Brentford

Reuters

There will be 33,000 police officers in London by April next year, the head of the Met has said today.

Police Commissioner Cressida Dick said the force would reach 31,500 by spring, and 32,300 by early autumn this year.

Officer numbers in the capital began falling in 2016, and dipped below 30,000 two years ago – the first time since 2003.

Recruitment has since risen with cash from City Hall, with 31,000 officers now in place.

But the Mayor of London and the Met believe the capital needs an extra 6,000 police to tackle high violent crime.

There were more homicides in London last year than any year since 2008, and over 15,000 knife crimes.

Dame Cressida told the London Assembly’s Police and Crime Committee today that the Government’s police settlement would help the Met to reach next year’s 33,000 target.

The Commissioner said it was a “huge achievement” that between 350 and 450 officers were going through training at Hendon police college each month.

Money raised by the sale of cemetery land should be spent on tree planting in Brent.

This is the view of Brent Council’s resources and public realm scrutiny committee, which recommended that the extra cash be used to improve the borough’s environment.

A report by the committee’s chairman, Cllr Matt Kelcher, noted the council recently made £700,000 from the sale of additional cemetery space.

It suggested that it be put to good use and, given that it was raised by the council’s environment department, should be “ring fenced for a project with an environmental theme”.

The report stated: “The council currently does not have the revenue budget to replace all diseased or dying trees it removes (outside of those removed as part of the footway improvement plan), or to plant all of the mature trees it would like to.

“The presence of mature trees on our streets can help to reduce levels of carbon in the atmosphere and significantly reduce stormwater run-off.”

It explained that there is a clear need to tackle Brent’s air quality, particularly in light of the council’s decision to declare a climate emergency last year.

Thousands of seeds from trees in Cumbria have been added to a global seed bank.

The Millennium Seed Bank, which is run by the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, is designed to store the genetic code of British trees, in case they should be threatened with extinction.

BBC

Nic Tweddell is one of the Kendal Conservation Volunteers who helped to collect the seeds in Cumbria, and he says they have to be collected at exactly the right time.

Quite often we'd think it was a good moment and come back to where we'd found suitable trees, and we'd see no, they're not quite ready yet."

Squire & Partners

The plans for the Stag Brewery site in Mortlake have been approved by Richmond council, making it the biggest development in the borough.

Most of the current buildings will be demolished to make way for hundreds of new flats, shops, and even a secondary school in plans put forward by developers, Reselton.

The site has historical significance, having been home to a brewery since 1487, and more recently producing Budweiser beer.

But its large size and complexity will mean it will be a number of years yet before anything is built, especially because the council rejected the application to make traffic changes at nearby Chalker’s Corner.

The plans will now have to be approved by the Mayor of London and National Planning Casework Unit (Secretary of State), where they may be altered or refused.

BBC

Senator Olivier Cadic, who represents French people who live abroad, has been speaking to parents at an international school in Wembley today.

He told BBC London that the UK has to get used to the fact it is not the same country that it was - and that in maybe 40-odd years the country will change again.

The chair of the school PTA was visibly upset, dressed in EU colours Amelie Mallet said she is refusing to apply for settled status until we leave the European Union.

Asked if that meant she would be applying tomorrow - she said she would not apply until the very last day in December in protest.

Most London firefighters have received no face-to-face training on how to respond to a high-rise fire since the Grenfell disaster, senior brigade officers admitted today.

Rank and file firefighters have only received a “basic” online training programme to date – almost three years since the devastating fire destroyed the Grenfell Tower in North Kensington.

A total of 72 people were killed in the June 2017 blaze – but more lives could have been saved if people had been told to evacuate sooner, according to the report from the first phase of the Grenfell Inquiry.

But there was visible shock when newly appointed London Fire Commissioner Andy Roe told London Assembly members that most firefighters have had only “the most basic” training on high-rise fires since the disaster.

And Mr Roe admitted that even this was not delivered until August last year – more than two years after the fire.

Speaking to the Assembly’s fire committee, he said: “We have given what I would consider the most basic provision to our officers which covers the sort of decisions they might have to make, the basic guidance.

“But that needs to be supported and better embedded with changes to operational procedure.”

The new commissioner – who was responsible for scrapping “stay put” advice at Grenfell minutes after he arrived at the fire – said senior officers have received more detailed training.

Gas has been restored to 100 households in Richmond, south-west London, overnight but many more remain without any supply since a water main burst a week ago.

Gas supplies were switched off after the leak on 23 January which led to water getting into 35 km (21.7 miles) of gas pipes.

Distributor Cadent said it had pumped out more than 50,000 litres of water from a "big gas main" north of the railway lines overnight and would now be sending down a robotic camera.

"We expect clearing this huge blockage will be a major breakthrough in restoring gas supplies", they said.

However, the firm has warned customers to be "prepared for this to go into the weekend". Further updates can be found here.

Following the initial leak, about 1,200 homes were without any gas while another 600 have had low gas pressures.

Ahead of Britain's departure from the EU tonight, London Mayor Sadiq Khan has issued this statement:

Mayor of London

A man was shot and another man was stabbed during what police believe was a fight in north London.

The two victims, both aged 25, were found injured in Alma Road, Enfield, shortly after 18:00 yesterday.

Both were taken to hospital by paramedics. The man who was shot remains in a critical condition while the wounds suffered by the man who was stabbed are not considered life-threatening.

Officers believe they were hurt during an "altercation" between two groups of men and no arrests have been made, the Met said.

PA Media

Violence in London has cost the capital £3bn, a City Hall report has found.

Last year 154 people were murdered in London - the highest since 2008.

Findings suggest only a handful of streets and estates across London are at the heart of rising violence and have "links to deprivation".

Two reports commissioned by City Hall's Violence Reduction Unit suggest deprivation and a lucrative drugs market make some communities particularly vulnerable.

It is suggested that costs in 2018-19 for responding to homicides, violence offences, sexual offences and robbery, together with the loss of economic output was £3bn

This took into account the initial emergency service response, police investigations and the criminal justice process.

Ms Peck will be writing to the government to ask for serious case reviews to be conducted whenever someone is murdered to improve understanding of why it happens.

"We're already investing in a programme to drive down school exclusions, provide greater after-school care for young people and support communities who often know what works best in their areas, but don't have the tools or resources to do as much as we would like," she said.

"The reports will help further our understanding and knowledge and reinforces our approach to focusing our efforts on providing interventions in specific local areas to drive down violence."

Google

A man has been shot in the head in the head at a west London house.

The Met's gang crime unit were called at 14.44 on Wednesday to reports of a shooting at an address on Bravington Road, Westminster

A 46-year-old man was found at scene suffering from gunshot injuries to his head. He was taken to a central London hospital where he remains in a critical, but stable condition.

Enquiries are underway to notify his next of kin.

There have been no arrests. Enquiries continue.