Have your say on the proposed London Budget for 2021-2022

Dear Sadiq,

YOU ARE THE BEST MAYOR WE NEVER HAD,

and the way you're managing London (with Boris against you...) is no less than FANTASTIC.

YOU ARE  """THE""""  MAYOR (!!!)

About the Budget: I think the focus of it has to be on LONDONERS, not on C.....9, NO NO(!)

1- Spend money for REAL PEOPLE, the Londoners, not for FAKE-NEWS (Boris-made "Fast C.....9")

2- There's no more than common flu, pneumonia, asthma, ... in London, and Doctors have to cure people who have it

3- Look to Future, not Past: nice the "Green Deal", boring "Young Deal"....youngers have to work hard as they can on their own...

4- Prevent the Future: as phone companies knows, and You too, Brexit will END at the end of 2021. Prepare to be back in Europe(!)

5- Relax: people, Londoners are hard workers, the Best Ones, They'll SURVIVE, and YOU TOO (You'll be REELECTED (!!))

It is false to encourage walking and cycling whilst we have this pandemic and there remains a high level of pollution, primarily from freight transport which is still vastly more common than rail. All lorries inside the M25 should be subject to high charges, posing a threat to everyone and usually drawing traffic in which is only transiting rather than actually benefiting Londoners.

A significant investment needs to be made to provide CHEAP electric charging to residents who do not have drives or garages, as the vast majority of us don't. TFL should undercut the commercial charging networks like BP etc with chargers across the capital, which would then provide electric vehicles with power. This would increase revenue for TFL, Residents should be given preferential rates similar to the rates for mains electricity, non-residents and businesses then pay a higher rate to prevent people from berkshire and surrey driving into London.

The police budget does not need to increase, Police need to engage properly with the public rather than siloing and at a distance. 

Traffic calming measures, which are frequently deployed dogmatically, need to be reviewed as they create more pollution due to slowing down/speeding up. Cyclists need to be trained and offences such as riding without lights, ignoring one way signs and traffic lights need to be treated seriously. 

Religious schools need to be properly overseen by the state. There is no place for radical, fundamentalist or evangelical teachings in schools.

TFL needs t stop the recent practice of moving bus stops. in the last three years many bus stops which have been in the same place for decades have been moved by 20 - 50 yards, this is pointless and expensive, not to say confusing. 

I would like money to be invested in providing more safe cycling infrastructure, and more human-friendly streetscapes (wider pavements, more 20mph zones, enforcement of speed limits, pedestrianisation of certain roads.

Maintaining Freedom Passes and 60+ cards is paramount. They should also be valid before 9.00 a.m. as before the pandemic. Keeping normal health services going during the pandemic and catching up afterwards is also very important. If many people continue to work from home after the pandemic, they may choose to move out of London, reducing the demand for new home building. The demand for housing may be partly met by converting redundant office blocks and retail space into flats. Newly built housing should be low rise with private gardens. It is clear that far too many Londoners are employed in low paid and vulnerable jobs, and consequently cannot support themselves financially even in non-pandemic times. Therefore, more financially sustainable jobs must be created in London to replace these. By paying low wages, many employers are relying on the taxpayer to subsidise their employees by paying them more in benefits. This is not sustainable. London raises much of the taxes raised in the UK, so it is fair that it is allowed to retain more of the tax revenue, particularly as the cost of living in London, and especially in respect of housing, is much more than in most of the country.

I want to breathe air in London like it was in the first lockdown.

I don't want to keep failing those that have slipped from the mainstream to rely on food banks, begging or crime. All Londonders deserve to feel a part of London. As long as it is not at the expense of others.

No one has the right to keep their privilege (cars) when it is at the expense of others (breathing).

I am sick to death (almost literally) of car drivers bullying their way through their anti-cyclist, anti-pedestrian agenda. 

Cars pollute, and cause congestion - whether there is a cycle lane there or not, just look at West Ken. 

Polluter, pay up.

Speeder, pay up.

Red light jumper (yes, by far the most number of red light jumpers are drivers), pay up. 

I fully support the green intiatives in this budget. 

If there are less private cars on the road, the disabled and elderly who are "forced" to use Range Rovers to get around more easily. 

The budget is too high - incomes are down and borrowing is high, and Khan is proposing to increase revenue spend by 4% (when inflation is 0.6%) and capital by an astonishing 31%!!  Both should be kept flat and Khan should reduce the huge tax he takes off every single adult Londoner by lowering his part of the Council Tax.  The money will be better spent by those Londoners than it will by TfL, who are putting cash into the pockets of tax dodgers like Sf Stefan, the contractor employed for £250,000 on the CS9 cycleway who put his other company into administration owing  c.£500,000 to HMRC in tax. This is a disgrace.  TfL is not fit to award these contracts.  

And why 4% more for the police who basically spend most of the day sat in cars stranded by the congestion caused by Khan's streetspace scheme (another utterly useless waste of money) or otherwise just stand around zapping motorists for doing 22 in a 20. 

There is a pandemic but why is everything being proposed around cyclists, runners and walkers. I am for safe guarding nature and having more green spaces but making the motorist pay for all things is not fair or justified. I have a Range Rover because it is easy for my mother to get into and she has a clear sight of where we are going, it is also used for carrying hers and other equipment around which is essential for work. Has anyone else tried to walk 30 mins to a bus stop or train station to get on board with given bags of shopping and then had to walk the same distance back. We cannot all shop every day. On the point of cyclists why do they think they have the run off the road, they do not pay tax, they do not have lights or even bells to let you know they are coming. I have been a walker, cyclist,horse rider, motorcyclist and car driver so I know little about what I am talking about. They even jump the lights and yet the car driver gets the blame if one is injured. These electric scooters are even worse. All Road users should pay towards the upkeep of the roads. The car driver already pays vehicle tax, congestion charge and clear air charge, what about the rest paying up. We have a shortage of housing they say  but what about the ‘brown sites’ that are not being used, the empty houses and office blocks that have been empty for years. But of course they do not make the money. Referring to the Pandemic why have all the green spaces in my area been taken up with footballers not distancing? Why are they a rule unto themselves. We have not used the spaces because there were so many of them. Or is it because the ‘little’ person does not matter. Equality is a big question it seems to depend on how much money you have. There appears to be llittle justification to hit the car driver again or indeed build on any more green spaces in the London area we are already overcrowded as shown by the number of deaths since last March. Thank you for reading this.

I love how London-centric people who live in London are. Of course we live, work and fight for our city but do we really think that Boris and his team are that eager to 'save London'? It seems to me that we are becoming a hasbeen with Boris looking elsewhere in the country to spread his creed. Meanwhile Sadiq tries to battle on and maintain control, when in reality he has achieved little for our city. He has no real plan for such a diverse and complex city - I have yet to hear him speak to the vast range of difficulties and issues we face. Will we see people working in their numbers in London in the next 10 years? How many SMEs along with large companies employing thousands will fold due to this pandemic. Growing numbers of homeless on our streets, mass loss of jobs, loss of income, loss of homes, disenfrachisment, migration out of London  - the list goes on. But no fear our Mayor will make sure that bus fares don't rise adn those of your that rely on your cars for work will be charged out of London.
The Mayor - ineffectual and verging on a derlection of duty. It will be difficult to vote for Sadiq again - lovely as he seems - as sadly he's proven that he's not up to the London job.   

Equality impact assessments are supposed to inform a choice and ensure vulnerable people are not marginalised. They are not tick box exercises where councils/TFL justify try and come up with justifications for the decisions they have already made. Yes this is how all the alleged impact assessments read which support extensive road closures as supposedly helpful for disabled people. Stop funding projects leading to road closures without ensuring that disabled people will not be unfairly impacted. Ensure that blue badge holders are exempt from fines in the way that they are exempt from congestion charge. Forcing a disabled person to take a 20minute journey in traffic instead of a 3 minute journey through residential roads benefits no one at all. It is a journey that has to be taken by car becase that person cannot walk it. What possible justification can there be for funding such policies. 

The is this pandemic.  There is also the economic and housing crisis.  The policy of benefit sanctions particularly with Universal Credit has continued throughout this pandemic.  Yet in London, I see a lot of properties, often new, lying empty.  

This anti-car policy and rhetoric has to change. Elderly and disabled are being made disadvantaged by it. Not everyone is able to cyckle, not everyone is able to walk to the nearest bus stop, changing buses and then walk to their destination. Not everyone is happy for their ambulance to be delayed because empty cyckle lanes cause traffic congestion. Not everyone is able choose the type of transport they use. There are many who have no other option but their car. Please remember that before before getting very self righteous your own ability to travel how you choose to travel. You are very privileged. Not everyone is as lucky as you. 

I agree that football teams should contribute to the policing outside their stadiums. I also think that police officers assigned to boroughs - especially those in outer London- should not be used to police football matches and demonstrations in central London. Perhaps some of the office bound police should be used instead. I would be interested to know how many police officers are assigned to each borough per 100,000 people in each borough.

I should also like to know how much of the Mayor's budget goes to each borough too.

Although terrible circumstances, with the 'empty' streets due to Covid comes an opportunity to change the public realm. Increasing space for vulnerable road users and active travel, and compromising the use of motor vehicles is key as this will lead to better air quality, health and fairness.

Many of the changes won't show benefits in the short term but one has to begin at some point and now, with a health crisis exacerbated by poor population health contributed to by inactivity and pollution, is that point.

Reducing motor vehicle also reduces the costs of maintenance of and repairs to infrastructure, not only that provided for them, but all around us. How often do we see a bent signpost, a damaged wall, cracked paving stones, knocked over tree, parked bicycle damaged by a motor vehicle. Our public realm is eroded all around us as a result.

Electric vehicles are not the answer, they still pollute through brake and tyre wear. We now have charging points taking up pedestrian space. They still contribute to less activity in the population, they still injure and kill people, and damage infrastructure.

With London being a city of people with connections to other places, we have a responsibility to stop contributing to climate change and pollution. Our actions affect other places and our contribution to a better world has to begin with our home and respect for those elsewhere.

Using the GLA budget to reduce motor vehicle use, to encourage healthier lifestyles through active travel, and to create a healthier, safer environment, isn't a magic bullet to solve all of the above but it is a major step in creating a liveable city we can be proud to show the rest of the world. Inaction and catering to the status quo doesn't serve anybody's interests in the long run. We have to change, and our city has to change with us.

1. Think things through properly before committing expenditure on some of these projects.

what will be the effect of the project ? how do you know its been a success.? has it achieved what it was suppose to ?

2. whats the point if cycle lanes if cyclists don't use them,  consider making it mandatory to use cycle lanes.Chip cycles to identify the owner and track if they jump red lights and speed.

3.Try really listening to the locals instead of pushing through proposals without taking into account the effect on them

4. Ensure projects are within budget if not why not

I am very glad to see the budget plans for the improvement of mental health in communities, as well as Covid related issues. Please consider increasing the funding for the police to tackle criminal activities including use of guns and knives, mugging, burglary etc in communities. In many areas, crime seemed to have increased during the pandemic and we have been feeling very unsafe. Thank you. 

The key areas for the budget:

Short Term (2021-2022)

1) Councils gaining income for their budget from unpaid parking tickets of diplomatic staff of various countries e.g. American embassy, rather than increase council tax bills of residents who may be out of work. 

2) Budget apportioned to dealing with fire safety in all residential blocks, not just council-owned buildings or relying on landlords to comply. Otherwise landlords will pass the cost of these works on to homeowners, such as low income shared ownership leaseholders

3) Adequately dealing with food poverty in the capital by opening up more food banks and providing temporary housing for the increasing number of homeless people. Supermarkets should provide food to food banks with a long shelf life, as opposed to dumping best before day supplies, such as rotting vegetables

4) Keep the extra £20/week for Londoners on universal credit or other benefits till the economy has recovered fully (maybe the next 3-5 years)

5) Incentivise employers to hire from within London to reduce the number of unemployed

6) More affordable housing in good residential areas, as opposed to next to polluted highways and railway stations which is where the majority of affordable housing is currently built and which leads these residents to have long-term health problems which then impacts the NHS

Medium Term

7) A big reduction in vacant luxury apartments used for money laundering. There is a housing shortage and many vacant flats in the capital. I'd put the two together to get a solution there e.g. use empty luxury flats as temporary accommodation for the homeless 

8) Converting buses and tube trains to electric vehicles (hybrid in the interim) to reduce pollution

9) Incentivise people to do NHS jobs and build more hospitals

A general comment. It is good that you're consulting publicly about the budget (and in compliance with the Aarhus Convention) but if you are going to do so there needs to be a more public-friendly explanation (e.g. short video) of priorities, short fall, proposed approach to manage shortfall etc. 

A specific comment on Green Economy: It is excellent to see various references to tackling environmental challenges, notably air pollution, green infrastructure investment (although there is minimal reference to investing in biodiversity protection and enhancement), energy efficient regeneration and housing. As we start to recover from Covid-19 (as well as Brexit) it is vital London takes a proactive approach to stimulating green and resilient business innovation and growth, such as via the 'Good Growth' and 'Skills for Londoners' funds. This should emphasize the importance for creating local circular economy, green tech, sustainable construction skills etc. The proposed expenditure for the Green Growth fund is less than one percent of the overall expenditure (for this and next year), although the Skills fund is slightly better with a proposed increase in the proportion of total expenditure for next year. I would advocate a larger proportion of investment for the Green Growth fund, in order to act as a catalyst to stimulate new jobs and further investment. In addition, the GLA should create green municipal bonds to further leverage investment into more inclusive and sustainable economic stimulation.

Kind regards