I took a call today from one of Boris' new Deputy Mayors who half jokingly referred to the borough as the 'land of the rising Barnet'. After I stopped chuckling I thought perhaps he had a point. The Council does seem to have the ear of policymakers at present.

London Councils (the joint body of the 32 London boroughs and The City) has set up a working group (chaired by yours truly) to investigate the issues facing the suburbs. On top of this Mayor Johnson is creating a commission to look at how to ensure the suburbs, crucial to the success of London as a world city, remain vibrant. Boris seems to have heard the cry for a fair deal for the suburbs.

Even the Barnet Financing Plan, often derided as a pipe dream that will never see the light of day (the BFP is where we are seeking to share the proceeds of economic growth without raising taxes to invest in infrastructure) has the ear of senior Ministers at the Department for Communities and Local Government and the Shadow local government frontbench team.

On the back of explaining the problems caused by growth and the need to address inequalities in the funding mechanism for Councils like Barnet we are being visited by the Shadow Minister for London to discuss how local government finance could be reformed.

Something's afoot and we will make the most of the opportunity to bend the ears of the powers that be!