Following dissatisfaction with Capita, the current Mayor, Ken Livingstone, has agreed to pay the company a further £31m to improve its performance. But the Greens are arguing congestion charging should be administered directly by Transport for London when the current contract ends.
Darren, who is Leader of the Green Party Group in the London Assembly commented, “The Greens are big fans of congestion charging. But we believe the system should be run for the public good, not so that incompetent fat-cat companies like Capita can make a huge profit. Congestion charging is a public service to reduce traffic and reduce congestion and it should be run by the public sector.”
As part of the congestion charge deal, Capita operates call centres, maintains cameras, monitors traffic and is responsible for the transaction website. The company has been heavily criticised over several high-profile contracts, most notably running a database for the criminal records bureau to vet teachers’ backgrounds. At one point, the screening had such a backlog that schools were forced to stay closed.
ENDS
NOTES FOR EDITORS:
1. Darren Johnson is 37 and was selected as the Green Party’s candidate for Mayor of London in May 2003. He was elected to the London Assembly in May 2000 where he is Leader of the Green Party Group. He was also elected to Lewisham Council in May 2002.
2. The Mayoral election will be held on June 10th next year at the same time as the elections for the London Assembly. At the last Assembly elections the Greens scored one of their best ever results in the Party’s history, securing 11.1% of the vote across London and winning three seats on the 25-member Assembly.