London’s Deputy Mayor for Transport will tonight launch a strong
attack on the Government for abandoning the capital’s transport
network and call on the Chancellor to reinstate London’s vital
transport funding.
Val Shawcross will say it is astounding that London is one of the
only major cities in the world with a public transport and road
network that doesn't receive Government funding to support its
operating costs.
TfL’s budget is £700m a year lower after the Government’s
decision in 2015 to remove the operating grant. The previous
Mayor failed to defend London’s transport subsidy when the
Government decided to withdraw it, despite knowing how important
the success of London is to the rest of the UK.
In a further blow to the capital’s transport network, the
Government has also unfairly announced that, from 2021, the £500m
raised every year through Londoners’ Vehicle Excise Duty will
only be invested in roads outside the capital. Unbelievably, this
means that Londoners are paying for roads across the UK with
absolutely no contribution towards the upkeep of the roads they
are driving on. It has also shamefully blocked the capital from
accessing the new £220m National Clean Air Fund.
Ultimately this means that the costs of running London’s roads
are being subsidised from public transport farepayers.
Despite the government’s cuts, the Mayor and Transport for London
have gripped the finances and are protecting both frontline
services and the massive investment needed to modernise the
transport network. To achieve this, the Mayor instigated the
biggest ever overhaul of TfL, which is reducing the
organisation’s operating costs for the first time in its history,
with a £153m reduction last year alone.
But there are obvious consequences of a £700m per year reduction
in government funding. This significant budget reduction means
that all non-essential road improvements have been paused for two
years unless suitable funding can be found. So while TfL will
ensure roads are kept safe, this lack of proactive work could
lead to an increase in disruption on the roads with increased
closures and speed, size and weight restrictions.
Speaking tonight at the International Transport Workers'
Federation (ITF) urban transport committee at City Hall, Val
Shawcross will call on the Government to use its Spring Statement
next month to reinstate the TfL’s grant for the good of the whole
of the UK.
Deputy Mayor of London for
Transport, Val Shawcross, said: “With the
economic uncertainty of Brexit, it’s more important than ever
that the Government supports our capital - because when London
succeeds, the country succeeds.
“Our capital is the beating heart of the UK and our roads are the
arteries, so it’s just astounding that the Government is not only
prepared to take away vital funding but make London’s drivers pay
for roads outside the capital.
“We’ve seen from the success of the Crossrail project how
investment in London can benefit the whole of the country, and
it’s vital that the Government uses its spring Statement next
month to reinstate TfL’s funding and keep the capital moving.”
ENDS
Notes to editors:
- In 2014/15 TfL
received an operating grant of £842m – which made up 12 per cent
of its revenue. For the coming budget year, 2018/19, this
operating grant has been completely withdrawn. This will be see a
£700m per year cut in Government funding over five years
- It was not
until the Mayor’s TfL business plan in December 2016 that TfL had
a comprehensive plan to return to financial sustainability while
making London a fairer, greener, healthier and more prosperous
city. This has seen TfL reduce operating costs by £153m in the
last financial year and TfL is ahead of this year’s saving
targets by £194m.
- Investment on
transport in London is beneficial to the entire UK. Transport for
London estimates that around 60 per cent of the money it spends
on goods and services occurs outside of London and helps support
50,000 jobs. The opening of the Elizabeth line is adding an
estimated £42bn to the UK economy
