On London Latest: Food, shopping and sewage

Plus borough by-elections, housing targets, vegan eating and White Teeth

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It's no surprise that Sadiq Khan's funding free school meals for every child in a London state primary school is proving popular. Free money often is. And an assessment the policy's impacts published today bears this out, with households in the capital with children of the relevant age expressing gratitude from across the income range, particularly the less well-off.

But the Mayor will also be pleased by findings by Impact on Urban Health - which forms part of the St Guy's and St Thomas' Foundation - that the measure has had wider social benefits, such as taking some of the stress out of getting kids out of the door on school day mornings, reducing the hunger and food insecurity teachers often see, and helping to improve children's energy levels and concentration.

I wrote about the report for OnLondon earlier this morning. The policy is very much an expression of the Mayor's belief in the principle of universalism in social policy as a way of combatting exclusion. When the scheme was introduced, Jack Brown of King's College wrote for OnLondon about its principles, practicalities and politics. 

Meanwhile, Khan's plans to introduce pedestrianisation to Oxford Street have been meeting with far more resistance than free school meals.