The local authorities in the north-east of London have formed an official partnership which it is hoped will “deliver real change” for residents.

The focus of the North East London Strategic Alliance (NELSA) will be on how best to deliver new homes, jobs, improved skills, transportation and better public services.

It will also lead proposals for devolution of public services in Redbridge, Waltham Forest, Barking and Dagenham, Greenwich, Hackney, Newham and Tower Hamlets

At present, the population in north-east London’s outer boroughs is in excess of 1.6 million, almost 20 per cent of the city’s residents, and is projected to grow by up to 100,000 in the next five years.

However, while the NELSA members represent less than a fifth of all London boroughs, they contain over 25 per cent of the most deprived areas in the capital.

NELSA was formally established on Thursday (23 July) at Eastbury Manor House in Barking.

Chair of NELSA and Waltham Forest’s Council Leader Chris Robbins said: “NELSA brings together six boroughs that are perfectly-placed to put forward a clear vision for north-east London and set future improvements in motion.

“This area of London deserves better representation at a national and regional level of decision-making and we intend to make sure this happens.

“And in partnership with the Local London eight borough sub regional partnership, we want to secure greater devolution of powers from central government so that we can better enable growth and development in our areas – such as building more homes, helping more people into work and being able to do more to support schools, businesses and local investment.

“A bold new approach like this would represent a landmark shift in the local government landscape – enabling our six boroughs to deliver real change to hundreds of thousands of Londoners.”

Councillor Jas Athwal, leader of Redbridge council said the alliance was “vital”.

He said: “We need a clear vision for north east London, and building strong partnerships is vital for us to be able to deliver that.

“We need to do all we can to make sure our voices are heard and by joining together, we can do this more effectively.”