Have your say on the draft London Budget for 2023-24

Very much agree with the comments from David Tarsh and Christopher Sayer. The traffic restrictions do more harm than good. In difficult economic times more of this is the last thing the city should be spending money on!!!

Budgets are always under pressure.  Please do not waste money on building bike lines, blocking off side roads or narrowing major routes through the capital.  It concentrates traffic, increases pollution and makes most of our journeys longer.  It does not get my vote!

Earls Court road, for instance, had the road narrowed around the bus stops supposedly to make separation greater during the height of the covid epidemic.  They are now a permanent fixture.  They cause a blockage of traffic when a bus lets passengers on and off at these bus stops and causes a tail back of polluting traffic.  Moreover, cyclists are forced out towards the centre of the road when approaching these obstacles which makes it more dangerous for them.

Other examples of interfering with the normal flow of traffic can be witnessed across London and seems to be taking hold in my neighbouring borough of Hammersmith and Fulham.  Closing access, blocking roads and extending the C9 route will cause yet more aggravation, traffic and pollution.

Please can we have someone look at these schemes with common sense?

I agree with the comments on improving the transport infrastructure and making it affordable, in particular Robertz's and DavidTarsh's.

More support is needed to help people to get to and from work faster.I live in Bexley and to get to a train station I need to walk 30 minutes or get 2buses.Now this would be just fine but when you supposed to put a 12 hours shift in cold and rain the least you want to walk or wait for buses.Better connections should be taken into account between bus and train stations.Also encouraging people to park near the station by creating cheap parking facilities  this could cut emissions and help the environment and also allow people to save money and commune faster.Millions still using Blackwall tunnel and Dartford bridge purely because it’s cheaper to commute in a car then on trains therefore all the efforts the Major is putting into reducing pollution is pointless.Make train fairs affordable allow for cheaper parking and people will give up driving to work.

As there are cost pressures, stop wasting money on lowering speed limits, building bike lanes and creating LTNs. Also don't go ahead with the ULEZ expansion.

These measures are damaging to the economy because they are wasting people's time by jamming up the traffic. If you want London to be productive, people need to get around quickly. Your job should be to make the traffic flow not to waste our money trying to drive it off the road because you want some kind of Scandinavian cycling utopia that the vast majority of road users don’t want!

Take C9 as an example of a huge waste of money and a fiasco. First, contrary to what LBHF claims, it is NOT SAFER. The rate of cycle accidents is UP! And the serious cycle accident rate is UP by more than 300%!!!! King St and Chiswick High Road are often gridlocked t the extent that people no longer want to take the bus... so your own measures are making bus journeys uncompetitive - how stupid and counterproductive is that! Furthermore, there is currently no evidence of the bike lane attracting a major increase in cycling. As if that's not enough, the thing is MASSIVELY UNPOPULAR locally.

Despite the shockingly biased consultation and report on expanding the ULEZ, which tries to portray it in a positive light, public opinion is massively opposed to it. Claims about it having health benefits are widely seen as unconvincing. The damage to prosperity, particularly of the poorest, is evident.  Don’t waste our money on it.

While I am giving my opinions here because you ask for them, I regret that in doing so, I am almost certain that I am wasting my time because of the contempt I see you exhibit for resident opinion on these matters, as TfL's consultations are duplicitous and manipulative and you pay no attention to what the public tells you anyway.

Seems reasonable

I would like to query the huge budget for home building. This is in billions rather than millions. Is it right to swell London's  numbers (and the mayor's power base). Shouldn't we rather we be upgrading existing housing?

The Met Police and LFB's funding should be entirely reliant on them undertaking a fully comprehensive overhaul regarding the inherent racism evident within each organisation. Failure by them to undertake this work should mean that their funding is immediately cut to nothing. 

Also, private vehicles should be banned from Zone 1 altogether. There is absolutely no need, with the transport which London benefits from, for any private individual(s) to feel the need to drive through/around central London. 

Also, FORCE Westminster Council to pedestrianise Oxford Street. The whole street is an over-clogged hell-hole throughout the entire year. This would be drastically improved by pedestrianisation. The people that live in the surrounding streets that complained so vociferously about potential noise on their street are undoubtedly rich enough to afford double/triple-glazing. 

Unsure whether this would fall under the remit of the GLA but, if possible, more could be done to help the NHS in London, given how determined the present Government are to destroy the entire Service for ideological reasons. 

Do more to tackle non-doms and make use of properties which they leave empty. Reclaim these properties and use them for public good. 

no more money to the met

If the constant cuts over the Years to the Police and Fire Service, the sell off of Fire Stations, forcing these services to rent Fire Stations and Fire Engines, the budget would be balanced better.

The Grenfell disaster was caused by outsourcing Council housing to private companies who are only interested in doing things cheaply so they can increase profits. The Councils who are supposed to check what these cowboys are doing, do absolutely nothing.

The people who believe in zero carbon emissions by 2030 are living in cloud cuckoo land, the ULEZ Tax is total rubbish, Battery Vehicles are not safe for the environment, mining for the ores, short lifespan of batteries, they are not recyclable.

 68% of Londoners voted against the Mayor of London, I fail to see he has the mandate to impose additional taxes on Londoners.

This budget will require cuts in services or planned things, because of inflation.

The plan is steady as you go, but with less spending power, particularly with sustainability current costs.

Disapointted that there is not more emphasis on the greening of London. Where are the trees, more pedestrian emphasis rather than cars.

Of course we want more spent on police and security, but what are we getting for our money?

Transport should be at the centre of our Net Zero plans. Better and cheaoer trains and buses . LITTLE THINGS MATTER. better bus stops-lighting, rain cover, signage, bus live indicators, station bus stops, should be upgraded  and linked with station indicators, CCTV etc

Housing-closer working with local councils and be tougher on developers- prioritise warmer sustainable homes and developments, with larger rooms. YOU allow developers to get away with too much.

HEALTH? More prevention, Public Health? Link schools, NHS, nurseries, children to improve the future health of Londoners. Use developers to fund initiatives to increase exercise and reduce poor quality food eating

Nothing about health. The general practice infrastructure is old and staggering in many places. High-rise development brings thousands into an area with no commensurate provision for health and education. Maybe it's time for some input here from the mayorality?

Thank you for sharing this information with people. Is much appreciated. From my understanding The City Hall and Mayor doing their best to achieve the best they can to support and protect Londoners. Thank you. 
But at the same time I can see opposite, I find  difficult to contact police. When they refuse trying to move your appointment far in advance, I was trying to report online, which wasn’t successful. I have tried to make again an emergency appointment many times. ( but regards NHS I complains don’t have as I understand the pressure they facing) but there is a limit. When person telling that it is an emergency, it was an emergency. But no one accepted it seriously. It’s been nearly 5 months since first crime happened. And I was been hurt seriously at my home, by the person who was telling me that he love’s me. 
And who intentionally hurt me and did something else without my permission. And the time is passing, and I read this wonderful news beautifully written. Likely I was able to protect myself several times. But I understand that you doing your best. 

The Mayor's proposals are a realistically-costed response to a situation in which he's confronted by a hostile government which tries to make him the person to blame when in reality they've starved him and TfL of funding and made it almost impossible for him to develop progressive policies. 

The ULEZ is a strong, courageous policy which should be getting public support - it saves lives. The Elizabeth line is a prime example of what can be achieved by people like the Mayor who have a vision for the future. But he can only achieve that vision if he has the finance to do so.

After reading all the other comments which I tend to agree with and while it is commendable that the mayor is trying to do regarding housing and clean air etc. It comes down that London is growing but the people who live in this over crowded city are not being listened to. Sticking people in expensive and unsightly tower blocks is not the answer. It would be a better idea to build low rise and cheaper accommodation outside the capital in the places surrounding the capital. Increase public transport in the suburbs and provide better links to these and the settlements outside by rail and bus by integrating the companies in overground or TFL.

I am concerned to see green spaces disappearing under new unaffordable developments while the infrastructure fails to keep up with demand (eg sewerage capacity as well as electricity availability).

Why does the Mayor want to reduce air pollution but does nothing about controlling the sale and use of fireworks in London.  He hardly sets an example by having a public display at New Year.  The outer boroughs contribute to the budget but get a poor service from TFLand BTP with regular signal failure and crime up on the underground.  If there are rules of carriage why do neither BTP or TFL staff not enforce them?  If you want more income,  employ more to enforce and spot fine - smoking, drinking, e-scooter and bike use would be the equivalent to the taxes you impose on cars...

"£6.9 billion to continue building the homes London needs over the period up to 2027."

London is already way overpopulated and the Mayor does not say how much he would spend on more pressing matters, such as the Environment and a city that vastly overheats in summers and has hardly any contiguous green spaces left (most lost to 'development'):

The statement about Climate Change is pitiful : "The climate measures the GLA Group’s organisations are undertaking within this budgeting period, and could undertake in future, to support the Mayor’s aim for net zero carbon emissions across London by 2030.

Additionally, there is no message in the Mayor's "priorities" about the dreadful pollution and environmental disaster that an overfull London helps to worsen.

Not reading the same old blah blah. The ULEZ is not affordable for my sisters families and one of the main reasoms why they just moved from London to Essex. Lodon Transport overall is a joke and too expensive and the Underground is not a safe place to be. You hardly ever see a policeman but that can be said for the streets. Khan is just a joke. Streets are not clean not maintained. Traffic improvements that hinder motorists are not the way - roads and systems need money to be spent to improve speed up traffic not delay it. You should not get a penny more just spend the money on improving lives and stop wasting- 

Why are there no downvote buttons for these comments, only upvote buttons?  Presumably this is to enable Sadiq Khan and Talk London to only receive what they want to receive - positive feedback - rather than any negative feedback to issues which will, of course, not suit their agenda.

As upvote buttons are provided it is only fair and democratic that downvote buttons are provided also. Failure to do so renders the feedback meaningless.