Shared micro-mobility rental firm Voi says it may be forced to withdraw its e-scooters from London’s streets as it has become “financially unsustainable” to operate them. The firm might roll out shared e-bikes instead.

In a letter requesting an urgent meeting with mayor Sadiq Khan, the company says e-scooters are too “heavily regulated” in London, and “cannot compete with largely unregulated rental e-bikes” provided by its competitors.

Voi CEO Fredrik Hjelm says in his letter that if the situation does not change, as well as considering removing its 1,700 scooters from London, the firm could alternatively be forced to invest in and deploy 20,000 of its own e-bikes across the capital.

Issues cited by the company include the “insufficient” number of parking spots for the scooters, and the fact that only nine out of London’s 33 local authorities have permitted the scooters to be used in their areas.

Rental e-scooters are currently being provided in towns and cities across the UK as a part of a trial launched by the Department for Transport (DfT), which has been ongoing since 2020. Privately-owned e-scooters remain illegal to use in public spaces.

In London, the trial is being overseen by Transport for London (TfL), with Lime and Voi as the two companies participating. A third operator, Dott, withdrew its scooters in March this year, saying — similarly to Voi — that “the rapid and unregulated rise of e-bikes has left the e-scooter service unable to compete”.

Dott said the failure to regulate them in the same way as e-scooters “made no sense” and was bad for business.

Voi removing its scooters from London would leave Lime as the capital’s sole e-scooter operator.

In his letter to the mayor, Hjelm says e-scooters and e-bikes are “crucial to reduce dependency on cars” and can also play “a major role in improving London’s air quality”.

But he says that of the more than 100 towns and cities Voi operates in across Europe, London is the “lowest performing” due to the uneven playing field on which e-scooters and e-bikes compete with one another.

Unlike e-scooters, e-bikes are not classed as “motor vehicles” under UK road traffic laws, meaning they are not part of any Government trial and enjoy relative freedom as a result.

Hjelm said Voi was struggling to compete against the “rapid rise of e-bikes”, which have “few restrictions or regulations about where they can be ridden or parked”.

The lack of parking spaces is a particular issue for the scooters in London, as Hjelm says the average walking time to reach one in the capital is six minutes.

Research suggests that if potential riders have to walk further than two or three minutes, they are far less likely to bother renting an e-scooter or e-bike and will instead use another mode of transport.

Hjelm also complained that in London, e-scooter speeds have been capped at 12.5mph, when the DfT has set a limit nationally of 15.5mph.

Similarly, the scooters are only able to be used by those 18 or older in London, while the DfT has said it has no issue with 16 or 17-year-olds using them, provided they hold a provisional or full driving licence.

The fact that two thirds of London’s local authorities do not currently allow the scooters to be used has also created a “patchwork operating area” which is “severely limiting where people can ride”, Hjelm added.

He told the mayor: “As things stand, it is financially unsustainable to continue operating in the city.

“If we are not able to work with TfL to improve the situation, we are faced with just two options: 1. We withdraw from the city, effectively signalling the failure and end of the TfL-led e-scooter scheme, and creating an effective monopoly for a single operator. 2. This summer, we invest in and deploy 20,000 e-bikes across London.

“I hope you can use your influence working alongside the Government after [the general election on] July 4 to improve the situation, and I would welcome the opportunity to discuss further and share experiences from Europe.”

A TfL spokesperson told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “The capital’s trial of rental e-scooters has been carefully designed to ensure the high safety and operating standards that London needs, which includes controlled parking in designated bays. This model doesn’t currently apply to dockless e-bikes in the same way, but discussions are ongoing with regards to long-term improvements to e-bike parking.

“Rental e-scooters in London operate as part of the national government trial, which allows boroughs to opt in or out of the scheme, and means that the mayor and TfL have no powers to roll out a pan-London scheme.

“In the absence of Government legislation, we are working with London Councils to better coordinate rental e-scooters, and dockless e-bikes, to ensure they are safer for all road users, and provide the best possible service for customers.”

Hjelm’s letter to the mayor comes after a report last week warned that e-bikes in the capital are themselves in need of a more consistent set of policies across different boroughs and operators.

The report — authored by the consultancy Steer and commissioned by Lime — said more dedicated parking bays should be provided for the bikes, along with a simplified set of rules over where they can be parked outside of those bays.

https://fitzrovianews.com/2024/06/05/hire-firm-voi-might-ditch-e-scooters-for-e-bikes-in-london/

#GreaterLondonAuthority #mayorOfLondon #microMobility #sharedEBikes #sharedEScooters #tfl #transport #TransportForLondon

The number of “no fault” evictions in London increased 52 percent in the last year — more than five times the rate seen in the rest of England and Wales, a City Hall analysis reveals.

Sadiq Khan said the data showed how the Government’s failure to ban the evictions — also known as section 21 notices — had been a “huge betrayal”.

Section 21 notices are used by landlords to evict tenants with two months’ notice and without any reason needing to be given, and are a significant factor in the increase in people becoming homeless and sleeping on the streets.

According to the latest Government data, there were 11,880 of these “no fault” eviction claims in London in the year to the end of March 2024, up 52 percent from 7,834 in the year to March 2023.

This rise compares to an increase of nine percent in the rest of England and Wales over the same period, City Hall said.

“The Government’s failure to pass the Renters (Reform) Bill before the dissolution of Parliament today is a huge betrayal of London’s 2.7mn private renters, who are left with the threat of eviction hanging over their heads,” said Mayor Khan.

“These latest stats from City Hall are shocking and the unacceptable delay to this vital bill will leave even more renters in the capital at unnecessary risk of housing insecurity and homelessness.

“I’m doing all I can to build a better, fairer London for everyone by supporting tenants, but I cannot act alone. Renters’ rights must be a national priority and ‘no fault’ evictions banned for good.”

The Conservatives pledged to deliver the ban in their 2019 manifesto, with Housing Secretary Michael Gove promising as recently as February this year that the ban would be in place before the next election.

The Renters (Reform) Bill, intended to deliver the ban, was first introduced in the House of Commons in May last year. But its progress was delayed by several Tory MPs who wanted to strengthen protections for landlords, who they feared would sell up.

Following Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s announcement of a July 4 election, it emerged that the necessary legislation would not be passed during the “wash up” period before Parliament was dissolved.

Deputy PM Oliver Dowden told the Local Democracy Reporting Service last week: “As happens at the end of the Parliament, when you announce a general election, there are large amounts of legislation on the books. We’ve only got two days to conclude it all.”

He added: “It just hasn’t been possible to get this legislation through in the ‘wash up’ period.”

He said the Government had a strong record on housing overall, with 2.5mn new homes built nationally since 2010.

In total, more than 30,000 renting households in London have faced a “no fault” eviction claim since 2019.

https://fitzrovianews.com/2024/05/30/no-fault-evictions-increased-by-52-percent-in-london-in-the-year-to-march-2024/

#GreaterLondonAuthority #homelessness #housing #RentersReformBill #roughSleeping #SadiqKhan #Section21

Sadiq Khan has admitted that the number of robberies in London is “too high”, as he launched a new Robbery Reduction Partnership to tackle the issue.

The partnership, which held its first meeting on Monday, brings together the Metropolitan Police, the Safer Business Network and the mayor’s Violence Reduction Unit, among other groups.

Data published by the Office for National Statistics shows that robbery in London has risen 57 percent since Khan took office in 2016.

While 21,604 offences were recorded in the capital in the period from April 2015 to March 2016, the figure stood at 33,951 over the 12 months of 2023.

The increase across the whole of England and Wales between the same two periods was slightly higher however, at 59 percent.

Khan, who on Tuesday joined police officers on a patrol through Covent Garden, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service he wanted to be “tough” on the “complex causes of crime” but also on crime itself.

“That means not just revitalised neighbourhood teams [of police officers]… but also speaking to and listening to those who have got skin in the game,” he said.

“That means businesses, that means CPS [Crown Prosecution Service], youth offending teams, Transport for London, councils, City of London Police, and many others to see what we can do working together to reduce robbery.

“Robbery is too high — it’s going up across the country, it’s gone up in London. We know a large number of these robberies are of mobile phones, [stolen by] snatching. We saw last year real progress made in relation to those luxury watches [being stolen].

“So this [work] is aiming to do two things — one is to make people feel safer, and secondly it’s making sure people are safer.”

The Met said in January that two recent operations in and around Westminster had led to marked decreases in watch robberies.

The two operations — carried out in late 2022 and 2023 across South Kensington, Chelsea, Soho and Mayfair — saw undercover officers deployed as potential targets wearing expensive watch brands. Criminals who tried robbing the watches in the street were then apprehended by other undercover officers nearby.

In a speech in March, Khan said the rising cost of living had helped to fuel a rise in certain forms of “acquisitive” crime, like shoplifting, burglary and theft.

In October last year, the mayor and Met commissioner Sir Mark Rowley convened a meeting with world-leading mobile phone companies to ask them to commit to “designing out” mobile phone robbery.

Khan argued that it should be possible to reduce the incentive for stealing phones by improving the devices’ security measures — making them harder to unlock and sell on.

https://fitzrovianews.com/2024/05/23/sadiq-khan-admits-crime-is-too-high-as-he-sets-out-robbery-reduction-plan/

#crime #crimePrevention #GreaterLondonAuthority #mayorOfLondon #MetropolitanPolice #police

Rough sleeping in London is up by a third compared with last year, according to the latest data released by the Greater London Authority.

New statistics covering January to March of this year show that 4,118 people spent at least one night sleeping rough in the capital, a 33 percent rise from the 3,107 people recorded in the same period of 2023.

Those sleeping rough for the first time accounted for 49 percent of the total recorded, comprising 2,038 people — 37 percent higher than the same period last year.

However, 74 percent of new rough sleepers spent just one night on the streets.

In Westminster the total number of people recorded by outreach workers was 850 — 168 more than during the same period in 2023.

Camden saw a significant increase with a total of 341 people contacted by outreach workers — 135 more than the previous year.

Nick Redmore, director of homeless services at the Salvation Army charity, said: “The numbers of people sleeping rough is increasing year on year and won’t decline without urgent Government intervention.

“People often end up sleeping rough because of abuse, trauma, addiction, or poor mental health. To end rough sleeping, it’s crucial to invest in services that help people tackle the root causes that forced them onto the streets in the first place. However, funding for these support services has been repeatedly cut and cannot meet the rising demand.

“The Salvation Army helps people who are sleeping rough every day. We do this in various ways including providing emergency temporary accommodation to keep people safe and warm and opening our doors for hot meals, drop-in support, and signposting to appropriate services.

“Unless immediate Government action is taken, we fear the number of people sleeping rough on the streets will continue to increase.”

The latest data, published by London’s Combined Homelessness and Information Network (CHAIN), shows that only 44 percent of the capital’s rough sleepers are UK nationals.

Citizens of Romania make up the second-largest cohort (nine percent), followed by Eritrea (six percent), Poland (five percent) and Sudan (five percent). The percentages exclude the nine percent of rough sleepers whose nationalities were not identified.

Earlier this month, London’s Labour mayor Sadiq Khan vowed if he is re-elected to “eliminate” rough sleeping in the capital by 2030, though he said it would not be possible to meet this promise without Labour in power nationally too.

He said: “The causes of rough sleeping we can’t deal with without a change of Government. We know the causes of rough sleeping. One out of four people sleeping rough was formerly a tenant in private [rented] accommodation – that’s why ‘no fault’ evictions have got to go.

“We also know some of the welfare benefits changes made by the Government have been a source for those sleeping rough. That’s got to go as well.”

Asked about rough sleeping and its causes last week, Tory mayoral candidate Susan Hall said: “There is no simple answer to homelessness.

“Mental health issues sometimes cause it, sometimes family breakdowns cause it, we’ve got veterans very sadly on the streets.

“There are so many different reasons for homelessness, but the answer is we’ve got to build more homes, more properties, that people can live in.”

The Salvation Army said that in the short term, a change is needed to homelessness legislation in England so that all rough sleepers are added to the “priority need list” for emergency and then longer-term housing but, in the longer term, the priority need list should be abolished so everyone who is homeless can be helped.

The charity said it also wants to see a commitment to a sustained investment and increase in housing stock and especially social housing across the UK.

A spokesman at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities said: “We are spending an unprecedented £2.4 billion to tackle homelessness and end rough sleeping for good.

“This is alongside our life-changing cash injection of over £191 million to London boroughs over three years, supplying hundreds of beds and specialist support for the most vulnerable.

“We have also given £4 billion to the Greater London Authority to deliver more affordable and social housing and this funding has helped deliver over 147,400 new affordable homes in London since 2010.”

The City of Westminster recorded the highest number of people sleeping on its streets. Camden had the second highest number. Fifteen London boroughs recorded more than 100 people sleeping out, according to the latest figures.

Rough sleeping in London (CHAIN reports) Greater London Authority (GLA).

Additional reporting by Linus Rees.

https://fitzrovianews.com/2024/05/03/number-of-people-sleeping-on-the-streets-in-london-up-33-percent/

#CityOfWestmiinster #GreaterLondonAuthority #homelessness #LondonBoroughOfCamden #roughSleepers #roughSleeping

Victims of road collisions in London are being denied justice because of a lack of guidance for police collecting evidence, City Hall has heard.

An inconsistent and uncertain approach to evidence-gathering by officers means that there is sometimes not enough information to prosecute, London Assembly members were told on Tuesday.

Rory McCarron, a senior solicitor at Leigh Day, said at a meeting of the Assembly’s police and crime committee: “I’m not convinced that one officer to the next knows exactly what they’re looking for.

“Certain, very basic information is lost at that initial stage [immediately after a collision] — capturing witnesses who might be at the scene, looking to see if there’s a traffic camera or a commercial property that might capture that footage of what happened.

“Basic things like photographs of the scene, positions of vehicles, positions of where people would have been travelling from, where did the victim end up when a collision has occurred.”

McCarron, who generally works with injured cyclists and pedestrians, clarified that there can also be more positive outcomes, where “there’s been a really good initial search of the scene to see what has happened and get that information together”.

He suggested that officers be instructed to use their body-worn cameras — which are switched on during stop and search — to record footage of the collision site and document evidence that way.

According to Transport for London (TfL), there were 23,465 reported collisions on London’s roads in 2022, resulting in 102 people being killed, 3,859 being seriously injured and 23,246 being slightly injured.

But it was said at Tuesday’s meeting that the true number of serious injuries could be higher.

Nick Simmons, CEO of the charity RoadPeace, said: “Our sense is that the number of serious injuries is probably very significantly under-reported, so I think the problem is even worse than we might imagine it to be.”

The committee was told that this was because some injuries are not immediately recognised as being serious in the aftermath of a collision.

McCarron stressed that thorough investigations into collisions can be vitally important for victims’ finances, due to the need to establish liability when attempting to claim monetary support.

He said: “Some victims live hand by mouth. They’re reliant on a monthly income to pay for their mortgage or rent or whatever it might be, and sometimes when collisions happen, that is immediately cut off, because they don’t have that income stream [due to injuries].

“It’s hugely important for police to be able to understand that whilst a prosecution may be serving justice, it doesn’t plug those gaps in financial aid for a victim, and that’s where we [solicitors] come in.

“If an investigation isn’t conducted properly, that has a material impact on the victim, what really counts for them in the long-term future.”

The Met Police has been approached for comment.

In 2018, mayor Sadiq Khan published his Vision Zero action plan, which aims to eliminate all deaths and serious injuries on London’s transport system.

The 2022 target was to reduce the number of people who are killed or seriously injured by 65 per cent against 2005-09 levels. This was not met, with the number of people killed and seriously injured on London’s roads only reduced by 38 per cent.

London Assembly: Police and Crime Committee – Wednesday 22 November 2023.

https://fitzrovianews.com/2023/11/24/road-collision-victims-in-london-denied-justice-because-very-basic-information-is-lost-city-hall-told/

#GreaterLondonAssembly #GreaterLondonAuthority #localDemocracyReporting #MetropolitanPolice #roadDanger

Do you want to join me in making London greener and shape the policies that help us tackle the climate and ecological emergencies? Well, you're in luck! I'm growing my team and recruiting FIVE roles (possibly even more) at multiple levels.

2 Senior Officer roles (G8) https://www.london.gov.uk/senior-policy-programmes-officer-green-infrastructure
1 Nature Recovery manager role (G9) https://www.london.gov.uk/nature-recovery-policy-and-programme-manager
2 Principal manager roles (G10) https://www.london.gov.uk/principal-policy-programmes-officer-green-infrastructure

#greeninfrastructure #nature #london #greaterlondonauthority #greenjobs #naturejobs

Nice to see my team's work featured in this year end roundup. Shoutouts to green space, tree planting, rewilding and lots of other work! Much more to come for 2023. https://twitter.com/MayorofLondon/status/1606373258021871616?t=tJp0pKsqvopXAp907M7Y-g&s=19

#greeninfrastructure #london #greenspace #Trees #urbanforest #rewilding #greaterlondonauthority