The current Mayor’s budget will affect the ability of the next Mayor to fund their manifesto promises, according to the London Assembly Budget and Performance Committee.
The report presents the Committee’s findings on the Mayor’s final budget for London, assessing the challenges across policing, fire, transport, housing and regeneration. The report offers a useful insight into City Hall’s finances, including that:
- the Mayor intends to cut Band D council tax by £19 in 2016-17, meaning his successor will have around £50 million less to spend in their first year
- cuts to TfL’s government grant have led to uncertainty about its investment programme
- the way the Mayor is investing in affordable housing is changing, which may have consequences for the number of affordable homes built over the 2015 to 2018 programme.
John Biggs AM, Chairman of the Budget and Performance Committee, said:
“On 5 May, millions of Londoners will take to the ballot box and send a new Mayor to City Hall – with a mandate to fulfil the spending promises they will make to voters on the campaign trail.
The current Mayor should leave his successor with sufficient freedom to get on with delivering what they promise.
His proposal to cut council tax by £19, for example, means there will be around £50 million less to spend on London’s priorities in 2016-17.”
Notes to editors
- The Committee’s report is available at the bottom of this page.
- The key responsibility of the Budget and Performance Committee is its annual scrutiny of the Mayor’s budget proposals for the next financial year. This involves detailed examination of the Mayor’s plans for spending his budget to help ensure taxpayers’ money is spent appropriately and effectively.
- The Mayor’s Budget is currently under consideration.
- John Biggs AM, Chair of the Budget & Performance Committee is available for interview. See contact details below.
- As well as investigating issues that matter to Londoners, the London Assembly acts as a check and a balance on the Mayor.
For media enquiries, please contact Ash Singleton on 020 7983 5769. For out of hours media enquiries, call 020 7983 4000 and ask for the London Assembly duty press officer. Non-media enquiries should be directed to the Public Liaison Unit on 020 7983 4100.