The London Assembly today unanimously passed a motion [ ] requesting the Greater London Authority (GLA) and the wider GLA group to formally recognise the significant size of the Latin American community in London, by including ‘Latin American’ in the ethnicity section of GLA monitoring forms.
The Assembly extended its request to Transport for London to include ‘Portuguese’ on London Underground ticket machines as part of the £20 million planned upgrade to ticket machines.
Caroline Pidgeon MBE AM, who proposed the motion, said:
“Portuguese is the sixth most widely spoken second language in London and with a very large Latin American community in the capital we must do more to understand the numbers and needs of this community. The upgrade of London Underground’s ticketing machines is a real opportunity to add Portuguese to the long list of languages on the machines, particularly as people will be relying on the machines more and more.”
Jennette Arnold AM, who seconded the motion, said:
“We are pleased this motion was unanimously passed as it is an important issue for the growing Latin American community in London. We welcome the fact that the London borough of Southwark has taken a lead on this issue and included Latin America as an ethnicity on their monitoring forms and we strongly encourage the Mayor to follow this example and add the section to all GLA monitoring forms.”
The full text of the motion agreed at today’s meeting reads as follows:
“This Assembly notes the significant size of the Latin American community in London and especially some inner London Boroughs and believes that certain issues relating to their lack of official public recognition should be addressed. This Assembly therefore supports the long standing request that the Greater London Authority and organisations within the Greater London Authority family follow the example of Southwark Council and allows ‘Latin American’ to be included in the ethnicity section of the authorities’ monitoring forms. This Assembly notes that a further request of the Latin American community is for Portuguese to be included on London Underground ticket machines and urges the Mayor as Chair of Transport for London to ensure that this reasonable request is fully considered as part of the £20 million investment taking place in the upgrading of ticket machines.”
Notes to editors
1. The motion was agreed unanimously at a meeting of the full Assembly today. Watch the webcast.
2. As well as investigating issues that matter to Londoners, the London Assembly acts as a check and a balance on the Mayor.
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