London Assembly responds to the Mayor’s draft 2014-15 budget

The Budget and Performance Committee has responded to the Mayor's draft budget for 2014-15, recommending the Mayor explain why crime has been falling more slowly in London than the rest of the country over the last ten years.

The Mayor has a responsibility to make decisions on London's £17.5 billion budget based on evidence, and he needs more data to understand why the Met’s performance lags behind that of forces in other parts of the country.

The Committee also notes that the saving plans of the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC) depend on replacing more experienced officers with newer, cheaper, recruits. The Committee warns that MOPAC needs to manage the risks when recruiting and continues to provide a quality service to Londoners.

The Mayor has committed to maintaining the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority’s (LFEPA) budget for the next two years, but it is unclear whether the Mayor plans to do this past 2016-17. As government funding for fire services is set to keep falling, the Committee wants to know if the Mayor plans to keep increasing his funding, or if LFEPA will need to find further savings in the next few years.

Update

On 27 January the Mayor's Chief of Staff Sir Edward Lister wrote detailing the Mayor's Office reply to Committee consultation budget response.

MOPAC has decided to commission Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary to carry out some research to understand why crime has fallen twice as much in major urban areas outside London than it has in London over the last ten years. (Recomendation 1)

In response to the Committee’s concerns over the longer-term funding arrangements for LFEPA, the reply states that “the Mayor has committed to provide funding to LFEPA to avoid the need for any further major frontline realignment over the lifetime of LSP5 from 2013-17”. (Recommendation 4)

The Mayor has asked TfL to develop ticketing options that address the needs of part-time workers, with the intention of introducing them in January 2015. (Recommendation 7)