The Mayor’s Budget for 2025-26

Are we going to see the results of this poll? In particular, I would very much like to know the results in the order of rankings 1-5.

I will be very surprised if number one isn't CRIME. If "comments" were allowed, I would berate the mayor for making comments on a recent charge against police before full facts were known. The police may not be perfect, but having a mayor who undermines their efforts is disgraceful.

And although I know that "GREEN" is important to some, I suspect only the upper middle and higher classes can be more concerned about that relative to the other categories.

Judging by the flood of cars, especially big SUVs, and app-based food delivery ebikes clogging London's roads, I often wonder if there IS cost of living crisis. 

There is definitely an air pollution crisis. The mayor and the city has made a decent start in tackling this but it's just not enough. You can tell by the smell alone on cold days that people are plenty happy to pay the ULEZ fee and drive polluting vehicles. It's not equitable for those of us who have no choice but to walk and cycle. I realise there is less money to be made in banning vehicles that don't pass the ULEZ, but other cities in Europe manage to do just that. 

As someone who does not drive and is dependent on walking and cycling it'd be good for many of these air quality and active travel interventions to implement mechanisms to reduce aggressive driving, including from app-based delivery ebikes and motorbikes. Councils can only do so much.

In my 30 years in London, I have noticed a huge decline in cleanliness and the general appearance of our streets.  My London walks now involve dodging litter, discarded e-bikes, and the many cyclists who now ride on the pavement.  I appreciate the need to cut costs but feel that London is beginning to look so run down.  Tourists must have a very poor view of our capital city.

The public transport system is in a tragic condition despite the extortionate prices, yet you decide to spend £6M on frivolous things. The Overground was fine as it was, with no confusion whatsoever. Now, it’s really confusing and will continue to be.

Building affordable housing for whom? You have a scheme called London Living Rent, but if you work a 40 hour job on the London Living Wage, you’re not even eligible to be considered for a London Living Rent flat. It’s absurd.

The level of crime is out of control. Real crimes go unpunished, with people behaving like barbarians on the streets, and antisocial behavior is extreme. These individuals are protected, and such behaviors are even encouraged. 

Yet, I’m sure the budget will continue to be spent in areas where it isn’t needed. These issues will remain unaddressed and will only worsen… why even bother asking?

Proposals, especially transport, should be co-produced with people with disabilities. 

1. The questions about housing seem to relate only to affordable/social housing. But we need more of all kinds of housing. The Mayor should not get in the way of housing construction by setting excessively tight targets for particular types of housing - a general increase in supply will help contain price rises, via the normal operation of supply and demand, unless the extra supply is focused at the very top or bottom of the quality spectrum. Avoid ghettoes with too much cheap housng concentrated together, and that will help the crime agenda.
2. The affordability of tube travel would be helped if the Mayor resisted the repeated efforts of the tube unions to hold London to ransom. Tube drivers are grossly overpaid relative to similarly skilled workers such as bus drivers and relative to similar workers abroad. They achieved that because their strikes caused real pain. But the growth of WFH means that strikes, although a nuisance, are no longer an economic disaster, and TFL should resist the pressure to continue to raise pay. It's not hard to recruit tube drivers - that should be the key test. Whereas it is hard to recruit some other public sector workers, such as teachers and some NHS staff, and city planners. 

Sad to see so many rail about bike riders disobeying the law...which some certainly do - with minimal adverse impact. 

Stats clearly show that most injuries and road deaths (x 20 times at least) are caused by cars - yet we see almost zero enforcement of car driver bad behaviour. Every day I see them drive on the footpath, park unsafely on double yellow, speed excessively, ignore pedestrian right of way, go through red lights and ignore pedestrian crossings...when will we start punishing these breaches that are the cause of thousands of road casualties every year? 

At the moment we just normalise and accept it all! 

The results of survey will be extremely misleading.  For example, the question on improving London's transport infrastructure:  how do you answer it if you want rail improvements and improvements to bus lanes, but don't want more cycle lanes or LTNs?  How do you answer it if you want certain social improvements but are not convinced that free meals for all children (the example given) is properly targeting that issue?    

Quite frankly the survey is so broad brush as to be meaningless and will allow the Mayor to pick and chose what ever bits he wishes.  A waste of time, presumably as a tick-box issue to say that there has been wide consultation.  Write a detailed response and send it in if you are really interested in the subject.

More effort needs to be placed on ensuring that car free development is Car Free. All London Boroughs should have 24/7 restrictions as many living in car free properties still drive around waiting for when the time controls expire.

Tower Hamlets needs to stop its Permit Transfer Scheme and remove the 1000 more on street parking spaces it has implemented since the new Mayor was voted in.

I'd like to see a relatively low-cost initiative prioritised: Empower local communities to do something about dangerous driving in their area, especially where it endangers children. Drivers speed down residential streets and past schools every day, parking on "Keep Clear" markings to drop off their own children. Our local MP informed me that there is no budget to tackle this behaviour. The Council "require evidence" to motivate any action, but without official involvement it isn't clear how to gather this. Neither is there budget for a dedicated road crossing or lollipop person at our school. Anti-speeding policies aren't popular, but many of us feel the Council is waiting for an accident to happen before taking action.

We will NOT need an assisted dying bill if this government legalises e-bikes, e-scooters & e-motorbikes, devoid of registration, insurance and taxation. They are a menace, preferred robbery transport, and a danger to liffe & limb, having killed and maimed many innocent members of the general public already. They are not green either, requiring charging from the grid.

Road safety is no longer of interest to the Met Police. If TFL/local councils can reduce speed limits to 20 mph, from 30 mph, even on multiple bus routes, and A roads, why not others where there is a problem, and danger to life from excessive speeding??? One glaring example is Malden Road, between Cheam Village and North Cheam junction of A2043 and A24. Not that long ago, a resident was killed by a speeding motorist at the junction of Malden Road & D'Arcy Road. An indication of the relevant speed was the fact that his corpse travelled FIFTY YARDS! I regularly witness speeds of 40/50/60 mph, just because the road is clear and the view good. How many more have to die, or suffer serious injury before someone, anyone, such as TFL/LBS/Police is prepared to act??? 

Private sufficiency; public luxury.  

We need to move away from the myth that we can all have it all.  Private swimming pools.  Private tennis courts.  Not only is this an economic myth, it is also not possible for the planet to support.

Everyone should be able to afford somewhere safe, clean, and comfortable.  But modest and sufficient.  

But then everyone should have access to community spaces, green spaces, great public facilities - swimming pools, tennis courts, parks, youth centres, warm spaces.  Places to hang out and just to be.  Places to mingle with others, and to get to know our neighbours. Public luxury.

Gated communities don't help communities to grow.  They lead to greater isolation.  We need to be part of all communities around us, not separate.  

We don't need the myth of bigger, better.  We need enough for our private space, and then great public facilities and spaces.

Phone snatching, pick pockets and bag thefts are almost out of control, the thieves on high powered EV bikes need to be caught. The City Police are targeting them whilst the Met are becoming a bad joke. Lawless cycling is also a real problem, not stopping at lights, riding on pavements it just all feels so unsafe

End Ulez.

Get a police force that knows its backside from its elbow.

Crack down on lawless cyclists.  Keep pavements clear for people with challenges to their mobility.

Build more houses and cap service charges for buyers and rentals.

Re-use existing buildings.

Where I'm getting frustrated is that sure we need more housing, but London can't keep growing indefinitely. We'll eventually have to knock down all the single-family homes and replace them with high-rises. And while apartment living may be more sustainable, study after study has shown that people don't stay sane all stacked up like plates. Overcrowding leads to crime. Reliance on lifts to reach their homes leaves disabled people vulnerable. What would help is attracting businesses Away from London, to help spread the growth out. What is Coventry up to these days? How about Hull? Gainsborough? England has plenty of room if people can live and work across the length and breadth of it, not just commute in from the home counties every day. 

I feel that social security (housing, cost of living, provision of youth centres etc) is the key area on which a lot of the other things such as the local economy, safety and environmental improvements depend. If people/small businesses have to spend less on rent, mortgages and bills, they feel stable enough to invest more in the local economy. If housing is built more energy efficient or energy efficiency is available at an affordable price, people will be willing to make climate and friendly decisions. If there is more social provision in terms of jobs and entertainment, there will be less crime. Most people do not turn to crime out of choice, but necessity or lack of faith that the system works for them. I have more faith in the London government than in the national government that things will get tackled without racist blame shifting on immigrants/'problem groups'.