Secretary of State for Transport (): Following my statement
to the House on 13 December 2021, I am updating the House on a 7
week extension of the current Transport for London funding
settlement that was due to expire on 17 December 2021. The Mayor
of London and I have agreed to extend the current settlement to 4
February 2022.
We have thus far supported London with over £4 billion funding
and these extraordinary funding settlements for Transport for
London recognise the reliance of London’s transport network on
fare revenue, and government’s commitment now and in the future
to mitigating loss of fare revenue because of the pandemic. This
extension has provided certainty to Transport for London and to
Londoners over the Christmas and New Year period whilst also
allowing government and Transport for London to monitor and adapt
to the impact of the Omicron variant of the virus.
The extended settlement will continue to support the capital and
its transport network – on the same terms as previously agreed –
until 4 February 2022, when government expects there to be a new
funding settlement in place. The extension letter also includes
amendments to the current settlement relating to fares and the
Hammersmith bridge ferry.
On 15 December 2021, the Department for Transport received
further information and specificity from the Mayor of London
relating to his proposals, set out in his letter of 8 December
2021, to raise new income of between £0.5 billion and £1 billion
in line with the commitment agreed under the June 2021 emergency
settlement. The original deadline for this information was 12
November 2021. Following receipt of the Mayor of London’s 15
December 2021 letter, the government is satisfied that at this
stage he has provided sufficient information on his proposals. We
have therefore agreed to extend the current Transport for London
settlement from 17 December 2021 to 4 February 2022 so that
government is able to fully consider these proposals.
The government is committed to supporting London and the
transport network on which it depends, whilst balancing that with
supporting the national transport network as a whole.
