The suburban outer-London boroughs helped to elect new Mayor, Boris Johnson; and now they are demanding payback, reports LGC (May 15). Outer boroughs had long complained that Ken Livingstone was a “Zone 1” mayor who prioritised inner-city areas over the fringes and Conservative council leaders have presented Johnson with a suburban-focused list of policy requests.

This includes improvements to the city's orbital transport routes, greater allocation of resources to outer boroughs and a more collaborative approach to lobbying the Government for cash. “There are high levels of expectations that Mr Johnson will realise where his constituency is and will be open to suggestions that come to him,” says David Williams, the leader of Merton Council.

Outer councils also want clarity on how far Johnson will push powers that enable him to overule local planning authorities. They say that the Office for National Statistics underestimates the number of people living in London, which has strained local services. “We expect Mr Johnson to work much more closely with the boroughs,” says Barry Mac-leod-Cullinane of the London Councils' Conservative Group.

PFI is still burdened by red tape

MPs are all ears for charity

Hard-pushed charities and better Westminster lobbyists than their deep-pocketed business counterparts

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THE bureaucratic burden on councils for Private Finance Initiative (PFI) projects could lead to “value-destroying delays”, according to the Lifting the Burdens task force. The review found that red tape around PFI is rife, reports Public Finance (May 16).

Because the task force was set up by central government to cut down on bureaucracy, one might think that its suggestions would be welcomed. But, no. John Healey, the Local Government Minister, has dismissed key proposals to streamline PFI bureaucracy, reports The MJ (May 15). The proposals “don't fully take into account the fact that PFI projects vary significantly”, he sagely notes.

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