During response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Greater London Authority (GLA) worked collaboratively with London’s civil society, hosting online roundtables, public health briefings, and Big Conversation events. Working with health partners, these forums played a vital role in supporting testing and vaccine uptake, building trust, and sharing accurate and culturally competent information. 

London Legacy Health Equity Partnership

Following the pandemic, there was a determination to take the learnings from this collaboration, further embedding these approaches within vaccine programmes and work tackling health inequalities. This happened predominantly through the London Legacy Health Equity Partnership. During this time, there was a continuation of co-convened public health, GLA and NHS information briefings, covering issues like winter preparedness and mental health. 

London Communities Emergencies Partnership

The GLA has further strengthened relationships with community and faith partners within their approach to resilience, including through co-producing the London Communities Emergencies Partnership (LCEP), a civil society-led approach to coordinating emergency preparedness and response. LCEP sits on the London Resilience Forum, alongside emergency services and other public agencies, bringing the value of community voice and insight into London’s emergency response. This has helped build trust between agencies and collaboration with civil society in response to incidents. 

Key learnings

Working collaboratively with civil society before, during and after emergencies can strengthen resilience and, in the case of the pandemic, improve health outcomes like vaccine uptake.  Community-led models can increase trust in public services, and ensure government’s messaging and approach is culturally competent. Furthermore, through recognising the value of civil society organisations in its reach into local communities, the GLA has been able to effectively work with the sector to tackle shared challenges.