LONDONERS BILL FOR EUROPEAN SOCIAL FORUM TOPS £1.1M - LIB DEMS

11.46.14am BST (GMT +0100) Thu 14th Oct 2004

New information revealed today by the London Assembly Liberal Democrats shows that the European Social Forum (ESF) is being paid £130,000 early by Mayor Livingstone to bail out the organisation because of their 'cashflow position'.

The total bill for Londoners is now set to exceed £1.1million as new information revealed today shows that the Mayor is to pay at least an extra £190,000 to hire the Dome for delegates of the conference. Mr Livingstone is set to spend £670,000 of public money hosting the event and TfL will provide the first 20,000 delegates with free travel around London costing a further £440,000.

Organisations set to attend the event include groups who took part in the Mayday demonstrations including International Socialist Resistance and Globalise Resistance.

Graham Tope, Leader of the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Group said:

"Mr Livingstone must justify his reasons for spending such vast sums of taxpayers money on these type of events and explain clearly what benefit there will be to Londoners from this 'conference'.

"The Mayor has already promised to raise fares dramatically on public transport, yet he is happy to give 20,000 protesters free passes right across the capital. It is this extravagant spending that has caused Londoners to see their taxes under Mr Livingstone rocket."

Mr Livingstone has also used the internal magazine sent out to City Hall staff asking them to volunteer for the event, despite public servants being political restricted in their activities. Graham Tope continued:

"It is outrageous that the Mayor has the cheek to ask impartial public servants to take time off from their duties at City Hall to staff what is a clearly a political event, even if it is in their free time."

ENDS

Notes to editor

- In the Mayor's Report 45, Mr Livingstone says:-

"I authorised an amendment to the funding schedule to ESF Ltd to allow a payment of £130,000 on 22 September, in respect of bringing forward the final payment by 11 days in order to assist ESF Ltd with their cashflow position."

A memo from the finance and performance directorate dated 12th October 2004 says:-

"The Mayor has decided to assist ESF Ltd in providing low cost accommodation for up to 5,000 delegates. The accommodation will cost some £190,000…"

It continues:-

"This support increases the Authority's financial assistance to ESF Ltd to £670,000 which represents 49% of the total estimated cost of the event."

The event, to be held between 15-17th October, will bring together thousands of anti-capitalist and anti imperialist delegates for a 4-day series of conferences, culminating in a demonstration through central London on the Sunday afternoon.

• The European Social Forum 2004 which will be held at Alexandra Palace and venues in Bloomsbury from 15 to 17 October 2004.

• Details of the organisations to attend can be found at:-

http://www.fse-esf.org/en/esf.shtml?x=1487

• The London@Work request for City Hall staff to volunteer is below:-

The European Social Forum (ESF)

The third ESF will take place at Alexandra Palace in North London and Bloomsbury, Central London from 15-17 October.

The ESF is a giant gathering for everyone opposed to war, racism and corporate power, everyone who wants to see global justice, workers' rights and a sustainable society. The ESF programme will feature hundreds of forums and debates involving leading activists from across the world. There will be music, film-showings and exhibitions celebrating the global movement. For more visit the ESF pages on the public website.

Volunteer Opportunity

Hundreds of volunteers are needed at the forum. Volunteers play an integral part in coordinating the forum and making the ESF a success. Volunteers also play a political role in communicating the ethos and diversity of the social forum to participants.

ESF volunteers are needed for specific tasks on the day before the forum and the three days of the forum itself. If you want to register as an ESF volunteer then please visit the ESF pages on the public website and complete the application form.

Benefits of volunteering include access to the forum free of charge. Work will be organised in shifts to ensure volunteers have enough free time to attend sessions and workshops at the forum. All volunteers will also get a free ESF t-shirt and food expenses for each day worked.

NB as with all volunteer opportunities, any time off in lieu arrangements must be discussed with your line manager in advance.

• According to the European Social Forum website up to 50,000 people attended the event in Paris in 2003 - http://www.fse-esf.org/en/esf.shtml?conds[0][category.......1]=About+the+ESF&als[SSECTION]=About+the+ESF