News

Calling local businesses: help shape skills training

On 12 November we hosted a Skills and Employment Summit to champion the integration of skills and workforce development across our sub-region.

Across the sub-region great progress has been made to join up employers’ needs and local skills provision, but the dialogue must continue. We are looking for businesses and employers to shape our new Local Skills Improvement Plan (LSIP) to ensure that skills and training provision continues to meet local businesses’ needs.

Have your say in our survey (closing date: 30 January 2026).

We are really keen to gather feedback from a wide range of businesses from micro to large please share this survey with your networks.

Have your say in our survey

Forogh Rahmani, Director of Local London, said: “Boosting skills and employment is at the heart of our new Vision for Growth.

Since researching and publishing our current Local Skills Improvement Plan we have made great strides towards aligning skills and training with real-world needs of local businesses. Across the sub-region there is far greater collaboration than there was, and the Local London Skills Providers Network is a brilliant example of this.

The workplace is changing at pace, and our LSIP must keep up. That’s why we’re asking employers from across the sub-region to contribute their views and guide our work to ensure it reflects their priorities.”

QR Code for Have Your Say - Local London's LSIP Annex

Watch our video to find out more about skills and employment in the sub-region and how you can shape future training.

Get involved and fill vacancies

Our Connect to Work and Trailblazers programmes, funded by government, present opportunities for businesses and health sector colleagues to play an active role in helping local people find and stay in work.

For more information, contact llconnecttowork@redbridge.gov.uk

More ways to get involved – supporting young people

Our Careers Hub team work with over 218 mainstream and specialist schools in our sub-region. From offering work experience, to sharing your experiences with young people as a volunteer ‘Enterprise Advisor’ or taking part in careers fairs, you can play crucial role in inspiring and broadening the horizons of young people.

For more information, contact: careershub.east@redbridge.gov.uk

More support for employers

Our Work Connections website has a growing library of resources to help employers find and recruit talent, become more inclusive employers and much more. Visit workconnections.london

Our thanks to the brilliant speakers in our film:

  • Forogh Rahmani - Director, Local London.
  • Mark Hilton - Policy Delivery Director, BusinessLDN.
  • Phillip Doyle - Senior Policy Manager, Local London.
  • Matt Robinson - CEO, GetZero.
  • Asfa Sohail - Deputy CEO and Group Principal, LSEC and Co-Chair of the Local London Skills Providers Network.
  • Cathy Duncan - LSIP Engagement Officer, Local London.

📌 Discover more about our Local Skills Improvement Plan (LSIP): local.london/lsip

If you would like to be part of shaping the future of skills complete our LSIP survey.

Interested in finding out more? Please contact us, we'd love to hear from you.

News

East London boroughs identify 15 transport investments to support London and UK growth strategies

Last week Local London published its Vision for Growth across its nine member boroughs, setting out ambitions to create a place where all can live well, succeed and thrive.

Researched and written by leading independent think tank, Centre for London, the Vision highlights how unlocking growth in the Local London sub-region will play a key role in meeting the UK’s prosperity ambitions.

The Vision provides a blueprint for growth, supporting the London Growth Plan and the UK government’s national industrial strategy and growth ambitions. It also highlights how chronic under-investment in infrastructure is limiting growth.

While the Growth Plan for London identified three key investment priorities - Stratford upgrade, DLR extension and the Bakerloo Line extension - Local London’s own research, produced by GC Insight*, goes further and identifies 15 priorities for investment.

The GC Insight report, which outlines the socio-economic benefits that each of these projects could catalyse, is already informing Local London’s advocacy and drive for investment, part of discussions at the sub-region’s first Investment Forum on 18 November 2025.

These transport infrastructure investments are key to:

  • Ensuring London’s growth is sustainable by, for example, utilising alternative routes such as the river.
  • Attracting businesses to our boroughs and enabling businesses to access the skills and workforce that they need to grow.
  • Improving the experience of millions journeys in and out of the sub-region, helping residents access good jobs, education/training, services and social activities.
  • Unlocking housing and investment in local services and economies.
  • Responding to the needs of South East England and local freeports, in particular, to accommodate huge expected growth in freight.
Train coming into Stratford Station, Newham
Stratford Station, Newham

Mayor Fiaz, Chair of Local London’s Growth Board and Mayor of Newham, said “For a number of years, investment in transport has not matched growth in our boroughs. This is holding up building much-needed housing and amenity, adversely affecting access to jobs and health services, and leading to high levels of car usage, which is negatively affecting air quality.

These issues affect us all, but the impacts are most especially felt by our in-need communities. Stalling transport investment is not an option.

With this appraisal of the sub-regional opportunities and challenges ahead, we will fortify our case for urgent transport investment to achieve the potential of this part of the capital.”

A spokesperson for GC Insight said “Our research shows that growth in east London—both north and south of the river—is being constrained by a lack of investment in transport infrastructure. Unlocking these projects will deliver far-reaching benefits, from boosting housing supply and improving air quality to creating jobs and enhancing quality of life.”

* GC Insight formerly operating as ekosgen

Read our transport report

📌 Discover more about our Vision for Growth: local.london/vision

If you would like to be part of delivering our Vision get in touch.

We have appointed Eksogen, part of GC Insight, to analyse the impact of investing in transport in our nine-borough sub-region.

Boroughs in the Local London sub-region have experienced significant demographic change and population growth, out-stripping national and London averages. However, investment in transport infrastructure in the eastern part of London has not kept pace with this growth.

As well as being the fastest growing part of London, the sub-region has significant areas of deprivation, with poor public transport links and a high reliance upon cars. Low levels of investment in transport infrastructure have led to house building rates less than half that of the rest of London in some boroughs. Improving key transport links and public transport is vital for connecting residents to employment and education opportunities, as well as generating sustainable growth.

Acting on behalf of its member boroughs, Local London is advocating for accelerated investment into key transport infrastructure in the sub-region, calling for inclusivity and sustainability to be part of transport decisions and arguing for rail planning and delivery decision to be made for London by London.

To support this, Eksogen, one of the UK’s leading independent economic and social research consultancies, will use existing research to quantify the benefits that can be unlocked through the priority investments identified in the Local London Transport Policy Position.

Ekosgen’s findings will present the sub-region’s long-term transport needs and the impact of delivering the critical infrastructure on the lives and people in this part of London.

This analysis will take into account current and future population changes, transport habits, anticipated expansions of international ports and business to be generated through the Thames Freeport and how this will impact transport requirements into and through London. Alongside this, Ekosgen will analyse a number of key sub-regional transport infrastructure projects that will be vital to catalysing housing and employment opportunities for residents. These include:

Cllr Baroness O’Neill of Bexley OBE, Chairman of Local London and Leader of London Borough of Bexley said “As the fastest growing part of London, we need investment in transport infrastructure to ensure residents can access work, education and leisure activities easily. Ekosgen’s research will quantify the economic growth, housing and job supply benefits of investing in transport, and identify projected transport needs of this fast-growing part of London. This is about ensuring inclusive and sustainable growth across our boroughs now and in the future.”

Margaret Collins of Ekosgen said “We are delighted to be working with Local London on this commission. This is an important piece of work which will help to drive economic growth across this sub-region. The work builds on recent studies carried out across the country to help secure investment in places, and our local track record in this part of London.”

Find out more about Ekosgen gcinsight.co.uk/about/ekosgen

Find out more about Local London local.london