Isolation is not always splendid, Lib Dems warn Mayor

12.00.00am GMT Wed 4th Dec 2002

The Mayor needs to stop working in isolation and take account of the work being done by boroughs towards setting council taxes when drafting his budget, said the Liberal Democrats today.

Sally Hamwee, Lib Dem budget spokesperson, put to the London Assembly's Budget Committee that members should call on the Mayor to publish, in conjunction with his draft consultation budget due on 13 December, the planning assumptions of the level of the GLA precept made by the boroughs in their work towards the council taxes to be set for 2003/04.

"If the Mayor has not enquired what the boroughs are planning, I recommend he does so as a matter of urgency," said Baroness Hamwee, who chairs the Budget Committee.

The Lib Dems also questioned whether the Mayor is delivering value for money for Londoners:

"Now that the GLA is in its third year, public expectations of high performance and the delivery of services are increasing."

"The Mayor undertakes a lot of polling. He must surely know what Londoners think of the level and quality of services provided by the GLA (including the functional bodies) and what they are prepared to pay for them," added Baroness Hamwee."

"That information should be publicly available to assist the decision about his forthcoming budget."

"The motion was passed by Committee."