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

STOP CLOSING OUR STREETS AND GIVING OVER SO MUCH SPACE TO UNUSED CYCLE LANES! By shifting all the traffic onto a small number of 'main' roads, all you are doing is causing chaos. Yes, those neighbourhoods no longer having through traffic do see better air quality - but the pollution has just been moved elsewhere. Worse than that, it's *increased* - because few of our main roads are big enough to take the increase in traffic, so instead, motorists sit in traffic jams all day. Take Blackhorse Road in Walthamstow, for example: it used to have bus lay-bys by Blackhorse Road station, but they were removed to make room for the cycle lanes - which only run for a few yards in any case! So now the traffic is backed up virtually all day - right outside the new school - how is that sensible? You are demonising drivers, without ever considering that some of us have no choice but to rely on motorised transport. Not only that, what should have been at most a 15-minute trip to hospital last week took nearly 40 minutes - and that was in an ambulance. The ambulance crew told me that was perfectly normal these  days - good thing I was only suffering from pleurisy and not the thrombosis suspected.

The Mayor's Budget includes,"£934 million to support the Metropolitan Police, an increase of over £26 million to continue making our city safer for everyone".

London is still waiting for its full quota of the extra 20,000 police promised nationwide. There is still a deficit in the budget from previous years on this. Not to mention the 23500 police staff who have been cut over the past 12 years.

There must be more police patrolling the streets, in order to help make the city safer. 

The budget just does not add up!

1. This budget yet again blames central Government for inadequate funding of London’s public services and in particular TfL (see page 4 Paragraph 1) when the budget has not been set so that the GLA operates within its available income. This is financially reckless.

2. The document identifies a new concept of “climate budgeting” so as to achieve Net Zero Carbon by 2030. This is financially impractical to achieve and asks effectively for even more central Government funding when there is no cost/benefit justification provided. See page 25.

3. The budget proposes a substantial increase in “Strategy and Communications” (see page 33) which is not justified. The Mayor already spends too much on public relations and social media activities a lot of which is in essence political promotion of the Mayor.

4. The budget includes the cost of expansion of the ULEZ to outer London which involves significant capital expenditure (see page 105). It is now budgeted that income from the CC, LEZ and ULEZ taxes will be over one billion pounds in 2023-24 (£1,028 million – see page 74). In effect private motorists and commercial vehicle operators are subsidising public transport losses within TfL. This is unfair and unreasonable. There is no financial justification for expansion of the ULEZ.

5. The Mayor’s attempts to reduce traffic congestion by using taxation in the CC, LEZ and ULEZ schemes has proved to be totally ineffective. Recent media reports confirm that London is now the most congested city in the world. The budget does nothing to reverse this trend as there is no expenditure proposed to improve the roads or traffic flows.

6. In summary, this budget is financially incompetent and continues to support expenditure that is higher than the income that TfL and the GLA will receive. This is not a budget set on sound financial principles but one set based on political prejudices and unrealistic policies.

I am a pensioner, I would like these important matters listed below addressed under the umbrella of the Economy Plans and the appropriate action taken to resolve them. 

1) Relating to Pensioners unable to use their Free Public Transport Pass, we should  to be able to travel at any time using our free pass on TfL - not starting use at 9:00am and also any time on National Rail not at t 9:30am.

2) Many elderly / pensioners including myself are suffering with the high energy cost and many of us are sitting at home in the cold and going to sleep in cold house, making ourselves sick. Not everyone can get out to 'warm havens'. 

3) The Borough that I live in is plagued with litter and vermin infestations.

Please can these matters be included as a priority in this document as a reality and lived experiences and that the appropriate action taken to resolve them in context.

Thank you

Hazel

What is the flood risk for housing along the Thames the next 10 years? Some reports suggest devastation, while the Environment Agency, who I believe operates the Barrier, says everything is under control.

I want this budget to use for tackling crime in London. Mayor has responsibilities, he is in charge of this massive budget and we desperately need more action to tackle crime in this city. The taxpayers money shouldn't be spend on unnecessary propaganda, billboards or ads; it should be spent in a efficient way to tackle crime. 

Secondly, London needs cleaner air, we won't achieve this by counterproductive solutions like ULEZ. We need trees, green spaces, better public transport for all. Londoners are against ULEZ, there's no evidence that it helps reducing the air pollution. How about running an accessible public transport for all, without delays and cancellations and strikes? 

"Taking the boldest action of any city in the world to tackle air pollution and the climate crisis." 

Can London be a little more humble and learn from what works in other cities? Paris has hectares of soil-less rooftop farms, Brussels lots of solar panels everywhere, some cities have district heating, etc. 

The Elizabeth line is an example of something that has been achieved in Paris decades ago with the RER and on multiple lines. Other cities are experimenting with on-demand public transport and other innovative ways of providing the same value of service with less resources. 

London's vulnerable flooding situation: Many households don't realise how much they are at risk. Householders should be informed about the risk at their property (including the awful risk of drowning in lower ground flats).

There is also no concerted strategy for encouraging homeowners to reduce flooding risks by adapting how they use their gardens e.g. reducing front garden paving 

Similarly, any tower still at risk of a Grenfell-like fire should be remedied immediately and it is in my view morally criminal to allow citizens and residents to live in fear for their life, for their finances or both for so many years.

I would like to see more (female) broad-leaf tree planting, more living roofs and green walls, flat roofs painted white to reflect heat. 

Working with housing associations to ensure all council estates get solar panels installed (to help the GHG emissions and the cost of living crisis). 

Providing mulch from council tree cutting to households at a low cost to encourage mulching that helps feed the soil in an organic way and protects it from drought and increase its ability to soak water in a flood. 

etc. etc. etc.

There are many relatively easy fixes for the extinction crisis that can make a difference. Please accelerate their implementation.

The budget  that is being used to expand the ULEZ  zone should be put to better use. The ULEZ  charge is going to make things much harder for poorer communities who live  in an area where there are poor transport  routes not 24 hour and some places of work not even on a transport route. Surley this money should  be  going to improve our roads our police and battle crime.

I personally feel that ulez is wrong and should only have been kept in the central London not outer London boroughs. You stated that you would like to see net zero emissions the only way to do that is to have no traffic on roads including buses trams and trains and the air traffic in sky as well this is impossible! Also I don’t like the way that British Airways would like to have all their workers exempted as this is not fair on the other public working sectors such as fire brigades police and the nhs workers which do a far better grand job than a airline host who just travels people to and from holidays in other parts of the world…. Also why get rid of cars if they run fine and shouldn’t car manufacturers stop making cars that are not ulez friendly as well but the thing is these cars are built to last not when tfl thinks that it’s emissions should be lowered even more also we all not just me disagree that poor people can’t afford cars we can and it be discrimination against the poor if you say get rid of your car if you can’t afford it not a lot of people can travel to work or in general  on public transport or deliver equipment safely because they need too much room to take and I think you are totally wrong and taking away freedom of movement and freedom of choice!!!!! Also some residents already pay for car parking and some roads you can’t drive down anyway because of pcn cameras no through roads and at certain times of day -would these be then removed as we paying ulez charges anyways and so clean air pollution roads can then be opened up again ? This is making me really I’ll as I don’t know how to pay the fees and definitely wouldn’t be able to afford or get a brand new car on hp on my budget of less than 8000 a year with bills 

I like a number of other people completely reject the idea of an expansion of ulez. The mayor (ugh this cretin is the mayor of London) is pursuing politically motivated projects with complete disregard to the opinions of people who live and work in London. I am completely unaffected by this charge but I know of many many people who will suffer even more than our currently suffering as they only have access to a car that does not qualify for ulez. Please postpone this policy or better than that cancel it's.

I tottally disagree with the ulez exspansion. This will do much more harm than good. It goes against the research and is clearly going to cause more division which is something we really don't need in the circumstances we are all in at the moment. I believe the funds set aside for this scam would be much better spent if directed to the police. that way there could be a possibility of cutting the violence on the streets of London

The climate/green policy is not a moment too soon. The cost of living crisis is exacerbated by poorly insulated and heated homes, the lack of green spaces, the non-commitment of the constructors currently all over London to creating homes and environments that are conducive to health and well being. We have to put our health and well being first. This city is suffering from a lack of vision in terms of life infrastructure. We need to pay attention to how we live. Not just how we work. I think the mayor should insist that the London boroughs commit to protecting the wellbeing of their inhabitants and failure to do so, in allowing construction that does not take into consideration infrastructure of health, education and recreation, be called to task. My borough is terrible in this regard. Buildings going up everywhere with no green spaces, no trees, nowhere for children to play. We have to care about ourselves collectively or it simply doesn't matter we have fast interconnecting rail routes etc but at a local level people's lives are hellish. High street regeneration, city-wide support networks for people struggling with food and care of their loved ones. We can do better and it needs to come from the top. 

£6.9 billion to build more houses!!   Where?    Where that will not encroach on green spaces?     Where will the occupants work to earn a living without benefits?    Where will the occupants come from - we certainly don't want more illegal immigrants dumped on us?    More housing is not needed until there is employment availasble in those areas.

More money is needed for the police in front line policing.  These are the people who respond 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. When I am a victim of crime, I want a fast effective response.  This is the most important part of policing. Where I live less than half of emergency calls are got to within 15 minutes and so many community police offices and stations have closed.

Net zero is a very long term  and ambitious goal. How about letting people get to work so we can fix the economy rather than being punished and taxed further? Idiots riding all over the place and crashing their electric scooters and ending up costing the NHS is not the way forward either. Priority is living in a civilised city, not a place where basic common sense has been replaced by impossible puff politics while reality on the street is rude and aggressive and utterly filthy. 

It makes my quite angry that they discussion groups, consultations, invitations to comment and engage are given, completely disingenuously, as they have already made up their minds as to what they are doing. They do not give any of these comments consideration, it is merely lip service to say that they have consulted the public and Londoners alike. If they did actually take on board the views of Londoners, the people these things impact on the most, they would not have press on regardless of the overwhelming opposition to the expansion of the ULEZ zone, but would have postponed it until people most affected could amass enough money to buy a newer car after heating their homes and putting food on their tables. 

Politics, in its current format is broken beyond repair!

I fully support the Mayor's plan to extend the Ultra Low Emission Zone to all of London.

We should also prioritse 100% electric buses throughout London to further reduce pollution and contribute to Net Zero Carbon.

In the Transport section the Mayor has not addressed the fact that we need to attract more visitors to London, especially at weekends. Step free access across the whole of London is not mentioned in the consultation document. It is an investment in making London a more accessible city.

On the level of Underground funding, the Mayor needs to create new sources of capital income. He should create a "Fund for Access", to which companies, philanthropists and individuals could contribute. The funds could be allocated to particular tube stations to instal step free access.

Step free access helps wheelchair users, people with pushchairs, people with mobility problems and people carrying heavy shopping or luggage. It will increase the number of users on public transport and save carbon emissions. It will also boost London's economy.

Disabled and 60+ people need to have the Freedom passes returned to enable morning peak travel as it is not always possible to get hospital or doctors' appointments at a time when passholders can use passes.

I support the Mayor's plan to extend the Ultra Low Emission Zone. We need electric only buses in outer London to reduce pollution.

In the Transport section 6, paragraph 6.2, the Mayor has not addressed the fact that we need to attract more visitors to London, especially at weekends. We need more step free access across the whole of London. This does not appear to be mentioned in the consultation document. It is an investment in making London a more attractive City.

On the level of Underground funding, the Mayor needs to create new sources of income. He should create a Mayor's Fund for Access, which would be a fund to which companies, philanthropists and individuals could contribute. These funds could be allocated to particular tube stations to instal step free access. 

Step free access helps wheelchair users, people with pushchairs, people with mobility problems and people carrying heavy shopping or luggage. It will increase the number of users on public transport and save carbon emissions. It will also boost London's economy. 

Disabled and 60+ people need to have the Freedom passes returned to enable morning peak travel as it is not always possible to get hospital or doctors' appointments at a time when passholders can use passes.

I work for the Met and I'm glad to see that climate budgeting is going to be introduced. The Met is lagging way behind when it comes to achieving Net Zero, understandably the Met’s priorities are elsewhere but it needs to focus more on Net Zero than it currently does. There isn't a single EV where I work, not a single charger, old metal single-glazed windows, non-existent insulation and oil heating. This needs to change and fast so I’m glad to see the Met will need to be more accountable and hopefully this will be what’s needed to move the climate disaster further up its priorities. 

I am continually perplexed why the leadership  of this great city is unable or unwilling to focus on improving services without increasing taxes in a society that is already under stress of high taxes in all its forms. 
 

Continuing to lament the lack of central funding is no way to run any organisation or institution. The focus should be on doing more with less as many businesses are forced to do.

It’s time for the leadership to join the 21st century.