on the streets in the first place.”  

Seyi Obakin, Chief Executive of Youth Homelessness, Centrepoint, said: “We are so grateful to the Mayor of London for his continued commitment to ending homelessness in London. Thanks to the generosity  of ordinary Londoners, TAP has raised tens of thousands of pounds for Centrepoint in the last year and, with increasing an number of young people facing homelessness and rising operating costs both in the city and across the country, that support is now more vital than ever. There will be over 4,000 young people facing homelessness in London this Christmas and this money will help provide some of them with a safe place to stay and the support they need to find a stable home and start work or education.”

Throughout his mayoralty, Sadiq has made addressing London’s homelessness crisis a personal priority. Pioneering services set up by the Mayor include his Rapid Response outreach team and his pan-London trigger for emergency accommodation when temperatures fall below freezing, as well as City Hall’s country-leading response to accommodating rough sleepers in the face of COVID-19.

Sadiq is doing all he can to offer support to Londoners and is spending more than £80m this year to help those struggling with the rising cost of living. That includes more than £50m to tackle fuel poverty through the Mayor’s Warmer Homes programme and energy advice services, more than £20m to improve security for private renters and house Londoners who are rough sleeping or homeless, more than £5m to connect Londoners with welfare advice, and £400,000 to tackle food insecurity.

• Mayor of London confirms the expansion of the Ultra Low Emission Zone to clean up London’s toxic air and tackle the climate emergency  
• Expansion means five million more Londoners will breathe cleaner air   
• Mayor is also announcing a new and improved £110m scrappage scheme, with a new public transport option to support Londoners going greener 
• New package to support more disabled Londoners than ever before, including an extended grace period to October 2027  
• Expanded ULEZ to be complemented by the biggest ever expansion of bus network in outer London   

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has today announced that he will expand the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) London-wide to tackle the triple threats of air pollution, the climate emergency and congestion, and to ensure five million more Londoners can breathe cleaner air. The expansion will come into effect on Tuesday 29 August 2023 and will operate across all London boroughs up to the existing Low Emission Zone boundary.

Toxic air pollution is a matter of life and death – with around 4,000 Londoners dying prematurely each year, children growing up with stunted lungs and a higher risk of dementia in older people. More than 500,000 Londoners live with asthma and are more vulnerable to the impacts of toxic air, with more than half of these people living in outer London boroughs.

The ULEZ has already been hugely successful in central and inner London, helping to reduce roadside pollution levels by 44 per cent in central London and 20 per cent in inner London.[1] The Mayor believes that all Londoners have the right to breathe clean air.

Sadiq is doing all he can to support Londoners through the cost-of-living crisis, which is why the expansion will be accompanied by a brand new £110m scrappage scheme to support Londoners on lower incomes, disabled Londoners, charities and small businesses and sole traders. The Mayor listened to feedback from these communities during the consultation process, including from disabled people and the organisations that represent them to create a scheme to best support them. Successful scrappage applicants will receive a grant to scrap or – for the first time – retrofit their vehicle for certain vans and minibuses. Successful car owners can opt to receive a smaller grant accompanied by up to two free annual bus and tram passes, which would give them a higher financial package.

The Mayor also announced new measures to support disabled people, including extending the existing exemption periods for London’s disabled drivers and community transport minibuses run by not-for-profit organisations to October 2027 and October 2025 respectively, and introducing new exemption periods for disabled drivers and wheelchair accessible vehicles. This will mean that over a quarter of a million disabled Londoners could be eligible for the new exemption periods, including those who automatically qualify for a Blue Badge. The Mayor is providing further support through scrapping the fee for drivers to sign up to Auto-Pay for the ULEZ and Congestion Charge.

To maximise the potential benefits of expanding the ULEZ and strengthen alternatives to private cars, the Mayor today also announced a plan for improving the bus network in outer London. Two new routes will be introduced in Sutton, with improved service to the new Cancer Hub at the Royal Marsden Hospital. In east London, new zero-emission cross-river services will be introduced, subject to consultation. This includes a new high-frequency, limited stop service between Grove Park and Canary Wharf, and an extension to route 129 (Lewisham – North Greenwich) north across the river to Great Eastern Quay via the Royal Docks.

New services and improvements, that will see over one million further kilometres added to the bus network, are also planned to support growth areas in a number of other outer London location. This is part of the biggest ever expansion of the bus network in outer London. Examples include:

• • Improved links between Harold Hill and Upminster in Havering

• New and improved services at Brent Cross in Barnet
• Improved services in Southall
• Bus improvements in the Harrow & Wealdstone area
• New routes to serve the Haringey Heartlands development at Wood Green
• Better bus links in Wanstead, including to and from Whipps Cross Hospital

Expanding the ULEZ London-wide will strike the best balance between maximising the health and environmental benefits for Londoners while minimising the cost to drivers. Toxic air caused by road traffic is still leading to thousands of deaths a year, and the greatest number of deaths attributable to air pollution are in London’s outer boroughs, which the ULEZ doesn’t currently cover.[2]

Expanding ULEZ London-wide will save 27,000 tonnes of CO2 in outer London, nearly double that which the central London ULEZ achieved in its first year of operation. Amongst other improvements, the expansion is forecast to make further progress to reduce air pollution, by reducing nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions from cars and vans in outer London by 10 and 7 percent respectively, and reducing PM2.5 car exhaust emissions in outer London by nearly 16 per cent, benefitting five million outer London residents.

Toxic air is also an issue of social justice with the poorest Londoners and Londoners from ethnic minority backgrounds least likely to own a car but also worst affected by toxic air. Only five per cent of the lowest income Londoners own a car yet they are around 10 per cent more likely to suffer from toxic air.

The ULEZ is a very targeted scheme to get the most polluting vehicles off the road.  Compliance within the current ULEZ area is now at 94 per cent, much higher than the 39 percent when ULEZ was first announced in 2017, and also higher than 85 per cent the month before previous expansion, and compliance in outer London is already around 85 per cent. This means that most drivers in outer London will not be impacted by the expansion London-wide.

The evaluation survey of the Mayor’s Car and Motorcycle Scrappage Scheme shows it reduced vehicle ownership, with survey respondents also reporting a decrease in car travel and an increase in walking, cycling and public transport use. The report on the Mayor’s Scrappage Scheme shows that in addition to those who used the funds to purchase a ULEZ compliant vehicle, others used the money for greener transport options such as public transport, bikes and e-bikes and car clubs.

In order to support those who would like to use the money from the scrappage scheme for cleaner transport options, in addition to supporting those who want to put the funds towards public transport, bikes and e-bikes and car clubs, the Mayor’s new scrappage scheme will also include the option to get up to two annual bus and tram passes, and TfL is working with businesses to agree a range of offers on sustainable transport.

The announcement follows a public consultation which ran between May and July 2022, in which 59 per cent of respondents agreed that more needed to be done to tackle toxic air. A representative YouGov poll commissioned by City Hall also revealed nearly twice as many Londoners believe the Mayor’s proposed expansion of the Ultra Low Emission Zone should go ahead than oppose it.

Sadiq announced plans for the expansion at Bonus Pastor School in Lewisham, an area with dangerously poor air quality, and spoke to students and stakeholders from across London about the dangers of toxic air and the importance of tackling it urgently.

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “The latest evidence shows that air pollution is making us sick from cradle to the grave.  Londoners are developing life-changing illnesses, such as cancer, lung disease, dementia and asthma. And it’s especially dangerous for children due to the long-lasting impact on their health and life chances, with kids in our city growing up with stunted lungs.

“The ULEZ so far has been transformational, reducing harmful pollution levels by almost a half in central London. But there is still far too much toxic air pollution permanently damaging the health of young Londoners and leading to thousands of early deaths every year, with the greatest number of deaths in the outer London boroughs. Expanding the ULEZ London-wide will mean five million more people will be able to breathe cleaner air and live healthier lives.

“The rising cost of living has been a key consideration for me. That’s why I’m announcing that we will be introducing our biggest scrappage scheme yet – £110m – to support Londoners on lower incomes, disabled Londoners, small businesses and charities to scrap or retrofit their non-compliant vehicles. All the money raised by ULEZ will be pumped back into funding local public transport and I’m pleased to announce today that we are planning the biggest ever expansion of the bus network in outer London.

“Expanding the ULEZ London-wide has not been an easy decision. The easy thing for me would have been to kick the can down the road. But in the end, public health comes before political expediency. We have too often seen measures delayed around the world to tackle air pollution and the climate crisis because it’s viewed as being too hard or politically inconvenient. But there’s no time to waste when people’s lives are on the line and we are facing a climate crisis.  As mayor, I’m not willing to turn a blind eye because it’s clear the cost of inaction – to our economy, to livelihoods, to the environment and the health of Londoners – would be a far too high a price to pay.  Expanding ULEZ is the right choice for our city and something that I know will help us to continue building a better, greener, fairer and healthier London for everyone.”

Alex Williams, TfL’s Chief Customer and Strategy Officer, said: ”Expanding the ULEZ is vital for public health in this city. We know that there are more deaths that are attributed to toxic air in the city’s outer boroughs and that bringing in these world leading standards over a larger area will see millions more breathing cleaner air. Our experience of these schemes shows that they work, with significant reductions in pollution since the first zone was introduced in 2019.

“As part of helping people to make the green transition, the Mayor has announced unparalleled support for people to scrap their older, more polluting vehicles. These groups include those that are essential to capital’s recovery, some of the most vulnerable in society and those that look after them. Following the consultation and taking on board the feedback from disabled people, we are extending the grace period for certain vehicles and widening the criteria for those who qualify. This could potentially benefit more than 280,000 people.

“The recent report that evaluated the Mayor’s previous scrappage scheme showed around a third of people choose not to purchase a new vehicle at all and 22 per cent no longer have access to a vehicle in their household. With this new package we will also be helping people to make more sustainable journeys with free annual bus and tram passes. This will be complemented by significant improvements to the outer London bus network, making public transport a more attractive alternative to the car.”

Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah, founder of the Ella Roberta Family Foundation and World Health Organization Advocate for Health and Clean Air, said: “When we had the inquest, we got the experts in Ella’s case to give some recommendations and all of them agreed ULEZ expansion was something that needed to be done to clean up the air in London.

“The Mayor, the government and councils are all aware of what the experts say about the dangers of air pollution, and expanding ULEZ London-wide will be a significant help in tackling this public health crisis. I commend the mayor for pushing this forward.
“Clean air should be a human right, and with Ella’s Law currently passing through the Lords, this is something I am fighting for every day. But the expanded ULEZ across London is a big step in the right direction.”

Michael R. Bloomberg, UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy on Climate Ambition and Solutions and Founder of Bloomberg LP and Bloomberg Philanthropies, said: “Reducing air pollution, improving public health, and fighting climate change all go hand in hand. Sadiq’s leadership is helping to clean London’s air and set an example for cities around the world. The faster cities make progress, the more lives we can save, and the better our chances of avoiding the worst effects of climate change.”

Jeremy Leach, chair of London Living Streets, said: “The decision to expand the ULEZ to cover the 33 boroughs is a huge win for the health of all Londoners. London has long been a pioneer in Britain in tackling the enormous damage that air pollution causes directly through premature deaths and indirectly through long-term physical and mental damage. This is especially true for pedestrians who, all too often, have been walking along congested and polluted streets and roads. From summer 2023, everyone living, working and walking in outer London will benefit from cleaner air as well as having better access to public transport from the improved bus services.”

Kevin Fenton, London Regional Director of Public Health, Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID), said: “Air pollution in London is the largest environmental health risk we are facing as a city, and one that affects the most vulnerable Londoners – including children – the most.  Bold action is needed from all of us.  Expanding the ULEZ will have significant health benefits for the city and prevent over 500,000 Londoners developing air pollution related diseases over 30 years.”

Mark Hayden, Consultant Intensivist at Great Ormond Street Hospital, said: “We see first-hand the impact poor air quality has on our patients who face challenges such as asthma, cardiovascular disease, cystic fibrosis, stroke, premature birth, and other lung conditions.

“That is why we are committed to finding, supporting and sharing creative solutions to tackle this health issue.

“The cleaner the air, the better the future looks for our patients, and London as a whole.”

Jane Burston, Chief Executive of Clean Air Fund said: “London is already at the forefront of national and global efforts to tackle air pollution, and the Mayor’s decision to expand the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) shows why. At the Clean Air Fund, we’re heartened by modelling which demonstrates that this policy will improve the air quality around 145 schools, improving health and saving lives. We applaud Mayor Khan’s continued commitment to make progress on air quality in the capital.”

Sarah Woolnough, CEO at Asthma + Lung UK, said: “The expansion of the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) is a huge win for everyone’s lungs. Asthma + Lung UK is delighted that the Mayor of London has listened to our campaigners. It is particularly significant for the 360,000* people with a lung condition in outer London who will now be included in the ULEZ. We hope this will lead to fewer premature deaths and fewer hospital admissions linked to air pollution.

“Breathing in toxic air not only puts people at risk of potentially life-threatening asthma attacks and dangerous COPD flare-ups, it can also lead to the development of lung conditions. We urge other polluted cities to follow in London’s footsteps by introducing ambitious Clean Air Zones to protect everyone right to breathe cleaner air.”

Oliver Lord, UK Head of the Clean Cities Campaign said: “This is a welcome next step in our fight for clean air in London and especially for people living on the most polluted roads. Anyone doubting this decision should take a long walk along the north and south circular and reason with the families living there why they don’t deserve cleaner air.

“The Mayor’s determination and the critical concessions he has tabled to help people comply in this cost of living crisis are to be commended. We’re still trapped in this dirty decade of diesel and I urge City Hall to give us greater clarity now on what’s needed next so that everyone has time to prepare.”

Gareth Thomas MP, Harrow West, said: “I welcome the Mayor’s decision today to expand the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) London-wide. This bold and decisive action will help to cut the toxic air pollution in Harrow, reduce congestion, and tackle the climate emergency. Outer London boroughs will now benefit from the proven impact ULEZ can have in reducing roadside air pollution. Expanding these world leading standards to the whole city will mean that millions more people will be able to breathe cleaner air and live healthier lives.”

Sir Ian Cheshire, Chair, We Mean Business Coalition; Chair, Channel 4; Chair, Spire Healthcare Group; Chair, Menhaden Capital, and non-executive director at BT, said: “I applaud the Mayor of London’s decision to expand his flagship air quality policy, the Ultra Low Emission Zone, which will mean five million more people breathing cleaner air. This is the kind of large-scale, decisive action we need to halve emissions this decade, and I have no doubt businesses in London and around the world will recognise the huge benefits that this policy will bring to communities and families across the capital.”

Anjali Raman-Middleton, Co-founder and Programmes Director of Choked Up, said: “We know that the ULEZ significantly reduces harmful air pollutants, including nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter, and is one of the most effective ways of combating filthy air. By expanding the ULEZ to encompass all of London millions of people will breathe cleaner air, preventing loss of life and long term illness. The ULEZ will help us all breathe easy and I fully support its expansion.”

Dr Doug Parr, Policy Director at Greenpeace UK said: “It’s a breath of fresh air to see that the ULEZ is being expanded. In 2019 alone, 4,000 Londoners died due to toxic air, which disproportionately affects deprived communities, people of colour and people in London’s outer boroughs. It’s absolutely right that the Mayor is reducing vehicle air pollution – it’s better for individuals, better for communities and better for the planet.

“We believe that cities across the UK and beyond should follow London’s example and bring in their own ultra low-emissions zones. The more cities that do, the better the quality of the urban environment and the fewer people that are forced to breathe in toxic air.”

• Cost of living crisis is hitting hard with eight per cent of Londoners occasionally going without food and six per cent regularly going without food over the last six months
• 86 per cent of Londoners who say they are experiencing financial hardship think they will struggle to afford their regular household shop in the next six months
• Mayor calls on Government to immediately increasing benefits and providing free school meals to all primary schoolchildren, as he visits London’s Community Kitchen in Harrow

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has today urged the Government to immediately increase benefits and provide free school meals to all primary schoolchildren to help Londoners through the winter, as the spiralling cost of living is leaving the most vulnerable at crisis point.

Sadiq is calling for Government to step forward and support struggling Londoners, following last week’s Autumn Statement which disproportionately impacted the least well-off and research which exposes the extent of the cost of living crisis.

Across the capital Londoners are struggling to afford food, pay bills and are unsure about how they will cope in the coming months. The latest research shows:

• Eight per cent of Londoners are occasionally going without food and six per cent are regularly going without food.
• 18 per cent of Londoners are financially struggling, with nearly one in three (32 per cent) just about managing.
• 86 per cent of Londoners who say they are experiencing financial hardship think they will struggle to meet payments for their regular household shop in the next six months.

Today, the Mayor visited London’s Community Kitchen in Harrow to see the incredible work that it is doing to feed thousands of families across the capital, providing cooking skills to young people and teaching children about sustainability and nutrition.

The kitchen – which was founded in 2014 and has expanded to help people in Brent, Barnet, Hounslow, Enfield and Harrow – works alongside councils and charities to use surplus food to provide food crates for families, host a sustainable café, a community garden and a teaching kitchen all promoting zero waste and zero hunger.

The Mayor is doing all he can to help Londoners cope during the cost of living crisis as part of his work to build a better London for everyone, which includes investing £3.46bn over the next four years into building the genuinely affordable homes Londoners need. He is spending more than £80m this year to help those struggling with the rising cost of living, including more than £50m to tackle fuel poverty through the Mayor’s Warmer Homes programme and energy advice services, more than £20m to improve security for private renters and house Londoners who are rough sleeping or homeless, more than £5m to connect Londoners with welfare advice, and £400,000 to tackle food insecurity. He is also spending £400m this year on skills and employment programmes to support Londoners to find more secure.

However, further action is needed from Government to support Londoners through the winter, and Sadiq continues to lobby Ministers to introduce the benefits increase immediately, to provide free school meals to all primary school children and introduce a ‘Lifeline Tariff’ to the most vulnerable to provide a minimum of domestic energy use before charges begin.

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “The spiralling cost of living is hitting Londoners very hard and without urgent action from the Government millions of people will be wondering how they will cope this winter.

“London’s Community Kitchen is doing incredible work to help thousands of families get by every single week but the level of demand it faces is a national disgrace and it only looks set to get worse in the coming months.

“I’m doing all I can to support Londoners and try to build a fairer and more prosperous city for all Londoners, but Government needs to step forward with action now and use the powers it has to ensure that the most vulnerable are helped this winter and not abandoned to deal with this crisis alone.”

Chef and London’s Community Kitchen patron Tom Kerridge said: “I will continue to call on the Government to help those who are struggling with the cost-of-living crisis. We should not be relying on food banks, and our children should not be going to school hungry, the Government need to act now.”

Taz Khan MBE, founder of London’s Community Kitchen, said: “We are seeing more and more Londoners struggling due to the cost of living, this is creating extreme levels of financial hardship to families across London. Food banks are not the answer and should not be left to pick up the pieces on the back of failed policies. One in four children today would have missed a meal, just let that sink in for a minute.”

Katherine Hill, Strategic Project Manager, 4in10 London’s Child Poverty Network, said: “As the cost-of-living crisis deepens and winter approaches the situation for many families on low incomes is becoming more serious by the day, as these figures show. While the recent announcement of increased benefit rates from next April is welcome, more help is needed for families who are struggling to pay their bills today. Free school meals for all children would be a significant step in the right direction towards ensuring that their basic right to food is met this winter.”