Khan announces more than £10m additional funding to improve London streets

The Mayor of London has today announced that an additional £11.6m will be available in this year’s budget to give to councils to fund improvements to their streets and local neighbourhoods.

The money, which will be allocated between London’s 33 boroughs using the existing fair formula for funding, is to support transport projects in the capital. It will be used in areas like reducing road danger, transforming local environments, encouraging cycling and walking, accessibility and improving air quality.

In total an unprecedented £237m will now be given to London boroughs to spend on local projects this year overall. 

Through the TfL Business Plan, the Mayor has committed more than £1bn TfL funding for the boroughs up until 2022/23 – a record level of investment. London boroughs have more funding available from TfL in every year of the current Business Plan than any year under the previous Mayor.

This record funding to improve London’s streets and local environment comes despite the removal of TfL’s £700m-a-year Government operational subsidy.

Alongside the committed Mini-Hollands schemes, funding from TfL now includes a new funding stream – the multi-million pound Liveable Neighbourhoods scheme specifically designed to enable more walking and cycling in every London borough. This will provide £114m to improve local environments across London – and initial funding has already been awarded to Ealing, Greenwich, Hackney, Haringey, Havering, Lewisham and Waltham Forest.

The funding directly to the boroughs is a key part of the Mayor's Healthy Streets vision of a city that is more pleasant to live and move around in – delivering transport, town centre and public space improvements to benefit the lives of Londoners.

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “Over the course of the next five years, we’ve committed an unprecedented £1bn for boroughs to improve local neighbourhoods across London - with a focus on schemes that encourage walking and cycling, making our high streets cleaner and more enjoyable places to spend time.

“The extra £11.6m funding I’m announcing in this year’s budget means more funding to get projects off the ground this year, with boroughs having more money available to them than any year under the previous Mayor. We will continue to work closely with boroughs to ensure these schemes are the very best they can be, and truly transform quality of life for Londoners right across the city.”

Matt Winfield, London Director for Sustrans, walking and cycling charity, said: “The Mayor’s extra funding boost is yet another step in the right direction towards enabling more of us to get about on foot and by bike, and a very welcome investment to make London a vibrant and healthy city.

“Londoners want and need better streets and cleaner air, and we look forward to working with Boroughs to help create a healthier, more active and less polluted London.”

Penny Rees, Head of Network Sponsorship at TfL, said: “This extra funding, on top of the already record levels, will help London’s boroughs transform their roads into safer, more pleasant and thriving areas. We’re committed to delivering the Mayor’s ambition for good growth and healthy streets for all Londoners and it is by working closely with the boroughs that we’ll be able to achieve this.”

ENDS

Notes to editors:

With London now one of the only major cities in the world without any Government subsidy, TfL are faced with a unique challenge to address the critical needs of London’s road network. This means that TfL will further have to prioritise works and closely evaluate the cost and benefit of each scheme they deliver, resulting in variable amounts being allocated across the course of the Business Plan. 

The way Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) is allocated and spent in the UK is also changing. Londoners currently pay about £0.5bn a year to central government through Vehicle Excise Duty (VED). However, as we manage strategic roads within Greater London, under current proposals London would therefore be generating a significant proportion of this funding to be spent almost exclusively outside London.

This money is available because business rates returns provided to the Mayor by the capital’s local authorities are higher than initially expected. This funding is for 2018/19 only and has been made possible by the Mayor increasing the resources he provides to TfL.  The share of the allocation for each borough will be decided using the existing fair formula for borough funding.

While Transport for London allocates funding to boroughs for individual schemes that implement the Mayor's Transport Strategy locally, the delivery of the projects is the responsibility of each borough.

Breakdown of funding to boroughs from TfL:

Recent boroughs that have received TfL funding for projects have included:

*Camden - £4.3m for the first phase of delivering two-way traffic on Tottenham Court Road, Gower Street and Bloomsbury Street, and new public spaces, including central London's first new park for 100 years, at Alfred Place. The scheme will provide a bus-and-cycle-only route on Tottenham Court Road during the day, segregated cycle lanes on Gower Street and public realm improvements across the Tottenham Court Road area, in advance of the Elizabeth line opening in 2018;

*Westminster - £200,000 to develop cycling, walking, bus and public realm proposals to transform the Strand and Aldwych area in partnership with the NorthBank BID. Work is underway with Westminster on improved facilities for walking, cycling and buses in Baker Street and Gloucester Place and public realm improvements in the Bond Street area;

*Hounslow - £120,000 for a new shared-use Greenways route alongside the Longford River linking Hanworth Park to Feltham Town Centre;

*City of London - £380,000 to improve safety around areas and junctions prone to accidents, such as Puddle Dock, the junction of New Change with Cannon Street, the area of West Smithfield and the junction of Holborn Viaduct with Snow Hill;

*Havering - £250,000 for Romford Market Place and a new market building. This will involve public realm works, re-paving, tree planting and the introduction of play equipment for children;

*Croydon - £750,000 for public realm improvements in South Norwood town centre such as widening and decluttering footways and cycle paths to enhance pedestrian and cyclist accessibility and experience;

*Lambeth -  £789,000 to carry out works at Norwood Road to make walking and cycling safer, more attractive and more convenient ways to travel for residents and visitors;

*Bexley - £500,000 for safety measures to reduce the number of collisions in the borough, in particular safety issues around schools including parking enforcement