London: Seen, but not heard ... ?

Karl Mercer
Politics Show London

The maxim always used to be that children should be seen and not heard ...

Mayor Livingstone launched his Children and Young People's Strategy

No longer if London's Mayor is to get his way.

Not only does Ken Livingstone want the capital's under 18s to be heard, he wants them leading the debate about what sort of services they get from their councils and from government.

This week he has launched his Children and Young People's Strategy, something he says is essential for the future of London.

But are the Mayor's broad aims enough to improve the lot of the 1.6m children in the capital?

London faces bigger issues than many other capitals with latest figures showing that 48% of children in the city centre are living below the official poverty line, a third live in single parent families, and 40% of under 18s come from a black, Asian or minority ethnic group.

So what exactly can the Mayor do to improve their lot?

Well he says he has made a start by cutting fares on London Transport and is promising to give them free travel in the future.

More importantly Mayor Livingstone says he will use his city wide role to try and bang the boroughs' heads together so that they start providing for and listening to their future voters.

Teenage influence

Politics Show London will be on the streets of Shoreditch with the young people already staking a claim in their future by sitting as members of the local regeneration board.

These teenagers are already turning heads in their community and pushing the decision makers to deliver for them.

Give us better parks, youth clubs and money for a local magazine and web site, they say, and the signs are they'll get what they want.

Meanwhile the capital's adventure playgrounds, many of them housed in the poorest estates are facing a funding crisis.

We visit one in North London that provides the only safe place for local youngsters to play, but still faces an annual battle to get the grants it needs to survive.

Will the mayor talking up children make their job easier?

And we visit an estate in Hackney asking locals if another new strategy will make any difference to their lives.

Also on Politics Show London - we look at plans for a new Chinatown in the east of the capital ... social engineering or good planning sense?

And we are behind the scenes with Thurrock MP Andrew Mackinlay on the day the Hutton report was released.

How did the man who asked David Kelly if he felt like 'chaff' fare on the day of judgement.

Have your say

Let us know what you think. Politics Show Sunday 01 February at Midday.

... That is the Politics Show with BBC London's Political Editor Tim Donovan on BBC One on Sundays from midday.

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