Ensuring A Balanced Budget For London

Written by Sally Hamwee on Mon 1st Apr 2002

Those of us keen to see transport and environmental improvements in London were naturally torn when faced with the Mayor's budget proposals. His first draft, with a precept increase much higher than he could realistically have hoped for, listed 'goodies' which might not proceed if he did not get his budget in full – a well-known ploy.

The judgement the Assembly had to make in looking at the second draft – which we accepted in full – was whether the cash the Mayor sought from Londoners could actually be spent this year. The Budget Committee had exhaustively (and exhaustingly) over several months questioned Transport for London about its lack of performance targets and slippages in its programme.

So the final budget – no cuts, and indeed £300 million more spent on transport – balanced our assessment of what could actually be achieved with avoiding unnecessary taxation on Londoners.

In pegging back the Mayor's 'tax and spend' approach, the Assembly did its job effectively. Successive debates stressed support for extra police resources and extra funding for road maintenance, improvements in bus services and increased road safety measures.

The continuing task is to ensure that the whole budget – well over £4 billion – has sustainability at its core.