London’s budget for 2022-23 now published

The final 2022-23 GLA Group Budget was approved by the London Assembly on 24 February 2022.  

A big thank you to everyone who joined the conversation and had your say on the draft budget back in January. 

The final budget confirms no changes to the council tax proposals announced in December. This means an increase in the Band D council tax next year by £31.93 (or just over 61p per week), which includes:  

• A £20 increase to help keep TfL services running. The government forced the Mayor to raise additional revenue to make up for fares income collapsing with more people working from home following the pandemic.  
• A £10 increase to raise an additional £38.5 million for the Met Police. This will be used to fund frontline police officers, to tackle serious violent crime and violence against women and girls, and to support crime prevention programmes. 
• A £1.93 increase to support London Fire Brigade to ensure it can quickly respond to major fires and make the changes needed after the Grenfell Tower Inquiry. 

The final budget includes the latest forecasts for council tax and business rates income. These forecasts are higher than anticipated last month.  

As a result, the Mayor announced some additional investments, focusing on the areas that matter most to Londoners:  

• Making London safer 
• Supporting Transport for London 
• Addressing the climate emergency 
• Getting London back on its feet 

Making London safer 

Police and public services were the subject of much conversation on our discussion thread. Of those of you who mentioned the police, the majority firmly believed that the Mayor’s approach needed to go beyond simply more funding for the Met. Instead, you would prefer to see investment diverted to local communities (such as community support programmes, opportunities for young people at risk of committing crimes) and social services, housing and healthcare to tackle the root causes of crime. 

The Mayor announced on 14 February his intention to invest a further £37m to help prevent violence, support victims of crime, and provide positive opportunities for young people. He has been clear that we can’t simply ‘arrest our way out’ of this issue.   

The funding includes: 

• £23.2m every year to be spent on violence prevention programmes, tackling violence against women and girls, and better supporting victims of crime 
• £13.2m will be specifically focused on work to reduce teen homicides and serious violence.  
• £5m every year will go towards supporting victims and survivors and tackling the perpetrators of these appalling crimes, as part of supporting the Mayor’s refreshed Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy. 
• a further £14m investment in projects to support better opportunities for young people. 

Supporting Transport for London 

In our discussion thread, we could see that there was frustration with the current funding arrangements for Transport for London. Many people questioned why all London taxpayers should contribute to improving TfL services, rather than simply transferring the cost to the user (i.e. increasing fares) or reducing services. 

Given the government has ordered London to generate at least £500m more a year for TfL for the organisation to break even on a day-to-day basis by April 2023, the published Budget confirms no changes to the previously proposed council tax increase, as outlined above. As part of the Budget, it is also worth noting that Tube and bus fares went up by about 5% from March.  

Addressing the climate emergency 

Of those of you who mentioned climate action, the majority would like to see more funding directed towards this area. In particular, there was a clear preference for investment in infrastructure that makes active transport easier.   

The Mayor has already delivered a fivefold increase in protected cycling lanes and has expressed a desire to go even further in terms of improving active travel in London. On 15 February, the Mayor also announced  £90 million towards a new green bonds programme. The money will be used to help unlock additional investment for zero-carbon projects, such as upgrading ageing social housing to make it more energy efficient and to help cut energy bills. London has some of the highest levels of fuel poverty in the country. One in nine London households can't afford to heat their homes. These projects will also support Londoners with the skills they need for jobs in the so-called green economy. This will help rebuild the capital so that it’s cleaner, greener and fairer after the pandemic.  

Getting London back on its feet 

Before the pandemic, London was the third most visited city in the world, in large part thanks to the city’s world-leading cultural and visitor attractions. However, due to the pandemic, the number of overnight stays made by tourists to the capital more than halved to 60.8 million with a spend of £3.8 billion, compared to 147.4 million overnight visits and spending of £18.8 billion in 2019. 

That’s why the published GLA Budget now also includes an additional £10m to attract more tourists to the capital and to get our city back on its feet and growing again. This includes: 

• an additional £3 million for the domestic Let’s Do London campaign. This campaign has already helped to attract some 280,000 visitors to the capital and generate £70 million in spending. The new funding will help promote cultural and sporting activities happening across London this year.   
• £7m so that London’s trade, investment and promotion agency, London and Partners can launch an international marketing campaign to drive overseas tourists to London from this Spring. 

What’s next? 

The individual bodies which make up the GLA Group are finalising and publishing more detailed information on their final budget plans for the financial year beginning in April 2022. 

As always, we will keep you posted on any new opportunities so you can have your say and help shape plans and policies at City Hall.