Statement on impact of The Budget on London

The London Assembly requested to see the Mayor of London’s representation to the Chancellor’s Budget, which made requests for funding across a range of areas of importance to London.

With that knowledge and in response to today’s budget statement, Gareth Bacon AM, Chairman of the London Assembly Budget and Performance Committee, said:

“It was a surprise to see how muted the Mayor’s requests were and we believe they could have been more robust for Londoners.

“We were unsurprised however, to read the admission that TfL alone cannot finance the rest of Crossrail and needs government money. The loan announced on Friday does not go far enough to cover the funding gap and in any case needs to be repaid, so a significant pot of funding is sorely needed.

“The long list of financial demands from the Mayor does not change the fact that Transport for London has mismanaged the crucial Crossrail project, which is still an open wound.

“Perhaps if the Mayor was more realistic in his list of demands then central government would be more forthcoming.

“We were disappointed to see that the Mayor did not make any formal requests about reversing public health cuts and increasing funding for public health – something that he claimed to have done.

“We welcome extra funding for the much-needed housing projects in the capital, the only request from the Mayor that came to fruition in this Budget.

“Although the future of the important Old Oak Common scheme remains uncertain.”

The full analysis of the Mayor’s Budget requests is available