London boroughs could be facing a 28% drop in the money they receive from the London Mayor for transport in the next four years. Transport for London’s financial director told the London Assembly’s Budget Committee that cuts to non-prioritised areas, such as local authority funding, were likely to be proportional to the 28% cut in grant. This money covers everything from fixing potholes, to major projects like redesigning the layout of local town centres. The amount given to local authorities by Transport for London (TfL) has already fallen from £169m in 2009/10 to £155m this year.
Two of the biggest areas hit by the cuts in funding are likely to be road safety and cycling in outer London. TfL has already cut its own road safety budget by £10m and the boroughs receive most of the remaining budget, with £29m in 2009/10. The amount spent by boroughs on cycling was £24m in 2008/09, but this has already dropped due to a focus on inner London schemes such as cycle hire and superhighways.
Green Party Assembly Member, Darren Johnson, said:
"Local authorities are being squeezed by a combination of cuts imposed directly by central Government and cuts passed on by the London Mayor. Some of this pain could have been avoided if the mayor had kept the estimated £55m generated by the western extension of the Congestion Charge.
"The Mayor has already cut the money for cycling in outer London in order to help pay for cycle hire in central London. This further squeeze on local transport funding will bring to an end any hope of getting large numbers of new cyclists in outer London."