The Mayor’s Budget for 2024-25

Number one priority should be safe and affordable housing.    We are constantly told that there is a need for more housing when we can all see developments everywhere - but who are these developments FOR?     Meanwhile many rental properties are not fit for habitation without adequate means of checking their suitability and many of those new properties are so poorly built that buyers can barely get insurance for them.     

These problems should be addressed as a matter of urgency,

I agree with these priorities in providing a basic framework for the lives of Londoners. But we must aspire - we must dream - we must be creative. The arts - all arts - are struggling at the moment. Participation in arts can make such a difference to people's confidence, their aspirations and their quality of life. Please work with community arts groups to help deliver some of the priorities that you have outlined.

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The above are all admirable but one vital aspect is missing from this...a budget to build a sustainable and thriving local community.

We need funding for safe community spaces, especially for youth and older adults.

Need a more joined-up approach. Need to tackle loneliness and isolation which affects all ages and leads to poor physical and mental health. Where are the funds to support the re-purposing of the empty shops in our high street to help provide community spaces? There are many community groups and individuals who have good ideas and are already tackling the various societal challenges but they need central/local government support eg the free use of empty sites where they can deliver activities, groups which support local people. Money for tea and biscuits!

This will help build a resilient and happier and supportive and sustainable local community. 

i agree with all the priorities, but climate change has to be the most urgent.  Everything else can follow from that.

These priorities are fine, though very cautious given the seriousness of the issues facing our city: 2023 data is clear, the climate crisis is going to overwhelm all other issues for the rest of our lives. I would suggest two overarching priorities:

1. The Mayor should be doing all he can to bring as much attention as he possibly can to the scale of the rolling crises coming at us as the planet warms (likely food shortages in the next 5-10 years, extreme severe weather impacts, international instability). He should use his voice to start talking now about the very difficult challenges of getting to net zero: e.g. we need to move away from meat, dramatically reduce flying, retrofit virtually all London's buildings and find some way to replace the heat energy we need at scale and rapidly. In order to build public acceptance for the scale of the changes we (and the rest of the world) face the Mayor should invest in programmes that build social solidarity among Londoners. Without international action on an unprecedented scale humanity is in trouble so the Mayor should re-double his engagement with networks like the C40 so national governments and international structures feel the most pressure possible from cities to act faster to phase out fossil fuels, keep carbon in the ground etc.
2. Linked to this priority, and to the evidence that extreme levels of social and economic inequality undermine social solidarity, corrupt politics and damage human health he should make reducing levels of economic inequality his parallel priority. Without leadership on 'fair convergence' action on the climate crisis is easily undermined (see ULEZ!). Priorities relating to affordable housing, support for low income households and mentoring are good but should be seen explicitly as part of action on inequality. The Mayor should directly challenge the accumulation of wealth at the top of society, press businesses to adopt maximum pay ratios, and call for supertaxes on the wealth of the super-rich.

Note to legally remind or inform legal people of all the legal services of the boroughs and city and country and continent and hemisphere and world and may online to local city services work shops or online TV channel as on YouTube videos then via hyper link type out address or continent and hemisphere and world services websites for people to legally help them selfs to any and all local to world services. Note legally boosting a lot of extra hygiene in the city to the country and continent and hemisphere and world to help legally lower disease transmission and infection and incubation and by law as to health and safety and local to world wide medical prevention. Note boosting public health and safety and security by the public and commerce and authorities need their own even cheap first aid kits and fire extinguishers and burglar alarms and anti rape/ attacker alarm and pepper spray to phone use to legally competantly call for help and film /snap  the/ a criminal danger to help lower or avoid being victimized. May by civil duty have to film / snap others in need ECT to help capture evidence and has a crime prevention.

Legally advertising for jobs in the local legal authority jos center job search and the authorities online universal job search website. Note legally directing people to. Gov.org.uk to what they can help them selfs and or double check. Note what legal comments to legally pass copies up and down between the boroughs and the city council and or the national government and threw legal official communication and network lines. Note advertising the city home delivery shopping and online shopping and online searches as well as online work or self employment and online benefits information and applications and online ( further) education and online medical services and information and advice. Note legally advertising online police reporting and complaining and trading standards and health and safety reporting by legal members of the public and authoritarians and commerce for convenience and speed and efficient copies of the legal report. Note legally boosting the public and commerce and authorities using free emails services and gmail.com for a legal email service and online files and folders system and electronic device auto networking. Then note boosting public civil duty with reminders and guides to report criminal and or concerning matters online and or on telephone and or in person as what legal liability and civil duty have to as a member of society and or civilisation and country and continent and hemisphere and world and empire and religion , humanity. Note legally reminding people how they can help them selfs threw others or commerce or organisation. Note legally reminding people to legally network with family and friends and good commerce social media services and any legal organisations that they are from or apart of or can legally join or and start. Note where to help align people to time and date in public and online as with clocks and calenders and or time and date. Note where to remind people of location on line or and in public.

Note to legally make sure that the city and borough council offices are legally claiming all legal budgets and entitlements that legally warrent and are due. Not where the budget should be coming from and how much to when to stop any illegal interception from any criminals and or corrupt involved. Note confirming what was on bank statements to internal paperwork to what do don't match then dates to what direct debits should /nt be on government/ (local/regional) authority accounts to obviously write up and inform of the fraud and whoms factually liabial and arrestable and any to all legal recovery. Note how many offices are aint being legally paid for and whoms factually occupying them to legal registration of whom whoms where why apart of the/a official authorities work teams. Note whom legally should/nt be legally hiring to then for how much doing what,under what contracts to legally review such. Note all that should have legal id's and badges and or temporary visitors badges. Note policing the car parks for illegal vehicles to cheap barriers and cctv security around the inside and outside of the building. Note the city council council website and note copies and web pages working checks to what services do / don't offer and can/ t get threw to and whoms registered on the site as communication wise and employment wise and whom should or should'nt be. Note details of what the local councils say they are doing or done locally that is aint registered and to what amounts. Note confirming telephone numbers and emails on the website and call waiting lengths and whom was the legal receptionist and any other recorded. Note what legal or illegal civil servants are in per borough and to whoms legally awardabal or comendatible or legally arrestible and suspendible and further investigatibal . Note legal complaints by the public and or the authorities on per borough in out and around to legally arrest the illegals involved and legal process any legal fixes. Legally update leg

These priorities make sense to me. In particular the need to build social housing that can remain in the public sector and not be subject to right to buy. Every £ invested in social and affordable housing needs to enable people who are homeless, sofa surfing  and those in poor private rented homes to have secure long term accommodation.  At the same time we need to promote the establishment of tenants and leaseholder management mechanisms to shift the power balance away from landlords.  If the future on housing is to include a lot of rented housing then things need to change so that landlords are in it for the long term and have to invest in stock so that it is fit for purpose and affordable. 

Note thorough accounting of past spends and budgets to whom legally received and whom legally issued for any theft or and illegal recipient or issuer. Not whoms illegally subcontracted to criminals and or repeat fraudsters and or corrupt insiders banned from contracting and likely warrented for arrest . Note whoms criminally incompetent and claiming to be a member of the personnel to process the arrest or and suspension. Note whoms legally banned from the public office,front reception or and buildings and or back office to legally process the legal arrest. Note whoms legally warranted for arrest in the building or network or call line as whoms on hold then whoms a illegal transfer from another place to legally arrest and or have lawfully banned and or removed. Whoms negligent to legally process for arrest or ban. Note whom was never legally employed that's illegally suing for wages to legally arrest. Note whoms illegally culpriting benefits fraud to arrest has are they on full time employment and benefits that nullyfy their and employment. Is there any major threats to legally arrest over and police whoms factually responsible for policing the public office of the city and others connected borough offices to are they legally id'd , badged, trained, employed and is that true? To legally arrest illegally fraudulent parties acting in legal (policing) authority positions. What the legal powers and entitlements job and responsibility of the city council ( workers) are and are not. Note whom legally needs a legal c.v in the office to a legal work visa legally entitling to work in the country in a legally contracting position of employment. Note whom must be legally registered and insured and local council licensed even legally addressed and named with a matching bank account that may have to be a merchant account and legally bidded or approaches to legally contract in ,out and or around the city or local and council organisation.

I agree that all the 8 priorities listed above are very important. Sometimes people don't realise the connections between them.  For example Number 4 (world class transport system) , if it was acheived, would be the most effective means of tackling the climate crisis.    I'm very glad that more trees are to be planted, but they cannot improve our air quality much, when the the roads are gridlocked with private cars.  The only way to stop people using cars for every journey, would be to provide  reliable and affordable ways of getting from one part of London to another.  At present, it is  much cheaper for 2 or more people to travel by car, than to pay the fares that public transport would require.  For older people such as myself, the Freedom Pass saves several thousand pounds a year.  

I have one other problem with priority 7 above.   Young people  need to be provided  with  positive opportunities, not just to stop them resorting to crime, but because young people are our country's future.  They are pool of potential skills and good qualities, not just a nuisance that needs to be controlled.  Why are we, unlike other European countries, unwilling to pay for our future doctors, teachers and scientists to be educated properly?   Why do we not provide  adequate skills training for manual trades?   Why do we not enforce building control regulations on incompetent and dishonest plumbers, roofers,  electricians, carpenters,  and other tradespeople?

The authorities has to be held accountable for all the crimes they illegally committed and illegally plot to commit to whats on their phones to how many benefits are they illegally claiming to how many 25 to life warrants for their arrest in and out of the country and continent and hemisphere. Then have they got legal badges and IDs to valid then are their cars vehicles stolen or insured including tax discs to authentic as call signs to licence plate to make and model then they are liable for whom they work with warranted for arrest then their illegally withholding, withdrawal of evidence to any case as missing evidence to corruption they witnessed to cases they illegally signed of on to obvious uniform breeches to illegal rebels meeting of serious organised crime they been involved in to any illegal passport signings to visa vouchering to criminal infiltrating criminal tresspassers as their crime squad/ military mercenary crime syndicates members they handling then then im not a magican but I believe they illegally got credit/ debit cards in others names linked to benefit fraud ,tax fraud, insurance fraud,wage fraud, drugs dealing, bribes racketeering ECT legally explain and prove the amounts and income to how make house/ car keys do they illegally have on them to lockers / vehicles or war criminal hide out in the sewers. Then what illegal phones and or tablet computers do they have on them or in their bags not what big cases anti just easily laid out

 one the to military need to legally serve city wide legal warrants for arrest and retrieval of evidence and stolen goods and interlectual property and assets and cash. 2, no untrained un contracted , corrupt illegal police or and military imposters warranting 25 to life for serious organised crime and any illegal multiple million benefits fraud, insurance fraud, tax frauds, pension fraud, fraudulent sue cases, rent thief, housing benefits fraud, bounty/reward thief, wage theft, property theft, laundering, illegal dropsor illegal no further action of legal cases, desertion, nuclear ransoms, haulacaust, home invasions , spying in the legal homes, enermy sewer bunkers, criminal impostering hijackers of a case and or duty, tresspassers in authority and or national boarders and or the sewers/train tunnels/ rain drians, stop any and all online crime including electronic viruses, stop and take down to parental block the pedophilia that they illegally put up on line as well as the highly illegal terrorist video propaganda and threats to kill/ haulacaust which the culprits all warrent life imprisonment over to the amounts of charges and counts they illegally committed and some may be currently serving jail time for and may of illegally been given prison release jobs within the authority ,police, council, military and any corrupt governments subsidiary businesses stealing government tenderd contracts that they unlawfully commit mass terr orism and interlectual property fraud threw as well as laundering and any tax evasion and racketeering charges then whom is responsible for the years of fault and neglect, cowardism to corruption to how much people have illegally been attracted with a national security system of spying to illegally be further targeted showing thecorrpt in the police standing back, the military carrying out endless killer man powetr attacks, special branch corrupt imposters illegally trying to start again or from now, national security saying they cyber crimi

I think the single biggest issue facing London is reliable and affordable public transport. The mayor has gone ahead with the stick and banned cars, but offered no improvement or alternatives with public transport. The trains and buses only get more expensive, and get ever more unreliable, infrequent and poor quality. I have recently moved my business to become remote, with "in-person" days outside of Central London and sometimes outside of London altogether - it is cheaper to pay for my team to drive to Bracknell or Kent with an overnight stay (if needed) then to pay for rent, for my team to pay £15 travel, each day and then contribute to the Lonion lunch economy with a further £10. All this with no guarantee trains would run on time. 

If transport cost were reduced to same levels as Europe, and reliability improved, i would definitely reconsider becoming part of the London economy once again. 

I am glad the mayor is taking the lead on climate change and would definitely support investment into reducing pollution, and investment into green infrastructure (that increases productivity), not simply introduce another tax for another of the Mayor's vanity schemes. 

Affordable housing is a massive issue, but one where the mayor should get on with the doing and stop blaming the incompetent central government. At the moment he is just as bad.  

Work with borough councils to encourage ever more pedestrianisation. At the very least, ban SUVs from Zone 1. Again, at the very least, have at least one (although preferably more) car-free day each month in central London. Increase the prevalence of LTNs wherever possible, especially in central London. There is no need for anyone to be driving through central London given the public transport options available. Implement specific 'loading/unloading' times for goods vehicles to commercial premises, preferably late at night or early morning (5am-7am). 

Homelessness is more prevalent than at any other time in memory. Work with homelessness charities to help those that need it to be able to afford their own home. 

Linked to the above, ensure genuinely affordably housing is available, not only for the most poor and vulnerable but also for those on a fairly standard salary but are still unable to buy a home. 

We need democratisation of each strand of TfL.  If you complain about something specific, they often reply with false information, & ignore & deny.  They are not effectively accountable.

Overall a good set of priorities. 

Personally I believe there needs to be a step change in the building of genuine council housing, with a reduced emphasis on 'affordable' housing which is often not actually affordable to people in need.

I would also like to see a further increase in investment in walking & cycling projects as these active travel modes have so many benefits in terms of improving personal health, reducing road danger, cutting pollution levels and addressing the climate emergency. Replacing all internal combustion vehicles in London with electric vehicles is not the solution. We need dramatically reduced numbers of vehicles via incentives towards active travel & public transport and further growth of shared use vehicles (lie Zipcar) and cycles (like Lime).

Living in Lewisham I would like to see better walking & cycling cross-river links east of Tower Bridge. Re-opening the project to build an active travel bridge between Rotherhithe and Canary Wharf as the alternatives (Rotherhithe Tunnel and Greenwich Foot Tunnel) are very unsatisfactory. In the short term ensuring that the proposed enhanced Thames Clippers ferry service at this location is affordable (free to not more than a TfL bus fare) so that it provides a viable alternative and attracts significant custom.

Also in north Lewisham we would like to see expansion of the London Hire Bike scheme to provide a readily accessible alternative to increased motor car usage from the massive planned Convoys Wharf development. Greenwich Town Centre is keen to host the scheme as well so this would link along the southside river path and provide great opportunities for tourist use.

Reinstating the concept of neighbourhood policing with a responsible police officer assigned to each ward and PCSOs regularly patrolling. Get the Police out of their cars, patrolling on foot so they know their area better and talking to residents & business owners routinely so people feel more comfortable interacting with the Police