Member

First is the role of London Councils in being able to distribute funds to councils, which the noble Lord, Lord Harris, referenced. The difference in my suggestion is that it would not be via an additional joint committee. Section 31 grants can be paid only to bodies defined in statute, and London Councils is currently not one of them. The issue cannot be resolved administratively; it requires a very narrow legislative change. I understand that this issue has cross-party support. It became very real, as I witnessed during the pandemic, when we were looking at pan-London mortuary provision and we realised that London Councils could not take in or distribute funding.