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It’s #LivingWageWeek 2020! 

10th November 2020 / Posted by CRP Team

The campaign for a real Living Wage has now delivered more than £1 billion in extra wages to workers since it began in 2001, and the movement has lifted over 240,000 people out of in-work poverty. At Cross River Partnership, we are proud to be a Living Wage accredited organisation in line with our accountable body, Westminster City Council, joining thousands of other businesses across the UK who believe a hard day’s work deserves a fair day’s pay.

Research since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic has revealed that 1.3 million
key workers (care workers, delivery drivers, supermarket assistants, cleaners, security staff and many more) have been found to be earning less than a real Living Wage and were in insecure working conditions. Now is the time to raise awareness and recognise our essential workforce with an essential Living Wage.

London Climate Action Week

10th November 2020 / Posted by CRP Team

London Climate Action Week (LCAW), 14th – 20th November, is an annual event that puts a world-leading assemblage of climate professionals and communities to come together with solutions to climate change, focusing on transition to an equitable net-zero carbon world. CRP continues to work with partners engaged in climate action – London Boroughs of Islington, Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea, Richmond-Upon-Thames, Westminster, Camden, Lambeth, Hammersmith & Fulham, Merton and Wandsworth are examples of partners declaring a climate emergency. You can see the full list of boroughs declaring a climate emergency here.

CRP are hosting an online event for London Climate Action Week with Camden Climate Change Alliance, taking place on 19th November, 10:30am, giving businesses the opportunity to to learn more about the support and CRP tools offered in the CAV village of Gray’s Inn Road, Camden including how to:

  • Access free tailored 1:2:1 advice from CRP for your business
  • Receive free use of Camden’s consolidation hub to reduce deliveries, congestion and pollution
  • Use CRP’s Clean Air Route Finder
  • Use CRP’s deliverBEST tool to share practical, proven solutions, making deliveries to businesses more efficient, whilst saving time, money and improving air quality
  • Use The Gray’s Inn Road page on the CRP Clean Air Villages Directory to choose suppliers with low air pollution delivery options

To find out more and sign up, please see here!

LCAW 2020 will be focusing on four themes:

  • Green, Fair and Resilient Recovery   
  • Roadmap to COP26  
  • Sustainable and Net Zero London 
  • The whole of Society Climate Mobilisation  

Due to restrictions regarding COVID-19, the event will occur predominantly in a digital configuration, using a range of formats that encourage citizen and community engagement.

CRP are also engaging in this year’s Climathon – an annual 48hr climate change hackathon taking place in hundreds of cities across the world. This is taking place 13th-15th November, and will provide an exclusive opportunity for London citizens to tackle climate challenges. You can sign up here.

There are exciting times ahead of us as American commitment to COP26 re-starts as one of the newly-elected President’s top priorities!

Final call for FREE telematics dongles for business vehicles & new exemptions to the ULEZ

10th November 2020 / Posted by CRP Team

The Ultra-Low Emission Zone will expand on 25th October 2021. If your vehicle is not eligible, then perhaps it is time to consider switching to an electric vehicle.

CRP’s Defra-funded Clean Air Villages 3 project is able to offer you a free device that you attach to your vehicle. It monitors your usage and you will receive analysis of this information to ascertain whether there is a suitable electric vehicle model on the market for your business needs.

This is FREE, but the deadline for interest is Friday 13th November 2020. Do get in touch before it’s too late.

Minibuses used by not-for-profits will have a grace period of two years, from the expansion date of 25th October 2021, exempting them from the ULEZ daily charge. Further information can be found on the discounts and exemptions page of TfL’s website.

For further information, please contact CRP Project Manager Kate Fenton.

Mayor’s London Business Hub

10th November 2020 / Posted by Susannah Wilks

If you haven’t done so already, do take a look at the Mayor of London’s re-vamped
London Business Hub website. There’s all sorts of information, advice and guidance available to support your business through the pandemic, Lockdown No.2, and beyond that the transition out of the EU. The information is presented in really digestible formats, including videos, podcasts, case studies etc. Let’s get through this together!

New Restrictions: What You Need To Know

10th November 2020 / Posted by CRP Team

New national restrictions have been set out since 5th November to prevent the spread of COVID-19. New measures include:

Stay at home – you must not leave/be outside your home expect for specific purposes, including essential activity, work, medical reasons, education and childcare. In general, you must not meet with another person socially, however you can exercise or meet in a public, outdoors space with people you live with, your support bubble, or with one other person. Public outdoor places include neighbourhood streets, parks, benches, public gardens and grounds, allotments and outdoor playgrounds.

In order to reduce social contact, the regulations require some businesses to close to impose restrictions on how some businesses provide goods and services. These include non-essential retail, however these venues can continue to be able to operate click-and-collect and delivery services.

Financially, flexibility of the current Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) will be retained to allow employees to continue to work where they can. The Job Support Scheme will not be introduced until after the CJRS ends. The Government has also published guidance for local authorities on paying grants to support businesses during the November to December 2020 national lockdown and periods of local restrictions. This includes the Local Restrictions Support Grants (LRSG) and Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG). You can read a summary of all the financial support available here.

In terms of business loans, the Government’s three Coronavirus business interruption loan schemes – the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS), the Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CLBILS) and the Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS) – will be extended to 31 January 2021. The Future Fund will also be extended. Find out more here.

Watch our CAV3 Introductory Videos!

10th November 2020 / Posted by CRP Team

With everything now being virtual, CRP wanted to bridge our people and projects by putting together short videos for CRP’s Clean Air Villages (CAV) programme. The CAV videos are aimed at locals within each of CAV’s 16 villages, where they can hear from CRP’s Project Officers about potential Air Quality solutions being explored. What’s most special about the videos is that they feature a range of local community stakeholders such as Ward Councillors, local council representatives and BID managers who call out to businesses and community members on the importance and long-term benefits of a sustainable and green recovery from COVID-19.

Villages videos have been created with Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, King’s College Hospital (Lambeth), South Bank BID and The Fitzrovia Partnership (see Chief Operation Officer Lee Lyons above).

Each village is diverse in terms of the CAV objectives, ranging from hospitals, communities and businesses thus, showcasing the variety within CAV villages and our work. Please watch the videos on our YouTube channel.  

For more information, please contact CRP Project Officer Anusha Rajamani.

CRP’s LiveShare Sessions: Keep Informed

10th November 2020 / Posted by CRP Team

We are now over three quarters of the way through our programme of 16 LiveShares, and we would like to thank all of those who have attended, contributed and presented so far! We have been joined by experts from across the industries of transport, business and environment, discussing a range of topics to help facilitate knowledge sharing and lessons of best practice.

We are continuing to bring industry experts together and CRP’s next LiveShare will be no exception. Make sure you tune in on Thursday 12th November, 2pm. This session will look at how London has changed since the pandemic, assessing the contribution of its green and accessible spaces. We will be joined by the London Borough of Lambeth, The Association of Directors of Public Health (UK), Wheels for Wellbeing and our very own Healthy Streets Everyday programme.

During the session, CRP will launch its Mobility Guidance Document, helping London work towards becoming an accessible city for all.

Sign up here to reserve a space!

If you are not able to make a session, don’t worry! All of our LiveShares are posted on our YouTube channel for you to view and share whenever you like. Remember to follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn to receive all our LiveShare updates and upcoming sessions. We hope to see you very soon!

For more information, please contact CRP Guidance Manager Tomos Joyce.

What are Smart Local Energy Systems and why do we need them?

10th November 2020 / Posted by CRP Team

Smart Local Energy Systems (SLES) are difficult to define, with each aspect – ‘smart’, ‘local’, and even ‘energy system’ – open to various interpretations. The scale, approach, technologies and stakeholders can therefore vary from one system to the next. Common ground can be found, however, in the benefits SLES aim to achieve, and the barriers they must overcome.

CRP’s EV Fleet-centred Local Energy System (EFLES) project is providing a business case for commercial fleets to integrate EVs within a Smart Local Energy System. EFLES aims to unlock new revenue streams and reduce operational costs for EV fleet operators. The project is being delivered alongside UPS, UK Power Networks Services and Moixa as part of Innovate UK’s Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund.

SLES have emerged in response to key trends driving the current energy revolution:

Decarbonisation – the share of energy derived from renewable sources continues to increase, with the UK energy system legally required to decarbonise to net zero by 2050.

Decentralisation – energy generated close to its point of use, rather than distributed via the national grid, is helping to create a fairer and more sustainable energy system.

Digitalisation – the rise of internet-connected devices and advances in automation enable us to use resources more effectively.

Democratisation – small scale, local energy assets create opportunities for communities to engage with the planning, operation and management of their own energy systems.

SLES provide the opportunity to address several pressing policy challenges: reducing carbon emissions, ensuring energy supply meets demand, engaging and empowering communities, tackling fuel poverty, and reviving local economies [ref].

For more information, please contact CRP Air Quality Analysis Officer Abby McDougall.

CRP’s Spotlight On: Better Bankside

10th November 2020 / Posted by CRP Team

CRP’s Spotlight On: Better Bankside
This week, we are showcasing the work of CRP BID partner Better Bankside, who are working on active travel initiatives in the vibrant, creative area spanning between London Bridge and Blackfriars Bridge, south of the river. Hear what Kate Poulter has to say about Better Bankside’s most recent work:

Better Bankside has further ramped up its cycling offer to encourage Banksiders who are keen to adopt a new way of commuting to choose a bike. For the last few months, Bankside Bike Trains have given first time or nervous cyclists the opportunity to practise their commute into the area by joining rides led by qualified instructors. The Bike Trains pick up from various London stations and make return trips to and from Bankside, boosting the confidence of those who may not have been certain enough to cycle alone.

To overcome concerns about where to safely store a bike, Better Bankside also launched the a new Secure Cycle Park with increased capacity and a digital, contact free entry system which allows access 24/7. Almost 100 local employees are already registered. More regular Dr Bike sessions have been taking place in outdoor spaces to offer free basic bike checks to Banksiders and we’ve partnered a local repair shop to offer free bike maintenance vouchers to local employees.

Better Bankside has always advocated the benefits of cycling; these new initiatives sit alongside an already robust package of cycling offers for Banksiders. The pink Brompton bikes loaned out to Bankside’s employees have grown in popularity over the last few months. Better Bankside has increased this fleet further by investing in three new electric bikes, providing new ways of helping people commute by bike.

As the BID continues to innovate and find ways to promote active ways of travel, a new Bankside Lunch Club has also just been launched to bring lunch from Bankside’s restaurants and cafes to deskbound officer workers in the area, using cargo bike.

GLA Green Skills – Borough survey 2020

27th October 2020 / Posted by CRP Team

London’s recovery from the pandemic is being led by the London Recovery Board, chaired jointly by the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, and the Chair of London Councils. As part of this work, the GLA is looking into developing the skills training offer in green industries in the capital. This will involve engaging with businesses, skills providers and boroughs to understand the specific skills, accreditations, entry pathways and training courses needed. The deadline for responses to this survey is Friday 6th November.

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